Free Comic Book Day With Iron Man!

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I've been meaning to post these for days. Here are some pictures from the Strange Adventures Free Comic Book Day 2008 Celebration. It was once again held in the St. David's Church Hall up the street from the shop. There were 20,000 free comic books available to the public. Also...Iron Man was there!

I really can't get enough photos of Iron Man walking around doing stuff.


Here's Iron Man with Darwyn Cooke, who was once again kind enough to spend the day doing free sketches for people:

And here's Iron Man with me:

The man in the iron suit is the guy I'm marrying. He can't take credit for making this awesome costume, though. It's the handiwork of the talented Jay Silver.

Here are some more photos, these ones taken by Spencer Cantley:

Aw, it looks like Iron Man's snaps came undone in that last one.

Needless to say, Iron Man was a huge hit with the kids (and the grown-ups). I'm glad it was a nice day for once.

Review of Tedium, By Johnathan

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Hey, all. Remember how I said that the posts would come fast and furious once I finished that SARLSH malarkey? We,, I probably should have added an "unless I get tied up in the longest and thired-most-hellish move of my life" caveat. Because that's what happened. On the up side, it's done, I have a new cat roommate, and the Internets are back in town. I guess I could have written some stuff while I was offline for later posting, but that smacked of effort, man. One thing, however, did stick in my tired, bitter craw: last week's Action Comics No. 864. Well, one aspect of it, at least (Lightning Lad vs. Batman was great). Let's watch:

So the big-reveal surprise villain in Action Comics this month was a) not a huge surprise and b) the friggin' Time Trapper. I hate the friggin' Time Trapper. He was an interesting villain for all of three Silver Age stories, I swear, back when he was basically just a reason that the Legion could go into the past but not the future, even with all of their Mighty Technology. In fact, he was entertaining for exactly one story, the one that also introduced the equally-hateful Glorith, when he managed to turn a third of the Legion into irritating babies and kicked Invisible Tot around. Ever since then, the Time Trapper has functioned almost exclusively as a gigantic, nigh-unbeatable threat, trotted out to shake up the status quo with a few shocking deaths or resolve some continuity point with a time quake or something. He's featured in more angsty, dreary storylines than the entire cast of Dawson's Creek. And no matter how many times he's tediously defeated, he just keeps coming back - which isn't much different than, say, Darkseid, but at least Darkseid is fun.

BAH! NOT APPROVED.

Well! I was certainly filled with vitriol, hey? Needed a little more sleep? Well, I'm well-rested now, but I basically agree. Every time the Time Trapper shows up in a story I heave a little sigh and prepare to slog through some boring comic book. It's like... like reading a late-eighties crossover event. Or 8 out of 10 early Image comics. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing this story off just yet. I'll be the first one to applaud if anything interesting is added to ol' TT's story - I just ain't holding my breath.

This is what I meant when I was talking about him kicking Invisible Moppet. Kicking Silver Age DC toddlers = comic gold! This one instant of the Time Trapper's life is:

JOHN APPROVED

Charlotte, Here I Come!

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I am officially going to Charlotte, NC for HeroesCon in June! I am very excited. Not only have I never been to North Carolina before, I have never been to a comic convention before! I hear this is a really good one.

The nice boys from The Dollar Bin invited me down, so I'll be hanging out at their table (I believe) when I'm not running around the convention centre totally overwhelmed and exploding with nerdy glee. Or when I'm not eating as much pit BBQ as humanly possible.

So if you are going to be at HeroesCon, let me know and we can meet and chat and stuff. Or drink beer. I like beer.

I have a limited knowledge of Charlotte. I basically associate two things with the city: BBQ and Charlotte Hornets Starter Jackets:

Stylin'! I picture every resident of Charlotte wearing this at all times.

I can't wait!