Dallas Fan Days 2013 - Sunday, Part Two

A burlesque-inspired Poison Ivy.   

The Main Man, himself - Lobo!   

Lex Luthor, at his most dapper.   

Natsu Dragneel and Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tale.   

Zatanna   

Speedy from Teen Titans with a familiar Emerald Archer.   

She's a wonder... Wonder Woman!   

Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter and Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games.   

Like Father. Like Daughter. Think about it, won't you?
Rose Wilson and Slade Wilson. AKA. Ravager and Deathstroke.   

I finally DID catch up with Anna (of GlitzyGeekGirl.com fame) and get a picture of her as Luna Lovegood.  

Fionna from Adventure Time.   

He Who Must Not Be Named.

Dallas Fan Days 2013 - Sunday, Part One

Sundays at Fan Days are usually slower and more leisurely than Saturdays. I didn't get as many pictures but there weren't as many people in costume to take pictures of. I spent most of the day wandering around with my pal Jeremy. I was once again Green Arrow. He was dressed as Buddy Christ.



I spent my time in the line waiting with my friend Daniel and his son, here portraying Cable and Deadpool.   

The Fifth Doctor.



This photo is a bit blurry but considering I was taking a picture of The Flash, it's amazing I got him at all!   

Tony Stark with a TARDIS. What a frightening thought!   

A little Luke Skywalker, giving Yoda a ride.  

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!  It is The Tick!  

 Barnacle Boy and Mermaid Man from SpongeBob SquarePants.
Yes, I'm as ashamed as you are for getting the reference.  

I chased after this Gryffindor girl for a minute, thinking she was my friend Anna.  It was only after I caught up with her that I realized the goof and remembered that Luna (who Anna was dressed as) was a Ravenclaw.  Still a good costume and well worth the running for.  I think that's the same Scarlet Witch from yesterday.


I think that's the same Hawkeye from yesterday, too. 
That's definitely a new Poison Ivy and Bane though and much better than in Batman and Robin.


Trinity from The Matrix.


 Once again I failed to recognize CAJ Cosplay.  She's a chameleon, I swear!
In fairness, I've only seen a few episodes of Angel, so I didn't recognize her as Illyria anyway.  

Spawn was a lot nicer than you'd think about having his picture taken.

A-Kon 24 Cosplay Photos - Part Three

Rogue from X-Men.   

Captain America.   

An unusual trio, this.  Dark Phoenix, Cartman from South Park and Pepper Potts from Iron Man 3.   

Poison Ivy.   

Prince Adam from He-Man.   

Jedi Little Mermaid.   

Two Panty. Should that be Panties?  Either way, there's One Stocking.   

Amber Sweet from REPO! The Genetic Opera.   

Starfire from Teen Titans. The New 52 costume.   

Professor Snape from Harry Potter.   

Harry Potty And The Deathly Boring - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Harry Potty And The Deathly Boring

When I was a boy, I was fortunate enough to have parents who thought it was important to develop my sense of humor and introduce me to the concept of parody. By the time I was ten I had been allowed to see Monty Python and The Holy Grail (though my mom did fast forward over the Castle Anthrax scene) and the first time I can recall being grounded was for trying to sneak a second peak at Spaceballs after the rest of the family had gone to sleep. I mention this because having just finished reading Harry Potty And The Deathly Boring, I can’t help but be inspired to feel nostalgic for those days when sneaking a dirty-sounding word into the conversation was the height of sophisticated humor.

If you’ve read the Harry Potter series, you already know the story of this book. If you’ve ever read any parody from the pages of Mad Magazine, you’ll know what to expect in terms of comedy. If, by some chance you haven’t ever read a parody from the pages of Mad Magazine, the title of this book and the cover should give you a hint of what to expect – bad puns, silly names and toilet humor. The Death Eaters are now Odor Eaters (with shoe masks) and Dobby The House Elf is now Robby the Mouse Elf – clad only in his rude smock and a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. There’s also a good deal of random humor, with Elmo from Sesame Street – freshly converted to the forces of evil – fighting Robby The Mouse Elf, as he tries to free Harry Potty and his friends. Why? Because it’s funny to see a shoe-masked Elmo beating up Dobby, of course!

The script by Stefan Petrucha seems confused as to what audience he is trying to reach. There’s scores of bad puns, silly names and gross-out humor that only an elementary school audience would appreciate. Yet at the same time there’s a fair amount of political humor and pop culture references that are sure to sail over the heads of the adolescents this book is reportedly written for. Indeed, the blurb on the back of the book hangs a lampshade on this, making a reference to the TV show Kung-Fu and then describing it as “just a sample of the countless dated references that await you…” There’s also a surprising amount of adult content, with direct reference to cross-dressing being made and indirect jokes being made about masturbation and Dumb-As-A-Dor’s sexual orientation.

However you may feel about the comedy in this book, it cannot be denied that Rick Parker provides the perfect pictures for it. Clearly drawing inspiration from the Mad Magazine parodies of olden days, Parker’s style can be compared favorably to that of the legendary Harvey Kurtzman and underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and Peter Bagge. Rather than draw photo-realistic images of the popular characters as seen in the Harry Potter films, Parker caricatures them to good effect, creating a Dumb-As-A-Dor who is more Dr. Demento than Dumbledore. There are also a goodly number of sight-gags hidden in the background, so keep your eyes peeled.

This book is full of adolescent humor. That is not a criticism – merely a statement of fact. I believe that adolescent humor has a place on the library shelf and while I rolled my eyes at much of the content of this book, I suspect that a twelve-year-old me, freshly graduated from the School Of Hard Knock-Knock Jokes, would have enjoyed it thoroughly as would any other class clown that is coming into his own today.

Harry Potty And The Deathly Boring
by Stefan Petrucha
Art by Rick Parker
ISBN: 978159707218
Papercutz, 2010

Looking To The Stars: Snap Shot Reviews

Robert Burns once said "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Well, that's what happened this week. No sooner do I say farewell to my life as a professional comic book guy am I informed that my refusal has been rejected... at least until after the holiday season is over. Apparently they are a bit more willing to work with my schedule having realized how hard it would be to train someone new in the middle of the busiest shopping time of the year. So for a while, I shall be librarian and comic book guy.

So much for a smooth and graceful exit, eh?

Ah well. While my occupational transition has proven less peaceful than I had hoped, I can promise a much smoother and more amusing bit of reading for you all this week. Though I haven't had the time to start the first special project I promised I would start once I had more free reading/writing time, I did manage to read quite a few of the hot and new titles this week. And for the sake of brevity, I shall handicap myself and limit myself to two sentences to describe each book. All the better to speed you along to reading the good stuff for yourself.

All Star Superman #1 - Superman as he should be. All the classic elements of the character are balanced evenly with a wacky Grant Morrison plot, wrapped in a Quietly shell that makes the whole thing one sweet piece of candy.

Books of Doom #1 - Finally, Dr. Doom done right! If this is any indication of the future quality of his work, I can't wait for Ed Brubaker's Daredevil.

Birds of Prey #88 - While I'm still a bit hazy on the recent timeline involving the Ollie/Dinah relationship, Simone is the only author who has accurately captured the dynamic between the two since Kevin Smith's run on Green Arrow. That is fact, not opinion, and I will gladly explain why to any who dare challenge me on this point.

Do you REALLY want to challenge the hate mail gods in such a cavalier fashion Matt? Are you SURE? -Editor K.

Fables #43 - So good I got my girlfriend into regular comics fandom on this book alone. Worth the price of admission just for the joke on respecting the customs regarding the treatment of slaves and the treatment of slavers.

Fantastic Four #532 - JMS continues to be the only writer at Marvel who can deliver a consistent level of quality across multiple books. A notable issue, if only for being the first time I think it was outright stated Reed Richards uses his powers in the bedroom.

Green Arrow #56 - The good news is that we only get to see Winick mangle Ollie's character for two pages. The bad news is that he and the editor STILL haven't been corrected on the fact that Killer Frost's powers absorb heat (so fire arrows won't hurt her) and they spend the Ollie-Ollie-free rest of the issue screwing up Mia and Connor.

Green Lantern #5 - Johns is building things slowly here and I wish he'd speed up a bit. This issue is amusing superhero fare, but hardly as filling as his usual works.

Hellblazer #214 - The beginning of the end for Mike Carey's run as he takes away a major part of the Constantine mythology. I can't wait for next month to see what else goes up in smoke.

Jon Sable Freelance #5 - Why must every other book I read this week torment me with images of the days when Green Arrow was under the hands of a competent writer and artist? If you aren't already reading this series by old pro Mike Grell, do yourself a favor and track down the back issues.

Supergirl #3 - For fans of old school comics with a sense of fun, this is one of the best books on the market. Ignore the haters on the message-board who dismiss this as fluff.

The Thing #1 - Leave it to Dan Slott to give me some brief hope that there may be someone else besides JMS at Marvel who gets it. This book is a treasure, with a sense of fun that is all but dead at Marvel and starting to be revived at DC.

One final review, but not a comic book one. If you were planning to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but haven't or if you weren't planning to see it., go see it. Now. Um, sorry to butt in again Matt, but as I work in a movie theatre, I must advise people to hold off seeing HP:GoF for at least a few days. Most theatre workers are coming off three days and four nights of double shifting just to keep up with the demand for the nearly three hour film. If you viewers put off seeing the movie until say Wednesday, the theater will be quieter, cleaner, and its staff will be more helpful. And the film won't get pushed to the slightly smaller theatres until Friday at the earliest. Sorry to barge in again M-Money... -Editor K. If the fantasy isn't your thing, it's worth the price of admission just to see the trailers for Superman Returns on the big screen. Of course if you can't wait that long... check this out.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.