I will be at Rah-CoCo’s Comics and Collectables tomorrow for Free Comic Book Day with copies of Where Weavers Daire and issues of the comic book myself and the late great Paul Chabot created, Totems. Remember to RSVP and swing on by so you can grab some free comics!
“Sweet Dreams are made of this.” X-Men Apocalypse reviews dropped a month ago when Captain America: Civil War was the darling on Rotten Tomatoes and everyone made it out to be a garbage fire. I have no idea what movie they actually saw. My X-Men First Class review is here and my X-Men Days of Future Past review is here.
Welcome to Marvel Phase Three. Another Free Comic Book Day, another Marvel Movie. I have to ask: Just what the whiskey tango foxtrot happened to Age of Ultron while Civil War is amaze balls. Don’t get me wrong, Age of Ultron had it’s moments, like the farmhouse which I personally loved because sometimes you need the heroes to rally and lick their wounds. Less, cave of exposition and more farmhouse.
It’s that time of year folks, the comic book movies have arrived with Batman VS. Superman. A movie some people will tell you had been mentioned in I am Legend back in 2007. Bennett North and myself went to go see it. Her review can be found here. Either love’em or hate’em you’ll probably be watching two actors in their underwear beating the crap out of each other or a CGI enemy with a bombastic soundtrack in a darkened theater and wonder: Why is this happening, again?
With Rhode Island Comic Con now just hours away, here are some helpful hints on surviving a convention: 1. Park at the Providence Place Mall and walk over. Sure there’s parking at Providence Convention Center but why pay $15 when you can pay less for the same amount of time. The Mall is where the food’s at and it’s linked to the Convention Center by a skybridge. 2. Check ‘n’ charge your electronics now and bring back up batteries/cards/charging wires. There isn’t a Best Buy for miles but there are several wireless carrier stores, an Apple Store and a CVS in the mall. If you’re bringing a DSLR with you bring extra cards and batteries because there probably won’t be charging stations. 3. ATMS: Get the money before you leave the house. There tend to be two long lines at conventions: Starbucks and ATMs. Guess which ATM is gonna run out of money first? Right, the one at the con not at your local Walgreens. 4. Comfortable shoes and clothes. Check the weather forecast before you leave, walking around in bundled up clothes in a tightly packed space with a lot of people things tend to get hot and you really don’t want to be dragging a heavy coat around five minutes after you just walked through the door. 5. Generally this where I’d say to have a back up panel but RICC is only 4 years old and the panels are light. 6. Yes, the food is expensive inside the Convention Center, walk back over to the Mall and buy it there. For the ragging Providence Place Mall gets, the restaurants like Dave & Busters are great places to eat at. 6a. Stay hydrated. Get a 24 oz water bottle at the corner store and just refill it for the entire weekend. 7. Download the Rhode Island Comic Con app. Make sure to spell out the full name. It includes maps and a locations of such important things like the bathrooms. 8. Remember to check out Artist Alley for up and coming artists. You never know what you may find. 9. Twitter hashtags of #ricc #ricc2015 #ricomiccon and #rhodeislandcomiccon are probably best to watch just in case. It’s the only way the dealers found out the fire marshals had closed the doors last year since no announcements were made to the con floor. 10. Remember to ask the cosplayers for their pictures and say thank you. I’d point you to the anti-harmashment policy for RICC but I don’t know if they have one. 11. Otherwise, enjoy yourselves and hopefully Altered Reality Entertainment has learned from last year’s mistakes.
(Image taken by Matthew Graves) The third annual Rhode Island Comic Con happened last weekend at the Rhode Island Convention Center. I missed the first year, attended the second as a fan and was a dealer at the third and I wish I could recommend it to my friends to make it an annual event. It’s got everything: comic books, movies, artists, authors and tv/movie stars as guests! Nerd Prom in my backyard! And there’s no airline tickets or hotel fees to contend with! You just drive up and walk right in, right? Not exactly.