Me Geek, You Geek

If you're new to reading comics on your computer but want to start looking in to it, the first stop you have to make is the ComicRack site. 

ComicRack is the best software when it comes to reading comics on your computer.  Period.

I will take from the ComicRack site exactly what it claims, and succeeds, in doing:

ComicRack is the best eComic Reader and Manager for Windows computers with much more features than other comic readers like CDisplay.

It is an all in one solution to read your eComics and also manage your library. You can think of it as a kind of ITunes for eComics with lots of the same functionality. 

As a reader ComicRack supports all the state of the art features you can expect: different display modes, full screen, information overlays, magnifier, color adjustments, automatic backcolor matching and a multi tab interface to quickly switch between eComics.

As a manager you can browse and search your eComics in the library, create folders and lists to organize them. You can customize the lists to show just the information you need and use advanced tools to tag and edit the information for your eComics. Or create Smart lists to display dynamic lists based on eComic info (never read, author, series etc.)

Like with iTunes you can share your library across your home network and read your eComics on your Tablet/Notebook via wireless.

And of course, it is your swiss army knife when batch converting between different formats. Ever wanted to create CBZs from your PDFs - now it is just a click away.

ComicRack is multilingual: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and other language packs are available.

It is fantastic!  Just fantastic.

(By the way if you need more information on what the CBZ or CBR format is check out the CBR wiki.  Basically, "CB" stands for Comic Book and then the following letter stands for the compression technique which is being used.  So "Z" is for a .zip compression file and "R" is for a .rar compression file...and more...)

I've gone on and on in past posts about the need for the big two to go digital with their comics, support with advertisement and really hit the Digital Age of comics.  Not what Marvel is currently doing with the flash based digital comics...every company should be looking at what ComicRack can offer. 

The companies I am sure get freaked out about how easy it is to share CBR files but if they try a DRM approach it will continue to fail.  I won't go on since I have posted on it so much.  Read my thoughts on digital comics.

Back to ComicRack...my major point of this post is to say that the program is great...but to also say that the program is FREE!  That's right, free! It is updated constantly, it seems like it is updated weekly and it is still free. Free.  Free.  Free.

So I am here, unbeknownst to the creator of ComicRack, asking- no - demanding that we all donate some cash to this cause.  If you love comics line up behind this software.  This is the future of comics people....be a part of it!  So go donate!

Less than an hour ago I completed the digital version of "Midnight Sun" by Ben Towle "in" ComicRack.  Very interesting read and I highly recommend it.  It was simple to purchase.  I just went to EyeMelt, which in my opinion is the best eComics store out there, and purchased and downloaded all five issues of Midnight Run for $4.06!  That's about the same price that I would pay at a comic store for one issue!

[Yet another reason why digital comics will be a win-win for the industry.  Cut out the printing costs.  If you think about it this way.  Each comic in the Midnight Run story only cost me $0.96.   You may be thinking, "Sheesh, that is so little", but really is it that much less than what Marvel makes per issue after taking into account the printing and shipping costs?  Now throw some advertisement in Midnight Run and encourage readers to distribute the comics online (increase readership = increased advertising revenue) and the amount increases to more that just $0.96.  And if the price is less than $1 for each comic book we will all buy them anyway.  Look at iTunes if you need verification that people will pay for stuff when it is cheap enough (not like the book publishing world where they charge you the same, if not more, for the eBook in comparison to the printed book....bastages!  And eBooks are still successful).  Anyway...I am off topic again.  I think I will make sure to do more posts about digital comics each week!  Blog about what you are passionate about they always say.  Who's they?  Who cares...]

Oh yeah...make sure to DONATE to COMICRACK!

Please give me your comments on ComicRack and your thoughts on Digital Comics.

Technorati tags: ComicRack, Midnight Sun, eComics, Digital Comics

Labels: Digital Comics, eComics

Posted by Jon at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Have you seen or heard about this game yet?  The Flash vs. Scorpion?  Superman vs. SubZero?  Batman vs. that 4 armed freaky thing?

Can you say, "Get over here!"

Definitely a risk for DC to be aligning their most popular characters (pristine characters I might add) with the MK franchise which has been at the center of many a heated debate.  I could see Marvel being risky like this but DC/Warner Bros? 

Some things still amaze...good job DC.  Way to hang 'em out there!

 \

EDITED by Jon, June 28th in response to Nerdy Bird's comment:

Labels: DC Comics, Video Games

Posted by Jon at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

DD is my bro.

I've like DD since I was a little kid. He was always my favorite since growing up on the JRJR issues. Going back and reading them now I see they are a little anti-establishment and nauseatingly liberal but I soaked it all in like a sponge. The Typhoid Mary run is what hooked me. Seeing DD beaten to a pulp and then slowly come out of it. What a great character.

I have been satisfied with the latest DD efforts in his own book. But satisfaction does not equal excitement. DD is probably 10th or lower on my To-Read-First-When-I-Get-My-Comics List which was never the case, DD was always first.

I was looking forward to this issue for many reasons. Upon opening the cover I was pleased to see that they started out right. What did they do right you may be thinking? Senses. Here's a thought for the DD creative teams from over the last 8 years....have DD use his hypersenses! Phil Hester gets it dead on, both in his writing and in his art. Every DD writer should read his opening page to get a sense of how DD senses the world:

"To his heightened senses each snowflake whistles by like a wind-whipped pinwheel"

"Each falling crystal gouges a path across his field of awareness like the glare of a moving flashbulb."

"Every one of them an errant satellite broadcasting a stream of interference."

"The sounds of a dozen crimes rise to his ears. A hundred more echo from the police radios below."

Perfect DD!

However, it was somewhat strange to be reading about a blizzard when it is 85 degrees out my window.

So you have your company crossover staple here...mistaken identity between heroes who think the other one is at fault so a short fight ensues before they come to their senses.

The gist of the story goes that there were these evil men back in the day (way back) and when they found a demon. They kept the demon (wouldn't you) and found they could cast a spell that would allow them to take all of their sins and place it on the demon making it a true scapegoat (wouldn't you) by literally writing their sins on the demon's skin. So this demon of course escapes their purgatory in 2008 and then wants to payback retribution to the descendents of the evil dudes that wrote all over his back. In this story he steals a little girl and DD and Maggie are on the hunt.

I highly recommend this book if you, like me, have been so thirsty for a Daredevil comic that looks less like photos and has some real action. So much so that I would be willing to read something called Daredevil and Beppo the Monkey.

Truly I would.

Now check out these guys in the background flipping off ol' Hornhead! Woot!

Purchase this issue!

Labels: Comic Book Reviews, Marvel Comics

Posted by Jon at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Found this article at GameLife.  Interesting...thought I would share.

TOKYO -- Are WiiWare's games not enough content for you? How about comics?

Sunsoft has announced that it will be launching a viewer that will allow Wii owners to download and read digital comics. These comics will be sold through the WiiWare service.

The company is also launching a new brand, Sunsoft Books, to release original comics for the service, and the first series to launch will be a new title by legendary manga creator Leiji Matsumoto (Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato).

No word yet on pricing, but the Japanese service will launch sometime this summer.

Labels: Digital Comics, eComics

Posted by Jon at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

So we've had the Red Hulk since World War Hulk occurred.  We still don't truly know who he is, although I think they are trying to mislead us into thinking it's Doc Sampson. 

But do we care?  I have to admit I have never been that big of a Hulk fan.  But being a Marvel fan has definitely kept me abreast of what is going on with the old green giant. And I would say that I care less now than I ever have.

On to the issue at hand. 

I have to say that I like the art in the book.  I do like Ed's interpretation of the Hulk, it seems his style is perfect for a Hulk book.  Hulk is supposed to be huge.  Hulk is supposed to be veiny (woot!).  Hulk is supposed to throw down and all of that!  So the art works for me.

The writing though, it seems "dumbed down" to allow Ed to have some fun with the fight sequence.  This issue is another Marvel two minute read.  You just flip through the majority of the pages reading dialogue such as "Hulk is the strongest there is" and "The madder I get the stronger I become".  Yeah yeah.  Heard it before.

What makes the Hulk character an interesting read (as we have seen in the past with the writing of Mr. David and Mr. Jones) is the extent of Bruce's life and him trying to stay off the radar. 

Part of the reason these issues irritate me so much is I still have in my craw something that Jeph Loeb has said numerous times in interviews.  He writes for the artist he is working with.  The first time I heard it I thought, "That makes sense", but the more I think about it...does it?  Shouldn't you write for the characters?  Write for the plot? 

Now I know what he means is that he wants to make sure to hit the strengths of the artist (much like Brian Bendis wrote in a fully nude. curvy, busty, female Ultron for Frank Cho) but three issues of fighting now?  We get it.  Ed can draw two huge, brawny, veiny men fighting in splash page shots.  Ugh. 

Let's write for the characters Loeb.  Let's move them forward.  Bring the fights...its comics so that's needed.  But he's basically saying that all Ed is good for is drawing splash pages with no backgrounds, which if I was Ed I wouldn't take as a compliment.

Also, there is a cliff hanger at the end that will make you think "cool" but then you'll immediately snap back to reality when you realize issue #5 is now set up to be another all out brawl and that's it.

Sadly, this one page story (look left!) written by who I assume is Jeph Loeb's daughter is better than the "real" comic book story that's attempting to take place in this issue.

Anyway, Bart emailed me and thought that the first couple pages of this issue was the funniest he has ever seen.

I don't know if he meant funny good or funny bad.  I'm hoping funny bad (but since we never agree on anything I will assume I'm wrong).

That's just the way it is.  Some things never change.

So I will end this post by offering up some of the funny images that I think Bart was referring (click for the big images...)

"Nice view!"

Woot!

Labels: Comic Book Reviews, Marvel Comics

Posted by Jon at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Today's MGYG Reballoon comes courtesy of Batman #279.  Apparently, it was good to teach kids to hide in trees looking at unknowing beautiful women while talking about bananas and kneeling beside a man dressed in a fancy pants suit.

Yeesh.

Now for this one the original balloon actually seems creepy when left alone.  So first I give you the reballooned version.  Make it bigger by clicking! (Hey..Batman could have said that too!)

Now here is the original version...

"Me, too Robin...me too!"

For extra effect, re-read the panel again and when you get to Batman's last line read it in a Adam West voice and picture him squinting his eyes like he always did when he was being inquisitive.  Ew.

Labels: DC Comics, Reballooned

Posted by Jon at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Working on some bigger posts...in the meantime read and be amused by this!

This picture is drawn by Chris Schwiezer who has some cool art up.  This particular image was done as part of his "Smokers of the Marvel Universe" which was posted back on June 1.  Go check them out for the rest of the characters.  After looking through the entire list of characters I'm starting to think that Marlboro and Marvel are one in the same.  Who knew?

But your learning doesn't end there as you must then travel to Brainfreeze: Comic Love (another great comic blog I stumbled upon.  And no, I don't mean Stumbled Upon, as in the insanely popular random-website-fetcher, but rather stumbled from spending too much time clicking my mouse...the old fashioned way...sheesh..kids these days are so lazy they needs tools to make being lazy easier!)

Anyway, on Brainfreeze you will read some commentary on the Smokers of the Marvel Universe set.  She categorizes character's by what and how they smoke and hits the nail on the proverbial head.  Read it!  Here's a hint:

Cigarette in holder - if female, femme fatale or exotic; if male, perhaps a little too cultured (particularly if he's also got on a dressing gown and fez).

Enjoy the rest...I'm going back to writing....

Labels: Comics, Marvel Comics

Posted by Jon at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

 What the hell is Re-Ballooning you might ask?  I had to do a little digging myself but after some research and a bit of begging found the only definition known to man regarding the word "Reballoon".

Reballoon (re-bal-loon, verb):

1. The act of taking wonderful, classic, innocent comic book panels or pages, erasing the original words from the text balloons and replacing the original words with hideous, immoral and non-funny dialogue.

2. A verb that describes what the antagonist writers of the Me Geek, You Geek blog immorally, and most likely illegally, do on a weekly basis.

3. An act that Bart will find hilarious.

So now that we have that out of the way and you completely understand the technique, the method to the madness if you will, I will continue with my first official Reballoon. 

If you run into any panels while reading your comics and think something akin to, "That ain't right", fire it my way and I will rip it a new ass- um... I'll reballoon it.

(Taken from Batman #279.  All apologies DC!  Don't sue!)

Labels: Reballooned

Posted by Jon at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

On vacation, enjoying surfing the blogs and catching up on stuff I might have missed.  Here is a video which is pretty humorous, if for the only reason that someone had to put a lot of time in to this.

The funniest part is at the time stamp of 1:45..."Activate Manta Zoom"!

Nice "assets" Katie Sackhoff.  Hee hee...I said Sackhoff.

Labels: Comic Blogs, DC Comics

Posted by Jon at 6:09 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

My coverage on the 30th Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois continues with my Top 10 Best Moments that occurred on our trip.  Pictures included again free of charge.

If you want to see what I liked the least go read Reflections of a Geeky Weekend: The Top 10 WORST Moments!

Now I owe this post to William, who after my post about what I liked least about the weekend kindly made sure my head was on safe.  This post has actually taken too long to get out after the Top 10 Worst Moments hit.  Sorry William!

TOP 10 BEST MOMENTS FROM METROPOLIS:

#10 - The Metropolis Superman statue in town square

It was a seven hour trip.  It was lighting and thundering the last bit of it.  It was late.  I was tired.  Bart was a cranky ass like he usually is.  And we were ready to be at our hotel.  But as we drove through Metropolis Bart asked if I'd like to swing by and at least see the Superman statue.

Of course I did.

And I of course was impressed.  That's a big Superman!  Good work Metropolis!

#9- Super Superman Drugs! 

So the next day we get up and head in to town to catch the first day of Super Festivities.  You would think that a place called the home of Superman would be crime free, but did you know, that right under Supe's nose is a place that peddles drugs to the innocent Metropolisnites?  I have proof!

Also, make sure to look closely at the sign.  I think I know who might be trying to peddle the drugs.  He left his signature. 

And no, that was not photoshopped. 

Okay.  Yes it was.

Apologies to Metropolis Drugs, a fine drug and Superman merchandise store.

#8- Superman Wannabes Send in Video Auditions!

As show before the trip even began (here) there were auditions for the best Superman dress up guy.  What dedication these guys have!  What a great respect they must have!  Not for themselves mind you, but for Superman and the great folks of Metropolis!

Here's the winner!

Boy, I bet that Superman in the back wished he had an extra bowl of Wheaties before coming on down.

#7- Wonder Woman Razor Burns

'Nuff said.  Women are reading this blog now...I have to behave. But hey....at least she had the guts to put on the star spangled bikini bottoms!

Woot!

#6- Superman standing in line in his own store, to get in to his own museum, at a celebration about him!

Now this bites.  C'mon Metropolis!  If you are wanting folks to dress up and least hand out some freebies and perks.  This image is downright shameful!  But one of my favorite moments just because of the absurdity of it.

#5- Superman Taint Nothing!

Taint.  Superman.  Late night.  Just getting into town.  Laughing nonstop about Superman's taint.  It wouldn't have been that funny at any other moment in my life except this one.  Taint bad! 

#4- Flash Vs. Gorilla Grodd!

Our Flash came to the rescue to defeat Gorilla Grodd as he tried to take out all the Superman Celebration patrons.  While Superman was busy showing off his taint, The Flash kicked some Grodd ass.  We were lucky enough to catch it live!

(Now that my friends is some Photoshop skill!) 

#3- Red Skull and The Riddler....WTF?

They must have been lost.  Wrong super hero. Bwah!  That must be why they seemed bored.  And why they had wedgies up the wazoo!

MGYG is the only place you get to see Redy and The Riddler simply together, yet alone together with the same underwear issue.

#2- The first Superman we met..."blow the clouds away!"

I wish I had a picture of this guy on me.  I took pictures but for some reason my camera failed me (a kryptonian trick?).  Bart and I arrived in town right after a pretty strong storm went through.  We get out and take pictures of the statue (as seen above) and see a lone Superman walking down the damp, dark streets of Metropolis.  I run to my car to get my camera and we ask to take a picture of him.  Then we start some small talk and he stays in character and something akin to:

"I wanted to fly up in the sky and blow those storm clouds away!"

I blinked a couple of times.  Bart looked around.  And the dude stayed in character. Very impressive.  And a little creepy.

What a classic moment.

#1- Superboy being a bad role model!

This was in both lists.  The good and the bad.  It was classic to see though.  So I share with you again!

Hey, you live through enough crisis crap during your life and your bound to want a stress free puff or two!

Labels: Illinois, Metropolis, Superman Celebration

Posted by Jon at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Could be cool.  Couldn't it? 

Labels: Comics, Marvel Comics, Video Games

Posted by Jon at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

"According to research firm Impress R&D, comics caused the size of the mobile publication market to double in the last year to 22 billion yen or $204 million. The increase makes the mobile publication market nearly three times larger than the e-publication market for personal computers."

What?  No kidding?

(By the way, the above quote is taken from redorbit.com. and is in reference to the business occurring in the mobile market in Japan.)

But really....this has to be a typo.  Three times larger than the e-publication market for personal computers?

I talked about a mobile comic book service some time ago, but I wanted to see if it has matured.  So I did some digging.  Here's what I found:

ROK Comics is a service which offers some pay-as-you-go comics, some free comics, and the ability to create your own mobile comics to distribute through their service.  Although the feature, like any creation software like this, has major limitations.  I found finding the comics and going to download them an awful pain in the butt.  Each time, even if I was logged in, I had to select that I lived in the USA, what phone carrier I used, what phone brand I had, and what model phone I had.  Ugh.  And then, the damn comic never even made it to my mobile phone (can't we call them cell phones?  Haven't we made it into the 21st century yet?) so I was kept to my browser to preview the comic.

Newsarama did an interview with the guy from GoComics.com in which they talk about having 4 million page views in a month.  I tried this service too by entering my cell phone number in to their site and waited patiently.  I quickly received the text message but it was a link to a service bango.net, which appears to be the PayPal of mobile transactions) they apparently use to help with the transactions and it was too damn confusing (and a little threatening to be suddenly dealing with another business) so I gave up after it tried to tell me I had to download a file called "error.something" at 5.12K.  Yeah right.

There is also Cartoonscape.com but they have cartoons, which, tsk...is beneath our monthly "sequential art" adventures (if I just offended any Garfield lovers, Bart handles all my hate mail).

So I guess I need to wait a little longer for this all to come full circle.

At least they're getting it right in Japan.

Labels: Comics

Posted by Jon at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

A very cool blog called The Nerdy Bird (also "Has Boobs, Reads Comics") posted a story on the The Greatest American Hero and the actors upcoming stint on Heroes.

Well I wanted to respond to that but didn't exactly know how to do that since I wanted to post my image and since I was too lazy to want to figure it out right now.

Plus, anyone one that has a blog called "Has Boobs, Reads Comics" deserves as many linkbacks as she can get.  What a great blog name!

So here he is in full glory.  The. Greatest. American. Hero.  Metropolis, Illinois.  2008.

The costume is actually pretty cool.  The hair?  Not so much.

So make it over to The Nerdy Bird to read more about the actual dude that played TGAH.

Labels: Comic Blogs, TV

Posted by Jon at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This post is for all you fellow bloggers out there who use our beloved Blogspot service to broadcast our words of wisdom.  If you have ever been interested in mobile blogging from the road, read this!

I have posted about my love for this device before, and my love continues (until the new Blackberry Bold comes out that is.  Hey...my love is fickle...the Bold has really nice curves). 

And what I really love about my Treo is that I can now use it to post to MGYG when I'm away from the computer, which some days is a lot!

But there was a catch.  I have Verizon (which I am very satisfied with, so don't think of me as one of those picky, complaining, SOBs) and every time I tried to mobile blog post Verizon would add this text to the end of my post:

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime� Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Ugh.  That's a lot of crap to be reading at the end of each post, especially short, mobile posts. 

So I took to google and started looking for a a fix.  There are a few but they all required hack-like work arounds, which I was not interested in at all.  So unlike other ticked off Verizon mobile bloggers I decided to call Verizon.  Their friendly staff had a good point behind the reasoning the message but was unable to turn it off for me.  Basically the reason it is needed is not to advertise Verizon but to let non-Verizon users who receive messages from Verizon know how to deal with the information that is being sent.  I guess you can call it advertising but I don't think it is too out of control.

But anyway, I was still determined to see the message be gone if I blogged from the road.

So here is how you do it.  There are two choices...

1.   The first one is to blog from your MMS messaging system on your phone.  You have to sign up first with Blogger.  After that Blogger will know your phone number and when you send a message to them will post it in your blog.  The text in the Subject line will be the title and the text of course will be the post.  You can add pictures as well.  If you like to have the pictures on the left top hand side like I do (see above) make sure to have the image placed first in the message, before the text.

Now if you send this message to Blogger it will include the Verizon text, which looks ugly on your blog.  All you have to do, I love how simple this fix is, is type #end at the end of your text message.  This will tell Blogger to end all text right there.  So also don't expect any text you might type after #end to be posted. 

Beautiful!

2.  The other way is to sign in to Blogger and read about how to post via email.  This is basically a way to set up a new e-mail address that you can send to in order to blog.

So ultimately it depends which hoops you want to jump through, but both work well.  If you have a non-smart phone I think Option 1 would be the easiest. 

Hope this helps!  Comment with questions.

Labels: Blogging

Posted by Jon at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I have to admit that when I heard that Bagley was leaving Ultimate Spider-Man I was really disappointed.  Not in Mark, since he definitely pulled his own weight on the title and never made or needed excuses.  But none-the-less I was disappointed.

And then I heard he was going to DC.  Again, disappointment set in.  You see, I got back in to comics again when Thunderbolts (the first version...the good version) was released and Mark's art give me fond memories of those glory days.  So leaving Marvel was a shocker too.  But again...he deserves to play in another "sandbox" as the comic creators typically say.

But everything got better quickly when I heard he would be again teaming up with Thunderbolt's scribe Kurt Busiek on not only one of the big three of the DC universe, but all three!  Superman.  Batman.  And Wonder Woman!  Fantastic.  I mean, look at that image of WW that he drew.  Iconic!

But.  Then I read the damn issues, #1 and #2.  Ugh.  Issue #2 was like a big old pile of  number two.  Issue one basically saw no action, unless you count The Flash kids beating up on Clayface as action (I don't).  And the same for issue #2. 

What the hell man?  Let's beat some stuff up!  Let's get these big three rocking and rolling.  Bagley can handle it as we saw in USM.  Let's go!

Also, reading a Kurt Busiek script has forever been changed by the Bendis era.  And not in a good way.  The characters just don't seem real anymore...they don't talk the way real people talk.

And no, I don't just mean because Busiek doesn't have Batman say the word "taint". 

But there is something about reading non-Bendis comics which drives me a little batty about the dialogue.

If you don't agree (Bart!) comment and disagree.  I'm ready for the heat.

Labels: DC Comics

Posted by Jon at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Posted by Grimmy at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Posted by Jon at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Labels: Comic Blogs

Posted by Jon at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

My coverage on the 30th Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois continues with my Top 10 Worst Moments that occurred on our trip.  Pictures included free of charge.

TOP 10 WORST MOMENTS FROM METROPOLIS:

#10 - Hot and Sticky Weather

The Weather on Saturday was very hot and very humid. I guess that is to be expected below the Mason Dixon line in June.  What made it worse is looking at the poor saps that were in the costumes.  I was hot in a t-shirt and shorts.  Those poor SOBs where in head to toe lycra.

#9 - Garmin GPS Blows!

Bart was very confident in his abilities to make it to Metropolis, a 7 hour trip from his house, without maps or technological advances.  Of course, me being who I am, I depend on things that plug into my dashboard.  Well the Garmin got us there, but after that mislead us three times in a row!  Not cool.  Not cool because Bart gloated the rest of the weekend.

#8 - The Very Non-Super Superman Museum!

Now I don't want to be a critical ass, but the Superman Museum in Metropolis is akin to giving me another 20 years of collecting and then letting me open up a Daredevil Museum.  There was indeed some cool swag to look at but overall it just seemed like (and smelled like) an old closet full of Superman crap. 

In the above picture check out the Supes doll in the middle on the top shelf.  I swear to you, that freaky thing blinked when I turned back to look at it.  I was expecting at any moment for it to jump off the shelf and rip in to my jugular with it's damn teeth.

#7 - Not Enough Super Babes!

Poison Ivy was pretty decent and there was one or two Supergirls that turned our heads.  But they only turned our heads once.  Now, I know that we can't be picky since this event was in a little city and held an event for a bunch of geeks, but we have witnessed some amazing beauties at Wizard World Chicago.  This is definitely something that the town needs to focus on for next years celebration.  More Supergals.

#6 - Superboy Smoking!

Sorry about the blurry image.  It is most likely due to Superboy using some vibrational powers so no one could see him doing his dastardly deed.  But I caught him.  Actually, when Bart snapped a picture after I did Superboy almost stood up and went all Infinite Crisis on him.  Way to be a role model for the kids Superboy.  Way to go.

#5 - Nothing Going on Sunday

So we had a seven hour drive to get back home but we thought we would take one more trip down the main street of Metropolis.  So we get in the car, trip it over to downtown and we find...nothing!  Nothing.  When you drive seven hours for an event you expect it to start early and end late every day of the weekend!

#4 - Daredevil Secret Wars Action Figure...Bent Blister Pack!

Argh!  My biggest failure of the trip.  Bart eyed a DD action figure that I didn't have.  It was the Secret Wars figure.  Great price.  Great shape.  Great color.  I buy it of course without thinking.  We finish the day and return to the hotel.  Then we notice that while it was in the car all day bouncing around, the packaging got bent, leaving a scarring, unfixable crease! 

Argh!

#3 - Slow Ass Internet Connection

The goal of the trip was to make sure that we got a ton of MGYG material which would last us to the next big summer event, Wizard World Chicago.  We gathered the photos and lived the moment.  But when we got back to the hotel room and I started to hook up in order to start a session of blitz blogging we found the internet connection was horrifically slow.  It reminded me of the old AOL days. 

Argh again!

#2 - Non-Super Superman

I know that some of the charm of an event like this is that there are so many people dressed up like the super hero in question.  But I don't want to see man boobs on my Superman!  I mean, we didn't see these kinds of boobs on the Wonder Women! 

That is a nice camel toe though.  Oh-Ohhhhhh!

Superman's face was blurred in order to not be too horrendously evil.  I blurred the face on the guy in the back simply because I was having a blast with the smudge tool.

#1 - Funnel Cake Crap Juice

Here's a hint.  A little life lesson if you will.  If an old guy tells you, right before sinking your teeth in to the first big bite of a carnival funnel cake, that it will make you violently sick, make sure you listen to him.

I tell you this since I did not heed his warning.

That image above is an advertisement I found online for funnel cakes.  Although, and I apologize for this, it also looks exactly what came out of me in a not so friendly way at about 4:30 AM the next morning.  Oh boy did that suck. 

If you look again at the above image you will also notice it could be interpreted as looking like my intestines, which I think I left in a toilet somewhere near Metropolis, Illinois.

Woot!

Up next...my Top 10 Best Moments of the 30th Superman Celebration!

Labels: Illinois, Metropolis, Superman Celebration

Posted by Jon at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Yes sir...that is most of the Justice League right there.  All we're missing is Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and maybe Martian Manhunter.  But having lil' Supes is good enough.  Although he seems to be wishing that Superboy would get his hands off his shoulder.

Oh and by the way, lil' Supes didn't have the same face as the big Supes (look at my fine Photoshop skills) but since the little dude is under age I thought we should take the precaution.  I don't need a MGYG lawsuit any time soon.

And if you think that Superboy looks under 18 years old too fear not.  I have proof that I will put up later that shows that he is either 18 years old or at least used a super fake ID to get some Joe Camels.  What a role model that Superboy!

My current work in progress is my Top 10 Favorite Things That Happened in Metropolis!

Labels: Illinois, Metropolis, Superman Celebration

Posted by Jon at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

So I am back to work on Monday and yawning every 15 seconds as my body tries to force me asleep in order to rejuvinate from this past weekend. A weekend which included driving eight hours to Metropolis, Illinois to attend the 30th Superman Celebration. A weekend which saw Bart and I sufferring through the new Hulk movie. A weekend which saw us walking up and down the main street in Metropolis snapping pictures, shaking hands and eating funnel cakes.

In tow with Flash was Robin, shown here:

Labels: Illinois, Metropolis, Superman Celebration

Posted by Jon at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Bart and I arrived in Metropolis, Illinois as planned tonight for the 30thSuperman Celebration.  We made a quick stop at the festivities which were ended quickly right before we arrived due to a storm that swept through.  But we still got to see some fun stuff which will be posted soon. 

But for the meantime be pleased with this picture of Superman's taint.

Labels: Illinois, Metropolis

Posted by Jon at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

As I continue to look over last minute plans for our 2008 MGYG Road Trip to Metropolis, Illinois for the 30th Superman Anniversary I ran across audition videos for the 2008 Metropolis Superman. 

Here's the winner for your viewing pleasure.

Yes, Bart and I are flocking towards this guy and plenty more like him.

Labels: Illinois, Metropolis

Posted by Jon at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I had no idea before I uploaded the previous post that this celebration we are going to [as sponsored by Me Geek, You Geek! (The road trip is sponsored by MGYG, not the celebration)] is going to attempt to grab the record for the largest crowd of Superman imposters ever!  Read on...

World Record Attempt

On June 15, Superman fans from around the globe will attempt to set an official Guinness World Record for the "largest gathering of people dressed as Superman" during the 30th Annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Ill.

While this record has never been attempted before, the Guinness Corp. set the parameter of at least 100 participants in approved costumes.

"This is a one of a kind opportunity for any Superman enthusiast. We wanted to end the 30th Annual Celebration with a bang and I definitely think this is what we were looking for," said Karla Ogle, chairman of the festival.

Steven Kirk of Los Angeles approached the city with the idea.

"It’s Superman's 70th birthday, the 30th Superman Celebration in Metropolis, the 30th anniversary of the release of Superman, the Movie and the 60th anniversary of the first appearance of Noel Neill as reporter Lois Lane. When you're throwing a party that big, I thought a Guinness World Record would be some sweet icing on Superman’s birthday cake," Kirk said.

The World Record attempt is open to men, women and children wearing a Superman costume complete with cape, boots and the iconic “S” on the chest. The costumes can either be store-bought or home made, but must be approved in advance to make sure they meet the stringent requirements set by the Guinness World Record Corp. for this event.

Hoo ha!  This is getting better everyday.  People that are geekier than us!  MGYG is gonna be part of history.  Although, we will not actually be participating in the dress up gathering. 

Although I will have my Superman underoos on!

Labels: Comics

Posted by Jon at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

So here I am the night before the first annual (what I hope to be annual) Me Geek, You Geek Road Trip.

Yes that's right.  The eve before the big road trip.  Be prepared to be inundated with blog posts all weekend long as Bart and I will be taking pictures, writing stories, arguing and posting reviews.

My friends, tomorrow, we are on our way to the Metropolis, Illinois 30th Superman Celebration!  And yes, I will get a picture of me, next to the Superman statue, but hopefully standing much more supermany than ol' Barrack here.

While on the three day trek we will also make sure to see the new Hulk movie, talk comics on the road, and post like the little Twitter fiends we are.

I've got my Garmin.  I've got the microphones.  I've got the laptop.  The camera.  The snacks.  And the itinerary.

Now all I need is Bart.

Here I come brother....here I come.

And what a great eve it has been too.  The Boston Celtics took a demanding 3-1 lead in the NBA finals after completing the biggest comeback in NBA Playoff history.  Oh sweet victory.

Oh sweet Allison Mack.  Here we come dear!

If you're gonna be in town over the weekend make sure to comment on the blog so we can get some pics of you too.

Labels: Comics

Posted by Jon at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post