SDCC: Work Hard, Cosplay Hard

For some, the convention circuit is a way of life. For others, it’s the gateway into an entirely new life.

“I always liked dressing up,” said a man with a chalk-white face, lime green hair and an evil grin. “I’m a performer in general.”

Tom Noe has been attending the San Diego Comic Con since 2004, but went to several smaller cons before that. An actor with the Barely Legal troupe in San Jose, Noe dresses to the nines every time – and this time came in a distinctive Hawaiian shirt wearing a camera to snap back at all the shutterbugs eager to take his picture.

“The Joker’s one of my favorites,” he said, adding he updates and improves costumes often. “If it’s progressing, I’ll always wear it. … I like the appreciation of a job well done.”

SDCC: Preview Day (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Con)

Monomythic is covering the 2012 San Diego Comic Con. While numerous other sites will be covering breaking news and events, stories here will focus on individual experiences, personal interviews and anything else strange enough to merit some attention.

Personal confession here: I’ve never been to the big Comic Con before. This is my first time. I remember going to my first con in high school, but it was in a small town and essentially consisted of one meeting room in a cut-rate hotel. I have been to slightly larger cons since; Austin’s con was decent. I have been to E3, and that was – interesting.

But this is a whole different animal. I’m still figuring things out as I go, and so far I’ve gotten a lot of help from hardcore attendees.

Monomythic Americana – the Kickstarter campaign

The people of Harper, Texas, got what they asked for. – Which would have been one of many stories in this project, had it worked out.

UPDATE (July 10, 2012): Well, that didn’t go as well as could be hoped. With 3% raised, it’s fair to say the campaign did not have proper Kickstartability. Monomythic will continue with San Diego Comic Con coverage regardless, and continue with other special features later on.

So why did it fail? With a grand total of one Kickstarter campaign under my belt, I’m not qualified to answer that, but I can make some educated guesses.

1) The project was not clear enough from the outset.

I kept calling it things like “a journalistic endeavor” and “an independent research project,” whereas my wife (and project partner) said repeatedly, “Just tell people you’re making a book.”

She made a good point.

How a president going back on his word changed the name of a city

This story was originally published on the Livejournal group HistoryTime on Sep. 27th, 2008.

This is a true story and a funny story. Not funny “ha, ha,” but still…

It was told to me by the most well-versed state historian I’ve ever met (and I have met quite a few). He passed away a few years ago, but the man was a living database when it came to Texas history.

He told me how our home town really got its name.

Monomythic: A New Hope

Throughout 2009, this site served as a Petri dish for historical, anthropological, sociological, journalistic and pop culture ideas – and then, rather abruptly, it stopped. Now it’s time to restart Monomythic with a modified-yet-still-on-target mission. Writing may be a part time gig for me, but my day job is teacher, so come the fall,  Monomythic.com will provide an outlet for students (and faculty) who wish to show off their creative faculties (no pun intended) to the world. More specifically, most of these works come from the Society of Liberal Arts at Porter, a club begun by students a few years ago, and maintained by a small-but-loyal group of hangers-on.

In the meantime, Monomythic.com will be the online home for a new project, to be announced soon – stay tuned!

 

MMM/Ultraverse: Freex and Solitaire, all for one or one alone

For the second Ultraverse spotlight, we look at one of the line’s false starts and an under-appreciated gem! Writer Gerard Jones describes two of the books that made the Ultraverse unique. Unlike other MMMs, this is more an reminder of great Marvel properties that deserve a new light than it is an examination of who the heroes are.

The Ultraverse was a writers’ playground, where new takes on comic book standards could be tried out. The X-Men were born mutants, but eventually became part of the super-hero elite. What if they never came out of the shadows? The Punisher wages a one-man army on crime, but what if the Kingpin was his father?

With new characters in a new universe, these concepts could be launched in unexpected directions.

MMM/Ultraverse: The Strangers were Heroes before Heroes was cool

This is the first in a series of Ultraverse spotlights, and fittingly we kick off with a comic about the start of a new age of super-heroes! Writer Steve Englehart was good enough to chime in on some of his favorite creations.

Imagine a world just like our own. Normal people living normal lives. Then one day a rare celestial event occurs, and dozens of people learn they have super-powers.

Sounds like the plot of Heroes? They were The Strangers, the team that jumpstarted the age of the Ultra in 1993!