HAPPY EASTER CRAZIES!!!

Happy Easter my CRAZIES!!!  Gonna keep things short this week.  It's spring break, we got some holidays this weekend and rascally rabbits are all over the place!  So let's get going!  Longtime CRAZIES know that I am a sucker for Reese's Cups and pretty much anything crossing chocolate and peanut butter.  I can't explain why this combination is so magical, but dammit, it works!  So when Jennifer Cuthbert and I hosted the CRAZY Easter Egg Hunt a couple years ago, I knew exactly where I wanted to go with it.  Apparently Bubble Fox did too!  Poor Pepper and Charlie.  If it's any consolation boys,  Bubble went through five gallons of prune juice trying to pass that sucker!

Well, that's all for this week, but we'll be back next week with some uplifting art that really calls out some blowhards!  So be sure to come back and check it out!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!  Happy Easter!

 

WONDERCON 2025!!! IN LIKE A LAMB, OUT LIKE A LION!!!

*SIGHS*  Well, another WonderCon has come to pass.  It seems as soon as I was checking into my hotel I was already checking out!  I hate this deal where time seems to speed up after we hit the age of 20, but now is not the time to ponder the space-time continuum.  Y'all came here to see some Con pics, and I intend to deliver!

It all happened in such a blur.  Even as I type this it's hard to believe a whole week has already passed since I came home!  But good times were definitely had as the following photographic evidence will attest.  So, for the final time in 2025, cap up those Code Red Mountain Dews, wipe off that Cheeto dust and pre-wedgie those Spider-Man Underoos because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown is blasting off!  Enjoy...

 

Believe it or not I get this cosplay!

I never thought that anyone would!

Cruising the halls on a wing and a prayer...

This guy's Greatest American Hero costume is that good!

Jedi Barbie!  I'm sure it'll happen if it hasn't already!

Seeing more Don Bluth characters cosplayed in recent years and I love it!  Dragon's Lair was such a groundbreaking game too, so it's nice to see Dirk the Daring get some love from the fans!

Sadly, the legendary courtyard fountain at the Anaheim Convention Center was not functional during this year's show.  It's often the spot for some jaw-dropping pictures, so hopefully by next year, things will be flowing again!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  THIS WRESTLING COSPLAY WAS BOSS!!!  OOH YEAH!!!  I don't really recall Scott Steiner having any real catchphrase, but Big Poppa Pump cosplay is definitely a new one for me!

Faith and begorrah! It's Captain Ireland!  Celebrating another thorough ass-kicking of Hydra agents with a victorious swig!

For months really, fans were excited about the return of Funko to WonderCon after opting to skip last year's show.  After the incredible Tiki Bar and Carnival setups of the recent past, expectations were understandably high!  So did they deliver?  Well...  They had variety if nothing else.  Funko decided to ditch the themed element and just went with a VERY scaled down version of the "Funkoville" setup they've been doing at SDCC since 2022.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but this really paled in comparison to their San Diego setup, and the Anaheim Convention Center has the room to do something pretty nifty.  Granted, Funko's past Anaheim experiences were also smaller in scale, but they still delivered very fun setups that had everyone buzzing!  This just seemed like a rushed popup shop.  Still, they had lines around the corner all weekend, so fans were still pleased, and in the end, that's what matters most.

I gotta say, this puppet show was a LOT easier to follow than that Dungeons & Dragons puppet show I went to last year!

"Quiet down now!  Will the real Indiana Jones PLEASE come forward!"

My old pal Matt Eargle came to the show and decided the time was right to reenact the finale of Dr. Strangelove!

I don't know what Until Dawn is or who the cast are, but moments after this photo was taken, a zombie burst through the wall and scared the living hell out of all of them.  I imagine it's on YouTube.

This Shrek cosplay group was definitely one of the best that I saw all weekend!  Mascot Lord Farquaad in particular was just expert level awesome!

These RX Pilot Droids are far more fun to fly with than C-3PO ever will be!

I'm not sure what this thing was supposed to be, but it moved and sang in Japanese.  It was too quick for my camera even!

Apparently this guy is a YouTube celebrity.  I marveled at his retro tech while he and his pal marveled at mine, telling me my tiny, nearly 20yo Casio Exilim camera is valuable.  I thought they were blowing smoke until my pal Matt told me it legitimately is!  This is why I horde my old tech folks!

Max and PJ totally see eye-2-eye with Powerline!

Tired of her monsters constantly failing her, Rita Repulsa made one of her Putties giant and sent it after the Power Rangers!

After the fallout of the disastrous AMC Theater chain's Dune popcorn buckets, the Sandworm decided it was time for a break and strolled around WonderCon!

And now, we end things this round with my favorite cosplay of the whole con:  Carrie and Bo "Bandit" Darville from Smokey And The Bandit!  One of the all-time great comedies, it's pure stupid fun and I've long wondered why nobody ever does cosplay of it?  Well, this year the Con Gods smiled upon me and now I can say I've seen it in person!  NOW SOMEBODY GIT DAT SUM BITCH!!!

And that was WonderCon 2025!  A very fast weekend with far more cooperative weather than last year, though there were some rain scares leading into the week.  I spent WAY too much money, but then again, what is life without a little fun?  It's okay to spoil yourself every once in a while.  Just don't let it become a habit!  Gotta say though, the amount of money some of these vendors were charging for old comics is downright criminal.  I'm talking 50yo books with torn covers and missing pages that they're selling at grossly inflated prices.  It's one thing if the book is mint, but if it's practically falling apart, they shouldn't be charging no more than a $1 at the most.  Still, I'm happy with my haul and eager to return next spring!  It was a wonderful weekend of good friends, good food and good times!  Only 354 more days to go...

And that's a wrap on the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown 2025!  I know, it's kinda sad.  It was a fun seven weeks, but things have to return to normal for a bit.  But it's not all bad.  We're definitely less than a year away from next year's Countdown and if that weren't cool enough, we're a mere eight weeks away from the return of the CRAZY Comic Con Countdown!  And believe you me, I got some awesome pics lined up for that one!  In the meantime, we got some art posts coming up and they are all fun and, of course, CRAZY!!!  So be sure to come back next week and see what we got going on!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

WONDERCON 2024... STILL WAITING ON 2025!!!

Welcome to April CRAZIES!!!  Can you believe we're a quarter of the way into this mess of a year already?  Well, that's not why we are here today.  We are here to have good times and leave our cares behind, if only for a few moments.  And there's no better distraction than WonderCon...  WonderCon 2024!!!  Wait a tic, 2024?  But that was last year's show!  Shouldn't we be covering this year's edition?  Well of course we should!  And next week, we will!  Come on folks, y'all know by now I write these well in advance.  Hell, WonderCon 2025 hasn't even happened yet as of this writing!  We're still nearly two weeks away!  But, we still have some time before then, so we gotta keep this ball rolling while we can!  Comb the Dorito dust out of those neck-beards and hold on tight because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown is still on!  Enjoy...

Where's Winston when you need him?!?

Well goooooooolly!  Nothing puffed about this stuff!

Anastasia cosplay?  It's always nice to see Don Bluth films getting some fandom love, and that movie is one of his better flicks.

Welcome to Duddleyville!  D-Von, Bubba Ray and Spike were looking for some tables as this ECW cosplay was next level!

Zeo Rangers!  You don't often see any of the later seasons of Power Rangers cosplayed, despite many of them being very popular and successful.  I guess that first incarnation was just that popular and nostalgic.  And for those that never watched, those are the Gold and Red Rangers (Latter's pretty obvious).

Looks like Veruca finally got her way!

Cannot say enough what a godsend the food trucks at WonderCon are.  You'd think there'd be more food options nearby with all the hotels and Disneyland being right next to the Anaheim Convention Center, but nope.  Just a Morton's and the upscale hotel restaurants.  Nothing against those places, but they aren't exactly the kind of places to go on a con budget!

A nice sunny day greeted us on opening day, but that rapidly changed by nightfall as it was pouring the rest of the weekend!  Hopefully next week's post will boast of more cooperative weather!

This Scarlet Witch cosplay is next level and very simple in approach!

Ed was there with some of his fast food contemporaries!  Sadly, not many courtyard dance parties last year due to the weather.  Here's hoping to this year!

The Rocketeer blasted his way into the Convention Center lobby and reminded everybody of what a badass he was!

This couple's been coming to WonderCon for years now and they always do a fun variation of Belle and the Beast.  This time around, they were Ghostbusters!

One of the coolest things about WonderCon is that you really get a good chance at seeing artists at work and see the creative process in real time!  I always love watching fellow artists work and seeing how they create while learning new techniques in the process.

We'll conclude today with this cosplay tribute to legendary manga creator Akira Toriyama, who had passed away not long before WonderCon took place.  Toriyama was a huge influence on me as an artist and his greatest creation, DragonBall, is what got me into anime in the first place.  It was nice to see the love his fans still had for him show up at cons last year and hopefully we'll see the DragonBall Experience return to SDCC this summer at the Marriott!

And that was WonderCon 2024!  Despite the weather, it was an awesome show!  I spent WAY too much money, but the comics, art and toys I scored was totally worth it.  It's okay to spoil yourself every once in awhile.  Just don't let it become a habit!

Well, only one more post to go, but I promise you that we will conclude the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown 2025 on a high note, so be sure to come back next week and see how it all ends!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

WONDERCON 2025 IS HERE!!! BUT FIRST...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  IT'S HERE!!!  WONDERCON 2025 IS HERE!!!  Okay, okay, gotta calm down. But how can I not be excited?  One of the best weeks of the year is FINALLY here!  So much is going on right now.  So much prep and packing!  I think it would probably be best to just get straight to the pics, am I right?  Hold on to your Batman Underoos CRAZIES, because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown is a go!  Enjoy...

The MacDalorian!  He's fetching the bounty on Grimace!

What's this?  What's this?  Jack has grown and Sally's shrunk!

Horned King cosplay!  Among Disney's most obscure villains, he's also probably among their most terrifying.  I get why Disney's down on The Black Cauldron.  It's not a good movie by any means.  But the books it was loosely based on are good and could serve as a great series of live action fantasy films if given the proper time to develop.

I kinda miss the days when every con I went to was filled to the brim with Doctor Who cosplay!

The Diamonds meet the Hitchhiking Ghosts!  They found the spooks adorable!

A live action Snow White?  I'm sorry, but the trailers just look awful, especially the CG dwarves.  Is effort really so much to ask for?  It's not like they can't afford it!

The family that cosplays together stays together!

Doctor, Doctor...

It's wild to think that these two visionaries are not only gone but left us in the same year no less.  I'd like to just wipe 2016 from my memory altogether

Somebody forgot to put Blanka's leash on!

Link and Zelda made the trip to meet up with some pals from Middle Earth!

The Savior of the Universe!

Man, Power Rangers really should've given this a chance in live action because that suit is badass!

Jeanie was there reminding people of just how trippy 60's sitcoms could really be!

The Funko Booth!  For years, WonderCon has always been far more low-key than its sister show in San Diego.  That isn't to say they haven't had big booths, but they usually aren't so immersive.  The Funk Carnival from 2022 and its Tiki Bar makeover in 2023 changed all that!  They were incredible and caused a lot of mad dashes for people trying to score tickets to get in!  They were sorrily missed last year but I am happy to report that it HAS been confirmed: Funko is back in 2025!  What wonders will they work in their grand return?  We'll find out in a few days!

Sportacus is here!  I remember Lazytown being a show my younger cousins would watch while I babysat them and would just think to myself "Who was smoking what when they came up with this thing?!?"  The puppets were some of the creepiest I've ever seen.  And I grew up on Pinwheel and Today's Special!

Man, the Hulkster's shrunk a LOT in his old age!

This is a novel way for Disney to recoup their losses on The Marvels!

And lastly, we'll end things again this week with even MORE dancing from our cosplay pals, led by Ed from Good Burger!  The fact that a furry's taking part is like the icing on the cake!

And that was WonderCon 2023!  A fun show, despite going home with a sever sinus infection.  That was the first time I ever specifically concentrated on scoring classic comics at a con.  I'm not a collector snob.  I'm not looking for mint condition books to resell.  Just looking for classics and obscurities that catch my fancy.  It was also the year I found some incredible prints that I brought home to frame.  The thing I love the most about going to comic conventions is just getting the chance to find hidden gems.  And there's always more than a few to find.

And that's a wrap on the month of March, but not on the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown!  I write these posts in advance so we still get a little bit of reminiscing to do despite WonderCon ending this weekend.  If you're going this weekend, please remember to be kind and courteous to other con goers.  While WonderCon isn't anywhere near as cramped as SDCC is, the crowds are still large and it is easy for tempers to flare over minor rudenesses.  Nothing is worth losing your badge over, so please just be kind. Also, if you see me there, say 'Hi!"  I'm kinda hard to miss these days!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all at WonderCon!