Tag Archives: SDCC

Mattel SDCC 2011 Speedster News

Hey Speed Readers,

A few days ago, Actionfigureinsider.com gave us our first look at the Mattel San Diego Comic-Con 2011 exclusives. Not much for the Flash and other speedsters on the DC Universe Classics front but there will be something a little different for speedster fans.

Mattel has a line of dolls called Monster High based on a concept that tries to appeal to the more macabre little tweeny girls out there by melding Hot Topic with horror. The premise behind them being that the characters are the plastic (literally and figuratively) offspring of famous film and literary monsters. The initial characters were based on the classic Universal Monsters but they have since branched out to include all different types.

Now what does this have to do with speedsters? One of the main characters, a zombie named Ghoulia Yelps is being offered at the ‘Con dressed as her favorite comic book character, Dead Fast, the Zombie Speedster:

(Picture obviously courtesy of Actionfigureinsider.com)

The Monster High product that will be sold at Comicon is a special Ghoulia Yelps collector doll dressed as Dead Fast. The doll comes with special collector packaging, is dressed in her costume, and also comes with a Dead Fast figure, comic book, and doll stand. See below for the talking points:

• Ghoulia Yelps is the zombie girl at Monster High and being that she is the smartest ghoul in school naturally she is a comic book fan. She’s on her way to Nekro Con dressed as her favorite zombie super hero, Dead Fast.

• Once he [Dead Fast] was just a face in the shambling crowd until he was pecked by a radioactive hummingbird giving him the power of super speed! Now he’s the zombie super hero Dead Fast!

• You can’t outrun zombie justice!

• She comes with a miniature Dead Fast action figure and a Dead Fast fan fic book that she wrote and illustrated herself.

I don’t know why but this sounds kind of cool. Little annoying that the “smartest ghoul in the school” is “naturally a comic book fan” but it is still a fun concept. I’m absolutely digging the costume and Silver Age-tinged origin (shades of Stan Lee’s re-imagining of The Flash) and I’m actually thinking about keeping an eye out for this in the secondary market.

Here is another picture I found courtesy of Hellyeahmonsterhigh.tumblr.com:

Anyone else plan on taking a detour off the beaten path and picking up Ghoulia Yelps a.k.a. Dead Fast?

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

2010 in Review: Ranking California Comic-Cons

1. Comic-Con International

Comic-Con International in San Diego is the ultimate pop culture fan experience. They have everything you could possibly want to see, including comics, movies, video games and more. The downside: they have everything everyone else could possibly want to see, too. So it’s crowded, hectic, and requires planning months ahead in order to make sure you have a ticket and (if you need one) a hotel room. Comics publishers have a major presence, as do movie and video game studios, collectibles manufacturers, etc. and there are so many events on the schedule that you’d need a group of 20 people to see everything. If you can, try to go more than one day. This is the con I’m most familiar with, having attended every year since 1990.
CCI 2010 report.

2. WonderCon

Comic-Con International’s little sibling, WonderCon in San Francisco, is a nice balance of everything San Diego has to offer, but less crowded and less, well, insane. Comics take up a bigger part of the show, with the major publishers always well-represented, but movies and TV have a presence here as well. I’ve been to the last 3 cons.
Wondercon 2010 report.

3. Long Beach Comic Con

Only in its second year, Long Beach Comic Con makes a great impression as a convention that’s actually focused on comics and the people who make them. The artists and writers area is the central feature of the main floor. Programming is light, but the mid-level comics publishers have a strong presence. The emphasis on authors and the light crowds (this was only its second year) make it a good place to meet artists and writers without standing in incredibly long lines.
LBCC 2010 report.

4. Anaheim Comic Con

Wizard World’s return to the LA/OC area, despite the name change, is more focused on pop culture than comics. There’s little publisher presence, minimal programming, and a major emphasis on celebrities and dealers. Good for costume spotting. It’s fun, but if I had to pick one or the other, I’d definitely go with Long Beach. Technically this was its first year, but I understand Wizard World is trying to make all of their shows the same type of experience.
Anaheim 2010 report.

And Beyond

There are a lot of smaller cons that I either haven’t been to at all or haven’t been to recently. The roughly-bimonthly Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine comes to mind, for instance, and the California Comic Con in Yorba Linda. And aside from WonderCon and APE, I’m not really familiar with the Northern California scene — or, for that matter, the Inland Empire here in Socal.

Are there any other California-based fans here? What cons do you like to attend?

Flash Costumes at Comic-Con Int’l 2010

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It’s been three weeks since Comic-Con International, but costume photos are always in season. Here are some of the people who came to the con dressed as the Flash. I’ve posted a few of these before, but not all of them. Some of the photos are mine, but most of them are from other photographers on Flickr. In each case, clicking on the photo will open the original page with larger images.

Authentic Custom Costumes

These are the costumes that were clearly home– or professionally-made, but that stuck to the standard designs.

First up is Mike Rollerson’s photo of a really impressive female Flash. I’ve seen her in a number of other costumes at various conventions, including Catwoman and Psylocke. Keep reading – there’s another picture of her later on.

The Superman/Wonder Woman/Flash trio on the right made a huge impression, judging by the number of photographers who snapped pictures of them at the con. The Flash is a very exact copy of the costume from the game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, down to the boots and the armbands, though he’s thrown back the hood and put on sunglasses instead. I’ve seen at least one picture of the group where he’s tossed on a red sweatshirt over the costume that looks like Bart’s from Smallville.

This group includes a more traditional Flash. As with many large groups, I’m not sure how many knew each other and how many were just invited to join in for having a costume with the same theme.

Continue reading →

Velocity Cosplay at Comic-Con

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The Flash wasn’t the only speedster super-hero at Comic-Con this year. Meagan VanBurkleo dressed up as Velocity from Top Cow’s Cyberforce.

Check out her site for more photos and a write-up of the costume. If you have time, read her article at Game Informer on SDCC: A Cosplayer’s Perspective.

» Full index of Comic-Con coverage

Speed Reading: Comic-Con Follow-Up

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Some links related to the Flash and Comic-Con International.

Francis Manapul writes about SDCC, Beast Legends, and Flash #4.

Titans Tower Monitor Room has been posting convention sketches from Comic-Con International, including Kid Flash by Sean Philips [Update] and another Kid Flash by Francis Manapul.

DC Comics has teamed up with Converse for super-hero shoes, starting with Batman, Superman and Green Lantern. Somehow they managed to skip the hero who’s famous for running.

I’m still working on my overall convention report. Here are Thursday and Friday. Half-done, half to go!