Rhino's WonderCon Report updated with MORE compromising photos! :banana:

[Sharkey]

Part One: Thursday and Friday:

 

This was my first time at Wondercon, and it happened purely by serendipity, as I had some business meetings in Palo Alto at Stanford University that week and so I stayed for the weekend to attend the con.

 

I drove up on Thursday evening to have a pre-Con dinner with some of the locals: FFB, Jeffreykli, Jbud, Jimm94 (well, he used to be local), as well as Golddust40 and Greggy. We had sushi at Zushi Puzzle and after many rounds of maguro, toro, unagi, and a couple of dragon rolls, we polished off a bottle of sake and knocked back a few beers. FFB was superbly jazzed after his lunch with Craig Fleissel (see the FFB report for details) and brought the cover reproduction of ‘Tec 15 that he had purchased just a few hours before. We had a great time and it was great to finally meet the infamous Greggy.

 

Greggy and Jimm94

 

 

Jbud, FFB, and Jeffreykli

 

 

The Graemlins RULE!

L-R: FFB, Jeffreykli, Rhino (me), Greggy, Jimm94, Jbud

 

 

Friday I had some business in the morning in Palo Alto and the Con opened at noon. I got to my hotel, the W (highly recommended) and checked in, stowed my stuff and walked across the street to the Con at 11 am. From the window of my hotel room I could see a long line was already forming outside the Mosconi convention center – that got me pretty stoked. Once I got there, Wondercon was in full effect – a crew of stormtroopers had already gathered to monitor security.

 

 

I had a dealer pass and went sckao’s booth. Shin and his wife were there setting up. I put some books I’d brought to sell on his back display and started to mosey around the con to see what was there. I wasn’t looking for anything actually, but wanted to just take in the experience. I was surprised at the turnout of art dealers: Albert Moy, Tri-State (Hans K), and Bechara, had impressive displays of art. I sniffed around for some high-grade pre-hero books but nobody had anything that I was looking for. In fact, I went to one booth and the owner said there was one booth that had some really nice top-census stuff and pointed to Shin’s booth – to the books I brought to sell! Turns out is was our own cw here on the boards! Thanks Chris!!!

 

Shin (sckao) and Lisa Kao

 

 

 

CW, Pimpin' my wares

 

Stopped by Lee’s Comics to get my free comic from his comic spinner rack (as posted by Lee). I introduced myself to Lee and then picked out a Marvel Collector’s Item Classics: lots of good Silver Age stuff for the readin’!

 

 

By this time the hall was getting full – and the costumed characters were out and about. Here’s a few of the what I saw:

 

Hot Marial Arts video chicks:

 

 

WonderWoman and friends

 

 

Gender bender and scar-face

 

 

Some chick and a corset booth:

 

 

Penguin and Joker post-Swedish clinic surgery

 

 

Me, attacked by an Alien, ARRGGGHHH!!!!

 

 

Pacman vs the monsters (waka waka waka waka)

 

 

Robin the Boy Hostage meets Stormtrooper Elvis!

 

 

Electro and Black Cat!

 

 

A future cash cow for family psychotherapists....

 

 

More family fun!

 

 

Catwoman and Harley (Quinn, not Yee)

 

 

 

Silly English Kniggggits!!!!

 

 

Vision and the Wasp!

 

 

 

MORE TO COME, including Saturday Lunch with DeeDee, Jim (Tonystarkfan), thecollector, and Greggy. Also Forum Dinner pics, Scott (FFB) doing his best Leifeld imitation, and who knows what else!

[Red Hook]

Great pix!

[Sharkey]

 

Friday night a bunch of us went out including FFB, Liz, JBud, Steve Borock, and met up with Ron Murray, Harley Yee, and many others. We ate delicious German food (the schnitzel ROCKED) and put away a few large steins of beer.

 

 

 

The German restaurant's owner, with "Hans" Borock and me

 

 

 

After multiple steins of beer are drank, Liz, Ron Murray, JBud and Scott doing the classic "Liefeld" Pose

 

 

SATURDAY

 

Saturday was more of the same: Freaks, geeks, and who knows what else.

 

Went to lunch with DeeDee, Tonystarkfan, Greggy, and the collector. I have to say, DeeDee and Jim are so nice and cool. Greggy, well, not so much

 

DeeDee and Jim (Tonystarkfan). DeeDee is EXTRA jazzed about meeting chewbacca!

 

 

The Streets of San Francisco: WonderCon style:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were also a ton of great panels. My favorite featured Mutts comic strip creator Patrick McDonnell interviewed by comic art collector and author ("Carter Beats the Devil") Glen David Gold. If you don't read Mutts, you should.

 

 

MORE TO COME: Forum Dinner craziness!!!!

[kc120us]

Awesome report, Rhino!! Look forward to the rest.

[Dad&Son-migration]

Great pics Steve!! Love the comments on the Klingon family pic ..

 

Question.. did anyone get a count on how many outfits the older Asian chick has.. I think she was about 4 characters in all the pics I've seen.

[OldGuy]

Cool pics!

[Sharkey]

Rhino's WonderCon Report: An epic saga in Three Acts

 

ACT THREE: Where our heroes continue their trek through geekdom, attend a fine culinary function, and get hammered! Featuring pics of lots of drunken forumites!!

 

So, I haven't talked much about what I purchased because I did not purchase a whole lot of stuff. I saw a ton of art I'd like to buy, none of it affordable The sad truth is that most Kirby and Ditko pages that I really jones for have priced themselves out of my reach. But I did drool on a lot of stuff at Albert Moy's, Bechara's, and Hans's Tri-State Art.

 

I did pick up some nice TOUGH to find Marvelmania stuff, including the Jack Kirby portfolio. I owe Greggy my eternal gratitude because he saw them and purchased some and when I saw it I was like "Where did you get THAT?!!" Fortunately the booth had multiple copies of a few things (they were Mark Evanier's file copies) so I managed to pick up a set too. THANKS Greggy!

 

Shin had a couple of Fanzines featuring early Byrne art so I picked those up. Thanks Shin!

 

I also got some sketches which I'll post later in the Original Art forum. I got a Mignola Hellboy head sketch (just a quickie), a full figure Brent Anderson Jitterjack sketch (Astro City), and a nice pre-hero homage sketch.

 

Jimm picked up a fine piece of art, but I won't steal his thunder and will let him post all about. I have a great pic of him with the page that I'll have to send to him.

 

But enough of that, you people want to see FREAKS. And I've got 'em.....

 

Cockknocker from the Oni "Bluntman and Chronic" book:

 

 

Ooooh, shiny!

 

 

Batman. Hey, he's got my abs!!!

 

 

Ok, well, this guy has abs more like mine....

 

 

Greggy shows off his forum dinner outfit!

 

 

Ok, now I need to do another post with all the dinner photos. There's too many of 'em....

[greggy]

Where's the otter picture?

[FlamingCarrot]

Very entertaining thread. Pictures = good.

 

[Sharkey]

THE DINNER

 

First of all, I have to thank FFB, Steve Borock, and CGC for putting on the dinner. It was a ton of fun. Ok, Two Tons of Fun, Silent Bob!!

 

Synopsis: We ate, we drank, we talked comics, we drank some more, we talked about comics, drank, and they kicked us out. So we walked down to a pub, drank some more, almost saw a major fistfight between to very drunken, tattooed, and facially pierced fellows, and closed down the pub.

 

Now that's what I call a fun night. Met a lot of cool, fun, knowledgeable people I didn't know, such as Divad, Rosland, Paris_Fred, Golddust40, seank, fatpinko, and many many others. And saw lots of old friends! So without further adeiu, here's more pics:

 

Our hardworking organizer. And FFB.

 

 

 

Insert your own funny caption here.

 

 

 

Paul Litch and Golddust

 

 

thecollector and Liz, aka Mrs. FFB, aka PSI3000 (hey Liz you need to post more!)

 

 

Scott and Rosland

 

 

L-R: FatPinko, (uh, I drank too much and don't remember his name), and Ron Murray. Somebody get Ron more wine, STAT!

 

 

Greggy, DeeDee, Jeffreykli

 

 

Bottoms up. Notice the grins get bigger as the night goes on!

 

 

thecollector and his rockin' sketch cards

 

 

Borock and me!

 

 

Boys, boys, stop fighting over DeeDee! She's married to Tonystarkfan you knuckleheads!!!!

 

 

Friends 4-evah. Don't you love a happy ending?

 

 

Borock, Jimm, Rosland, POV, Rhino

 

 

Divad, Greggy, Paris_Fred, Jeffreykli

 

 

Bleedin' drunkards!

FFB, Jimm, Greggy, POV, Liz, Paris_Fred, Jbud, me, golddust40, jeffreykli

 

 

And that, my friends, is how a forum dinner should go.

 

Again, many thanks to everybody who was there, even the people I didn't get to meet!

[Sharkey]

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!!

 

 

 

Winner of the Beaver Hunt contest! Ok, not really. It's the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Otter!

 

 

Candy magnate or child molester? You decide!

 

 

Harley, borock, and Harley's brother in law (Ron I think)

[Inhuman Fiend]

What is the deal with all the socially-challenged individuals who dress up in those costumes?

 

I remember a couple of years ago I was watching CNN Headline news, and for some strange reason the entertainment reporter attended some huge Sci-Fi convention to do a story, and made a point of asking a bunch of the guys who were dressed up in costumes if they had a girlfriend or were married, and not a single one said yes. It was funny, but then again kinda sad. I know, it is not exactly a scientific sampling and also not exactly a comic show...but still...it just illustrates how the lonely comic-collecting nerd stereotype stays alive and well!

[DeeDee-migration]

GREAT pics Steve! the forum dinner was great, don't think it could've been any better

[divad]

GREAT pics Steve! the forum dinner was great, don't think it could've been any better

 

I have to agree with that! A merry bunch of gypsies, tramps and thieves!

[greggy]

GREAT pics Steve! the forum dinner was great, don't think it could've been any better

 

I have to agree with that! A merry bunch of gypsies, tramps and thieves!

[Sharkey]

Here's a few more random pics from the con...

 

CGC booth, at one of the few times it wasn't swamped!

 

 

One of Patrick McDonnell's Mutt's Strips. This one is a homage to underground comics and Frank Zappa's album. He incorporates a lot of comic homages into his Sunday strips.

 

 

Captain America -- Fresh from Civil War!

 

 

Albert Moy's Eisner Spirit cover. Only $30K!! Dang, where's my wallet......

 

 

Another family of Klingons.

 

 

"None Shall Pass!!!"

 

 

More costumed ones

 

 

A Forum Dinner pic

[Rocketeer]

GREAT pics Steve! the forum dinner was great, don't think it could've been any better

 

I have to agree with that! A merry bunch of gypsies, tramps and thieves!

 

...Rocketeer still a tad hung over,...alcohol bad,....

[Sharkey]

GREAT pics Steve! the forum dinner was great, don't think it could've been any better

 

I have to agree with that! A merry bunch of gypsies, tramps and thieves!

tramp

[FFB]

The guy whose name you don't remember is Jeff G. He is a friend of Ron Murry's and is a great guy who loves (and owns) some great books.

 

L-R: FatPinko, (uh, I drank too much and don't remember his name), and Ron Murray. Somebody get Ron more wine, STAT!

[Sharkey]

GREAT pics Steve! the forum dinner was great, don't think it could've been any better