Pim and Francie - or how I learned to lose sleep by reading before bed!

Winding down from a gorgeous Saturday evening on the porch, I curled up in my chair and took a romp through Al Columbia's new "Pim and Francie" book last night.

Although I adore Columbia's Fleischer-esque illustration style, I was a bit disturbed (in an entertaining way) to see those cute little ragamuffins subjected to horror after horror. Imagine Swee'pea crawling into a combine while fleeing from the Sea Hag and you're on the right path. When you hear Francie announce "I sure hope we don't see the bloody, bloody killer", you kind of know what to expect.

"Mom! Come quick! There's a bloody thing moving in the toilet"
"What did Mommy tell the two of you about using the downstairs bathroom?"
"We're not s'posed to"
"That's right..."

You get the idea...

Check it out at http://www.amazon.com/Pim-Francie-Golden-Bear-Days/dp/1606993046

Dragon*Con Comics and Pop Art Exclusives

One of my favorite parts of Dragon*Con is our annual Comics and Pop Art Reception!

The Dragon*Con Comics and Pop Art Reception will be taking place again this year, on Friday evening, September 3. Traditionally this is where we debut Dragon*Con exclusives, and we have no plans to let you down in 2010.

In cooperation with our guest creators, the reception will mark the debut of a limited number of exclusive releases from a variety of featured artists. And you need not worry about camping out all day to be the first in line!

On Friday, September 3, convention attendees will have the opportunity to pick up a numbered ticket, to be entered into a drawing for an opportunity to purchase desired exclusives (entering is free of charge with your paid Dragon*Con membership). Before the reception doors open to the public, numbers will be drawn (according to the quantity of each specific exclusive available that evening) and posted inside the reception hall. If your number is posted, you will have the opportunity to purchase that exclusive.

Attendees will have the chance to secure one ticket for each participating artist's release - if your number is drawn for more than one artist's release you may purchase each release you hold a winning ticket for.

Please be aware that not all quantities of exclusives will be available at the reception, and you do not need to attend the reception in order to purchase exclusives - each artist will decide the exact number of pieces they wish to make available at the reception and the amount they plan to offer for the rest of the convention. However, if you enter the drawing Friday you WILL need to attend the reception and make your purchase(s) that evening - tickets are not transferable and will not be honored after Friday's reception (specific sales hours will be posted well in advance).

We feel that this is the most fair solution for making exclusives available to fans without flippers, scalpers and speculators lining up in advance to secure these items. The reception has become a very exciting and vital part of the Dragon*Con Comics and Pop Art experience, and we hope that this will add yet another fun facet to the event.

Currently, many of our attending pop artists are planning Dragon*Con exclusive releases, and although I can't disclose any specifics, I can tell you that attending fans and collectors will be VERY happy.

I recently spoke with Brandt Peters, who assures us that the fine folks at Circus Posterus are once again raising the bar on show exclusives, and folks should be prepared to be thrilled.

With the likes of Shag, Glenn Barr, Brian Despain, Dan May and Jason Limon also planning Dragon exclusives, this is definitely a show you NEED to attend!

The Comics and Pop Art Reception will feature music, mingling, the "Talkin' Walken" Christopher Walken sound-alike contest, and special announcements regarding 2011's event - plus a few surprises still to be announced.

Currently scheduled to appear at Dragon*Con 2010 are the following dynamic creators":


Glenn Barr
Mark Brooks
Colin Christian
Sas Christian
Olivier Coipel
Amanda Conner
Darwyn Cooke
Camilla d’Errico
Brian Despain
Doktor A.
Mark Dos Santos
Tom Feister
Chandra Free
Cully Hamner
Georges Jeanty
Kelley Jones
Jason Limon
Travis Louie
Laura Martin
Dan May
Mike McKone
Mike Mignola
Chris Moreno
Kathie Olivas
Jimmy Palmiotti
George Perez
Brandt Peters
Tone Rodriguez
Chris Ryniak
Tim Sale
Shag
Greg “Craola” Simkins
Paul Smith
Ethan Van Sciver
Rob Schwager
Brian Stelfreeze
Karl Story
Dexter Vines

Hope to see you there!

Bioshock-o-rama!

I can't play video games without swallowing my own tongue, but I'd be willing to risk it for a crack at Bioshock 2!

Flipping through images and designs online have me saving up my nickels for a week's vacation to Rapture so I can duke it out with some Big Sisters. Dare to dream...

Check out the blog of Colin Fix for some fantastic character designs from this game (as well as some stuff from his various film projects - after seeing his work I think I can actually stomach a couple of hours of Jim Carey in "A Christmas Carol"...). I believe there's also a fair amount in the "Art of..." book that comes with the Bioshock 2 Special Edition, if you're the kinda cat who craves extras.

http://colinfix.blogspot.com/

Let's try this thing out!

For anyone who drunkenly stumbles across this site, you'll be treated to a whole lot of nonsense!

Illustration, vinyl platform art, comics, music, film, television, video game design and memorabilia, and sculpture - it's all bottled up inside my head and waiting for a chance to leak out.

Here is where the levy cracks.