X

Art, gadgets, Gonzo, and costumes at Comic-Con (pictures)

The first full day of San Diego Comic-Con 2012 featured plenty of cosplayers, but lots of art, some gadgets, and even intrepid Muppet Gonzo reporting from the show floor.

Seth Rosenblatt
Senior writer Seth Rosenblatt covered Google and security for CNET News, with occasional forays into tech and pop culture. Formerly a CNET Reviews senior editor for software, he has written about nearly every category of software and app available.
Seth Rosenblatt
SDCC12_Lego_line.jpg
1 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Nobody likes a line

The outside of the Lego booth was a wall covered in Legos that fans could play with as they waited. We suspect the sentiment expressed about this line applies to all lines.
SDCC12_Lego_Gandalf.jpg
2 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Lego Gandalf

With The Hobbit movies coming this fall, the marketing machine begins to churn. This is a professionally-constructed, life-sized Lego Gandalf, complete with light-up staff.
SDCC12_Super-Grover_2.0.jpg
3 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Super-Grover talks steampunk

At the Hasbro booth, Super-Grover 2.0 stopped by to interview his fans. Here, he asks a steampunk cosplayer riding a dinosaur, "What kind of mileage do you get on this thing?"
SDCC12_Mattel_line.jpg
4 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

The crowd

San Diego Comic-Con is notorious for its crowds, and today was a busy one. Still it lacked the frenetic panic of swag-shopping that infects Preview Night.
SDCC12_Superbaby.jpg
5 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Superbaby rising

Superbaby, whose secret identity is Curtis Reade Jr., has used his mental powers of persuasion to get his father to raise him high enough to see the crowds at Comic-Con.
SDCC12_Ame-Comi_DC_Batman.jpg
6 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Cosplays from an alternate universe

These DC Comics fans have based their costumes on a Japanese interpretation of Batman, Robin, the Joker, and others called Ame-Comi.
SDCC12_Adventure_Time_cosplay.jpg
7 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

It's adventure time

Chantelle Luis and Joshua Collins, of Las Vegas, Nev., dressed up for Comic-Con today as the popular Adventure Time character Finn.
SDCC12_Templesmith.jpg
8 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Painting with beer, literally

Ben Templesmith promised on Twitter to paint with beer, and he added a yellow stain -- intentionally -- to some of his prints with a carefully applied Guinness-based wash.
SDCC12_Dr_Who_dresses.jpg
9 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Mother-daughter TARDIS and Dalek

Shannon Bunting, left, and her daughter Estrella dressed as the TARDIS and a dalek. Their dresses were hand-made by a friend in their home city of Reno, Nev.
SDCC12_Her_Universe.jpg
10 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Geek fashion forward

Ashley Eckstein, founder of HerUniverse.com and voice of Asohka Tano on the "Star Wars: Clone Wars" cartoon, interviews Callie Nelson of Escondido, Calif., a fan who collaborated with a friend to to turn her oversized Comic-Con swag bag into a dress.
SDCC12_Bag_jacket.jpg
11 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Bag the jacket

Communications professor Scott Daniel Boras of Michigan came wearing a handmade jacket comes from the 2008, 2009, and 2001 San Diego Comic-Con swag bags. While it's not uncommon to find women wearing skirts or dresses made from Comic-Con bags, a men's jacket is more rare. The 33-year-old's fashion sense impressed enough comics creators that luminaries such as Scott Snyder, Terry Moore, and Gabriel Ba signed it for him.
SDCC12_Fire_Alice_Mad_Hatter.jpg
12 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Fire and Alice

Costumes are time-consuming to sew, and more than 36 hours went into both the jacket for the Adam Earnhart's Mad Hatter and 10-year Comic-Con veteran Briana Roecks' Alice. Their friend Katie Forman, who also has a decade of Comic-Con under her spandex, came dressed as the DC Comics' superheroine Fire.
SDCC12_grinder.jpg
13 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Leave it to the professionals

A professional troupe was hired to promote VH1's Dawn of the Con event outside of the convention center, including this woman who vigorously applied a grinder to metal plates attached to her costume.
SDCC12_Henry_Hemp.jpg
14 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Not Superbaby

Magic J. Ellingson, creator of Henry Hemp, strolls around Comic-Con getting smiles and photo requests from a certain age group, and confused looks from those younger.
SDCC12_Iron_Mate.jpg
15 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Iron... Mate?

Identifying himself only as Iron Mate, we all know that this cosplayer from New Zealand is really Tony Stark. Uh, right?
SDCC12_Kirk_cosplay_and_Kirk.jpg
16 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Kirk and Kirk

This 18-year-old is attending his first Comic-Con as his favorite Star Trek captain.
SDCC12_Kirkman_signing.jpg
17 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

A moment of respite

Robert Kirkman, foreground, and the hat-wearing Charlie Adler are the writer-artist team behind The Walking Dead, which released issue 100 yesterday with around 350,000 preorders -- the most preordered comic since 2009. During a signing, Kirkman takes a brief moment to himself before meeting the next fan in line.
SDCC12_Mario_and_Princess.jpg
18 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Princess and Mario

Danni and DJ, both 16 and from California's Imperial Valley, have come dressed to their second Comic-Con as Mario and the Princess.
SDCC12_Matt_Kindt_Mind_MGMT.jpg
19 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Managing your comics mind

Matt Kindt, creator of the comic Mind Mgmt, shows off the critically-acclaimed book.
SDCC12_Praying_to_Bart.jpg
20 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Eat my prayers

This Simpsons fan, at her first Comic-Con despite having lived in San Diego "for years," strikes a pose in front of Bartman.
SDCC12_Peanuts_cards.jpg
21 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Cool cutouts

For those who love cards, these Peanuts Hallmark cards are layered with cutouts and a unique find in the hustle of toys, masks, and bathrobes.
SDCC12_Star_Wars_Fighter_Pods.jpg
22 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Fighter Pods

Star Wars fans walk past a wall of Fighter Pods, a new mini-figurine with an interactive gameplay.
SDCC12_SW_Celebration_auction.jpg
23 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Boba Fett versus the Sarlacc

The organizers of the Star Wars: Celebration convention have gotten artists to reinterpret the helmets of Star Wars for a charity auction. This helmet shows a one-of-a-kind of a Sarlacc parasite infesting Boba Fett's helmet.
SDCC12_TF2_Spy_and_Scout.jpg
24 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Brothers TF2

TJ and Matt Lewis, 16- and 26-year-olds from Santa Barbara, Calif., came dressed as TF2 Blu Scout and Spy.
SDCC12_Viz_Shonen_digital.jpg
25 of 25 Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Digital jump

Comics continue to invest in digital distribution, even as print sales have risen in the past year. Viz Comics, which specializes in manga, had numerous displays and demos at its booth.

More Galleries

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera
A houseplant

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera

20 Photos
Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra
magic-v2-2024-foldable-1383

Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra

10 Photos
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum
Samsung Galaxy S24

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum

23 Photos
Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design
The Galaxy S24 Ultra in multiple colors

Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design

23 Photos
I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites
img-0368.jpg

I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

34 Photos
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About
Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About

18 Photos
AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?
img-1599-2.jpg

AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?

17 Photos