Seattle: Visit to MoPOP! part two: Marvel Exhibit

Marvel's extended Cinematic Universe is a wide, expansive thing, and there are a lot of moving parts and pieces involved that means a lot of things to a lot of different people across the globe. It's also a massive creative undertaking that has spanned multiple decades, from the original pencil sketches of an artist's desk to the multi-million (or is it billions now?) media darling it's become. Marvel is nothing to sniff at and has become one of the most influential movie series in recent years. Initially, I have to admit that I was hesitant to get too involved and didn't see many of the early films in the theater, as most of the early movies revolved around some stereotypical white male protagonist and didn't feel particularly exciting or original to me.  Spider-man always held a special place in my heart, since I grew up watching the animated series, but rich Tony Stark? Uninteresting. Of course, some rich tech guy can invent or invest his way out of his problems... It took a couple of movies for Thor to evolve into the loveable oaf that he's become, and as the movies have rolled out the universe has expanded and evolved, bringing a richer, more varied tapestry along with ample humor and a modicum of self-awareness to the table. I've gotten much more invested in recent years if you haven't noticed, and while Marvel still has some work to do if it truly intends to be inclusive, they've made some progress over their many years now. I'm not gonna lie, Thor: Ragnarok and the more recent Spider-Man movies have been a blast, so while it may have taken me a minute to get on board I'm definitely one of the fans lining theaters for the newest releases.  

At the time of viewing this exhibition at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture, we were in the interim between Infinity War and the as-of-yet unnamed Endgame. Seeing some of our heroes (and anti-heroes) again, or at least their armor (or weaponry) was bittersweet. One thing I especially enjoyed, though, and consider to be of note is that they were kind enough to label the materials used in the various costumes on display, so the ardent at-home-cosplayer may better attempt their own recreations with a bit of knowledge. Knowledge is power, after all!

The entire exhibit itself was massive, with areas dedicated to each Avenger and their associates, and we could have spent even more time exploring all the different installations if we'd had the time available. As it were, we spent hours in the museum wandering around, looping back and trying to take in as much as we could in the time allotted. No easy task with so much to see! 

  

There are a whole lot of photos ahead, so prepare yourselves!

Vegas: Zappos Fandom Friday Marvel Mini-con April 2018

May the Fourth be with you!

From time to time, I'm lucky enough to donate my time to help Critical Care Comics, a 501c nonprofit organization, with their cause. What, exactly, is their cause, you may ask? To put it simply, Critical Care Comics is; " Dedicated to bringing joy to children in hospitals by delivering comic books to help them escape the discomfort of hospital life. If only for only 28 pages. "... the long version, however, is a bit more personal. The founder of Critical Care Comics (referred to as "CCC" from here onward) was diagnosed with cancer when he was young, causing him to spend weeks in the hospital at a time for treatment and missing out on time with his friends and other normal adolescents pursuits. It was a challenging situation to be in and his greatest escape was in the form of comics that his family would bring him to read. While he recovered and has gone on to grow and become a healthy man with a loving wife, he's always wanted to give back to the community and help others who find themselves in a similar situation to his. CCC was born of that need and in the 5-6 years since it began has gone on to donate thousands upon thousands of donated comics to children in Las Vegas area hospitals. I've been working with them now for about 3 years, tagging along on hospital visits and events to draw and help where needed. All of the comics and toys that we take to the hospitals and give to the kids are donated by kind-hearted citizens! There are several comic book stores throughout the city of Las Vegas that have partnered with the cause and have permanent donation boxes in their stores where people can drop off their books, too.

The cause naturally attracts the hero types who, between saving the world, might drop in for a visit. They're all pretty busy, of course, with that whole saving-the-world thing... it's pretty amazing how often Earth finds itself in peril, isn't it? Luckily we've got so many heroes who call our humble planet home or at least have taken a liking to it, like Chewbacca up there. He was kind enough to pose for photos with all of us, who were honored by his presence. Hawk Eye, Wolverine and Spider Gwen also hung out with us for a bit, ensuring the safety of our supplies and the other people attending the Fandom Friday mini-con.  There were even a few surprise appearances from other Avengers, too! Pretty cool, man, pretty cool. Every hospital visit has at least three of our galaxies greatest heroes there, so kids get to bond with Wonder Woman, Batman, Spiderman, even Deadpool!

This event, in particular, was Zappos Fandom Friday, a free event to the public celebrating Marvel and all things nerdy held at the Zappos corporate office in Downtown Las Vegas. The event was on the official release date for Infinity War, so they were definitely celebrating the momentous occasion. There were banners for each of the Infinity Stones, life-size cut-outs of Thanos (definitely don't want him attending in person), many different artists and vendors celebrating and sharing their crafts, and raffles galore! CCC was there to collect donations with games and raffles and spread awareness of the cause. It's an awesome event and totally worth attending if you get the chance! I went back in 2016 as an artist and had a great time. There are painting classes, the Taco Fest truck, amazingly talented artists and so much more! You definitely don't want to miss the costume contest!

Star Lord, meet Star Lord and crew. 

Lots more photos below!

Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2016 After Party

After the fun had at the Las Vegas Convention center for the convention itself, the party moved to the Millenium Fandom Bar for the after party. Have you ever danced with Admiral Ackbar and Fiona the Human? I have. It was awesome!

In case you're not from Vegas, or even if you are from Vegas but lack a certain geeky-socialite je nai ses quoi, the Millenium Fandom Bar is a bastion of beverages and community for cosplayers and regular fans alike. While cosplay is certainly not required, it's definitely encouraged, so what better environment to celebrate the successful con with all the fabulous cosplayers and vendors who attended and plenty who couldn't?

The awesome staff and management of the bar let me set up and draw caricatures, as well, and I had a blast! It was so fun seeing and drawing people in character and with the liquid libations loosening everyone up a bit, it was quite the wild night. This was also something of a low-key going away party for me, as well, because shortly after this I would be leaving for Korea and unable to hang out with my Critical Care Crew until I return from my adventures in Asia. Spider-man and Batsy did a shot with me to send me off, and a very surprised Uber driver got to delivery Batman safely to his Batcave later that evening- in full Bat suit! Don't drink and drive, kids, unless you want to face justice. No one likes Batman when he's angry...and while Batman doesn't kill his enemies (most of the time) there's no guarantee what could happen. Just don't risk it!

All in all it was a super fun time (see what I did there? eh? eh?)! Critical Care Comics took over the sound system for a bit and held the costume contest and a raffle. All proceeds from the raffle went towards funding their efforts to bring a smile to the faces of sick kids throughout the valley, so even if you didn't win a prize you still won some good karma points! If you've never seen a drunk Spider-man MCing it's really quite a spectacle to behold. I may or may not have grabbed his bum... what can I say? I've always had a soft spot for the witty webslinger. Luckily he had given me a free pass to do so once or twice in my life when I casually mentioned the temptation at another time, so it wasn't assault. That's important, folks- don't go grabbing or touching people without their explicit consent, otherwise you're no better than the orange buffoon with the bad hair from the TV that (almost) everyone makes fun of. 

Just because someone is in cosplay does not give you the right to touch them.

EVER.  It doesn't matter how sexy their costume is or how nice they seem, unless they give you the OK to hug or otherwise touch them, respect their bodily autonomy and personal bubble. It's basic human decency, guys. 

Luckily for everyone, the group at the after party were all awesome people and a good time was had by pretty much everyone (as far as I could tell anyway, I for one saw no grumpy faces). I'm absolutely looking forward to attending next year's Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con!! Hope to see you all out at ALVCC2017!!

XOXO

Nau

Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2016 Day 2

Day Two of the Amazing Las Vegas Comic con was even more lively with additional cosplayers, vendors, speakers, and more to be seen with the weekend allowing more people the chance to escape reality (and work) to attend. There were even a pair of tyrannosaurus rex romping around, terrifying and amusing people as they flailed their tiny arms about and brought all sorts of fresh new chaos from the cretaceous, as the grand beasts have a tendency to do (exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C, exhibit D) . Creativity in all it's forms was on proud display with an outstanding array of costumes and creations to be seen. It was a lot of fun and great to see so many people coming out and sharing their love for their fandom! Whether you're a fan of DC, Marvel, Star Wars, gaming or cartoons there really was something for everyone which was lovely to see given how divisive some fans can get. 

While I understand being enthusiastic about your particular obsession of choice, I personally don't really understand the DC/Marvel hate, or the Trekkies vs Star Wars type wars that go on. I like all of them! Each franchise has their own unique and enjoyable aspects to bring to the table, whether it be DC's excellent television franchise (oh, Barry Allen, quit futzing with the timeline, you loveable rascal!), Marvel's grand cinematic universe, Star Wars's epic lore and expansive  universe, or Star Trek's optimistic vision for humanity's future and tales of comradery, challenge and cooperation. You're allowed to like them all, or none of them, for your own reasons- just don't be a jerk, man. Luckily, this event I did not encounter any fanboy-supremes who piss all over anything outside their particular fandom of choice and the peaceful interactions and enthusiastic acceptance of eachother's fan-love is a huge attraction to the event. I mean, seriously, no one really wants to be that guy from the Simpsons, right?

Among the peaceful and happy attendees there were ample collectibles to be had, from rare Funko Pops to ultra rare Spider-man comics! While hanging out with the wonderful crew of Critical Care Comics, someone donated this rare issue of Spider-man much to the shock and awe of the group. This one comic alone was worth $300 at the time and is probably worth more than that now, given the amount of time that's passed since the event and how rarity tends to go. I could be wrong, of course, as I was more the Pokemon card collecting kid and much of my collection didn't really appreciate in value, so my understanding of these things may be limited.   

Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2016- Day 1

This post is long overdue! 

My apologies, denizens of the internet and blogosphere. I've been really busy with this whole living in Korea thing, and my poor bloggy-woggy has been terribly neglected as a result. On the plus side, as a result of how busy I've been going out and exploring, having an adventure on nearly every day off, I've now got a backlog with a plethora of fun new content to share with everyone in the near future!  

But this post is not about the near future, it's about an event that is now, sadly in the past. 

Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2016!!

BAM! POW! FLASH!

What is the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con? According to their website:

"AMAZING LAS VEGAS COMIC CON is Nevada’s premiere pop culture event, taking place June 23-25, 2016. The 2016 event is back bigger than ever before, moving to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con features the very best creators in the world with favorites from the Las Vegas Community, Extensive programming, an International Artist Alley, and the Wizards of Cosplay."

As a participant, I can say that it was an absolute blast! Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con provides a chance for the geekily inclined to gather and celebrate their love of the art of telling stories in panels, dressing up, sci-fi, fiction, art, on and on! There were extremely talented artists galore, both illustrators, crafters, and cosplayers, as well as panels from celebrity guests and veterans of the industry throughout all three days. As an artist myself I was blown away by all the cool creations and could only wish I had more cash to buy all the cool stuff. There was so much awesomeness!!

I was lucky enough to be invited to attend with the Critical Care Comics crew, who are a fabulous group of heroes who gather together to fight the forces of sadness and illness that attack our young friends and fellow comic fans who find themselves hospitalized for any number of reasons. To help bring a smile to their faces your friendly neighborhood Spider-man, Supergirl, Starfire, Wonder Woman, Batman, Raven, Deadpool and Wolverine (and more!) will pop in for a visit with fat-stacks of community donated comics to surprise them! I'll tag along and draw the kids as their favorite hero or cartoon character. It's really a wonderful group to be a part of and to help with. I feel very honored to be able to play any part in their excellent community work. I highly recommend checking out their webpage or Facebook and if you happen to have any unwanted comics to send them their way. It really does brighten the kid's days, and as some parents have told us, might be the first thing to bring a smile to their face in some time. 

Anyhow, this post is about Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2016, and photos galore follow below!

Vegas: Zappos Fandom Friday 2016-03-25

On Friday, March 25th I was lucky enough to participate in Zappos Fandom Friday event! Zappos, for those not in the know, is an online retailer based in my quaint little home town of Las Vegas, Nevada. On top of being a successful company that ranks as one of the best in country to work for,  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has taken a very active role in helping to revitalise downtown Las Vegas, leading the way in it's resurgence as a popular tourist & local hipster destination. And yes, if you read the Wired article I linked there, it's true; there is a giant praying mantis that shoot fire in Downtown Vegas, located in front of the Downtown Container Park. Thanks, Tony.

As a participating artist/vendor at the event, I got to hang out in their lobby area and partake in all the nerdy goodness afoot! There were many super talented artists, groovy vendors, cosplayers, banging DJs, and even some llamas. 

Yes, llamas.

Gosh they're cute! 

And really, it was a very cool event to attend. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first ever Fandom Friday thanks in no small part to Rogue Toys! Rogue Toys partnered with Zappos to get the gears rolling on this event and I'm so grateful they did. It's always great seeing new opportunities and events pop up for the artistic community in this city! And what a fun event this was; there were dancing storm troopers, amazing cosplay, fantastic original art, live performances by Decaying Tigers, arcades games free to play, food trucks, and fun and games for all involved!

I came out with some limited edition Batman Vs. Superman prints in honour of the new movie. Have you seen it? Antho and I had already watched it by the time I went to the event, but I made sure not to give away any spoilers...but I didn't really get much opportunity as almost everyone I asked about the movie admitted to being less than excited to see it...womp womp. 

Even so, I managed to sell a few of the prints. ^_^ I'm thinking of putting them up on Etsy, but I have a few Superhero events left here in town first so I'll see how they do. The nice thing about prints is once they're made you have them, so even if I didn't sell out of them at the event I'm glad to have gone! 

How often do you get to encounter random llamas or dancing Storm Troopers, after all?

This is going to be an image heavy post, so be forewarned ye of sluggish internet!!

Also, if you see yourself or anyone you know and want me to include their name or remove photos, please contact me ASAP and I'll be happy to oblige!