inaudible_mumble | Geekscape

A Convention With Heart and Soul: My New York Comic-Con Experience

by inaudible_mumbleOctober 19, 2013

When most people think of New York Comic-Con they will automatically associate it with the sales floor. Those guilty of doing this are doing themselves a huge disservice. The sales floor is the foundation for the convention, sure, but it is hardly the heart and soul of the convention. I don’t say this in attempt to devalue the importance of the sales floor. The New York Comic-Con sales floor allows you a glimpse at what a lot of companies have in the works (I myself was particularly fond of the display figures for Mezco Toyz upcoming Ax Cop line). The sales floor also allows attendees the opportunity to familiarize themselves with smaller independent publishers who they wouldn’t have normally encountered otherwise.

Axe Cop Mezco — Mezco’s ‘Axe Cop’ figures… awesome.

Attendees, however, are the heart of New York Comic-Con. It’s an obvious concept when you think about it. Without the fans the convention wouldn’t exist, but its more than the people just showing up that makes them the heart of the convention. It’s in the cosplayers that slaved over their costumes for a month in order to make a living breathing love letter to their fandom of choice. It’s the fact that these same people have delved so far into their character that they pull off each subtle character nuance with precision accuracy (I still maintain that Chris Tucker had to have been cosplaying as Ruby Rhod because otherwise that cosplay was just spooky accurate). These people don’t devote their time and energy into their cosplay for the fame. They do it for the love of the genre, and to make the people around them smile when they see their favorite character torn from the panels of their favorite book and fleshed into existence.

Artist Alley is the soul of the convention (Geekscapist Jonathan previously wrote an article about how Artist Alley is the heart of New York Comic-Con, but for me soul feels more fitting). Unlike other conventions like San Diego that doesn’t find it necessary to make a designated space for artists, New York makes it a point to allot them a space in which to operate during the convention. New York understands the importance of these artists, after all, without these people we wouldn’t have the comic books the convention is celebrating. These are the people who have tirelessly worked to bring the characters we love to life for us.

Christopher Uminga Art — Art by Christopher Uminga

At first glance some people may have been disillusioned into thinking that the convention itself didn’t favor having the artists at the convention, which is why they were placed in an adjacent room separated from the main convention through a tunneled hallway. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Putting artist alley where they did was a calculated move which allowed for the artist to not have to compete with commotion of the sales floor. Away from that noise and congestion of the sales floor the artist are given a better opportunity to engage with the attendees at their table.

NYCC has more then just these few things going for it, but these are the things that keep me and countless other people flocking to New York City for one weekend each year.

Matt Banning art from this year's NYCC! — Matt Banning art from this year’s NYCC!

Geekscape Book Review: “Tell No Lies” by Gregg Hurwitz

by inaudible_mumbleSeptember 5, 2013

Tell No Lies is the thirteenth novel by Greg Hurwitz, who has also written for Marvel and DC comics, including the likes of Batman: The Dark Knight. The story tells the tale of Daniel Brasher who is working for the city of San Francisco as a group therapist for parolees. Due to a series of events, Daniel finds himself thrust into the middle of a fast paced murder investigation aiding the lead detective of the case Theresa Dooley.

I’d recommend this novel to fans of fast paced, easy to digest crime thrillers. I wouldn’t classify this novel so much as a whodunit due to its premise of the story and the limited characters allowing the reader to make educational guesses throughout the story progression as to the culprit. The crux to the story instead relies on the inquiry of what is the series of events that lead to murder spree, and exactly why the protagonist (Daniel Brasher) seems to have gotten himself caught up in the middle of it.

Gregg Hurwitz for his part as the author does fairly well with establishing the primary protagonist and then delivering the reader into the meat of the story without dragging his feet in overly constructing characters. Hurwitz keeps the chapters short in the beginning in order to keep the pace of the story moving forward and deliver the reader to the action in a timely manner.

Daniel Brasher is a well constructed protagonist who you have no trouble rooting for throughout the story. The secondary characters of the six parolees that are the main protagonist group therapy members are fairly well constructed. Hurwitz seem to understand the characters background and establish each of these characters with their own voice. The only characters I personally didn’t care for (but also didn’t quite hate) where the protagonist mother and main detective Theresa Dooley who at point had me thinking they where caricatures of character types that we have seen before.

The overall plot is entertaining, but it is also not without both strengths and pitfalls. The premise of the story to start had me questioning the validity of the protagonists involvement, but as the story progressed so did my acceptance of the situation. The authors decision to keep the chapters short I felt for the most part was the correct exercise in a novel of this type, however he could have benefited from not limiting himself to short chapters all the time. he should have allowed himself extra pages for action sequenced, because due to these short chapters it sometimes felt resolution came too swiftly. It was also obvious the author had personal ties to the setting of San Francisco which sometimes worked in his favor, but also had points where is was a bit to heavy handed and detracted from certain situations.

Overall, if you are a fan of this genre it would be in your best interest to check out this novel, as well as the rest of Gregg Hurwitz body of work.

What’s On Tap: 10 Best Bars in Pop Culture

by inaudible_mumbleSeptember 2, 2013

Last week The World’s End hit theatres. I had high expectations for this movie, and though said expectations weren’t fully met, I wouldn’t say I disliked the film. I would simply say it’s an above average feature at best. Part of the problem I found in the movie is that besides the disco, all of the bars feel exactly the same. I fully understand that it was probably a conscious decision by the filmmaker to do this in order to convey the blandness of the blank’s inhabited world, but conveying blandness is just that, bland. I would have really liked to have seen at least one bar that made me perk up and say “I wish that place existed, because if it did I would so be there every night”, at which point someone in the theatre would probably tell me to shush or give me a stern look. This discovery got me thinking about exactly which pop-culture bars I wish really existed, so I decided to do what all writers do when they ask themselves a question: write a list about it.

Number 10 : The Badass Crater Bar (aka Moxxi’s bar in Borderlands 2)

This is the place you go to wet your whistle between vault hunts on Pandora. It has not one, but two slot machines. That alone should satisfy your desire to know why I put this on the list, right? Okay, maybe not so let me get more specific. Going to this bar is all about hanging out with blunt sadistic Moxxi. If this place really existed I would sure be more then happy to keep sliding dollars across the bar for hours just to hear what would come out of that Moxxis mouth.

Number 9 : Barrelhaven Tavern (Bone)

Barrelhaven is the small town in the valley that the Bone cousins find themselves in during the events of the comic book, Bone. My primary reason for wanting to attend this bar is how ridiculous this whole world is what with dragons, rat creatures and cow races. Plus, I think it would be fun to have a cup of ale and hear Phoncible P. Bone tell tales of dragons, or listen to Smiley Bone play a song on his one stringed lute (I’m pretty sure he could play at least two solid notes on that bad boy).

Number 8 : Korova Milk Bar (A Clockwork Orange)

If moving into a dystopian future means we get milk bars well then lets toast to the downfall of civilization. Sure, the milk is laced with drugs, but I feel as though I could easily get straight milk, hold the drugs (which is on most days how I prefer my milk). Other then the fact that they serve milk, they also have some of the most strangest tables and décor I have ever seen. I don’t think you really need the drugs in a place like this, because it is kind of already an acid trip fleshed out into real life.

Number 7 : The Leaky Cauldron (Harry Potter)

I could have probably put any Harry Potter bar here, but I decided on The Leaky Cauldron over the Three Broomsticks and Hog’s Head Inn. The problem with the other two is that I feel as though you’d have to deal with annoying wizard students most the year, and listening to them talk about how much they love magic can get pretty annoying over time. So I side with The Leaky Cauldron which since it is an Inn by a major location in this universe you have a more eclectic mix of witches and wizards you can meet there. Fair warning about The Leaky Cauldron though: eat the pea soup before it eats you (you had to have seen that coming).

Number 6 : The Candy Barrel (The Misadventures of Flapjack)

The Misadventures of Flapjack was a cartoon that lasted on Cartoon Network for three seasons between 2008 and 2010. I decided to include the Candy Barrel on this list strictly on account of the absurdity of its premise. The Candy Barrel is exactly what you would think it is, which is a candy bar. You enter through swinging salon doors, take a stool at the bar and order yourself a candy. A candy bar in itself is kind bizarre but The Misadventures of Flapjack took it a step further by introducing the fact that the main characters could buy one piece of candy for the price of one candy wrapper. So basically once you find one candy wrapper you will always get free candy since all candy is wrapped in more wrappers. I am a okay with that.

Number 5 : Chalmun’s Cantina (aka Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars)

This isn’t the place you want to go if you’re attempting to make new friends. So why go to Chalmun’s Cantina? Well apparently there is never a dull moment there. Think about it: in the ten minutes (tops) that we are shown the cantina, someone loses an arm, and a bounty hunter gets killed, and none of the patrons bat one eyelash. That leaves me to believe this place is insane with action all the time if the regulars are so unexplainably immune to such antics. Other then that, I also would really like to see Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes play and since they had to cancel their tour dates of the Deathstar and Alderaan due to destruction this is really the only place to see them.

Number 4 : Puzzles (How I Met Your Mother)

Most People would agree that Maclaren’s should be on this list, but for me its Puzzles all the way. You get the same exact environment as Maclaren’s except you swap out Carl as the bartender for Ted and Barney slinging drinks behind the bar. It’s a win win situation. Plus at Puzzles you are no longer constrained by the common annoying last call rule. At Puzzles, there is no last call.

Number 3 : Winchester (Shaun of The Dead)

If the zombie apocalypse breaks out, this is where I am heading. Sadly, if said events d0 happen I probably wont make due to the fact that it is on a completely different continent then me. So why Winchester? Well I always did enjoy the aesthetics of an English pub. The Winchester just seems like a good place to fort up in if the events of zombies ever did happen. It has beer and pig snacks to fill your belly after all the zombie battling. It has entertainment to pass the time in form of a pool table and a dart board. Its armed with a working decorative hanging shotgun which would come in handy. Most importantly what makes the Winchester great is that it has Queen on the Jukebox.

Number 2 : Flaming Moe’s (The Simpsons)

It’s the home of the drink the Flaming Moe/Flaming Homer. Flaming Moe’s was the name change given to Moe’s Tavern when, with the invention of the Flaming Moe, the bar became more of a Springfield nightlife hotspot. When business started to boom due to the demand of the new drink Moe’s got a little bit fancier what with new neon signs and all. Plus, going to Flaming Moe’s is a lot like going to Moe’s Tavern(which was originally on my list) except its more socially acceptable and Aerosmith plays there.

Number 1 : Snakehole Lounge (Parks and Recreation)

The Snakehole Lounge is as good as it gets in Pawnee. That is, until Tom Haverford finally gets around to opening his own club one day, in which he will either call Club-A-Dub-Dub or the Clubmarine. The Snakehole Lounge is reffered to as “Pawnees sickest nightclub”, which I imagine isn’t much in the way of a great feat to accomplish. Tom Haverford is the promotions director at the bar. Jean-Ralphio Saperstein is also an investor of the establishment. I like to believe that you could go to this bar on any given night of the week (except Sundays and Mondays due to the place being rented out for kids birthday parties and substance abuse meetings on those days) and run into eith Tom Haverford or Jean-Ralphio, which lets admit it is ninety seven percent of the appeal to this place. The other three percent is the ridiculous promotional parties they throw. They threw promotional parties for Tom inventing a new liquor called Snake Juice, and Dennis Feinstein launch party for his new fragrance. It’s very obvious that the Snakehole Lounge is on the up and up, and it’s only matter of time before it’s not just the cultural and social center of Pawnee but of the world in general. Plus, I heard drinking Snake Juice really gets the job done when it comes to getting completely inebriated which is generally the point of going to a bar in the first place.

Honorable Mentions:

Iceberg Lounge (Batman) – It’s all about the décor in this posh nightclub.

Joe’s Bar (Battlestar Galactica) – A great place to grab a drink, lite up a cigar and play some Triad.

Paddys Pub (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) – The place is a total dive but I wouldn’t mind sitting there listening to the gang come up with harebrained schemes.

The Bar in Tapper – Why? because I really want my server to sling my beer down to me, and also because some of the patrons of the establishment are aliens.

Disagree? Let us know all about your favourite pop-culture bar or tavern!

Geekscape Book Review: You’re Not Doing It Right By Michael Ian Black

by inaudible_mumbleMarch 14, 2012

On the threshold of forty most men would inevitably find themselves crumbling under the weight that is a mid-life crises. Michael Ian Black however uses this milestone as a means of evaluating his life thus far, and unlike his demographic counterparts it is done without measuring his life in terms of youth squandered. He retrospects his life in search of an answer to one question. How exactly did he get to this point in his life?

What follows next is Michael Ian Blacks newest book You’re Not Doing It Right the journey into adulthood as told with the frankness and sincerity only allowed by one who truly understands and loves his subject material: By subject material meaning his family, though I’m sure he loves himself as well. Actually he may in fact love himself more so then his family, or so it seems at times in the book through some of his descriptions and accounts of interactions with the aforementioned parties (for example his use of “cocktail wieners” while describing his wife in the chapter “I Hate My Baby” made me cringe and laugh simultaneously)

You’re Not Doing It Right is most easily described as a memoir (by me, the book publisher and by the technical definition of the word according to Webster’s so it must be true; though I wish I could find a more fitting word that doesn’t come across so decidedly french and pretentious). Throughout the book Michael Ian Black tracks his life as told in a series of events that are allowed to unfold in their own chapters, by following this format Michael Ian Black has created a novel that builds upon itself freely and comes across refreshingly accessible.

You’re Not Doing It Right is written with the wit and comedy that one would come to expect from someone who has made a career out of making others laugh. Surprisingly to some however may be Michael Ian Black ability to be his funniest when he is just being honest with his audience. Allowing them a rare glimpse at the man behind the stage persona built for the public eye.

Chapters like “I Hate My Baby” are told with such brutal honesty you can’t help but find yourself laughing while completely relating to the situation he is found himself in, even if you have never been in that particular situation yourself. As a whole the book reads this way a lot. If viewed simply as a snapshot some chapters should based on subject matter alone be more accessible then others. For instance not everyone will have had a direct experiences like those described in the chapter “Dead Dad Kid” where the author talks about his experience with the death of his father. His ability to write chapters like this with such clear prose of emotion it affords the reader the chance to enter the situation themselves; not as a third party to a tale retold in hindsight but as a guest embraced lovingly by the moment itself.

Full of laughs and heartfelt sentiment from start to finish I would recommend this book to anyone who is married, has kids, or hopes to someday be a member of one or both of the previous parties (aka that’s a recommendation to everyone if you couldn’t figure that out for yourself).