Tag: comic books

Stan Lee celebrated at the Comic-Con Museum!

Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Black Widow, Doctor Strange…

Given the immense popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films in the past 15 years, who on the planet doesn’t recognize at least a few of those names?

What do these iconic superheroes all have in common? Their famous co-creator, Stan Lee.

An excellent new exhibit opened today at the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego. It’s titled Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee. Those attending Comic-Con 2023 this week have the opportunity to jump onto a shuttle at the San Diego Convention Center and head to Balboa Park to enjoy this exclusive exhibition!

Visitors to the Comic-Con Museum will see how Stan Lee, over the course of his 78-year career, not only influenced the evolution of comic books, but as the creative leader of Marvel Comics, helped build the company into an international multimedia powerhouse. Fans can view rare comic books, original art and paintings that were born from his seemingly inexhaustible imagination.

Many of the used comic books on display, including dozens of superhero origin and Marvel landmark stories, come courtesy of exhibit co-curator Michael Uslan, originator and Executive Producer of the Batman movie franchise! They have been selected from his vast boyhood collection. You can tell how his comic books were well read! Michael was a good friend of Stan Lee, who was described as endlessly energetic. (I learned Michael is the one who suggested to Stan that he write alternative stories concerning DC Comics characters!)

Stan Lee‘s enormous accomplishments merited induction into the comic book industry’s Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995. He received the NEA’s National Medal of Arts in 2008.

Personally, I loved viewing the exhibit with its many decades of artwork. It revived pleasant memories from my own past–particularly those years long ago when I collected comic books. I amassed hundreds of issues in several long boxes, which to me were vaults filled with treasure.

Fans of anime visiting the museum might also enjoy two other exhibits that opened today just in time for Comic-Con: the Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Art Exhibition and an incredible sculpture inspired by My Hero Academia.

If you haven’t already experienced the Comic-Con Museum’s ongoing exhibit The Animation Academy – from Pencils to Pixels, that is also a definite must-see. From animation’s rather crude beginnings to today’s high-tech computer generated graphics, you’ll experience it all. You even have the opportunity to create your own animated stories!

Learn more about Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee and the many other wonders that await you at the Comic-Con Museum by visiting their website here!

An extensive new exhibit on the bottom floor of the Comic-Con Museum celebrates the life and legacy of legendary Stan Lee.

Today’s huge Marvel Universe was co-created by Stan Lee. The name “Marvel Universe” was suggested by a fan in 1966. This year Stan Lee would have celebrated his 100th birthday.

Marvel Tales Annual, No. 1, published in September 1964, features the artists and writers who comprised The Marvel Bullpen back then.

Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, co-creators of many iconic Marvel characters, pictured together at different times.

Captain America, No. 3, 1941. 19-year-old Stan Lee’s first writing in comic books and first use of the pen name “Stan Lee.”

The Marvel Age dawned in 1956, with the resurgence of superheroes. In an increasingly stressful modern world, readers enjoyed escapism, much as they do today. As time went on, characters became more complex and believable, displaying ordinary human emotions.

One of many iconic comic books on display. The first appearance of the Fantastic Four, November 1961, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Just Imagine, by Stan Lee with Chris Bachalo. A reimagining of DC character Catwoman in 2002.

A new Stan Lee Universe is soon to appear! It’s called Stan Lee’s Workforce. A major announcement is forthcoming!

Kill-Switch by artist Greg Hildebrandt. Part of the upcoming Stan Lee’s Workforce!

Stan Infinity, by artist Rob Prior. Very cool!

Members of the media get a first look at the new Comic-Con Museum exhibit, Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee. It opens to the public today, July 18, 2023

If you’re attending Comic-Con 2023 in San Diego, you don’t dare miss this!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Stan Lee and more coming to Comic-Con Museum!

The Comic-Con Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park will be opening several new exhibits during the week of Comic-Con 2023!

The exhibit I’m most excited about is titled Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee. The Comic-Con Museum and Kartoon Studios will celebrate 100 amazing years of Stan Lee’s legacy by showcasing rare comic books, original art, and paintings, including some never-seen-before items! One part of the exhibit will feature other co-creators of the Marvel Universe, including legendary artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. You know it’s going to be awesome. ‘Nuff said!

Those attending Comic-Con who love anime and manga shouldn’t miss the Comic-Con Museum’s coming Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Art Exhibition, presented in partnership with Crunchyroll and Mondo, and a special My Hero Academia installation: a Historical Battle in Kamino statue that depicts the epic fight between All Might and All For One.

All three of these new exhibits will open Tuesday, July 18.

By the way, visitors to the museum will also enjoy the currently running Animation Academy – from Pencils to Pixels interactive exhibit. I blogged about it here!

A shuttle bus will be running during Comic-Con between the San Diego Convention Center and the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park, much as it has in recent years. For your ride, you’ll need a museum ticket and Comic-Con badge.

Courtesy Crunchyroll.

Courtesy Crunchyroll.

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I’ll be covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Scarlet Witch materializes in the Gaslamp!

The powerful Scarlet Witch has begun to materialize in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter! Is it the heroic Scarlet Witch, member of the Avengers, or the terrifying one who wants to dominate the multiverse?

Well, to find out, one must step inside the Bards and Cards game store on Fifth Avenue. A cool mural is now being created behind the front counter!

I learned there will be three parts to the mural, including imagery that pertains to Dungeons & Dragons.

The artist is Robert Turner (@thewaterthief).

I’ll drop by again on a future walk to photograph the artwork’s progress!

UPDATE!

A couple weeks later I saw a Dungeons & Dragons creature appearing. It’s a beholder…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Creativity thrives on Free Comic Book Day!

Today, May 6, was annual national Free Comic Book Day!

Southern California Comics in Kearny Mesa held a big event celebrating the day, and I dropped by to see what I might see. (And to pick up a big bag of free comic books! Later arrivals were allowed to grab 15 comics. I have some reading to do!)

In the parking lot outside the store a number of small vendors were selling all sorts of pop culture collectibles, and independent artists were showcasing their original creations.

I wandered a bit and spoke to some of the friendly artists.

One thing that was obvious is these people are driven by dreams and ambition and a relentless passion to create. As an author of short fiction, I can relate.

No matter what level of success any artist might achieve, it’s good to remember these words by Frida Kahlo: “I paint flowers so they will not die.”

Every artist has the ability to work that magic.

I really like the work of Ruben Rosas. He does illustration and digital art. See some of his stuff here.

I learned there’s a group of artists who call themselves the Comicbook Artists of San Diego. The two guys who greeted me were super friendly. According to their website: CASD was founded with the intention of building a local community of comicbook artists to foster artistic growth and to showcase their artwork. They want to put San Diego on the artistic map!

More cool artists! These smiling humans are two of the creators of Accidental Aliens, a local comic art studio! Check them out here. A description of their 2nd Shift Volume 1 includes: When evil incarnate tears through San Diego, four fledgling superheroes band together…

Oh, look! It’s Horrorgasm! I once saw an exhibition of their art at the Comic-Con Museum here.

It appears Ronald McDonald has traveled to Free Comic Book Day from a galaxy far, far away.

Great cosplay. And an earnest pitch to check out the 60 Pages 14 Creative Teams 1 Big Punk Rock Comic Kickstarter page here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Sunday morning walk around Comic-Con!

It’s Sunday, the last day of Comic-Con 2022. Things are beginning to wind down a little bit, but thousands are still enjoying the annual pop culture convention.

In the morning fans were heading to the San Diego Convention Center, and many families had driven in from around the city on what is typically a more family-oriented day.

The offsite lines aren’t as bad as Saturday, but they’re still fairly long. I’m afraid I didn’t have the patience to wait. I like to keep moving. Perhaps I’ll go on one more walk around Comic-Con this afternoon and analyze the situation again.

This is what I saw…

People head in toward the San Diego Convention Center on Sunday, the last day of Comic-Con.

Congratulations Rachel Smythe! Eisner Award winner for best webcomic.

Cool cosplay!

The IMDboat has already wrapped up. Or, I should say, is unwrapping.

These friendly folks are launching JAM. It’s a spoken word app for your phone. You can record or listen to mini-podcasts about a minute long! “Your story. Your voice.” Brilliant idea!

Check out the JAM homepage if you’d like to join!

Here comes Batman. He forgot to use a grappling wire.

Creative steampunk and flames cosplay!

UH OH! Looks like the dragon escaped from the House of the Dragon’s castle.

No, it’s just friendly T. rex and his buddy.

As the morning progressed, the crowd heading toward the convention center grew.

Walking during Comic-Con, a few minutes before some of the outdoor activations open.

A somewhat longish line at the Abbott Elementary offsite.

Minimalist cosplay. Nezuko’s box.

Another smaller box, with a head poking out of it.

The Dragon Ball offsite gave away lots of great swag!

Hela and her small red sidekick.

I was tossed a tiny rubber ducky that squeaks!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Another cool batch of cosplay photographs!

As usual, there’s a whole lot of cosplay to enjoy during Comic-Con this year!

Every imaginable character from popular entertainment (movies, television, comic books, video games…) can be seen roaming the streets and sidewalks in downtown San Diego. Most of the outdoor cosplay is found in the Gaslamp or around the convention center.

I passed hundreds of awesome costumes yesterday and this morning. Every so often poses were struck and my camera shutter clicked!

Star Wars cosplay at Comic-Con.

Mighty Thor.

Maleficent.

Good old Captain America.

Sailor Moon.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

Spider-Gwen.

Zenitsu Agatsuma of Demon Slayer.

A cool Spider-Man family at Comic-Con!

Another Cap and Spidey. Two very popular cosplay characters.

Chun-Li from Street Fighter.

Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!

Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Princess Peach.

Iron Patriot.

A very scary Batman.

Captain Marvel.

MTV astronaut!

The second Indiana Jones I’ve seen this year at Comic-Con.

Riddler has a diabolical scheme.

It isn’t every day you see flappers at a con.

Ciel Phantomhive.

Squid Game.

Dr. Artemus Peepers.

The Umbrella Academy cosplay.

Uh, oh. I didn’t catch who these folks are. Mad Max? Leave a comment if you know please!

Old school Hawkeye.

Here’s another one where I need help. Everyone knows Captain Marvel on the right. Who’s that on the left?

Jedi and his young Padawan practice using the Force on me. I’m an easy target.

How many Lokis are there in the multiverse, anyway?

Doctor Strange has been stripped of magic. He’s gonna use his fists.

Butterfly Lady of Children International uses her smile superpower to help kids in poverty.

Chainsaw Man looking for devils to saw.

Cloud Strife.

Vision.

Doctor Strange casts a magic spell!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Even more awesome Comic-Con cosplay!

It wouldn’t be Comic-Con without tons of awesome cosplay all over the place!

Today, Friday, it was easy to spot cosplay every which way while walking near the San Diego Convention Center.

When the opportunity arose, and action poses were struck, my camera was clicking away!

This is one of those things that makes walking outside Comic-Con such an adventure every year. The experience is exhilarating, surprising, and you don’t want it to ever end!

Sho’Nuff of The Last Dragon.

Plastic Man.

Captain America.

Hawkeye. (She told me she’d beat Green Arrow, no contest.)

The Mandalorian cosplay.

Old school Daredevil.

Watch out Wonder Women. Joker is sneaking up.

Daredevil and Spider-Man combine forces. Villains can’t escape detection given both Spidey sense and Daredevil’s multiple super senses.

Imperial Clone Shock Trooper.

Look at all the Mario characters!

Mysterio is casting an illusion as he stands beside a mesmerized Spider-Man Noir.

Why is Mysterio’s helmet opaque? That darned fish bowl fogs up.

SCP MTF cosplay.

Gandalf and Saruman.

Cosplay inspired by The Haunted Mansion, and the Celestial Knight!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Cool cosplay photos from Comic-Con 2022!

Enjoy this collection of cool cosplay photographs that I took today while walking outside Comic-Con 2022!

Which is your favorite?

Two Flashes, Adam Warlock and Star Lord.

Princess Zelda and Link.

Demon Slayer cosplay.

Batgirl.

Scarlet Witch.

Silver Surfer and silver surfing friend.

Nadja of Antipaxos.

A guy who is badly pixelated.

I assume this is Janice Rand of Star Trek. I’m going by the hairdo.

South Park characters.

Oh, come on. Everyone knows Spidey!

Game of Thrones.

Louise Belcher.

Looks like a mash-up of Star Wars stormtrooper and Venom.

Wonder Woman is here to save the day!

And here’s Thor with a very large Mjölnir.

Riddler.

A Sith Lord and a Jedi. Obi-Wan, perhaps?

Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

Indiana Jones.

Robin.

Loki.

Zatanna.

Dark Magician Girl.

How sweet.

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Hemingway in Comics previewed at Comic-Con Museum!

There’s a modest exhibit at the Comic-Con Museum that previews a much larger exhibition that is coming later this year. Those visiting the museum to see Spider-Man during Comic-Con should head down to the lower level and check out Hemingway in Comics!

I love reading literature, and Hemingway is one of my favorite authors, so I was pleasantly surprised when my curious eyes spied this comic art today.

The styles that are represented are quite varied, and the fictional stories involving the celebrated American author can seem fantastic and implausible, but that is art! And it’s all very cool!

I really look forward to seeing the full exhibition when it opens at the Comic-Con Museum this coming September.

Read the sign below to learn more….

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

The art of Optimus Volts during Comic-Con!

Local artist Optimus Volts can be found during Comic-Con at the Chuck Jones Pop Up Gallery.

I wandered into the pop up gallery yesterday afternoon, where I met Optimus Volts at a table displaying his work.

In addition to creating several really cool sculptures, he’d painted comic book covers and baseball cards, reimagining them using his own unique vision. Many of the superheroes and baseball players were given sugar skulls and surrounded with imagery associated with Mexico’s Day of the Dead!

Check it out!

Yes, that’s a baseball card of San Diego Padres hero Tony Gwynn!

Optimus Volts and other artists will be meeting the public and selling pieces of their work inside the Chuck Jones Comic-Con Pop Up Gallery through Sunday! The pop up gallery is located at 530 Sixth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter.

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!