Flight 5 was released right in time for the Comic-Con and if you’ve not seen it yet check out the preview. Flight books are a great collection of stories wonderfully written and illustrated by some talented folks including: JP Ahonen, Graham Annable, Chris Appelhans, Bannister, Matthew Bernier, Scott Campbell, Svetlana Chmakova, Tony Cliff, Phil Craven, Michel Gagné, Kazu Kibuishi, Kness, Sonny Liew, Reagan Lodge, Made, John Martz, Sarah Mensinga, Ryan North, Richard Pose, Paul Rivoche, Dave Roman, Kean Soo and Joey Weiser.

I met up with Kazu again this year at the Comic-Con and he’s been busy (on Amulet 2), but is doing well. He’ll be heading over to Europe soon on business. (He’s got a lot of fans on the other side of the pond.) For you Flight fans, you can expect a Flight 6 sometime in the future. I asked him what else he was reading and he said that I should check out Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa. It’s got fantastic visual style as Pedrosa is a marvelous illustrator. I always enjoy good graphic novel recommendations and this one looks great! I think I need more bookshelves though.

Have any of you grabbed a copy of Flight, Daisy Kutter or another graphic novel you enjoyed and would like to recommend? (I know I’ll definitely be getting the Watchmen graphic novel shortly, as I do have a birthday coming up.)

I Am 8-Bit returns for its fourth installment in August. The annual group art exhibition will have its grand opening extravaganza on Thursday, August 14, 2008 at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery in Hollywood, California from 8 p.m. to Midnight. The show will run until September 7. (Having gone the last couple of years I can say without a doubt that if you like games and art, this is the show to go to!)

Lead by Jon M. Gibson, the show will feature 100+ artists with diverse styles and backgrounds including Joe Ledbetter, Scott C., Jim Mahfood, Ashley Wood, Amanda Visell, Jose Emroca Flores, Luke Chueh, Bigfoot, Yoskay Yamamoto, Kofie One, Angry Woebots, Gerald de Jesus, Tessar Lo, Gabe Swarr, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Carlos Ramos, Joe Vaux, Joe Shea, Benjamin Marra, Deseo, Mr. Jago, Jude Buffum, Michelle Valigura, Suckadelic, DGPH, Jim Stoten, Tanner Goldbeck, Scott Belcastro, Tony Mora, Nate Frizzell, Elizabeth Ito, ZOSO, The Chung, Ray Frenden, David Goldberg and many others.

Update July 31: PaperMonster has two neat paintings on display at his site. One called “Mario- The Original Banksy” and the other “The Return of Samus”", both of which are a stencil collage on canvas.

Wed preview night: The exhibit floor reminded me of a busy Saturday of years past. It was just as crowded and as lively. People really wanted their exclusives and let nothing get in their way on their mission. I think it’s all well and good that people bring their kids and strollers to the show, but I worry and wonder how many of them get trampled by the crowds. (Not to mention the eye level of the kids to the scantily clad heroines. Your kids will have lots of questions for you when you get home.)

Thursday:

• Spore - Wil Wright educated us on “Russian space minutes” and showed us a preview of the upcoming game. Wright also mentioned that “2001: A Space Odyssey” is his favorite movie. He believes video games are an art form. I say Spore is a masterpiece. The release date of this game is in September.
• Dr Who - They showed a sneak preview of the Christmas 2008 special with the Dr. on Christmas Eve 1851 and Cybermen marching through a cemetery. They’re in for some trouble!
• Dumbrella - Entertaining and interesting look into their world of comics. A neat quote by Rstevens: “A job is the worst thing you can do for your career.”

Friday:

• Watchmen - The cast entertained us and we saw an extended, darker trailer amazed the already buzzing crowd. March 6, 2009 can’t come soon enough.
• American Dad - Previewed an upcoming episode. Seeing double (2 “Steve Smiths”) is a little freaky. Ok, it was a lot freaky, but it was funny.
• Family Guy - The Seths made us laugh and we previewed an upcoming episode. (Be prepared to get the song stuck in your head.) Peter: Oh, you don’t know the word? Because I was under the impression that everyone had heard about the bird. The birds the word.

Saturday:

• Futurama - “Bender’s Game” DVD is a must buy!
• Simpsons - Q: How do they keep the show fresh and funny. A: They’ve got talent and great writers! Here’s to another 20 wonderful years!
• I saw artist Greg “Craola” Simkins and Jensen Karp of Gallery 1988, at the Hot Wheels booth. There was a long line to see the talents of Greg.
• I was lucky to see the Pushing Daisies sitcom stars at a packed WB booth.
• I ran into Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman signing autographs for fans. I do enjoy MythBusters!
• Marvel The Ultimate Universe - Starting the panel a little off-topic with a promo for a Marvel version of Stephen King’s “The Stand” doesn’t help. Good news - Frank Cho is joining them!
• The Sarah Silverman Program - Humorous and rated NC-17. I wonder about the parents who brought their kids to the panel. F-bombs were the least of their worries, but it was a merry romp with the cast. Next season will be silly!
• Dumm Comics - Got together for drinks after the day’s activities. They’ve got great comics and neat t-shirts. (Too bad they don’t come in brown.)

Sunday: I “slept in”. I needed a day to decompress properly before I returned to the regular, less comic-filled world.

Enjoy the slideshow of all pictures I took from the show!

San Diego Comic Con 2008 comes to a close. It was the 39th Comic-Con International, which ran Thursday, July 24, through Sunday, July 27, 2008 (with a Preview night on Wednesday, July 23). Because of the popularity of Comic-Con all memberships for Comic-Con were sold out before the show started. If you’d like to go to it in 2009 (the show will be July 26-29) perhaps you should be prepare early.

Stayed tuned for a recap of the convention and a swag contest!

It’s time for me to once again enter the splendiferous sights, sounds and sensory overload of the SDCC. Be sure to check back later with Old Man Musings for tons of news and pictures. So even if you can’t go to the show, you can still enjoy it here.

* Update 07/27: Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat pictures I took from Comic-Con on flickr.

Watchmen - A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, the film is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union, is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. Their mission is to watch over humanity, but who is watching the Watchmen?

I’ll be honest with you, before the talk of these trailers and movie came about, I only was barely aware of Watchmen as a comic and less aware of their story. But after looking into it a bit more, I really like Alan Moore’s story. Perhaps I should read the graphic novels (at least twice) before the movie comes out, so I can get up to speed. Do we have any Alan Moore or Watchmen fans in the audience?

This August 21st Kidrobot has some swell Simpsons vinyl, mini-figures that they’ll be releasing. 24 characters in all, each vinyl toy stands 3 inches tall, includes a character sticker and comes blind boxed to preserve its identity. They’ll be sold separately (or can be purchased by the case) for $7.95. The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, teamed up with Kidrobot to create these fun, little toy treats.

The mini Marge looks cute and so do Itchy and Scratchy, but if I could get all of them that’d be great. But 24 x $7.95 = $$$ I usually only buy a few blind boxes and hope that I don’t get duplicates. I know hard core fans barter and trade for their favorites to complete sets, but that can get expensive.

The Mousers, vicious robots with jaws strong enough to crush steel and concrete, are some of the Turtles deadliest and most popular enemies. The 3-Pack comes with a detailed display base, including an exclusive San Diego Manhole Cover! This new set is in addition to the previously announced San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Edition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Black & White Box Set! You can pick up both exclusive sets at the NECA booth (#4345), while supplies last.

This cool little creature is the Giver of War: Dead Zebra edition, by Andrew Bell. It’ll be available at the Dumbrella booth (#1335/1337). There’ll be about 40 of these creatures available at SDCC for $90 and then you’ll be able to buy them directly from Andrew at deadzebra.com. The grimacing little F-bomb is included. You might recall his Burning Desire solo show from earlier this year, where I got a lot of great photos.

On Sunday, 7/27 at Comic-Con San Diego 2008 get ready to “Dance Your Cares Away, Worry’s for Another Day, Let the Music Play, Down at Fraggle Rock!” Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of Fraggle Rock and the upcoming release of the Complete Fraggle Rock Box Set on DVD with a special event! The panel includes a live Fraggle-Rock sing-a-long featuring “Red Fraggle” with a special appearances by Dave Goelz (Muppet character Gonzo) and Karen Prell (performer of Red Fraggle).

Sunday @ 2:45-4:15 Fraggle Rock (Room 6B) - Help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Fraggle Rock and learn more about this fall’s newest DVD release! Join Red - making a personal appearance - as she sneak peeks the DVD special features and some other DVD surprises!

You’ll find a variety of special SDCC exclusives and product premieres, including the products above at the STRANGEco booth (#4629). I especially like tokidoki’s Bulleto. (He’s the male counterpart to Mozzarella, who I got at the show 2 years ago.) There’s also special signings and artist appearances:

• Thursday, July 24 - Simone Legno, 11 am to 1 pm
• Friday, July 25 - Greg Craola Simkins, 2 pm to 4 pm

Be sure to get your ultra-rare vinyl figures that will only be available during the show.

If you can’t get enough of tokidoki, Simone will also be greeting and signing at his booth (#4731,4733,4735) throughout the San Diego Comic-Con International.

The San Diego Comic-Con International is less than a week away. Whether it’s art, comics, games, toys or whatever, before you go, make a list of all the stuff you want to get and see. The Convention Center is really massive and even though you’ll want to visit every booth, just make sure you know where everyone is located*. Wear comfy shoes and pack snacks, lunch and drinks, along with some spending $$$.

Check back here later for more posts and pictures from the show floor.

* The Exhibit Hall Map (pdf) and Comic-Con’s Convention Center Maps (pdf)

When I’m not looking around the main exhibit floor at toys and old comic books, I’ll try to check out the following panels:

(Read on …)

It’s Barack Obama and the other guy in JibJab’s Election 2008 political video, Time for Some Campaignin’. I do enjoy JibJab’s animated, musical, political romps. You can vote Wiggum if you like.

It was just announced at E3, that we should be finally seeing Wii Music released in the U.S. by the holidays. The game offers virtually endless ways to make music. You choose the (public domain?) song and (from the 60) instruments and decide whether to blaze through a rock take on classical songs, put a jazzy spin on folk tunes or transform Nintendo classics like the Super Mario Bros. theme into Latin-flavored numbers. The song list is only a takeoff point - it’s how you improvise with the songs that matters. Plus Wii Music doesn’t make you use complex buttons, which I never seem to remember. You only need to imitate playing the instrument. There are no mistakes - just playing for the pure joy of playing. Musical talent is optional.

Hey, it’s the totally awesome new game with Strong Bad in it by Telltale, Inc. Yeah, I heard about it before and it sounds like more fun than a pony ride. Well it comes out soon on WiiWare, so you best watch out. At the Telltale booth (#5365) they’ll have merchandise and playable versions of Sam & Max for the Wii, which is scheduled for a retail release this fall, and the first episode of Strong Bad’s Cool Game. Plus I’m sure we’ll hear more news about both games at their San Diego Comic-Con panel. Panel Info below:

(Read on …)