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On the first day of Baltimore Comic-Con Dr. Christy Blanch, moderator extraordinaire and comic book author in her own right, led a panel spotlighting Brian K Vaughan’s work. Of course, the panel covered Saga, but it also covered Paper Girls, We Stand On Guard, and Private Eye. Brian revealed that Paper Girls has been picked up by Amazon and spoke of how it came from his experiences growing up and how strange it was that we had kids delivering newspapers to adults so early in the morning. He also touched on his stance on Digital Rights Management (I prefer the term Digital Restrictions Management) and why Panel Syndicate chose to provide books without it. There was also a neat conversation on how Fiona Staples was the one who asked if Alana and Marko had to be Caucasian, helping BKV realize how we often just default to Caucasian if we’re not actively thinking about it. ...

This panel did a great job of explaining a lot of the ins and outs of breaking into comics. The biggest takeaways included: Everyone has a very different story about how they were able to break in. Don’t try to copy anyone else’s story, because it’s all about the opportunities available when you try. Make sure to take chances with people you don’t know. If you’re both unknowns, perhaps you can end up coming up together. Most people think of breaking in as getting a job with Marvel or DC, but there are a multitude of ways to break in, including self-published or web comics - some of which have higher numbers than traditional comics. And many more insights…. https://youtu.be/KmmzZHd4JFE ...

I’m working my way through the second Deadly Class hardcover in order to write a feature for this site and I have some plans to do some comparisons between the comic and the TV Show. In the meanwhile, I noticed that Image and SyFy (where the live action show is airing) have teamed up to make motion comics of the issues. The comics appear to be mostly voiced by the cast of the TV show. The “animation” reminds me of the same work that was done for the motion comic of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. What’s interesting is how the media landscape has changed. Essentially, through these motion comics (available for free on Youtube) Image is giving away the comic (and then some - since it’s animated and voiced), but it’s doing so as a promo for the live action TV show. Boy have the economics of comics and TV changed! Here are the first three episodes: ...

Here are the Cosplay photos I took this year. To save bandwidth, these are resized to a smaller size. If you would like a full-sized JPEG, comment below or send me an email. \_MG\_5675 \_MG\_5677 \_MG\_5710 \_MG\_5737 \_MG\_5741 \_MG\_5767 \_MG\_5771 \_MG\_5775 \_MG\_5776 \_MG\_5780 \_MG\_5796 \_MG\_5799 \_MG\_5804 \_MG\_5808 \_MG\_5812 \_MG\_5818 \_MG\_5823 \_MG\_5838 \_MG\_5842 \_MG\_5850 \_MG\_5852 \_MG\_5864 \_MG\_5869 \_MG\_6006 \_MG\_6015 \_MG\_6022 \_MG\_6031 \_MG\_6045 Bowsette Bowsette Steampunk Gotham Hawkman \_MG\_5760\_wide Queen Amidala Doc and Marty by the Delorean Dr. Strange cosplay Dr. Strange cosplay Chastity Wilson as Harley Quinn facing off against Cat Woman \_MG\_5722

I was incredibly impressed when I saw this steampunk Gotham group standing in line for the costume contest. The attention to detail was incredible! But I shouldn’t be surprised, because two of the members of the group were in the Peewee Herman cosplay group last year. The didn’t just impress me, they also impressed the judges, nabbing 2nd place for the Adult Group category. https://youtu.be/F1vhY_hGqjA Steampunk Gotham

Kevin created a Hawkman costume and, like many of the others at the competition, was stretching his costuming skills to create it. Learn what he found difficult and what lessons he took from that. I will say I’m surprised that his attention to detail and wing articulation didn’t win him a prize. https://youtu.be/4MHAsF5uqaM

It was the headpiece that drew me to want to speak to Patrice about her Queen Amidala costume, but as we spoke, I came to learn how intricate the entire costume was. And I wasn’t the only one to find this costume amazing, as she won 2nd place in the Adult Amateur category. https://youtu.be/n8eTJouk2_0 Queen Amidala

It’s always so neat to see the more tech-focused cosplay because it requires a whole extra level of work on top of the design work and costume design. This team created a Delorean to go along with their Doc Brown and Marty McFly costumes. https://youtu.be/XyhyjrnsKAc

We discuss how 3D printing has changed the way cosplaying works. https://youtu.be/LSw-qlT4B1M Dr. Strange cosplay

While you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, sometimes it does take a great cover to get you to come take a look. I saw this delightful looking book series in artist alley and I had to talk to creator Pug Grumble about Farlaine the Goblin. This is such a great, universal tale of searching for one’s place and it has great art to boot. Have a listen to our interview about Farlaine’s origins and what exactly this series is about. ...