The Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/6/2010

Inside joke for the NC fans in honor of his visit to U-Con @ UConn

For those not in the know, Leon is in his Knuckles costume (first seen in #4), Jake is G-Man, and soon to be dead guy is Goku, with the Nostalgia Critic as himself. I’m not sure he translates well into this style, but few real world people do.

Click the pic to find out about the in-joke, which actually came into play during the “That Guy With The Glasses Q & A panel, and some notes about the inking if you care. (Just in case anyone came in from Art  & Story). I actually gave Doug the original artwork, so hopefully he drops in to find out why he was chasing “Goku”. And here’s some other U-Con @ UConn notations before getting into the rest of the news.

• I ended up getting there late, because it’s a long drive and I had some trouble getting the map to print out the way I wanted it to, among other issues. So I missed the first half hour of the panel. Doug Walker and his brother Rob (who runs the That Guy site) hosted, and later gave autographs. It was at the autograph session that I gave Doug the comic art and learned the history of my favorite not-Nostalgia Critic series, Video Game Confessions (not counting Pac-Man, because that was just plain wrong in the bad way–didn’t feel like calling him on that and ruining it for everyone when I enjoy the rest of his work).
• I also ran into Rob a few other times during the convention, and found out he’s a fan of Cowboy Bebop, which is understandable, but has never seen Outlaw Star, which is just plain wrong!
• I didn’t get to take part in, or see, any U-Con related “That Guy” skits, but if some come to light, or the panel gets posted, you’ll see it here at the Spotlight.
• Not as many cosplayers as there were at ConnectiCon, and I’m talking ratios. There were fewer attendees, which is odd for a free convention, but maybe the word didn’t get out as much. There also weren’t as many events going on, but it’s their first con, they probably didn’t have as big a budget, and one floor of the Student Union is hardly the Connecticut Convention Center.
• Only a few vendors, mostly gaming and cosplay stuff. Free Lunch Comics had a table, but that was it.
• Some of the screenings weren’t the episode posted in the schedule, but they had some good offerings just the same.
• I’ll have what pictures I did take later this week, possibly Tuesday and Wednesday. (Monday will be Super Bowl ad reviews.) I just need time to set up the gallery, and today was a work day.

comics

• Slay Monstrobot shares my skepticism when it comes to Marvel’s plan to “lighten up“, only he comes with more examples. Some a bit graphic.
• How do you bring in female comic readers? How about “ladies night”? Because why shouldn’t the comic community further divide the sexes? I can think of a few reasons.
• Marvel gets its Colleens confused.
• Online comic/book distributor Wowio is altering their business model. It could be a plus for the content makers. Anyone know if similar services like Lulu, Drive Thru Comics, or Scribd use a similar model?
• A recent interview with Bill Watterson, creator of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbs, which still maintains a strong fanbase years after the comic was ended. (Including Doug Walker–I wonder if he’s seen the interview?)
• Chris Sims, now a full-time freelance writer, take a look at interracial relations in the Archie comics.
• Hube is shutting down “The Comics of Rhodey“, a blog he hoped would be separate from his politics blog, The Colussus of Rhodey. He doesn’t have time to run two blogs. Which means I better update my RSS feed sidebar soon, as I already have one ended comic as it is. (We still miss you, Comic Coverage.)

video games

• A dramatic reading of the “Worlds of Power” book version of Mega Man 2 by the Angry Video Game Nerd (or rather the guy who plays him). Not in canon to the video game franchise, by the way.

television/movies

• We have a new Spidey for the movies? Zac Efferon (unless there’s been an update I haven’t had time to check) seems to be in. But do we really need Brian Michael Bendis involved to make it work? I don’t think so.
• Beloved lost comic series Young Justice may be getting its own animated series, entitled Young Justice League. I vote yay!
• Could we be getting the Japanese Transformers cartoons on DVD here in the west? I wonder if it will be strictly subs or if they’re do a new dubbing. The old dubs are MST3k material.

And that’s all I’ve had time to look up this week. U-Con @ UConn pics later this week.

CRUD! Posted without giving the BEST SCENE OF THE WEEK!

Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers #1

Granted, most of the comics I picked up this past week were minus an “outstanding moment” compared to the rest of the story.