(The ever-present naughty schoolgirls are also acceptable.)

To bring you this gallery, I spent much of my Friday and Saturday looking for dressed-up girls to document. Like shooting fish in a barrel, you say? Not so! It’s not easy to locate, stop, and pose amidst thousands of humans, all out on missions of their own. Still, my camera and I persevered. Enjoy!

Comic Con 2010 is over and I have cast my vote for the fictitious “Bad Ass Mamma-Jamma Booth of the Year” award. Since I am the only voter in said academy, the winner is booth #2010! AMC television’s The Walking Dead set (a six-episode series based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman).  It’s not every day you can take the kids out for a stroll and pop in somewhere to have a lovely photo taken with your choice of:

A.) Fat guy with head blown off and onto wall with shotgun.

B.) Dead lady on the floor wearing flowery dress who’s disemboweled.

C.) Your own photo zombie-morphed and superimposed over a video loop as a zombie walking around before being shot.

Potential poses include:

A.)   Senior portrait.

B.)   Fake propose to the wifey.

C.)   And my favorite, scared kid.

This family friendly adventure is brought to you by Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comic and Executive Producer of the series. As well as 97 other Hollywood heavyweights like: Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) who serves as writer, director and executive producer. Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk), chairman of Valhalla Motion Pictures, who serves as Executive Producer. David Alpert from Circle of Confusion serves as Executive Producer and Charles “Chic” Eglee (Dexter, The Shield, Dark Angel) will also serve as Executive Producer, while Jack LoGiudice (Sons of Anarchy, Resurrection Blvd) will serve as Co-Executive Producer. Whew, that’s a lotta Chiefs.

If the show is half as good as the trailer and only a quarter as good as the faux-set, it’s going to be killer! Get it, killer? Ahh, hell with ya.

Words and Images by Dustin Downing

“Long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads up to light”
– Paradise Lost

Sure, the burning flames of Hades are no doubt uncomfortable — but ask any struggling artist and most of them will give you their own version: walking around the exhibitor hallways of Comic-Con for eternity, forever seeking acknowledgment in the unofficial 10th circle of Hell. Milton’s prose is equally applicable to the long, arduous task of making headway in art.  Judging by the amount of fanboys and souls anxiously awaiting judgment at Comic-Con 2010, competition is fierce, and most people are looking for some way, any way in the door… really.  A fair share of these guys would sell their respective souls to get noticed, maybe even force a loved one into slavery, if it meant selling a comic or drawing — even if it’s something buried in a Cracker Jack box or Bazooka Joe wrapper.  Let’s face it: No matter who you are, you’d just as soon not be taking orders or slaving away in a cubicle somewhere.  If you really want to make it as an independent artist, the bottom line is that you can’t afford to be messing around.

And whether you’re a aspiring writer, penciler, splash-pager, or inker, you probably need all the help you can get.  Fortunately, I was able to delve briefly into the brains of a wide spectrum of comic book artists and writers, ones that had finally earned their place in the Comic-Con Exhibition hall.  It ain’t easy getting there, so here’s some advice from the industry’s best.

Tim Bradstreet (Punisher, Clive Barker’s Age of Desire, Iron Maiden album artist):  “Find a way.  Find a mentor.  I found a mentor just by coming to Comic-Con year after year after year and bugging the same guy over and over again. Finally he said, “Do you want to work together?” I was like, ‘Uh, fuck yes!’ So, yeah, persistence is key, obviously.”

Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo): “I think you should draw the way you want to.  You shouldn’t necessarily have to copy off of the big guys, or emulate any particular artist’s style.” Check out ChinaShop’s Interview with Stan for more on his perspective.

Tony Millionaire (Drinky Drow, Sock Monkey) : “It ain’t easy. I had to steal from my kid’s piggy bank to keep it going. Draw a lot. Do what you feel like doing.”

Neal Yamamoto (My Name is Neal, Superhero Explosion): “Emulating an artist you like and drawing in your own style are both possible. Lots of big-time artists got their start with a style that wasn’t necessarily their own.” Neal also emphasized this crucial point: “It helps if you like to draw — that’s one of the most important parts. The guys who make it big are the guys who practice all the time, whenever they can. If they love what they do, they’re that much more likely to make it.”

Billy Martinez of Neko Press (Kickass Girl): “You have to cut out distractions,” he advised. “Get off the Internet. Turn off the television.  Work for 3 or 4 hours or more, and then reward yourself.” He also advised self publishing, and doing a lot of legwork to get your product in the hands of whomever you could find.   Martinez also offers classes at his Art school.

Dennis Calero (X-Men, Cowboys and Aliens) echoed Simone, Stan, and Tim’s sentiment that one of the most important things you can do is bug people. “I was going to school at Pratt Institute to be an architect, and dropped out around my last year.” It was then that Dennis dove first into his foremost passion, doing comics. He advised that even emulating the style of an artist you admire can be a way to get noticed, before integrating your own aesthetic into the mix.

Jeffrey Brown (Unlikely, Every Girl is the End of the World for Me) added that to him, the most important thing behind a comic is an idea, and that you don’t necessarily have to draw like Da Vinci to illustrate that. He emphasizes story over artistic ability, and considering he won the Ignatz award (a smaller version of the prestigious Eisners) and is one of renowned comic guru James Kochalka’s favorite comic artists, he’s worth listening to.

Debbie Huey (Bumperboy) cited her passion and love for the art above all else: “It sounds cheesy, but if I can just make someone smile, I’m happy,” she admitted. Huey’s webpage shows just how devoted she is to her creation, and will make you hungry for cupcakes.

Dan Cooney (author and artist behind Valentine, as well as a Comics Teacher at the San Francisco Academy of Art and a freelance artist for Star Wars and other well-known titles): “I learned the hard way. I’m self-published; a lot of people are self published, and it isn’t easy.  I make money off of freelance illustrations in between. But now my illustration gigs are getting bigger and bigger and I just want to devote most of my time to that.” Cooney recently remastered an earlier graphic novel of Valentine, which you can get at his website.

Simone Bianchi (Thor, Wolverine): “Work hard.  Get a grasp on perspective and anatomy.  These are two of the most important things you must learn before you get into art. There’s lots of other things, but those are two of the big ones.”

Well, easier said then done as they say. Obviously these guys and gals had to work to make this much headway, so don’t give up yet. We expect an Eisner from all of you in the next couple of years!

Words by Jeff Nau, Photos by Zoetica Ebb

How did you get started working in the industry?

Ben: My first break came with Dark Horse’s online competition ‘Stripsearch’. I did this goofy thing called “Alcoholisim Spaceman” that people liked; It got me noticed and lead to other work.

What are you doing instead of going to Comic-Con this year?

Ben: Working! I’ll be finishing off the last issue of Baltimore the Plague Ships.

What’s the most important aspect of the industry that you feel goes unnoticed in the mainstream coverage of comics?

Ben: The zombie shortage. But, I guess this being a recession and all, that’s to be expected. I hear Dark Horse is thinking of rationing zombies soon, two per comic. And Marvel is doing their bit by bringing in vampires, but is this too little, too late? Even Robert Kirkman has had to space them out recently. Who knows where it’s going to end? I mean, a few years down the track we might be talking about one zombie comic, industry wide – with only one zombie in it! Mainstream media refuses to cover it. Just because the Mayans predicted a zombie drought in 2012, the attitude is, “Oh that’s just superstitious hooey”. But let me tell you, it’s happening.

What is your favorite Dark Horse comic?

Ben: At the moment my favorite is Age of Reptiles: The Journey. It’s beautiful.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Ben: The almighty power of making deadlines!

Interview by Aaron Colter

Do you like Zombies? How about mad scientists?  What if I throw in some large fella with mob ties who beats people/monsters with a large wrench…?  SOLD!  But, If you were dead for the last 12 years or, Buddha forbid, not into comic books; then you might not know I’m speaking of the other worldly comic series The GOON. Or as series creator and 5 times Eisner Award winner Eric Powell describes it, “A dark comedy about a street thug, in a world of monsters.” Ah, Quaint.

Thankfully for Powell, Dark Horse comics and Producer David Fincher (Fight Club) love them some cannibal hobos, so much so, that a The GOON CGI animated film is in the testing (please give us money) stage with some serious names (The Goon: Clancy Brown and Frankie: Paul Giamatta), possibly finally putting a breath to some of the great lines in the series like, “Hey you! Take that broad in the kitchen to fry me up a stake! It’s gonna be a long night!”  Powell promises that “when” it makes its debut, “There’s not going to be a Hollywood moment in it, this will be 100% Goon from the comics.”

Whilst we hold our bated breaths for it’s silver screen debut, Powell let me know that The GOON #7 and The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker, are now available on “one of his favorite inventions ever,” the Goon iPhone App. Also, in the works, is a three-issue miniseries based on “The Buzzard” character which will debut later this year around the time he gets back to working on new characters for The Goon itself.

Words and Images by Dustin Downing

If anything, Kevin Smith’s happy hour and Smodcast was a thankful reassurance that he, Jason Mewes and Scott Mosier are really just replicants of their on-screen counterparts — so if you’re easily offended by any dialogue or language from his movies, stop here. Then again, one might ask: why the f**k would you be reading this?

But I actually didn’t even find out about the live podcast until the last minute — getting into it was a bit cloak-and-dagger, but made it seem more worth it just because it was a bit of a challenge.  To get your ticket you had to:

1)check the Smodcast Facebook page at certain times of the day,
2)get to a certain divulged location within 5 minutes, and
3)say a password to one of Kevin’s pals at ETNIES who were sponsoring the project. It was being held at the SE Hotel downtown, a mile or two from the convention center — so after getting the password (“Silent Bob”) I grabbed my sh*t and hauled ass down to the SE.

The party was being held on the rooftop of the 4th floor, around a pool and a really nice bar. Unfortunately, our photographer couldn’t get in just because there were limited tickets and the sponsor insisted they’d be providing their own. And I couldn’t have asked for more:  free beer, and Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier and Jason Mewes all talking candidly about their experiences during the filming of Mallrats — a big deal for them since it was their first big studio film, and filled with plenty of revelations.

“In ’95 it was my first Comic-Con, and we got invited to screen Mallrats there,” recalled Smith. “The audience just fucking loved it, we got a huge ovation, so we just walked out of there thinking we had fucking re-invented cinema. They’d given us maybe $10 k to go shoot at this mall, so they were happy.” The studio was so proud of Smith and co. that they even forked over a shitload of advertising $$$ to promote the film. “Then the movie opened and they found out that, yeah, that had been pretty much our entire audience — and they’d already seen it for free at the convention.”

To occupy their down time, the boys embarked on a quest to find out whether their friend Malcolm Ingram was gay — a long, painful process which took place during the making of Mallrats and involved Mewes continually goofing on Ingram. Mr. Mewes wasn’t any easier on the studio: reportedly his off-screen behavior was already catching the attention of some of the execs.  “Who was it they said they were gonna replace him with?” asked Smith about Mewes. “Seth Green.” Mewes added, “I think Breckin Meyer was another guy.” Yeah, it’s pretty weird to think about either of those guys playing the part of Jay. Meanwhile, Scott Mosier spent most of his spare time hitting on actress Claire Forlani. “Claire invited Scott to work out with her one morning, and Scott began to think that Claire was hitting on him,” recalled Smith, though it ended up that it was just her sort of ‘British’ way of being nice. ” She was married to Vincent D’Onofrio at the time, so I don’t know how that would’ve worked,” added Mosier. Finally he got turned down. Scott looked a little wistful at the memory.

So yeah, between “adult cum bubbles”, “schmoo”, and Malcolm Ingram buying sausages at the supermarket, it was thankfully similar to a Kevin Smith film. We’re trying to get the podcast up soon so you can hear all the dirty details, including their take on comic book films, and some pondering over what Thor will be like.  In the mean time, Kevin Smith begins shooting Red State next month, and promises that “it’s an original script. Yeah, it’s not Cop-Out.”

Words by Jeff Nau, Photos provided by Etnies.com. Special thanks to Megan Easley for hooking us up.

Photos by Dustin Downing

Be sure to tag yourself on our Facebook Page if you are one of these creative characters!

Long months after the San Diego Comic Con is over, shockwaves are felt throughout fandom. Buzz will continue to spread for projects that fans are excited about. The negative feedback from fans will require creators to go back to the drawing board and rethink their projects. And new discoveries will enjoy a wider audience. So it goes every year at Comic Con.

The ones lucky enough to attend have earned their bragging rights for the next year as they correct their less-than-informed friends about what upcoming comics, TV shows and movies are really cool. And they will be doing it wearing a t-shirt you’ll never get to buy. It’s sometimes like a geek Easter egg hunt in search of what’s next in the world of fandom.

While the panels for major movie projects got most of the mainstream buzz (within minutes of occurring) that news tends to fade quickly. The real human stories from the con will endure, such as the struggles of artists such as Tommy Wiseau, Drew Pearce, Spike, R. Black, DJ Sucklord and painter Ray Sumser who came to show off his amazingly detailed canvas of a Comic Con vista to passersby.

There was so much to see beyond the looming displays from Sony, Hasbro and ABC. If you could pry yourself away from those enormous booths, you might have found the lines for stars from a distant past or encounter a friendly female face and you might have even found geek love . And there’s always those costumed fans that make fans and non-fans smile… or cower in fear.

There were the big events and the presence of a new breed of fan… the young geek girl. Twilight dominated the con and had girls waiting 24 hours just to get close to the stars of the Twilight Saga . I don’t think that Twilight fans ruined Comic Con, but many geeks were forced to learn how a girl might feel at a pantie raid… a little violated. These younger female fans figured out how to get into the clubhouse door… and they are not going away anytime soon, so get used to it. There were also events that almost went unnoticed like monster wrestling and the annual fetish party known as Sanguin . What everyone in downtown San Diego had no choice to experience was the zombie walk through the gaslamp . The number of undead fans who participated proves that zombies walking through downtown will become an annual tradition.

And while prepping  for Comic Con can be a chore , there is always the joy in returning home not only filled with stories of geek glory, but treasures discovered at the con.

Those who attended Comic Con may have complained at the time about the smell of greasy convention food and body odor. But now it just smells like… “Victory!”

Words by Chris Gore, photos by Dustin Downing

I shot some 300 different pop-characters and saw easily over a couple thousand alt personas over the course of Comic Con 09’. But it was this variant of the caped crusader that stood out. I really wanted to know what it took to dress as Batman Beyond in time and character. Here’s what I found out.

Words and photos by Dustin Downing

“AHHHHH. Yo, man what ya be doin tryin clamber all bloody in me cab like dis?”, exclaims the dreadlocked cabbie in a deeply set Caribbean accent as I plop myself in the back seat. “What happen to ya, ya get al blasted up an runover by a bus or sometin?” ‘Let me explain’, I say as I glance up into the rearview mirror and stare into the eyes of what appears to be a dimly dome lit meat Popsicle.

You see my birthday tends to be that one day of year, much like everyone else; I want to be special and full of great memories. Hanging out with close friends, downing a 5^th of Jack on a rickety bar top, and maybe getting a lil’ action if I stumble across a sorority girl with self esteem issues because one arm is shorter than the other. But this year I decided to spice things up a bit. I would spend my special evening shooting a fanciful event full of drugs, homo-erotic sex acts, and murder. No silly, I’m not talking Randy Newman at Sea World. I’m speaking of GWAR at Comic Con 09’.

To be fair, I’m not a huge fan of the music of GWAR, mainly because I couldn’t tell you within in reason just what in the hell is being grunted on any of their albums in the last 25yrs. But aesthetically, it is rumored that this is one of those shows you have to attend in your lifetime. So, I packed a specialized dive bag for my rig, and set off into a cyclone of madness which can only be equated to the last battle scene from “300.” Please excuse the shoddy workmanship of the images, there is a certain inebriant complication of shooting with a camera housed in a duffle bag whilst being hosed down in pseudo-blood by a headless Obama. Enjoy.

Words and photos by Dustin Downing