While the ever-fashionable, erudite, and hobnobbing Beatrix navigates the nerd herd of Comic-Con, I continue Watchtower duty her at stately Beat Manor, munching on Double Stuff Oreos and quaffing Diet Mountain Dew. Once again, I have found the unusual and unseen, because that’s what Comic-Con is all about… discovering that which you never knew existed.
There Is Nothing Like A Dame
Helen Mirren during the ‘Red’ panel on day 1 of the 2010 Comic-Con International Convention on July 22, 2010 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/PictureGroup) via AP IMAGES
Dame Helen Mirren ups her incredible Geek cred by paying tribute to Harvey Pekar.
(Sorry, Angelina! As glamorous as you were today, Dame Helen gets the glory. If anyone wishes to indulge their appreciation of Ms. Jolie, visit the AP website and search to your heart’s (and eyeballs’) contentment.)
“Aren’t You A Little Short For A Stormtrooper?”
As if Ms. Jolie, numerous booth babes, and cosplayers were not enough…
Those attending the San Diego Comic-Con this week (July 22-25) can get their fill of dweeby eye candy at the Comic Book Burlesque Show happening at Madame Cora’s Marble Room from the “Dollhouse Dames.”
The burlesque troupe will perform sexy stripteases in the style of old vaudeville girly shows as some of the hottest female characters from comic books including Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Princess Leia.
I hope it is nothing like this.
“Strong and Smart, And Good”
Considering how staid and conservative the Wall Street Journal can be, their Speakeasy culture blog presents an excellent source of pop cultural reporting.
Today, among the many media-driven panels, Gina Bernal interviews Marjorie M. Liu.
What female superheroes would you consider your role models?
Most of the female “superhero” role models of my childhood came from novels, and they rarely had powers. Take Dorothy, for example, from The Wizard of Oz; or Laura Ingalls and her sisters in the Little House on the Prairie novels. Or Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking; and Elnora Comstock, who exists in Gene Stratton Porter’s Girl of the Limberlost. Those books were filled with girls who couldn’t fly or shoot lasers from their eyes, but they were strong and smart, and good. And that’s what we want our superheroes to be, right? We want them to have strong spines and even stronger hearts. The powers are just window dressing.
Cool Stuff From Wired.com
As my fellow elitist, Kate Fitzsimons reported earlier, Alan Moore has sworn off comics. So I won’t be showcasing the link from Wired.
However, Wired.com is a great geek site, offering incredible blogs (mmm… Bacon…) and some awesome reporting, and there’s lots of Comic-Con reporting.
How awesome? Wired advises how to walk through crowds. Commonsense advice, but stuff you never thought about.
If that’s not cool enough, Wired profiles Ashley Eckstein, voice of Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Ahsoka Tano. Sensing a new market, she has designed a Star Wars clothing line for female fans.
We are not here to take anything away from the guys or to say that sci-fi is actually a girl’s club, because it’s not,” Eckstein said. “We’re simply trying to share the spotlight and hoping for equal treatment. Female fans have been more of an afterthought in the sci-fi and fantasy fields; most companies cater to the men. But I want Her Universe to be more than just a merchandise line — I want it to be a community for female fans.
Maybe Comic Sans Isn’t So Bad After All
What’s that comics font that CCI:SD is using? It’s not very good…the “N” is rather abstract and squashed. The CCI graphics team needs to learn to kern… “IN TERNA TIONAL”?!
Perhaps they should take advantage of this. (I’m sure Comicraft could even design an “official” Comic-Con font, perhaps even give them a show special!)
In My Day, We Didn’t Have Digital Comics!
Indiewire uses the Wayback Machine and creates an alternate reality where Comic-Con first took place in 1910.
“What might have been announced, unveiled and previewed, what might we have seen and gotten sneak peeks of had the SDCC existed 100 years ago? I’ve come up with a few ideas, which I’ve listed after the jump. And if you’re thinking this is a silly idea, well let me just remind you that it’s typical with comic book characters to be given new origins, so why not comic book conventions? I’m going to be doing a few more of these fictional histories over the course of the next few days, so feel free to suggest some other years to wonder about.”
Today’s Candidates for Prom Queen and King Mr. and Ms. Comic-Con 2010
Today, our candidates come from the ne plus ultra, upper echelon, snobbish clique known as Comic-Con Exclusives!
The candidate for Queen Ms. Comic-Con 2010 is the well-know, almost infamous (or is it notorious?) Tarot of the Black Rose!
Continuing the exciting new line of seductive vinyl statues featuring the most alluring Femme Fatales of modern comics’ history, DST and Broadsword present this “Silver Goddess” variant of Jim Balent’s own Witch of the Black Rose – Tarot! Standing over eight inches tall, this limited edition version of the Sam Greenwell sculpt showcases the magical beauty as she appeared in issue #11 after retrieving the Sword of the Black Rose!
Almost as sexy, strong, and good and bad as Tarot, Sinestro, wielder of the Green, Yellow, and White power rings, yearns to add a crown to compliment his ring bling!
The brightest day can’t be too far away when a traditional GL villain is wearing cool new duds as seen on this exclusive Sinestro Action Figure. Measures approx. 6/5″ high, Sinestro features multiple points of articulation and includes a removable display base. Packaged in a unique clamshell presentation package that also includes a wearable White Lantern power ring.
“Let there be light.”
Torsten, you must have missed the Nerd Burlesque show that was showcased at C2E2’s Saturday night party at the Double Door.
It was largely the same concept – though the production values were nowhere near that Star Wars … thing – and as entertainment went that night, it ranked far above the spoken word performance.
“What’s that comics font that CCI:SD is using?”
It’s Letter-o-matic, a free font from Blambot.