With what seems like an ever-widening move away from superhero movies for kids in the live-action arm of DC Entertainment–from a too-long recut of Justice League to another Suicide Squad movie aimed at adult audiences–fans of comic book movies for all ages should be glad to hear three big pieces of news this month from Warner Brothers about forthcoming film projects. It’s hard to beat word that Helen Mirren has been cast as a new villainess in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the sequel to Zachary Levi’s Shazam!, a good-hearted favorite of the DC live-action movies. Along with her untouchable slate of acting honors, Mirren’s performances in the RED and Fast & Furious franchises make her perfect casting.
Now Pierce Brosnan is returning to theaters in a major role since we last saw him in the great action-drama The Foreigner (reviewed here). He’s playing Dr. Fate opposite Dwayne Johnson, who has the title role, in Black Adam, coming in July 2022. That DC project keeps sounding better and better, and Johnson has been talking about it publicly since at least 2008. It will feature Sarah Shahi(Fairly Legal, Life, Psych) as Isis and Aldis Hodge(Leverage, Black Mirror, Star Trek: Short Treks) as Carter Hall aka Hawkman.
When people with creativity and skill have their grasp on the reins of DC Comics properties, great things can happen. Unfortunately it’s a rarity. Although its Arrowverse on the CW Network were good efforts, DC at the movies hasn’t shown much promise until last year’s Shazam!, although Aquaman was another good effort. But the big win of live-action DC Comics adaptations was last year’s Swamp Thing (above) featuring the titular creature and other Justice League Darkcharacters Xanadu and the Phantom Stranger. The series was our own selection here at borg for top superhero series last year. Shazam! and Swamp Thing prove that with good writing, production, and acting talent both movie and television adaptations truly worthy of the comic book source material are possible.
New streaming provider HBO Max announced this week its own team-up. It will join J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions to produce a new live-action Justice League Dark series with Warner Brothers Television (in addition, a project related to Stephen King’s The Shining called Overlook was also announced).
Justice League Dark is, as the title suggests, a band of superpowered characters from the shadows of the DCU. Spanish artist Mikel Janin was tasked with re-imagining the look of these more offbeat and occult characters from their earlier individual series and appearances for the New 52 launch in 2011, and for us Justice League Dark is synonymous with Janin’s designs, shown above and below (we interviewed Mikel about the new look here at borg back in March 2012). The JLD then included Zatanna, Constantine, Deadman, Shade, Madame Xanadu, Swamp Thing, the Phantom Stranger, Frankenstein, and the Enchantress, and more as they would emerge throughout the series’ short 40-issue run.
The Renaissance of movie and TV tie-in action figures arrived in 2013 with Funko’s classic Kenner-style ReAction figure line. Other companies focus on single licensed figures and getting the likenesses spot-on, but Funko’s diversification of lines meant everyone could find something that fit their personal niche at an affordable price point. A true throwback series, one of the overlooked features of the line is the incredible variety of no-names-taken, classic kick-ass heroines represented.
In fact you can find here the top of the world’s best, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners, genre heroines. Buy them for yourself, for your friends, or get your favorite as a totem to inspire you each day from your desktop. And where the early sculpts in Funko’s line admittedly looked nothing like the actresses that made the roles famous, the new lines have only improved. And nobody has better packaging designs than the ReAction line.
Who would you add to the Funko roster of heroines? Compare your list to our more than 85 suggestions for future kick-ass women action figures below.
First, check out this Baker’s Dozen of our favorites in the current Funko pantheon:
The biggest news so far released by Warner Bros. about the next DC Comics universe TV experiment was that former Superman Dean Cain (Lois and Clark) and former Supergirl Helen Slater (Supergirl) would have guest roles on the series Supergirl, a Smallville-esque series likely to arrive in 2016. Laura Benanti (Royal Pains, Life on Mars (U.S.) was revealed to play Kara’s Kryptonian mother, Alura Zor-El, leading Supergirl from afar as Jor-El did for Kal-El in the various Superman incarnations. And Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl, the series lead, will be played by Melissa Benoist (Whiplash, Glee).
Other roles cast include Calista Flockhart as Kara’s boss, media mogul Cat Grant. Kara’s love interest will be Jimmy Olsen, played by Mehcad Brooks (Necessary Roughness, Dollhouse), Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy) has been cast as Kara’s foster sister Alex, and David Harewood (Robin Hood, Doctor Who, Homeland) will play Department of Extra-Normal Operations chief Hank Henshaw.
We now have our first views of the new Supergirl supersuit Benoist will don as the latest superheroine in the DC Universe. The designer is Academy Award winning costumer Colleen Atwell, who also created the CW designs for Arrow and The Flash. The suit is similar to many past comic book versions:
The slate of the women’s side of the DC pantheon is finally making some headway. We’ve had a look at Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman from Superman v. Batman: Dawn of Justice and Katie Cassidy’s Black Canary from Arrow:
We’ve delved into some great cover artists at borg.com in the past three years, from Alex Ross to Mauro Cascioli to Frank Cho and Mike Mayhew. With his cover run on the DC Comics New 52 series Futures End, Ryan Sook is the artist you just can’t miss these days. His cover for Issue #14 (above right) of Futures End is being solicited for August 2014 already, and it showcases several styles. If you take a look back over the past few years you can see one of the best artists around developing his style and craft, putting his mark on the covers of some great comic book series.
You can see Sook as the cover artist of choice to start up several new series with the number one issue out of the gates, for series including Robotika (2005), Giant-Size Hulk (2006), Friday the 13th (2007), Batman and the Outsiders (2007), Death of the New Gods (2007), Countdown Specials, Countdown Presents and DC Universe Specials (2008 and 2011), Broken Trinity: Aftermath (2009), Blackest Night: Wonder Woman (2010), JSA All Stars (2010), The Magdalena (2010), B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth series (2011-2013), Victorian Undead II (2011), DC Universe Online: Legends (2011), Kirby: Genesis (2011), Justice League Dark (2011), Lord of the Jungle (2011), Rose & Thorn (2012), Sword of Sorcery (2012), and The New 52 Futures End (2014).
Sook is able to render men and women superheroes equally well, yet his women really stand out. Here’s his Wonder Woman, showcased in the Blackest Night series:
Less stylized than Cliff Chiang’s current angular Wonder Woman look, Sook may have created a modern twist on the definitive look of the classic character for other artists to emulate.
For the past decade I have tried to ask at least one artist at every comic book or pop culture convention that I attend to draw me a Green Arrow or Black Canary (or both) sketch. I’ve asked this from artists whether or not they have drawn these characters before and most artists are happy to do it. Some well-known artists charge a fee for sketches and many others will sketch for free. Sometimes the key is letting the artist know your sketch is not just going to appear on eBay the next day. Adam Hughes was in the news about this a few years ago when he worked all day on a sketch for someone that promptly flipped it on Ebay for several hundred dollars. He vowed off Con sketches after that. Some people, usually guys who have been going to cons for much longer than me, started with a sketchbook—a blank art book—and hand it off to artists at conventions. These books convey to artists that this fan is going to keep whatever they draw and sometimes artists will take more time when they draw in someone’s sketchbook. I’ve never gone the book route but like getting sketches on blank paper, usually supplied by the artist soI don’t have to leave a book behind. I have featured some of this original art at borg.com previously.
So Comic-Con this year was no different and I added two new Green Arrows to my collection. First up was by Cat Skaggs, who recently created the cover for Smallville Season 11 Issue 1. Not only did I get a signed print of that cover, but she drew a quick free-form sketch of Green Arrow for me. She is not a regular Green Arrow artist, and it was fun to watch her think about how the hat and goatee look:
It makes a nice addition to my collection.
I have had some comic book artists draw sketches for me over the years many would consider industry legends, including Mike Grell, Michael Golden, Rich Buckler, Joe Staton, and Howard Chaykin. This year at Comic-Con I got to chat with Neal Adams, the guy who created the look of the Green Arrow character I am such a big fan of. He created this classic, cocky Green Arrow image for me:
Pretty awesome.
I had met David Petersen at several prior conventions and he had a slot in his sketch schedule so I asked him to draw me a fox as seen in his current run of Mouse Guard:
A nice watercolor image in his unique style!
So not a bad haul for not being at the Con for a full weekend. I also picked up a few SDCC exclusives. Frank Cho was selling his new Liberty Meadows calendar:
I also picked up the new Alex Ross sketchbook:
At the Alex Ross booth I actually spent a lot of time talking with Sal, Justin and Chris, who are always great guys to talk to and deal with. They had some great sketches and painted original Alex Ross art available. As a fan of Six Million Dollar Man as early borg, Ross’s original cover sketches for Issues 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the current Bionic Man series struck me as particularly cool, especially seeing the change in logo evolve over the course of creating the covers. Look at the sketches compared to the final image on the book covers:
Featured in last year’s SDCC 2011 exclusive Alex Ross sketchbook, this sketch jumped out at me this year on display:
I love Zatanna in her magician’s box, waiting to make an appearance. This sketch was created for an Infinite Crisis card game.
Prior to Comic-Con I had connected with the artist for the current Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover series Assimilation², JK Woodward. He was at the Con with writers Scott and David Tipton. I never caught up with them but luckily my friend William got an extra autographed copy of the book. Check out these great original, painted pages from Issue #2 of the series. First, the TARDIS in the Enterprise-D holodeck:
Next, if you like Trek and Doctor Who like I do, you just can’t beat the Eleventh Doctor on the bridge with Captain Picard.
And check out that great rendering of the Enterprise-D soaring above!
Again this year Michael Turner art was available at the Aspen booth and it is always amazing to flip through the late artist’s work.
If you like seeing the creative process behind the scenes, it’s hard to beat seeing original comic art in person. And if you have the time hundreds of artists in Artist Alley are there sketching away throughout the Comic-Con weekend, and love to talk about their work and process.
One of the newest comic book artists to break-out from the pack with the DC Comics New 52 re-launch is Mikel Janin. Mikel has updated the look and style of several familiar characters in the new series, Justice League Dark, featuring Zatanna, Deadman, Constantine, Shade, Madame Xanadu, and the Enchantress (all shown above). With the series’ current issue #6, Mikel saw the release of his first published cover, and where some covers feature a separate penciler, inker and colorist, Mikel did it all for this cover. His past DC Comics work includes the 2011 JLA 80-Page Giant and Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons. Mikel has created illustrations based on J.R.R Tolkien books that have been exhibited throughout Europe. He also created the graphic novel “Les aventures d’Antonin Phylifandre” for Éditions Akileos, among other works. We’re happy to welcome Mikel to borg.com.
Mikel, are you from Spain originally? How accessible were comic books to you growing up and what did you read as a kid?
Mikel: Hi Chris. Yes, I was born in Spain, and it’s where I live. Comic books have been part of my childhood since always. Actually, I learned to read with comic-books of Mortadelo, a very popular Spanish character. As a kid I remember Tintin and Astérix books, then I was an avid reader of American comic-books: Spider-Man, Secret Wars, X-Men, Teen Titans and Conan were my favorite books. I discovered later the European graphic novels, and became a fan of Hugo Pratt, Manara, Vittorio Giardino, Moebius…
Mikel's interior art for the 2011 JLA 80-Page Giant includes some trick arrow work by Green Arrow.
Did you always know you wanted to be an artist? Was there any specific turning point in launching your career to where you are today?
Mikel: When I was a child it was sure for me that I wanted to be comic artist. But I studied Architecture and formed a Studio in 2000. Things were well in Architecture until 2009, when I finally left it. I never stopped drawing and I even had some gigs for Akiléos (in France) and was published by Heavy Metal Magazine in the USA, and I was part of a Lord of the Rings based exhibition too. In 2009 I started an active career in comics, and in 2011 I got my first gig at DC Comics.
What artists have influenced your style?
Mikel: Too many! Ibáñez, José Ortiz, Bernet, Manara, Moebius, Giardino, Pratt, Buscema, Kirby, Byrne…
Mikel's first DC Comics cover, an image slightly modifying Zatanna's original new look from a print Mikel offered in a limited edition at NYCC last year.
I understand you are currently working digitally. What are the pros and cons of using that medium?
Mikel: Yes, I work almost 100% digitally. I come from Architecture, as I said, and computers were my main tool to think, design and draw buildings, so it’s a natural step using the same tools to think, design and draw comic-books! The pros are you don’t need to buy supplies, you don’t have accidental ink drops or paper broken and so, you don’t have to scan pages and you always can have a safe copy of your work if you have mistakes. It allows much more experimenting, too, because you aren’t afraid of ruining the page because of it. The cons are you don’t have an actual original page to offer to collectors, but this is not enough to keep me off of digital.
In the States, for a long time it was viewed that you need to live in New York City or Los Angeles to break into any kind of publishing. This has of course changed as technologies have changed. Are there any challenges of working so far from your current publisher?
Mikel: It’s a very confortable way to work. You work at home, so you don’t expend money in transport or even phone. An internet connection is enough. But this means you rarely interact with other people in the business, except by e-mail. Seeing the faces and hearing the voices is important too, for us human beings, so I try to go to conventions and say hello and shake hands with editors, publishers and other artists. It’s a need.
In addition to the slate of Justice League Dark characters, Mikel has drawn the New 52 updated versions of Cyborg, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman into his series.
Are there any creators you particularly would like to work with someday?
Mikel:Yes! I’m very happy so far, because I had the chance of drawing scripts from so talented guys like Peter Milligan, J.T. Krul and Adam Glass. And I’m currently working with Jeff Lemire, whose Animal Man I’m very much in love. But of course I’d love to work with lots of creators, like Ed Brubaker, Gail Simone, Scott Snyder or Geoff Johns, to say a few.
What is the local reaction to your work and your exclusive contract with DC Comics? In the States the New 52 has been big news this year, appearing in the press even outside the comics industry and traditional fan base. Has there been a similar reaction back home?
Mikel: Yes, fans in Spain are excited too. I think many of them are skeptical about the relaunch, but there’s a lot of buzz and excitement. The New 52 will be here in May, so let’s see how they take it! I’m happy with the reaction to my work and my exclusive contract too.
With Justice League Dark how did you approach the creation of new looks for characters, in particular the new look for Zatanna and her new costume?
Mikel: My first designs were the classical look for them, just minor tweaks. Then editors told me that they were looking for something new, and they wanted Zatanna to be more sexy, between Catwoman and Emma Frost, so I came with the corset and fishnets in her arms and they liked it a lot. We decided to play with corsets, jackets, leather pants and fishnets, with variations from issue to issue. The idea is it’s not a costume. She has her costume for stage, as a work uniform, but these are her clothes. See, you don’t have your McDonalds shirt when you’re going to save the world!
You attended the New York Comic Con this year. What was your reaction to NYCC? Did you get to meet any creators who you personally are a fan of?
Mikel: It was HUGE. I was so happy, it was a dream for me. Being in the DC offices, saying hello to people that I just knew for the comic blogs was so satisfying. Everyone there was so kind! I had the chance to meet J.T. Krul and Adam Glass, my first writers in DC, and my friends and talented artists Mahmud Asrar, Yildiray Cinar, Joe Prado, Rafa Sandoval, and my old buddies Vicente Cifuentes, Pepe Caldelas or Will Ortego.
What should we keep an eye out for in future issues of Justice League Dark?
Mikel: It has already been announced that Jeff Lemire is taking writing duties since issue #9, with new characters joining the League and lots of action and magic all around! I’ve read what Jeff has for next issues and I’m super-excited about it, so JLDark fans should definitely follow us in this new run!
Thanks for chatting with us today, Mikel! Follow Mikel as a featured illustrator at DC Comics website, at his own website www.MikelJanin.com, at his blog, and on Facebook and Twitter!
What better way to celebrate borg.com’s 100,000th site visit than share some news about one of our favorite superheroes? Hollywood writer Jason McClain alerted me to this news item, as it’s no secret I’m one of the biggest Green Arrow fans around. The news?
The CW Network has ordered a TV series pilot featuring Green Arrow that will, happily, not be related to the Smallville series’ spin on the character. The producer/writers tapped to create the pilot are Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, the two writers responsible for last year’s Green Lantern movie, and ex-writer for the Green Arrow/Black Canary comic book series, Andrew Kreisberg.
Kreisberg took over the comic book series after Judd Winick moved off the GA/BC title. He teamed with artist Mike Norton after Cliff Chiang left the series. I have read Kreisberg’s take on Green Arrow and Black Canary, and I liked it. Kreisberg wrote some good modern stories featuring the trio in both a lighthearted and action-packed way. He clearly knows the roots of these characters and their strong relationships with each other, and hopefully he can convey that into the script for the pilot and get it onto the small screen. He also once acknowledged that there is no other superhero team out there that is a married couple, that that IS Green Arrow’s story. Right on!
Here are some unsolicited recommendations for Kreisberg, Berlanti and Guggenheim to make the series get off the ground right:
(1) You might view your TV show as an ensemble show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An ensemble genre work usually is better than a solo character-focused show (think about the failed series The Cape and why it didn’t work, for example) because although we all loved the title character of Buffy Summers, we loved supporting characters Willow and Xander even more. And like the best Batman stories, letting the lead hero take the back seat once in a while is a good thing. At the same time, I didn’t watch Smallville because Clark never donned the supersuit. Show Green Arrow in action with the bow once in a while, but just not in every scene.
(2) Take the best of the Green Arrow canon and it will easily translate to today. The “Hard Traveling Heroes” storyline that put both Green Arrow and Green Lantern on the map and made us want to know more about these characters was a road trip across America. Something like the Winchester boys moving across country with every new episode in Supernatural. You might laugh, but On the Road with Charles Kuralt, the CBS segment where he took an off-the-beaten path tour of America, lasted decades for a reason. Viewers liked to see where he would go next. You’ll have an unlimited number of settings for your story, too, if you keep the team moving, assuming they let you work with all three characters.
The Kid, Etta, and Butch--archetype for Ollie, Dinah, and Hal
(3) Everyone likes a good “buddy picture.” I have mentioned before how the “Hard Traveling Heroes” storyline reflected the 1969 world view, and 1969 entertainment. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid came out in 1969 and was still in theaters when Denny O’Neil wrote the classic Green Arrow and Green Lantern crossover. Did some of the hit movie rub off on O’Neil? Who knows. If you pay attention, you’ll see that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a buddy picture with three buddies, almost a “love triangle,” including some brotherly love between Butch and Ross’s character Etta Place. That’s right, Katherine Ross’s role as the Kid’s girlfriend, and Butch’s pal, was as important to the film as each of the title characters. Black Canary/Dinah Lance could have that same crucial role in a TV series about Ollie and Hal.
(4) Even if Warner Brothers wants to keep Hal Jordan/Green Lantern out of the series, you must include Black Canary/Dinah Lance. Don’t botch this by pulling ideas from the Dinah Lance of the short-lived Birds of Prey series. It was good for what it was. But you want dark-haired Dinah that sports the blonde wig used to go incognito, not the stilted friend of Oracle. Green Arrow/Oliver Queen can go solo from time to time, but only when he can return to Dinah is he at his best.
(5) Stay away from the DC 52 Green Arrow storyline and the obvious idea of having Oliver participate in some form of anti-big business Occupy Wall Street movement. Sure, in real life, Ollie would be leading up the OWS marches, but I think most viewers don’t want a show about superheroes in current politics and as much as everyone hates greedy corporate America, more personal storylines will appeal to modern viewers. The current series Leverage does this very well. Think local. Don’t have Ollie take on all of the world’s problems, have him take on each human problem bit by bit, maybe town by town. It worked brilliantly for Adams and O’Neil.
Original Mike Norton art from a story under Kreisberg's turn as writer for Green Arrow/Black Canary
(6) Oliver Queen is not Bruce Wayne. He’s much more layered. Queen is not a billionaire. He lost all his money, and that allowed him to get interesting. Don’t even waste time on his backstory as billionaire as it will only emphasize his role as a one-time obvious Batman knockoff.
(7) Read up on your Mike Grell era of Green Arrow stories. Grell was an ex-government intelligence guy who ended up writing spy novels and comic books. He took the Neal Adams/Denny O’Neil Green Arrow and Black Canary and brought them into downtown Seattle and injected the backwoods survival skills and mixed it with street smarts. He made Ollie the Urban Warrior. This itself harkened back to the iconic Green Lantern Issue #76’s story whereby Green Arrow first takes on a greedy slumlord that Hal Jordan was unintentionally actually helping.
Personal sketch of Ollie and Dinah by Mike Grell
(8) We know from past interviews that Andrew Kreisberg likes the role of Green Arrow and Black Canary as Oliver and Dinah–husband and wife. Consider building on Mike Grell’s series, where they run the Sherwood Florist in Seattle by day. And what the heck, work in Mia and Connor if you can. And if you must update costumes, you gotta bring back Ollie’s goatee. As Mikel Janin proved with his excellent recent update to similarly costumed Zatanna, Dinah’s fishnets can be optional.
(9) The Flash TV series had a lot going for it. One was the age of the actor in the lead roll, John Wesley Shipp, former soap actor. He wasn’t 20-something. He was 35 and looked like he could be a superhero in real life. If you’re staying away from Smallville (a great move) then give us heroes who have had time to gain some wisdom, not some newbies who have no way of practically knowing all they would need to know in real life to get through their trials on the show (the TV series Bones is a big example of this glaring absurdity with its only-young cast that has knowledge you could only gain by being twice the age of the cast members). Look for actors in their 30s or or even early 40s.
(10) Suggested title? If you take any of the ideas above, how about Hard Traveling, Hard Traveling Hero, or Hard Traveling Heroes? Of course there are always other former storyline titles like Quiver.
I have no idea what limitations will be placed on Kreisberg & Co. as they work out the script for the TV series pilot. Maybe they have no intention of including Hal and Dinah, but if they can, it could be something new and different and very fun.
When the 52 titles of DC’s “New 52” were announced a few months back, a glaring omission was a comic book featuring our favorite backward talking, fishnet wearing magician, Zatanna. Happily she has a featured role in the new series Justice League Dark. If we’re lucky, she will be proclaimed the ultimate leader of this new spin on the Justice League.
Funny Name
The title is a little weird but the “dark” is enough to pick up readers and it is, after all, why I grabbed this one. Let’s see, there’s Milky Way Dark and now there’s Justice League Dark. I hope they don’t plan to really call the team that. In the very best scene of Issue #1 we see Zatanna working with Batman, and the rationale for this series is laid out: there are some things the Justice League is not suited for, things involving an understanding of the darker elements, like magic. Zatanna gets to work one of her backward spoken charms on Batman entangling him in gold magic. This is one of the best drawn Batmans of the New 52, by artist Mikel Janin. And the new Zatanna looks great, even without her classic fishnets. Writer Peter Milligan’s best work in this book is this scene, and he shows some great characterizations between these two key characters of the DCU.
Nice Grouping
The Enchantress is the villain at the beginning of this new title. She is wreaking havoc from her base inside an envelope in a dilapitated shack (and yes, you read that right). Madame Xanadu foresees doom is coming and a strange girl is seen dying in multiple realities yet fixed in one reality–“34 simulacra of June Moone” as Zatanna sees it. Shade, who freely manipulates and changes realities keeps changing his girlfriend Kate. The actual Justice League of Cyborg, Superman and Wonder Woman try and fail to stop the Enchantress, who is involved in supernatural deaths and a power plant becoming sentient (one panel is all we get on that oddity). It is unclear how this fits into the ongoing Justice League series, however. John Constantine is summoned by Zatanna. And June Moone tracks down Deadman. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Former JLA member Zatanna, in new outfit, is the obvious headliner for the group but only time will tell. Ultimately Madame Xanadu sees death for all these would-be team members.
I like the concept here and the art is well done. I also like the use of several women characters featured instead of the typical male team-up with a token female character. Issue #1 features a nice cover by Ryan Sook.
If there is one thing I don’t like it is the choice of the same expletive multiple times in one issue–“Christ!”, and an odd choice at that. It’s one thing to have a novel peppered with a few expletives of any variety if it furthers the plot, but here the use seemed random, unnecessary, and in a story of only 24 pages just not appropriate to the story or a teen rated title, dark or not. A writing teacher once said over-use of expletives is a sign of poor writing. Unless it is a book about the mob or gangs, I would agree.
An overall well-drawn book and unique character ensemble will have me back next month for Issue #2. DC Comics also released a slick trailer that fits the mood of this one, at this link.
Recovering from the big weekend, we’re posting the last of the best fan costumes we saw at San Diego Comic-Con International this past weekend. What we didn’t capture is the abundance of Captain Americas, Thors, Wonder Womans and Supermans. Lots of those and all great. Bizarrely and happily for some, an unprecedented number of Slave Girl Leias were at this Con. We posted three in a photo on our Day One coverage. Also, video game and manga outfits were everywhere. All bright, and most very creative. So on to the stand-outs:
In honor of the last Harry Potter movie, here is Sirius Black, with Elizabeth Bunce as the Alien Nation/Nerd Herder.
These guys on speeder bikes had a tough day walking around but they stopped crowds in their tracks:
I’m betting we’ll see more Hobbit related costumes next year. This guy’s garb was great. And check out those huge Hobbit feet!
And with the new Planet of the Apes movie out this year, nothing matches the original film and these two recreations of Dr. Zira and Dr. Zaius are awesome. Their mouths moved and actually looked like the originals.
We saw at least seven DC Comics Zatannas, and you can’t have enough Zatannas. Here this pretty lady poses with borg.com Hollywood writer Jason McClain.
Lots of Batmans as usual but this “Mirror Universe Batman” rocked:
I wasn’t sure if this next gal’s outfit was from a specific game or show, but she looks great!
And to wrap up the best costumes at Comic-Con 2011, here is artist Pablo Ramos as Bob’s Big Boy (flanked by Elizabeth and C.J. Bunce):
I first saw Pablo at Comic-Con in 2008 and whenever anyone discusses the all-time best costume at any convention Pablo’s costume always makes the #1 spot on my list. As with my other favorite costumes, the idea of the costume is often what helps make a costume the best. Originality = A+. And skipping traditional Con outfits in favor of such a pervasive pop culture blast from the past, well that makes Pablo the best in my book.
Finally, it is not usually the case that one would criticize someone for wearing a costume to a convention, or declare a worst costume of the Con. This year we have the exception, and please, scroll no further if you are easily grossed out. We’re intentionally posting only the blurred version for your protection:
Congrats and thanks to everyone who went all out for Comic-Con (except for diaper man). It made the convention more fun for everyone (except for diaper man).
” storyline that put both Green Arrow and Green Lantern on the map and made us want to know more about these characters was a road trip across America. Something like the Winchester boys moving across country with every new episode in Supernatural. You might laugh, but On the Road with Charles Kuralt, the CBS segment where he took an off-the-beaten path tour of America, lasted decades for a reason. Viewers liked to see where he would go next. You’ll have an unlimited number of settings for your story, too, if you keep the team moving, assuming they let you work with all three characters.
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