… saying yes to Slave-Dude Leia.

This article was originally posted in the newest edition of The Greenpoint Gazette (and you can read the original here). Some material has been added to this article that were, because of GG readership and their general relationship to the material, edited out.
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Superman, giant robots, the Predator and Michael Jackson seem like an unlikely list of characters you might see gathered in one room, but for those in attendance at the New York Comic Con, it was just another (awesome) day. This past weekend NYCC took place at the Javits Center, which was an amazing and festive celebration of all things nerdy! Not only was this the location of NYCC, but the event also went hand in hand with New York Anime Festival (NYAF. Both were, for lack of a better word – ‘nerd-gasmic’. lived up to the hype and excitement: the two proved to be perfect outlets for festival-goers to interact with varying appendages of geek culture.

Sadly, for those who attended the con from Brooklyn, especially in the Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick areas, a obstacle was tossed in our paths: the L train was out of service from 8th Ave in Manhattan to the Myrtle-Wyckoff stop in Brooklyn. Nonetheless, thousands of Brooklynites crowded into the con as they do each year come hell, high water or screwy subway service.

Despite the brilliant weather, thousands chose instead to spend the day indoors, indulging in a wide array of activities, attending panels and meeting some of the most popular icons of the Sci Fi universe. The center was divided into several zones. The first was designated for small press, artists’ alley and new video game demonstrations.

The second was the main floor, where big-name companies strutted their stuff with exclusive news, demonstrations, sneak peaks and signings as eager souls, often dressed in extravagant costumes or nerd cloth, flooded the isles trying to get a piece of the action. And downstairs, along with the expensive food court, were the panel rooms. Sticking to my own advice, I had scheduled my day around two panels then planned to spend the remainder of the afternoon walking the two exhibiting floors meeting up with old, and visiting new, friends at their booths. The two aforementioned panels were the Marvel/X-Men panel that featured the current pens of the X-U and the plans for the future, along with Adult Swim’s Children’s Hospital panel – which was gut busting funny.

J.D. Arnold and I.

While Friday was the kick-off, Saturday proved to be the real money-maker, as the major companies like DC and Marvel comics made many anxiously-awaited announcements regarding the future related film titles for the next year. As other companies revealed the release dates and demonstrations of new video games like the Michael Jackson Wii dance challenge or the Red Dead Redemption zombie expansion, all had fans waiting in long and motionless lines. Personally, the longest and most feared line I found at NYCC was the ATM line, where it took me forty-five minutes to withdraw the remaining money in my bank account to purchase original artwork from a friend’s comic, BB Wolf & The Three LPs by J.D. Arnold and Rick Koslowski

Paul Duffield & Kate Brown

With the constant inundation of ocular wonders ranging from large and detailed costumes or expensive booth displays to fan-made replicas—the best of which was a functioning life-size R2-D2; my jaw actually dropped—one could have easily become overwhelmed and exhausted by the endless eye-pulling oddities that inhabited the main floor.

One of the more fantastical elements of larger conventions such as the New York Comic Con is the opportunities it affords fans to interact with contributors (artists, writers, editor and actors) of the various media featured. I elated as I hopped the floor meeting and interviewing industry stars, one of whom was writer Jeff Lemire who authored the famous comics Essex County, The Nobody and the forthcoming Sweet Tooth. Or artist Paul Duffield and inker Katie Brown who worked with writer Warren Ellis on the Avatar title FreakAngels.

[note: these interviews will be posted shortly - still transcribing the interviews off my recorder.]

I find that these experiences strengthen the community by bringing the purveyors of the industries closer to the fans that keep them afloat. I also got to meet-up with Brooklyn’s very own Travis Nichols, the author/ illustrator of Punk Rock Etiquette and the forthcoming The Monster Doodle Book; Colleen AF Venable, the author of the Graphic Universe’s Guinea Pig graphic novel series for kids; and the art and design editor for First Second Books, to get their thoughts on the Con.

Greenpoint Gazette (me): You both go to cons all over the country every year. How is it different to have NYCC in your own backyard?

Colleen: When you’re out of town for a convention your whole world is the convention. When it’s at home, you have to balance the convention with your normal life: work, non-comics friends—I’m supposed to have those, right?

Travis: I forget to go to parties when cons are local. Instead of “I’m tired… but, yeah, let’s go to the hotel bar,” it’s “I’m tired. Let’s go home. We can see these jerks in the morning.”

GG: What are your thoughts on this year’s con, from the crowd and attendance to its overall execution?

C: The crowd smelled better than in 2006, and no fire marshals were needed. Woo-hoo! In all seriousness (though I’m quite serious about 2006—it was like 90 degrees in here!), the show is so well run this year. Programs are more packed than ever, books are selling great, and while Saturday’s crazy crowds meant I got smacked in the face by not one but TWO giant fake axes, the energy was hard to deny.

T: This is my first NYCC. I went to San Diego Comic Con in 2002, and it seemed about the same size. Madness. I mostly go to more indie-ish cons: SPX, MoCCA, APE, STAPLE! But both extremes are super fun.

GG: Highlight of the con for you?

T: Live action D&D was awesome! Yeah, we totally vanquished the Mad King! Rollin’ on 20’s.

C: It should have been when a Muppeteer told me that his niece is a fan of my books, but really, it was watching a person dressed as Gumby dance Badly (capital B intended) in that slightly-terrifying Michael Jackson dance game booth.

But even without the element of industry stars wowing the crowds, what I love about conventions is the camaraderie of the con-goers. At the end of the day, no matter what borough, city or state you are from, this is an event that allows all the nerds in the world to congregate, un-judged, with others and freely express who you are and what you love.

Another highlight that happened outside of the convention was on Saturday night, the 9th, at Bergen St. Comics located in Brooklyn and was hosted by comics blog iFanboy that had an open beer/wine bar, the contributors of the site and special appearances by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul.

Geoff Johns & I cheers the beers

Even though I was extremely exhausted after Saturday, the thought of missing this party seemed like an impossibility. For one, it was my journalistic duty to attend these after hour events. Secondly, the words ‘open’ and ‘bar’, when put together, make magic. Not to mention, one of the coolest guys working and writing in comics was going to be there. The shop was packed and a frenzy of fans swarmed around Johns. To eliminate waiting in the drink line again I double fisted two beers and started in on Geoff. A really nice and laid back guy, we chatted for a few, created a cheers with out beers and took a picture. It was a nice little highlight and I would like to say thank you to Bergen St. Comics and iFanboy for putting the event on.

At the end of the day(s) my mind and body may feel a bit overwhelmed and exhausted, but it was such an exciting and fun event through every minute and will be missed dearly until next year.

The Greenpoint Gazette Guide to Attending New York Comic Con

“New York City Comic Con, the second largest comic convention is rapidly approaching and, if you are attending the convention, October 8th-10th at the Javits Center (655 West 34th St, Manhattan), your should be prepared to manage your way through the masses and chaos of the con…”

(read more at The Greenpoint Gazette)

Peelander-Z pumped us up right proper, and we waited with eager anticipation for Guitar Wolf to begin. Austin and I concocted a grand plan to play the Wild Zero drinking game live. Since it was an all-ages show we weren’t sure how many beers we could get away with buying at once, but 2 per person seemed to work.

We figured (correctly) we were limited to the following rules:

• Someone drinks
• Someone combs their hair
• Anyone says Rock n Roll

And we figured we were in good shape when Seiji took the stage and immediately pounded an entire Budweiser. I tried to keep up, but I wasn’t ready for it so I ended up spewing beer dangerously close to the girl in front of me. They immediately launched into some signature balls-to-the-wall let’s-fuck-this-place-up rock. With plenty of gutteral screaming in either broken English or regular Japanese; I can never quite tell. When polled, our friends agreed on two things:

1. Their set was fucking awesome
2. The only song we were certain we recognized was “Jet Generation”

Which means that we probably missed a bunch of “Rock n Rolls”, and thus missed out on some drinking. We just assumed that he must be saying it, so we took a couple of drinks per verse. Then after maybe the 7th song, Drum Wolf combed his hair for a solid 40 seconds.

Peelander-Z definitely had more crazy antics, but Guitar Wolf pulled out some tricks of their own. Seiji dragged a guy up on stage to play guitar for him, and during a separate incident, he spent a good 5 minutes constructing a human pyramid out of audience members. Sam took an awesome video of the latter on his fancy new phone.

The drinking game wasn’t as punishing as in the movie. That’s good because we were in public, but also bad because we were really hoping they would bring that microphone that shoots fire out of it to the show. This was my first time at Santos Party House, and I liked it quite a bit. I’d heard some “maybe this place isn’t for us”-style reports from friends, but the crowd seemed well-mannered and enthusiastic, and the venue was clean and professional. It had the average amount of big poles blocking the stage, which is too many but also the right amount (since they hold the building up after all). Best yet, the men’s room has a real live attendant who squirts soap on you and hands you paper towels. I wanted to photograph him for a bathroom review, but was too shy. I’ll probably be returning to Santos Party House in the near future, so I’ll just have to get liquored up beforehand to give me courage.

Recently the staff, and friends, of Vitamin C4 attended the Guitar Wolf/Peelander-Z show at the Santos Party House. A show that was so epic and awesome we decided to cover it in two articles. Taking point, I present to you Peelander-Z!

Peelander-Red carried by the crowd - photo taken by Shayda Milani

Upon entering the venue we could hear the band finishing their first song and I rushed to find out who was playing. Instantly my eyes went into shock as I saw Peelander-Z upon the stage. A four (technically five) piece band all dressed head-to-toe in a different color and was reminiscent of something out of an Japanese anime. The lead singer/guitar was Peelander-Yellow, the bass player Peelander-Red, the lead guitarist Peelander-Blue and the female drummer was Peelander-Green. They claim, as noted on their website that they come from Planet Peelander in the Z-area. Who doesn’t like extraterrestrial punk rock?

There goes one eye-brow...

I’ll be honest by saying that I’m generally always skeptical of bands that are so theatric (especially those who rely more on being animated/theatric then they do the music their playing). But, after listening and watching this band play less than two songs, I was sold. Such energy oozed off the stage and into the audience. The guitar and bass players moved in sync during certain riffs of some songs, the drummer (an adorable, tattoo adorned punk girl) swayed her head to-and-fro as she hit the various crash symbols around her kit.
Barley able to understand the lead-singer because of his heavy Japanese accent and the roaring of the crowd, the band was polite enough to hold-up signs at the beginning of the song displaying the name, which was also often the chant-able chorus. It was about the third song in that the band elevated their awesomeness.

Peelander-Red is rock'n'roll!

Peelander-Red moved into the crowd and disappeared for a moment, but quickly reappeared as he was raised in the middle of the venue while being held up by members of the audience. He looked around for a brief second, while most gazed in amazement at what he had just achieved. Quickly, once he was sure of his balance and support, the song kicked back in and P-Red began to rock out. The song ended and he fell backwards and was caught by a different section of the crowd. Adrenaline hit the crowd and while Red was carried back to the stage I, quickly in the tow of his wake, made for a closer spot.

They played another song, stopped, and got even crazier. Peelander-Yellow told everyone to take out their cameras and ‘put on youtube.’ Confused, a swarm of lights from cameras and phones were held in the air as he pulled a shy and scared girl onto the stage. With an unknown device in his hand, he gave it to her and instructed the girl to shave one of his eyebrows off. Whoa. She totally did it in one clean movement across his sweaty brow. She returned to the audience. Seconds later, a guy was pulled onto stage and instructed to do the same but to the other side – which at first resulted in a failed attempt, but was ultimately achieved.

With songs like “So Many Mike”, “What a Health – Super Health”, “Ninja High School” and a punk rock rendition of “E-I-E-I-O”, each song was filled with fun, personality and a whole lot of energy. Still, the band upped the energy when they started to replace themselves and their instruments with members of the audience. One-by-one Peelander-Z became a bunch of random people that were following the instructions given by the band. Once the strums and hits were steady, the band got dressed up as a giant bowling pin, an alien, a large wigged-character and more. They went into the audience, cleared a space and set-up for a game of bowling. With no ball in site, Peelander-Yellow (dressed as the bowling pin) began to charge at the actual pins head first, leaped into the air and landed making for a ‘perfect’ strike.

After the game, the band re-armed themselves with their respected instruments and played a few more songs while Peelander-Pink joined them on stage in what looked like a Japanese anime character and costume – too cute!

It was a sad moment when the band finished, because it was such a spectacular rock-n-roll show that was more fun then most I had gone to in quite some time. While, listening to their record goes for a good time, this is a band I would recommend keeping tabs on and their tour dates so you might truly be able to experience the magic.

Also, after Peelander-Z we all took to the street for a cigarette break. Outside, Samuel Saarni was being interview by a reporter from Time Out New York and was asked if he was at the show to pick-up chicks. Apparently, it was for a dating survey they are doing. Either way, here is a picture of what Ethan dubbed as ‘meta-journalism’. What now, Time Out NY?!?!

When Sam told me I could be his +1 for the Chrome opening party the following evening, I got really excited and drunk (I was already drunk). I ran home and made these business cards at around 3 in the morning. I never ended up printing any, which is just as well because it wasn’t really that kind of party, and I didn’t converse with anyone I didn’t already know.

I got off the subway around 8 pm to find text messages from Sam, informing me that it was a mess. I asked “Good mess or bad mess?” to which he replied “Messy mess”. So far so good. I made my way into the heart of SoHo and arrived at 238 Mulberry St… holy fuck that’s a lot of people. I was really not expecting this.

Fortunately Sam & Joanie were outside waiting for me, and they found the coordinator guy Alex to let me in. Hot damn, I love it when someone grabs me and says to a bouncer, “He’s OK”. Also, I love a first-rate security setup. Giant dudes in all-black suits with completely implacable expressions on their faces. Polite but incredibly professional. I didn’t get any pictures of them because I was way too intimidated to ask if it would be OK, but one of them walked through the video after the jump (what’s a jump?).

I mainly like this one because it looks like Sam is trying to eat that dude's hat.

So I made it inside and tried to work my way toward the Free Beer Station, which was of course at the very densest part of the crowd. During that ordeal, I realize that oh shit, I actually do know someone here who isn’t “working”. Our friend Alex (different Alex, this one’s a lady) works at the Ace Hotel where all the Chrome people were staying, and she and her co-workers got invites on account of how accomodating they were. Sweet! Her sister Isabel was in town as well.

From left: some big dude, Alex, Isabel, guy with hat

Sam, Joanie, Alex & Isabel might have been the only friendlies in attendance, but I also had the pleasure of seeing some other old friends.

Abby!

Lea!

Dana!

Definitely a small-world type of experience. At least, if you ignore the two to three hundred attendees who I didn’t know, which is pretty much what I did. I got several beers to bring back to base camp next to the laptop bags and just kind of watched the crowd.

This one didn't come out too well because I was trying to be kind of sneaky. The lady is wearing fishnets, booty shorts, and one of those shirts that exposes her entire bra. The gentleman is at least 20 years her senior and looks like he might have gotten lost on his way to a Phish concert. I saw them kissing.

This repurposed mechanized laundry rack is one of the major bits of flair in the store. It's pretty rad.

So yeah, this was definitely the first one of these things that I’ve been to, and it was a sight to behold. I’m trying to do a little name-droppy thing here, but I cannot for the life of me remember the guy’s name…. Anyway, he’s a skateboarder cum bike person. He was there. Also, something called a “Neck Face” was allegedly there, and overheard to remark that this was the best party he’d been to this summer. There was food at one point, but by the time I made it back that far there were just big steam trays of meatballs left. I proceeded to eat several out of an empty plastic cup, as there were also no more plates.

…And then the dancing began (the bartenders were pretty liberal with the vodka)

I’ve just been informed that the guy whose name I was trying to remember is in fact John Cardiel. John grew up in Half Moon Bay, CA and was a pro skater until he suffered a spinal cord injury while filming Tent City in Australia. After his recovery he took up cycling. It seems he was also DJ’ing the party for a time, along with DJ… “something” Love. Journalism, people. It takes a village.

Last night Ethan and I went to Hotsy Totsy’s Dr. Who burlesque show. As an avid Dr. Who fan (I carry around a sonic screwdriver in my bag everyday) and have very little experience with proper burlesque shows, I was not sure what to expect – more-so, how they would combine the two.

This show, as advertised here, was recommened by a friend of ours, Mykle Hoban, that instructed us to attend. The venue was in the basement of The Delancy located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Small, dark and limited seating, Ethan and I got a beer and found the most comfortable standing area.
A woman danced half naked to warm up the crowd and then the host, Cherry Pitz, started. With a big red wig and a high pitched voice she was interrupted by The Doctor, who resembled Tennant, and gave the audience a wonderful introduction as to who and what The Doctor is. The highlights of this were the references he threw to those there for the The Doctor. Yes, he even said “Wibbly wobbly”. Another amusing part was when The Doctor (as the 10th) used the 11th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver – this error in continuity was noted with a scream here-and-there from audience members.
He ran off the stage with his gorgeous red-haired companion and the show continued. The first dancer performed, Cherry returned to the stage to present the next dance and The Doctor is found back on stage. This would be the format for the rest of the show with the narrative that a alien poop monster (my kinda monster, right?) that had escaped from space prison.
The dancers were lovely, of course. The high lights of the burlesque dancers:
1) The second dancer walked up to the stage naked and covered in chains, tape over her mouth and nipples, with what sounded like Sunn O))) playing. Once on stage she used a slow twisting dance to remove the chains from her body. When she was unbound from the shackles she removed the tape and spit out blood. It was so awesome and brutal. Ethan and I did not see this one coming. (Note: if pictures or videos were allowed, there would be one here)

2) During the intermission I met The Doctor, discovered several other attendees had also brought their sonic screwdrivers and once I returned to the basement I watched as one of the performers was dancing to a remix of the Dr. Who theme song. She later danced to “Human Fly” by The Cramps – which has forever been a fantasy of mine to watch (TMI?).

3) We got to see The Doctor’s companion get naked. AND – the only thing that can stop the alien poop monster was Cherry Pitz’s boobs – naked dancing followed.

All in all, it was a great experience. In a nutshell, it was a burlesque show intended to introduce Dr. Who fans to burlesque, and burlesque lovers to Dr. Who. I would even consider going to another event preformed by this group of gals.

While this might be my first quiet moment I’ve had in New York I feel almost too tired to write. This is only because I’m trying to refuel my tanks for the rest that is to come. But, before I tell you all about that, let me tell you about what has happened so far.
Thursday I arrived into NY at 11:50pm! Joe Petersen, who I am staying with for part of my time here, said he was going to pick me up from the airport but didn’t. This part was rather exciting for me because I now had to figure out the New York subway system in a matter of minutes. Let me tell you this: The New York Subway system is the easiest and most understandable system in the world. You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not figure it out.
Moving on, and finally meeting up with Joe, and his two friends from SF, CA (who are also visiting for the weekend) at a bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – I was ready to party. From about 12:30pm to 4am we drank and took photo booth pictures. Continuing the party we decided to go to Manahattan (where the SF guys were staying) and see everything until the sun came up. I went to Grand Central station and spoke into the whisper arch, the NY Library and saw where Billy Murray & Dan Aykroyd stood in one scene of Ghostbusters, sacraficed the Chrysler building to the blood god and lastly saw Bryant Park.
At this point in time is it now 8am…

On friday I awoke midafternoon feeling like crap. But I had to suck it up because I was meeting my friend and former co-worker Katie and her friend Alex at the NY MOMA for free day. These two gals have turned out to be the coolest, and cutest, guides in NY.
At the MOMA we went into a film, that we didnt know anything about other then it being Canadian cinema. IT WAS THE MOST DEPRESSING MOVIE EVER! But it was also very beautiful. It was called “Polytechnique” (2009), and it’s about the Montreal Massacre of 1989.
To lighten our moods we went to the main exhibit which was Tim Burton’s art. Deciding that was enough to make us feel happier, we went for drinks in west village then went back to Brooklyn to get dinner. The three of us ate at Robertas pizza where we ordered a delicious pizza to split and also BONE MARROW. It was served in the bone and when taken out and spread onto bread it looks like a thick red cream. BRUTAL!
After dinner, the two ladies had to depart and I went off on my own to find the Gotham City Lounge. I found it, and holy crap, it was awesome. With action figures and other comic collectibles hanging from the ceiling, large posters plastering the walls and the tables covered in comic book panels – I was in shock and awe. Joe was just getting off work and I was headed to his place to finally drop off my bag. From here, Joe and I decided to take me to his favorite neighborhood bar called Ali’s Two80. Ali, who is the owner, bartender, cook and cleaner he is 56 years old and 100% bad-ass. After a couple of rounds talking with old school Brooklyn Italian dudes who work in “construction” and are slightly racist, Ali closed down the shop and let Joe and myself stay in the bar. He cooked us food, gave us free whiskey and beer and told us stories about times he uses his ‘shovel’ to kick people out.
Again, 100% BADASS DUDE.
We get back at 6am.

From here on out, I’ll be a little quicker with my experiences:
Saturday, Joe and I got up to meet with his friends for brunch in Hells Kitchen at a place that had bottomless mimosas, screw drivers or bloody marys. YES!
After brunch we went to Chelsea to meet with a friend of Joe’s from college.
CHELSEA is a giant gay night club all the time. And 90% of the dudes have sixpacks there.
Meeting up with Ricky, we went to the legendary Stonewall Inn and had a couple of drinks there. Did you know? Stonewall in always serves free hot dogs – hey, get your mind out of the gutter. I mean real hotdogs with buns, ketchup and mustard.
After Stonewall Inn, Joe, Ricky and myself went to the Comix Comedy Club to meet up with Alex and see Garfunkle & Oates preform – FOR FREE (the girl I sat next to on the plane works there and got us all in!!!). The show was beyond cute. So cute. My hearted melted. To be honest it was too cute for words I’m moving on…

After the show Alex and I went to Brooklyn to meet up with Katie at her work in Williamsburg. She got off work, we got food and drinks and then went to a bar till 4am playing telephone-pictionary.
Here is what happened. I am staying at Joe’s place. My phone died and so did his. I know where he lives (yeah, really good visual memory) but I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get back into his house – or even if he was going home.
I took a chance and rolled the dice. I took the subway back to bushwick alone. And waiting at the platform for 20min alone while waiting for the train is scary and cool all rolled-up into one. Walked to his house and rang the button. Whew – Vernon, his housemate, was awake and buzzed me in. Joe never showed up, so I got his bed.

That’s all for now. Tonight I’m off to Williamsburg to see Michael Showalter preform comedy with his friends.

see you soon internet!