Alf! Thank you Paul Fusco!
Special Maddie edition of autograph log! We watch Alf every afternoon during dinner and she decided to send him a letter. Look what she got back! She was SO excited!!
Lake Effect Comicon 2014!
Last year took Maddie to her first comicon….this one. I wanted to see if she’d like it and perhaps she’d talk it up a bit to her sister Lydia who would have to wait until the following year. Maddie took to the convention scene and has accompanied me to Akron Comicon as well, now it was Lydia’s turn.
Lake Effect is a great con to start out a kid on. It’s small, friendly and free, but has a full con experience with screenings, panels, comic professionals, 
game tournaments and a good dealers room.
I wasn’t sure how Lydia would like it. Maddie enjoys superheros and monsters far more than her sister, very much Daddys girl, while Lydia is growing up more of a lady like her mother (and that’s a good thing). But she had asked me for a Wonder Woman costume a while back and I created one I really liked for her. She dove in and
before we even mad it into the theatre, we’d already been stopped for pictures three times.
Transor Z was recognized even less here than at FCBD. Not that surprising I suppose. Lake Effect draws a younger crowd and really, if you don’t know the Mazinger series, you automatically associate him with one of the later series he helped inspire, like Transformers or Voltron.
We started off our day with a screening of The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. The girls didn’t quite make it through though. Don Knotts was freaking Maddie out, so we hit the artist alley. A quick stop over at Marc Sumerak’s table so the girls could get some comic’s signed (He recently wrote a book for the Elyria Comic Book Initiative and they received them in school). Down the line Lydia had a lot of fun trying to capture Bob Ingersol.
The costume contest grows bigger each year. I lost to a spartan and he really deserved that win. All of the kids in teh under 13 constest won, which was nice. Lydia loved it. Ther was a great Star Wars robot in the 13-18 that won and the stunning Harley Quinn that my girls posed with won the Women’s!
The Heroclix tournament was across the street in the Mall. Separate location, though technically still part of the con, so we walked, costumes an all through JC Penny’s and over to the comic shop to say hello to Sam, Jim and Eric. The girls were fascinated by the pieces and we took a walk through the store. They immediately found the Godzilla toys then went back out to watch the game.
Back to the convention to shop. Lydia found a perler beaded Wonder Woman logo and an Iceman figure. I was curious why she wanted the Iceman, I mean, they have played him in the X-Men vs Street Fighter game, but she never showed any real interest in him as a character. I figured it out later. He squirts water. She loves it.
The girls ended the day in the theater’s arcade. Both had a lot of fun an Lydia can’t wait for her next con.
For the most part, I experienced this convention through the eyes of my girls, and that’s fine. It’s actually an advantage because If I’d gone on my own, I might have been a little disappointed.
I’ve always said Lake Effect is a great place for deals. All the vendors bring their excess inventory to dump. I can usually find a bunch of .25 cent bins. This time around there were two .50 cent boxes and that was it. (That’s not the cons fault really, and they always have some great vendors). The action figures were really good prices though. One of my friends walked away with a cratefull for about $30. I still loaded up on comics, scring 18 titles with some great silver age Avengers and a couple of All Star Squadron, not to mention some Iron Spider! The girls got to find some things too, and Lydia loves her purchases. The film selection was a little lacking this year as well. Little shop of Horrors (the original), some Faulty Towers and the aforementioned Ghost and Mr. Chicken. In the past they’ve done some interesting Anime, Big Trouble in Little China, Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein and Spirited Away. You can see why I wasn’t real thrilled with the screenings. However, with both girls in tow, I don’t think I would have made any of the movies even if they had better ones.
The Heroclix being separate was a bit of a pain, and next year, we probably won’t make the trip over. Finally, the guest list was okay, but no one I haven’t seen before. It’s disapointing, but not unexpected. It’s still a small show, but I watch it grow every year. I wouldn’t be surprised if in time it grew to the proportions of Akron Comicon. I do enjoy this convention and will be back next year.
Lake Effect this Weekend!
Hey guys! I’ll be at the 5th Annual Lake Effect Comicon this Sunday afternoon! This is a small con, but they try hard. There will be panels, lots of bargains in the dealers room and videos running on one of the movie screens all day (I see Faulty Towers and Little Shop of Horrors listed – I’m interested in seeing “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken”). I’m planning on wearing my Mazanger costume one more time before I put it away for the summer, and expect to be accompined by a small Poison Ivy and Wonder Woman! Admission is free! See you there!
By the way, don’t forget, new Violent Blue today!
Glow comics
I mentioned in the past that Last year, my Church attempted something different. Instead of a full blown VBS in the summer we went with what we called a “Kids Revival” In the fall, a way to wrap up the “Heros of the Bible” series we had been doing in Sunday School. instead of handing out flyers for this event however, I created a small comics with all of our information on the back! We went melodramatic and had the last page a full shot of the hero telling the kids to show up for the program so they could hear how he became a hero….here are the pages!
And don’t forget, new Violent Blue tomorrow!
The Fast and the Furious
Bet you didn’t know that fast and furious was a remake did you?
I mean the original is typical Corman exploitation featuring no one special, but just look at this description from IMDB :
The Fast and the Furious (1955) A man wrongly imprisoned for murder breaks out of jail. He wants to clear his name, but with the police pursuing him, he’s forced to take a beautiful young woman, driving a fast sports car, hostage and slip into a cross-border sports car race to try to make it to Mexico before the police get him
It’s not a ring of thieves driving Hondas, but it is cops chasing the fugitive in sports cars…..
except the cars aren’t really that sporty….and it looks like they were under cranking the camera to make them look like they were going fast…..still it’s a trip. I still see these in the dollar bins and dollar stores. If you spot one, pick it up for the camp value alone.
OSS Zombie Walk
My friend Laverne noticed I was hitting the OSS zombie walk and asked “I thought you already did this?”
It’s easy to see why she was confused….in the last few weeks we’ve had zombie walk at the 5 O’Clock and Night of the Living Dead at the Apollo.
OSS is one of the oldest zombies walks in the Cleveland area, and these days it’s held at Mahalls on Madison in Lakewood. It always draws a big crowd and this year they added some extras such as the screening of night of the living Dead in the basement and the Zombie prom a little later on.
Maddie asked if she could be someone from the Walking Dead, but didn’t really want to wear much makeup…so we made her Lizzie. My wife asked Maddie “Please promise me to not grow up and become a serial killer.”
I wanted to try something different too. I’ve been wanting to do a skinless Frank from Hellraiser for a couple of years, but the one time I tried it the makeup didn’t turn out very well. I decided to try again…and do it better, with good bones and a new bald cap.
I’m very pleased with how it came out…except EVERYONE recognized me! I ran into Ryan and Halle spotted me before I even got into the Bowling Alley.
“Got here just in time!” Ryan told me “I’m just about to start this walk!”
Inside Jason and Tina caught me as well and knew me immediately.
“
How is everyone recognizing me in this makeup?”
“Three years at Wasteland, of course I’m going to recognize you!” Jason replied.
I had to grab a photo of Zombie cap, and he told me “Put this on my facebook!”
“Okay, what’s your name?”
“It’s me, Mark!” I felt like such a putz not recognizing him…but apparently most people were fooled.
Before the walk, WB reps came out and handed out posters then took photos of zombies holding them up to promote the movie. Maddie even got a frisbee! (And was amazingly excited about that….)
It was a good walk, a lot of the zombies were getting into character, rushing the people watching on porches, chasing pedestrians and occasionally 
getting into skirmishes with the zombie hunters. Maddie loved watching the zombies run and fight. It may have been the most fun she’s had at one of these.
Afterwards, it was downstairs at the bowling alley for Night of the Living Dead on 16mm film. Maddie made it thorough about half of it, then needed a break. We went upstairs and since we WERE in a bowling alley, we got a lane. There’s something surreal about watching a skinless man bowl….
A good night for a good cause, with the canned goods and money going to the Cleveland food bank. I think I may need a break for zombies for a short while though. That’s okay, we’ve got Lake Effect Comicon this weekend, and new Violent Blue all week!
Goodbye Garou
I only just saw the news on the Horror Host group on Facebook.
I am sorry to announce that, after a brave fight, our beloved friend Magoo Gelehrter and Garou Wolfman passed onto a higher plane this afternoon. Please understand that Penny Dreadful will not be able to be online or respond to messages for a while. Thank you all for your love and support over the past months.
I’m saddened by this. Garou wasn’t a friend, not even an aquantance, but I have always enjoyed Penny Dreadful and Garou’s show and I really feel for her loss. Please keep thier family in your prayers.
Zombie Walk this Saturday!
I’ll be there with the girls….but you just might not recognize me…..
The Adventures of Mr. Kidzpointe part five
Part five of The Adventures of Mr. Kidzpointe! And don’t forget, new Violent Blue tomorrow!
The Iron Man project part five
Today we tackle the gloves. I wanted robot looking hands with joints so I cut pieces out of thin foam for this.
Each joint had to be created seperately. most had four pieces. Some of the ones towards the base of the hands had three. The tips of the fingers had five pieces.
I bought a pair of yellow gloves to glue the fingertips on to. I had decided on yellow insted of red because I’m not really tryign to replicate teh movei costume, but rather an amalagam of movei and comic armor. The yellow actually serves to give more detail where as the red would just blur the look of the joints.
I can tell right now I won’t have any dexterity in these things. I might be able to do basic things like pick up a glass or open a door, but anything with fine motor control, turning the page in a book or putting on my sunglasses..that’s going to be next to impossible.
We’re not done yet. We still have another month of glove creation. Of all the parts of this costume, the gloves were the single most difficult part – the most pieces and longes make time. but for now, remember, there’s new Violent Blue tomorrow!
SpookShow live presents Night of the Living Dead
Headed out to the Apollo for the Spookshow screening of Night of the Living Dead. It’s always a fun movie, but this time, local Horror Hosts Dale Kay and Mr. Maniacal were trying to give more of a live presentation spin on it.
Zombies showed up for atmosphere, and there was some schtick and giveaways before the movie. I actually got up and did a bit with Dale and the skull-faced Ms. Ginger Rose. It wasn’t a packed house, but it was a first time for this event, and it was a respectable crowd for a midnight movie. I’ve attended Late Shift movies over at the Cleveland 
Cinemas with far fewer people.
A very late night (and of course that night my back decided to go out…) but a nice night with me going a little overboard with my makeup (not entirely happy wit it either… it look a little too…..puffy). The guys from the Kreepy Kastle say they would like to do more of these shows, and now, with some experience under their belt, I can’t wait to see what they try next!
More FCBD reviews
Not a really important post, but I’ve made a little more of a dent in that FCBD stack and had a few more thoughts to share.
The Transformers vs G.I. Joe was a big dissapointment. The art alone just wasn’t my style, but the story itself felt really dumbed down. Perhaps that was what thye were going for….something like the mini-comics you used to get with certian toys like He-Man, but it’s really not my style. I really had high hopes for this too, because I loved the crossover that Devil’s Due did back in 2006. I just don’t 
understand how no one seems to have been abel to get this right since then.
Jelleby was a huge surprise. I got it because it looked fun and interesting. it’s cute, and really addictive. There’s some great heart in this tale of a boy who finds a monster and made it his pet. This issues does exactly what it is meant too. It makes me want to check out the rest of this series and I recommend you do too.
Intrinsic and Entropy on the other hand, they kind of fail in this purpose. They both give us a taste, but not enough to get me into 
the series. A shame too, Intrinsic in particular shows promise with good chemistry between the characters but not enough story to get me interested.
Courtney Crummin was excellent as always. I’ve followed this series off and on for years and it never fails to entertain. There’s more to this story than the FCBD issue though and they may have me hooked enough to finish this arc out.
You know what? The Donald Duck comics were way 
more fun than I expected. My friend Ben from Pop! is a huge Uncle Scrooge fan and I have always enjoyed hearing him talk about the character. I’ve also enjoyed Disneys FCBD offerings. This is a straightforward Disney story, the main feature bing about Donald and Uncle Scrooge cursed and their personal gravities messed with…it’s fun and FEELS like classic Disney.
Buck Rogers was a bit of a dissapointment. I really wanted to see more of Buck and less of Wilmas Nephew. I really like stuff like this and the Donal Duck comic 
though, collections that look like they are straight out of a newspaper.
Then there’s Scratch 9.
I don’t know why I like this so much. I’ve been hooked on this story since I got the issue at FCBD last year. The cats have great chemistry and it has a funny tone to it….I really just can’t explain it. Just find the series and 
pick it up.
Uber has a good concept, what if WW2 went differently….and it’s a lot of reading. Less of a comic and more of a magazine telling the story in prose with some pics.
I read Scam Crosswords mostly for the art. It’s got a 
great dynamic Image house style. wasn’t planning on liking it but it’s got a good vibe. For some reason it really makes me feel like a Bruce Willis movie. I’m not entirely sure what I just read, kind of a hit man with some underworld connections…? I do want to see more of this, but I think I want to read more of it before I commit to buying some.
There’s a few others that don’t really warrant much discussion. Steam Wars was interesting but pointless. The over sized Street Fighter issues was 
excellent, but I think I’m too far out of the loop with these characters to really make this work. Catian Midnight was finally my chance to check out the character….though he dosen’t bear a lot of resemblece to the character my father told me stories about . THey kind of hit the nail on the head when they say his super power is that he has an airplane….
All in all I’ve really been enjoying the FCBD stories and can’t wait untill next year! Until then though, I’ve got to head out and get some Violent Blue done for tomorrow!
OddMall this weekend!
In all of the excitement surrounding the live Spookshow this Saturday, I almost forgot about Oddmall!
My friend Rachel will be vending there; You want dragons? Come get dragons at booth #48! Hot and fresh! Also necklaces. The necklaces aren’t so hot and fresh. People don’t like to wear hot necklaces.
For those few of you who don’t like dragons, there will also be squid in my booth (#48, called Glimmerville. Oh yeah probably also glitter. You can’t get away from it if you are named Glimmerville.):
Spookshow Live Saturday night at 11:55!
Tickets can be purchased the night of the show at the theater for only $4. Live entertainment and an awesome cult classic horror flick for only $4 make’s KreepyKastle.com’s Spookshow LIVE a must for anyone!
I’ll be there too, though you never know what I might look like…
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
So yesterday we ran this strip over at Violent Blue.
I don’t want to hate this movie.
I really questioned whether I would review it because the problem is this can not possibly stand up on it’s own. This is the second film in the Amazing cycle and it’s inevitably going to draw comparisons from the Rami cycle. The second Rami movie is the best of all the Spider-man movies ever. More to that point, I have no problem saying it’s one of the greatest Superhero movies ever made. In fact it was just on TV over the weekend (capitalizing on the release of the new film) and it absolutely holds up.
I liked Garfield as Peter Parker in the first film. I thought Toby was a better Spidey though. More light hearted and fun. I hoped Garfield’s Spidy would grow on me, especially since they got the costume right this time. Sadly, it was the opposite. His Peter has gotten more grating and that stupid Bronx accent (is it meant to be queens? It doesn’t sound queens to me) really gets ramped up here and drives me nuts. Not as bad as the Dancin’ Toby sequences in 2 and 3, but not fun. Peter is too moody. Too brooding. This isn’t Batman. Spider-Man looks best in the sunlight and happy.
I also don’t buy the Peter/Harry relationship. This needed to be addressed in the first movie. Harry belongs with Peter from the word go, bringing him in cold in the sequel just feels tacked on. What a coincidence Peter just happened to be friends with the richest kid in New York….
Harry’s completely unlikable in this by the way and that’s a shame. The tragedy of Harry Osborne is that he’s not a bad guy, he’s been twisted. If you’re not rooting for him to rise above it, then it doesn’t work. And I’m not. I don’t like this Harry.
He’s not alone though. I HATE Aunt May here. God she’s useless in this series. She’s pathetic…nothing more than a dialogue delivery system. May is supposed to be a dichotomy – old and frail with a shocking amount inner strength that can’t be measured. I mean, they couldn’t even be bothered to put a white WIG on Sally Field!
Look, I have issues with the Rami cycle. I never liked his casting of Kristen Dunst and never really liked his version of Peter Parker. I think his inexplicable need for every villain to have some sort of relational connection with Spidey was ridiculous. But for the most part….for the most part he got it right. Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson looked like they stepped right off the comic page, and their characterization was so dead on that they stole the show. Even though he didn’t have the right look, everything else about the Green Goblin rung true. Norman and Harry Osborne were perfect updates (and they LOOKED related by the way). Rami got the relationships right. He understood the characters. Most importantly, he loved the source material. He loved the comics. Everything else comes from that.
I don’t think the current producers love the comics. I don’t think they get it. In fact, more and more of this feels like film by committee. Everyone has input. This movie in particular drops so many names it’s transparent that it’s just designed to be a springboard to other things…and that fails to entertain.
I want to like this. Remember what I said about them really understanding how to use effects? It’s still true in this entry, but this time it’s par for the course. I don’t see anything that really blows me away. They don’t have the goodwill of everything being shiny and new. They had to deliver a great story, but they are trying to do too much to achieve that.
A lot of what I had a problem with the first time around is still there. Actually most of it has been kicked up a notch, such as treating Spidey like a grim avenger. Instead of repeating it all here, I’ll just refer you to my post on Amazing here : https://argocitycomics.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/amazing/
If you haven’t seen it, wait for it to hit redbox or Netflix. Better yet, just pop in the Raimi films and go from there.
FCBD : the comics
I’ve managed to make a good dent in my Free Comic Book Day comics and thought I’d share some of my observations. It’s not a proper review, but then again, they aren’t all proper comics….
The Guardians of the Galaxy book was one I was interested in seeing. It’s a good introduction to the characters and explains a little bit of why Iron man was
in the book for a most of last year. I like the idea of Venom hooking up with them, and the framing sequence of Tony telling Venom all about the guardians makes for a good intro, but also meas we don’t really see enough of them in action and almost feels a little anti-climatic. The Rocket raccoon book is actually a better one, with plenty of action. It’s a fun book, but that skottie young cover made me 
expect a little more craziness. Not complaints though.
Bongo’s Simispon’s issues is always a FCBD must. This one is no exception. Tehre are times when the comics are better than the show….
I LOVED the DC offering – a futures end for the New 52 featuring Batman Beyond. I’m not a huge fan of BB, but this was a great story for him… leading into the futures
end series coming this summer.
THE tick is another great intro to the character and this was a fun alien story, spoofing the Braniac and Bottle City of Kandor ideas. I laughed and this left me in a surprisingly good mood. I remember the Tick from when it came out back in the mid 80’s, and though I’ve never been a rabid fan, I do enjoy him here and there and the free comic book day issues have always satisfied.
FUBAR feels like a missed opportunity. Not a terrible story, but it seems like it ‘s slow. It takes too long to get to the zombies, and when you do there’s not enough. Good ideas though, what if Saddam Hussein was creating zombie viruses instead of chemical weapons? Interestingly, the soldiers here remind me a whole lot of the ones in ALIENS.
I was also presently surprised by the Teen Titans GO! book. Unlike a lot of kids books and FCBD offerings, this was pretty much a full TT book, rather than a complication of different stories smushed together.
Archie comics released a Sonic the Hedghog / Megaman flip book. The Mega 
Man section looks very much like screen grabs from a cartoon, while the Sonic section claims to be an origin story. It kind of is….talking about how his team came together. I’ve enjoyed previous FCBD sonic issues better.
Valiant released a handbook this FCBD, an I love this. I’ve always had a thing for reference books, ever since DC’s Who’s Who back in the 80’s. This is a nice slick 
looking guide to Valiant characters and it really keeps me jazzed about the current Valiant universe. I can’t wait to dig into my X-O issue.
That’s about all I’ve gotten through. Mouseguard was excellent as usual and I really only got the Avatar : The Last Airbender issue for the Itty Bitty 
Hellboy story (which I was dissapointed only clocks in at two pages!).
It’s been a fun haul…but the weekend didn’t end with the comics did it? A certain movie opened over the weekend too….
but more on that later.
Free Comic Book Day 2014
Last year I decided to just swing by Carol and John’s comic shop for the FCBD midnight release, and hit the place around 11:45. This was a mistake. The line stretched almost to the end of the building complex and moved slow. It wasn’t the comic shops fault, they didn’t expect this many people. I didn’t end up getting out until around 2:30, and it was too crowded and I was in a bad mood altogether. The next day, people kept running out of comics and it was a drag -my favorite shop Comics are Go really saved the day with nice sets of FCBD comics for my girls. 
This year, I came in with a plan. I expected to be up all night. I pulled out my mazinger costume and grabbed a lawn chair. I met up with people from POP the Comic club and you know, the night flew by. Carol and John’s really worked things out too. They rented an empty space next to the shop, and set up two lines for the comic tables – plenty of space. On one side of the room, they held a comic related art show, on the other, they had vendor and information tables with cupcakes and concessions, along with familiar faces like the Akron Comicon, the Doctor Who 
Society of Cleveland and POP. Also, being the most kid friendly comic book shop on the planet, Carol and John’s had a special play area set up for the kids. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of children at the midnight party (but still more than you might expect), however, they would be out in full force the next morning! Mazinger was a big hit by the way. Carol and John’s was giving out patches to the cosplayers and I love mine, but I would have dressed up anyhow. I may have 
taken more photos over three hours at the party and in that line than I did over five hours in the costume at Shinboku con. If a person knew the character, they immediately recognized it. If they didn’t know him…there was a lot of Optimus Prime and Voltron guesses. For the most part I didn’t correct people. Why harsh someone’s buzz anyhow? I took advantage of the artist alley for a change too. I got Thom Zhaler to draw my girls a My Little Pony. “”You don’t have to say it’s for your girls,” he smiled at me. “It’s okay if it’s for you you know!” It really was for my girls though. If I’d been getting one for me it would have been Doctor Whooves. Actually, that still might happen sometime. The Twilight Sparkle sketch is up in the girl’s room now, right above their autograph from the Little Mermaid. The love it. 
The next morning I got the girls up and I headed out to York comics. York had a really cool set up as well. They were doing a food drive. Everyone who walked in the door got the main set of books – the 12 “Gold” books. They already had these bagged in a large box and just handed out bags to everyone who walked in. In addition, if you brought in a few canned food items, you could grab ten more from the “silver” book (the other FCBD books – these are optional to order) table. I like the idea because raising food for the Cleveland food bank is a good cause, and even if you don’t participate, you’re still going to walk out with 12 free books. If you do participate, there’s a greater chance that you will 
walk away with the “Silver” tier books you want. I talked with on fellow in line who couldn’t get the Mouseguard hardback at Carol and Johns the previous night. That was why he was here, and I noticed he did manage to get his copy that morning. I headed back over to Carol and Johns. I was mostly here because Marc Sumerick was giving away signed copies of the collected Franklin Richards strips that he scripted, and was only going to be there from 11:00 to 1 I believe. Marc singed a copy for each of my girls and Maddie in particular is loving it. It feels like Gus Beezer to her, though to me it feels more like Calvin and Hobbes. It almost feels strange. I know Marc. I see him a couple times a month, so getting an autograph from him is kind of weird. But still, the girls loved it. I ended my day by swinging by Comics are Go! which I’ve mentioned earlier is my 
favorite comic shop. They had a nice selection of the Gold books along with a TON of Rocket Raccon. Scott was also have a sidewalk sale and a table full of .50 cent bins! I dove in and emptied them of all the Shadow, Green Hornet and Daredevils I could find. Actually the best discount bins of the day. It’s worth mentioning, that even though I didn’t make it to it (the girls just didn’t feel like going out), there was a great event going on in downtown Elyria where I live with superheros putting on a live show, the bank being robbed and Batman putting a stop to it! 
All in all, I had a great Free Comic Book Day. I came home with over 40 free comics and bought about 30 more from different dump bins (I make a point to buy something from the shops I get my freebies at. That’s only fair). More importantly, I got to spend some time in the comic scene this weekend, hang out with friends and dress up as a giant robot. I hope you’re FCBD was a good as mine! This little guys was my biggest fan. he kept coming up to me all night! 
I love the tricked out Mini cooper as a Ghostbuster car. Best idea ever! 
We actually started our night off with a game of Spider-man Monopoly before I left for the party! 
BEST. COSTUME. EVER. 
Had to get a photo by the TARDIS 
Special thanks to Mark Brown who took a lot of t he better photos in this post!
Supergirl
Last year we attended the Superman day over at Carol and John’s comic shop. Well, the character intrigued Lydia and she decided one day to draw her own!
Argo City Comics 