Comic-Con International: San Diego

Posted on by luxshine

This is, by far, my favorite convention. Sure, it’s the only one I’ve gone to in the USA and I have never been there as a seller, but there’s some special kind of magic to Line-con (as some people call it… with good reason. This year I witnessed a Line-inception: A line to get into a line to get into a raffle to get a ticket to get into a line… to get into a line) that so far I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Sure, it has it’s bad sides (you can find those complains somewhere else in the net) but for me, the good sides overcome all. Sure, I still have to manage to get to any offsite besides the one that is on front of the Tin-fish (This year it was Midnight Texas, with an amazing haunted house set up that made me want to see the show despite not having been a big fan of True Blood), and the line to the Netflix experience makes sure I will never get that swag (I have a rule: No line longer than 15 minutes will see my feet unless the other end has Muppets), but at the same time people in San Diego are AMAZING (Shout out to the staff at Asti’s and Chocolate, as well as the USA Hostel’s great people both staff and guests) and what I could go to in the con was… well, magical.

Every year since, I think, 2011, I’ve sent a pic to the Souvenir Book. Except for 2013 where my Turtles homage didn’t get in, I’ve always been lucky to be chosen. This year was Batgirl… one day I’ll tell you about the creation of this image:

Last year I was a translator at the Conque: Walls or Bridges conference. That was great as holy shit, we had a surprise appearance by none other than Stan “The man” Lee, but I was still not really part of that panel. I was just there to parrot back words in a language everyone understood. THIS year I was the organizer and part of the conference team in the Small Press beyond the Border panel, together with Fers from Fixia Studio (Soulkeepers), Gina Chacon, Adriana de la Torre and Alejandra Zuñiga (from Studio XIII), and moderated by Martin Arceo (Santos Comics), and it was INCREDIBLE. People were very interested to hear about the challenges and problems to publish comics in Mexico, under the shadow of the huge american industry, as well as the whole way in which our industry has evolved. We started with about half the room full, finished to a full house. I still CAN’T believe it, but can’t wait to organize more round tables like this. Maybe one with an american small press publisher to compare experiences!

(I am also wearing a dress. It’s the first dress I’ve worn in about… 20 years or so)

Cosplay was great too. I love hunting Doctors (I started with Doctor Who, then expanded. If you are wearing a character with a doctorate Cosplay, I want a picture of you!), but this year I also loved getting shots of Moanas, Mauis and Ruffios (I will update the pictures as soon as I get my Ipad to cooperate!)

All in all, I can’t wait to go back… maybe this time as an exhibitor and not just as attendee!

Wonder Kidanakash Nedakh

Posted on by luxshine

 

I adore Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I think that it’s one of the most underrated movies of the Disney animated canon, and that Kida should be in the Princess’ line up because she is THAT Badass. I adore every single character, from Milo to Gaetan, and I think it’s a crime that more people don’t love the movie.

That said, I also adore Nubia, Wonder Woman’s black sister. Even if her origin in the silver age is a bit cringy, and she was pretty much ignored post crisis (She appeared, people forgot her and man, she should’ve been the new Wonder Woman instead of Artemis) and now she’s pretty much relegated to an alternate earth that well, it’s a bit problematic, I still love that she finally has an official Wonder Woman outfit. And because she, like Kida, is very overlooked, well, the combination was obvious.

(I am a bit mad that the scanner lightened Kida’s skin so much, as I tried to make her the same tone as she is in the actual movie)

Wonder Snow White

Posted on by luxshine

The next of my Wonder Princess Series, Snow White, the very first Disney Princess.

I have to admit, I am not that huge fan of Snow White. I love the changes they made to her in Once Upon a Time (Even if the actress’ hairdo distracts me sometimes), but the one in the movie was… very bland.  Still, on the process of making this piece, I got to like her a bit better. Can’t be easy to make those seven dwarves become a bit more civilized!

On the other hand, the suit I gave her is from one of my favorite versions of Wonder Woman: The Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier armor. That Diana was pretty much everything I love about Diana: Strong, joyful, ready to fight when needed but also knowing when to rest and when it was time to celebrate life.  Dawryn’s art just made her look even bigger than life. (He is very missed).

Let me know what you think of this Wonder Princess, and well, see you next week for the next!

It was made on a Copic Marker Skecthbook, using Shinhan Touch liners, Copic Liners, Touch Twin markers and Copic Markers. Oh, and some glitter pens that got lost in the scanning.

Wonder Moana

Posted on by luxshine

I have to admit, Wonder Woman is my favorite comic book character of all time. One of my earliest memories is watching Lynda Carter on TV, and well, I had a bit of an obsession.

With the new movie, and all those “She wasn’t the first badass woman in movies” meme, I suddenly had the urge to dress Moana as Diana. They have a lot in common: Both are the only daughters of their Island’ monarch, both leave the island against their parent wishes but with another, older female family member’s approval. Both have to deal with a man who has a bit more ego than sense…. and well, if I keep going, I will spoil Wonder Woman.

So here’s my Wonder Moana (now the first of a series I’ve got planned and that I will share here for you all to see) a bit bigger and a bit cleaner than in Instagram and Twitter.

(Oh, and some WIP photos so you see the evolution)

It was made on Deleter A4 paper, using Shinhan Touch liners, Copic Liners, Touch Twin markers and Copic Markers.