Shannon Cottrell

Comic-Con 2009

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San Diego Union Tribune reports that Sheldon Dorf, founder of San Diego's Comic-Con International, died today at the age of 76 after suffering from complications of diabetes. The Union Tribune obituary tells the fascinating story of a freelance artist whose life was changed by a trip to San Diego, where he went on to found the largest fandom convention in the country. From the paper:

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Mike Judge has worn a lot of hats, going from a physics major at the University of San Diego, to being an office temp, to finally achieving red carpet status (and major life points) as Hollywood's latest go-to for dark socio-economic satire.

In July LAWeekly.com caught up with the popular Office Space, Idiocracy and Beavis and Butthead director in the corridors of the San Diego Convention Center, as he promoted his latest film Extract and asked him about absolutely nothing work-related.

L.A. Weekly: Your most awful Halloween costume, like, most failure?

Mike Judge: Colonel Sanders. It didn't do a thing for me.

Did people get who you were?

Oh, yeah they did. I really looked like Colonel Sanders.

Worst Valentine's Day?

Last year.

Why?

Long story. Next question maybe.

Best Christmas present?

Glow in the dark crayons when I was seven years old.

Awesome.

Read more about Mike Judge and Extract in Nicole Campo's "Extract Preview: Punching the Time Clock with Mike Judge at the Aero."

Extract opens September 4.

Liz Ohanesian

deviantART user Meghan McMahon at Comic-Con

​In some ways, deviantART is the driving force driving Artist Alley's at comic book and anime conventions across the nation. The online artist community doesn't typically sponsor booths or have any other sort of official presence at the cons. However, the illustrators, digital artists and craftspeople inside the booths are quite frequently deviantART users, or Deviants as they are called. You can see their personalized user addresses on business cards and contact sheets. Maybe you'll pick up a card, go home, look up the user and then end up in an hours-long time suck, scrolling through pages of fan art, photography, character designs and whatever else piques your interest. It's an easy addiction.

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Shannon Cottrell

Twilight protestors in line for Comic-Con's Masquerade

​Saturday night, photographer Shannon Cottrell and I walked up and down the line to get inside Comic-Con's Masquerade, noticing a curious wave of screams. We wondered what was happening, followed the sound, and caught a young man in a black, military-styled jacket holding a cardboard sign. Scribbled on it in pen was:

"Twilight ruined Comic-Con. Scream if you agree!!"

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Shannon Cottrell

Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick of The Venture Bros.

​It's incredibly difficult to avoid being sucked into the cult of The Venture Bros. From its overt homage to Johnny Quest and comic book culture to its subtle references to post-punk music to JG Thirlwell's driving score, the Adult Swim show is a witty commentary on geek culture.

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Shannon Cottrell

Next year, let's hope that Comic-Con's steampunk panel/meet-up is in a larger room. The line-up for Saturday's event, lead by L.A.'s League of S.T.E.A.M. (Supernatural Troublesome Ectoplasmic Apparitional Management), aka the Steampunk Ghostbusters, began nearly two hours before its scheduled time and extended far down the second floor hallway. As the time of the panel quickly approached, the line swelled from 200 to 300 bodies, more than double than what would have fit in the facility. Meanwhile, passers-by caused a severe case of gridlock as they stopped to photograph the elaborate costumes, in particular the oversized, brass-heavy backpacks/weaponry favored by the League of S.T.E.A.M. Add this to the hefty amount of steampunk items in the Exhibition Hall and it's clear that this subculture is taking quite a hold of the annual comic book/pop culture convention.

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With the running around from panel to party to panel, and all the attention paid to organizing booths and securing the perfect Storm Trooper costume, Comic-Con was exhausting and seemed to be the last place that anyone was having sex. Curiosity got the best of us so we asked people on the floor one question, "Do you ever get laid?" because you'd be surprised. Here are the best responses, like "Why don't you ask my wife?" and "That question is not applicable considering I am cosplaying a 12-year-old boy," as well as a few candidates (ourselves included) for the most untapped attendee at Comic-Con '09.

OH: "Those two NEVER get laid" as they walked by. Hence.

If we're going to be porking a Skeletor in this economy, he better be an employed Skeletor.

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View more photos in the "Comic-Con Parties" slideshow.

Shannon Cottrell

Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! at 4th & B, San Diego Comic-Con 2009

After running on very little sleep throughout a day of squeezing between throngs of people and Storm Troopers at San Diego Convention Center for Comic-Con, we thought we might be too tired to make it through the night programming. And so we dragged our weary bodies up to San Diego club 4th & B, found seats in a corner of the room and watched the crowd file inside as music from Tim & Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job! filtered through the sound system. DJ Douggpound then joked his way through a short set which the hipsters seemed to love even though he's blatantly poking more than a little fun at hipster DJs. We quietly appreciated it, but contemplated rest. The weariness ended, though, when Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim appeared on stage in nude, hair-encrusted bodysuits complete with pendulous scrota and something that looked a little like fake excrement hanging out of their backside as they sang of bodily functions. It was crass, so much so that we were torn between laughing and cringing. We went with the former.

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Shannon Cottrell

Anyone who thinks that cosplaying is just about posing in costume is wrong. Much like characters at Disneyland, it's about illusion and interaction. So when we caught faux "Ask a Ninja" dude in line for the Masquerade Saturday afternoon at Comic-Con shouting for passers-by to ask him one question, "just one question," we couldn't help but oblige. But being a reporter, I felt compelled to sneak in as many hard-hitting inquiries as possible. Watch the video to see how to trick a (slightly drunk) ninja.

Shannon Cottrell

Jun Planning's New Steampunk Dolls

Your faithful correspondents have a not-so-secret fascination with dolls and steampunk. So imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon the Comic-Con Exhibitor booth for Jun Planning, makers of the popular Pullip doll series, and saw a group of posable, adorable steampunks staring straight at us.

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