Comicpalooza Picture-rama!!!

I haven't played Assassin's
Creed, but I recognize the look
immediately.  Not a bad fan effort.

This will be both an enhanced and slim post.  There's plenty of pictures, but not much that I'll be writing tonight.

I figured I'd take a few choice pictures of all the excellent costumes and looks that people have put together for today's trip to Houston's comic convention, Comicpalooza.  It was quite the feast for the eyes, as it seems every geek, nerd, dork and dweeb from Houston was there, and in proud form.  I unapologetically count myself among their number!

I've been here all weekend so far, in both a professional and fan capacity.  The presentation about libraries and the comic book industry went well, and there were plenty of interested hangers-on afterward who wanted to talk to me and my co-panelists.  It was a nice feeling. :)  We worked the HPL table afterwards, and helped customers register for library cards and showed that the library carries plenty of graphic novels.  We got quite a few applications, which was wonderful.

The Doctor was there, along
with his wife, the TARDIS. :)

After that, I had purchased a 3-day pass, and wandered to all the various events and exhibits at the con.  As you can see below, there was plenty to see, and my phone actually ran out of power from taking so many pictures, among other reasons.  Take a look and enjoy the images!

I was particularly struck by two things: first off, the costumes looked great.  Everyone obviously put their passion and effort into their presentation, and there were so many people asking and posing for pictures that it was very heartwarming.  Also, everyone in costume was very accommodating and cheerful about posing for pics.  There was nothing but happy reactions to picture requests, and I think that says a lot of good about this particular culture of Houstonites!

Possibly very amusingly, I'm looking forward to the day when I can be the big geek someone stops and asks to take a photo with or of.

Come on, Nightwing costume...

Wonderful Codex costume effort from a photogenic con-goer!

Possibly more pictures for tomorrow's post!

Insane he may be, but this Deadpool was very eager to pose for
pictures!

There were many exhibits, but I thought this Tentacle Kitty booth was particularly adorable-yet-disturbing.  

Contrary to public perception, Rorschach turned out to be
completely gracious and polite in public.

A Dalek and K-9 display... :)

Cap and Iron Man!

A completely silent, but totally expressive Portal Companion
Cube!

The most awesome Harley Quinn at the con today!  Not only
did she look the part, but she was completely in character, with
the voice and everything!

An excellent Riddler costume!   Disagree?  Play Arkham City!

A bird's-eye view of the exhibits from the second floor of GRB!

And a corresponding look at the stage floor!

GN Review -- Batman: Harley and Ivy / Paul Dini, Judd Winick, Bruce Timm, & Joe Chiodo

A more cartoony, delightfully campy predecessor to Dini's work on Gotham City Sirens, Batman: Harley and Ivy explores the relationship between these two female characters that started in Batman: The Animated Series where Harley originated.  It also demonstrates the fact that, despite the overuse of the device, buddy comedies are timelessly entertaining.

Batman: Harley and Ivy collects three tales that showcase the characters' relationship.  "The Bet" focuses on Ivy betting Harley a dollar that she can get every man in Arkham Asylum to kiss her.  Things are going fine, and Harley doesn't seem to mind losing, until the Joker is suddenly returned to Arkham, and Ivy includes him in the bet.  Harley must use every trick in her charmingly demented book to thwart Ivy's attempts to kiss her man, leading to a chuckle-worthy ending.

"Harley and Ivy: Love on the Lam" starts off with Harley and Joker pulling a job in a museum when Two-Face and his men show up.  When Harley suggests a relatively bloodless solution to their problem, Joker throws Harley out on the street again, leading Harley to seek out Poison Ivy so they can pull a job and make some money.  Ivy, skeptical that Harley's doing this to get back in the Joker's good graces, agrees to do so on the condition that Harley consider working on her own, that and the fact that the company they're robbing is a major polluter of rain forests.

"Batman: Harley and Ivy" deals mostly with the antagonistic relationship between the villainous duo, as Ivy can't stand Harley's general air-headedness and incompetence, but also can't bring herself to abandon Harley completely.  After Harley botches their latest job, Ivy escapes from Arkham, intent on leaving Harley behind to go to Costa Verde by herself.  But Harley's not far behind, and manages to tag along on Ivy's adventure, causing equal amounts of grief and chaos for her begrudging partner, much to the delight of readers.

The plots are fairly light and trite, and rightfully so.  This is a focus on the characters, and it's hard not to be charmed by these two lead characters.  Not only are they gorgeous bad girls, but their comedic chemistry is undeniable.  Theirs is one of the classic comedy friends duos, with Ivy as the more uptight straight woman, while Harley gets the role of wildly demonstrative comic relief.  Ivy easily gets frustrated with Harley's childishness, but can never bring herself to really abandon or hurt her friend, despite how doubtlessly easier her life would be if she didn't have to worry about her.

The humor was very clever in places.  One of my favorite moments is when Harley knocks out an actor playing the Joker in a Hollywood production of a movie about Harley and Ivy.  The actor murmurs, "Yoda?  Dagobah System?" as he falls to the ground, a playful dig at Mark Hamill, who voiced the Joker for so long.

Art-wise, it's very delightfully modeled after the animated series look, with the exception of "Love on the Lam."  There, Chiodo's illustrations in that story, while still very cartoony, also have a more rounded, finished look that belies his work as a pin-up artist.  It's very lush and sexy in places, an obvious fit for two of the ladies who would come to make up the Gotham City Sirens.

Overall, I enjoyed this book on several levels.  The comedic team these two make up is quite a joy to behold, as are their mildly cheesecake depictions by the various artists who draw them.  If you like Harley and Ivy, or want to see the basis for their madcap relationship, definitely check it out.  If you enjoy buddy comedies, this is a good depiction of one.  Highly recommended.

GN Review -- Gotham City Sirens: Union / Paul Dini & Guillen March

Can three of Batman's most diabolically devious former foes group up and go straight?  Will their various past issues with each other, coupled with their tendency to attract the wrong kinds of attention, complicate their intent to shed their bad girl images and play on the side of angels for a change?  They're willing to at least give it a try, and by doing so, we're graced with the chronicle of their initial efforts in Gotham City Sirens: Union.

Things have gotten considerably wilder in Gotham.  Bruce Wayne is no longer around to fill the mantle of Batman, and it seems lowlifes are coming out of the woodwork trying to make fast reputations for themselves.  After teaming up to take down one such punk, Catwoman proposes an alliance between herself, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn, complete with a nice new apartment.  It isn't long before they're embroiled in several adventures, not of their own making, including a near-deadly encounter with Hush (posing as Bruce Wayne), a far more vicious battle with an apparently hyper-murderous Joker, and even an internal squabble amongst themselves as Harley and Ivy demand Selina share with them the one piece of knowledge she's sworn to protect at any cost.

Writing-wise, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much thought was put into some of the stories, or at least some aspects of them.  Dini's explanation of how Selina was able to lie about Batman's identity was well handled, though it makes me wonder if that lie won't come back to bite her in the... future.  The use of one of the Joker's throwaway sidekicks as a bitter has-been wanting Harley's demise was actually rather clever.  I was also amused by a marginally involved story of the Riddler, helping the girls out, as he starts solving crimes as a consulting detective a la Sherlock Holmes, much to the chagrin of Dick Grayson's Batman. It's actually pretty funny to watch them squaring off, and I hope to read more of that at some point.

I would imagine more than a few people would have a problem with this kind of book, one that features a whole lot of cheesecake.  It would be easy to make the argument that a title like Gotham City Sirens, while superficially preaching Girl Power, still makes the case that the only strong women worth reading about are the ones that can rock a tight leather or spandex outfit.  I can appreciate the direction this line of thinking takes, but I do not have a problem with this book or this series.  I view this book simply as a fun piece of escapist fiction, like so many comic books.

As my girlfriend recently said, who doesn't want to imagine themselves as a total hottie once in while? ;-)

I will admit to taking a look at this one for the cover and the art contained within.  I am a guy, Guillen March does cheesecake very well, and his heroines are quite a delight to behold.  With that said, he also does a good job of drawing action sequences and large, dramatic shots.  There's a particularly nice visual of Poison Ivy using a giant plant to hold off an attack by a big clown blimp that's both impressive and amusing to look at.  I also enjoyed his interpretations of the Riddler and Batman for the brief scenes when they get involved in the story.

Overall, I enjoyed Union quite a bit.  It's a guilty pleasure in the visuals department, but the story, while a bit simple in places, is paced well, and Harley, Selina, and Ivy each have distinct personalities and voices that help move the narrative along as much as the plot.  Super-hero fans will enjoy this work, particularly anyone who likes stories about women heroes trying to live their lives on their own terms.  At the very least it's a fun and amusing story that's pleasantly drawn and features attractive women characters.  Highly recommended.