COMIC CON 2017 IS HERE!!!

IT'S HERE!!! COMIC CON 2017 IS A GO!!!  So make like Bubble Fox and Pepper and get down with your nerdy self!  So much to discuss today!  So much so, we're posting two days early even!  Figured any tips and info I have will be a lot more helpful prior to SDCC than the first day of it when most of you are gonna be too busy being at it to look at my silly little blog!  So right off the bat, the Web Comic Meet-Up!

As of this writing, still no word on a location, day or time.  Every year we've done it, it has been in the early evening hours of Thursday, so it'll likely continue this year as well.  Your best bet is to keep an eye out on my and Jimmy Purcell's Twitter handles (@JonsCrazyTweets and @beenbettercomic) for up-to-date info as we update there frequently!  Fear not though, we WILL have something this week!

And now, as we have the past six weeks, we delve into Comic Con's not too distant past for a fun look back at SDCC 2015!  I've also tried to throw in some helpful hints and tips (Highlighted with a bold TIP for convenience) for those of you going that will hopefully make the con a bit more fun and pleasant for you all!  There are a LOT of pics today since it's con week, so sit back, slip on a clean pair of Batman Underoos and put a coaster under your Code Red Mountain Dew!  It's time to go to the Con!  Enjoy...

I think it's a rule by this point that if you go to Comic Con, you have to get a pic of the iconic Con logo through the concrete support circles!

Tin Fish Square in the Gaslamp Quarter getting it's annual makeover for the NBC promotional blitz!

TIP: This is a FREE event!  No SDCC badges are necessary to enjoy this or even most of the events held in the Gaslamp Quarter during SDCC!  So go nuts!  Or as nuts as the law allows!

The Sharknado crew keepin' it real in the Gaslamp Quarter!  For four years now, they've turned Downtown San Diego into a feeding frenzy as swag hunters swarm all over them for free stuff, and this year looks no different!  If memory serves, this was the year they gave out foam hats!

TIP: PLEASE be courteous when collecting free swag at outdoor events.  Yes, it's free and yes, some of it is limited.  But is it really worth trampling a little girl or knocking a man in a wheelchair over just to get something you're likely gonna throw away as soon as you go home?

Kuzco is living large by the fan tables!

TIP: Many con goers tend to overlook the Mezzanine area on the old (North) side of the convention center.  If you're into table top gaming or even wanna learn more about local fan groups in Southern California, you might wanna take a stroll up the stairs out of the back of Hall B and take a gander!  The Star Wars fan groups in particular are always a lot of fun!

Jurassic Park cosplay was pretty big that year!  I love the movie, but it's an odd choice for cosplay!

Snoopy's Dog House at the Petco Park Interactive Zone, where I learned the hard way that denim does not glide down an inflatable, vinyl slide very smoothly.

TIP: This one's another freebie that DOESN'T require SDCC badges!  Lots of cool stuff goes on in this zone and it's super easy to get to!  Just cross the bridge across the street from Hall H over Harbor Drive and you're there!  Easy, no?  This is also a spot where plenty of food trucks happen to set up shop, so if you're looking for affordable food, you're in luck!

Plenty of awesome events happen at the Interactive Zone, like this impromptu cosplay contest!  I've long admired the skill and detail these kids put into their costumes.  Simply amazing!

TIP: If you're going to dress up at Comic Con, remember that it gets VERY hot in San Diego in July!  Water and lightweight materials are a must!

FLASH!!!  AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!  SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!!  It sounds much better when Queen sings it!

Here we see Jem exploring the IDW booth.  This kid was more faithful to the character than the actual movie was!

The always awesome Nerd HQ at the Children's Museum!  This truly was an awesome thing for people without badges to still have some con fun!  It was free for all, but for an extra $20, you could see exclusive panels!  Best of all, the proceeds went to Operation Smile, a most worthy cause!

 TIP: Barring a miracle, there will be no Nerd HQ this year.

Conan looms high above Comic Con at the Marriott Hotel as the FX Zone brings out the masses in the foreground!

TIP: This is another FREE event that requires no badges!  It is outdoors though and, as any local can tell you, it gets very hot here in San Diego.  So water and sunblock are a must as are good walking shoes.  Seriously!  Don't where sandals to Comic Con!  Your toes will appreciate it!

In the not to distant future, this lady made my day with some Mystery Science Theater 3000 cosplay!

Wow.  Jessica Rabbit needs to lay off the 'roids!

The notorious Battletoads!  One of the greatest, and hardest, video games ever!  It remains one of the true standouts of the NES era with many a gamer still doing battle with these toads to this very day!  This wound up being the final year of the Xbox Lounge at the Hyatt Hotel.  In 2016, they opted to sponsor the free Nerd HQ instead.

TIP: As of this writing, there is still no word on whether or not the Xbox Lounge will return in 2017 now that Nerd HQ is on hiatus.  With a new console coming out this Fall, and Nintendo already having a huge head start on them with the popular Switch console, I can't see Microsoft sitting still at one of the last big public forums to show off at before the holidays approach.  Stay tuned to social media for updates folks.  This one could get interesting!

 The Monster and the Bride!  What better place for these two lovebirds to honeymoon at than Comic Con?  Am I right?

The always great Nintendo Lounge!  Some of the coolest swag I've collected over the years has been at this place!  It was also a Pokemon hotbed last year!

TIP: The Nintendo Lounge HAS been confirmed for SDCC 2017 and, as always, is FREE to ANYONE, badge or not!  It can be found in the San Diego Ballroom on the second floor in the north tower of the Marriott Hotel, right next door to the Convention Center!  As such, with the Switch lighting up store shelves and the recent SNES Mini announcement, expect some pretty big crowds.

 Adam and Barbara were trying to scare everyone out of the exhibit hall, but they wound just becoming party favors!

This must be what happens when you feed them before midnight!

The Steven Universe crew!  Someone needs to be Greg!

And finally, what better way to end this week's post than with my niece Kristen petting some Hero Corgis?  Is there any dog better suited for such outfits?

And that was Comic Con 2015!  Lots of great moments that year!  Star Wars had the big concert at the Pops Site behind the Convention Center, Disney pissed off EVERYBODY by withholding Marvel film content and I learned that bees are jerks!  That's another long story that's better told than written though!  It was special for me though because I built the Lucasfilm booth, which for many local stagehands is a right of passage of sorts.  It was just an awesome thing!

And now, before I sign off, I offer you a few more tips and tricks for a wonderful time at SDCC:

TIP: Bring LOTS of water!  It gets very hot and staying hydrated really can save your life at the show!  Also, use sunblock!  You WILL be outdoors quite a bit!

TIP: Bring cash!  Although most booths can take credit cards now, it's not always very secure and you're likely safer using actual money!  Also, bring it in increments.  Set a daily budget!

TIP: Research early what big ticket purchases you'll want.  If it's con exclusive, limited edition or something that's wide release but never gonna come down in price, you're better off getting it that first day.  Conversely, many booths do offer great deals on Sunday, especially as closing time nears, because it's simply cheaper for them to get rid of stock as opposed to shipping it back.  Point is, keep an eye out!

TIP: Bring deodorant and/or body powder!  We are all in this together and smelling nice never hurts!  Further more, taking an hour out of your day to bathe every night isn't gonna kill you!  Hand sanitizer is also a must!  It's cheap and makes a HUGE difference.  Con Crud is one of the nastiest airborne illnesses out there.  Keeping clean goes a long ways to keeping from getting sick!

TIP: Speaking of airborne illnesses, stock up on vitamins and super foods!  Good hygiene + strong immune system = not getting sick at cons!

TIP: Many Downtown restaurants have deals for con goers, so be sure to have your badge with you when you eat out!

TIP: If you're gonna go to panels, you're gonna be in very close quarters with total strangers.  It can't be helped.  The sooner you accept the fact that you're gonna be sacrificing personal comfort for a chance to see an early peek at a movie, the easier your viewing will be!  And if someone's causing trouble, get a security guard!  No jerk's worth going to jail over!

TIP: Finally, take advantage of the trolley and hotel shuttles.  They all drop you off right in front of the Convention Center or close to it!

And that's all she wrote!  I do hope you enjoyed the pics and found my tips to be somewhat helpful.  We'll be back next time for a look at Comic Con 2016!  Until then, take care and have a fun, happy and SAFE time at Comic Con and I'll catch y'all later!

ONE WEEK TO GO!!! COMIC CON IS ALMSOT HERE!!!

 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ONE WEEK TO GO!!! Okay Jon, just calm down.  Yes, Comic Con IS next week, but there's still much to do and prep for.  It's best to just calm down and take it easy and let these pics from Comic Con 2014 settle my mind.  See?  I can be calm and collect.  Sometimes.  On occasion.  Alright, I'm just struggling to keep the excitement in right now!  Can you blame me?  The big day(s) are almost here!  Still, I got a job to do and must fulfill my commitments to my CRAZY friends!  Perhaps some info on this year's Web Comic Meet-Up will settle us all down for a bit?

 That's right!  Jimmy Purcell from Been Better Comic and I will be at it again and invite ALL web comic creators and fans to come join us for our annual gathering at Comic Con 2017!  As of this writing, we're still looking at a location but will likely just crash a place nearby like last year!  In all likelihood, it probably will be early Thursday evening due to it usually not being so busy as far as Con events are concerned.  Hopefully more info will be available next week and for up-to-the-minute updates, simply keep an eye on our Twitter handles (@JonsCrazyTweets and @beenbettercomic), no following needed!

And now, on with the show!  It's 2014's time to shine again, so strap on some craft foam armor and prepare to have fun!  Enjoy...

 The Toxic Avenger!  Can't speak for everyone, but this was the first time I've ever seen anyone cosplay as him!  Always love seeing obscure character cosplay!

 WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB!!!  It's Rick and... Velma?  Well, Time Warner owns both, so there's nothing legally stopping this crossover from ever actually happening!

 I'm curious.  Are there any Disney queens that AREN'T wicked?

 One of my idols, the great Tom Kenny!  I met him back in 2012 and he was just awesome!  Someday, I hope he'll get to voice some of the CRAZY characters!

 Bluntman and Chronic!  They missed most of Comic Con that year because they got high!

The Sharknado!  Never in my life have I ever seen a movie that thrived on being purposely bad!  If that ain't a great example of the American Dream, I don't know what is!  They also give out great swag in the Gaslamp Quarter!

The FX Zone with the Godzilla Experience in the background, just to the right of the Gotham Zipline!  I wouldn't have minded trying the zipline, despite my fear of heights, but the wait was well over eight hours everyday!  As far as the Godzilla Experience went, well...  It was better than the movie at least!

 OOOOOH YEAAAH!!!  MACHO MADNESS IS COMING AT YA!!!

Wrestling cosplay is also something I love seeing because it's just so out of left field for a comic con!  Very few ever think to actually do it!

 I forget what game this was from, but it was quite a sight to see, especially at night when it was all lit up!  Scared quite a few Hyatt guests as they made their way up to the Xbox Lounge!

 He-Man and She-Ra!  Getting ready to save con goers from the religious zealots across the street!

 The Sin City experience over at the Petco Park Interactive Zone!  The sequel wasn't much to write home about, but the setup they had was pretty cool!  A bunch of classic cars were on display while a DJ spun some old school tunes!

 The Alien video game set up!  We all got to sit inside of the giant egg and play the game while a monitor outside displayed the gamer getting terrified by the game's visuals!  I had a slightly different experience.  People weren't laughing at my fear.  They were laughing at my setting the bar VERY low for other gamers!  I suck at video games.  There's just no way to lightly put it.  Because of that, I was literally missing all of the scary points because I just couldn't figure out the controls!  Sadly, this wasn't the first time I suffered video game embarrassment just to claim some swag!

 The Xbox Lounge during its second year at the Hyatt.  No word yet on whether or not it'll be back this year.  Last year, they opted to sponsor the Nerd HQ instead.  But with no Nerd HQ this year, and Nintendo killing it on Switch sales and having their own free lounge, I can't see Microsoft ducking out in a year where they themselves plan to launch a console towards the holidays.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

This is about as close as I get to cosplaying!  From 2012 to 2014, Cartoon Network hosted Adventure Time scavenger hunts that netted those who completed them free bronze medallions celebrating the different characters of the show!  The final year, Lumpy Space Princess got the honors and as such, I brought all my medals with me for a celebratory pic in Lumpy Space!  It was lumpin' awesome yo!  With AT ending soon, hopefully Cartoon Network will give us one last hunt!

And that was the splendor of Comic Con 2014!  It was big on a few fronts for me.  I was lucky enough to be at the WWE/Mattel panel when Sting made his first ever WWE appearance!  Talk about history making?  I'd waited for that for over 20 years!  And to actually be there when it happened!  I got bragging rights for life y'all!  Also made it into Hall H for presently the last time for the famed Warner Bros. panel!  It started with with a big surprise as the first footage of Batman Vs. Superman was revealed!  It was pretty funny to see all the geeks who'd been trolling the movie online suddenly go fanboy when Batman and Superman stared each other down in front of the Bat Signal.  They exploded further when Gal Godot was brought out and announced as Wonder Woman! (This was before anyone knew just how much they were planning to cram into the movie!)  The true highlight of this panel though was moderator Chris Hardwick trolling a troll who tried to troll director George Miller over Mad Max: Fury Road.  If you ever meet me in person, ask me about the story.  It's much more fun to tell than write!

Anyway, that's all for now.  Next week, we'll be back for Comic Con 2015 and a run down of some of the free events available for those who don't have passes but still wanna have some SDCC fun!  I also hope to have more info on the web comic meet-up and some tips for a more enjoyable con experience!  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!