San Diego Comic Con 2012

Some great work by Nathan
Kane and Jason Ho

Another Comic Con has come and gone and am already looking forward to next year. This has probably been the 12th or 13th time we have attended the show and have seen it go through many changes just in these past few years. Our own experience has also changed with the maturation of the show and this year we had the biggest change of all in introducting our new little one to the show. Last year we were pregnant so we tried to stay away from the main points of interest in the Con and so was the same this year with the little one. It certainly has been an eye opener as we have found some really great vendors and artists doing some really great work. While we did not pick up too many things for ourselves (more on that later) we did pick up plenty of new books for the little one and made some great new friends at the show. Not a bad four days for somebody who slept through 90% of the show.


X-mas Theme Futurama Comics

Along with introducing him to Comic Con it goes without saying it was also his first introduction in to the world of Futurama and Bongo Comics. For the first time in a number of years was able to make the Bongo Comics panel. Moderated by Terry Delegeane the panel included Bongo-ites Nathan Kane, Jason Ho, and now departed Bill Morrison. The presentation included a look at future Futurama Comics issues which as always sounds like fun. Bill Morrison has been a driving force for the quality of the Bongo Comics line and with his departure Bongo has taken a bit of a new direction. New logo for not only the Bongo brand but also all the comic book lines and more editorial features contained within the comics. I was a little bit worried to hear Morrison stepping down as I really enjoyed the covers to all the comics which I know he played a big part in. I was a little hesitant with the first issues of the new eras release but now it appears that Nathan Kane and Jason Ho are getting in to a good rythm and will continue to represent the Bongo Comics line well through the ages. The covers they had on display were all top notch and well worth carrying the Bongo Comics Group logo. Well done gentlemen.

Terry Delegeane, Nathan Kane, Bill
Morrison, and Jason Ho lead the
Bongo Comics panel sans Louis
Lane...

An announcement they did make is that Bongo Comics is going digital. That is right take your entire library of Bongo Comics with you on your iPad, iPhone, or IWhatchamacallit. Now the whole library is not available just yet and originally Bongo is rolling out a few select issues of Simpsons Comics but the idea is that eventually they will be coming out with more as the weeks go by. Bongo has partnered with Comixology to bring this to life. Call me old school but I like the thought of going down to your local comic book store or other outlet, finding the issue you want, and taking it home to read. Also, call me crazy if you like, I like the hobby of collecting comics. I like having my file cabinet lined up with all these comics and being able to pull them out and look at them and reminisce about the time and era from which they were originally released. At the same time I know the times, they are a changin' and you can't fight City Hall, the Terminator, nor a Star Trek fan who thinks Picard could kick James T. Kirk's ass - he CAN'T!!! I do think there is a place for digital content and I think the digital revolution will change the way we consume 'sequential art' such as comics and am excited to see what some of these artists and pixel pushers come up with in the future to best utilize this medium. Plus, it will give me the opportunity to check out certain series of comics without having to find more space to store them in and keep my regular collection safe and sound.
At the booth you can still come by, pick up a few comics, and chat with the folks who create them. They are all great people and are always interested in saying hi and getting feedback. Like in past years they did have a Futurama poster on sale with a few signed by Matt Groening for a slight upcharge. The poster is a yearly thing and typically it is the middle poster from the yearly calendar, although last year they sold a set of blacklight posters from the comics. Anyone have an extra set they would like to get rid of please contact me as I did miss out on them last year.

18" Bender

The Toynami booth continued with their Futurama display in their booth highlighting figures already released and ones yet to be released as well as what new stuff they have plannned for the year. Another Bender figure is coming down the pike from Toynami but this one is an astounding 12"-18" tall!! Not sure if it talks, moves, or drinks all your beer when you are not looking but he is pretty cool looking. I know Bender is probably the most popular of the Futurama characters but I could do without the continuing iterations of the same figure over and over again in different sizes. But then again, maybe next year we can get an equally sized Zoidberg and renact Anthology of Interest I in our very own home. That would be sweet!!

Tineez

Also on display were their Tineez figures. Again, not a huge fan of the series as I tend to like stuff that is more show specific and are direct derivites from the show. I know the Tineez in general are a fairly popular format for releasing figures but I would rather see more effort put in to more Futurama characters to fill out New New York. Their latest offerings includ a lovesick Fry, a screaming Morbo, and a cuddly Nibbler. This is in addition to the stuff they have already released. At a price of $19.99 for a three pack, though these are not a bad deal and my guess is that once you have a few together on display they begin to look pretty cool.

They also had their plush line on display. A new Morbo figure looks to be coming and I find it interesting he has the same expression as their proposed Tineez Morbo figure. Not a big fan of the plushie line but I have picked up the previous exclusive Nibbler and Robot Devil and they are pretty fun. I guess my kid will enjoy them once he gets a bit older and I am sure I will be searching out the remainder of these figures. The Hypnotoad looks really cool as well.

Morbo Plush

Besides the aforementioned Futurama poster from Bongo Comics there was not much in the way of Futurama merchandise that was an exclusive - or so I thought. After getting home I did find out there was a Kidrobot exclusive Hypnotoad on sale at the show that I missed out on. Anyone out there with an extra that would like to be rid of it please let me know as I would like to pick one up at a reasonable price.
As far as exclusives there was not much in the way or so I thought. I checked the Toynami booth and while they had new stuff on display they did not have any exclusive for the show. Later I did find out that Kidrobot had an exclusive Hypnotoad which I missed out on. Anyone have an extra they would like to sell please contact me. Pehaps we can work something out with an item that I have from my collection that you are missing.
So goes another Comic Con. They have revised the ticket purchasing procedures again for next year so it will be interesting to see if we are able to get tickets. We have been going for the past 12 or 13 years straight and every year it gets more and more difficult to get to the show. This past year we ended up having to purchase 4 one day passes so were not able to get to Preview Night (a first) and year after year our hotel keeps getting further and further away from the show. It will also be interesting to see what the ticket prices will end up being. The past year saw a dramatic jump from around $55 for all four days (including Preview Night) to $130 for just the four days.