New Years Resolutions & Goals for 2013

The second half of my New Years blog post is the obligatory resolution portion.  It's always been a tradition of mine to write down a list of goals more so than resolutions for the upcoming year.  A lot of people feel as though resolutions are broken so easily that it's pointless to waste time creating them but I disagree.  Even if you set goals that are too high or you're only able to follow your plan for a short time I believe it is better than to have not spent any time trying at all.  Anything you accomplish in the short time you try is still more than if you hadn't tried at all.  I think I did a pretty good job last year of accomplishing the goals I had set for myself with one major exception.  The one goal that I considered to be the most important and wanted to complete above all was the only goal that I wasn't able to check off on my list.  But mark my words, it will happen in 2013.  I will have a completed first draft of an original work.  In 2012 I was only able to make the time to write half of a screenplay and 100 pages of an original novel.  Having written both towards the beginning of 2012, I was forced to put my own stories on the back burner as the year progressed.  But not this year.  I've outlined the rest of goals below. 

2012 in Retrospect: The Good, The Bad & The Beautiful

Every year around December 31st when the weather gets colder and the year is coming to an end, I tend to spend some of my time inside reflecting on what I learned during the year, things I've accomplished, and things I want to spend more time improving upon in the coming year.  I'm so pleased to say that 2012 is shaping up to be an incredible year for me.  There is no doubt that it has also been one of the most chaotic and dramatic years of my life to date, but overall the great things that have occurred highly outshone the bad.  I have so much to be thankful for that I wanted to write it all out and document the things that have contributed to my happiness.

Happy Birthday Stan Lee From Your Friendly Neighborhood Gwen Stacy!

Last year I wrote this Happy Birthday blog post/love letter to Stan Lee for On Wednesdays We Wear Pink and I thought I'd share it on my personal blog this year in honor of Stan the Man's birthday<3!  Stan means a lot to me as he's created so many of my favorite characters.  I read his biography a few years back and it made him all the more charming.

Today is comic book legend Stan Lee’s 89th Birthday! For those who don’t already know, Stan is responsible for creating the majority of today’s most popular Marvel superheroes.  Some of his brain children include SPIDER-MAN (he’s our favorite at OWWWP), Iron Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Daredevil (with Bill Everett) and Doctor Strange (with Steve Ditko).  If you have not yet read Stan Lee’s autobiography “Excelsior!” I highly recommend it.  One of my favorite parts of his book was the story of how Stan Lee created Iron Man.  One of Stan’s bosses at the time remarked about how easy it was to make a superhero because everybody loves a hero.  Stan obviously knew better so he made a bet with his boss that he could create a successful superhero who the antithesis of everything America believed in at the time. During the height of the Cold War, when young American’s everywhere protested and despised the current war, Stan created Iron Man as a millionaire industrialist who developed technology and supplied the military with weapons. And as we all know, Iron Man became a favorite character of everyone. Another thing Stan shines some light on in Excelsior! (which by the way means Onward and Upward to Greater Glory!) is his early life and how he kind of fell into comics. Even after taking a brief hiatus and joining the army to assist in World War II (Stan ended up filming instructional videos and writing manuals for the soldiers going off to fight) he made his way back to Marvel.

The 12 Best Episodes of Christmas on Television

Christmastime is hands down my favorite time of the year.  I always do everything I possibly can to enjoy each moment of the holiday season before it ends and I'm forced to wait until next year to celebrate again.  Some of my favorite traditions include helping my mom bake Christmas cookies (this year we baked gingerbread cookies, raspberry thumbprint cookies, pecan danties, almond crescents, butter cookies, and rainbow cookies in Christmas colors), driving around aimlessly to admire all of the festive lights, watching some of my favorite movies (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Santa Clause, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone, Love Actually), enjoying way too many of Starbucks' gingerbread lattes while visiting all of the holiday shops and Christmas trees set up around New York City, reading some of my favorite stories (Nicholas Was... a short story by Neil Gaiman, Batman Noel [which Jen & I just did a Super Villains Comic Book Club episode about], Polar Express, Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash Christmas issue and Christmas Trees by Robert Frost), decorating everything in sight from my house to my desk and even my car, and loudly singing along to the Christmas music I grew up listening to (as Buddy the Elf says, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear).  Well this post has turned into a list of all of the Christmas entertainment I love, but the purpose was to focus on television episodes.  Below are my 25 favorite Christmas themed television episodes in no particular order!

1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 'Amends' (Season 3, Episode 10) - Amends is the only Christmas episode of Buffy that was made in all eight seasons.  In this episode Angel is haunted by his past by the forces of the The First Evil, and Buffy struggles to get rid of the Bringers.  The episode ends with a beautiful snowfall in Sunnydale.  

2) Batman: The Animated Series - 'Christmas with the Joker' (Season 1, Episode 2) - The Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum on Christmas Eve on a Christmas tree and begins to wreak havoc in Gotham.  He kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon, and Harvey Bullock, and the gives Batman and Robin until midnight to save them.  

An Unexpected 80's & Hello Kitty Weekend

I'm still recovering from what was quite possibly one of the greatest weekends ever, but I had so much fun that I felt compelled to write a blog post about it before attempting to catch up on some sleep!  I only spent a total of 9 hours (including sleep) at my house this weekend but it was worth every minute!  As a long time LOTR and Hobbit fan I knew that I had to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on opening night.  I was overcome with joy at the thought of spending more time with Gandalf and seeing Bilbo's adventure finally come to life, so I brought my plushies of Gandalf and Bilbo to snuggle with during the film.  But before heading to the theater, I unintentionally stalked my good friend Alan (@SizzlerKistler) via Twitter who happened to be filming at Midtown Comics.  Melissa (@mechamelissa) and I met him there to buy a graphic novel for Thursday's Super Villains Comic Book Club and then stumbled into a Ricky's to buy wigs for the next days festivities.  Before arriving at the theater we met the birthday girl, Jill (@TheNerdyBird), her boyfriend Brad, and one of my closest friends, Dan (@DanSlott), at an adorable restaurant that was decorated beautifully for the holidays!  Next, we proceeded to stock up on movie snacks since we knew there was an almost 3 hour journey ahead of us.  We all agreed that the film was rather lengthy, but I really enjoyed it anyway.  I did not however enjoy the 48 frames per second 3D aspect of the movie.  It was just plain odd.  Everything looked too real so it was as if you were watching a documentary.  But I adored seeing Gandalf again, and Martin Freeman did a wonderful job playing Bilbo.  Plus Thorin is the hottest dwarf in Middle Earth.  But my favorite scene of the whole film was towards the end when Gollum and Bilbo were exchanging riddles.  The same scene in which Bilbo happens upon the ring.  I was pleased that the film was much more action packed than I was expecting, and I would really like to see The Hobbit again in 2D before it leaves theaters.  

Spoilers: Why The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale Just Didn't Do It For Me

I'm aware this may be an unpopular opinion as The Walking Dead has risen to become one of the top television shows currently running on cable television, but as a lover of Robert Kirkman's comic series, I am sorry to admit that the adaptation is really falling short.  Perhaps it's because having read the series, I can envision just how spectacular the show could be, or perhaps it's the steady decline in well written episodes ever since Frank Darabount's forced departure after season one.  The lack of strong female leads is certainly a major contributing factor.  But either way, The Walking Dead television series simply is not cutting it.  It seems as though the average viewer is willing to overlook poorly written scripts and lack of character development as long as they see a few good zombie kills at some point during the episode.  This completely takes away from Kirkman's original intention for the series.  He has always explained that The Walking Dead is a tale about the survivors, and how they cope in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse.  In fact, Kirkman created the series due to his love of zombie films, but since he always felt curious about what the survivors would do when the movie ended, he started writing The Walking Dead so there would be a long term tale.  Zombie apocalypse's don't just end when the movie does, which is why The Walking Dead is currently up to its 105th issue.  Now I'm not complaining about the zombie kills, because who doesn't love seeing them?  But when the best episodes of the season are the ones with the least amount of dialogue, I think it's safe to say there's an issue.  

Super Villains Comic Book Club!

The events that transpired between Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year were unlike any other I had previously experienced.  We all tend to save up and shop a little more than we probably should during the days following Thanksgiving, but it was a purchase I made this year that quickly snowballed into one of my favorite projects thus far.  One of my best friends, Jen (@jennifermarie), has always had an affinity for Namor, and seeing as how Amazon had some of the trades on sale, I decided to buy two and see what all the fuss about Marvel's Atlantean was all about.  Naturally I texted Jen as soon as I placed my order and she wanted me to let her know what I thought about them when I finished reading.  We had been trying to schedule a Skype date for after the holiday (we're on different coasts) and that's how the ball started rolling.  We thought it would be great to discuss the trade during our chat, which we quickly decided would be made even more fun with the addition of wine.  We joked that it would be like our own little comic book club.  Both of us possess really enthusiastic personalities coupled with a love of comics, so it was only mere minutes before we realized this should be something we do every week.  As we continued to get excited about our new weekly chat, it dawned on us that other people may want to join in the conversation as well! And so, the Super Villains Comic Book Club was born.  I mean, what could be better than attending a weekly book club from the comfort of your own home?  We filmed our first issue last Thursday, based on Namor The First Mutant Volume 1: Curse of the Mutants.  In case you missed the video, you can watch it below or on YouTube.  And you can even subscribe to our channel and take part in upcoming issues!

Brief Musings on Skyfall

This past weekend I saw the newest Bond movie, Skyfall, and overall I was really impressed the film.  The opening credit sequence was beautifully filmed and the song performed by Adele was perfect.  The movie was about 2 and half hours long but it was so exciting that it held my attention throughout.  I didn't even look at my phone to see what time it was until the two hour mark, and even then I couldn't believe that much time had passed.  

Javier Bardem was a superb villain.  I hated him during the film.  Just the sight of him and hearing his awful laughter would get me to tense up.  His backstory and his master plan were well thought out and believable.  As for Bond, I also think Daniel Craig did a great job.  Growing up, Pierce Brosnan was always my Bond, so although I'm used to a classier, more refined 007, I still enjoyed Craig's performance.  (Although, Bond only drank one martini in the film, opting for scotch as drink of choice.)  Judi Dench played M, and Ralph Fiennes antagonized her as Gareth Mallory, the man who would transition into her role after her forced retirement.  Dench was faced with many difficult decisions and shouldered a lot of the blame for the course of events in the film, but she played her part with dignity, a strong sense of pride, and a deeply rooted love for her country.  Ben Whishaw, who played Q was adorable.  I particularly enjoyed the conversation he and Bond had upon first meeting each other.

Why Spider-Man is Amazing & Why You Should Have Faith in Dan Slott

If you follow me on any form of social media or have known me since high school, it's no secret that Spider-Man is by far my favorite superhero (Marvel, DC or otherwise).  Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man comic series is coming to an end this December with issue #700 which is written not only by one of my favorite Spidey authors, but also one of my close friends, Dan Slott (@DanSlott).  A lot of people have been giving Dan grief online about his new series, Superior Spider-Man, that debuts in January of 2013 and as a longtime reader of his work, it's been driving me nuts.  Personally, I think it's just silly to be questioning Dan's storytelling skills after everything he's written for us so far, so I've decided to compile a list of my favorite issues from his Amazing Spider-Man run as a reminder why you should be looking forward to whatever he has planned for us all!  Don't worry, I haven't included any spoilers, so if you're looking to begin reading Spider-Man, below is a great place for suggestions on where to start!  If you've read #697, the last page should've gotten you PUMPED for the final three issues.  So in conclusion, don't be mean to Dan, or you'll have to face me (and I have a black belt in karate)!

On Fake Geeks And Why Everyone Should Just Leave This Topic Alone

I've never written a post about my opinion on the "fake" geek before so I felt like today was an appropriate time given the earlier controversy.  Not that this isn't a reoccurring topic (sadly).  Every time an article or an ignorant comment surfaces online I feel like pulling out my hair and screaming "WHY?!"  Do the people who say these outlandish things really have enough spare time to be concerned with what others are doing?  If they do, I can't say I envy them.  They may argue that they're trying to protect what they love from being ruined by outsiders, but wouldn't someone who claims to love something be excited to share it with a new audience?  I mean logically speaking, the more people that spend their money in our industry (no matter what their motivation might be), means more money gets invested in our industry.  I like to see my favorite authors and artists become popular and receive the praise and royalties they deserve for their creations.  I'm completely ignoring the gender issue that usually arises in conjunction with said ridiculousness because quite honestly, it's completely irrelevant and disgusting that it could even be a factor in any argument.  Last time I checked we hadn't taken a TARDIS to the past when gender discrimination was tolerated.  Guess what, plenty of women are "geeks," and so are plenty of men.  Which bring me to my next topic.  Some people get very upset over the prospect of "booth babes," but I do not understand that concept either.  So what if a woman chooses to be employed as such?  Did Chris Evans playing Captain America ruin The Avengers for you since Chris isn't a geek in real life?  How is an actor getting payed to play a part in a film any different than a woman getting paid to help promote a booth?  Many of the girls that do cosplay and work at cons actually love what they're doing, not that should have to explain themselves either way.  Should they be made to feel alienated because they decide to wear a revealing costume?  I don't think so.  Why wouldn't you flaunt what you have?  I know girls who spend months working out and dieting before conventions just so they can feel confident in their cosplay.  Are they to be punished for putting effort into their appearance?  What gives anyone the right to judge anyone else?  There is always going to be someone who knows more about a certain topic than you do and that's okay!  In fact, it's kind of exciting.  It makes for great conversation, it allows us to connect with one another, and it means that there's always something new for us to discover.  There are so many areas of fandom to explore and years of content to memorize that the prospect of being an absolute geek god in any number of topics is improbable (unless you're my good friend Alan Kistler [@SizzlerKistler] but that guy is just exceptional ^.^).  And isn't geekdom all about enthusiasm anyway?  Why turn something that was created to be an outlet for entertainment and enjoyment into a contest?  Being a geek is not like being a member of some elitist club.  One of the reasons I've always loved the geek community is because overall, it's a very accepting and loving group of people.  If anyone is making a conscious effort or showing an interest in one of my passions, I'm the first one to offer up recommendations.  I find it satisfying to get new people involved.  In fact, I get so excited about reading comics that I often force other people (namely my brother) to read them too.   Then I get to talk about how awesome whatever it was had been! It's a win-win situation.  I can't think of one negative result of engaging more people in reading.  Call me crazy for being so inviting, but a world with a little more superhero and a little less Jersey Shore can only be a good thing.  Plus, everyone has to start somewhere!  So instead of wasting our time defending ourselves why don't we move on, continue to have fun, and deny the haters the one thing they crave most; attention.

I'm Happy Just Because

Do you ever just wake up and find yourself in a crazy random (awesome) mood?  This happens to me A LOT.  Like a lot, a lot.  It happened today.  I meant to spend my day doing productive things like writing blog posts and tons of other adult-like real people things.  But I didn't.  What I did do was buy a purple wig.  It's from the same company that Melissa (@mechamelissa) and I bought our New York Comic Con wigs from.  It's purpley and magical and will match my galaxy leggings.  I love wigs.  After that I decided to run around my room in a hot pink wig that I already own and pretend to be an airplane while straightening my room.  Why?  I have no idea.  And that's right.  I spent much of Hurricane Sandy and the snowstorm cleaning and organizing my room and it's already a little messy again.  What a failure!  I've also spent much of my day scouring the internet for a pink handbag that has a giant bow on it.  Sadly after looking through 20 pages of products on ebay, I was devastated to find that most pink bow handbags are actually made for Barbie dolls.  Wtf?  Anyway, my next order of business was finding a gif maker online.  I thought it would be entertaining to make a gif set of myself from the video I used to audition for a reality show this one time.   I actually got picked to be on it but they keep having production setbacks so I'm still not sure if it will actually happen.  Either way, I'll be happy<3  Oh wait come to think of it, I already was on one reality show.  It was on TLC and it was called Geek Love.  This one (if it gets made) will also be geek-centric, but I digress.  The next unproductive topic I tackled was to sit at my laptop and think about how unfair it is that Sailor Moon and Sabrina the Teenage Witch have talking cats and I do not.  At least I had a gingerbread latte while I contemplated what my cat and I would talk about.  Well, that's two blog posts in one day which is probably crazy.  GTG read some Batman comics and listen to Bright Eyes until The Walking Dead starts!  What have you been doing on this unseasonably warm November Sunday? Hope you like my gif.  Byeeeeeee.

Don't You Know That if a Time Warp Was Open, I'd Stay Right in My Place

Several days ago on Twitter, I asked everyone if they could choose a place, real or imagined, and live there, where it would be.  I was met with an overwhelming number of responses that continued throughout the day and I felt so inspired by everyone's differing opinions that I decided to compile a list of my own fictional places I would love to move to.  The truth is that given the opportunity to move, I would choose to stay where I am, but it's still fun to daydream!  I would create a list of real places too, but as New York is the only real place I would like to live in, the list would be quite short.  I'm sure no one will find it surprising that two of the five places I chose are fictional version of New York =^.^=

This is Not a Costume Party

Remember at the end of my last post when I said I had to run because I was picking up Melissa (@mechamelissa) from the train station?  Well, she visited with me this weekend and as usual, the antics we got ourselves into could easily be used as the premise for a sitcom.  On Saturday night, we spent hours applying sugar skull makeup to our faces because we were attending a belated costume party to celebrate my friend Amanda's birthday and Halloween.  We were supposed to arrive around 9pm, but as our makeup was taking longer than usual I texted Amanda to let her know.  She replied "LOL," with no other explanation.  At 11pm when we finally entered the party there were a bunch of folks standing around outside dressed in everyday civilian clothing.  Mel and I glanced at each other but assured ourselves that once we walked inside the room would be decked out to the nines in elaborate costumes.  So as we entered the door, and surveyed the crowd, we burst out into a hysterical laughing fit because it was apparent that we were the only ones in costume.  The bouncer even told us to just go because he wouldn't be able to tell if it was actually us anyway.  Amanda apologized and said she had no idea what I meant when I said our makeup was taking a long time.  She also forgot to text anyone to tell them not to wear costumes, but everyone else (besides Me & Melissa) had decided of their own accord and laziness to come without getting dressed up.  Luckily for us, we both love dressing up and since we both don't care what other people think, we had a great time.  No one had any idea what we were, but that's a whole other story.  Anyone who is unfamiliar with Long Island, may not know that most of the people here are not the most, er, accepting of people.  I dislike making generalizations about large groups of people because there are always exceptions but for the majority of my life I knew that I  was meant for Manhattan and not this island.  Anyway, we were receiving weird looks all night from strangers, and accidentally scaring people whenever we turned around.  But obviously, this was not an issue for us, because look how totally AWESOME our makeup turned out!

How I Spent Hurricane Sandy

Since Hurricane Sandy has struck, there has been little to no transportation available around New York, plus most establishments were out of power, and some still are.  Never in all of my years have I seen the school district close down for six consecutive days and counting.  I am so thankful that everyone in my family and all of my friends made it through the storm okay with only minor damage and power loss in some instances.  One thing Hurricane Sandy has forced me to do is spend a lot of time inside my house.  Work was closed for two days last week (we were nowhere near as lucky as the schools!), and I used that time to finish reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, reorganize my book and graphic novels shelves, reorganize and minimize my DVD collection, straighten up some of the cluttered areas in my room (all while watching The X-Files), and spend a lot of time watching classic movies with the rest of my family.  It feels like I've been on the go since last March so it was really nice to enjoy a relaxing week at home for a change.  Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy curling up in my bed with a good book and a hot cup of tea, or lounging on my downstairs couch for family movie nights.  It's always lovely to reconnect at home and spend some time selfishly indulging in the things that make you happy.  But now that it has been a few days, I'm ready to run out to Manhattan for more adventures.  I have plenty of exciting things coming up this holiday season, which I'll be sure to share with everyone :o)

On Meeting R.L. Stine at Spooky Empire

This past weekend was Florida's annual horror convention, Spooky Empire, and I just so happen to be visiting my best friend/blog partner Kristin (@KristinLFowler) during that time.  I didn't really know anything about the convention or what to expect while were heading there but I did notice that R.L. Stine was giving a Q&A Panel which was an event that I immediately knew I could not miss.  I credit R.L. Stine with being the man who changed my childhood and made me love reading.  When I was younger, there was nothing more exciting to me than acquiring a new Goosebumps book.  My grandmother lived within walking distance of an independent bookstore called The Oaktree Bookstore (sadly, it's no longer there), and every time I would visit her, we would walk there together and she would buy me a new Goosebumps book.  I'll never forget how overcome with happiness I had felt in those pre-internet days when I would walk into Oaktree, hurry over to the Goosebumps section and see that a new book had been released and added to R.L.'s shelf.  After carefully choosing my next read, my Grandma and I would also buy candy from the card store, and then run back to her house where I would immediately begin my next horrific adventure.  Whether it was a Halloween mask that adhered to it's wearer, a ventriloquist dummy named Slappy who plays ill hearted pranks on his owners, a hamster named Cuddles who ingests Monster Blood, or a pair of lawn gnomes who wreak havoc while everyone sleeps, I could not get enough of Goosebumps.  I owned and read all 62 of the original Goosebumps books in the series multiple times, took out all of the television adaptation VHS tapes from the library for multiple viewings, and collected every last Goosebumps trading card available.  It's been a long time since I was a child and experienced Goosebumps, but in that moment, at Spooky Empire, everything came flooding back to me as I shoved Kristin and yelled to her that R.L. Stine had just strolled past us on the show floor!

SWCVI: Her Universe Fashion Shoot

This past August I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a convention that I have always dreamed about experiencing firsthand, Star Wars Celebration.  I was asked to help film for FanGirl TV, a new webseries that focuses on fangirls who love all things geeky.  The convention was being held in Orlando, Florida, which is also the home to my lovely blog partner Kristin Fowler (@KristinLFowler), so the decision to accept was a very simple one to make.  After a lengthy drive down to Florida, the guys I traveled with (Gary, Brandon & Dave) and I finally arrived and began filming.  I was in charge of interviewing the girls we selected to film including Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the brains behind one of my favorite clothing companies, Her Universe.  Kristin and I often gush about Ashley's designs on our site On Wednesdays We Wear Pink.  I was so overcome with excitement about having the opportunity to interview Ashley, that I completely forgot to be nervous.  And once we started chatting, I quickly realized there was never any need to be worried after all because Ashley was nicer than I could've ever imagined!  She is very genuine and friendly and you can easily tell how much she cares about her fans and the girls wearing her line.  Which is one of the reasons Ashley decided to host a photo shoot at Star Wars Celebration featuring the real girls who wear her clothes as the models.  The photo shoot was a lot of fun and you can see the pics on the Her Universe Facebook page. 

5 Comic Book Characters I Relate To Most

Anyone that has known me since I was old enough to write can attest to the fact that I adore making lists.  Whether they be traditional to do lists or grocery shopping lists, New Years Resolutions and goal oriented lists, or simply lists of the next movies, television series, or books I plan to indulge in, I cannot get enough when it comes to list making.  Perhaps it's the accomplished sense I experience when I get to slide my pen across the page and cross off another thing I've completed.  Others may argue that I have OCD, but either way, no one can come between me and my lists.  So for my first list blog post, I decided to layout the top 5 comic book characters I relate to most.  I don't think anyone will be surprised which leading lady comes in at number one but I will spell out exactly why I identify with her so closely.  

My Favorite Moments: New York Comic Con

New York Comic Con is the convention that I look forward to attending every year.  It's local, it's not overwhelmingly crowded and the panels are usually pretty interesting.  That is, until this year.  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast at NYCC, but there is no doubt that the Javits Center severely oversold the event this year.  There was even a point on Saturday when they closed all of the doors and were not admitting any more attendees into the convention because they were over capacity.  I had arrived late that day, but luckily because I had a press badge and Melissa had an exhibitor badge we were permitted to enter anyway.  I had also heard people complaining about the lack of guests and interesting panels.  I disagree with this point.  Last year, the two big panels were The Walking Dead and The Avengers panels.  The Walking Dead returned for a panel again this year, but it wouldn't have made sense for The Avengers to return when their next movie isn't scheduled to be released for a few years.  Plus, Clark Gregg crashed the Marvel TV panel to be there when Joss Whedon and Kevin Fiege's video clips announced that the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series would feature Agent Coulson.  That's pretty darn exciting if you ask me!  Not to mention that Tom Felton, Adam West, Burt Ward, and Stephen Arnell (the new Arrow) were all in attendance.  As for other guests, I was very pleased.  Maybe it's because I love comics, but the main reason that I attend conventions is to see the authors and artists behind each of my favorite series.  I don't get overly excited when I meet movie stars, but place me in front of an author like Neil Gaiman and I'm speechless.  I love getting my books signed and just being able to have a few moments in the presence of someone talented enough to have created a series I respect.

Comics Crush: Batman by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo

I've always deeply loved and adored Gotham's finest crime fighting Bat team, whether they're gradually kicking butt across the beautifully drawn panels in a comic, animatedly doing so on my television, or being portrayed by actors on the big screen.  I definitely own more Batman comics and trades than any other title in my personal library and I love each and every one with my whole heart.  I've often spoken with people (more recently) that have enjoyed the Christopher Nolan films, but are intimidated by the comics because they're unsure where a good starting point would be amongst all of the Bat history.  With DC's reboot of The New 52 last year, it made it easier for some folks to jump in on the story and gain some background knowledge before delving further and exploring the extensive Bat lore.  Many longtime comics readers have been critical of DC's New 52, but I myself was thrilled to be given the opportunity to introduce my world to a bunch of newbies.  Having already been very familiar with Batman, and with Scott Snyder's beautiful prose, I had very high hopes for the series and as anyone who has been reading will tell you, Snyder and Capullo's Batman is certainly a standout in the new wave.  If you haven't already, you can pick up a copy of the first trade Batman Volume 1: Court of Owls on Amazon.  And you can read my spoiler free review of the issue after the photo ^.^

Random Tumblr Quiz - 88 Truths

Hey guys! I should totally be preparing for NYCC, but since I'm known to procrastinate I decided to take a quick (okay, not so quick) tumblr quiz while I continue to put off all of my responsibilities!  Please excuse any grammatical errors, as I am deliriously tired.  Last night I attended the Black Milk photo shoot/dinner and I was barely able to squeeze in any hours of sleep upon arriving home.  Obviously it was totally worth it though!  I'll be blogging about it later in the week or next, once the Facebook pictures are uploaded and the madness that is New York Comic Con is over.  And right before jet setting off to Florida to visit other Kristin, Patrick and their adorable puppy, Raven.  I'll be escaping the New York cold for a few days <3  Speaking of warmer weather, here's a pic of one of my favorite summer outfits from this year!

Weekend in Review!

Q: What do a Doctor Who bar, Looper, a Zombie Walk, Mean Girls, and Left 4 Dead all have in common? A: They were all contributing elements to my fabulous weekend!  And what's even better is that 1) it's not yet over, and 2) NEW YORK COMIC CON STARTS THIS WEEK!  After a stressful day at work on Friday, I was forced to employ my Speed Racette driving techniques to ensure I made my train into Manhattan.  Seriously, I need to move there ASAP so I can avoid these types of close calls!  First on the agenda was to see the movie Looper, staring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis.    I had been wanting to see it since the movie trailer was released because besides the obvious reason (JGL), time travel is my absolute favorite sci-fi subject to explore in movies, novels, television, and *crosses fingers* hopefully IRL one day.  After a brief mishap with the ticket machine (aka Melissa [@mechamelissa] & I's first blonde moment of the weekend), we purchased our movie snacks and headed into the theater.  It's no secret that I have a sweet tooth and thankfully the concession stand at the theater was able to satisfy my major Sour Patch Kids craving.  Overall I really enjoyed Looper.  I'm thinking about writing a full review of it for On Wednesdays We Wear Pink sometime this week if I can find the time between all of my NYCC planning. I was excited to see that Paul Dano had a small part in the film.  I've loved him since I saw him in Little Miss Sunshine, and I've been following his film career ever since.  Immediately following the movie, we were planning on going to the Bottleneck Gallery for their Zombie Art Gallery opening, but since we have all month to view it, we opted instead to head over to The Way Station.  

Vintage Video Game Day at Cassie's

There are very few things that I love more than vintage video games.  A vast majority of my childhood consisted of me, my brother, and two of our closest family friends (who lived 5 houses away from us!) sitting on our couch or theirs and competing against each other in video games.  We had all of the best systems growing up including regular Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Playstation, Playstation 2, Nintendo 64, Xbox, Game Cube, and of course Gameboy's.  Needless to say, Santa was always good to us!  Our household is currently equipped with all of the aforementioned game systems in addition to PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and we're hardcore coveting that limited edition Star Wars Xbox Kinect (which is at the top of my Amazon wishlist on the side of this very page!)  Anyway, my good friend Cassie (@yrchmonger) and I decided to pay homage to our childhoods, break out the old systems and declare it to be Vintage Video Game Day!

The first game we chose to play while getting back into the video game groove, was one of my all time favorite games, Mario Party for Nintendo 64.  

My Favorite Moments: Baltimore Comic Con 2012

This past month was the first time I have ever attended Baltimore Comic Con and I can confidently state that it is one of my favorite (possibly even my most favorite) of all the cons I have ever attended.  The convention is very comics-centric and since it's much smaller than SDCC or NYCC, you're able to see and do everything you could possibly want to without spending any time waiting on long lines.  Many of the industries leading talents were in attendance and because of the size, everyone was very approachable and you were able to have actual conversations with the people you admire without feeling rushed.  Not to mention all the shopping I did and all the rad cosplay I saw!  So once our press passes were approved, my brother and I got up super early on Saturday morning (like 3AM early), and hopped on a train to Maryland.  For the first day of the con I decided to sport my Lazy Oaf Batman bodysuit, which was lucky because one of the guys at the Stylin' Online booth loved my outfit so much, that he gave me a pair of these Batman earrings for free!

I also ran into Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) again!  He and Greg Capullo (@GregCapullo) were signing together and I had them put their John Hancock on a copy of one of my single issue Batman variant covers.

Welcome & Zombie Quidditch!

Hey guys! I decided to start keeping a separate more personal blog from On Wednesdays We Wear Pink because I'd like to chronicle more of the fun things I've been up to in New York and OWWWP is a more professional site that I share with one of my best friends, Kristin Fowler.  You'll still be getting tons of geeky and girly news from On Wednesdays We Wear Pink, and here you'll get a deeper look into the stories behind all of the Twitter and Instagram statuses that I can't quite describe in only 140 characters.  Kind of like an online diary, although, a girl's gotta maintain some secrets :o)  Let me know in the comments section if there's anything specific that you guys would like to see from me and I'll do my best to incorporate it into my new blog!  I've been wanting to start a fun blog for some time and since I finally have a night at home (even though I should be cleaning my room), I decided what better time than now?  I'm going to be backtracking slightly over the next week or so because I really want to share all of my favorite moments from Star Wars Celebration, Dragon*Con, The Walking Dead Zombie Tour, and Baltimore Comic Con with everyone.

I figured I'd start with the most recent events, which happened just yesterday!