11/03/2012

Hitler If He Was A Hipster Chick, aka The One That Got Away: New York Comic Con 2012 Part 2

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

Okay, so where were we? Why yes… the New York Comic Con 2012! Part one was all about toys and figures and stuff like that. And part two is about… lots of things actually.

Let’s start with something that’s more or less a given at such things: every year I swing by both the DC and Marvel booths to see what the heck is going on in their respective worlds, too see now might be the time to jump back in into super hero comics.

But the end result is always the same: total confusion. For example, can anyone please explain to me why Iron man now sports gold and purple armor? Is Tony Stark officially a pimp?

Nearby was Thor. Actually, the Thor wax dummy from Madame Tussaud…

And standing almost directly across was Lego Gandalf…

With Lego Bilbo Baggins…

Here’s Maury photobombing Maury (and friends)…

As previously noted, many pals of mine were at show (all of whom worked the entire time). Like Joe, who was either signing stuff or doing Garbage Pail Kids sketch cards at the Topps booth for pretty much all four days…

Topps had plenty of cool goodies, like John Pound‘s original of Adam Bomb…

They were also pimping Wacky Packs, which I never got into, including a few game related examples…

Back to GPK; one of the highlights of the artists alley was Mark Pingitore, who had both finished cards…

And the original artwork for sale as well…

Another way that Ping pays the bills is by doing commissions for Garbage Pail Kids fanatics. Mostly mish-mashes of pop culture references that, would never get the stamp of approval from Topps lawyers, often make little sense to being with. But hey, if the client’s money is good…

Here’s one for someone who really liked the Goonies, which Ping was selling reproductions of…

Not far down was Bob Camp, of Ren & Stimpy fame! The show was a HUGE influence on me as a kid, so it was nice to shake the hands of one of its primary architects. He also had a few cels for sale, which I almost picked up…

Along with some of the gorgeous, gross-out painted close-up shots…

Remember that one piece of fan art, featuring Princess Leia taking her bottom off and Han Solo looking out, like a total creeper, while in outer space? Didn’t get much of a reaction the first time I posted it, so here it is again…

Moving on, let’s talk video games. Among the big boys, I was happy to see Darkstalkers get some love, after all this time…

Whereas Mega Man remains completely forgotten. Despite it being his 25th anniversary, Capcom could less about the little blue guy, but at least you could get air fresheners a few booths down…

Naturally, there were a few used/vintage/import game dealers on hand. And among all the overpriced SNES games, alongside consoles that now sport piss yellow plastic, was this sole legitimately interesting find: a N64 rom burner/reader, and for just $600…

One of the more unknown publishers was this outfit from China. Notice anything familiar with the logo? Think it’s kinda lame? Yeah, me too…

Though I was more than happy to run into the MangaGamers booth, which was selling hard copies of the various visual novels that they translate. Including my personal favorite, Go! Go! Nippon! which I swear to God is not hentai but a travelogue…

So across the way, right next to the gigantic, inflatable Jake and Finn…

Was the ShiftyLook arcade. Basically, it was filled with old, super obscure Namco titles that they’re trying to breath new lift into, via web comics. Interesting business plan to say the least…

Basically, all the classic games are housed in brand new cabinets that feature updated artwork, by whomever is illustrating the new comic…

Many of the games are completely oddball and totally charming, at least on a purely aesthetic level…

Though as Raina discovered, alongside myself, there’s a reason why these games faded away into obscurity; most were not fun to play at all…

You had more contemporary titles as well, like Pac-Man Battle Royale, which Mario here was totally killing…

At the booth, you could also buy merch relating to various Namco games, with the ShiftyLook make over…

Along with this rather stylish Galaga tee, which I’m now kicking myself for not picking up…

Semi-related: check out this awesome Star Wars: The Arcade Game tee from Super 7…

So when I posted Lamar‘s brand new Seibei shirt on Tumblr, it immediately blew up like crazy. And for good reason; it’s f’n rad…

Yet another super swell discovery at this year’s NYCC was the work of Jason Laurits. His photo collage shirts and prints were simply too awesome…

Around the corner was this booth manned by totally Williamsburg hipster chicks, who had a few neat things, like this arcade tee…

… But when I tried asking them about it, and how the show was going was for them, got a total “God I hate this show and all the f’n nerds here” vibe, which is so classy for a number of reasons. So yeah, great shirt, lousy attitude.

Pro-tip: if you think you’re the very first to come up with a shirt that cashes in on an internet meme… you’re actually probably not…

Again, forget the name, but this table selling old, vintage pulp novels had some really nice offerings. Am pissed at myself for not picking up Six-Gun Heritage when I had the chance…

Storm Trooper and child…

Speaking of, owning your own R2-D2 would be neat and all, but R5-D4 is the most baller…

NYCC is where yesterday’s stars try their best to make a buck today, one $40 autograph at a time…

NYCC is also where people who think they’re stars, like from the world of YouTube, try to their best to shine, like Miss Hannah Minx. I don’t think I’ve met a single person, particularly women, who have seen her guide to Asian emoticons and not vomit in their mouths immediately afterward…

One of the few highlights of my last tour of duty back home was discovering Face/Off on SyFy. It’s basically a reality game show among those aspiring to be make-up artists in Hollywood. Like America’s Got Talent, except everyone has actual talent. Anyhow, one of the finalists was on hand…

Gotta love the bizarre mishmash of worlds at Comic Con. Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and… cars?

As also mentioned before, I didn’t get the chance to catch a single solitary panel. But, I did get to watch Dave‘s Comics Quickfire. Basically audience members are paired with professional cartoonists to produce a comic on the spot, and the audience chooses which is the best. Additional pics, including how the comics this time around turned out, can be seen here

Check out these social media propaganda posters by Aaron Wood

Dude also does posters related to gaming…

Ladies and gentleman, Neon Genesis Evangelion chopsticks…

Perhaps the hottest pieces of crap going among animu dorks this year was these cat ears that supposedly reacts to the wearer’s brainwaves. Though everyone I saw wearing one (which, sadly, was everywhere) had their ears with mind of their own, just spinning with zero rhyme or reason. Which, come to think of it, probably means that they were working as advertised…

And finally, easily the biggest highlight of the entire weekend: I got to meet my personal hero, in the flesh, Mr. Danny Choo. To say he is a God among nerds is a vast understatement. Anyhow, what a cool guy!

K, have saved the best for last; cosplay! Due sometime on Monday.

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