It's Batman the Barbarian!

Just wanted to share a little Funko Pop! custom I worked on over the weekend. Hope you all dig it!

Tales from the 25¢-50¢ Bin!

Hello fellow Hordytes! And welcome to another edition of Tales from the 25¢ Bin, or what we may be forced to rename Tales from the 25¢-50¢ Bin due to the fact that my favorite local used bookstore has seemingly decided that their cheap-o bins weren't making them enough scratch, and so what were once piles of comics for a measley quarter each, are now piles of comics that vary from 1/4 to 1/2 a buck. 

I guess this was inevitable. But it does make me a little sad. It won't stop me from buying comics from them, but I will be a bit more choosey from here on out, because I'll buy just about anything remotely interesting for a quarter, but for some reason, as soon as it hits the two-for-$1 range, I get all stingy like a Great Depression baby. 

Anyhoo, that didn't stop me from bringing home a pretty epic haul the other day. I actually snagged a bigger stack than this, but I thought today we'd just take a look at all the comics I nabbed from the much-loved (by me, anyway) and long-gone Gold Key comics.

First up we have The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan. I have vague memories of this cartoon which was basically the cartoon version of a somewhat racist portrayal of a Chinese detective from a series of 1940s movies, but if he had a buttload of kids. You know, just what kids love.

Next up are a couple of issue of Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery. These sort of weird tales had nothing to do with Boris Karloff, he didn't write them or draw them, nor were the stories even about him, but his picture was on each cover and a little drawn version of him introduced each story like a dapper Crypt Keeper. Odd as all of this sounds, I used to love these comics when I was a kid.

Next we have two issues of The Funky Phantom, which was about a gang of mystery solving teenagers (really, Hanna-Barbera?) that hung out with a colonial-era ghost in a tri-corner hat. You know, just what kids love.

 Here we have an issue of Walt Disney Showcase featuring Mickey Mouse playing the Watson roll in a Sherlock Holmes-like story. I bought it because I love Mickey Mouse, and I may be crazy, but I swear I had this very issue when I was a kid.

Next up are three issues of a comic I loved to death as a kid. I adored Ripley's Believe It or Not collections of the classic newspaper strip and the mega-creepy show hosted by Jack Palance when I was a kid and the few issues of this comic book, which focus solely on "true" ghost stories, that I had back in the day were especially treasured. 

These classic Scooby Doo issues are like gold to me! I've long been a fan of the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You? animated show and these comics, which came out around the same era (pre-Scrappy Doo, pre-Pup Named Scooby Doo) still have some of that classic spooky vibe.

And finally, I picked up this issue of Turok - Son of Stone, which is about a Native American who still lives in a land of dinosaurs, because like I mentioned before, I'll buy just about anything for a quarter.

That's it for this haul, kids! Check back for more Tales from the 25¢-50¢ Bin!

League of Extraordinary Bloggers Post; I'm Seeing Red!

KA-BOOM! An easy-peasy photo assignment this week, kids! I had to do this one on my lunch break at work, so I was limited to what was around my desk or on the shelves in the art department, so pardon the high percentage of Funko stuff.

But, you all do get to see a brand new Funko item that hasn't even been released yet! See if you can guess what it is.

From my other esteemed League members:

Toyriffic goes meow.
Branded in the 80s gets bloody.
Shezcrafti is Red-iculous.
Cool & Collected took it to a new level.

Emerald City Comic Con Report!

So, you may have noticed that I went to ECCC a couple of weekends ago and that I'm just now getting around to blogging about it.


I'm so lazy these days, it's disgusting.

Anyway, I just want to make it super duper clear right here and now that my hometown convention is by far my favorite convention of them all. SDCC is turning into Hollywood's toilet and Wondercon is full of a-hole Los Angelinos. But ECCC is still a good old fashioned con with loads of dealer tables, easily approachable talent from the comic business and salt-of-the-earth true-blue geek cosplayers. Let it be known far and wide that I love Emerald City Comic Con!

With that declared, let's take a look at some of the awesome stuff I saw (in no particular order)...

Since creating my own little silly toys, I found myself paying attention more to the home-grown arts and geek crafts made by folks just like you and me.

This 2 foot tall felted R2D2 stole my heart. Sadly, he wasn't for sale...

I did plunk down the cash for one of these adorable little "Sushis you can hug!" for my wife, who knows her way around a California roll.

I also tried to buy her this, but she nixed that idea...

I was happy to run into my good friend Tony Fowler from Working Class Villains. He was selling these adorable Thundercats cuties and tempting me with his not-for-sale custom Crystar figure...

Another Tony, Tony Moore, the original artist on the first 6 issues of Walking Dead was there and I fell in love with this amazing fuzzy black-light poster hanging over his booth...

And I totally geeked out on all of the papercraft and things like these vintage masks, designer shirts and plush "bad apples" displayed throughout the convention center...

And mark my words, as soon as I'm a gazillionaire, I'm gonna start gaming like this...

 
Here's a random pic of a giant Tranformer statue...

Of course, no comic convention is complete without some seriously expensive toys...

 

They had a massive Lego display, but the only thing I really geeked out on with this sweet sample of 1966 awesomeness...

 I managed to score some killer comics (more on that later), but the ones that really stuck with me were the ones I had to leave behind. Some things, no matter how much I want them, are just too rich for my blood...

And then there was this guy...

Of course, this is all just the tip of the iceberg. This year's convention was a non-stop whirlwind of amazing sights and memories for me. The people were awesome. The scores were epic. The excitement was palpable.

And if that wasn't enough, at the end of the day, when everyone was leaving with sore feet and full backpacks, we were all treated to the image of a guy in a pink gorilla suit playing the bucket drums...

Until next year, Emerald City Comic Con.

Emerald City Comic Con Costume Extravaganza!

So... Emerald City Comic Con took place two weekends ago, and I'm such a bad blogger that I'm just now getting around to reporting on it. In fact, I don't even really have time right now, so instead, I just thought I'd post some pics of the legion of costumed attendees that I came across.

I promise that a full report is coming soon. Well, I sort of promise.

In the meantime, enjoy!

More ECCC reports to come! Hopefully. If I have time. I'm really gonna try. I swear.