My name is Dave Herndon, ever since my homeworld of Gallifrey was time locked I've been just travelling the cosmos, then they invented comic books, and cartoons. Now I run this blog and talk about nerdy things whenever I can. No matter what happens, if you stoke me a clipper, I'll be back in time for breakfast.
“The Force” is about to awaken more than just on movie screens.
The seventh film in the “Star Wars” saga (Actually the eighth theatrically released film after the 2008 animated “The Clone Wars”) is set to drop Nov. 18, at which point Star Wars merchandise is expected to skyrocket in interest and value. PHOTOS: Star Wars merchandise to own before the release of "The Force Awakens"
Quick Stop Comic Shop co-owner Dennis Barger, the self-proclaimed “king of the nerds” picked out seven pieces of merchandise he expects to be among the most sought after by Friday.
Among his criteria, he chose both new and vintage items, and items from price points that should be affordable to all level of collectors.
Check out Barger’s selections in the video below.
Not all is right in the comic book world, something is amiss.
Normally characters from the pages of comics near and far don't age (unless it's in a splinter universe, or advances the plot.), however on this day, the second of December, year of our lord 2015, one such character has aged by an entire year.
Make no mistake, the self-anointed "King of all the geeks" is definitely a character of epic proportions, but he continues to break all the rules and not follow the well-known tropes of his genre of pop-culture.
Anyone that knows the man, knows its mostly myth and legend, but on this day hundreds of friends, coworkers, acquaintances and other people he vaguely knows reached out and told him "Happy Birthday," in one way or another. Some simply with the words, others with topless photos of Bea Arthur (who ironically enough is having a career resurgence because of it.). It's unclear if those are related.
Barger had an outpouring of support not seen since any other person with a similar number of Facebook friends also celebrated their own birthday
*Editor's note, this is a barely modified version of the post from his birthday last year.
In the past six years I’ve been to more than 200 comic book and pop culture shows, conventions and other events.
You could say I’ve become obsessed with conventions. It wouldn’t be a false statement. I’ve been to shows in five states and two countries, both as a working member of the media and as a straight up fan. PHOTOS: ComiqueCon
Being at a show is what you could call my “happy place.” I’m comfortable at them, like a second home.
That’s what made Saturday special. I was completely out of place.
It wasn’t a bad thing.
ComiqueCon, a show by women and for women, was just different. It was a beautiful thing. There were dozens of female writers, artists and creators from the comic book and graphic art world.
Typically at a show there will be one or two female creators, or if it’s a big show maybe as much as 10 percent of the tables.
That’s a huge disparity from the real world. Women represent more than 52 percent of comic book buyers, but a far lower number when it comes to creators.
Marvel and DC Comics, the two major publishers print upwards of 50 titles a month each. Almost every book has a writer, artist, inker and letterer, yet the two companies usually employ less than 30 women in those positions in a given month.
Numbers are fluid each month depending on which titles. All of the creators are independent contractors, so technically no men or women are employed in any of those capacities.
Those numbers increase a bit at the second level of comic book publishing companies, but industry wide less than 40 percent of creators are women.
When women are typically featured at a comic book convention there has historically been one or two panels set up with two or three creators on it.
This convention was all encompassing, writers, artists, letterers, inkers and other women in the industry were not only the featured guests, they were basically the only guests. (A few men who work on books with women were featured but for once they were the extreme minority.)
It was great. I met more new (to me) creators than I do at a typical show.
I sincerely hope that show founder Chelsea Liddy is willing to put in the time and energy to bring the show back to Dearborn again next year.
For the better part of a decade I’ve wanted to be a podcaster, but for various reasons I’ve never gotten around to it, at least not officially.
A few years back, some readers might remember the ‘Culture ‘Cast, that I started with good friend and then-coworker David Komer, but it was extremely short lived. It also wasn’t a podcast, we used a video player to post it and save on some editing time, and it was recorded on a video camera with no microphones.
It also only lasted three episodes. LISTEN: Podbros Promotions episode 47 with Dave Herndon.
Then last year I decided to write a story about a podcasting network started by Lincoln Park resident John Bruske and a bunch of other local men.
I convinced a bunch of them to get together and chat, and even told them to feel free to record it and post it as a podcast.
They did, and I was officially featured on my first “real” podcast on the Podbros.com network.
Flash forward about a year, I was asked to be on one of the (now more than 30) shows on the network.
Bruske wanted to interview me about what it’s like being a modern journalist, how I do it and where I see the future of the industry.
I’m not used to being on that side of the table, I’m always the one asking the questions, but I think it turned out well.
The show I was on is called “Podbros Promotions,” where Bruske goes around and interviews people from all walks of life. I was lucky enough to be featured on the 47th episode which he posted Sunday morning, and I was asked back for a future episode (whether it posts at #48 or a future episode) about my toy collecting and the industry there.
Give it a listen and let me know what you think.
The production team from Youmacon – a Detroit-based, four-day anime, gaming, art and comic convention celebrating Japanese popular culture – today announced details for Youmacon 2015, scheduled for Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, 2015 at downtown’s Cobo Center and Renaissance Center. Festivities will take place 24-hours-a-day beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday evening through 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Similar in theme to most major Comic Cons, Youmacon (named for the Japanese word youma, meaning demon or ghost) is an all-ages mix of interactive games and events, cosplay, celebrity guest panels, live musical performances, exhibitors, artists and more. Highlights of the event, now in its 11th year, also include a Charity Masquerade Ball, video game and table top gaming rooms, a Live Action Mario and Donkey Kong Parties and a massive 100,000+ sq. foot dealer’s room for shopping anime and other collectibles. Last year’s Youmacon drew more than 18,000 attendees.
“After celebrating our momentous 10 year anniversary last year, our team really worked hard to assemble an even greater series of events for this year’s Youmacon,” said Morgan Kollin, chairman and founder of Youmacon Enterprises/Defying Conventions. “Youmacon has become one of the staple events in Downtown Detroit and has continued to grow year after year. We hope to break our attendance records again this year and whether you’re attending your first Youmacon or your 11th, this one promises to be the biggest and best yet!”
As part of this year’s larger-than-ever Youmacon, more than 30 anime industry celebrities and special guests are expected, including actors, producers, musicians, artists and more. For a complete list of special guests, please visit: www.youmacon.com/special-guests.
Registration is open till September 15, 2015 online at www.youmacon.com/registration. Platinum passes are available for $125 and three day passes for $55. Following September 15, tickets will only be available at-the-door. Pricing options include a three-day pass ($60) or Friday only ($30), Saturday only ($40) or Sunday only ($20) passes. Thursday evening’s activities are free and open to the public. Attendees should note that tickets sales are cash only.
The Detroit Marriott at The Renaissance Center is serving as Youmacon 2015’s official event hotel, with overflow rooms available at the Westin Book Cadillac, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Downtown Detroit and the Greektown Casino Hotel. Complete event, registration and lodging information is available at www.youmacon.com.
About Youmacon
Created by Youmacon Enterprises/Defying Conventions, Youmacon is popular culture event similar to most Comic Cons, however instead of focusing on comic books, Youmacon is a celebration of Japanese popular culture and its influence on our own culture over the past few decades. Common themes throughout the event are anime (Japanese animation), video games, Japanese-style artwork and comics and the rising Internet culture influenced by all of the above. Youmacon brings a unique all-ages mix of interactive games, celebrity guest panels and live musical performances to downtown Detroit. For more information, visit www.youmacon.com.
I’ve never been on an airplane before. Not until recently that is.
Always one to jump in feet first and ask questions later, I was offered the
opportunity to fly in the Blue Angels support plane, the C-130T Hercules “Fat
Albert.” PHOTOS: Herndon's adventure with the "Fat Albert"
crew.
While it’s not one of the fighter jets, it’s a plane nearly as
impressive--maybe more so. the pilots and crew on this flight aren’t worried
about just themselves and possibly a passenger, but sometimes dozens of
others.
As the weeks turned to days, turned to hours, to minutes, my anxiety level
got higher. I should have bought a ticket and flown somewhere, just so that it
wasn’t my first flight.
I shouldn’t have agreed to go on the flight at all.
Why am I doing this again? I kept thinking.
But the experience was just too cool to pass up.
After what seemed like hours of waiting after check-in, a women in a Blue
Angels jumpsuit emerged from the building we were standing near. My heart
skipped a beat, realizing this was the moment.
She came over and gave us the first of four pre-flight briefings, making sure
to mention we’d all be provided with air-sickness bags.
Next we moved a few hundred feet down and spoke with a flight engineer. He
also mentioned the air sickness bag.
Good thing I hadn’t eaten in 24 hours.
After his briefing, we were allowed to walk down to see “Bert.” A truly
impressive plane. We were given another quick briefing, and then turned loose to
explore the massive jet.
We were not only given permission, but encouraged to shoot photos and video
of the experience.
For about 15 minutes or so a group of military personnel and other members of
the media were given miniature tours, posed for selfies and enjoyed scoping out
the aircraft. The pilots arrive.
I’m rarely awestruck, given the opportunity to meet and chat with people from
all walks of life in my career, but this was something special.
We were allowed to listen in on the pilot briefing the crew for the day’s
mission, which he spoke with such confidence and speed most of what I heard I
still haven’t deciphered.
Then he turned to us and explained what he had said in terms I could
understand.
The gist of it, we were going to go really fast. So fast that we would feel
multiple G-forces on take off, and on the turns, and also experience
weightlessness in Zero-G.
We’d be going over 300 knots, and taking off at about a 45 degree angle.
We boarded the plane for the last time, I sat between another member of the
press and an female airman stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Time to strap in.
Before the plane started moving she pulled out her air sickness bag.
Gulp.
I leaned over and told her that if she needed it, I might too. As I got mine
out, I told her it was the first time I’d ever been in a plane.
Her face got ghost white. I can only imagine how many ways in which she
pictured me evacuating my stomach contents.
Then she started telling everyone on her left about my first flight.
We started taxiing down the runway. I got out my phone and tweeted a quick
goodbye to everyone, just in case.
And suddenly I felt like I weighed 1,000 pounds. With the G-forces I probably
did, then just as quickly I was floating.
This went on for the next four hours, the constant lurching and pull of
gravity, then floating and repeating.
One thing that didn’t happen, I never used the bag.
Oh, and the flight was only actually about eight minutes long. Longest, and
shortest eight minutes of my life.
Then we were on the ground, the rear cargo door opened and we got to see as
the Blue Angel jets taxied down the runway. I survived.
OK I was never really that nervous about surviving, but I was anxious about
not being “the guy” who needed to use the air sickness bag.
Once back on the ground the captain quickly gave us a rundown of what we’d
done, posed for photos with anyone who wanted one, and then made himself and the
crew available for interviews.
I pulled out my phone and noticed that he had favorited my tweet, not long
after I’d sent it.
That’s right, while I was in the back worried about the flight, he was
hanging out on Twitter.
Glad I hadn’t noticed that then, I might have jumped out the back!
“The Force” is about to awaken more than just on movie screens.
