Avengers Teaser Trailer

Wish I could have made it to this panel at Comic-Con. It has been quite a few years since I have made it to any of the panels there. I am mainly running down the aisles of Hall H for exclusives or signings. But here is the teaser trailer they previewed at Comic-Con for the upcoming Avengers movie. Doesn't show anything but a logo and Samuel L. Jackson voice over, but at least it is something.



Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury all in one movie. Got a long wait for this movie, since it won't be out for a couple of years. Heard they are already casting for the Wasp and Ant Man for Avengers 2.

DC Universe Online

While I was going through the DC Comics booth at SDCC last weekend, this trailer really caught my attention. It was for the DC Universe Online video game.



I like this trailer for the game, but I'm not sure if I will buy it.

It's only for PC and PS3, neither one I have. Still not buying a PS3 just to play this or a few other titles. The demos of the game I have seen are okay and then there is the additional online fees. I'm more of a Marvel Comics fan than DC Comics anyways. But who knows... Maybe after the game gets released in November, I might have a PS3 and get it.

Back To The Blog.

Finally been able to get back to this blog. Work has been getting a bit crazy with some of titles getting canceled or absorbed into an existing book, new work projects evolving into rushed deadlines, coworkers on vacation or sick and AX/SDCC happening in the same month. Just got so tired from working and planning my trip to San Diego to keep up the blog. Not even going to mention my addiction... or may be I will later...

At least I'll be getting a few more hours to replace the ones I lost for the next couple of months. Helping out our Colorado office with their magazine until they can find a replacement for their artist. That will help me with some extra cash for my next major vacation/convention in January 2011 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Even though AX and SDCC are already over, I may post something about it here. Got some SDCC pics on my Facebook page though. I've really got to get back to working on some stuff too. Gotten a bit lazy and that's not good.

Mortal Kombat reboot?

Just saw this on CBR and Kotaku. Not sure what this is, but it looks to be either a re-imagining of the Mortal Kombat movie franchise or a trailer for a video game. I'm thinking it's for the movie. IMDB has it listed for a 2013 release, which is still a long ways off. Doesn't even list it as being in production yet.

It is very different from the 2 previous movies... very dark and set much more in a real world environment. Characters in the clip shown are: Jacks Briggs, Sonya Blade, Scorpion, Reptile, Baraka, Johnny Cage and Sub Zero.

I only recognize Michael Jai White (Spawn) as Jacks and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager) as Sonya. The other actors don't look familiar to me. This could be just a demo reel and the actors, characters and storyline could change drastically in the end.

Return of Vader

Earlier this week, some of the customized Darth Vader helmets from The Vader Project started to appear around L.A. Three at the Golden Apple comic shop, two more at Munkey King (both on Melrose) and about eight at Royal/T Cafe during the Culver City Artwalk.

These were some of the first signs that The Vader Project is returning to L.A. for one final time. For about one week only they will all be on display, just before they go up for auction on July 10 at Freeman's Auction House in Philadelphia, PA. All 100 customized Darth Vader helmets will be on display at 6812 Melrose Avenue., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Open daily from Noon-6pm, June 12-20. There will be an Opening Night Party on Friday, June 11 from 6-10pm. Then on Saturday, June 12 at 2pm a catalog signing with over 20 of the participating artists.

The auction catalog just came out over the weekend. I got mine from the JapanLA Pop Up Shop, in Hollywood, on Sunday. They had a signing with 3 of the artists that contributed their talents to this project: Mr. Toast (Dan Goodsell), Buffmonster and Gary Baseman. Cost for the book was $40. Over 200 pages with all 100 helmets beautifully photographed, a brief history of the project and small artist bios.

I got the chance to see this when the Star Wars Celebration was in L.A. back in 2007 and there over 50 helmets at that time. It's amazing to see them in person because you can see all the details. I am definitely going to make out there Saturday to get my catalog signed and to see the other 50 I missed.

More info. on this and the auction can be found at www.thevaderproject.com.

Dehara - Jizo Exihibit at GR2

What is a Jizo? It is the Buddhist divinity who protects the departed souls of deceased children, babies and unborn fetuses. Its likeness can be found in cemeteries and on roadsides in Japan. These are the inspiration for Dehara's latest show. He calls them "Japanese stone angels."

There were over 20 custom painted Jizo and over 20 custom figures, J.J. sets, Jizo in regular grey color and special colorways stickers, books, keychains and other boxed figures. Each Jizo comes with matching rice ball accessory. His custom Jizo range from the cute (ONIGIRI) to the slightly bizarre (JUICY HOLE). The figures were absolutely amazing. I really liked the dog, HACHI. and the Jizo with J.J. sets. With so many figures to choose from I finally decided on the MENTA-kun Jizo. It was either that or KILLER CABBAGE. I also thought about getting one of the Jizo colorways, but the white one wasn't GID.

I got to meet Dehara for the first time. He is really nice. He was kind enough to do a Menta and Jizo sketch in my book. Even gave me some insight on how he came up with the Menta and the giant rock he painted on in Japan. These are the times when I wish I could speak a little more Japanese than I do now. David, Sun-Min and Mina stopped in to take peek at the show. Hung out a little bit with SuperBen too.

The exhibit runs through July 7 at GR2, so there is still quite a bit of time to take a look at some truly amazing pieces.

R2D2 and Ice-Bat

Got to do some relaxing over Memorial Day Weekend. No working... just a bit of sleeping. I did get out to head on down to Golden Apple Comics on Monday. Picked up the June Previews/Marvel Previews books, issues of Brightest Day #2, X-Force #27 (part 9 of the Second Coming X-Men crossover event), Avengers #1, Galacta: Daughter of Galactus #1 and The Last Unicorn #1. As I was looking around the store I saw this display case next to a life-size R2D2 statue with signatures and doodles on it. Never paid too much attention to the R2D2. But this time I happened to be crouched down in between the display and the R2D2, to get a closer look at the figures on the very bottom shelf. Just then, something on the R2D2 caught my eye... Ice-Bat's head sketched and signed by David on the front side. I pulled out my iPhone and quickly snapped a couple of pics.

I also found out that they will be selling the Vader Project Auction Catalog and the auction preview is happening down the street from the store. June 12-20 open to the public. On June 11 there will be and Opening Night Party with DJs from 6pm to 10pm. On June 12 there will be a catalog signing with over 20 artists. Golden Apple has a window display with 3 of the Vader helmets.

Been a little too busy over the past month and a half to really post anything. My regular work schedule has been getting bumped around a bit. A few publications got axed or moved, so I've had to reorganize some of my plans for the latter part of the year. Luckily none of it interferes with SDCC. A project I was working on involved creating some sketches of a bunny for a movie, but that fell through. Since they went with another designer for this plush bunny, I'll use it for myself. So I have my Ty looking over the sketches to turn him into a plush. Hopefully it comes out okay. I did finish up some planning for my dad's 85th birthday party in August. Booked the Chinese restaurant, picked out the menu, guest list done and date set. Only things left to do are the invites and the party favors. I have Ty making some small plush origami cranes as party favors. He has made them before and should work well with the party.

The Losers Screening

Last Friday a bunch of my friends and I went to the screening of The Losers. I think this is the second movie to be adapted from DC Comics' Vertigo line. The first was Watchmen... which I liked, even though the ending was not the same as the graphic novel. The Losers ran for 35 or 36 issues. I only picked up the first couple of issues. Just couldn't keep up with it, since I already had too many books on my pull list to read at the time.

Think I am going to be picking up the graphic novels after seeing this movie. I really enjoyed it! The movie is about a military ops team that are betrayed and framed by this guy named Max and they are out to get revenge on him. Along the way they are helped and joined by Aisha, who is also out for revenge as well.

Action and fight scenes are great. After seeing her in this movie, Zoe Saldana needs to be in more action movies with fighting roles. She can kick some serious butt! The character of Jensen, played by Chris Evans, is super hilarious! The whole elevator scene, before and after, is just great. It'll be interesting to see how he is as Captain America. I didn't even recognize Jason Patric as the villain, Max. His character is completely insane.

The movie seems to cover the first 2 chapters of the series. So I can see them adapting the rest of the chapters into a trilogy. Hopefully it does well at the box office to do so.

Clash of the Titans Premiere

I scored some screening passes to the premiere of Clash of the Titans last night. One of my favorite movies of all time. I absolutely loved the original! Mainly because I was really into Greek mythology... which started my interest into the myths of other cultures. Even steered me into taking a course in Archaeology in college.

This remake was a bit of a disappointment for me. The storyline is changed from the original and deviates from the myth of Perseus... especially the ending. The flow of the movie seemed rushed. The scene with Perseus' conception/birth might have been a better opening to the movie, instead of putting that near the middle. Bubo has a really small cameo, which is really a shame...

All the Olympian gods, except for Zeus and Hades, are all just background extras. Apollo and Poseidon have one line speaking roles. Then there is the shiny gold armor the male Olympians are wearing... what the hell is up with that. Made them looked like spaceknights. It reminded me of the anime series Saint Seiya, one of my favorite anime series. Looks good in the anime, but not the movie. And why the Black Pegasus too? I always thought heroes rode white horses...

On the other hand, the effects and 3D were really good, especially the Scorpions, Medusa and the Kraken. I really liked the throne room chamber of the Olympians. The floor was the landscape of the earth with clouds. The fight scenes were nice. There were some occasions where I could not tell who was fighting and getting killed.

There are other things in the movie I wasn't too keen on: face of desert tribe men reminded me of a Decepticon from the Transformer movie and Calibos. I had hopes that this movie would be as good as the original, but to me it's not.

Cherry Blossom Time

Spring is here and the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom at Stoner Park in West L.A.

The publisher gave me Friday off, so I decided to go to Sawtelle Blvd. for some relaxing, shopping and eating. I had heard that the cherry blossoms had started to bloom in nearby Stoner Park. It's, more or less, ten blocks west of Sawtelle... so it's in walking distance. Luckily the weather was just right for a walk. Sunny, but mild with a slight breeze.

Cherry blossoms are definitely in bloom. I noticed one in front of the Buddist Church and by some nearby houses. But nothing can compare to seeing a whole bunch of the trees in bloom. These trees are all lined around Stoner Park. So all you see is pink when you stroll around the edges of the park. One of the coolest things is when a breeze blows through the line of trees and the pink petals float down.

Mr. Toast Party

Saturday night was the Mr. Toast Party at Japan L.A. This was Dan's first time having a show there. He's been working on this one since the Hello Kitty Three Apples Show last year. I've mostly gone to Cons or event where he has a booth. or a group show he is part of. Think this is my first time going to one of his solo shows/events.

Dan and Japan L.A. went all out with this Party. The Grilled Cheese Truck was outside serving a special in honor of the event: grilled cheese with egg and bacon bits coating the top (real, not the artificial kind of bacon either). YUMMY! Handpainted goodie bags for the first 100 people with the purchase of $5 or more of a Mr. Toast item. Then there is the Party next door with Mr. Toast himself, which I missed...

It was to start at 7pm and I got there around 6:30pm. A long line had already formed by then, which should be an indicator of how popular Mr. Toast has gotten. There had to be about 75 people in front of me with more people arriving and standing in line behind me. If I had gotten there a few minutes later I would have been standing in the alley. The line moved with a good pace to get people into the store. The inside of Japan L.A. isn't very big, so they had to limit the amount of people going inside. Just before I was going in I saw Buffmonster talking with Dan.

The usual Mr. Toast plush stuff was there, necklaces, t-shirts (some I remember seeing at SDCC), prints, original mini-watercolors and a new tote bag. I picked up one of the last watercolors from the Hello Kitty Three Apples Show. This one had Joe he Egg and Tuxedo Sam. He had another one with Tuxedo Sam at the show that I had seen online, but was too late to get it when I went that night. I also picked up the Dance Party print. Got number 2 of 250! Hung out with Dan for a little bit in between his signing/sketching. Even had him do a sketch in my book. He is just great. One of the nicest guys too.

Went next door to get my goodie bag and check out the Party. There were some Mr. Toast, Joe the Egg and Shakey Bacon decorations hanging from the ceiling. Since Mr. Toast seemed to be taking a break from the dancing, I decided to head out and get my grilled cheese. While I was waiting for my grilled cheese order, I bumped into Brandi (Serial Nerd) and Travis outside. They were waiting in line to get into the store, one of the last few people in the line. Would have hung out with them more, if I wasn't rushing myself to the opening of the Patchwork Show at GR2.

Here's a picture of the two items I purchased. Print and small, framed, original watercolor. The other pic is of the handpainted goodie bag. Forgot to take a pic of the contents, which included: a Clem Lemon plush, Joe the Egg plush, 3 Mr. Toast keychains, a Mr. Toast and Joe the Egg Picnic button, 5 Mr. Toast greeting cards, 2 folded books (Mr. Toast and Gags) and some Japan L.A. postcards.

2002 Ice-Bat

GR2 had their 2002 Ice-Bat release and signing event with Sun-Min Kim and David Horvath on Saturday (3:00pm-5:00pm). This Ice-Bat is modeled after the very first handmade ones that were first sold at Giant Robot back in 2002. These have 2 toes and 5 teeth. Limited edition of 300 and available through Giant Robot.

So glad the rain let up for this. The line for the event wasn't as too bad. I got there a little before 2:30pm, with only 6 or 7 people before me. Michelle started letting people into the store 6 at a time, just a little past 3:00pm. Everyone was limited to purchase 3 Ice-Bats per person. I had bought 3 post-it's from the GR2 Post-It 3 show last year and got them framed. The frame had two smaller areas that were perfectly sized for the smaller post-it's. So I put 2 blank ones there for them to sketch in to complete my frame. Was going to have them sketch something into my book, but I didn't want to hold up the line too much. I'm going to be going to SDCC this year, so I can get a sketch there. I bought my limit of 3, but needed to get 1 more for Justin. Figured I'd wait around outside until the end of the signing to purchase another one, if any were left.

While standing in line I got to catch up with Brandi (serial nerd) and Travis, who were just recently engaged. Finally met Hilda (hch05) and Corey as I was coming out from the store. We seem to always miss each other at these signings. Talked a bit with Eric while standing outside too. He and I were amazed at how many young kids were there.

The turn out was really great. Signing ended at just the right time too... it started to rain.

Street Food, Adventure and Tigers

Had a busy schedule planned for myself for the President's Weekend. Plus, no thanks to the economy and corporate office, a non-paid and forced day off on Monday (1 0f 5 this year). There was the L.A. Street Food Fest and GR2 Year of the Tiger Opening on Saturday, then the Travel and Adventure Show on Saturday and Sunday.

I originally planned on going to the Travel and Adventure Show on Saturday, after the L.A. Street Food Fest. But changed my mind when I got to the Convention Center around 1pm. Decided to head to the Food Fest instead. I had been hearing about this for the past few months and really wanted to try some of the food trucks that were going to be there. Parked my car and walked to the area where the Food fest was being held. Which was about a mile from where I parked. I didn't mind since I was getting myself back into a walking workout routine. Really did not expect what I saw when I got there... the line for this thing was super long. It went zig-zagging around the block and into the parking lot nearby. Stood in line around 1:30pm. By 3pm we were being told that the trucks were running out of food and the lines to get the food was an hour wait. Everyone started to leave and I bailed as well. That was a total bust...

On my way back to my car, I passed by the Nokia Plaza. Saw that they had set some stuff up and a small crowd was around there. Found out that Justin Bieber was going to be performing there around 7pm. I had to get something to eat, so I just kept on walking to my car. Needed to do a few things and changed my plans on going to the GR2 Year of the Tiger Opening in the evening.

Sunday I went to the Travel and Adventure Show. Was pretty surprised at how many people were there in attendance and what they had there. There was a rock climbing wall, cowboy roping, zip line and mini scuba pool. Seeing some of the scuba diving exhibitors there got me thinking about getting back into it again. Although I am a certified advanced open water diver, but I haven't gone in about 8 years. Plus I don't have a lot of dives under me. After talking to some of them, I would definitely need to take a refresher course. There was a lot of places I would love to check out... Easter, Cook and Galapagos Islands would be nice. Revisit Yosemite. Japan would be my ultimate trip right now. Always thought about going there. Well, now I have all the materials to research them all. Not sure if I'll ever get to any of these places anytime soon...












Just stopped in for a quick moment to take a look at the pieces at the Year of the Tiger exhibit at GR2. Took a few pics while I was there. Didn't stay too long, since I was a little tired from everything and need to relax a bit. There were a few that were really cool and amazing to see in person. Maybe I'll go back again this coming weekend if I don't head down to Long Beach Convention Center for the one-day Comic Event.

Moshi Monster MoPod

We got these things into the L.A. Parent office a couple of weeks ago. They were giveaway prizes at the booth for the California Baby and Kidz Expo. They are called MoPods. These were Series 1 of the Moshi Monsters edition.

I'm not too familiar with these Moshi Monsters MoPod things. There are 6 different characters to choose from: Luvli, Furi, Diavlo, Poppet, Katsuma and Zommer. They are little ring detectors that you attach to your bag or jacket and when your cell phone rings, the MoPod spins and lights up. It is supposed to alert you when your phone receives a call, text, email or voice message on your cell phone.

My editor gave me one to try out. When she saw the little characters on these, she knew I would get a kick out of them. I got the one called Furi. After opening the package, I removed the tab that blocks the battery power at the bottom. The MoPod did a little spin and flash, then stopped. I called my cell phone from the office phone, but nothing happened when my cell started to ring. Started to read the packaging and searching online. Found out that it does not work with CDMA networks or 3G enabled handsets. So it will not work with my iPhone... bummer. But there is a chance it could work with the 1st generation iPhones. Also it could activate due to the proximity of another person's cell phone.

Not a total loss though... each of these come with a secret code for a virtual accessory that you can use when you adopt a pet monster at moshimonsters.com. I went to the website site and it looks like one of those online communities for kids. Not sure if I will even use the code, but I might... Just to take a deeper look at the site.