Thursday, May 28, 2009

Obama in Barcelona

One of the coolest but strangest exhibits of the convention will certainly be the one centered around Barack Obama, where various Spanish artists painted their artistic interpretations of our new President on a large mural that will be displayed all weekend...





The Inner Workings of a Comic Con

David Macho took me over to check out the con center and the show floor layout while they were still setting up earlier. Here are a few quick snapshots I took as the exhibitors all scramble to get ready for the masses tomorrow...










Hola from Barcelona!

Our flight to Barcelona left on time and arrived an hour early. How often does that happen these days?! Go Delta! The mood in the plane was great too as the pilot announced right before take-off that Barcelona had beaten Manchester United 2 to 0 in the Championship League soccer finals. Sorry, Brits!



As we got in early, before 8AM, our rooms weren't ready so we went out for some coffee and pastry, but I ended up having a jamon serrano sandwich, which is always the first thing everyone should eat on arrival in Spain! When we finally did check in we got a room with a view of the Plaza Espanya, which Mutsumi requested as she read on a Japanese blog was the way to go, and they weren't kidding...


Our hotel is right next to the old bullfighting arena, which is now being renovated into a shopping mall that will also house the world's largest collection of rock n' roll memoribilia.


See the clock on the hotel? Our room is all the way to the right of it.

And last time we were here, we discovered this great little Spanish brasserie that served simple yet amazing food, and since it wasn't too far of a walk, we headed over for our first official beers in Barcelona! Cheers!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Claire Wendling Sky Doll

OK, OK... I hear you. Ever since I tweeted I got news about what Claire Wendling's working on next, people have been constantly asking me for an update on what that project is. Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to break confidences and spill the beans. But to help feed your Claire addictions, I'm happy to post this cover she did that not many of you may have seen. The talented Miss Wendling did this piece for Barbara Canepa and Alessandro Barbucci for a special edition slipcase that shipped when Sky Doll 3 was released in France years ago. Simply amazing, ain't she?!

Monday, May 04, 2009

Move Over Moleskine...

Japanese theaters always sell cool little bobbles and trinkets for fans to buy after they see a movie they like. I always wish we could get a lot of it here. As I helped out my buddy Aki and Paramount Japan with a few Iron Man issues last year, they hooked me up with a lot of the awesome IM keychains, pens and folders they produced for theaters there. Now Watchmen just open in Japan this past weekend and Aki shot me over a pic of one of the goodies they're selling... a reproduction of Rorschach's notebook!

Perfect For Trips To Hoth - Updated

Who needs a Tauntaun to keep you warm when you have R2-D2?!

A friend of mine was cleaning off her camera phone yesterday and sent me this pic, which I may have talked about but don't think I've ever posted an image of. My friend John Paretti's awesome wife hand-knitted me this incredible R2-D2 hat this past winter. I love how it's really subtle in its design, where if you didn't know, you might not even realize it's R2's head on mine.


Think it will clash with my Boba Fett hoodie?

Update: The hat was knitted for me by Sarah Paretti who you can follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sairyknits, and to download the pattern, please visit Carissa Knits.