SDCC 2016: Favorite Cosplay Part 3

More awesome cosplay!

Spiderman, Captain America, and Tony Stark from Captain America: Civil War

Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck It Ralph with her car

Lure module from Pokemon Go (not a great picture since I saw him from across the street)

Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones (with an beautifully embroidered gown and intricate hair she called hair torture)

Boo from Monsters Inc.

Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas

Bonus cosplay which I did not see in person, but it's too amazing not to mention.

Tara Strong as Harley Quinn from the Batman universe (picture from her Twitter @tarastrong

That's it for cosplay, but more SDCC 2016 coming up!

SDCC 2016: Panels Part 3: Luke Cage, John Barrowman, and Once More with Feeling

More panels!

* Luke Cage

I had to see the Luke Cage panel. I'm a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I'm especially impressed with Marvel's Netflix series Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Luke Cage made a big impression in Jessica Jones and I can't wait to see him in his own TV show. Most of the panel was clips from the new show and it looks amazing! The cinematography is awesome and Luke Cage is badass. The villain is introduced and he's pretty menacing. The music is different than the other shows as it focuses in rap and hip hop. It's not my favorite genre, but it fits with the show and the Harlem setting. All the stars were there: Mike Colter, Mahershala Ali, Simone Missik, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard, Frank Whaley, and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker. Theo talked about emoting through dark sunglasses as Shades. Alfre described how the script drew her in. I wish they could talk a bit more, but I also wanted the panel to be an additional hour. They also announced the Iron Fist TV show and a tiny teaser for The Defenders show. This was the best panel I've seen even if the security gestapo tried to get people to stop taking pictures.

* John Barrowman

John Barrowman is crazy fun and delightful. He has a huge personality and isn't afraid to laugh at himself or his own stories. He dressed in a Zack Branagan costume for the event. Soon after his arrival, he was told he was flashing too much (as the outfit was quite short) and donned a rainbow tutu to help with coverage and white "slut heels" (as he describes them) just for fun. He sang songs when requested (except for Springtime for Hitler) which you can see in the short videos I took below. He also shared bunches of hilarious stories from the sets of Arrow and Torchwood plus his every day life including peeing in a fountain at hotel unwittingly on camera, playing pranks on coworkers and at fan photo-ops, and accidentally showing his husband naked on a live video on Facebook and the fallout afterwards. John made sure to thank us and reiterated many times that he wouldn't be where he was without his fans. I look forward to seeing him at many more conventions.

* Once More with Feeling

Every year, the musical episode of Once More with Feeling is played at the end of Comic Con a la Rocky Horror with people shouting things at the screen and singing along. I love it! It also got my fiance to give the series a chance because the songs are integral to the plot instead of just silliness. This year, Juliet Landau, who played Drusilla, introduced a documentary series she's doing called A Place Among the Undead where she and her team interview various famous people about vampires, including Tim Burton, Anne Rice, Gary Oldman, Joss Whedon, Willam Dafoe, and many more. It looks pretty interesting, but she has some dramitization (where she stars) that look honestly pretty cheesy. I would watch it for the interviews though.

That's it for panels, but there will be more cosplay and stuff!

SDCC 2016: Book Haul and Author Events

I was swimming in books this Comic Con, but there were some cool author events and giveaways I went to inside the convention.

* Seanan McGuire AKA Mira Grant

Seanan McGuire is one of my very favorite authors. If her name appears on a book, I buy it without question because I love each and every one of her novels. She was signing at the Penguin booth and they were giving away a cool purple tote bag and the first in the InCryptid series Discount Armageddon. I gushed to her that I loved her new novella Every Heart a Doorway and that I wished it was a 10 books series. A second book in that series has already been written about Jack and Jill before they arrived at the school and I can't wait for it!! I see her practically every year I go to Comic Con and she is always super nice.

* Pierce Brown

I'm a huge fan of the Red Rising series (even though I still have to read the last one!). Random House gave out copies of Red Rising, which I already own, so I got it inscribed for a friend of mine. The line was super long and we didn't talk for long. He recognized me from his signing at a convention (I think Comikaze or Wondercon) and was thankful that I was getting other readers to his work. I hope he comes out with something new soon and he is also always delightful.

* Todd Lockwood

My fiance and I see Todd Lockwood every year at Comic Con because he's an incredibly talented artist that we know from Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. His art style changed the way people draw dragons because he drew the skeletal system and musculature that makes scientific sense, based on large cats. Needless to say he's amazing and now he can add author to his list of achievements with the release of The Summer Dragon. We also always buy an art print which was a closeup of the book's cover art.

* Purchases and giveaways without signings

In years past, the book publisher booths usually just had books on display or books on sale for full price. There were some amazing deals this year, so I loaded up. At the Tor booth, I bought V.E. Schwab's A Gathering of Shadows for half price and then received Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings and a super awesome Twin Peaks tote for free.

At the Penguin booth, I bought Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable Path Adventure by Ryan North and Alice by Christina Henry at a crazy low price.

Not only did I meet some awesome authors, but I discovered some new books that I never would have otherwise heard of. I hope to return next year for more days so I can go to even more signings and panels.