THE 2018 COMIC CON COUNTDOWN IS A GO!!!

Welcome to June my CRAZIES!!!  It's summer time again!  And that means the grand spectacle of Nerd Culture is returning to my hometown: SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2018!!!  I'm pretty excited for this year's show as news is already starting pour into the social media atmosphere of some of the things we can look forward too.  As is tradition here at the CRAZYVERSE, the blog toons are taking another nap as we dedicate the next nine weeks to the Ghost of Comic Cons Past!  I always enjoy diving back into these past shows and this year is no exception!  But first, I'd like to take some time to promote was has quickly become another CRAZY tradition for me that happens around this time of year...

Any regular visitor here knows I was a huge fan of the comic strip Cul De Sac by the late great Richard Thompson.  Thompson was a remarkable artist and a great guy who's life was sadly cut short by a monster known as Parkinson's Disease.  Every year, Chris Sparks hosts an art auction at HeroesCon in Charlotte in an effort to raise money to help find a cure.  This will be my third straight year contributing art for the auction, so for those of you going, here's your chance to own a piece of CRAZY original art AND help send Parkinson's Disease packing once and for all!  This isn't a print folks.  It's inked, colored, signed and framed and is only available at the Team Cul De Sac Drink 'n' Draw and Art Auction at HeroesCon on June 15!  For more info, check out the Team Cul De Sac blog by clicking here!  This is a worthwhile venture folks, so I hope all of you who are going will bid on ALL the amazing art being donated.

And now, let's take a trip to another con.  The one known as San Diego Comic Con...  Or Comic Con International, which is what the corporate overlords wanna call it!  Either way, it's a comic convention that happens in San Diego every year, and it's pretty big!  For this first week of the countdown, we return for one last time to 2010 to take a look at the sights, the cosplay and the memories of what is always a wild five days.  So here it is, Comic Con 2010.  Enjoy...

The Breath of Wild often reeks of onion rings and and Starbucks during Comic Con!

Kermit the Frog and Rizzo the Rat do some on the spot reporting at the Disney booth, back when Disney actually seemed to have a plan for the Muppet's future.

It's not every day a legend like Danny Elfman shows up to Comic Con.  Seriously, I don't think he's been back since!

Optimus Prime stands guard over the entrance to the Marriott, making it safe for guests hoping to enjoy the Hub Pavilion.  For those who've likely forgotten already, the Hub Network was a joint effort by Hasbro and Discovery to launch a new kids TV channel in 2010.  Despite having access to some great shows, the network was more or less a 24hr commercial for Hasbro properties and it didn't take long for people to figure that out.  It quietly bowed out in 2014, but for one brief weekend in 2010, the Hub put on a pretty awesome show, for free no less, at Comic Con!

I'm deathly afraid of heights, but when swag calls, I had to answer!  This was done at the Clash Of The Titans challenge course held in the Hilton Park across the street from the Convention Center.  This was the first year that free, offsite events began to be held in an effort to give those who didn't get passes a chance to have some Comic Con fun.  In the first few years of the offsites, Warner Bros. usually rented out most of the Hilton Park.  These last few years, Fox has had control of it and turns it into the fun FX Experience.  This particular year though, it was all WB, and I had to go to each station to complete each challenge in order to get...  A cardboard shield.  Hey, I've done more intense challenges for even dumber prizes before and since!

Very special moments often happen at Comic Con, like this reunion between Waldo and his long estranged sister, Carmen San Diego!

With crowds getting as large as they do at Comic Con, it's sadly all too easy for tempers to flair.

The Green Hornet enjoys a con moment, blissfully unaware of the horrors that Seth Rogen had in store for him the following year!

As this overhead view shows, the exhibit hall is massive and gets packed!

Aw, 2010.  Back when TRON looked like a big future franchise for Disney.

Star Wars on the Mezzanine!  Few con goers realize that some of the best spots to get some great cosplay pics is right on the Mezzanine Level of the north side of the convention center.  It's a real hidden gem!

The Sails Pavilion, recently renovated even, is another great spot for cosplay pics, especially obscure ones like Love Boat, The Next Generation!  Even in an open space like that, there's always some diamonds to be found!

The Trekkies were out in full force in 2010!  With Discovery being a huge hit, I assume Star Trek cosplay will be huge this year!

I doubt Marvel will ever get to the storyline where Oscar the Grouch briefly usurped Odin's throne!

And that was, for the last time, Comic Con 2010.  Starting to run out of pics from the older cons, although I'm not opposed to using the leftovers that are good in the future.  We'll see how it all goes.  2010's con was a lot of fun.  It was also the last time I went as a regular attendee.  I applied for my pro badge not long after and was amazingly enough approved!  This was a benchmark year in many ways as it was the first year for free, offsite events and really the last year people were actually able to get into Hall H without having to completely sacrifice one's entire con schedule to wait.  It was also the infamous year that one attendee stabbed another in the face with a pen over a seating dispute in Hall H!  I've said it a million times and I'll say it a million more starting now: Personal comfort is a sacrifice you're going to have to make if you wanna see a panel at ANY convention!  Seats are close, people are tired, rooms are crammed and the days are long.  It's just something we gotta deal with.  And if people are being rude, there's a legion of overzealous security guards looking to abuse their power.  Seriously, just report rude attendees.  No jerk is worth having a criminal record.

And that's all for this first week.  We'll be back next time with a look at Comic Con 2011 and more info on the Team Cul De Sac Art Auction.  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!