Some weekend linkblogging…
Once Upon a Geek can’t wait for the upcoming DC Adventures RPG.
Multiversity Comics casts the Teen Titans
The Beat finds that Comic-Con brings money into San Diego after all. Who knew? Oh, right, we did: the ones spending it!
4thletter! looks at Flash and Batman in Final Crisis: “Everything about the Flash, any of them, in Final Crisis is dead on…”
Some quick convention notes:
Flash: Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver will be at Wizard World’s Philadelphia Comic Con* this weekend, and will be signing this afternoon from 3:00-3:45.
Comic-Con International is gearing up for next month’s event with transportation news: they’re adding shuttle service to hotels in Mission Valley, Shelter Island, and North Harbor Island. Also, they’re partnering with some downtown San Diego parking lots to sell pre-paid parking. Amazingly enough, spaces in the lot below the convention center still seem to be available!
If you’re headed to San Diego, or to any other convention this summer, you may want to check out my Tips for Comic-Con.
Long Beach Comic Con has only been around for a year, but they’re already offering a limited-edition lifetime membership for $129. That’s comparable to three years at the full-weekend price of $45…or just over one year at Comic-Con International (currently $100 for 4½ days). They’re running a contest though the end of July to win one of the lifetime memberships.
I enjoyed the first LBCC last October, and I definitely plan on going back this year if I can.
*I don’t link to the individual convention pages anymore because they keep moving them around. Not to mention renaming the cons.
More linkblogging! Here are some (mostly) non-Flash-related posts on general comics, fandom, and online community issues.
Orbital Vector analyzes an aspect of super-speed that’s usually glossed over: Just How Old is the Flash, subjectively? (via dhusk’s comment on the Flashes’ experience post)
Techland has eight questions for comics creators to consider before putting a book on the market. (via @SpeedsterSite)
Multiversity Comics looks at some of the pros and cons of waiting for the trade.
Comic Vine has 5 Things to be Aware of When Buying Back Issues.
What do websites with open comments do when they realize that people are jerks? Reining in Nasty Comments. (via @ThisIsTrue) I’m reminded of Penny Arcade’s expression of the Greater Internet ****wad Theory (NSFW language): Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total ****wad.
Technologizer tracks down the origin of the term Fanboy (via The Beat)
High Five Comics considers The Problem with Madame Lady Girl-Woman.
In the 1940s, Crash Comics introduced a super-hero named Blue Streak. He was a “skilled fighter.” With that name, how did they not make him a speedster?
There have been a lot of articles on the battle for the future of Comic-Con International, but one question jumped out at me in this one at Deadline Hollywood: Jeff Katz asks, “Are you a fan show with trade elements, or are you a trade show that lets in fans…or is there a happy medium?”
In case anyone wasn’t aware, one of Mattel’s exclusives for this year’s San Diego Comic-Con or SDCC is going to be Starro The Conqueror. How does this relate to The Flash? Many of you should be aware that Starro, the alien conqueror with the ability to enslave his enemies using starfish-shaped spores, debuted with the Justice League of America in the Silver Age classic, Brave and the Bold #28. As a special bonus to commemorate DC Comics’ 75th Anniversary, Mattel will be releasing Starro with all five members of the original Justice League. Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and of course, our favorite scarlet speedster, The Flash. Take a gander.
Starro Packaging
Starro and the Silver Age Justice League of America
Starro Spores that can only be acquired at the Con.
Unfortunately these guys aren’t going to be released in the DC Universe Classics(or DCUC) line. The exclusive for that line has been revealed to be Plastic Man.
These are instead done in the Infinite Heroes style which is Mattel’s 3.75-inch line of figures. Think DC Universe Classics shrunken down to the size of G.I. Joes. I don’t think the line has been as popular as Mattel had hoped. A lot of this having to do with the quality of the initial figures. Limited Articulation (Which I actually liked for the most part), poor sculpts and sloppy paint apps have plagued this line from the very beginning. The figures have been more plentiful and easier to find at retail than DCUC, but I can’t say how much of this is because of collectors not really wanting them.
These guys don’t look too bad though. Mattel went back to the drawing board a little while ago and the results weren’t terrible. Not perfect by any means but they are heading in the right direction. I have been waiting for a regular version of the Flash released in the Matty Exclusive Crisis on Infinite Earths Infinite Heroes 4-Pack for a while and while I’m not ecstatic that I have to pay 50 bucks for him I’m still happy to have him. Honestly I’m sure they are going to release him as a single card later on, I really just want it now. 🙂
The packaging is probably the coolest part of this set. Well besides the Starro Spores. But you can only get those if you go to the actual con or purchase them after the fact on eBay for what I’m sure will be ridiculous prices. You can’t see it in the pictures but the packaging is set up exactly like the cover of Brave and the Bold #28. Attack of the Show had an exclusive preview of all the Mattel items coming to SDCC, including this set. The awesome set up of the cover is shown in the first video which can be seen HERE. The segment on the Starro set is about 2 minutes and 18 seconds in. This looks so cool, that it may be the one item that I keep MOC (or Mint On Card, meaning unopened and in pristine condition for the uninitiated).
Can’t wait to order these guys. I may go the extra mile for the Starro Spores as they look too freaking cool to pass up. I already have a Starro-possessed Flash Heroclix so it would be kind of cool to have a large scale version of it too. Do any of you guys plan on picking the set up? At SDCC or from Matty later on?
-Devin “The Flash” Johnson
Planning to go to Comic-Con International, but couldn’t get a hotel room during last week’s lottery? Over at K-Squared Ramblings, I’ve posted some tips on how you can still stay in San Diego.
Here are some more questions (and implied questions) pulled from search terms that have shown up in the site stats, all about conventions.
That depends on the convention. Some of the price variations I’ve seen include:
In most cases, you can go to the convention’s website and order a ticket online, or find a phone number to call. Regional cons will often sell tickets through nearby comic stores.
I’m guessing that this person meant Comic-Con International (San Diego), which has sold out of full-weekend, Saturday, and Friday passes for this year. You can still buy a Thursday or Sunday ticket. If you want to get a 4-day pass, or a pass for a day that’s sold out, don’t give up hope just yet.
But first: you can’t just buy a ticket second-hand because they’re linked to names, and you have to show ID when you pick up your badge. Maybe if your identical twin bought the ticket and is willing to lend you his or her driver’s license.
You can keep your eye open for promotions. Last year, as the con approached, there were companies that held contests or raffles where the prize was a ticket to the convention.
You can also wait until June. Last year, after the cancellation deadline, the con organizers counted up the number of tickets returned and started selling them online. To keep them from selling out all at once, they put them up in small lots in fixed-price sales on eBay. They’ve said that they plan to do something similar this year.
I’ve seen a lot of variations on this one, which is interesting because there hasn’t been a Wizard World Anaheim yet to review! The convention coming up in April is the first one.
It will probably be similar to the last few Wizard World Los Angeles cons, though the change in venue will almost certainly have an effect. WWLA itself changed drastically (I’m told) when it moved from the Long Beach Convention Center to the Los Angeles Convention Center, and the new con is going to be literally across the street from Disneyland. More importantly, Wizard World itself seems to be broadening its focus to general pop culture and celebrities even as it’s adding “Comic Con” to its name.
If you’re interested, here are my write-ups of some recent LA-area cons:
On a related note, I also saw this:
Sorry to break it to you, but he’s not going to be there. The same weekend, he’ll be at C2E2 in Chicago.
Update: I forgot to mention another weird one related to Anaheim: “WonderCon Anaheim.” I don’t know whether someone got the names mixed up (it does start with a W) or was looking for information on both conventions.