Stan Lee’s Comikaze is a better first time experience than the San Diego Comic-Con. In it’s second year, it experienced growing pains, but there’s a sense they are willing to try almost anything and reach out to the fans–a zombie experience, a dating game and, of course, all the usual dress up and act out opportunities. Stan Lee’s Comikaze is where pop culture rules the universe.
That’s what you’d expect from Stan Lee. Whatever you might think of him, he is a master of marketing–getting your attention and reaching out to fans. He was there and almost fully exposed. His “nude” photo was one of the things flashed on the screen of the main stage although it was slightly altered in honor of Comikaze. That means he was more exposed than his co-host Elvira (Cassandra Peters). As you’d expect with any sponsor, there’s a tendency to steer the attention toward the sponsor’s products, but that didn’t keep people from selling, buying and dressing up outside of the Stan Lee universe.
We arrived both days in downtown Los Angeles at around the same time 11 a.m. The actual event opens at 10 a.m. On Saturday, the cars were forming a line almost off of the off-ramp. There was VIP parking, but that wasn’t for the press. Ian looked for parking which was $15 each day. I went in for our press badges.
Here the conundrum. I was dressed up and they let me in to get my press pass. Ian was in a T-shirt and jeans and they wouldn’t let him in. The line for the press passes (a separate will-call) was short and efficient (but no swag). The security wanted him to wait in the general admission line that went down the block and around the block. So you can imagine the Catch-22. I need to get my press pass. Show me your press pass. Too crazy since most freelancer have no official cards.
On Sunday, there was no line at all–cars or otherwise. Was everyone in church? We don’t know, but don’t be afraid to try and make deals although it’s less likely to happen here than at Comic-Con. Sunday was a pretty good day at Comic-Con as well as that’s the day I got the photos of the Batmobile.
Some people just ambled about, as if they were just going anywhere on any day. Others might put on a special comic book or science fiction-related T-shirt. Where’s the fun in that. Others made more of an effort and this wasn’t just a costume party for adults. A few families were out with the kids dressed as super heroes, princes or princesses. None of these were misbehaving like a certain Prince Harry in Vegas. But there was a Vegas touch there. Consider the Vegas white jumpsuit Elvis as a Jedi. Steampunk continues to be a heavy influence and someone came dressed as a steampunk Batman. Some of the costumes weren’t going to last the full day. (N.B. Don’t use paper clips to fasten your armor. Take a metalsmithing or sewing course).
With all the technology and gadgets, the downside was that the website was not updated. The programs weren’t listed. Sometimes you only found out about things when you got there. Still that’s not too bad. After all, Comikaze is only two days: Saturday and Sunday. There were some pre-Comikaze events–we weren’t invited to the parties so we hope they were fun.
We also didn’t get an invite to do the Zombie Apocalypse (Comic-Con had several press previews), but apocalypse looked like too safe and needed a bit more mystery since from the outside it looked like a soft-obstacle course and there weren’t enough screams to convince us it was truly frightening. Of course, this is a tough crowd. For more money, you could be transformed into a zombie, but the earlier you went in for that, the better. Better make up jobs came early on and then the living dead could walk around in their putrid pride.
Location, location, location is everything, but the program was a bit hard to read and we’d been eating our carrots. Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar were all there on Saturday. Newmar was there on Sunday as well, but off in another aisle was the “Six Million Dollar Man” Oscar sandwiched between the R-2 Builders and another major costume booth, the Mandalorian Mercs . With all the crowd around the R-2s on one side and the crowd admiring the armor of the Mercs , you could hardly see Richard Anderson who played Oscar Goldman. Six million might not sound like much any more, but Oscar was a bit part of both series.
We didn’t see anyone trying to be Steve Austin or Jaime Sommers. Or even anyone doing the slo-mo walk…something made even more popular with Genki Sudo and his World Order. That would be cool if some crew came to a comic convention to do just that. There was dancing in the lobby area, but usually not particularly good although there was a dragon lady dancing tango both days.
Don’t be afraid to try something that looks technical. The R-2 Builders were a real hit sending their little droids down the lanes. Don’t get too close; you never know just what kind of defense gear those guys have. The Chinese dragon got a little surprise.
Dragons, at least my dragons, know better than to spit in public particularly when they’re on the job working. You don’t have to be an electrical engineer or a rocket scientist to construct one of these R-2. The R2-D2 Builders club has mentors who can help you but the little droid doesn’t come cheap. Expect to spend about $5000. You can even make a baby stroller. Seriously. Isn’t that the best usage ever? All future geeks should be so lucky. 
There were some fantastic artists there. If you like sculpture of the fantastical sort, we liked Ross E. Tallent’s red dragon. Sunday was our red Chinese dragon day (Saturday was our green sea dragon day). You can reach him at RossTallentArt.com. He’s local (818) 388-5515.
We were also shopping for a Godzilla T-shirt but didn’t find any. We did find a fantastic Godzilla artist, John Fasano, who proved how much a fan he was. Check out his vest. He’s also local (818) 349-1780. He’s also a director, writer and producer.
We also had an idea about the Floppets. According to the art designer, they started out with cute pets, added cute monsters and then branched out into Guild characters and Star Trek. Ian’s idea is that you could use them to make a Star Fleet uniform. That could be cool. They soon will become interactive. We’re hoping for a “Beam me up” sort of thing for Star Trek. So we bought Star Trek Floppets.
Our very own Sashimi (the octopus) got a special Floppet. Sashimi came both days and didn’t appreciate the dragons’ taste for sashimi or takoyaki. He did get a lot of looks and will come next year for sure. There was a fight in the screening room, but Ian claims it was the dragon who started it.
We also loved one bag so much, it should be swag. Something for all Godzilla lovers. Kudos to ABCToy4Me.com.
There was fashion for men. Ian liked Geekdom Wear. They had a cool jackets although we’re not too sure what kind of material it’s made out of, we think we can steampunk it up. The jacket came in grey or black and featured pleather trim.
Very stylish and we’d love to see more from Geekdom in the future.
Other merchants had headwear. I wouldn’t call them hats, but I would call them fun.
Of course there were corsets and belly dance wear for women. Belly dancers are welcome at any comic convention I suspect.
Bad Kids Go to Hell
This is like slasher movie meets “The Breakfast Club” and even includes former Brat Pack member Judd Nelson. Instead of being the bad boy, Nelson is the headmaster of Crestview Academy. The exclusive school has a new library with a spooky statue of a Native American and a large snake. Rumors say the library was built on an ancient burial ground. Bad boy Matt (Cameron Deane Stewart) might be more a victim of circumstances. He has been expelled, but still shows up to detention to join five other students including the nerd Tarek (Marc Donato), goth girl Veronica (Augie Duke), rich bitch Tricia (Ali Faulkner), token black jock Craig (Roger Edwards) and good girl Megan (Amanda Alch). Dr. Day (Jeffrey Schmidt) watches them until he suddenly gets sick and then there’s Max the custodian (Ben Browder). Locking the students inside the haunted library with the adults on the outside, one by one, the students are murdered. Is it ghosts or one of kids?
The production values are good. Writers Matthew Spradlin and Barry Werner mix in humor with their gore and give surprise a twist at the end, but this is a teen exploitation movie complete with bared breasts (female). Spradlin directs.
Kaptara**
“Kaptara” is a old-style 3D computer graphic animated feature, but the tight budget means that the depiction of hair and cloth doesn’t match what the big studios can produce. The characters come off a bit stiff and sometimes the logic of gravity is lacking, yet it’s still an imaginative retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Considering the audience at comic conventions, animation doesn’t have bared breasts but does include the kind of gravity-defying barely their costumes–not for the slave women, but for the princess.
Theseus becomes part of the offering that the defeated Athenians must pay to the barbarian King Minos. That’s seven boys and seven girls every nine years must be collected from Athens. The 14 Athenians are sent into a labyrinth that houses the Minotaur that will eat them. Theseus catches the eye of Minos’ daughter, the 17-year-old Ariadne who then joins Theseus and the Athenians in their fight for survival.
There are some logic problems, but the story is well-told. The best animation comes at the beginning when the background is told with an animated Greek urn. If you don’t mind the relatively stiff faces and enjoy sword and sandal myth-based epics, this is a worth watching.
Rumble in the Jungle*
Disney’s 1967 “The Jungle Book” is hard to forget and this animation won’t erase if from your memory. The Jungle Book’s “The Rumble in the Jungle” is billed as an action-packed 3D CGI animated made-for-TV-movie, features all your favorite jungle friends – Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa and of course Shere Khan as they experience one exciting adventure after another. 
The “Rumble in the Jungle” special is due to air on Disney XD this fall. Currently, The Jungle Book 3D CGI animated TV series airs Monday through Friday on Disney XD. The voices are all British and the style episodic. There’s a definite lack of continuity–Mowgli is part of a wolf pack but only for one segment. Otherwise, he’s running off on his own with Baloo and Bagheera attempting to watch over him. Shere Khan is assisted by a cowardly jackal who seems to have lost his own pack. Sorry. I’m still a fan of the original musical cartoon and watching this made me miss the “Bare Necessities” and other musical numbers.
Good ideas and an indulgent uses of repetitive imagery is the problem with “Strange Frame.” You might like that the two main characters are black women in love with each other, but that love story isn’t convincing and the cutout animation sometimes seems too in love with its special effects to the detriment of the actual story. Written by Shelly Doty and G.B. Hajim, it claims to be the world’s first animated lesbian-themed science fiction film. Don’t know if that’s true. Set at the end of the 28th century, saxophonist Parker (Claudia Black) narrates the love story of how she met guitarist Naia (Tara Strong), fell in love, lost contact and then found her now famous love. Dragon Con named it the Best Feature Film, but everything’s relative.
Comikaze also features animated shorts and some old favorites such as the 1982 animated fantasy movie, “The Last Unicorn” with the author of the original book Peter S. Beagle present and the 2006 documentary fan film “Done the Impossible” which is about how the fans of the TV series “Firefly” were able to help get the feature film “Serenity” produced.
Age of the Geek 