Tagged: C2E2

Mike Gold: The Big Booth 1105 Crossover

imagesIt was fated to happen. ComicMix is participating in our very first crossover.

This coming weekend – as in Friday, Saturday and Sunday – ComicMix will once again be appearing at the C2E2 comics and pop culture convention at Chicago’s McCormick Place, on the scenic downtown shore Lake Michigan near the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Natural History Museum, and that formerly beautiful football (and, next March, hockey) stadium Soldier (sic) Field – before that hideous flying saucer landed on top of it.

More prestigious still, we ComicMixers will be teaming up with our good buddies at Unshaven Comics. This means the “good” Marc Alan Fishman will be appearing at the same booth as the “evil” Marc Alan Fishman. And if they inadvertently touch… well, let’s just say people will stop bitching about Mrs. O’Leary’s improperly defamed cow.

Representing ComicMix: Glenn Hauman, Adriane Nash, either the good or the evil Marc Alan Fishman (I can never tell which one is which) and yours fairly truly. We will be making two – count ‘em two ­– major announcements at the show, each of which will be promptly detailed in this slice of the etherverse. I won’t tip our collective hand, but I will say this: the second of these announcements will reveal what “CMPS” stands for. I mean this in the acronymical sense, and not in any ethical sense. Certainly not.

We’ll be at booth 1105 in case you didn’t read the headline, and you should because the editor-in-chief spends a lot of time obsessing over them. We eagerly await the opportunity to meet you. Unless you’re rude or insulting; then, we eagerly await the opportunity to let out our pent-up convention aggression. In my case, well, I’ve been going to comic book conventions for 45 years now. But I also used to be among the crowd that founded and ran the amazingly perfect Chicago Comicon, so I know this won’t be an issue.

Truth be told, I like Chicago conventions that are actually held within the city limits. There’s a bunch of reasons for this: the fans are amazingly friendly, the food is unbelievable, the city is everything great that New York City says it is but isn’t and can never be, and – most important – the Fire Marshal, for some odd reason, actually enforces the fire laws at massive conglomerations of humans and paper goods.

Holy Odin’s Eyehole, I’m gotta get it from insecure New Yorkers, aren’t I? Well, as you read this I’m already in Chicago (meetings, meetings, meetings; all at amazing restaurants) so I can only respond in person on the convention floor. Please re-read the sentence above about rude or insulting people and my 45 years of pent-up convention aggression.

We’re gonna have us a swell time. And to take tongue out of cheek for a rare moment, I hope you-all can share those swell times with us.

I hope to see you this weekend.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases

 

DC Comics To Prosecute Tattoos

Superman tattooIn a startling move to control images of their copyrighted characters, lawyers for Warner Bros Entertainment, parent company of DC Comics, have begun issuing cease and desist orders to fans sporting tattoos featuring DC characters. While walking the floor of last month’s C2E2 in Chicago, several fans were handed official looking documents citing that they were in violation of DC’s copyrights– over their tattoos.

“It is unlicensed artwork. And like any bootlegged material we are going to come down against it. We see it as no different from t-shirt or other paraphernalia” said one of the WB lawyers.

Many comic book conventions, including ReedExpo’s New York Comic Con and C2E2, feature tattoo pavilions showcasing tattooists and their art. Wizard’s Chicago Comic Con has also welcomed tattoo artists onto their floor, encouraging fans to show off their ink or get some at the show.

“I guess I’ll have to wear long-sleeved shirts when I go to cons now” said one fan after getting a c & d order. He is close to finishing a Justice League themed sleeve on his left arm. “I’m not going to stop or get it covered up. It’s how I chose to express myself as a fan!”

This comes at a time when tattoos have become almost accepted in mainstream culture and as comic book movies are big budget blockbusters. And it looks like Warner Brothers has spotted a money making opportunity.

“We will be unveiling a line of official DC Comics Tattoos at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Tattoo shop owners will be able to purchase these pages of tattoo flash for their shops and offer their clientele officially licensed DC Comics artwork.

Mix March Madness Webcomics Tournament: Round 3 Play By Play!

comicmixmarchmadness550x681-2448089This month we took sixty-four popular webcomics and put them head to head in a single-elimination tournament. We’re now in round three– the Sweet 16!

Erfworld continues its dominance in the brackets, with Kawaii Not showing surprising strength. Theater Hopper is surprisingly quiet, but they’ve gotten late traction before.

And at this point, nobody has an insurmountable lead– anybody can make a call out to their followers and retake the lead, and after two days of hand-to-hand electioneering at C2E2, the scores can really change. Every match is still too close to call.

So get your votes in– and see who becomes the Elite 8!

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Our own logs are also showing respectable traffic going out to all the participating strips, and we’re getting reports of people reading entire runs at a shot– which has got to be spiking numbers for everybody, which was part of the idea.

Remember– polling closes at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time tonight, March 23!

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Twitter Updates for 2011-03-19

Mix March Madness Webcomics Tournament: Round 2 Play By Play!

comicmixmarchmadness550x681-5421982As you’ve seen if you’ve been following the site at all this week, we’ve taken sixty-four popular webcomics and are putting them head to head in a single-elimination tournament. As a result, it’s been a very busy week here at ComicMix, and we have less than 35 hours of voting in the first round, so we wanted to point to some of the highlights.

The contests getting the highest vote totals right now are Gronk vs. My Sister the FREAK, followed closely by PvP vs. Erfworld, which is not quite as bad a blowout as last time, but Erfworld is still looking pretty strong.

But at this point, nobody has an insurmountable lead– anybody can make a call out to their followers and retake the lead, and after two days of hand-to-hand electioneering at C2E2, the scores can really change. Every match is still too close to call.

So get your votes in– if you haven’t voted, your chance is right below! You get to determine who makes it to the Sweet 16!

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