Geekanerd Spotter has seen plenty of 8-bit street art, but what makes this mini-mosaic featuring Mario any different? It's French! Fellow blogger and loyal reader Lena was recently in Paris, and snapped these pictures of Mario in his unnatural habit.
I've always said those Parisians had class. Can any old schoolers tell me the name of the white figure Mario is facing off against?
This entire condo complex has an invincibility star! Does that mean that the people who live here will never die, as long as they don't leave their rooms? But what kind of life would that be? Actually that may be a scenario all too familiar to both you and me, dear reader.
THIS GUY!
I was part of the very first group to go up and sketch, and man did I blow it. I am GLAD I didn't take any pictures of my cells, because it wasn't pretty. I blame the fact that we were forced to use crayons. No one uses crayons except babies and serial killers. And I am neither, sir.
It is an eternal mystery of comics; how does an artist manage to pack an actor's seminar worth of expression into a drawing with only two eyes and a tiny, tiny mouth? Between the first and third panel, I swear you can see the potato gathering confidence in his shy line of questioning. And the fourth panel's angry-mug-to-the-audience is a great touch.
This "Fanbook" may be my favorite thing I bought all weekend. An anthology of short Star Wars fancomics by independent artists, this three-part collection is a Star Wars version of DC's Bizzaro anthology. Except it's better, because it's Star Wars. The drawing that acompaniest the credits jumped out at me, because it speaks to my recently published theory that Ewoks are flesh eating monsters.
SALACIOUS CRUMB! I think this drawing captures his nihilistic misanthropy very well, as well as his crumb-likness.
This is a scary freakin' ghost story inspired by an old sea shanty or something like that, and when things turn bad, artist Elijah Brubaker (no relation??) amps up the dramatic shading to grand guignol levels. I love it. Not sure if I've ever seen such a cute character look so frightening as in the first panel.
Speaking as a Hispanic person with no Hispanic friends, this hit a little too close to home. I was actually lucky to get this book for free, and it's full of other slice-of-life comics starring depressed and bitter animals, which is pretty much my thing. Author Joe Guillette has a free webcomic featuring hobos on his website, so you're going to want to check that out.
I picked this comic up from artist JoeGP's table because it had guinea pigs on the cover. I flipped to this page, and was immediately drawn into the story even without any other context. It was my only impulse purchase of the entire festival. I think it's the "hands-touching-through-the-glass" that really got me. Luckily for you, this entire space epic is available for free online. Not that I'm mad I bought a hard copy...grumble (jk jk lol).
In what is surely another sign of the coming Robot Apocalypse, a student at NYU's Interactive Communications Program has created a small, adorable robot that depends on the kindness of humans to fulfill its goal of getting from one place to another.
The ladies of Valve! This is Zoey from Left 4 Dead and Chell from Portal, but of course you knew that. I suggested this pose, and I saw them using it again later on the floor. This is because I'm a director, and when not blogging, I help the world by directing it to be more funny and visually pleasing.
Look up in that window...see that? A Stormtrooper. He was watching me. Probably thought I was a Jedi. A lot of people make that mistake.
This was the best promo booth I saw. It's for a Showtime Show about clones (the name escapes me) but they were giving people a chance to watch clips of the show on those movie-goggle things while standing in cool sci-fi tubes. There's no reason these people had to be in tubes - it's purely for visual effect of the passerby. Get it, they look like clones! Eh, maybe you had to be there.
Mario seems genuinely surprised to see that Hunter. I guess when you're used to dealing with like, evil mushrooms and turtles, killer zombies are a little above your paygrade. I was genuinely surprised not to see more Left 4 Dead cosplay...there was a general lack of interesting costumes over all...I'm hoping it will pick up tomorrow.
Nice booth, Squaresville! What was the New York Times doing at Comic Con in the first place? I think they just unpacked their table, looked around, and left at around noon.
I guess this sweatshirt is old news, but it was the first time I've ever seen it. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. I know it's not cool to like Boba Fett ever since Lucas killed that Golden Goose of Coolness with overexposure. But honestly; this is cool. The sweatshirt is by Ecco and can be purchased online for a Ben, and I don't mean Kenobi. I have to say, the dude in the picture did a good job accesorizing it, I think it was a smart purchase. I love cosplay that doesn't replicate a costume, but creates a cool outfit BASED on a character, like this.
Hey, remember this panel from Cleaners #2? It was the recipient of the Banana Randomizer Award in Panel Dicussion a few weeks back. I had the opportunity to meet the creators of Cleaners, who were both super cool and happy to talk about their work with a nerd like me. They had a book of the original inked pages, so I took of picture of my favorite scene. Artist Rahsan Ekedal was even good enough to sign a copy of issue #1 for me with a little picture of a shark fin.
Free fortune cookies in the press room! And possibly a free book? Honestly I didn't even notice anything beyond the cookies.
Okay this photo is blown out, sorry. But still - two slave Leias! Eh? Ehh?
Gigantic Lego Representations of Famous Icons
Minimalist Lego Representations of Every Day Items.
I never though of Legos as little mini Rorschach tests before, but now I can't think of them any other way. Hit the jump for a few examples of what we at Geekanerd saw in the toybox of Google image search...
A Left 4 Dead medpack.
Krang! Ahh!
A Mondrian inspired sculpture next to a big piece of tofu.
Saturday, December 7, 2008 was Uglycon 3, the third annual convention for the fans, collectors and creators of all things Ugly. It was held at Giant Robot, an awesome designer toy store and exhibition space in the East Village.
More pictures after the jump...
Handmade versions of the upcoming line of Uglys were available to purchase by raffle, and were displayed high the wall, presumably to avoid scenes by kids who couldn't control their fandom. Below there were paintings by Uglydoll artisan Sun-Min Kim. My favorite was Ox dressed a pirate, which is a very appropriate costume because, as one collector observed, Ox is "a little thief".
Huzzah! Here, Ox seems to have his pal Wedgehead on his mind (aw). As the good Mr. Horvath sketched, I mumbled that my Ox doll frequently helps to resolve disputes at my apartment (true), to which he replied "Yeah, he's good at that."
I thought the coolest part of the show were original posters and prints by David Horvath featuring the Uglycast. Horvath's unique voice for the Uglys (somewhere between LOL speak and Beavis and Butthead) is a big part of why they appeal to both fans of cuteness and weirdness. They're kind of dumb and a little mean, but ultimately adorable.
Babo seemed to be a major fan favorite. Heard lots of people squeaking out his catchphrase, "WHAT DAT?" These Babo Os look like something I might not want to eat.
Lots of Japan iconography on the prints, like this Yakitori house. Nom nom nom.
Some blank artists proof were on display, such as these casts for the Miny and Chocco toys, who got their start on designer candy bars. True story!
I am ashamed to say did literally all of these things in junior high, but to my credit it stopped there. Don't hurt me guys!
My favorite of the new Uglys...everyone at the Con seemed to know all these new guys names, but I don't. Any fans want to help me out?
