Little Nerds.

As my friend The Bitchy Housewife would gladly tell you, I am a nerd. I play video games, I watch Doctor Who, I like comic books, so apparently, I am a nerd.

So when my favorite local artist announced that he and another artist would be doing Spongebob sketches today, I thought my kids would enjoy some original art. Custom sketches. Meaning Spongebob could be anything.

Before I tell you what they wanted, let me remind you of Big Chris. He's the awesome artist that was cool to my kids and I at the Phoenix Comicon last year. He has given his work to charity, overcome huge obstacles.....and now has a Little Wood on the way with his lovely wife, Beth.

And the dude is so humble, friendly, and awesome, even while having the physicality of a professional wrestler. He colored my kids' sketch while joking with them, talking with me, and the rest of the small crowd gathered there. His wife Beth talked to us at length while we were waiting.....and the best part....

They asked if I was gonna blog about it.

Of course, I played it off like no big deal, but how can I let that go? I mean, really? This grinch's heart grew three sizes today.

So, thanks to Vince DePorter, Chris and Beth Wood, and Hero Comics, this is what my kids asked for:

I win at parenting.

The 3 Things...About Taking Your Kids to Comicon.

The Phoenix Comicon was this past weekend, and because I can't draw art, I am trying to appreciate those that do (also I'm a big comic geek), I decided to take my kids to see what comics and fanboys were all about. It was a different experience with children than without (I've been to a previous, smaller con without my kids), and I found some things out:

1) Event Organizers (at least the one at PCC) know what they're doing.

From the exhibit hall to the events, the Event Organizer had it locked down. Sure, there were non-kid friendly booths and events, but they were all grouped together, in a "come at your own risk" style. The kid friendly art was fantastic, and my niece (the one with the artistic talent) was in awe. The art room, where kids could do different artistic projects, were right around the corner from the room with the video games and the AZ Ghostbusters charity group's room. It's nice to see that some thought about parents bringing kids was implemented.

Awesome Avengers print by Val Hochberg.

2) Most of the people are examples of what you want your kids to be. 

Of the people wandering around Comicon, selling items at booths, and dressed up as their favorite characters, 90% are completely awesome to be around. The people come dressed up to have their picture taken. They love getting compliments on something they're so passionate about. The artists at the booth love to talk about their work, what they have coming up, and anything else thier fans may want to talk about. Even the other fans walking around will talk to other fans, joke about something odd, or discuss theories on their favorite characters. I grew up an introvert, and large crowds make me want to guzzle a bottle of Xanex, but I was at ease in the crowd at the Comicon. Everybody was awesome, and I think my daughter has a crush on Big Chris.

Great artist, great guy, and already married. Sorry Kat.

3) The other 10% of people are complete douchebags.

After the 90% of awesome people, I kept getting sideways looks, silent head shakes, and glares from the single, unhappy people without children at the con. Apparently, they either thought one of the following:

• I was a bad parent for bringing my kids to a place where there are half naked women at nearly every turn
• They despise children as annoying little humans with no intrinsic value
• I was carrying around a camera like a tourist, so I wasn't as "hardcore" as a real con-goer.
• They knew WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that I had had sex at least once before.

I understand their plight, now that I think about it. Let's try to address their issues:

True, there were women there dressed as different characters. Lots of cleavage, lots of skin, but nothing different than any other Halloween, the one day of the year women are allowed to dress like sluts and get away with it. Except the women at comicon did it because they love the CHARACTER. Not every cosplay woman was a bombshell. They did it to be a part of a culture that is gaining popularity, to identify with their favorite fictional character, to show appreciation to the artists that create enjoyment. THAT'S what I wanted my daughter to see. Besides, for every costume like this:

There was a less provacative, well done costume, like this:

And then there's these:

These guys made our kids feel welcome, and our kids were excited to meet them, shake their hands, and get their picture taken with them.

As for point 2 about little humans with no intrinsic value, they would do well to remember that they most likely got into comics around my kids' ages or before. Understand that the comic book industry had a glut of fans in the 70's and 80's, which equates to today's 30-40 year olds. Some of those people will have had kids. Some of those people want their kids to experience the same enjoyment and excitement that they got when they read comics. Get over it.

Yes, I was carrying around a camera. I am a fan of cosplay, but too chickenshit to dress up. I took pictures of some awesome costumes, and I HAD CHILDREN WITH ME. I wanted to document their con experience as well. They were there for the same reason as you. Again, get over it.

(if you want to see my PCC album, it's here.)

And the last item. Yes. And it was good. 

All Hope Is Lost....

For the first of my blog challenges, I decided to try to recreate Shepperd Fairy's iconic "HOPE" poster from the Obama '08 campaign. **THIS IS IN NO WAY POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR REFLECTS ON MY PERSONAL POLITICAL VIEWS** That discussion will probably never happen here.

Here is the poster:

I found this pin on Pinterest, complete with instructions for Photoshop. Sweet!

First problem: I know absolutely jack about Photoshop. I have the open source alternative, GIMP, so I had to alter the instructions slightly.

Second problem: I have pretty much no patience. Apparently it's required for this project to be successful. Otherwise, you end up like I did, with posters reminiscent of Toxic Avenger movie ads.

Third problem: I wasn't about to make a picture of myself.....so I found some unwilling participants.

Here are the original photos (by With Love Photography):

Here are the "HOPELESS" propaganda posters I created:

The first one....I tried following all the instructions to the letter. It doesn't look anything like the Obama poster.

Poor Katie. There weren't enough shadows or something. I followed all the instructions on this one too. After I "completed" this one, I threw the instructions out. I think the words "Close Enough" were uttered quite a bit.....

Getting better....a little closer.

And I quote: "Wrap this sucker up! I don't really give a rat's ass what it looks like. I'm tired of editing photos. Your sister is damn crazy to do this all day."

Art wasn't my strongest class, people. Cut me some slack. Besides, I told you the attempts would be laughable.

SooperRant Sunday

**WARNING - before reading this, make sure no kids are around. There is some naughty stuff.**

Went to the Amazing Arizona Comic Con this weekend. It was my first comic con and was awesome. Seeing all the cosplay and talking with artists that are passionate about their craft and love what they do is amazing. This is not about those people.

About 80% of the artists were true "comic" artists. They took revered comic idols and redrew them in thier styles, for instance, I bought this awesome print of Carnage, a Spider-Villain:

Check out more of Andy Carreon's work here.

And another awesome print of Venom, another Spiderbaddie. Can't find the print art online, but artist's website is here.

Here's the issue. For every artist with a cup full of talent, there were several that apparently thought the CON in ComicCON stood for CONtest to draw the best naked ladies.

Goldilocks.

Pikachu

Rogue. 

The last one really disappoints me. Rogue is a part of the X-Men, an ELITE GROUP OF MUTANTS. To objectify her just diminishes her awesomeness.

But, hey, guess what?

I am now a comic artist!

Signed prints of the above image will be available for $10 each.

You guys have so much talent, you could make your own heroes, expand on ancillary characters, or re-boot old icons. Why do you have to focus on Wonder Woman's breasts?

Here is truth in advertising:

Welcome to Dark Silver Studio, here you will find alluring women in dark places. Each beauty will capture your attention as she draws you to her side.

The best part?

Here's the artist:

Natali Sanders

In order to help out the awesome artists that decided that the breasts they DID draw were kept away from my kids' visions at the comiccon, I urge you to check out the following pages. Some of them DO draw the voluptous figures, but I didn't see any DISPLAYED for my kids to browse, so they get a thumbs up for that.

Big Chris

Jamie Tyndall

And my new favorite artist. This guy is crazy talented.

Jon Hughes

All in all, it was a geek nirvana. Looking forward to The Phoenix Comicon in March!