OF COMIC CON AND THE LORAX...

And we're back!  You're no doubt saying "Hold on Jon!  Shouldn't you be talking about Comic Con 2016?"  Well, as you all know by now, I queue these posts up weeks in advance, so as of right now, SDCC 2016 hasn't even happened yet!  It could've been totally awesome or completely sucked.  I just don't know yet!  But, until next week rolls around, I can tie y'all over with a run down of last year's show.  That's not so bad, right?  But first, some art!  Enjoy...

He speaks for the trees!  This Lorax art concludes Kid Lit month with a fun nod to Dr. Seuss!  My brother actually met him when he was very young!  Had a lot of fun drawing this one.  Dr. Seuss  should've been a cartoonist.  He would've totally killed it at MAD Magazine!

And now, our look back at last year's Comic Con!  Enjoy...

My niece, Kristen, meets Steven Universe!  I actually ran into this guy months later at San Diego Comic Fest!  He was a very nice dude!  He's helped set up a few local shows in San Diego as it turns out!

Hero Corgis!  My pal Joie would squeal with joy if she saw these fuzzies in person! 

Even the trolley's are a blast during Comic Con! 

It takes a real man to wear high heels! 

A lotta fun to be had at the FREE Petco Park Interactive Zone, like this impromptu cosplay contest with some pretty good costumes! 

The INSANE march from Hall H to the Pop's Site where those lucky enough to get into the Star Wars panel were treated to an exclusive concert by the San Diego Symphony!  I watched it from the steps behind the convention center!

The Adult Swim Carnival!  Another great freebie if you didn't have passes! 

The Xbox Lounge!  Some truly cool things were in store for us that year!  Most fun was the Mortal Kombat X tournaments which pitted players at the lounge not only against each other, but against players from around the country as well, all on stage!  And to think of all the riots the original game caused at my local arcade! 

NEE!!! 

GREATEST COSPLAY EVER!!! 

Thor takes some much needed advice about improving his relationship with Loki from Master Splinter. 

The Scream Queens drop ride at the Petco Park Interactive Zone!  Me and the kids went on it and did in fact scream!  Even funnier, this ride was at the San Diego County Fair not even a week earlier!

So much for not having any strings to hold him down! 

I think we're in BIG trouble here! 

Good thing this guy was here!  The exhibit hall was a real mess by the time Comic Con ended!

And there you have it!  Another fun year at Comic Con in 2015!  That show was a bit of a milestone for me.  After 13 years as a stagehand, I finally got to set up the LED wall for the Lucasfilm booth!  Was a huge deal for me and I still get misty-eyed thinking about it!

Well folks, that's all she wrote for the month of July!  I'll be back next time with a full report on Comic Con 2016 and to kick off Roald Dahl month with new art saluting one of my favorite books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!

IT'S HERE!!! THE CRAZY COMIC CON 2016 EXPERIENCE IS A GO!!!

We've come to it at last!  After more than a year of waiting, San Diego Comic Con International is finally here!  Even Mike and Mindy came out of cartoon retirement to get in on the action for a weekend!  So much excitement!  So much to do!  So much to remember!  So much to see!  Like this wraparound ad for Legends on the Marriott Marquis next to the convention center in the below pic!

Honestly don't know if this show was any good, but it certainly got a lot of press, and new wraparounds are already popping up downtown!  They waste no time at all these days!

Okay, I know we are all excited, but I do have some new art to show… In addition to the Mike and Mindy art at the top of the page!  So let's dive in, shall we?  Enjoy...

This week, Pippi Longstocking gets the CRAZY treatment!  For over a century now, this pigtailed tyke has fueled young imaginations around the world, inspiring many to set out on their own adventures.  Not exactly a very positive role model in this day and age, but she came from a much different time when it was alright for a kid to go exploring.  You know, before someone invented video games!  Hopefully I did Pippi some justice in this art.

Okay, now it's time for the main event!  We set the Wayback Machine to July of 2014 for what was one of my favorite years at Comic Con!  It was hard deciding on pics for this post, I just had so many I wanted to share!  But I cut it down to a select few that I hope y'all will enjoy!  And now, on with the show...

In what has now becoming a Comic Con tradition, the Sharknado crew takes over the Gaslamp Quarter!  That year saw the second film get the swag machine rolling.

 POWDERED… TOAST… MAN!!! MAN!!! MAN!!! MAN!!!  This dude clearly does his sit-ups!

This may be one of my all-time favorite cosplay groups!  These guys and gals totally nailed the Disney Villains!  Love the baby as Smee!  Just classic!  Oddly enough, people had a tough time figuring out the hunter.  Here's a hint if your stuck: The movie's title rhymes with "Lambi!"

Another priceless cosplay moment: Gallery Joker and Bob the Goon!  And yes, he was blasting Prince's Party Man in the background.  If you're gonna cosplay at any con, you gotta own it! 

Don't even remember what this was promoting, but it scared the hell out of a lotta people cruising the Gaslamp! 

NBC has taken over Tin Fish Square for a better part of the last five years, but its a nice event for those who couldn't get passes to score some swag and see some pretty cool previews.  The monster in the center wasn't even part of it!  Some dude just built it and was walking around in it!

The FX/Simpsons Zone at the Hilton Park across the street.  The games were pretty fun, but the Homer Dome was a total bust.  We waited almost three hours to get in.  And when we did, it was merely ten minutes of highlights from seasons 3-8 of The Simpsons, or as we fans call it, "The good years."

The notoriously infamous Hall H line!  Abandon hope all ye who enter!

D23 set up a pretty cool gaming lounge for D23 Members, so I took my nephew, who's a gamer and loved Disney Infinity.  Honestly don't know why Disney shut Infinity down.  Its sales were strong and had an insanely devout fanbase.  I guess some things just aren't meant to be for very long.

Meanwhile, Skylanders is doing pretty well for itself!  Between the exhibit hall, the Xbox Lounge, the Nintendo Lounge and the Petco Park Interactive Zone, they had a LOT of coverage!  It's easy to see why these guys are numero uno in the toy-to-game genre. 

Definitely see some interesting people while strolling around outside the convention center! 

Wow.  Didn't think it was possible to out-creepy Michael Bay's Ninja Turtles, but these guys pulled it off!  And if you're reading this Mr. Bay, THAT'S HOW CASEY JONES IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK!!! 

I'm a pretty nice dude in general, but I do tend to let absolute power go to my head! 

If only this were true... 

Just outside the Xbox Lounge, some very interesting artifacts were put on display.  You see, a few years back, some filmmakers went out to the deserts of New Mexico and dug up the fabled E.T. The Video Game cartridges as part of a documentary (Which I really need to see!).  For those not in the know, this game was beyond horrible and due to a severe miscalculation in actual demand for it, Atari overproduced and helped cause a severe crash in the video game market that nearly destroyed gaming altogether!  Yup, that tattered piece of plastic in the pic above almost prevented Mario, Sonic, Halo and Madden from ever happening!  Thank God Nintendo had a trick up its sleeve!  And yes I know Mario existed before!

And so wraps up our look back at Comic Con 2014!  A stellar year at the show with one of the highlight's being Sting finally making his WWE debut!  Glad I saw that one in person because it truly was an honor!  Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time.

Before we close out, we got one last bit of info before signing off!  What info you say?  Why, the annual Comic Con Web Comic Meet Up of course!

Yup!  We are back for our fourth straight year and this time we're going tropical!  We'll be crashing the pool-side bar at the Marriott Marquis right next door to the San Diego Convention Center on Thursday, July 21, 2016!  It's a come/leave as you please sort of deal, so come if you can!  Big thanks to cartoonist Jimmy Purcell for getting the ball rolling again!  For more detailed info, check out Jimmy's Facebook page here!

Well folks, that's all for this week.  We'll be back next time with some more art and a look back at Comic Con 2015!  For those of you going, have a fun, safe and fulfilling Comic Con.  Be sure to drink plenty of water, wear comfortable shoes and regularly use deodorant, can't stress that last one enough!  And please be courteous to others.  With so many under one roof during the hottest days of summer, it's easy for tempers to flare.  But if we all just keep calm and patient, there's no reason we can't all have a great time!  And don't forget, there are PLENTY of fun and free events going on just outside the convention center!  So check it out!  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!

COMIC CON AND FLAT STANLEY: "PUMPED" FULL OF AWESOME... AND AIR!!

NEXT WEEK!!! COMIC CON 2016 IS NEXT WEEK!!!  SO LITTLE TO DO AND SO MUCH TIME…  Wait a minute, thats not right.  There's TONS to do!  Alright, lets just get through today, shall we?  Here's some art...

Today's art came from the Daily Doodle theme of Flat Stanley, the tale of a boy who goes flat and is literally blown around from one situation into another.  In the end, Stanley's brother pumps him back to normal, which made for the perfect excuse to do a twisted variation of the finale!  I can't tell you how many cartoonist and illustrator pals tweeted me over how much they loved the rough art for this.  One pal even said he would've happily pumped up his sister if she had gone flat!  I can only imagine what family get togethers would've been like afterward!

Well, the art part's done, so now it's time for some blast-from-the-past fun courtesy of Comic Con!  This time, we jump back to 2013, the year everything came full circle… Or did it?  Hell, I don't remember!  That weekend is a whole blur now!  Thank God I got pictures to piece it all back together!  Enjoy...

The WB booth.  One of the biggest at the Con.  They used to have a huge water tower there, but those days are long gone.  Lord only knows what's gonna happen at the booth this year.  LOTS of fans are gonna be vocal over DC's movies! 

ME WANNA GUNDAM!!!  ME WANT ONE NOW!!! 

The final year of the Shifty Look retro lounge.  They went under two months later.  I'll always have memories at least. 

The Xbox Lounge was moved to the Hyatt after spending its first year at the Hard Rock.  The Hyatt certainly offers more space, but thanks to some rowdy folks the previous year, it's no longer free for all and also no longer gives out snacks!  Still, this lounge was a lot of fun and gave out some great swag. 

The Regular Show Experience at the New Children's Museum was awesome!  It was a long wait, but totally worth it!  Got an exclusive poster, played some classic 80's games and won a pair of fuzzy dice! This really was the best thing at the Con that year!

Pretty sure this counts as a trained service animal. 

HELLOOOOOOOOOOO NURSE!!! 

Alex Ross-style Joker!  He looks so classy! 

The Ender's Game Experience in the Gaslamp.  In the past, it'd been the Frankenweenie Experience.  These days, it's the Assassin's Creed Obstacle Course.  And yes, I've wasted hours watching folks get their asses handed to them on it!  I never did see Ender's Game, but the experience was pretty cool.  Got a pretty funny ID Badge (Top of the post) out of it!

This was something at the Hasbro booth.  Can't recall what toy it was for, but it looked pretty cool!  Also looks like it wants to munch on some ponies! 

Always something awesome to see and do at the Petco Park Interactive Zone!  And best of all, its completely FREE!!!

 Boltman was on the hunt!

Pretty sure the Ocarina of Time isn't meant for panhandling, Link! 

COWABUNGA DUDES!!! 

Wild West Ghostbusters!  Love this variant!

And so wraps up our look back at Comic Con 2013!  A great year and the last Con to date where I actually got to walk around see what I wanted to.  These days I got my nephew and niece with me.  It's all good though.  They're starting to get into the stuff I'm into, so now we can enjoy it together, instead of being bored with each other's interests!

And so we finish another week!  We'll be back next time with some more fun art, a look back at Comic Con 2014 and some info on this year's Web Comic Meet-Up!  We'll also be posting on Monday next week so that everyone will have more time to soak it all in.  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!