THE CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH MORE OLD!!!

 

Welcome back CRAZIES!!!  With any luck, I'll be at opening day at the San Diego County Fair today, or the Del Mar Fair for us old timers!  I've been looking forward to the fair for weeks now as the urge for Chili Fries, Deep Fried Twinkies and White Oak BBQ has got my mouth watering!  But more than that, I just love the exhibits and gardening displays, not to mention's the animals and collections.  It's just a fun place.  Speaking of fun, there's something else on the other side of the country that's gonna be a LOT of fun...

 

For nearly ten years, I have taken part in the Team Cul De Sac Art Auction at HeroesCon in Charlotte,

North Carolina.  Though I've never had the pleasure to attend in person, I have had the pleasure of donating original art for the auction, and this year is no different!  Below are my offerings for 2026:

Melon Crazy: Pen and ink on Bristol Smooth Paper colored with Olo Markers.

Surf The Dragon: Pen and ink on Bristol Vellum Paper colored in PrismaColor Colored Pencils. (This piece in all took FIVE days to finish!)

For those of you heading to HeroesCon this weekend, June 12-14, now is your chance to not only own some original CRAZY art but also send a swift kick to the rear end of Parkinson's Disease once and for all as ALL proceeds go towards research of eradicating this horrible disease.  Richard Thompson, the creator of the wonderful and hilarious Cul De Sac comic strip, suffered from it and succumbed to the disease in 2016.  Humanity was robbed of not only a phenomenal cartoonist but a wonderful human being as well.  The auction itself in on June 12 and is free for convention attendees.  For more information, click here for the Team Cul De Sac website.

And now, it is time to continue our trip down memory lane as we head back to the recent past of 2016.  As the fog clears, you'll recognize Downtown San Diego and the San Diego Convention Center.  Ah yes, I see it now!  Cap up those Code Red Mountain Dews folks, because the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN is on!

It isn't uncommon to see celebrities walking the streets of San Diego during SDCC.  Even Big Red himself-Oh my God!  If Santa Claus is doing what it looks like he's doing, he is definitely going on the Naughty List!

It is always a good idea to bring a snack with you to COMIC CON.  You burn a LOT of calories throughout the day!

He may not be as powerful as Silver Skeeter, but Quailman is definitely a badass!

The movie kinda sucked, but this cosplay was cool at least!

Now THAT is a hell of a hat!

Yes folks, that IS Paul Stanley of KISS hanging out at the Entertainment Earth booth!  They had some really cool toys and exclusives, but their swag distribution left a lot to be desired sometimes.

Even as a baby, Jack Burton's Porkchop Express was tricked out!

Always upping the ante, the FX Lawn once again wowed con goers with their amazing activations, including a zipline!

BOO!!!

A very long shot of the Petco Park Interactive Zone, and the infamous Mr. Robot Ferris Wheel that wasn't promoting Mr. Robot but totally was!

OOOOH YEAH!!!  MACHO MADNESS AND HULKAMANIA'S IN THE HOUSE!!!

One of the things I really miss about the old Hasbro booth were the super cool toy displays they'd build every year.  This one previewed the the battle scene from the then-coming Star Wars film, Rogue One.  I know Disney-era Star Wars has been a mixed bag at best, but man, that movie did not disappoint!

And finally, we close out this week with some cosplay that the Master would certainly approve of: Torgo!  He seems trustworthy...

And that was Comic Con 2016!  I do remember this being an extremely busy year at the show, but a very fun one as well.  It was kind of the final time that all the offsites had an open-door policy of just letting people come and go as they pleased.  They never really jammed up when they operated like this, but they sure do now with all these stupid reservation systems!  Hopefully in the future, they will look back at what worked in the past.

Well, that's another week down, but believe me, we got plenty more coming with the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN!!!  So be sure to come back and check it out!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE 2026 CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN IS HERE!!!

Welcome to June CRAZIES!!!  Summer is here!  Barbecues, theme parks, the start of the San Diego County Fair!  And, of course... COMIC CON!!!  That's right folks!  It is that time of year again and the time has come for some reminiscing about the joys of COMIC CONS past!  But first, we got a little something else to attend to, another tradition that has been going on for close to a decade now...

For nearly ten years, I have taken part in the Team Cul De Sac Art Auction at HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Though I've never had the pleasure to attend in person, I have had the pleasure of donating original art for the auction, and this year is no different!  Below are my offerings for 2026:

Melon Crazy: Pen and ink on Bristol Smooth Paper colored with Olo Markers.

Surf The Dragon: Pen and ink on Bristol Vellum Paper colored in PrismaColor Colored Pencils. (This piece in all took FIVE days to finish!)

For those of you heading to HeroesCon next weekend, June 12-14, now is your chance to not only own some original CRAZY art but also send a swift kick to the rear end of Parkinson's Disease once and for all as ALL proceeds go towards research of eradicating this horrible disease.  Richard Thompson, the creator of the wonderful and hilarious Cul De Sac comic strip, suffered from it and succumbed to the disease in 2016.  Humanity was robbed of not only a phenomenal cartoonist but a wonderful human being as well.  The auction itself in on June 12 and is free for convention attendees.  For more information, click here for the Team Cul De Sac website.

And now, dear CRAZIES, it is time to proceed with the fun, the laughs, the memories.  I can barely contain myself even as I type, so let's just jump right in!  The year is 2015, the site is the San Diego Convention Center.  Hold on to your Batman Underoos because the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN is a go!  Enjoy...

A sight rarely seen by most who go to SDCC: A near empty exhibit hall!  It's pretty wild to see the place before the booths go in.  Oddly enough, the place actually seems smaller when it's empty, despite the vastness of it all.  This was likely taken in Hall D looking south as the air wall separating Halls G and H is  up in the background of the picture.

Another behind the scenes shot looking east towards the front of Hall D.  The pony banner welcomes you to the eventual Hasbro booth, my home away from home for quite a few years.  From 2013-2019, I hung all their lights and monitors at both their main booth and their former Toy Shop booth.  It wasn't always the easiest booth to do, but the dudes who ran it were really cool and Hasbro always hooked us up with free toys and swag when the show was over.

Anytime is a good time for Dia De Los Muertos!

Will somebody PLEASE get these dudes a shrubbery?!?

The awesome NERD HQ offsite!  Lotta controversy surrounding its exit from the SDCC, but then again there's a lotta controversy surrounding the folks who used to run it now too, so I guess it evens out.  Regardless, it was a fun experience and a great opportunity for those without badges to have some fun at SDCC.

If McDonalds was honest in their advertising.

A cool activation at the Petco Park Interactive Zone!  Can't really make out the logo behind the statue, but it appears to be promoting a video game of some sort.

It's Bill Cipher!  I never watched Gravity Falls, but the young folks seemed to like it!

The Nintendo Lounge!  It was a great offsite once upon a time.

The legendary Hall H Star Wars panel!  After the panel ended, attendees were led to the Pops Site out back for a concert and fireworks show!

The Nintendo booth in Hall A.  Mario Maker was kinda the last hurrah for Wii U and led to a funny story involving my buddy Riki, who was absolutely crushing it on these insanely hard levels that a bunch of wise ass kids made.  So much so that it made news all the way over at the Convention Center!

The FX Lawn in its second year definitely didn't disappoint!

The Xbox Lounge...  We didn't know how good we had it back then!

Lego Conan celebrates the first year of Conan O'Brien doing shows at SDCC!  His shows were so much fun.  I wish TBS still aired them.

My niece Kristen hanging out with some Comic Con Corgis!

Wonder Woman meets Jedi Wolverine, the latter of which technically could happen in Disney's vast expanded universe!

I don't think that's true, but he hasn't been smiling upon them much lately.

You meet a lot of interesting people on the Trolley ride up to Downtown!

Lastly, we close the book on 2015 with a much younger me with my much younger nephew and niece!  They were 12 and 10 then and are now 23 and 21.  I can't even believe they're adults now with lives and interests of their own.  I don't know why time has to fly by so quick, but I'd love to go back to those simpler days, even if only for a little while.

And that was Comic Con 2015.  Definitely one of my best years there in terms of swag and participation!  So much great cosplay too!  The offsites were slamming and still competently ran and the world was a much kinder and more hopeful place.  Kinda bummed I'm running out of pictures from this one.  It was a good show!

Well, that's one week down, but fear not, for we got nine more to go as the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN gets your summer kicked off right!  So be sure to come back and see what we got cooking next!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

VAMOOSE WITH THE VAQUITA!!!

Well, another month has come to pass here at the CRAZYVESRE.  But when one door closes another one opens up, and this door is a particularly fun one, for you see...  SUMMER IS HERE!!!  Okay, technically it's still a few weeks away, but come on now; we all know summer really starts the second Memorial Day weekend rolls up!  And the smell of BBQ is already permeating my neighborhood!  But enough about that.  So much cool stuff is on the way that one post isn't enough to contain it.  So let's get our swim trunks on and dive on in with this week's guest who is already jumping for the season!  Enjoy... 

Flipper?  Please!  This Vaquita is way cooler than some pampered porpoise!  Very similar to their dolphin cousins, these marvelous marine critters are critically endangered but hopefully on the road to recovery.  Thankfully, this cartoon vaquita is safe from the perils of our reality.  Another entry from Animal Alphabets, I had a lotta fun with this one.  Keeping the color scheme simple really helps things.  It's easy to get overwhelmed in the coloring process as so many of us want to do shades, highlights and gradients, which are great if you have the time and skill for it.  But, there is a lot to be said about simple flat coloring as well.

And that's a wrap on May 2026, but there's definitely no need to be sad folks!  Why is that?  Because next week, the annual CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN returns!  Hardly seems real that we're already gearing up for the biggest show of the year, but it is on the horizon as guest and show exclusives are already being announced as of this writing!  It'll be a long trip down memory lane well worth taking, so be sure to come back and check it out!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT!!!

We are back CRAZIES and halfway past the merry month of May!  Time flies for sure, but we are keeping pace with all the CRAZY critters that come out to play here at the CRAZYVERSE!!!  And we got another beauty coming up that could tame ANY cold-hearted beast!  Don't believe me?  Scroll down and see for yourself!  Enjoy... 

There are many gorgeous butterflies that bless us with their existence.  From being great pollinators to their stunningly beautiful wings, butterflies make the world a better place.  Among the real attention-grabbers is the Ulysses Butterfly!  Their wings of black and iridescent blue stand out in any environment and are quite hypnotic as they flutter from flower to flower!  They would certainly be welcome in my yard that's for sure!  Another 2017 piece for Animal Alphabets, this one was a blast to do!  Aside from being an easier color job with so few colors, I just loved how well these hues all worked together!  If it wasn't for the fact that non-digital coloring mediums aren't very practical for current cartooning standards, I'd hand color everything I do!  Hopefully these art collective pieces make up for that.

Well, one week left to go in May 2026, but have no fear!  We have a guest next week that will have you jumping for joy that summer's around the corner!  So be sure to come back and help us end the month on a high note!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE TEENSY TANSY BEETLE!!!

We are back again CRAZIES!!!  And another week closer to the fun and festivities of summer!  I know we still got a few weeks to go, but how can I not get excited?  It's right around the corner and the San Diego County Fair is on deck!  But there will be time for that later.  It's time to meet our special guest for the week!  She's a bit if a diva if I'm being honest and quite frankly, she'd kinda starting to bug me!  But, her beauty truly shines through as you'll see when you scroll down.  Enjoy...

Meet the Tansy Beetle, a true living gem!  Similar to the junebug in appearance, these living emeralds are for more elegant with their shiny, glossy exoskeleton that shines in iridescent hues of green and gold!  I'm sure many have mistaking these gorgeous bugs for actual polished gem stones, only to be deeply disappointed (And probably greatly disturbed even!) to see it fly off!  This week's piece was part of the Animal Alphabets Art Collective back in 2017.  I don't recall what the specific theme was, but I do recall enjoying this one as beetles are always a fun draw.  They're like little bug tanks!

Well another week down as we March to summer, but more fun is coming, so be sure to come back next week and give it a good look!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE SLIMMING EFFECT!!!

Welcome to May CRAZIES!!!  Another month is upon us, and with it comes new art, never before seen outside of Twitter!  We got a lot of fun planned in the coming weeks as we get ready for summer, the San Diego County Fair, BBQ Season and, of course, COMIC CON!!!  But we're already getting ahead of ourselves here.  Let's just ease on in with some art starring a ferocious feline who clearly got his fill!  Enjoy...

Tigers.  Fierce.  Gorgeous.  Hungry.  VERY hungry!   Certainly the one above hasn't missed too many meals.  Perhaps he should try hunting for his food more often instead of hitting the buffet line at the ol' Bengal Barbecue!  Those stripes only camouflage the background, not your bad habits!   This piece was originally done for the Pinch Punch Post Art Collective on Twitter back in 2017.  One of many that used to dot the social media landscape, it too recently came to an end, bringing many sad faces to a once vibrant online art scene.  All things must pass I suppose, but it's still sad to see something that made so many happy go away.  Perhaps in a few years, when happier times return, we will see the art collectives come back.

That's all for this first week of May 2026, but fear not!  We got a stunning critter coming in next week that'll leave you green with envy!  That or nausea, I always mix those two up!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE OCTOPUS' SYMPHONY!!!

Well, another month is coming to an end here CRAZIES.  The passing days get a little more meaningful to me as the months go on.  Having just turned 42 a few days ago and coming off losing my grandmother earlier this year, the passage of time REALLY starts to hit home.  But you know what?  There's still a lot to do and a lot to enjoy, so we're gonna keep the good times rolling with some critters and music because that's the right thing to do!  Our next musician is ready and waiting, so scroll down for some symphonic groove!  Enjoy...

Our final participant of the Animal Alphabets Jam Session this month is this Ocarina-playing Octopus!  He took many lessons from the legendary Bulgarian crooner, Yablo, and now, he's putting us all at ease with his gentle brand of Yacht Rock!  Octopi (Octopuses?) are such fun critters to draw.  Wiggly and colorful, they are naturals as far as cartoons go!

And that's a wrap on April 2026!  But don't worry CRAZIES!!!  I got YEARS of backlogged art to show off, so I'll be sorting through it to find four pieces of CRAZY art worthy of the CRAZYVERSE!!!  So be sure to come back and see what we find!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

THE NEWT FLUTE IS QUITE THE HOOT!!!

We are back!  I don't know about y'all, but all this lovely spring weather has really got my heart singing!  I mean, I am really hearing the Pipes of Pan as I frolic through the flowers!  I got a fever...  Spring fever!  And the only cure is musical-themed art!  Scroll down and get your prescription CRAZIES!!!  Enjoy...

My goodness!  These musical Newts have got a real symphony going here as they play their Nai!  For those who don't know, the Nai is an instrument similar to a pan flute but with MANY pipes attached.  In addition to strong lung capacity, long reach is another requirement of being able to play these wacky wind pipes!  One of the things that I really liked about this theme overall was the variety of instruments Animal Alphabets chose.  They really picked some off-the-wall contraptions for the critters to play!

Well, another week down as we head towards a new month, but fear not dear CRAZIES!!!  We'll be back next week with a new post that will send April off on a high note.  So be sure to come back and give it a look!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

SHAKE IT MOUSE!!! SHAKE IT!!!

Welcome back CRAZIES!!!  Well, it's back to normal here at the CRAZYVERSE.  I know it's a bit of a bummer that all the WonderCon fun has come to pass, but that only means other traditions are on the way!  But there will be time for that on another day.  For you see, I am in a musical mood this month and the art coming up will reflect all that!  Don't believe me?  Scroll down and see for yourself!  Enjoy...

Oh my!  This Mouse is feeling hot hot hot!!!  Are you feeling hot hot hot?!?  We got a Mouse with Maracas here and he's getting the rhythm going!  This piece was done for the wonderful Animal Alphabets art collective which I miss so much!  The overall theme was musical animals and for the letter M, the theme was literally what you see above, I just put my own spin on it.  Mice are fun critters to work with as they are naturally toony!  This guy clearly got into some quest fresco before finding his groove!

That's all for this week, but we'll be back next time with some more critters that got a song in their heart!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

WONDERCON 2026!!! THERE AND BACK AGAIN!!!

*SIGHS* Well, here we are.  Almost two weeks removed from WonderCon 2026.  Let me tell ya right off the bat it was one of the best times I've ever had in my life, and that's really saying something considering that it got off to a VERY rough start.  But none of that is important now!  What is important is that we celebrate what an awesome time it was, and the best way to do that is through a visual guide!  That's right CRAZIES, we are setting the Wayback Machine to 12 days ago and heading back to Anaheim and the Happiest Convention Center on Earth!  Hold on to your Batman Underoos kids, because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown concludes!  Enjoy...

The R2 units were in full force as they usually are.  They're such a fun group.  I wish I had that kind of time and money to just sit around and build Star Wars droids to bring to cons!

Large Marge sent them!

Gimli was summoned from Middle Earth to see if the Dwarves of Erebor could fabricate a new fountain pump after the old one broke!  For those curious, the legendary water fountain that sits at the entrance of the Anaheim Convention Center has been broken for well over a year now.  Considering that it is such an iconic part of the facility, I asked a worker what was going on with it.  As it turns out, an important part broke, and the part in question is no longer manufactured.  Apparently similar parts won't do, so the only other options are custom fabricating the part, which is possible but expensive, building a new fountain, which is also very expensive, or just shuttering the fountain altogether.  Hopefully they'll find a good solution in the future and we can get that wonderful fountain back!

La Parka, Mexico's answer to Doink the Clown, danced his way to Anaheim on opening night, bringing a new energy to WonderCon that was sorely lacking! 

The Shredder just became a lot more dangerous now that Storm has joined the Foot Clan!

Mariachi Wonder Woman and her Golden Chancla!  Believe you me, one whack from that thing and you'll be telling the truth for life!

HEEEEEEEEEEER'S JOHNNY!!!

D'OH!!!

Probably the coolest booth at WonderCon this year!  DINC Video had an INSANE collection of old VHS cassettes, a good many of which I either had or still have!  And they were all for sale too!  I didn't pick any up, as DVD and Blu-ray were simply better formats, but I was definitely getting the nostalgic feels checking out all those old tapes!

When you need to get 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana to Atlanta in 26 hours, there's only one man you can count on to get the damn job done!

Dave's not here man...

Come on and...

Ease on down...

Ease on down the road...

Rokimoto is one of the companies to come out of an apparent shakeup at Funko after several executives left in recent years.  They did't exactly make a good impression at their launch party last year at San Diego Comic Con, which included an incident of some sort with Fluffy himself, Gabriel Iglesias, but their WonderCon booth was pretty cool at least.  I even managed to snag a Cookie Monster figure from one of their Mystery Packs!

Another company to form out of the Funko shakeup was Thrilljoy, who also left a bitter taste in the mouths of many who went to their launch party at San Diego Comic Con last summer, coincidentally held at the same hotel on the same night as Rakimoto's event! (Sometimes this stuff writes itself folks) From what I've read Thrilljoy's event seemed to run a bit smoother at least.  With Funko skipping WonderCon this year, Rakimoto and Thrilljoy both saw that was opportunity knocking and for the most part, they answered.  Did they make a big impact?  Only time will tell.  I did win a hat off of them though, so that gets them in my good graces at least!

One of the more troubling stories to come out of WonderCon this year was that staggering amount of no-shows among exhibitors.  Attendance was also noticeably down this year.  Whether world events or the insane gas prices we're paying right now played a role is anybody's guess, but if you're attending, skipping a day or all of it isn't too big of a hit.  If you're an exhibitor and you already paid for your table, that's hundreds, even thousands of dollars being thrown away!  And these weren't Artist Alley tables either.  These were Small Press and full-on exhibitor booths that were straight abandoned!  In all the years I've been going, I've never seen anything like this, even post-Covid in 2022.  Hopefully things turn around next year.

Every diva needs a chauffeur!

DJ Lance Rock!  You know the wildest thing about Yo Gabba Gabba!, besides being a bigger acid trip than HR Pufnstuf, is that it was only produced for nine months, and yet Nickelodeon ran it forever!

Who ya gonna call?!?

Mocking Bird Lane isn't too far away from Katella Avenue apparently!

And finally, we will end our look at WonderCon this year with the legendary Mahna Mahna!  Lotta Muppet cosplay this year, which I love!  Believe it or not, there were several variations of "Mahna Mahna" performed by the Muppets prior to The Muppet Show, most notably one on Sesame Street in its earliest years.

And that was WonderCon 2026!  It was wild week for sure that was looking like disaster was about to strike before it even began as my sinuses were acting up, Disneyland was having issues with my annual pass and a paycheck I desperately needed was a week late paying.  Miraculously, everything somehow worked out and all went well!  Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm weren't super slammed, I had some great food at both Boysenberry Fest and the Food & Wine Festival at California Adventure and I topped all that off with some great meals at Downtown Disney!  WonderCon itself was a total blast!  I got a pretty cool toy score and found some amazing old comics for good prices!  Hanging out with my buddy Matt and his adorable toddler twins was merely icing on the cake that weekend!  It's a long wait until next year, but I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting things going on the next 50 weeks.  The countdown is now on!

And that concludes the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown 2027!  I hope y'all enjoyed checking out these pictures over the last eight weeks as much as I enjoyed posting them!  It's always so much fun to comb through these and remember the fun of the past!  And if you're bummed out that it's ending, just remember: The CRAZY Comic Con Countdown is eight weeks away!  And boy will I have some stuff to show then!  Anyway, we'll be back next week with some jamming' critters that'll hopefully get your toes tapping!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!