Hobbystar's Winter Toronto ComiCON - This Sunday!

This Sunday is the annual Winter Toronto ComiCON put on by Hobbystar Marketing. Like most cons, I intend on having fun, getting books signed, getting some sketches, finding some cheap books that I either want or catches my attention.

However, unlike most cons, I have to go to work right after the con... bastards... I usually take the day off from work, to enjoy my time at the con, and this instance was no different. I booked it off since the beginning of January, and being the only person that booked off this Sunday. Unfortunately, the availability of my co-workers have changed, and most can't work Sunday nights... rephrase... ALL can't work Sunday nights... except me. Which kinda has me upset, because even if there wasn't a con this weekend, it leaves me alone on Sundays, when there should be at least two people closing. Ugh... anyways, I've derailed the original topic long enough.

Kevin Maguire (Justice League, Batman Confidential) is the special guest this Sunday. Also appearing, Kalman Andrasofszky, Andy B., Kent Burles, Agnes Garbowska, Alvin Lee, Francis Manapul, Dave Ross, Marcio Takara, Lamin Martin, Diana Tamblyn, Marvin Law, David Walters, Spent Pencil Comics, DMF Comics.

Looking forward to this con. Oh, and don't expect a report up on Sunday. It just ain't happening. Most likely on Monday... Tuesday at the latest.

Boughts and Thoughts - January 28th, 2009

Amazing Spider-Man #583 (3rd Printing) - Like I said last week, I preferred this cover more, so I picked it up. Won't be picking up the fourth printing.

Final Crisis #7 - ...And Final Crisis #6 has become worthless... So, what the hell is going on?

Justice Society of America #23 - Some bad ass stuff, featuring Black Adam and Isis!

Legion of Super-Heroes #50 - Kinda disappointed to see that this issue did not contain artwork by Francis Manapul. Still, it had an awesome cover by him.

New Avengers #49 - So, that was resolved quickly. Still enjoying this series.

Resistance #2 - This issue was good, but I still don't know too much about the game. One of these days, I play Resistance.

Thunderbolts #128 - This came out last week, and I originally passed on it, but picked it up this week. Barack Obama is used in this issue.

Umbrella Academy: Dallas #3 - Enjoyed this issue more than the last. Got to find out more about Number Five.

X-Force #11 - Definitely two different art styles in this issue. Alina Urusov did the flashback artwork, while Clayton Crain did the regular timeline artwork.

Oh Hells Yeah!

Newsarama: Disney Brings X-Men Animated Series to DVD

I remember getting up Saturday mornings for this show. Bro set the VCR to record, and I'd watch it again later on.

Hulk Vs (DVD)

So this movie came out today. Contains two movies, Hulk Vs Wolverine and Hulk Vs Thor. I actually won a copy of this DVD, from a contest held by Silver Snail. I was one of twenty-five people that won. I went down to pick it up this morning, and so far, I have only watched the Hulk Vs Wolverine movie.

This was pretty good, mainly because I didn't know what to expect. Before watching the movie, I was just expecting Hulk Vs. Wolverine for the entire movie... but there's a story to this, and it was actually a decent story.

I'll probably watch Hulk Vs. Thor later on tonight.

Boughts and Thoughts - January 21st, 2009

My original list for this week was more than I ended up picking up. I did end up cutting Justice League of America from my regular pull list, as I was considering dropping it after the last issue (released on Dec. 31st, 2008).

Also, I dropped Supergirl in floppy format, in favour of the trade of this current "Who is Superwoman?" storyline. I really enjoyed the start of the new creative team (Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle), and was hoping to make this a regular title for my pulls. (SPOILER ALERT... highlight the missing text, if you already read the New Krypton arc). I just didn't really like that Supergirl left Earth, for New Krypton, at the end of the New Krypton arc.

There were another five or so books that I was considering, but opted not to get.

Amazing Spider-Man #583 (2nd Printing) - Been awhile since I even considered picking up a second printing, but what the heck. Add to my Obama stuff. I actually like the 3rd printing cover more than this one, because of the American flag in the background.

Dark Avengers #1 - Wanted to give this a shot, to see where Bendis is going with another launch of an Avengers title. I'm done with it. Not saying it was bad, it's just I really don't feel like continuing with this. And where the hell is Luke Cage?

Green Lantern #37 - Continuing my enjoyment of this series, and where it's leading too. Geoff Johns has me all excited for this.

Giant-Size Grimm Fairy Tales #1 - Can't say that I enjoyed this all that much. Also, didn't like that on two occasions in the first few pages, you got the editor's note to check out other issues to fully find out the full story. I mean, really... two notes to tell me to check out 1,001 Arabian Nights #7 (which was also released today), after turning the page from one page with the note, to the next page.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #2 - Heard this was a good issue, even though the only X-Man that appears is Emma Frost. It was good, but I haven't really been following any X-titles recently, to keep up with what's going on.

Happening Now: President Barack Obama!

Danielle Corsetto Signing @ Paradise Comics

January 17th, 2009 - So earlier today, I went down to Paradise Comics, for the Danielle Corsetto Store Signing. For those that are not aware, Danielle "is the brains/boobs" of the webcomic, Girls with Slingshots.

But to start off my afternoon, I headed down to get there for 2:30PM, for this reason. Not that I was dying to know who won. It was because I WON. :)

Yes, yours truly is the winner of the Crystal Fractal Universe #0.0 Paradise Comics Exclusive Preview Edition CGC SS 9.6.

Anyways, I tried to get their for 2:30pm, and thought I'd make good time on that, since I was in the neighbourhood by 2:20pm, and searching for a parking spot. Word of advice, parking on the small streets in the area during the winter, is terrible. The roads aren't really plowed, and because of the sidewalks, when they are plowed, they are just pushed to where most of the parking spots would've been on the street. And for those spots that don't have mountains of snow, the ice build-up is quite high.

I kind of got stuck on one of the ice build-ups. Because the bottom of my car was being raised by ice, my front passenger-side wheel was off the ground, and my front driver-side wheel was turning on ice... and I was only halfway into the spot, blocking someone's driveway. Major dilemma here, as no one was around. For about 15 minutes, I was digging and breaking apart the ice from under my car. I even jacked up the front passenger-side wheel, to help break the ice, so that I could at least get my wheel down to the ground. Thankfully, after the 15 minutes, some of the residents in the area came out and helped me out of my jam. Great people!

So now that I was outta the jam, I went to a parking spot infront of the store. Screw the free parking. These spots are clear of the 10-inches of ice.

Got into the store just a little after 2:45pm, to see quite a huge turnout. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting this type of turnout. No disrespect to Danielle Corsetto, cause she is a great cartoonist, and GWS is a great webcomic. But after seeing turnouts for several comic creators (and one movie star) that have been published by major comic publishers, the turnout here surpassed a lot of them. This, to me, shows the power of webcomics, and how much of a fan base they have.

When I got to the store, the line had already gone from the back of the store, to the front entrance. It circled back (which was a tight squeeze), halfway to the counter. When I left, the line was still from the back of the store, to the front entrance.

I got to the front after 45 minutes to an hour, after Danielle arrived. Got a sketch of Hazel in my copy of GWS vol. 2 (Jamie was my sketch in vol. 1). Also, picked up the original piece to Danielle Corsetto's main page to her website, which is a drawing of herself. Quite happy with that pick up.

Thankfully, I got out and home as the snow started to fall, cause that wouldn't have been a fun drive home.

Joe Shuster Awards Sequential Arts Symposium: Sat. June 27th, 2009

The date has finally been confirmed and set: Saturday, June 27th, 2009 is the presentation date for the 5th Annual Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards.

The awards will once again be presented at the Toronto Public Library’s Lillian H. Smith Branch Auditorium, 239 College Street, Toronto, Ontario. The Lillian H. Smith Branch is the home of the Merrill Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy.

Current plans are to continue the 2008 tradition of having a “Sequential Art Symposium” during the day — including Canadian comics industry related talks and a modest artist alley for attending Canadian creators to display and sell their work, as well as this year’s Visions of an Icon: Wolverine Art Gallery show.

http://joeshusterawards.com/2009/01/14/the-5th-annual-joe-shuster-awards-saturday-june-27-2009/

Boughts and Thoughts - January 14th, 2009

Action Comics #873 - Final issue of the New Krypton arc. Kinda not liking what happened with Supergirl in this issue. May or may not continue out the Supergirl title, because of this.

Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Regular and Obama Variant) - Well, after three stores, I got myself a copy of each cover. First store was sold out of both, before the doors opened (taking care of his members first). Second store, one per customer, regardless of the cover. Got the Obama one there. Third store, regular shop, got the regular cover there, as well as the rest of my books. Did enjoy the issue itself. Shows what kind of person Peter Parker is.

Final Crisis #6 - Kind of overlooked, because of the Spidey/Obama book. But something significant happens at the end. Picked up the book because of that. That being said, WTF is Grant Morrison doing? Same character, two different stories. Someone explain things to me.

G.I. Joe #1 - Got the Dell'Otto cover, because it was just too nice to pass up. Not sure how long I'll be continuing with this series.

Locke & Key: Head Games #1 - After the success of the first series, Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez continue with this new mini-series. I highly enjoyed the first series, so I am continuing with this one.

Resistance #1 - Ramon Perez's new book, based on the best selling PS3 games, Resistance, is out. Great stuff from Ramon here. I haven't played the game yet, but may do so soon.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #2 - Continuing the fun. Tin Woodman and Lion are introduced.

Stupidness at work...

So last night, while at work, I get a guy freaking out over him swiping his card for coins, and not receiving any coins. He's already complaining to the manager, after running right past me... the guy that is dressed like a doofus (in my uniform) that actually looks like he works there. Okay, fine, whatever. Knew the manager was just gonna point me out to him, as I'm one of the guys that deals with the game issues.

He explains everything to me, completely out of breathe, yet talking like that Micro Machines fast-talker... in broken English. He also kept on saying "swhip" instead of "swipe."

Then I look down, where the coins come out, and see his coins down in the tray that they come out. He looks down too, and says to me, "I'm so stupid."

My reply, "Yeah." And then I proceed to walk away, and let the manager know what happened.

About ten minutes later, I'm working on one of the basketball games, trying to reorganize the balls into their respective machines (one game uses bigger balls, since it's a more realistic basketball game, than the other). The same guy sneaks up beside me, with a big smile on his face, and says to me, "So this is what you do to relax?"

My reply, "Dude, do you not see the ten balls I have on the ground, that I'm sorting out here? Basketball requires me to throw the ball at the hoop, not drop them on the ground next to me. If I was relaxing, you wouldn't even see me, as I'd be sitting in my office."

His response, "Oh." And he proceeds to go back to his group of friends.

The final dealing with this person last night. It starts off with his friends saying their game is out of tickets. The indicator we have on top of some of the games was not lit, so I knew it wasn't out. So I open the game, show the stack of tickets that was in there. Play a coin, drop a coin over the ledge, show everything is working. Tickets are dispensing. Then I go help out some of their other friends.

This guy comes back, and first has a little chat with the people I'm helping... before putting his arm around me, with another big smile on his face. I give him this dirty and pissed off look, and said to him, "What?"

Still with the smile, though removing his arm from around me, says to me that the game that I was just at is out of tickets. I tell him it's not, as I showed to him and his friends the big stack that was in it. Also, that six thousand tickets takes a little while to dispense out, and two minutes had not even passed from when I was first at the game, to when he came to me.

He then goes, "C'mon, we're Chinese, give me some tickets."

My reply, "First, I'm Vietnamese, not Chinese." In actuality, I'm like 3/4 Vietnamese, 1/4 Chinese, so I always say I'm Viet. Continuing to respond, "Second, even if I was Chinese, we (pointing back and forth to me and him) are not buddy-buddy. We are not friends, so don't ever put your arm around me, expecting me to do favours for you. When it comes to my friends, and even acquaintances, I hook them up legitimately, by getting my manager to comp them some cards for them to use on the games, not hand them stacks of tickets. And third, I'M STILL HELPING YOUR FRIEND OUT WITH HIS PROBLEM. Do you really expect me to forget his problem, to give you free stuff?"

He says okay, and goes back to the game, while I go back to helping out his friend. After dealing with his friend's problem, closing announcements goes on, and that pretty much ended my night.

*Added @ 7:53PM* - Yeah, I can be a bastard while I'm at work.

Joe Shuster Awards: 2008 Eligible Creators List Released!

Check out the list of works being reviewed for nomination, for the 2009 Joe Shuster Awards.

2008 Eligible Creators List (English Language Publications)

This took me quite a while to compile, and I know it's still a work-in-progress. For those that know of some works that I missed, or see an error that I have made, please contact me at jason@joeshusterawards.com.

Boughts and Thoughts - January 7th, 2009

Doing this now, because sadly, there isn't anything that I'll be picking up this week. Hopefully, there will be some books for me next week.

Joe Shuster Awards Site Goes Live

For those that weren't already aware, the revamped Joe Shuster Awards website has gone live. It more of a blog format, so expect it to be updated more frequently.

I will also be posting over there, since I joined the Joe Shuster Awards Admin Committee. But right now, I'm still working away at the 2008 Eligible Creators List (for works released in the 2008 calendar year). I believe that will be released, so that creators can send in any works that I have missed out on. I hope to have it finished by this week, so I can get it to our nominating committee.

Until then, take a look at the new site. Spread the word.

Boughts and Thoughts - December 31st, 2008

First post of 2009. May all of you have a great new year.

Batman Cacophony #2 - Meh... still wasn't as good as the first half of issue one. One more issue to go. Will buy it for the completist in me.

Final Crisis: Secret Files - Thought this would be somewhat like the Secret Files & Origins stuff, with bios and other stuff done by other creators. Instead, it was just a story about how Libra ties into Final Crisis. Oh, and I was considering buying both the Frank Quitely and Jim Lee covers, but after seeing the Frank Quitely one, I couldn't justify spending money on a cover of Libra.

Green Lantern #36 - Damn, Geoff Johns is getting me hooked again. This issue was pretty damn good. I am so looking forward to the Blackest Night.

Incognito #1 - Wanted to give this one a shot, and it's looking alright. Probably would be a better read when it is collected. Not sure if I'm continuing with this title.

Justice League of America #28 - I am on the verge of dropping this title. It wasn't something I wanted to do, because it is one of the titles that I wanted to collect, regardless of the creators involved. We'll see how long it is before I drop this.

Justice Society of America #22 - Considered dropping this title when Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham are off of it, but I may or may not stick for the Willingham/Sturges run. Kinda glad this Gog story is finally over.

Kick-Ass #5 - Spoiler Alert! Kick-Ass saved a cat. Looking forward to the eventual ass-kicking team-up.

Superman #683 - Zatanna! DC Superheroes vs. New Kryptonians! Continuing this great story.

X-Force #10 - Liked this issue. It was pretty. Choi/Oback are a great art team.