This picture is a perfect snapshot into the world of ComiKaze - courtesy of Jorge Diaz.
Comic conventions really are a different world. Actually, conventions in general are, but this type in particular. (→)
We hit the road on good old All Hallows' Eve (OK, so it's a ten minute drive, but we still hit the road), and braced ourselves for the three days of pop-culture and geek mayhem that is Comikaze. Here's our story.
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Frank fangurling on Brian Pulido.
So, Frank has this love for Lady Death. I'm not sure if it's solely platonic, but let's just say it's his favourite comic ever. We walk into the exhibition hall, and BAM, guess who we first encounter? Brian Pulido at his Lady Death booth. So here is Frank's first chance to nerd-off, and nerd-off he does. In fact, it looks as though it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hold back his inner fangurl. Honestly though, Brian is a cool guy. Like, totally cool. We chat a bit, buy half of his memorabilia inventory, and try to leave as suavely as possible.
Horror Panel on Friday. From left to right: Ace Marrero, Gabriella Waljs, Jorge Diaz, Christiane Elin, Josh Henaman.
Friday seems to be pretty chill, and we try to appreciate it before the throngs of Saturday march in. We wander around a little, before heading to a panel titled, "DEMONS AND MONSTERS: A SUPERNATURAL HORROR MASH-UP," hosted by our friend, Christiane Elin (Haunted OC). This panel saw Ace Marrero, Jorge Diaz, Gabrielle Walsh & Joshua Henaman talk all things weird and supernatural. Regular WoTR listeners will probably know Jorge and Josh by now. It was certainly nice seeing these guys again, and we even snuck in a couple of Bigfoot comics for Josh to sign.
There was the usual talk, ranging from horror movies to UFOs, but the "Anecdote of the Evening" prize surely goes to Jorge, with his story about a real-life vampire family. No, really. Apparently this family used to frequent the supermarket that Jorge's brother used to work at and, well, let's just say they were really into this vampire thing. They came out only at night, drank each other's blood, and lead incestuous relationships with each other. Yeah.
Camilla D'Errico with the print she signed for WoTR.
So Friday was chill, Saturday was when mania set in. Highlights include Camilla D'Errico's art, coincidentally stumbling upon the creator of the Hello Kitty zombie t-shirt I'd bought a while ago, seeing DMC doing his new comic thing, and having a cold beer. We also attended another one of Christiane's panels, titled, "PARANORMAL ADVENTURES IN TELEVISION," this time alongside Ben Hansen, Susan Slaughter, and Dana Workman. All three of them have a background in paranormal television, so there was certainly no lack of ghost and UFO stories; of course, most of you already know Ben from past WoTR shows, and I think we can safely say that there's never a boring moment when he's talking (check out a past show here).
Sunday: day of mourning. Alright, not quite so bad, but it's always sad to see a fun event like this wind down. We still had a few tasks to accomplish though, including getting a signed print by J. Scott Campbell (longest queue ever), and attending the Lady Death/Brian Pulido panel ("LADY DEATH 20TH ANNIVERSARY: HOW YOU CAN CREATE & PUBLISH ICONIC CHARACTERS"). We also took this time to talk to a few of the smaller businesses, including the creator of a new interactive type of movie called, "Movie Maze," (download their first movie, The Mechanic, for FREE; at very least check out the ridiculous trailer here), and steampunk comic creator, Alejandro Lee, who impressively writes, draws and colours his own comics (check out his Sally Sprocket & Piston Pete comic). We also stumbled across a geek dating website, soulgeek.com (yep, this is actually a real thing), which we immediately signed up to. OK, we didn't, but in all honesty, I think this is a pretty fun idea. Perhaps some of you may even want to check it out and get back to us about it, yeah?
Anyway, Comikaze - it's been real.
