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.

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.

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!

COMIC CON 2016!!! THE CRAZY TRAIN KEEPS ON CHUGGING!!!

Hey hey hey!  Its the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN!!!  That's right, we are another week closer to that glorious event that is SDCC!!!  I'm already building up endurance and getting my steps in so I can be properly prepared!  But before that, here's one last reminder about something very near and dear to me that's going on Friday night in Charlotte, NC...

For close to a decade now, I have contributed art to the Team Cul De Sac Art Auction held every year at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC.  All proceeds go towards research in finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease, a terrible illness that has claimed many lives, including that of cartoonist Richard Thompson, the creator of Cul De Sac.  Below are the pieces I have sent in for the auction...

HERMIT CRAB HUNT: Alice and Mr. Danders have gone out hunting for usurping hermit crabs on the remains of the Bliss Haven Preschool.  Pen and ink mixed media piece illustrated on 9 x 12in. vellum paper and colored in Olo Markers and PrismaColor Colored Pencils. 

MIKE & MINDY: FRIENDSHIP IS CHAOS!!!: Mike and Mindy are back and taking their cartoony mayhem to unheard of levels!  Second grade just can't contain these loony tykes!  Pen and ink mixed media piece illustrated on 9 x 12in. vellum paper and colored in Olo Markers and PrismaColor Colored Pencils.

If you're going to be in the Charlotte area this, Friday, June 20, please consider attending the auction.  In addition to being a rare chance to own some CRAZY original art, it's also for a very noble cause.  Parkinson's isn't picky.  Anybody can get it and now, more than ever, researchers need funding to find a cure to this horrible disease.  So please make the rounds and drop some bids.  Trust me, there's gonna be some incredible artwork up for grabs.  Think of it as a duel prize: You get some cool art on your wall while Parkinson's Disease gets a swift kick in the ass!  It's a winning situation for all!

And now, we continue our trek to another huge show making its way to the stage, the one and only Comic Con!  Can you believe we are five weeks away from the grand daddy of them all?!?  It's enough to make me drop my deep-fried, bacon-wrapped pork belly on a stick just thinking about it!  (Sorry folks, the Fair's going on right now, so I'm also in foodie mode too!)  Think we can all stand to burn some calories right now, so let's fire up our 3DS' and bust out some Pokemon Go because the CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN is on!!! 

Megaman makes a mega impression!

Bert and Mary would like some stickers!

Friendly faces everywhere!

Humble folks without temptation!

A lotta folks would prefer Snoopy right now...

Have no memory of this show at all!  I'm sure it was fun though.

The Geico Gecko took over the Petco Park Interactive Zone!  They gave out really cool bags too!

He just wants some sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!

The Walking Dead booth.  Use to get some killer photo ops here!

End of the line for both NerdHQ and the Xbox Lounge.  They combined in 2016 to put on a mega offsite only to be pressured out by higher forces.

The well-intended but ill-fated ConX by Entertainment Weekly.  They had some great activations and killer swag but were ultimately just too far away for some attendees to hoof it to.  Oddly enough, the crowds really started showing up for the nighttime festivities they had there. 

Bespin smooth baby!

Little buddy!  You gotta help the Big Kahuna prepare for his surf-off against Zed and the other beach punks! (Bonus points to everyone that gets THAT reference!)

DONUTS!!!

And finally, Nickelodeon's shrine to the characters they continue to exploit through merchandising, but refuse to release through multiple viewing platforms despite a very clear demand.

And that was SDCC 2016!  A truly phenomenal year that saw lots of great panels, awesome swag and some of the best offsites ever held!  I was sad when this one ended.  We were all having so much fun that five days (Preview Night) just didn't seem like enough.  Christmas and Halloween span months now, why not Comic Con?!?  But, I suppose part of the reason that it is so special is because we only get it so briefly.  We just have to enjoy the time we get.

And so ends another week of this CRAZY COMIC CON COUNTDOWN, but hey!  There's still seven more posts to go, so be sure to come back next week so we can send June 2025 off on a high note!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch yall later!