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Japanamerica Night at Kinokuniya! Tokyo! Paula! Chairs!

Last night, Kinokuniya Bookstore in NYC held Japanamerica Night, featuring authors and artists including Roland Kelts, Hiroki Otsuka, June Kim, James Barry, and Melissa DeJesus speaking about Japan, their work, how Japan's influenced their work, and signing a lot of autographs. The night also featured special guest appearances by folks like Ali T. Kokmen from Del Rey Manga, Newton Grant from The Escapist Magazine, Anime News Network founder Justin Sevakis, NEW YORK-TOKYO creator Taeko Baba, and me. It was a great evening, with the crowd overflowing from Kinokuniya's event space into their manga section -- making it impossible for me to pick up a copy of the newest Soul Eater.

I've got to immediately thank every one who came out, and I hope you all had a good time. Special "shout outs" to Paula and the Yajai Thai waitress. See, Paula, I remembered your name. I also loved the tie. And, Yajai Thai waitress, I should learn your name. I also didn't know you liked anime.

It was amazing seeing so many NYAF volunteers, NYAF maids, and fans in NYAF T-Shirts at Kinokuniya and I hope I wasn't a total disappointment. Anyone who glomped me or just said hi early in the evening got one of the last New York Anime Festival 2007 mascot plushies. (If you didn't get one but are craving a chibi Statue of Liberty, I made sure to leave a few at the office so you can still pick one up at the NYAF Shop at newyorkanimefestival.com.) And anyone in cosplay got New York Anime Festival calendars as well as previews of Del Rey Manga's Faust courtesy of Ali.

Ali and I go back a few years to our time together at Be Beautiful Manga. (That's right, girls.) I think I was attracted to Ali's signature bow tie, and I think he fell in love with the fact that I knew how to work the fax machine. Ali's a good friend. (Girls, that means secret lover.) Last night, though, we had a bit of a tiff. See, Ali writes for the Del Rey Manga Blog (activeanime.com/delreyblog), and he was complaining that one of MediumAtLarge.net's upcoming features -- "Peter's Tie of the Week" -- seems based on from his "Ali's Tie of the Week". He charged that I stole his idea. I, admitting I did, told him it didn't matter because it was a blog and no one really reads it anyway. (But maybe people would if there was more shounen ai innuendo.) He countered by reciting some manifesto about blogs being the next generation of journalism. I said that nothing written in blogs was true. I then hit him with a chair.

I'll talk to Ali today to make sure the swelling's gone down.

Getting back on track, talking with the Kinokuniya team, everything went off beautifully and a few folks actually bought some of their zany Japanese funny books which always makes the store happy. I, of course, didn't actually get to see too much of the formal Japanamerica Night presentation. Instead, the evening was filled with me dodging questions about who's coming to NYAF '08. Had Newton (also a Be Beautiful alum) snuck in some beers, I may have let a few names slip, but because he didn't all I put out there was...

"I'm talking to a band that has something to do with Bleach. They're not confirmed, but I'm talking to them."

Have fun speculating until summer.

Oh! I forgot the superbonushappy gift I was also giving out. While I started the night passing out plushies, once they were exhausted, I pulled from my pocket a small stack of tickets to the Tokyo Anime Fair. The New York Anime Festival will have a booth at TAF, and the event sent me a few extra tickets. People were happy. People were very happy. People were very, very happy. When I explained the tickets were just to get into TAF -- and they didn't cover airfare and hotel rooms -- people were still superbonushappy.

My favorite part of the tickets is actually the back. The rear of all of TAF 2008's tickets is an ad for Soul Eater. Soul Eater is a manga that's half Bleach, half D.Gray-man, and half naughty. No one's releasing it in America yet, but Kinokuniya has the Japanese version. Also, it's being made into an anime that's premiering in Japan in April. When's it premiere in America? New York Comic Con. Maybe. I'm working on it. My connection to the whole thing is T.M.Revolution sings the opening theme, and since T.M.Revolution is performing at New York Comic Con, wouldn't it make sense for Soul Eater to be there with him?

Once Japanamerica Night wrapped, Newton, Justin, and I headed on out for dinner at Kenka. Kenka's an izakaya (a low-class Japanese bar) on Saint Mark's Place specializing in deep fried bull naughty bits and $1 Sapporos. Justin and I go there more often than we should, and this was Newton's first time. He'll be back. In between pondering how I won't know what to do if my eventual kid isn't a nerd, explaining why Justin should teach Newton's kid about girls, and halting all conversation when the Cutie Honey theme started playing over the establishment's tinny speakers, we actually talked about a fair amount of business that I'm not going to share with you all right now. Once the stuff I can't talk about wrapped, we got cotton candy and watched Korean cartoons.

I ended up in bed around 3 AM only to find my radio had died and because I can't fall asleep without the cold, unfeeling lullaby of NPR, I stared at my ceiling until morning. And I've got a meeting with the CEO at 8:30 AM.

What have we learned from all this? Not much. So, let me try to pin a conclusion on this train wreck.

I'm terrified whenever staging events -- big or small -- because there's always that fear that no one will show up. This trepidation then swells exponentially when you bring in partners, especially partners you're a fan of, and because I have a total crush on Kinokuniya, I really, really didn't want to screw up 'cause if I did Kinokuniya wouldn't call me any more. (Did that joke connect? Not really? Yeah, I thought it was pretty lame, too.) What I'm trying to say is thank you all for coming out.

BookExpo Author Events Announced!

So here they are, the author events for BookExpo America! We have a great line-up this year with a few guests with California ties. While of course, I never want to play favorites with our events or our authors, I'm pretty excited about the Children's Breakfast and the Saturday lunch. Honestly, all of the events are excellent and we've got a pretty exceptional group pf writers and personalities on display for BookExpo attendees. Yeah, John Hodgeman and Ted Turner on the same stage with Nafisi and Lehane in between? Come on, where else are you going to see that!

As for my excitement for the kids breakfast, who wouldn't be? Neil Gaiman? Sherman Alxie? Eoin Colfer? Judy Blume!!!! I was sure Gaiman wouldn't be able to do it for one reason or another and he was actually the first confirmation we got from the entire group. If you missed it this summer, go here for my story of hanging out with Gaiman on a Beijing rooftop - one of the coolest memories from my job!

Through a funny quirk with our registration vendor, tickets won't go on sale until next Wednesday. Once they do, snatch those tickets up! For the breakfast events, you'll have a choice between general admission or breakfast at a seated table. We started this last year after I got some sound advice form some attendees. So with no further wait, here are the BEA 2008 author events!

CHILDREN’S BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST

Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers); Judy Blume, author of Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and the Great One (Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers); and Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins). Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Book Group) will be the Master of Ceremonies. Introductory Remarks by Jon Scieszka, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

SATURDAY BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST

Magic Johnson, author of Magic Moves: 32 Lessons on How to Be an All-Star in Business (Crown Business), Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Queen (Touchstone/Simon&Schuster), and Andre Dubus III, author of The Garden of Last Days: A Novel (W.W. Norton). Alec Baldwin, author of A Promise To Ourselves: A Journey Through Divorce and Fatherhood (St. Martin’s Press) will be the Master of Ceremonies.

12PM – 2PM SATURDAY BOOK & AUTHOR LUNCHEON

Richard Engel, author of War Journal (Simon&Schuster), Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, author of Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era (Celebra), Jon Krakauer, author of The Hero (Doubleday), and Michael Moore, author of an as yet untitled work (Grand Central). Christopher Buckley, author of Supreme Courtship: A Novel (Twelve) will be the Master of Ceremonies.

4PM – 5PM THE HEARD WORD: BEA’S AUDIOBOOK & AUTHOR TEA(Saturday)

Robert Crais, author of an Untitled Elvis Cole Novel (Brilliance Audio), T. Jefferson Parker, author of LA Outlaws (Brilliance Audio), and Michael Connelly, author of The Brass Verdict (Hachette Audio)

SUNDAY BOOK & AUTHOR BREAKFAST

Ted Turner, author (with Bill Burke) of Call Me Ted (Grand Central), Azar Nafisi, author of Things I’ve Been Silent About: A Memoir of Family (Random House), and Dennis Lehane, author of The Given Day (William Morrow). John Hodgman, author of More Information Than You Require (Dutton) will be the Master of Ceremonies.

Things Money Can't Buy.....

Love. This bloggers favor (that's a lie). The feeling a kitten's meow gives you deep in your heart. The laughter I got yesterday watching a co-worker fall off his chair. Immortality. Morality. Enough Lego's to satiate my desire to build. The respect of the Editor-in-Chief. And.........

This Poster:

That's right, the crack team of NYCC lawyers (some guys I like to drink beer with) told me we can't sell it, but, we can give it away! So here is the deal, you can see this completely awesome show poster the Kubert Boys drew and inked for us at your local comic retailer (where you can buy droves of NYCC tickets) and we'll be running a bunch of contests to give them away. But what you can't do is give me any money for them, ok? Seems fair, what you once thought about paying for, you can now get for free.

The first 5 people to leave a comment on the blog or send me an email will get the first of these spanking new, the ink is hardly dry, amazingly cool, one-of-a-kind posters.

-L

Snafu-a-Rama

We issued a press release today announcing what I think is a really cool partnership with Newsarama for this year’s show. Newsarama is going to create a news room at the con that will overlook the con floor. In it they will conduct all kinds of interviews with the myriad of guests we’ve got lined up in addition to roving reports from the thick of the con. All of this will be streamed out to waiting fans via Newsarama. Cool, huh?

Well, the not so cool part was that the release gave some of our friends the impression that this was an exclusive arrangement with Newsarama in some way. It’s not. Newsarama is doing a really cool feature at the show that we are excited to support, but this by no means limits what we will do with CBR, The Beat, The New York Times, Pravda, or any other news source anywhere in the world!

We completely value all of the media and industry sites that cover, support, and love NYCC so the last thing we’d do is want to freeze any of them out or limit them in any way. This is really about an exclusive news room that Newsarama has created to cover the con from a unique perch and we’re happy to be doing that with them. However, if our friends from another news site called us up and wanted to do the show exclusive hat cam (head mounted, web streaming con cam) at the show, we’d welcome that and call it the exclusive New York ComicCon hat cam and issue a press release about how stoked we are to have it!

We’ve got a cool partnership with IGN.com, we are talking with a huge group of podcasters to create a podcast arena, we’ve got big things cooking with Anime News Network, The Beat is our freaking sister for god sakes - media is all a flutter around NYCC and we embrace them all!

The lesson learned? Issue separate press releases and make sure we are a little more clear on the agreement. So sorry if we weren’t clear as mud, but come web sites, podcasters, newsprint and mags – the con is 50 days away and there will be a lot to cover.

-L

Japanamerica Night at Kinokuniya! Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night, starting at 6 PM, is Kinokuniya Bookstore's Japanamerica Night, featuring authors and artists including Roland Kelts, Hiroki Otsuka, June Kim, James Barry, and Melissa DeJesus all speaking about Japan and its influence on everything that they do. Also, the New York Anime Festival's donated 33 pounds of swag that'll be given out to anyone who shows up in costume. And, looking at the forecast, it's not supposed to be that bad tomorrow night. Snow flurries are expected, but it could be worse.

And there's an even bigger reason to show up to Japanamerica Night tomorrow night! Two more special guests! Newton Grant from The Escapist Magazine and... me! Newton's a long time friend who long, long ago used to be my boss. Now, he works at www.escapistmagazine.com, most known for Zero Punctuation by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, a delightful weekly videogame review that's filled with more cussing than actual review. Newton's in NYC on ultra top secret business that has nothing to do with playing Gears of War and watching The Venture Bros. in my apartment, and he'll be at Japanamerica Night to answer questions about why Yatzhee is so angry.

And, beyond Newton, as I said, you can also look forward to seeing me. If you saw me at the New York Anime Festival, I was the guy in the staff shirt and suit jacket who looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Tomorrow night, I'll be the guy in the yellow shirt and corduroy jacket who looks like he hasn't slept in almost a week.

Newton and I aren't technically special guests, but we'll both be there, both love Kinokuniya, and both helped put the night together. Wait, Newton didn't, but you should still talk to him. He's got three kids and great stories about each of them. His oldest dressed as Napoleon for Halloween. Honest! As for me, what'll I say? Don't know, but if Kinokuniya's gotten its liquor license, expect me to talk about New York Anime Festival 2008's bands and guests months before I'm supposed to.

If Kinokuniya still lacks a liquor license, I'll -- instead -- probably be chatting about their cafe's intriguing take on creme brulee. I've been a big fan of creme brulee ever since I ate ten or so bowls of it at a buffet in Vegas, and Kinokuniya has a dessert that's a conceptual creme brulee, kinda sorta inspired by the dish but definitely not what you'd expect to see in a traditional burnt cream.

I've got definite opinions on what makes a good creme brulee, and I hope to share them with you tomorrow!

Lucky Star and CODE GEASS at New York Comic Con!

Previously, I revealed that New York Comic Con will host Emma's US premiere. Today, I'm happy to announce that Emma isn't the only anime series that'll be shown for the first time in America at New York Comic Con. Working closely with my friends over at Bandai Entertainment, I can announce that two of their most-anticipated series -- Lucky Star and CODE GEASS -- will both screen at NYCC as well!

Lucky Star's the slice-of-life story of Konata Izumi, a Japanese highschooler who -- while smart and athletic -- doesn't do all too well in school or at sports. What's the reason? She's an anime fan. Lucky Star follows Izumi, her friends, and their quirky, clever, and so very, very cute adventures through adolescence.

CODE GEASS is the story of war, revenge, and robots with character designs by legendary manga studio CLAMP. In the year 2010, the Holy Empire of Britannia invades Japan, crushing all opposition with their robotic soldiers, the Knightmare Frames. But while Japan is enslaved under Britannia's rule, the Japanese Resistance are about to receive help from the most unlikely of sources, the son of Britannia's Emperor.

CODE GEASS will begin airing on Cartoon Network later this spring, and both series will be released on DVD by Bandai Entertainment in the summer.

Looking over blogger reactions to Emma's announcement -- and Japanese pop star T.M.Revolution's before that -- I've seen a lot of questions and confusion about why there's anime at New York Comic Con at all. New York Comic Con has comic books at its core, but it's a celebration of the full breadth and depth of American popular culture, and if you haven't noticed, anime's not something only viewed in dark basements and in underground clubs anymore. Nope, Naruto and Bleach are as well known today as Batman and Superman. And just as New York Comic Con is a showcase for movies, television, and toys, it's a home for anime, too.

And, in response to the grumbles about New York Comic Con featuring T.M.Revolution and getting these premieres instead of the New York Anime Festival, don't you fret. Work's already begun on NYAF '08, and what you see at NYCC is just an appetizer.

Exclusive Iron Man Bobble Head!

One of my many duties for New York Comic Con is collecting information on the various exclusive figures, toys, statues, and other goodies for sale at the show. I just got the information on a limited edition Iron Man bobble head that'll be revealed on NewYorkComicCon.com tomorrow, but I wanted to share it with all of you today.

Straight from the upcoming Iron Man live-action movie comes this limited edition Iron Man Mark II Armor Bobble Head. The bobble head is just like his big brother on the big screen, except for his -- well -- titanic noggin. He's only $15, only at the Action Figure Xpress Booth (1544), and only 1500 have been made! For more, visit shopafx.com.

Japanamerica Night At Kinokuniya! Update!

So, last week I mentioned Kinokuniya's Japanamerica Night, taking place this Wednesday. A number of authors will be speaking about Japan's influence on American books, films, cartoons, and culture and NYAF and TOKYOPOP will be giving out prizes to everyone who shows up in costume.

I mentioned, too, that everyone who comes in costume would be getting 10% off all manga. This last bit ain't exactly accurate. I spoke with the store this weekend to make sure everything was coming together -- and while they did the discount for NYAF's last event there -- there won't be a discount during Japanamerica Night. Sorry.

But there will be swag. Lots of it. I believe the box I mailed out to Kinokuniya was 33 pounds of goodness.

To make up for those few bucks you won't be getting off of volumes of Soul Eater, how about I break some New York Comic Con anime news? Hmmm? Maybe? Let me do some laundry, eat some breakfast, and then I'll reveal not just one -- but two -- anime premieres!

More NYCC Guests and Cliffs Notes

It's finally officially official, we've added Joe Kubert and Joe Simon as our latest Guests of Honor at NY ComicCon. Simon and Joe Kubert, both at the show? This is a dream come true, they are true legends. Simon coming to The Con is really special as he does not do many of these appearances anymore. So don’t miss the chance to see a the legend that co-created Captain America (to pick just one of his amazing accomplishments in his career). As for Kubert, he and his sons Andy and Adam create dour exclusive show poster, that I blogged about earlier anbd you can get a look at here.

Be Our Guest - In addition to Simon and Kubert, I leaked a bunch of new Featured guests last week, took a look at them here.

That's The Ticket - ComicCon Tickets will be on sale at most major comic retailers this week, I'll get you a full list sometime next week.

Where I'm Not - Oh yeah, I'm not in Bangkok or Singapore where I am supposed to be. Weather in NYC on Friday put my flight into enough jeopardy that I cashed in the tickets and shelved the trip. Yeah, so right about now I should be landing in Singapore preparing to speak to groups of publishers, printers and illustrators there and then in Bangkok - what am I doing instead? Sitting in Borwalk writing a blog post and preparing to scrub the bathtub - But I am listening to a Hold Steady album I just grabbed from iTunes, and that helps.

Where I will Be - This reminds me, in the NYTBR today is a piece about handful of new visual books including THE ADVENTURES OF HERGÉ, CREATOR OF TINTIN. I was recently invited to Brussels as a guest of the Foire du livre de Bruxelles (translation, BookExpo Brussels!) so I’ve been reading about the country and it's got an amazing comic (strip, really) history including a comic strip museum and a huge array of shops. Looking forward to spending some time kicking through the comic shops and book shops and a good friend of mine who runs the International Booksellers Federation lives there and has promised me a tour of Belgium’s literary and visual history. I'll blog this in a few weeks - yes, try to quell your excitement.

Fresh Books and Stale Espresso - This is awesome. Northshire Books (one of the finest indy bookshops in the NE) is the first indy bookstore in the U.S. to install an Espresso POD (print on demand) book machine. It's awesome. It’s like Rube Goldberg, meets the Jetsons, meets Gutenberg. Read about it here.

More Bitching - I posted last week about how Amtrak and Dell taught me how to provide awful service? I got another great example. I needed to get a copy of my "bill" from Amtrak so I could submit an expense report, this is what they sent me:

Thank you for contacting us. Your ticket stub is actually your ticket receipt. However, if you have lost this stub you may request a ticket receipt copy. Effective November 1, 2005 a $15.00 fee will be assessed per reservation and a charge card number is required to complete the transaction. A representative from our Refund Department will contact you to obtain your credit card information.

HGH In Action - Lastly, this is what my team does when they are at work.

Yoko Kanno Comes To New York City! Maybe?

Earlier in the week, when talking about local (and awesome) band HAPPYFUNSMILE, I mentioned that the site of their most recent gig, a Japanese piano bar inside a Chinese restaurant, listed "Yoko Kanno" as an upcoming performer, and that this confused me complexly, as Yoko Kanno is -- simply put -- a goddess to anime fans. She's easily the most well-known, respected, revered, and worshipped composer in the anime realm and responsible for the aural side of animations including Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, Macross Plus, and Ghost in the Shell: STAND ALONE COMPLEX. So, why, I asked, would she be in NYC? And, why, I further posed, would she be singing at a Japanese piano bar inside a Chinese restaurant?

The answer was pretty obvious: It wasn't the Yoko Kanno. It was just a Yoko Kanno. It was just another performer who just happened to be named Yoko Kanno. But, I couldn't be sure, and I had to hope it was the goddess. As such, I called the Japanese piano bar inside the Chinese restaurant that just happens to be called Aruba to make things even more surreal and sent over a few e-mails.

What did I hear back? Yes, it is the goddess. Yes, it is the Yoko Kanno.

Now, to be honest, even after speaking to Aruba, I'm not entirely sure it's the real Yoko. Again, why would she be in NYC? Again, why would she be singing at a Japanese piano bar inside a Chinese restaurant? But, hey, maybe Aruba's owner, Shige Kajiwara, is friends with Yoko. Maybe he's got some pull in the Japanese music industry. Maybe I've got to become his friend.

Whether or not she's the real Yoko Kanno, I'll be at Aruba at 100 Park Avenue at 9:30 PM on Thursday, March 20. And, yes, if she is the real Yoko I'm going to try to steal her for the New York Anime Festival. Hell, even if she isn't, if she's good, I may steal her for NYAF.

If you want to talk to Aruba to double check, confirm, or deny my story, you can reach the Mr. Kajiwara at skajiwara@nyc.rr.com. Let me know what you hear back!

Dr. Doom at New York ComicCon

Check it out - our first vid of the year from our new pal Random Guy!

Ask The Show Manager - Q &A on NYCC

Hello ladies and germs, it’s time again for another round of Ask the Show Manager! Here are a bunch of questions I’ve gotten in the last week, read through because your question might be answered! If you want to ask me a question, you can post it here on the blog, or use the fancy Ask The Show Manager form on the NYCC site.

-L

Q: I was at the show last year and was really excited and amused to see that you were hosting the Auditions of "Who Wants to be A Superhero?". As a fan of the show, I was wondering if you had any plans to have any of the former contestants or Winners at the Con this year? I'm sure having someone like "The Defuser" there would only increase the draw. -Dan
A: It was SCIFI who ran the tryouts last year, coordinating with Stan Lee’s appearance. To the best of my knowledge, they are not planning on doing it this year. Sorry!

Q: Is there going to be a V.I.P. Ticket available for sale anytime soon? That's the only reason I haven't bought a ticket yet, the line was outrageous and I don't think I would want to wait on it again this year. - Chris
A: YES!!!! We are going to have an awesome VIP ticket that will be available at the NYCC web site in the next 10 days. It’ll include some exclusive swag and even better, early access to the show floor and priority seating at the events. It is going to be awesome! Stay tuned and look for it by the end of next week.

Q: Will artist Mark Bagely be at the 2008 convention at the JJC? - Marisa
A: Unfortunately, he will not. AS I’m sure you know, Mark just jumped over to DC after a long run working at Marvel. It was a very controversial move and I really wanted him. We even had someone ask him personally. Unfortunately, he’s going to be in the thick of writing his new series for DC and can’t take the time off. L

Q: For the 2007 NY Comic Con, Kids under a certain age were admitted free with a paid Adult. Is that going to be done again for the 2008 Comic Con ? I do not see anything about it on the site. I have been waiting to buy my tickets to see if I need one for my 10 year old Son or not. It is getting close now and still the web site does not say anything, so I figured I would ask. - Jim
A: Here’s the deal – Kids 5 and under are free all three days, over 5 on Friday and Saturday and you’ll have to buy a pass. Because Sunday is Kids Day at NYCC all kids under 12 get in for free! We are asking you to reserve a pass for your kid under 12 for Sunday and then pick it up at the show, we’ll have a special counter set up just for Kids Day passes.

Q: Greetings, I've purchased 2 tickets for Sunday the 20th. I also indicated that I will need 1 free kids ticket. I am concerned that there will be a huge line for getting the kids tickets. Seeing that the FREE kids tickets will NOT be mailed...what is the procedure for getting the free kids ticket? Thank you. - Thom
A: Hey Thom, we will have a special kids registration desk set up for Sunday which we hope will make it nice and smooth. Because no money will change hands or anything, the line should move pretty fast. We want to be able to keep track of how many kids enjoy our first ever Kids Day and we thought the kiddies would like to have a badge just like pop…..

Q: Hello, I'm a woman who want to go to the New York Comic Com. So I wanna ask you some questions. First, I live in Japan, so how can I get tickets? I found that people input thier cuontry name with thier address when they buy their tickets online. I thought that I can get tickets online, but are tickets sent by airmail? When tickets are sent by airmail, how much are their postage? Tickets price are postage included? Second, I really wanna see T.M.Revolution's concert!! How can I see that? Is it possible to see it if I have a ticket Saturday, April 19? Are there reserved seats? Or free seats? I do wanna go to the New York Comic Com. Therefore I wanna know correct answers. - Sanae
A: Sanae, you can get your tickets on the NYCC web site. As for T.M. Revolution, we are still working with his people to determine if this will be a ticketed event or not. I will have a definitive answer by late next week. No matter what, you’ll be able to get your ticket for the concert on the NYCC web site and it will be general admission.

Q: How much are kids tickets for the show? I haven't been able to find pricing for children's tickets anywhere...I read on a forum somewhere that children under 5 are free (my boys are 3 & 5) but I want to confirm.....looking forward to bringing them to there first be convention! Please let me know. Thanks, Mike
A: Kids 5 and under are indeed free all days of the con and on Sunday – Kids Day at NYCC kids 12 and under a free! We have new verbiage on the site spelling it all out.

Q: Hi, I was just wondering when we might see more guest postings. I also was wondering why we dont see names like Jim Lee, Scott Campbell, Michael Turner, Ale Garza. These are some of my favorite creators. They were not there last year, and I am hoping they will be this year. - Brent
A: Brent, stay tuned. We’ve got a whole new round of Guests of Honor, Featured Guests and Artist Alley guests coming out in the next week to 10 days. Promise! As for your specific guest questions, Jim Lee was there last year. I don’t know yet if he’s planning to attend, however, we are planning a Wildstorm panel and it would make sense that he would be in attendance for that. J Scott Campbell lives in LA and sadly is not coming out. Michael Turner is not coming. He’s an amazing artist, but has yet to come. We’re trying for 2009. We have not spoken to Ale Garza but we are going to find out. So as I said, stay tuned!!!!

Q: Hello, I was wondering what day of the convention TM Revolution would be appearing and what his activities will be - will he be performing? autograph session? Q&A? Also how will entry be handles for his appearance - first come first serve or will reservations / tickets be made available. Thank you – Tamisha
A: T.M. Revolution will do his concert, and autographing and at least one panel at the con. Details will be coming out very soon. As for the concert, we are still working with his people to determine if this will be a ticketed event or not. I will have a definitive answer by late next week. No matter what, you’ll be able to get your ticket for the concert on the NYCC web site and it will be general admission.

Q: Hi, I'm a comic artist,(Snaked, Tank Girl, Metal Gear Solid, Judge Dredd etc) I registered (On the Pro section), but have not heard back. Just wanted some sort of comfirmation as I have to sort out flights to USA. Many Thanks, Rufus
A: All professional creator confirmations will be going out early next week. Hang tight, you’ll know for sure if your credentials were confirmed!

Q: I applied for a Professional Creator pass about a month ago. I was wondering what the status of that was and if that included the media portion of Friday's show at 10 a.m. Thanks R.J.H.
A: All professional creator confirmations will be going out early next week. Hang tight, you’ll know for sure if your credentials were confirmed!

Check It Out! NYCC Viral Vids Coming Soon!

Yeah, we've enlisted the underground creative talents of It's Just Some Random Guy, better known as the I'm a DC, I'm a Marvel dude to make some killer vids for The Con. They are awesome and they'll premiere tomorrow on It's Just Some Random Guy's YouTube channel, this blog, the NYCC site and all over the web. Stay tuned and in the mean time check out this teaser.......

-L

Conan Funny.....

Good book club gag from Conan......

Japanamerica Night At Kinokuniya!

It's no secret that Kinokuniya (1073 Avenue of the Americas) is my favorite bookstore. It's no secret that my love for the store borders on lust. It's no secret that after I inevitably screw up at the New York Anime Festival, I hope I'll have a home stocking shelves there. As such, whenever Kinokuniya holds a special event, I like to talk about it and -- even more -- get personally involved.

I'm pleased to say Kinokuniya will be holding Japanamerica Night on Wednesday, February 27. Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded The US, will headline the event, speaking at 6 PM, but he won't be alone. Nope, Mr. Kelts will be joined by TOKYOPOP creators Melissa DeJesus and James Barry, who'll also talk about their works and Japan's influence on everything that they do.

But what about me? The New York Anime Festival will be donating several boxes of swag, and anyone and everyone in cosplay who attends will get to take something home. Granted, it's February, but it hasn't been that cold in NYC, and if you think it's too chilly for the Faye Valentine outfit, I expect to see you there in at least an anime T-Shirt.

Oh, Kinokuniya will also be giving all cosplayers a 10% discount off all the manga in the store, so maybe it isn't too cold for Faye Valentine after all. Kinokuniya is the largest Japanese bookstore in North America, and their entire third floor is devoted to comic books, so you can do the math. I'm not sure of the exact percentage, but as my much hipper, trendier, and more happening girlfriend would say this "equals win".

Hip? Trendy? Happening? What am I doing pretending to be any of these things. I'm an anime fan. I'm now off to drown my dinner in kewpie mayonnaise and work on the World Cosplay Summit's Team USA website. I so equal win.

NYCC Show Exclusive Poster - From The Kubert Boys!

Here it is the official New York ComiCon poster! Pretty awesome. For being a loyal Medium At Large reader you earn a sneak peek at both the original pencil and the fully color versions.

As far as we know it’s totally unique on a few levels – it’s the first time all three Kubert boys (Joe, Andy and Adam) have ever done a poster together. And also a first, as far as anyone associated can tell, is having Hawkgirl, Batman and Superman all together in a poster.

We’ll be announcing Joe Kubert as a Guest of Honor the Week for The Con and we are also doing some really cool collaborative stuff with The Kubert School at The Con that I’m excited about…..

Enjoy the art! The straw poll around the office confirmed that we all think this is the coolest show poster yet!

-L

YOKO KANNO! X JAPAN! HAPPYFUNSMILE!

It's 2:04 PM on Monday, February 18th. I'm blogging live from the BookExpo America / New York Comic Con / New York Anime Festival booth at this year's Toy Fair in New York City. I grabbed breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts at about 6 AM -- a bagel and totally underwhelming Milky Way hot chocolate -- and haven't had anything since. I'm getting hungry, but it's kinda sorta difficult to go out and get lunch if you're the only one staffing a booth. Which I am. Odds are I'm not going to eat until the show closes, and then I'm going to get the closest, crappiest pizza I can find. Thing is, I love cheap, crappy pizza.

I think I just met the President of Toy Fair.

Anyway, talking more about food, I had lunch with Justin Sevakis on Saturday. Justin's the founder of Anime News Network and a friend of mine. We went to Yajai Thai, Justin's favorite Thai place in New York City. Needless to say, it was good. Yajai Thai is at 33-10 30th Avenue in Astoria if you'd like to give 'em a bit of business. Justin recommends the taro pancakes. I do, too.

Justin and I spent two or three hours at Yajai talking about all sorts of top secret stuff I can't share just yet. We also talked about music. I greatly admire the breadth, depth, and reach of Justin's aural appetite. Anyone who knows me knows I'm completely musically illiterate if it's not manufactured in Japan for 12-year-old girls. Justin, also from an anime background, started with the Japanese bubblegum pop, too, but his tastes have expanded to include anything and everything in the world that's "good."

There's a dog barking somewhere.

I was talking about music, right? One of the groups we spoke a bit about was X JAPAN, one of Japan's most-beloved and longest-running rock groups. They're holding an upcoming concert called "X JAPAN TO RESUME ITS ATTACK 2008 I.V. ~Towards Destruction~" at the end of March in Tokyo. It's a three day affair, with one of the days, March 29th, geared toward international fans. If you'd like to check out X JAPAN and live outside of Japan, head over to tix.com now. Tickets went on sale Saturday and will probably sell out today if they haven't already.

If Tokyo's too far away, one of my favorite groups -- and the only group not based in Japan that I'm even conscious of -- is putting on a little show on Tuesday, February 19th in New York City. They're called HAPPYFUNSMILE and basically perform high energy covers of traditional Japanese and Okinawan festival songs. Really. I love 'em, had 'em at the New York Anime Festival last year, and plan to have 'em back again in 2008.

Tuesday's concert is at 9:30 PM in Aruba, a Japanese-style piano bar inside the Peking Park Chinese restaurant at 100 Park Avenue. Honest. If you don't believe me, check out Aruba's website at www.hpnewyork.com/aruba/, and while you're there, take a look at their upcoming schedule, as there's something there that's currently vexing both Justin and myself.

If you look through Aruba's list of upcoming performances you'll see a "Yoko Kanno" is set to play March 20th. Who's Yoko Kanno? If you even tangentially like anime, you absolutely adore Yoko Kanno. Ms. Kanno is the composer to the scores to animations including Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Vision of Escaflowne, and Ghost in the Shell: STAND ALONE COMPLEX.

But, the Yoko Kanno playing at Aruba couldn't be the Yoko Kanno, could she? I mean, legendary composer Yoko Kanno wouldn't come to NYC to play a few songs at Japanese bar inside a Chinese restaurant? Surely not. Surely, this is a different Yoko Kanno. I mean, there's no way. It couldn't be. It wouldn't be.

But what if it is? What if?

I'm going to be giving Aruba a call and am trying to make it to HAPPYFUNSMILE's show there on Tuesday. I'll have an answer about Yoko Kanno by Wednesday.

More NYCC Featured Guests.....

More tease, I know, but this week for you I've got the official show shirt, the Marvel variant comic, show poster and more....

But for the time being, late in the night on Presidents Day (does the Con Man get a holiday? No.) here are some additional featured guests....

Andy and Adam Kubert on the ever-growing list are Sean Michael Wilson, Arthur Suydam, Carmine Infantino, CB Cebulski, Frank Brunner, Geoff Johns, JG Jones, Joe Staton, Ramona Fradon and Sherrilyn Kenyon.

-L

Cliffs Notes.....

It's been too long since I've done some Cliff's Notes and way too long since I've written about BookExpo. It seems that NY ComicCon is the persnickety, willful child that is constantly starting fires and putting roofing tar in its mouth thus always getting my energy and attention. Meanwhile, BookExpo is the slightly more well adjusted child who is happy to sit in the corner and, well, read a book. Now, that is not to say the BEA is not fun, it's all relative you see. When I have booksellers lined up 10 blocks down 11th Ave to get into BEA then the insanity will be equitable....

Cliffs Notes:

BookExpo author events will be announced this week. Finally I’ll be able to reveal who the secret society and I selected for the author breakfasts and lunches! I have a prediction that the children's breakfast will be the biggest of them all - it's an awesome lineup.

The same day I blogged that we had Grant Morrison coming to NYCC, by a stroke of total serendipity, Newsarama had this interview with him.

Don't miss the upcoming Ultimate Experience offerings at NYCC. I mentioned it in passing during the Morrison post, but here it is again - Starting in about two weeks, you'll be able to purchase these once-in-a-lifetime packages as add-ons to your admission ticket. These ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES will feature meet and greets with your favorite creators, special outings, parties and yes. Basically it's access to the biggest names at The Con! Keep your eyes on The Con website or sign up for the newsletter.

I leave Friday night for a handful of speaking engagements in Singapore and Bangkok. I'm looking forward to the trip, but I have no idea what to expect. Has anyone out there been to either city?

On my nightstand – I’ve been on this gambling kick lately and took time off from Positively 5^th Street by James McManus to read Winner Takes All by Christina Brinkley, which in the end is a great profile of Vegas tycoon Steve Wynn, but not much more. Anyway, next in the stack The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu (out in mid March from FSG). It’s essentially a retelling of the dark days in the 1950’s when censorship and other legal restrictions gutted the comics industry, and young kids who were coerced into participating in book burnings by overzealous parents and teachers. Here’s a review form Bookforum.

Here’s a nice piece from G4 on the NY Anime Fest featuring my good pal John McGeary:

Emma Premieres at New York Comic Con! Blogged Live from Toy Fair 2008!

So, a few weeks ago, everyone around the office was asked if they wanted to work Toy Fair, one of the largest -- if not the largest -- toy trade shows in the world. I, wanting a day out of the office and the power and pleasure of charging a bagel and cup of coffee to the company, immediately signed up. And, while I'm getting my day out of the office and going to expense my breakfast, both have come at a very high price. You see, I'm blogging to you live from Toy Fair now. It's 9:43 AM on Sunday, February 17th.

I should be asleep now. I should be between the soft arms and even softer chest of a woman. I shouldn't be in a suit and tie pacing about booth 3338 in Toy Fair's Reading, Writing, and Rhythm Section. I'm totally going to expense my lunch, too.

Don't get me wrong, Toy Fair's astonishing, but I just thought I'd be staffing a booth on a weekday. But I'm not. I'm here. Now. And I'm supposed to be talking to attendees about BookExpo America, New York Comic Con, and the New York Anime Festival. I hope I'm doing a good job. While I could easily spend the entire day talking to a single person about every facet of this year's NYAF, I'm probably less than qualified to even utter a single sentence about BEA or NYCC.

Someone asks about BookExpo? What do I say? "I sure hope Alan Alda comes this year." Someone asks about New York Comic Con? How do I respond? "I think we've got some comic book drawing guys, but I totally know we're premiering the anime series Emma!"

Anime's not that big of a focus here at Toy Fair. There are a few Japanese exhibitors, but there are a lot more board games, stuffed animals, and -- honestly -- normal stuff. That's okay, though. I like normal stuff, too. Like Doctor Who. I know the guys who manufacture all the official Doctor Who toys are on the show floor somewhere, and I've totally got to see if they've got the new fob watch accessory. I've been wanting a Doctor Who pocket watch since its brief appearance last season, and an official replica's just been released -- and is out of stock everywhere.

Speaking more about Doctor Who, my girlfriend got me a sonic screwdriver for Valentine's Day. A "sonic screwdriver" is another of the Doctor's gadgets. The odd, funny, bizarre, and wonderful thing about the present is that I already have a sonic screwdriver, and my girlfriend knows this, too. "I got you another one," she said. "I figure'd you'd want two." Isn't she sweet? Aren't I a geek?

Hold on. A few paragraphs up, did I say Emma would premiere at New York Comic Con? I think I did. Have I said that publicly any place before? I think I did not.

Yup, boys and girls, read through a few rambling paragraphs of nonsense and you're rewarded with a New York Comic Con anime announcement. I know, I know, I'm a marketing genius. Anywho, Emma will be released by my good friends at Right Stuf starting in June, but we'll be presenting the first episode for the first time in North America on April 19th.

Emma is the strikingly simple and sweet story of a house maid who falls in love with an aristocrat in 19th Century London. It's one of the most tender, touching, heart-felt, and purely genuine animations to come out of Japan in recent (and long-term) memory, and while it lacks giant robots, busty schoolgirls, and all the other traditional anime trappings, it deserves a viewing. Rather, because it lacks giant robots, busty schoolgirls, and all the other traditional anime trappings, it deserves a viewing.

Emma is the first anime premiere New York Comic Con has announced, but it won't be the last. I've got a lot more I want to say and am just waiting for a few okays from Japan before I start yapping.

The Curmudgeons Rant – What Dell and Amtrak Taught Me About Doing my Job Better

I cut my teeth in a bookstore, if you know me or read this post, you already know that. I used to tell my team in at the bookstore St. Paul that service was our trump card – it was all that we had ( we could be beaten on prices, selection and convenience, but not service and knowing our customers). Well I need to air a few issues on service (in other words out comes the curmudgeon).

I bought a camera from Dell for Christmas. After I bought it I leaned the ship date would not be until January. That won’t work. I found no way to cancel my order. No worries, I’ll deal with it later. When I did get to dealing with it, I find I have to ask for permission (they review returns case by case) to return something. Then I learn I’m 8 days past my “permissible return window” – no exceptions. I used to own a few small businesses, so in the course of the last decade I’ve probably purchased 10 Dell computers, 3 or 4 Dell printers, a Dell flat screen tv, and countless proprietary ink cartridges all from Dell. They lost a dedicated lifetime customer over 8 days and a $125 digital camera.

I was in Boston this weekend for business and took the train. Somehow the Editor-in-Chief and I lost our return tickets. No problem, right? This is Amtrak, people, how could I be so foolish! Amtrak has no way to replace tickets; you just have to repurchase them so down the tubes goes $110. This year the airline industry officially scrapped the last remnants of a paper ticket program, in the airline world, print really is dead, yet Amtrak hasn’t event started. From Gatwick airport I can buy a ticket on my blackberry and simply give the conductor my name and he can look up my tickets and check me in on site while I’m halfway to central London.

So I learned more form these experiences than just to complain more in my blog, really. I run events with 35,000, 15,000 and perhaps 70,000 people attending them respectively. Too often around the office we allow ourselves to fall into the lazy thinking of taking the customer for granted; “Well what do you expect, it’s a lot of people, of course there are going to be lines” or “Well not everyone can be a special case, there’s just too many people.” But the reality is that the rail industry once thought that way, and how are they doing? The reality is that a convention or a con is not always easy or enjoyable it can be tedious, tiring, frustrating exhausting. People too often feel that it’s something they must endure, because there is some value. But once the grind outweighs the reward, I’m out of a job. My job is to make the show fun, easy, valuable, whether you are a fan, a bookseller, the CEO of Harper Collins or a 12 year old cos player.

And now I’ve got to accomplish those goals without the use of an Amtrak train or any Dell products – they just made the shit list where the grind outweighs the reward.

I was reminded about this because I got a “Ask the Show Manger” question from the NY ComicCon site last night from a fan basically offering to run a contest at the con for us. He has a great idea and then offered to do all the work. So making these shows fun is not always about telling people what they want its about listening to what they want and then getting out of the way…..

-L

Grant Morrison at New York ComicCon!!!!!

The secret we've been sitting on for weeks is out. The confirmations confirmed. The flights about the take flight. The probably's have become yes's. Yup, Grant Morrison is our latest Guest of Honor at NYCC. So how cool do I feel today? I’ve been strutting laround ike a man wearing an all white suit.....

I hardly feel the need to continue, like I should just toss that out there and walk away, but for those of you that don’t know..... actually his list of accomplishments is too numerous to even attempt to list here. Just get your tickets now and make sure you are at the Con. He's currently working on Final Crisis for DC and in 06 worked on Batman and Son with Andy Kubert - who you'll be haring more about tomorrow (tease).

We've got a few panels already planned for Grant and very soon we'll be roll out the brand spankin new ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE Packages. Starting in about two weeks, you'll be able to purchase these once-in-a-lifetime packages as add-ons to your admission ticket. These ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES will feature meet and greets with your favorite creators, special outings, parties and yes - private meet and gret with Grant Morrison!

As of writing we are 63 days away from The Con and Grant Morrison marks the beginning of an all out assault on your senses with kick ass announcements on guests, panels, screenings and more. Sit up straight and pay attention you don’t want to miss a damn thing. And on that point, sign up for our newsletter, if you had, you would’ve known this morning about Grant Morrison.

-L

When The Clock Strikes Midnight – Pro Creators Pay for NYCC (or turn into a pumpkin)

Here is your last friendly reminder – if you are a pro creator who wants to attend NY ComicCon for free then DO IT NOW! Free reg for pro creators closes at 11:59 p.m. on February 15^th. The cost for professional registration after the deadline on February 15 will be: Weekend Pass (Friday, Saturday & Sunday), $45; Friday Only Pass, $30; Saturday Only Pass, $35; Sunday Only Pass $30. All professional registration is subject to approval by NYCC staff and applicants will be contacted by early March with status.

Click here to register.

Gogai! Gogai! New York Anime Festival? We Doing That Again? Really?

In my mind, the first New York Anime Festival was a success (which means nothing caught on fire). In Reed Exhibitions's mind, the New York Anime Festival was also a success (which means nothing caught on fire and it made a wee bit of money). As such, I'm proud to say New York Anime Festival 2008 is going ahead, and while we were in delightful, delightful December last year, I'm very proud to say we managed to get dates a little earlier this time around. New York Anime Festival 2008 will take place September 12-14, 2008 at the Jacob Javits Center.

I've actually been busy at work planning NYAF 2008 since halfway through NYAF 2007 with several meetings about potential talent taking place right on the show floor. I can't name names or even give cryptic clues at this point, but I can say expect big things. I've always been of the mindset that if you're shooting for the moon, you're aiming too low. For NYAF 2008, my crosshairs are set on nothing less than Alpha Centauri.

Yes, I'm aware that today's edition of Gogai! Gogai! has been more straight-forward than my previous installments, filled with lush descriptions of a "BEA Tower" which probably doesn't exist and a "Lance Fensterman" who is certainly a figment of my imagination. To rectify this, let me say Lance and I took off early from work yesterday to talk with some manatee poachers who'd been snooping around outside Lance's precious Aquasphere lately. I went into the meeting wearing a suit coat with a legal pad tucked under my arm. Lance, however, entered the room in only a loan cloth with a KA-BAR knife gripped between his teeth. I learned yesterday that when Lance wants to "talk" he actually wants to punch you in the throat. It was a good talk, and I don't think we'll be seeing the poachers any time soon. (And, should we see the poachers again, it just means I've got to tie some more weights to the corpses.)

That's right, Lance and I beat up poachers and threw them into the Atlantic. We also gave each other henna tattoos and had a brontosaurus race. Lance won the race, but I blame my brontosaurus for my loss. Emily -- that's my dinosaur's name -- hasn't been feeling well lately and really didn't give it her all during the race. I want to challenge Lance to a rematch, but I'm going to need a new prehistoric beastie since I don't think Emily will be better for the next few weeks.

I'm having lunch with Ali T. Kokmen, Manga Marketing Manager over at Del Rey, tomorrow. I think Ali's got a sauropod I can borrow.

Ask The Show Manager - Me!

We have a feature on the NY ComicCon web site called "Ask the Show Manager" and I thought I'd post a few of the recent Q's and A's here. If you've got a burning question to ask me, you can use the form Ask The Show Manager here, or just write a comment here on the blog......

Q: hi Show Manager Person! ^_^ Not to be a bother, but are they having a cosplay contest at comic con, and is it too late to sign up for it? =D thank you sooooo much in advance!

- Samantha

A: Samantha,

Thank you for your e-mail. We'll definitely be featuring some cosplay events at New York Comic Con, but we haven't announced the size, shape, and scale yet. While the New York Anime Festival -- an event we also organize -- featured a lengthy Masquerade, we're right now speaking with a number of New York cosplayers and Comic Con attendees to see what's the right fit for NYCC. A big Masquerade? A smaller costuming judging? A walk-on show?

We honestly don't know yet, because we want to make our cosplay event fit the show. Let me know what you'd be looking for? Are you gung ho for a Masquerade at New York Comic Con -- or something less or more?

- Peter

Q: At what point in time will the tickest be sent out for those who ordered by the internet.

A: We will be mailing badges in March…..

Q: Can you tell me when you will be adding the complete listing for Artist Alley to the website? For months now, Artist Alley has been listed as closed to new artist's attending so I'm guessing you know everyone who's coming. As a fan, it really frustrating checking your site several times a day with no list out yet. Much appreciated, Shawn

A: I really hate frustrating fans. Sorry about that.

Artist Alley is a bear to coordinate, but that’s my problem. Point being we have lost of calls and emails to send to confirm people, but we are VERY close. Give me another 2 weeks or so and I should have the listings up.

Goth Barbie from an Old Friend.....

A very old friend of mine has a vid on Funny or Die, check it out below. I've known Brian so long, I can remember playing Axis and Allies with him in my parents garage. Vote "funny" if you are so moved, afterall, I always beat him at Axis and Allies.

NYCC, Big in Japan

Now that Agent Tatara has leaked our monstrous J-Pop Guest of Honor for New York ComicCon - T.M. Revolution! I thought I would provide you with an interim press release until we make an official announcement next week. Here it is, direct from Japanese newspapers! And yes, New York ComicCon did make the Japanese newspapers yesterday.

And did you know that he played Seymour Krelborn in a Japanese production of Little Shop of Horros?

-L

Gogai! Gogai! T.M.Revolution at New York Comic Con! (Or Tatara Makes Revolution!)

Peter Tatara back again from the Communications Dome on Level 44-C of BEA Tower, next door to the Aquasphere, where Lance is currently trying to get stingrays to recite Milton. Lance is pretty confident in this project and expects to have a symphony of stingrays greet BEA attendees with a slightly bubbly rendition of Paradise Lost. I'm not too sure fire and brimstone is what we want to hit attendees with as soon as they pass through the door. Also, I'm not too sure stingrays can talk.

You know who can talk, though? No, even better than talk, you know who can sing? New York Comic Con's newest Guest of Honor, a revolutionary man I hinted at a few weeks ago, a revolutionary man whose voice and image are known the world over, a revolutionary man who was born with the name Takanori Nishikawa -- but is better known as T.M.Revolution.

I've been working quietly with T.M.Revolution's management for the past handful of months to bring the star to NYCC, and all of five minutes ago, the news broke in the Japanese press -- meaning it's now okay for me to gab about it. We're of course blasting out a Press Release shortly, but I know if there's one thing Medium At Large readers crave, it's to be on the bleeding edge of the Japanese pop music scene.

For the .3% of you who haven't heard the name T.M.Revolution -- which is short for short for Takanori Makes Revolution -- he's one of Japan's biggest stars with an absolutely massive following in his home country and a fairly rabid international fanbase as well. He broke into the world spotlight in 2002 with the release of "INVOKE," the theme song to the anime series Gundam SEED and followed up quickly with "Ignited," the theme to its sequel, Gundam SEED Destiny.

(Here's a fun fact: T.M.Revolution, in addition to performing the openings to both series, is also a huge Gundam fan and worked his way into a few episodes, voicing the characters Miguel Aiman and Heine Westenfluss. I'm hoping to use the exact same strategy to work my way into The Venture Bros.)

For the past few years, T.M.Revolution's been performing with the group abingdon boys school, a band most known for "INNOCENT SORROW," the opening theme to the anime series D.Gray-man, but now that abingdon boys school is a success, he wants to return to his roots and make New York Comic Con a new personal start.

(Note that T.M.Revolution's band is -- at the insistence of their Japanese management -- always spelled in all lower-case letters. I'm all about the grammar, punctuation, and proper wordly stuff, and I just wanted you to know it's "abingdon boys school" and not "Abingdon Boys School" because that's the way Mr. Nishikawa wants it.)

We've got some big plans for T.M.Revolution, some pretty amazing and unprecedented things that I hope to talk more about soon. What I can say is that with everything that's coming together, this will be the biggest performance ever given by a Japanese pop star in North America. Big words? Absolutely. Are they going to come back to haunt me? I sure as hell hope not.

Tatara Makes Revolution!

New York Comic Con Volunteers!

Just a heads up that New York Comic Con has started to accept volunteer applications. Click on over to newyorkcomiccon.com and look for the Volunteer link at the top. Come work for me. It'll be fun. Seriously. Maybe. Probably. Not really. You'll end up hating me.

You get a free T-Shirt.

Gogai! Gogai! Pierre Bernard at the New York Anime Festival!

Peter Tatara here from the Communications Dome on Level 44-C of BEA Tower. I haven't really described the Communications Dome before, so I figured I'd talk a bit about its layout today. I'm sitting here in the Master Control Room. The chair's comfy, and the monitor is utterly obnoxious in size. We've got a bunch of hard drives in here, adding up to something like 500 terabytes. Sadly, they're all for Lance's MP3s, and I've got to store all my work on an old iPod Shuffle he gave me.

Around the corner is our helipad, its edges bristling with clusters of satellite uplinks, radio antennas, microwave dishes, and semaphore flags. Further down the hall, you'll reach the Archives Room, stacked to the ceiling with yellowing copies of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Boys' Life. Next to the Archives Room is the Dome's cafeteria, affectionately known as the "Fiesta Suite." It's here that you'll find the margarita maker and back-up margarita maker for use should the first one break down or get stolen (again).

Continuing on, you'll start to notice busted Guitar Hero controllers strewn about the floor, which can only mean we're close to the television bank -- a wall of several hundred TVs tuned to different news networks from around the world. As you may have guessed from the broken plastic faux-guitars, Lance uses the room for a few other pursues, but -- hell -- I do, too. Whenever I'm working late, I drag the leather couch in from the Fiesta Suite and park myself in front of Television 273 (a nice 52-inch Sony Bravia) and put on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Earlier in the week, I thought I was dreaming when I saw Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert appear on Conan and then break into fisticuffs -- all three hosts brawling over the success of Republican Candidate Mike Huckabee. So uncertain as to whether or not what I recalled the morning after was real, I called up Pierre Bernard, one of Conan's staff members. Pierre let me know that, indeed, I wasn't dreaming.

Speaking more about Pierre, I've known him since the New York Anime Festival last December. Pierre came to NYAF and shot a few bits at the show. He's been editing his segment ever since the Anime Festival wrapped, and when I talked with him about the O'Brien-Stewart-Colbert battle royale, he revealed he just finished putting the NYAF video together. He'll let me know when it airs, but -- right now -- he's provided me with the entire segment. Behold!

If you're completely lost by the video's start -- and I know you are -- it's a nod to a viral video the Anime Festival put out last fall. You can see the Director's Cut of this video here...

Yes, Pierre Bernard watched this. Yes, Pierre Bernard liked it. Yes, it confounds me, too.

And, now, with Pierre's video cast across the internet, I can return to work, which may or may not involve watching more Conan O'Brien.

Who says Blogs Are Self Serving? My Interview with ICV2

Here's a link to an interview with lil old me on ICV2. I talked with Green Bay Packers lover Milton Griepp yesterday and efficient fella he is, he's already got it posted. ICV2 Interview with Lance Fensterman

Maybe tomorrow I'll post some of my baby pictures.

-L

That's The Ticket!

On Friday I got to see proofs of the tickets for NY ComicCon, and they are pretty cool.....Check em out below. Better yet, just buy a ticket now that way soon you too will have them in your sweaty little hands.....

Lest I forget to remind you that in just a few scant weeks you'll also be able to buy them direct from your local comic store....

Why? I'll Give You 137 Million Reasons Why

I am from Minnesota. I am a huge Twins fan. This weekend our ace, the best pitcher in baseball signed a $137 million dollar deal to complete a trade to the Mets. Ugh. Remember The Simpsons episode when Dustin Hoffman was a substitute teacher that Lisa fell in love with? When he told her he was leaving for another teaching assignment he told her, "That's the problem with being middle-class. Anybody who really cares will abandon you for those who need it more." Well apprently The Mets "needed" Johann Santana more.

All this got me a little nostalgic for my home state and I thought, "Well what does a middle class state like Minnesota have if everyone great leaves?" Well, they've got giant statues, that's what. I found this blog of a family who made it there mission to see all of the giant statues that are roadside attraction in Minnesota - The Big Stuff Project. Yes I've seen the World's Largest Ball of Twine in Darwin, The World's Largest Prairie Chicken in Rothsay and of course, pictured above, Rocky Taconite who watches over the taconite transfer station in Silver Bay, MN. Take that NY Mets. Keep Johann Santana, we've got Rocky Taconite.

Whilst looking through the Big Stuff Project I came across this,

The Hold Steady are my favorite band right now, so I just had to find a way to fit them in. In their song Stevie Nix they reference the Thunderbird with the line "The carpet at the Thunderbird has a burn for every cowboy that got fenced in." That's good enough for me!

First of all the Hold Steady rock, second of all they are referring to the old Thunderbird Motel in Bloomington, MN where I attended my first ever comic book convention. Ahhh nostalgia, you wash away the pain of dashed baseball dreams. The only better salve for baseball pain? Pitchers and catchers report in less than 3 weeks. Hope will spring anew for a Twins fan like me and knowing that Rocky Taconite could be our opening day starter will only help......

-L