cartoon: yoda

My cartoon celebrates the classic scene from the original Star Wars trilogy. It also honors the old but wise Yoda. I remember as a kid learning how powerful this short wrinkly creature was. It is totally shocking. Right? Yoda is also the perfect representation the idea in Asian culture to respect your elders. In many ways, he is ultimate hero of the galaxy.

By the way, a movie called Solo: A Star Wars is out this weekend. Which is your favorite film out of all of the Star Wars franchise so far?

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sketch: at-at walker

Have you seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi yet? If not, speed on over to the movie theater now. Parking is limited for AT-AT Walkers.

photo: comic con

As always, New York Comic Con was a blast, be it a crowded venue. Suprisingly to me, as a casual gamer, there were no booths for Microsoft Xbox, Sony Playstation or Rockstar Games like previous years. Nintendo did have plenty of representation with stations featuring their Wii U, DS, Mario and Donkey Kong lines. Still, with less video gaming stuff, that gave me more time to browse comics, toys, collectibles, meet other artists and take photographs. Here are some pics I want to share with you.

new york comic con 2011

I didn’t get to do my artwork this week because of a monster. And that monstrosity was called New York Comic Con. I attended 3 full days of absolute geeky madness. Though, like a kid in a candy store, I enjoyed every minute of it. Besides, it was good exercise with all the walking.

The highlights of Comic Con for me was about the art and creativity that comes in the form of comics, costumes, videogames and movies.

I got the chance to preview the Halo Anniversary game for the Xbox 360.  Updated graphics and new armor give this classic a recharge.  Playing capture-the-flag on linked up Xboxes felt sort of laggy.  Hopefully, the official release, next month, will have that issue smoothed out.

To me, Rockstar Games had the best freebie – a black t-shirt with the Grand Theft Auto III logo on front.  They were celebrating the 10 year anniversary of GTA.  They just asked you to mention them on a social network of your choice – Facebook, Foursquare or Twitter. Good publicity for Rockstar.

Nintendo was also giving out t-shirts for those who would demo the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword game for the Wii.  But that waiting line was insanely long.

Talking about merchandising, The Walking Dead had a big table full of hats, mugs, t-shirts, etc.  Unfortunately, the shirts were made with American Apparel brand, a rather cheap material.  But the graphics were too cool for me to pass up.

This year, Chevrolet let people test-drive their new car, the Sonic, which comes in sedan and hatchback styles.  They claim it will get 40 MPG.  It seems Chevy thought the convention was a car show, because their cars were being displayed all around the floor.  Most of them sported graphic art for a paint job.

In addition to being a haven for comic book lovers, toys are a big item for collecting as well.  Plenty of toys can be found including those from DC Comics, Hasbro, Lego, Star Wars and various anime series.  The collectible toys that caught my attention were the mascot from the Google Android commercial.  Each android figure is designed by different artists. Very simple vinyl toys, but graphically pleasing. (See them in my pics).

What was the best costume by the cosplay-ers you ask? I think it was a toss-up between the guy in the Transformers Bumblebee contraption, who had a difficult time moving around much, and the lady as Poison Ivy, who was posing everyday. I guess she was really proud of her costume.  (These two cosplayers are also included in my pics.)

Anyway, enough of my blabbering.  Here are some of photos I took of the Comic Con event.  More can be seen at my flickr page.

illustration: wonder woman

Inspired by my adventure at NY Comic Con, I created a fan art illustration of the iconic American super heroine, Wonder Woman. Next to Supergirl and Green Lanter girl, Wonder Woman was a popular female comic book character at the show, at least, according to my flickr page. Who is your favorite superhero?

new york comic con 2010

I didn’t have time to do my artwork, unfortunately, because I attended the three days of New York Comic Con, this past week.  As expected, the show was even bigger than last year. And that’s a good thing for us fans of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.

As an artist, it is inspiring to be surrounded by so much creativity from comic artists of all different styles. One of my fave comic book artists is Cliff Chiang with his simple, yet realistically proportioned graphic characters. And there he was, sitting there and drawing at his table. I got a chance to meet him, and purchase some autographed work. I hope, one day I can be as popular as he is.

But take note, Comic Con has grown into a much greater monster than comics. There are now movie panels, how-to sessions, book sales and displays of amazingly detailed toys, just to name a few. There is a large presence of videogames, and, of course, the cosplay costume extravaganza. As I toured the floor, I took some photos and I wanted to share them with you.

For more pics, please visit my flickr. Comments are welcomed!