Baltimore Comic-Con

DrOct and I went to Baltimore on Saturday for the 9th Annual Baltimore Comic-Con. We decided not to get there too early, but didn’t foresee the need to buy tickets online ahead of time. There are only three people selling tickets at the door, so we had to wait in line for 45 minutes before getting in. Usually this would have given us a good opportunity to see people in costumes, but there wasn’t much to see. A few requisite Jedi, one of whom was an Obi-Wan in his outfit from the new cartoon, which is bizarre given that fans really didn’t like the movie. Saw a Storm Trooper, a Scout Trooper, and a Tie Fighter Pilot. Saw one Harley Quinn and a bunch of Heath Ledger Jokers. I guess that’s going to be the Joker for a few years? Maybe it’s just an excuse to smear your makeup instead of taking time with it (or getting a girl to help out). (I didn’t bring a camera, so links are to others’ photos from Flickr.)

Inside we didn’t have too much time to talk to artists, but I had success in the dollar bins, filling out almost all of Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo’s Fantastic Four and picking up Grant Morrison’s Spawn issues, ¾ of his Swamp Thing, and two issues of Aztek. Excepting the British stuff, I just need the rest of Aztek, Kill Your Boyfriend, The New Adventures of Hitler, The Mystery Play, and Skrull Kill Krew and I’ll have everything he’s written.

Baltimore Comic Con, 09/27/08
Originally uploaded by ashcrowe

We made it to two panels, the Kirkman vs. Bendis and DC’s Superman panel. Robert Kirkman and Brian Michael Bendis were very entertaining and had a lot to say about the industry. It’s unfortunate that business factors got in the way of Kirkman being able to share his trade paperback sales, but I agree with him that more people should focus on creating their own characters rather than working with DC and Marvel’s icons. Matt Fraction’s work on Casanova outshines his X-Men and Iron Man in every way. But Bendis had a good point that creators can do both.

The Superman panel was less entertaining, but they made a good plug for Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle’s new run on Supergirl. Geoff Johns as always displayed his encyclopedic knowledge of the DC Universe but was outdone by Igle’s speech about why Superman is an inspiring character. James Robinson looked bored for most of the time. Fan questions ranged from the irrelevant to the inane.

I did get to meet Scott Kurtz this year, having been blown off by him last year. He was friendly and only a little bit cocky.

Sarah Palin Thinks Dinosaurs Lived at the Same Time As Humans

The Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States of America actually believes that dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans.

There are many issues on which I respect that people have different opinions than I. This isn’t one of them. If you vote for John McCain, you’re endorsing the possibility that someone could be in the White House who doesn’t believe very basic facts about science and history.

Watching the Election

The two sites I’ve been reading most about the election, besides The Washington Post, are Electoral-Vote.com and Five Thirty Eight.

Sign of the times: "chocolatey."

Sign of the times: “chocolatey.”

Hershey has stopped putting cocoa butter in some of its candy, so many products will no longer be “milk chocolate”.

The World's Largest Wargaming Table

The World’s Largest Wargaming Table

GeniusboyFiremelon: When Words Collide BONUS: Morrison's Very First Superman Story

GeniusboyFiremelon: When Words Collide BONUS: Morrison’s Very First Superman Story

From a 1986 UK Superman Annual.

Op-Ed Columnist - Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Punctuating Comics: Dots and Dashes

Punctuating Comics: Dots and Dashes

Todd Klein on why comics often use two hyphens instead of an em-dash.

Hear, hear

(click to see original)

Assorted Things that Never Became Posts

I’ve started to write a few posts over the past few weeks and have lost interest in all of them before coming to a version I wanted to publish. When Twitter lets me say it in 140 characters, why write a whole post?

So here are a few seeds that never grew to full posts, in no order whatsoever.

Politics: Sarah Pailin really worries me. I fear she’s like George Bush in not understanding the nuances and constitutional effects of various positions, like that it’s okay to go aggressively after criminals but still offer them trials. John McCain is making me like him less than I used to, especially with the dirty campaign he’s running. Lies I can understand, all politicians lie, but voter suppression is unconscionable.

Toys: my favorite Batman action figure is from the Hush series that came out a few years ago based on Jim Lee’s art. This week I bought the All Star Superman toy based on Frank Quitely’s art, and I love it. It’s not the definitive Superman, but I like having one of Quitely’s drawings come to life on my desk. (The definitive Superman is, I think, the 1984 Hasbro one that looks like Christopher Reeve. I have that, too, but the cape has faded to magenta.) I’d like a definitive Tim Drake Robin in his most recent red and black costume, but none of them come out just right, and depending on how RIP comes out he might not be Robin anymore.

Star Wars: I rewatched all six movies recently. I’ve been wrestling with a post about the prequel trilogy that I can’t seem to turn into prose that’s worth reading. Summary: I think Episodes II and III would be pretty much fine if a better actor had been cast as Anakin. I think Episode I looks like they filmed Lucas’s rough draft before he took out all the obviously unworkable brainstormed ideas like midichlorians. The overall framework of the film is fine, but you need to fix a few things like make Anakin older, make Jar-Jar a real character, and make the story fit into the trilogy instead of just being the one where Obi-Wan meets Anakin and nothing else important happens.

Comics: All Star Superman makes my heart pitter patter and fills me with hope for mankind, similar to the Juno afterglow. That and Casanova are the two best things to come out in the past year.

Books: I finished George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire and am eagerly awaiting the next one. I finished ‘salem’s Lot and am reading The Stand. After that I have a ton of things I want to read and have to keep reminding myself to just enjoy the thing I have in my hand right now.

Movies: Pretty excited about Quantum of Solace.

TV: The shows I’m most pining for to return are Pushing Daisies and 30 Rock. Lots of others of course but those are the standouts. I’m not watching Heroes, Smallville, or Terminator anymore. Fringe hasn’t wowed me but I’m willing to give it a few more episodes.

Apple: I’d really like the AppleTV/iTunes to be a viable competitor to broadcast cable, but the money doesn’t add up. I’d like to see them allow rentals of TV on a full season basis for a sharp discount.

IGN: The Top 10 Batman Toys

IGN: The Top 10 Batman Toys

For my money (literally), the Hush Batman that they rank #6 is the best Batman action figure I’ve found. I have no use for variant dolls like “Green Lantern Batman”.

Mr. & Mrs. Darth Vader

Mr. & Mrs. Darth Vader

Love the cutouts on her chest console.

Scifi SNL: Best SNL Scifi Sketches Of All Time

Scifi SNL: Best SNL Scifi Sketches Of All Time

Love that Astronaut Jones.

Register to Vote

In Michigan, the Republican party intends to try to prevent people whose homes have been foreclosed from voting.

In Ohio, the McCain campaign sent out absentee ballot applications that included an unnecessary question that, if left blank, invalidated voters’ applications.

Until the Alaska legislature banned the practice, then Mayor Pailin charged rape victims for their own forensic tests.

Register to vote.

Apple-watching

C|Net’s Tom Krazit, reporting on a rumor from a Daring Fireball article that Apple could release new laptops in October:

If that date comes to pass, Apple will have officially missed the back-to-school shopping season, which is generally one of the best-selling quarters for the Mac. Even if it launched the new notebooks tomorrow it would have missed most of the college students who were looking to upgrade before heading back to campus[.]

Well, yeah. They’ve been doing this for years. From Mac Timeline, here are all of the hardware releases of MacBooks or iBooks that Apple has ever released during the back-to-school season:

• 1 November 2007: MacBook update 2.0GHz or 2.2GHz (santa rosa), GMA X3100 video
• 8 November 2006: MacBook now Core 2 Duo same price, 1.83GHz white same spec/ 2.0 GHz white 1GB RAM 80GB HDD/ 2.0GHz black 1GB RAM 120GB HDD
• 19 October 2004: G4 iBooks updates, Airport Extreme standard, 12” now US$999
• 22 October 2003: New G4 iBooks, similar form, slot loading optical drive, USB2, upto 1GHz
• 6 November 2002: Updated to 700-800Mhz & US$200 price cut
• 16 October 2001: Updated iBook G3 500 & 600MHz announced

For MacBook Pros and PowerBooks:

• 1 November 2007: MacBook Pro new BTO 2.6GHz, 250GB HDD
• 5 June 2007: MacBook Pro update 2.2/2.4GHz, 15.4” now LED backlight, 17” high res display optional, GeForce 8600M GT graphics, upto 4GB RAM
• 19 October 2005: G4 15” - 1440x960, 17” - 1680x1050 resolution displays
• 16 September 2003: All New 15” Aluminium Released. 12” & 17” Updated, USB 2.0 across the board
• 6 November 2002: Updated to 1Ghz+ Superdrive & US$200 price cut
• 16 October 2001: Updated Powerbook G4 550 & 667MHz models announced

So in seven years, Apple has not once released a new laptop in July or August, and only once in June. Fall updates, if any, have come in October or November, excepting one 2003 September refresh. I was hopeful but not optimistic they’d release new ones this week, but history shows that Apple just doesn’t care about back-to-school shoppers. Instead, they offer free iPods with the purchase of a new computer and let that drive sales. Then, once the students have bought up all their old inventory, they release new laptops and new iPods. (iMac updates actually have come in July and August in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007, but many schools now require students to have portable computers.)

Why not release shiny new computers for the students to gobble up? Well, I don’t know and I’m not a sales expert. Maybe they figure students have to buy a new computer no matter what, and all they need to do is sell their brand, not updated hardware, to them. As Krazit says, back-to-school season tends to produce great sales for Apple, always by selling older hardware. Maybe they could get better sales by releasing faster stuff in the summer, or maybe they’d run out of inventory.

Here’s another theory: part of being a Mac user is getting used to the company releasing new stuff right after you buy something from them, so maybe Apple figures all their new students switchers should experience that right away. I’m sure it’s terribly frustrating to be a new college student going off to school knowing you have to buy an end-of-life laptop. And this way they can release updates in the fall in time to have everything in stock for Christmas, only to make them obsolete at Macworld in January.

Girl Turk: Mechanical Turk Meets Girl Talk's "Feed the Animals" - Waxy.org

Girl Turk: Mechanical Turk Meets Girl Talk’s “Feed the Animals” - Waxy.org

Great writeup about the samples used in this album.

Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren't Very High Def

Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren’t Very High Def

Short answer: low bit rate.

FM 100 Hue Test

FM 100 Hue Test

Cool color perception test. I scored a four (zero being best).

World Names Profiler

World Names Profiler

Check to see where your last name is the most popular, and what the most common given names are for it.

Umbrelletiquette

Umbrelletiquette

YouTube - ryan vs. ventura

YouTube - ryan vs. ventura

Was looking around for baseball fights today. Watch Nolan Ryan bean and then beat up Robin Ventura.

Ultimate For Better or for Worse

Ultimate For Better or for Worse

The comic strip ended last Sunday with the marriage of daughter Elizabeth and notes telling what happened to each character. Now the strip will start over again with the characters as they were when it began, telling new stories.

The US now leads developed nations in teen pregnancy and abortions.

The US now leads developed nations in teen pregnancy and abortions.

Jesus is my friend by "Sonseed" on Vimeo

Jesus is my friend by “Sonseed” on Vimeo

(via Charlie Park)

Warhammer: First Warhammer Brawler Footage Looks Hot

Warhammer: First Warhammer Brawler Footage Looks Hot

Warhammer has seen a nice crescendo as a property lately. I’m still waiting for a straight video game port of the tabletop game to complement the RTS.

The Savage Critic(s): Obsolescence & Model Kits: Jeff Looks at FC: Superman Beyond #1 and G-Mo in the DCU

The Savage Critic(s): Obsolescence & Model Kits: Jeff Looks at FC: Superman Beyond #1 and G-Mo in the DCU

Good counterpoint to my love of Morrison’s recent crazy stories. For the record, I agree that his stories have become much less relateable and my enjoyment of them has been heightened by reading web pages telling me what I’ve missed. What I appreciate is simply that DC is letting him tell stories like this.