JUST TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!

All righty then! We are just two weeks away from Comic Con! To celebrate, I thought I'd share some pics from last year's show. I had a great time, despite the overcrowding, and the invasion of the Twilight douche bags. Still, it was awesome experience and this year is gonna be even better!

The sails pavilion/autograph area. Prepare to be overcharged.



Bumblebee shows that he's down with Dx.

Ricardo Medina (Ghetto Gamers, The Flunky-Max Sterling Show), wants a closer look at the Bat Pod.

Tron Dude wanted to know why he couldn't get into the Disney 3D panel.

Because an army of teenage girls camped out overnight for the Twilight Panel, overtaking all of Hall H. Take comfort Tron Dude. I missed the Avatar panel because of these A-Holes! And I helped build Hall H!

Kevin Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Heavy Metal), the classiest man in comics.

Ricardo Medina lets Channel 6 news reporter April O'Neil know just how he feels about Twilight.

Ghostbusters and hot chicks. Only at Comic Con!

This is how most G.I. JOE fanboys felt after seeing the movie.

Awwwwwwwwwesoooooooooooooooooommmmmmmme!!!

Comic Con was off the hook last year! Everything was going fine, until the Akatsuki showed up trippin'.

Keno the Pizza delivery boy himself, Ernie Reyes, Jr.! And no, I didn't ask him if they were doing a Surf Ninjas special edition.

Flunky ducks away while Max Sterling takes the shot head on. Let that be lesson: Stormtroopers hate Trekkies!

Leonard Nimoy, charging $80 for autographs! I don't care who you are, nobody's signiture is worth that much!

Everybody was there. Even Westley Snipes got bailed out of jail long enough to check things out.

As did Zeus (Tiny Lister,Jr.)! He was looking for Hulk Hogan, hoping to get back at the Hulkster for No Holds Barred.

Count Dooku at Starbucks. He likes lattes!

COBRA!!!!!!!!

The giant 3D screen in Hall H. This thing sucked when we were putting it up. Somebody forgot to take an air conditioning duct into account, so we couldn't get it up all the way. Luckily, my buddy Dan Silva asked the wizard for a brain and solved the problem for everybody.

Robert Downey, Jr at the Iron Man 2 panel
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Action figure drama.

Marty and Doc Brown. The camera actually worked still.


MAD's fastest artist, Sergio Aragones!

One last look at the massive exhibit hall.

Well, that's all for now. Later!

IT'S COMING!!!

That's right folks! We are less than three weeks away from the greatest event of the year: SAN DIEGO COMIC CON INTERNATIONAL!!! I'm getting really psyched up about the whole thing. On the streets of Downtown San Diego, banners promoting the show (and TRON Legacy) have begun popping up on lamp posts. Local galleries are getting ready for some concurrent art shows, like the AfterCon at 655 10th Avenue, of which I am a part of (hint hint).

All in all, it should be a great show. I'm already getting excited about the Green Lantern movie panel, as well as the chance to add to my "collection of MAD, CRACKED and even the occasional CRAZY" magazines (bonus points if you get the reference there). About the only thing that could ruin Comic Con for me would be if a bunch of emo, douche bag Twilight fans show up. Wait a minute... What's that you say? There's still two movies left for that crappy franchise? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Sorry about that folks. I just really hate Twilight! Anyway, I'm looking forward to the convention and catching up with some old friends while making some new ones as well.

Anyway, it's Comics Week, so here's your extra helping of Mike and Mindy!

Let that be a lesson kids. Not only is Taco Bell the complete bastardization of Mexican food, it is also the devil's food!

Well, I think I've taken enough of your time today. I'd tell you about The Last Airbender, but it would be a waste of letters. I'll only say this: Speed Racer had a more comprehensible story, and the Clash of the Titans remake had better acting! If that ain't enough to tell you that this movie sucked, I don't know what is.

Well, I'll catch y'all next time with some pictures and stories from Comic Con's past, an update on the AfterCon and my thoughts on Avenue Q, which is playing at the Civic Theater next week. Until then, LATER!

MICHAEL JACKSON

Whoa! It's been a while since I posted on consecutive weeks. What can I say? It's been dead busy for me. I've only had one day off in the last ten days. Still, it's nice to know that I'll at least have some money to spend at Comic Con this year. Speaking of which, I should give a little more info about the AfterCon event. It's being held at the Suture Gallery at 655 10th Avenue in Downtown San Diego. It's several blocks away from the Convention Center in between G and Market Streets. A word to the wise though: the building isn't marked, so it's really easy to miss. It's on 10th Avenue, right across the street from a steakhouse and a bowling alley. It'll take place July 22-24 from 8:00pm to 12:00am. I hope this info has been helpful. It should be great!

Anyway, it's been a year now since Michael Jackson passed away. There are many mixed emotions associated with the "King of Pop." Obviously, the man's personal life was anything but stable. On the other hand, he was a phenomenal performer who really set the bar, especially when it came to the art of the music video. When MTV first came out, music videos were more or less taped concert footage or a band on a sound stage mimicking their songs. Jackson, along with Madonna, Peter Gabriel and the Talking Heads, really broke down the doors in realizing what a music video could be.

He made so many great videos, it's hard to pick just one, but I'll go with Leave Me Alone, simply because it was animated, not to mention catchy as all get out.


The video was directed by animator Jim Blashfield, who had won an Oscar for his short Suspicious Circumstances. The film was popular among the art and music communities, eventually catching the attention of Talking Heads front man, David Byrne. This led to Blashfield directing the video for the Talking Heads song And She Was (a future post I can assure you). Jackson loved the Talking Heads video, and brought Blashfield in to direct Leave Me Alone, which leads us to today's post. There's much more to be said about the animation process here, but I don't like to over-analyze things. I suppose if anybody is interested, contact me and I'll cover it in a future post. In the meantime, enjoy the video.

Well, that's all for now. Time permitting, I'll be back next week with some new adventures for Mike and Mindy. Take care y'all! Later!

FINALLY, COMICS WEEK

Well, it's been a long couple of weeks, but I'm back. Besides being busy with work, there was also the recent family emergency that had me preoccupied. I've had my time to grieve, and although I am still saddened, I know I have to move on. My cousin was the best at making people laugh, so the best I can do is carry on that tradition. I just wish I was as good as he was at it.

Anyway, here are the comics. I hope y'all enjoy them and I'll catch y'all later!

SAD TIMES DUDES...

Normally, this week would be "Comics Week" here at the stuff, but some recent events have postponed them until next week. It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my cousin, Ivan Santana, 31. Ivan was an easy going guy who loved music, painting, video games (He had every system and console ever made!) and Gundam robot kits. Sadly, he also had some issues with mental illness and substance abuse that often led to him doing some bad things. In recent years, however, he made attempts at getting better and even reconciled with his family. Admittedly, I hadn't seen Ivan in almost eleven years, but I always prayed for him and hoped he would get better. I know now that he is in a better place and probably chilling with our Tio Jose. The lasting impression I will always have of my cousin is his smile, because he always had one. Never in my life did I see him frown, yell or even threaten anybody. Even now when I think about him, I don't think about how sad it is that he's gone. I think about all the awesome times I had with him; wrestling around, going surfing, playing hide and go seek or just plain hanging out. He was always able to cheer me up, no matter how down I was and I thank God for giving me the chance to know and get close to him.

Where ever you are Ivan, and I see you sitting on a cloud somewhere tinkering with one of your Gundam Models, just know that your cousin loves and misses you.
-Jon

Ivan loved "Weird Al" Yankovic, so in his honor, I present his best video "Headline News", a send up of a bunch of goofy crap that happened between 1992 and 1994. "Mike and Mindy" and their One-Shot Pals will back next week. Take care folks, and always remember to love and look out for one another. You only get one shot at life, so make it count.

MUPPET MADNESS!!!

Hey folks! I actually had something really big planned for this week, but neck hurts and I've got a really busy week coming up. (Needless to say, I won't be updating next week) So instead, I present to you this muppet mash-up.

I'm not sure who did this, but it is outrageously funny and very well done. Being the supportive person that he was, I'm sure Jim Henson would have approved. It's been twenty years now since he left us, and this world is still a much better place for his having been here. We miss you Jim.

I'll end this post with yet another question I've been asked about the Shockmaster. It's hard to say why people are so interested in this flop gimmick, but I get more feedback on that post than anything else. I guess because it was just so funny how it all went down, and because of how mind boggling the whole thing was. The only other thing I'll say about it is that we should be happy it happened before the Vince Russo era. Had that been the case, there would've been a series of matches pitting the Shockmaster against the banner he tripped through, only to have them eventually form a tag team!

Take care y'all! Enjoy the video!

FINALLY, SPINAL TAP! IN LEGO!!!

It's video week here at the stuff, and I recently discovered this gem on youtube. Many props to the dude who animated it. And if I might suggest, there are a lot of us who would love to see Lego Stonehenge!



Anyway, it's been a frustrating few days. I shipped my pieces for the AfterCon event, but FedEx only delivers between 10am and 12pm, and nobody's been around to claim the package. I'm about ready get my drawings and hand deliver them! I guess we'll see what happens.

Anyway, that's all for now. Later!