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Comic Con 2004

 

Comic-Con International, a nonprofit educational organization, was created to promote the awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.

 

The convention runs the entire length of exhibition floor, from Hall A through Hall H, covering more than 460,000 square feet

Comic Con is more than just a comic book convention, it's a gathering place for creators, artists, writers, books, toys, statues, movies and much more. In fact, it has become the unofficial research and development site for Hollywood and the springboard for blockbuster movies including Spider-Man, X-Men, Road to Perdition, Blade, Ghost World. This year, movie studios attended in force to show previews for Blade: Trinity, Batman Begins, Constantine, Elektra, Sin City and Fantastic Four. From the small press to the big press and the foreign press, Comic Con has become the king of comic book and genre conventions.

 

Comic Con attracts more than 700 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. In fact, before the show began this year, the initial registration of full (5-day) memberships was at a record high of 17,000 and the Con expected an additional 60,000 one-day memberships by Saturday.

 

Batman sits upon a clock tower at midnight, watching convention attendees stream past the DC booth

 

A very impressive Aliens vs. Predator statue adorns the floor

 

Darth "Lego" Vader

Yes, it seems the Empire has built Vader clones out of Legos to stand guard over the Lego booth.

 

Click the image to see a larger version of this closeup image.

 

Lego R2-D2

A helpless Lego R2-D2 unit is forced to watch the geeks walk by.

 

Spiderman!

Just one of the many Spidermen wandering the convention floor

Lord of The Rings: Return of The King

At last year's 34th Annual Comic Con, the spotlight was on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King movie. This year's Lord of the Rings booth featured actual costumes from the movie displayed on an impressive raised dais.

 

Costumes for the Elven-kings under the sky

 

Costumes for the Mortal Men doomed to die

 

Costume for Orcs who served the Dark Lord, on his dark throne

 

Costumes for the Men who fought beside the Ring-Bearer, where the Shadows lie

 

A life-sized Ringwraith

 

An ominous Uruk-hai

LucasFilm

The Star Wars booth encompassed approximately 90 booths on the floor of Comic Con. During the show, LucasFilm announced that Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith is the full title of the next Star Wars film, scheduled for release on May 19, 2005.

 

The Star Wars booth

LucasFilm showed clips, bonus material and animated menus from the upcoming Star Wars Trilogy on DVD that is due on September 21. Also announced is is the Emmy-nominated Clone Wars Micro-series on DVD due in spring 2005, and Ewoks and Droids Saturday morning animated adventures on DVD due at the end of 2004. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy - The all-new two-and-a-half hour documentary by Kevin Burns, which is showcased on the upcoming Star Wars Trilogy DVD, will be shown in a special 90-minute edited-for-television edition on the A and E network this fall. Many toys were on display including Episode III Action Figures as well as the very first Revenge of the Sith retro-logo t-shirt which became a hot fashion statement at the show.

 

Gentle Giant Studios produces Star Wars statues

This Stormtrooper stood upon this pedestal the entire length of the show without moving!

 

The Star Wars store

On Preview Night (Wednesday night), this area of the Star Wars booth was a madhouse as fans performed their best crazed housewife mob impression as they fought to obtain coveted toys and collectibles.

 

Even you can be a Star Wars action figure!

This particular action figure comes armed with a peace sign.

 

A rare glimpse of a Stormtrooper without his helmet

Clearly they are not all clones!

 

A helmetless Stormtrooper talking with Ghostbusters

Here is a rare glimpse of a Medieval Stormtrooper in chainmail armor!

 

A full-scale X-Wing

Full-sized vehicle replicas really set off costumes well. Clearly this woman is from a water-based world.

     

Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett

Jeremy Bulloch was signing pictures and copies of his new hardbound book Flying Solo.

 

The 2nd Annual Star Wars Fan Film Awards

This event happened Thursday night and was a lot of fun to attend. There must have been at least 4,000 Star Wars geeks in attendence. Lord Vader himself attended the awards along with 40 of his Storm Troopers and TWO Boba Fetts. Yes, two! Triumph the Insult Comic Dog would have had a field day if he were present. This year, the winner of the coveted George Lucas award, which is picked by the great one himself, went to Escape from Tatooine. Other winners included Pink Five Strikes Back for Audience Choice Award, Recruitement for Best Comedy, Wampa for Best Animation, 8 Minutes for the Spirit of Fandom Award, Carbonite Confusion for Best Crossover Spoof and George Lucas in Love for the Pioneer Award. If you haven't seen these, we encourage you to check them out atAtomFilms.

Other Comic Con Booths

 

The Species III booth

   

Alien statue from the 20th Century Fox booth

 

The Vertigo section of the DC booth

 

Bone

Bone is quite possibly one of the best comics ever created, period. Jeff Smith, the creator of Bone, released a 1,334 page One Volume Edition in both softcover and hardcover that reprints the entire run and includes some new material. A new map has been included and a few pages have been alterted to make for a better story flow. A new arrangement with Scholastic Books will see the series reissued in 6" x 9" trade paperbacks at a price point just under ten dollars. These new books will be in full color, something Jeff Smith has resisted in the past. Colors will be provided by Steve Hamaker's and Smith couldn't be more happy with the results.

After being run out of Boneville, the three BONE cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, are separated and lost in a vast, uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures...

 

Geneon previewed the new Appleseed trailer; a next-generation anime movie

Geneon previewed Appleseed and it was simply amazing. It's visuals are eye-popping and boast a new form animation called "3D Live Anime" that is a combination of three-dimensional computer animation with two-dimensional character animation, recreating the best qualities of traditional cel-based anime. Geneon announced the movie will be released November 2004 - check out the preview on Geneon's website.

 

The CGC (Comics Guaranty, LLC) booth

CGC is an independent, impartial, expert third party grading service that is taking the comic world by storm. CGC offers a consistent grading standard and places books in a tamper-evident protective holder, allowing buyers and sellers to easily trade and sell comics with more confidence by mail, phone, or on the Internet, because they'll know what to expect of a CGC graded book. There is an easy to understand label placed on the interior of the holder on certified comic books. The label displays the title, issue number, publisher and grade of a comic book. It can also display the importance (for Key Issues) or the artist (if by an important artist). Comics are graded on a scale of .5 (Poor) to 10 (Mint).

 

Action Comics #1

This copy of Action Comics #1, the first issue of Superman, was professionally graded and packaged by CGC. It was given a grade of 6.5 (Fine Plus), placing it almost in the middle of the grading chart. The text across the top contains specific information about the comic. This particular comic is from D.C. Comics and was published in June of 1938. It contains a Jerry Siegel and Fred Guardineer story with Fred Guardineer and Bernard Baily art. Joe Shuster provided cover and art throughout the comic. This is the origin and first appearance of Superman. This comic contains Restoration including tear seals, spine splits sealed, reinforced and cover cleaned It also has off-white pages.

If you own rare comics or magazines and are worried about environmental and physical hazards or receiving fair value from a sale, you should consider CGC professional grading and protection. Comics that have a CGC grade of 9.0 and higher often sell for 3 to 10 times their guide value and more.

 

President Abraham Lincoln at the Toypresidents booth

 

Toypresidents

Believe it or not, these presidents talk. According to their website, Toypresidents has been founded upon the principles of education and discovery of the American political system with the introduction of a collectible series of political talking action figures.

 

The Rotten Cotton booth

Rotten Cotton always has an impressive array of t-shirts. Visit their website at your own risk.