W♥M

Crime Time: Born Again and Persuader

Daredevil: Born Again (2025) Read More Punisher I did enjoy The Punisher quite a bit, which was a win, considering that I thought Iron Fist and The Defenders were lackluster. Ever since The Punisher appeared on Daredevil …

Daredevil: Born Again
disneyplus.com

It’s been so long since the third season of Netflix’s Daredevil series, that I had absolutely no idea what was happening at the beginning of Disney’s Daredevil: Born Again series.

To start off, I don’t actually remember watching the final Netflix series, but apparently Bullseye at the beginning of Daredevil: Born Again was trying to finish his job from Season 3. It was so confusing that I’m actually going back to watch and finish Season 3 now.

So far, we only have two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, which is a bit of a slow start, in my opinion. There’s a lot of court room drama, and while that is fine when you’re binging the show, right now, there’s not a lot of things happening.

The cool thing is that we’re introduced to White Tiger, the first Puerto Rican super hero, co-created by George Perez (who is Puerto Rican in heritage). Unfortunately, the actor Kamar de los Reyes, who plays Hector Ayala / White Tiger, passed away in 2023… so I feel like we’re not getting more of White Tiger in the future… unless Marvel writes that he passes the mystical amulet to his daughter or something.

The other cool thing is that we’re probably going to see Jon Bernthal returns as The Punisher, which I’m really excited to his story continues.

P.S. Although the show is called “Born Again”, it is actually not based on Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s famous Daredevil run. The two was also responsible for one of Batman’s greatest story ever: Batman: Year One.

Reacher: Season 3 (2025) Read More Reacher Hobo muscleman Jack Reacher is back. Where we last left Reacher, he continues his life as a nomadic bum, helping people where he can. In some small town …

Reacher: Season 3
amazon.com

Amazon Prime’s Reacher is currently on the third season… and it’s very good! The new season is based on Lee Child’s novel Persuader. I have enjoyed all the Reacher series so far… although on retrospect, I felt Season 2 focused too much on Reacher’s old MP squad.

With Season 3, it’s all about Reacher, but this time he has a new team to work with: East Coast accent DEA Agent Susan Duffy, rookie Steven Eliot and retiring old man Guillermo Villanueva. Reacher finds himself infiltrating a criminal rug king and he’s basically killing everybody in the criminal organization. It’s pretty brutal, and it’s so weird that Reacher is just so cold blooded!

I think my biggest complaint about the new season so far is that the rug king is played by Anthony Michael Hall, who doesn’t really give off a murderous, ruthless killer. I’ve watched him for years on The Dead Zone television show, and I think he makes for a good leading man, but not as a criminal. To be fair, you do find out that there is a mysterious mastermind pulling the strings, so perhaps the reason why I don’t find him believable… is because he’s probably good guy, just trying to protect his family. Who knows… the season has about three episodes left, and I have no idea where it is heading! So good, so far!

Read more Television.

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The Chinese Connection

Generated by GROK Read More Path of Exile 2 Earlier this year, in my review of Last Epoch, I wrote that Path of Exile 2 was going to launch in 2024. Well, the game has officially launched in beta on Friday, December 6, 2024. If you want to play the game … …

ELON MA
x.com

I think by now you’ve all heard that Elon Musk is a liar and cheater. Last year, Musk boasts that he’s ranked top 20 players worldwide on Diablo IV, and that was already suspicious. I personally didn’t believe it, but I didn’t really care or questioned it because, I had stopped playing the game (because it sucks).

Recently, Musk showed off that he’s at level 97 (ranked 13 worldwide) in hardcore mode on Path of Exile 2. How is that possible? Considering that very dedicated players have put in 10 hours a day to grind up to that level, and to see a guy who runs several companies … it’s just not possible. Just the time and effort, it doesn’t add up.

Turns out, Musk hired skilled Chinese players to level up his characters or that he just straight up bought those accounts. The POE2 community have built up a strong case against Musk (now known as Elon Ma).

Musk’s character is on a Hong Kong server

Musk’s account shows “Elon’s Maps” (this suggests other players are playing and not using that particular map)

Musk does not understand weapon levels

Musk does not understand the “four things” on a map

Musk does not understand how to use the magic flask

There are tons of other things, so just do a search. As someone put it, there were many indications that Musk had no idea what he was doing. You can draw the conclusion that he didn’t play the campaign or learned how all the mechanics works. To get to level 97, at that advanced level, it is insane that he does understand basic things.

Anyone who plays Path of Exile 2, like myself, can see right through the lie: that Elon Musk did not play and level up to 97. Famous YouTuber and Twitch streamer Asmongold challenged Musk, “If Elon Musk can prove that he played this account to 97, I will stream on X, starting the day that he proves it, for an entire year straight, every single stream.”

Shortly after, Musk unfollowed Asmongold and removed his blue checkmark and gaming tag. He then leaked Asmongold’s twitter message (which violated Twitter’s terms of service by the way) saying that Asmongold has editors. Of course he has editors, they’re his employees that manages and edits his YouTube accounts.

Later, Musk returned Asmongold’s checkmark, but no gaming tag.

I think what happened is that Musk wanted to impress the gaming communities out there, by showing off his high-level characters, but it backfired in his face when he chose Path of Exile 2. If he had chosen another game, like Mark Kart 8 and saying he’s ranked #15, no one would question it… just like no one questioned it when he claims to be high ranking in Diablo IV.

TikTok Read More TikTok Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Amelia Moore is currently on her iCRYONTOUR! Moore first appeared on the scene on TikTok. Her debut Teaching a Robot to Love EP came out in 2022, via Capitol Music … …

TikTok
tiktok.com

Ahead of the pending TikTok ban in the United States, many users are panicking and switching over to another Chinese-owned app Little Red Book (named after Mao’s Little Red Book). That app is even worst, in terms of censorship, as many Americans are finding out. According to Washington Post, Little Red Book censors various key words, including “546 nicknames for Chinese leader Xi Jinping”.

I think most Americans don’t realize how dangerous the Chinese Communist Party is. Every company in China is beholden to the CCP… and the parent company of TikTok is ByteDance, a Chinese company with heavy ties to the CCP. Just do a Google search and you’ll find numerous articles and photos of the CCP department working inside ByteDance.

Do you want the Chinese to own your data (even though they probably already have it)? My problem is I don’t want a country to run an app to promote pro-China stories. ByteDance’s other app TopBuzz was exposed for such things, thanks a story by BuzzFeed.

My biggest problem is that China bans so many apps, like Google, search engines, private emails, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, VPN, (anything that they can’t control) … but they have a problem that America is banning TikTok? Give me a break.

Marvel Snap

UPDATE: In compliance with the TikTok ban, Apple and Google have removed the app, as well as Marvel Snap. Turns out the parent company of Marvel Snap is ByteDance, who also owns publisher Nuverse (a subsidiary of ByteDance).

Other apps banned includes Lemon8 and CapCut − Video Editor, according to USA Today. Never heard of the other two.

P.S. Donald Trump vows to save TikTok, even though he tried to get rid of it in 2019.

Marvel Rivals Read More Marvel Comics Based on the Marvel Comics of the same title, Werewolf by Night is the latest horror film from Disney Plus. This might be the first of the new type of Marvel’s Horror titles, which will likely to include Blade … …

Marvel Rivals
marvelrivals.com

Someone asked me why I’m not playing Marvel Rivals, the hottest superhero team-based player vs player shooter, based on Marvel characters. First of all, I’m not an online gamer. I don’t enjoy playing against other players, and I’m not competitive and, to be perfectly honest, I’m not good at it.

The second thing is that gamers are saying that after a certain losing streak or at a certain level, to keep players engaged and keep playing, the server will put in A.I. bots in the game so you can easily kill them. They don’t say they’re bots, but I’ve seen the evidence, the game developer is lying to you when they say that all players are real.

The last thing, and the most damning thing, is that the game developer is NetEase, based out of China. Because they are a Chinese company, they brought over the CCP’s censorship to America. For example, you cannot say “Tiananmen Square” (an event that the Chinese government slaughtered a lot of unarmed students), “Free Tibet” (a country that China annexed and took over in the ‘50s and kicked out the Dalai Lama) or “Winnie the Pooh” (ironic that Disney is the owner of Marvel). You can’t even say “1989”, that’s how sensitive the CCP is. Can you believe that? That whole year needs to be censored.

I really think the US Defense Department should put NetEase on the same list that they placed Tencent games on.

I guess at the end of the day, I don’t want to support a game that censors Winnie the Pooh.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer
[email protected]

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vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Twin Cities Con 2024

Twin Cities Con at Minneapolis Convention Center Guests Hayden Christensen Ian McDiarmid Lou Diamond Phillips Grant Gustin Danhausen Deonna Purrazzo Brian Posehn Tom Kenny Stephanie Beatriz Diane Guerrero Jess Darrow Will Friedle Danielle Fishel Vivienne Medrano Brandon Rogers Alex Brightman Krystina Alabado Kimiko Glenn Blake Roman Erika Henningsen Morgana Ignis Amir Talai Sam Haft Joel Perez Josh Keaton Troy Baker John DiMaggio Olivia Olsen Sarah Natochenny AmaLee Mallorie Rodak Haven Burton Paschall Griffin Burns Zach Aguilar Joshua Seth Wes Johnson Marc Thompson John Jackson Miller Timothy Zahn Aaron Reynolds Dave Wheeler Ant Lucia Dan Parent Phil Hester Otis Frampton Howard Chaykin Josh Baylock Travis Bentley Chad Corrie Erik Burnham Jeri "Red" Shepherd Mike Kingston Ashleigh Popplewell Shayla Sackinger Trung Le Nguyen Sammy Castillo Samir Barrett Adam Hoppus Andrew Heath Marc Draven Cale Turpen Dontae Foster Andrea Swabb Brandon Sommers Tori Robinson Matt Nelson Mikal Mosley Maki Roll Kola Bear Cosplay Warpath_Dylan Tyson Lietz St. Paul Prince Miltown Cosplay Tazumi Zaiga Iceman Cosplay 40 Below Cosplay & Props Twin Cites Con Coverages Photos: Twin Cities Con (10 Nov 2024) Photos: Twin Cities Con (09 Nov 2024) Photos: Twin Cities Con (08 Nov 2024) Preview: Twin Cities Con 2024 at Mpls Convention Center Recap: Twin Cities Con 2023 Photos: Twin Cities Con (05 Nov 2023) Photos: Twin Cities Con (04 Nov 2023) Photos: Twin Cities Con (03 Nov 2023) Preview: Twin Cities Con 2023 at Mpls Convention Center Video Zig-Zag at Twin Cities Con (10 Nov 2024) Read More Twin Cities Con The Saturday Twin Cities Con, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, is the biggest show of the three-day event. According to Twin Cities Con, there were over 40,000 pre-sold tickets just for Saturday …

The most successful geek culture gathering in the Minneapolis/St Paul is officially Twin Cities Con, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Every year, this convention is growing in attendance. We thought last year’s attendance was amazing, this year seemed almost double! With extra fans in attendance, the organizers decided to add an extra security screening to get into the Exhibit Hall… which caused delay to get into the room.

It took me 30 minutes to get in on Friday morning and it took me an hour to get in on Saturday morning. I did miss some panels due to waiting in the line, and I have read online that others have missed photo ops. I can’t take credit for this, but someone suggested to get a wrist band or a stamp to indicate that you’ve gone through security … so you don’t need to go through that long process of standing in line.

What is worst is the unnecessary zig-zag line that you have to go through to get to the front door. See laughable video of fans walking in the zig-zag line.

SpringCon at Bloomington Armory (29 April 2023)

Other than that, I was really glad to see such a healthy turnout for these types of conventions. As you know, we are longtime fans of Spingcon / Fallcon, Nerdin Out, MN Toy Posse, MN Fan Fest (RIP), Wizard World Minneapolis (RIP), Planet Comicon, and more… so believe me, when I tell you, that Twin Cities Con is one of the best comic book conventions I’ve ever attended. I’ve said it’s “our favorite big ‘comic’ convention in the area” when I went to Twin Cities Con 2023, and it still stands.

The two big panel rooms were the main ballroom and the smaller “Hero” room, on the first floor. The gaming room and additional panels were on the second floor.

This year, there were additional programming panels (and party rooms) at the Hyatt Regency, which requires you to walk a few blocks using the Skyway System. Some rooms required that you were staying at the hotel, as it needed a room key. This is great news if you were staying or parking at the hotel, but it felt like it was a little too far away from the Convention Center (according to Google it is half a mile away).

We mostly stuck to the two main rooms, so I’ll briefly recap them.

FRIDAY
Starting at 2pm, there was a chat with Sarah Natochenny, Haven Burton Paschall, and Marc Thompson, from Pokemon. We all know there’s a strong anime fanbase at the show, so plenty of diehard Pokemon fans were in the audience.

Twin Cities Con Friday Badge (08 Nov 2024) (art by SnakeSimpArtz)

I already mentioned how impressed I was with the Helluverse strong fanbase, and they were the dominate fanbase at the Twin Cities Con this year. Fans were so ravenous for anything Hazbin, that fans were seeking to buy used Friday-only badges (which had characters drawn by SnakeSimpArtz). I have never heard of Helluva Boss (YouTube) or Hazbin Hotel (Amazon Prime) or ZooPhobia (Web), but now Vivienne Medrano is on my radar as a creative force. The turnout to the Vivienne Medrano, Morgana Ignis, Brandon Rogers and Alex Brightman, panel was the most I’ve seen for Friday.

Of course, the force was strong with emperor Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars)… making his first appearance in Minneapolis. The guy was quite witty and funny, it’s clear that it wasn’t his first rodeo.

Over at the Hero stage, they talked to voice actor Josh Keaton, Wes Johnson (who does ‘Voice-A-Palooza’ at these shows), and finally Demon Slayer actors Griffin Burns and Zach Aguilar. I would say Demon Slayer was hot last year, but the trend seemed to have died down this year.

SATURDAY
We actually missed early panels with Adventure Time’s John DiMaggio and Olivia Olson (due to standing in the security line). We did manage to see Stephanie Beatriz… who is from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but everyone there seemed to only know her form Hazbin Hotel.

Speaking of which, the Hazbin Hotel panel had the biggest attendance. There weren’t enough seats on stage for all the voice actors: Erika Henningsen, Vivienne Medrano, Morgana Ignis, Kimiko Glenn, Amir Talai, Blake Roman, Joel Perez, Krystina Alabado, and Brandon Rogers. It was clear that the cast were having the time of their lives. Some (such as Erika Henningsen) extended their appearance, due to strong demand from the fans.

I was looking forward to hearing Lou Diamond Phillips, who talked about his most famous role of playing Ritchie Valens in La Bamba. The big room wrapped up with the popular Saturday Cosplay Contest.

At the Hero stage, we saw Troy Baker (famous for playing Joel in The Last of Us video game), and Star Wars writers Timothy Zahn and John Jackson Miller.

SUNDAY
Starting early was Encanto’s Dianne Guerrero (who is famous for playing Crazy Jane in Doom Patrol) and Jess Darrow.

The Flash’s star Grant Gustin was a big draw. He was only available for Sunday, so it felt like he headlined the show. I didn’t see too many Sunday-only badges, but if there were some, I would bet it was because they were strictly there to see Gustin.

Next was The Boy Meets World chat with Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, and Rider Strong. Followed by Wes Johnson’s Voice-A-Palooza featuring Mallorie Rodak, Josh Keaton, Sarah Natochenny, and Haven Burton Paschall.

Closing out the show was the Sunday Cosplay Contest.

At the Hero stage, we have AmaLee, then comedian Brian Posehn. Posehn was a massive comic book geek (collects Neal Adams, loves “The Judas Contract” by Marv Wolfman and George Perez).

I don’t know what Twin Cities Con have planned for next year, but sign me up. I just hope they address the security/line problem. I’m not saying no security, but perhaps do a wrist band or figure out a way to do it better. No one wants to spend an hour standing in line.

Twin Cities Con returns November 7th to 9th, 2025!

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A Stay at the Hazbin Hotel: A Q&A with Erika Henningsen, Vivienne Medrano, Morgana Ignis, Kimiko Glenn, Amir Talai, Blake Roman, Joel Perez, Krystina Alabado, and Brandon Rogers (09 Nov 2024)

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Twin Cities Con at Minneapolis Convention Center (10 Nov 2024)

10 Nov 2024 Twin Cities Con at Minneapolis Convention Center Read More Twin Cities Con 2023 is shaping up to be Twin Cities Con’ biggest show yet! Looking over their guest list, you can see the big draw is the Kevin Smith universe: Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Brian O'Halloran (Clerks), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks) …

The Sunday Twin Cities Con, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, is the final day, and it starts very early and pretty much ends around 5pm. As for attendance, it felt the same as Friday, if not more. Most fans who attended Sunday, were all-in and had already purchased weekend package (or VIP). You rarely saw Sunday-only badges.

Having said that, it was still a very healthy turn out- especially for the Grant Gustin Q&A in the main ballroom. The reason why there were so many fans in the room was because Sunday was the only date that he could make it to the convention, so fans showed up.

As you know, Gustin is most famous for playing Barry Allen, in CW’s The Flash. It was the role that defined him, who previously was a theater actor (and have gone back to the theaters since The Flash ended).

Sunday’s panels:

Sunday 11am: The Beauty and the Brawn: An Encanto Q&A with Dianne Guerrero and Jess Darrow

Sunday 12pm: In a FLASH: A Grant Gustin Q&A

Sunday 1pm: The Boy Meets World Q&A with Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, and Rider Strong

Sunday 2pm: Wes Johnson's Voice-A-Palooza featuring Mallorie Rodak, Josh Keaton, Sarah Natochenny, and Haven Burton Paschall

More photos of panels and additional details to come. In the meantime, enjoy some costume photos below.

Teen Titans Disney

Baseball Fury (The Warriors)

Blade

Rorschach

Lord of the Rings

Spongebob

Destiny, Mystic, Baby Nightcrawler, Raven, Joker, Zatanna, and Constantine

Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn) Attack on Titan Chester Cheetos, Jester, LOTR Genshin Impact Ursula (Disney)

Adventure Time

Fallout

Clicker (The Last of Us)

Bruce Lee

Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con (10 Nov 2024)

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Twin Cities Con at Minneapolis Convention Center (09 Nov 2024)

09 Nov 2024 Twin Cities Con at Minneapolis Convention Center Read More Twin Cities Con 2023 is shaping up to be Twin Cities Con’ biggest show yet! Looking over their guest list, you can see the big draw is the Kevin Smith universe: Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Brian O'Halloran (Clerks), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks) …

The Saturday Twin Cities Con, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, is the biggest show of the three-day event. According to Twin Cities Con, there were over 40,000 pre-sold tickets just for Saturday (numbers confirmed by Fox 9).

As previously mentioned, there are extra securities before you can enter the Exhibit Hall, which means if you need to pick up your badge or have to redeem your photo op or buy merchandises, you need to go through the security line. The line was the longest I’ve ever seen at 10 to 11am. It snaked all the way to the West Entrance and more. It took an hour to make it inside the Exhibit Hall.

Once inside, we were going to spend as much time there as possible, because once we leave, we weren’t going back (because we would have to go through security check again), so we ended up missing a few panels.

Again, as previously mentioned Hazbin Hotel absolutely killed it. Their panel packed the main ballroom and it was the most attended panel I’ve ever seen. Although I’ve never seen the show, I’m now very curious to check it out.

Sunday’s shows are generally really early and will end early as well. It’s also the day when I would spend money.

Here are some highlights for tomorrow:

Sunday 11am: The Beauty and the Brawn: An Encanto Q&A with Dianne Guerrero and Jess Darrow

Sunday 12pm: In a FLASH: A Grant Gustin Q&A

Sunday 1pm: The Boy Meets World Q&A with Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, and Rider Strong

Sunday 2pm: Wes Johnson's Voice-A-Palooza featuring Mallorie Rodak, Josh Keaton, Sarah Natochenny, and Haven Burton Paschall

Batverse: Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Batman, Batgirl

Back to the Future

Hollow Knight

Spooky (original character)

Death, Batgirl, Star Wars

Batverse: Mad-Hatter, Joker, Commissioner Gordon, Riddler, Red Hood, Bane Resident Evil, Adventure Time, and Loki

Fallout

NCR Ranger (Fallout)

Starfire and Robin

Wolfwood (Trigun)

Coraline

Pokemon Northstar

Man Ray (Spongebob Squarepants) Harbinger Hotel and Fallout Professor Henry Walton Jones Sr. and Daredevil Dune Inigo Montoya and Fezzik (Princess Bride)

Elden Ring

Sexy Vader

Zatanna and Constantine

Joker and Ghost Rider

Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con (09 Nov 2024)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

BOOX Note Air 3 C Review

BOOX Note Air 3 C Read More eInk I just bought the BOOX Note Air 3 C, the color eInk tablet for reading comics. The eReader arrived today, so I’m playing around with it and my first impression is that I made a terrible mistake. ....

As I previously mentioned, I bought the BOOX Note Air 3 C, the color eInk tablet, primarily for reading comic books. Even though the tablet was recently released in October, 2023, none of the reviewers actually touch on reading comics or magazines.

For comic book readers, you’re going to have to use the Kindle App. Several years ago, Amazon bought out their comic competition, ComiXology, and slowly dismantled the company and took their guided-view technology.

While the Kindle App works incredibly well on the iPad Pro, it was not usable on the Boox Note Air. The app was designed to do all sorts of animation and make transitioning page to page beautiful with its lifting pages, etc… just does not work at all on eInk. In fact, any sort of animation, moving pictures, will suffer because eInk cannot refresh fast enough, so you will constantly see the previous images (called ‘ghosting’).

I spent my first day tweaking the Kindle App, changing the refresh mode, changing saturation, changing brightness… nothing worked.

I can’t take the credit for it, as I was looking for answers on my phone and saw that someone else had figured it out. He is not a Kindle App comic reader, so he bought a 99-cent comic to test out. He was appalled by the ghosting. He was able to make it usable by going into the e-Ink center in the Control Center drop-down, and selecting Refresh Mode: Regal, and under More Settings, changing the value of Animation filter time to 300. I don’t understand why it works, but it does work! This setting saved me from going insane.

This brings me to the software that runs Boox. There is a bug in the operating system (OS) that is preventing Kindle from full refresh page every page. No matter what setting you use, it just won’t force refresh.

The OS is actually Google’s Android 12, but it has a Boox custom user overlay. They basically stripped out animation and kept it to a minimalist look of blue, black, or white. Unfortunately, some things didn’t work for me. For example, the default Onyx keyboard has the return key (the Enter key) as the lower-right key (below the right shift key), which doesn’t make any sense from someone who is trained on a US layout that the Enter key is above the Shift Key. I think it is because Onyx is from China, and we’re losing some things in the translation.

There are quite a few ways to get comics onto your device. Most people, like me, will just have Kindle re-download comics on you own on the device. It has ‘whispersync’ so it’ll remember where you were last at, if you read on a variety of devices.

If you have your own PDF or CBR files, you can ‘Booxdrop’ (air drop or wireless transfer) or plug in your Boox into your PC or you can pre-load these files on a MicroSD card. Boox is pretty flexible about allowing you to add or remove files.

Boox comes with its native reader called Onyx Reader, which works really well on the tablet, because it was design specifically for eInk. You can always download your favorite comic book reader, I can recommend CDisplayEx, which costs $5 on the Google App Store.

Having read a few comics on the Boox, I can tell you the best-looking ones are the books that uses muted, earth-toned colors, or black and white comics (such as manga). Books like V For Vendetta looks amazing on eInk, simply because David Lloyd’s artwork uses a washed-out light color that complements his art style. Same thing can be said for Batman: Year One (the current re-colored collection), as the colors looks like it was water-based and the palette is dark, muddy, and dirty, which works well with David Mazzucchelli’s inky Alex Toth-style.

Starfire (vuart)

What doesn’t look good are colorful, bright comic books, like traditional super-heroes in bright colorful costumes. It just won’t translate well on color eInk. It has potential, and I can see a future, when the technology gets better, that you can see a true representation of actual real colors. To give you an example, I’ve taken a photo of a sketch that I see on the tablet. When you export the photo and see it on a real screen, the colors aren’t even close!

If you just want a tablet for reading books only, I think the Kindle Scribe (even at the expensive $340) is your best option with the latest Carta eInk technology. I saw it with my own eyes, the black and white is true white contrast to the black eInk. For reading comic books, the best experience has been with my iPad Pro 12.9, simply because it’s speedy and on a very large beautiful display. The Boox just cannot match the iPad.

The only reason why you would even consider the Boox Note Air 3 C (the C stands for Color), is that you want color eInk. eInk is pretty amazing. The way it works is once the image is rendered, the display stays that way… like printed paper. Since it’s like paper, you need to be in a bright room or use a lamp. The Boox has a built-in glow light, which you will constantly need to use.

After all my negative experience with eInk, if you’re still interested in getting your own eInk tablet… just understand that the color tech isn’t quite ready for prime time. Go in with your expectations in check.

For me, once I got Kindle to work, I was pretty happy with it. As soon as the Gallery 3 (the 32,000-color display) is available in a larger 10-inch or larger screen, I will be first in line to purchase that. The current 7-inch screen is just too small for a full-page comic book. I can say this with confidence, as text on some comics are too small on a 10 inch (but is readable on my 12.9-inch iPad). That two or three inches makes a huge difference.

Pros Size: Modern comics are about 10x6.5 inches, so the larger the tablet, the better Portability: Bring as many books as you can as long as you have the storage Print: Standard readable print is 300dpi, and Boox’s color is 150dpi Battery: Since eInk technology uses very little electricity, you get really good battery life. Notes: You can write and draw notes and it works pretty well. Google: I believe this is one of the first eInk tablet to use the Google App store. MicroSD: Expandable storage up to 2TB.

Cons Speed: By modern tablet, eInk is very, very slow. Colors: It’s great that we have color, but it does not look good due to 150dpi and limited to 4,000 colors. Ghosting: It doesn’t bother some people, but I absolutely cannot stand it Dead Pixels: On my device, I see four dead pixels Price: eInk technology is still expensive. The latest iPad (10 inch) costs less than Boox Note Air 3 C. Software: Settings and features are not always clear in what they do. Buttons: There are no physical buttons, except for the fingerprint power button. Accessories: Lack of accessories. For example, you can only get one type of cover

Here is a break down for prices:

• $500 - BOOX Note Air 3 C
• $500 - Bigme inkNote Color Lite
• $340 - Kindle Scribe
• $560 - iPad Pro 2020 (Used)

I’m probably more excited to get Gallery 3 or some newer color eInk and get a much larger color palette to work with. Perhaps with better technology to prevent ghosting. Check out color comparison between Kaleido 3 vs Gallery 3 at YouTube.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Book vs Boox vs iPad

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

George Perez Website: 25th Anniversary

Read More George Perez Today, December 9th, is the 20th anniversary of my little George Perez Website, a website dedicated to comic book artist George Perez. …

This Saturday, December 9th, 2023, is the 25th Anniversary of the George Perez Website.

I started this little webpage in 1998, as a means to keeping track of George Perez’s art for my own collection. It was (at the time) the first (at least that I’m aware of) website devoted to George Perez.

In 2000, George Perez had seen my webpage and contacted me through email. He loved the dedication, and through the years, made announcements exclusively on the website to keep fans informed of his latest projects.

Currently, the George Perez Website is in its fifth version, located at thegeorgeperez.com. It is being hosted on iBrave Web Hosting Service, a lifetime hosting for a one-time fee.

It’s funny, looking back, when the website just turned five years, I was incredibly proud of it, because I didn’t think it would last that long.

George Perez wrote, “I just want to congratulate Vu on the 5th Anniversary of this fan site. I have been enormously flattered by all his work and dedication and I hope that I continue to deserve such attention.”

Special thanks to George Perez, Ilke Hincer, Tony Lorenz, Marcus Mebes, Andy Mangels, Doug and Sheila, Eric S., OJ Flow, Spencer, and to all the fans I’ve met along the way.

Timeline:

12/09/1998 - Version 1 05/06/2000 - Version 2 10/27/2006 - Version 3 07/10/2007 - on break for one year 07/12/2008 - Version 4

12/09/2008 - 10th Anniversary 12/09/2018 - 20th Anniversary 08/25/2021 - Version 5 01/15/2023 - Version 6 12/09/2023 - 25th Anniversary

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Twin Cities Con at Minneapolis Convention Center (03-05 Nov 2023)

Guests Jason Lee Danny Trejo Kevin Smith Jason Mewes David McCormack Melanie Zanetti Steve Burns Rachael Leigh Cook Ross Marquand Ashley Eckstein Matt Lanter James Arnold Taylor Janet Varney Dante Basco Zach Tyler Eisen Jack De Sena Grey DeLisle-Griffin Greg Baldwin Ben Templesmith Bryan Turner Amy Chu Fabrice Sapolsky Adrean Clark Destiny Davison Peter Wartman Armand Clark A.L. Peterson Ted Anderson Ashleigh Popplewell Jenny Fine J.N. Monk Zander Cannon Alé Garze John Bivens Lupi McGinty Eliot Rahal Ant Lucia Bryan Tillman Tracie Ching Jarrett Melendez Dave Wheeler Andy Price Chad Corrie Timothy Zahn Andrew Aydin Brian O'Halloran Jeremy London Trish Stratus Jeff Anderson Ethan Suplee Amy Dumas fka Lita Marilyn Ghigliotti Eddie Steeples Ming Chen Jonah Scott Yuri Lowenthal Tony Todd Nadji Jeter Neil Kaplan Tom Gibis Brian Donovan Doug Erholtz Michael Yurchak Monica Rial Justin Cook Emily Neves Kyle Phillips Emi Lo Ryan Bartley Reba Buhr Brent Mukai Charlet Chung Maki Roll Milo Beasley Lucie Pohl Tom Ruegger Mikal Mosley David Yost Paul Rugg Bobbi Miller Steve Cardenas Wes Johnson Kid Cadet Michael Kingston Jamal Igle Joe Hunter Jordan Gunderson Steve Conley Phil Hester Chris Anderson Lan Pitts Read More Twin Cities Con 2023 is shaping up to be Twin Cities Con’ biggest show yet! Looking over their guest list, you can see the big draw is the Kevin Smith universe: Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Brian O'Halloran (Clerks), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks) …

The third annual Twin Cities Con just ended on Sunday, November 5th. It has become our favorite big “comic” convention in the area.

Before I talk about TCC, let’s take a look at Minnesota’s recent convention scene.

For many years, the comic convention was represented by Fallcon (and then Springcon), put together by MCBA (Midwest Comic Book Association). Since their leader Nick Post died in 2014, the association re-branded itself as MSP Comicon, but it was a horribly run show, as I previously reported in 2015.

By 2021, all the volunteers at the MCBA reformed as MCBF (Midwest Comic Book Fans), and put on several “MicroCon” shows, before calling it quits in April 2023. In that same month, we saw the new MNCBA (Minnesota Comic Book Association) put on their first Springcon show on April 29, 2023. These new SpringCon (and FallCon which took placed last week on October 28), are much smaller shows, costing only $5 for entry. They don’t compare to the much larger “comic con” style of conventions.

Wizard World entered the Minneapolis market in April 2015. By their third year, in May 2017, Wizard World decided to exit the area, probably due to losing money for their Minneapolis shows.

Minnesota Fan Fest came on the scene in Aug 2017 and re-named itself to Minnesota Fan Fusion in Aug 2018, but have decided to not to come back.

There was a dry spell for big comic convention, no thanks to the COVID pandemic, in 2019 and all through 2020.

Once the pandemic restrictions lifted in late 2021, we now have Twin Cities Con, which started in October 2021 and focused on comics (Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Peter David were guests). Last year, TCC’s headliners were Elijah Wood and Sean Astin (both from Lord of the Rings), and hearing fans who attended, they can pack the room.

This year, the TCC theme is the “Askewniverse” … featuring many Kevin Smiths actors and associates for Clerks and Mallrats. Mallrats was especially important to the area, because it was filmed at the Eden Prairie Center mall … so it saw many of the actors returning to Minnesota, including Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Ethan Suplee, and Elizabeth Ashley.

Many of the actors and voice actors had panels, including the Clerks panel (Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ming Chen), Naruto Cast (Yuri Lowenthal, Neil Kaplan, Brian Donovan, Tom Gibis, Michael Yurchak, & Doug Erholtz), Freakazoid! (Paul Rugg & Tom Ruegger), Avatar (Zach Tyler Eisen, Dante Basco, Jack De Sena, Janet Varney, Grey DeLisle-Griffin, & Greg Baldwin), Talking Thrawn (Timothy Zahn), Voice-a-Palooza (Wes Johnson, Monica Rial, Kyle PHillips, Paul Rugg, Tom Ruegger, & Emily Neves), A-Mewes-ing Stories (Jason Mewes), Rachael Leigh Cook, Danny Trejo, Jason Lee, Ross Marquand, and more.

Many of the programming ran against each other, so you sometime have to pick and choose where to go. A lot of the actors, like Jason Lee and Ross Marquand, had one rule: they could not talk about any upcoming Hollywood films because of the SAG strikes. So questions were often all over the place, like what kind of music they like.

Saw plenty of Genshin Impact cosplayers, who had a meetup on Sunday. The other popular anime was Demon Slayer, where you spotted so many fans wearing that green checkered cape.

There were also a lot of Chainsaw Man cosplayers, as well as Spider-Man. Also, lots of Five Nights at Freddy’s cosplayers, thanks to the popular film.

The big costume contests, which closes out Saturday and Sunday’s nights, was a big draw for attendees. All the costumes were wonderful, and judging for the winners must have been hard on the judges.

As for the conventions, there was one massive vendors area, with a food area, an autograph/epic photo area, and registration area. For the panels, there was one big ballroom, a second slightly smaller ballroom, and four small rooms on the second floor. There was also a game room, which was a little further… but it was often filled with gamers.

Although they advertised the convention taking place around 11am to 7pm, there were “After Hours” shows, which can run late in the night. If you really wanted to, you can easily spend around 8 hours a day, making the admission price well worth it.

Additionally, the convention was well organized. If panels were changed, the most updated information are posted on the front door. If you were lost, a volunteer can point you in the right direction.

With the 30,000 fans that showed up on Saturday, you may be spending a little time standing in line… but it never felt too long, especially once the line started moving.

If they can pull it off, I can easily see TCC rivalling other big shows, like Chicago Comic Con, which is the big one to beat in the Midwest.

For most fans, especially cosplayers, the convention is a place they can meet up with their friends or other fans who shares their same passion. Personally speaking, I met a few fans, who I am hoping to see again next year.

TCC 2024 already announce their next show to take place on November 8-10, 2024.

PHOTOS

Twin Cities Con on Nov 03, 2023

Twin Cities Con on Nov 04, 2023

Twin Cities Con on Nov 05, 2023

Eileen The Crow (Bloodborne) Hawks (My Hero Academia) and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Twin Cities Con Drag Show Voice Actors After Dark: Maki Roll, Brent Mukai and Jonah Scott Timothy Zahn

Avatar: the Last Airbender Universe Cast - Zach Tyler Eisen, Dante Basco, Jack De Sena, Janet Varney, Grey DeLisle-Griffin, & Greg Baldwin Let's Talk Story: Writing Comics and Animation with Amy Chu & Erik Burnham Nerd Out With Nerd Street: Q&A with the Folks Behind Twin Cities Con

VOICEAPALOOZA, feat. Paul Rugg, Tom Ruegger, Wes Johnson, Monica Rial, Kyle Phillips, Emily Neves, at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (03 Nov 2023)

Clerks with Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ming Chen Issues with Ming Chen Two Fat Guys Eat: Juicy Lucy Edition

Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (04 Nov 2023)

Janet Varney Justin Cook David Yost Con

Rachael Leigh Cook

David McCormack & Melanie Zanetti Grey DeLisle-Griffin Teaching with Comic Books Across the Curriculum

Jason Lee

Monica Rial Lighter Side of Star Trek Twin Cities Con Year 3 Wrap-Up Panel

Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand

Wes Johnson Nu World ComicsDiversity in the Fore Spider-Baby

Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (05 Nov 2023)

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Photos: Twin Cities Con (04 Nov 2023)

11/04 Twin Cities Con: Clerks Read More Twin Cities Con 2023 is shaping up to be Twin Cities Con’ biggest show yet! Looking over their guest list, you can see the big draw is the Kevin Smith universe: Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Brian O'Halloran (Clerks), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks) …

Traditionally speaking, Saturday is always the biggest turnout for comic convention, and, boy did the fans turned up for the second night of the third annual Twin Cities Con, in Minneapolis.

We previously mentioned that Friday’s turnout was also strong, but Saturday’s attendance was more than double… and as they say, the more the merrier.

Unfortunately, the large turn out resulted in lining up to get to the registration area… only to find out there is another line once you got in. “There’s a line, inside the line!” can be overheard.

Of course, VIP holders can skip the lines, but at the cost of almost double the price of general admission.

Since headliner Kevin Smith cancelled his special Q&A (this is not the first time Smith cancelled his appearance… he previously cancelled his Q&A in May 2015 at Wizard World Minneapolis). While it may not be Smiths’ fault, it just sounds like he overbooks or does not understand logistics.

Since his 6pm appearance was cancelled, the Clerks 29th Anniversary Cast Reunion panel was moved to be the headliner for the convention. Unfortunately, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson already made plans to see a hockey game and only appeared for half an hour… leaving Marilyn Ghigliotti and moderator Ming Chen on their own.

Otherwise, the Twin Cities Con was well run, and had a lot to offer. There were six panel rooms (two big ballrooms and four smaller rooms), a big game room, and a massive merchandise area. If you were bored with one room, you can always sit in another panel, or just walk around and see all the wonderful costumes.

Wyatt Earp (Tombstone) with Batman ‘66 and Superman Convention Floor Pillow Pascal (Pedro Pascal)

Prince

Omni-Man

Little Nightmares

One Punch Man Ghostface (Scream) Daft Punk

Spider-Punk (Spider-Man)

Ghost Rider and Domino (Marvel Comics)

Jedi (Star Wars)

Fandom & Mental Health: Why A New Hope is More Important Now Than Ever Harley Quinn, Raven, and Joker (DC Comics) Jason Mewes

Cobra Commander (GI Joe)

Death

Raven

Game Room Mandalorians (Star Wars) Futurama

Skeletor

Chainsaw Man

Ash (Evil Dead)

Clerks with Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ming Chen

Mad Max: Fury Road Matt Lanter Ghostbusters

Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (04 Nov 2023)

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MicroCon III at Mermaid Center, Mounds View (08 April 2023)

Guests Hannah Boehme, Carl Borg, Cory Carani, Darla Ecklund, Aaron Grono, Bill Hauser, Jessica Hickman, Ryan Kelly, Jacqueline Murto, Tom Nguyen, Ben Pisek, Gordon Purcell, Chandra Reyer, Mark Stegbauer, Dave Wheeler, WhimsyGals, Brandon Wind, Kevin Wind Read More MCBA We attended the first Midwest Comic Book Fans show Spring Fling Comic Book Show at Mermaid Entertainment & Event Center, Mounds View, Minnesota, today, May 15th, 2021. ....

It’s an end of an era (and the beginning of another) for the Midwest Comic Book Fans, with its final show MicroCon III at the Mermaid Entertainment & Event Center in Mounds View, Minnesota.

As we noted in the very first MicroCon show in May 2021, we said the MCBF club spawned from the ashes of Midwest Comic Book Association (MCBA), who slowly disassociated over the years, starting with the passing of the main organizer Nick Post in 2014. They were directionless, re-branding their shows as MSP Comicon, but locally, everyone knows the shows as SpringCon or FallCon.

Anyway, last year, we got word from MCBF that “After 30 years we will not be holding anymore SpringCon or FallCon shows. Additionally, we are announcing our final event. Microcon III will be held at the Mermaid Event Center, in the Atlantis Ball Room, on April 8th, 2023. Microcon III will be a fan appreciation event and will be a free admission event. We hope that many of you stop by to say farewell and enjoy the show. Although the Microcon events have been smaller events compared to SpringCon and FallCon, everyone involved has been having a lot of fun. Lastly, we will be shutting down our website and twitter site at the end of 2023.”

Being the last show, we decided to pop into pay respect. We’ve been to the venue before, so we know it is smaller show… but it seemed even smaller due to how packed the room got with so many fans in attendance. It was a good sign for the comic book industry.

SpringCon (29 Apr 2023)

Before you get too depressed that there will no longer be another SpringCon or FallCon - apparently there is now a new Minnesota Comic Book Association (not to be confused with Midwest Comic Book Association), to stake claim in the MCBA acronym and will be holding their first show on April 29th. MCBF explains, “Volunteers who participated in the Midwest Comic Book Association’s shows at the state fairgrounds are starting a new business called the Minnesota Comic Book Association. This will be their first event… We wish the new Minnesota Comic Book Association the best of luck with their endeavor. And hope their events can bring the same excitement to the local community.”

Although I hate the fact that the new SpringCon show is in Bloomington (near the Mall of America), prices seemed decent at $6 with free grab bags for the first 150 attendees... so we’ll likely attend.

Minnesota Con (02-04 June 2023)

While we’re at it, there is also Minnesota Con, a three-day event, from June 2 to 4, 2023, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It’s put together by Nerdin Out (we went to their Nerdin Out 2019 Show). Main guests are Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Rikishi, James O’Barr, Jae Lee, Dan Jurgens, etc. Check with their website, as more guests are announced closer to the June date.

So there you have it… while one organization is ending after 30 years, others will rise to take its place.

Personally speaking, I am excited about the new “MCBA”. Keep the prices low, offers those grab bags (we used to try and get a free grab bag in the early 2000 but have never ever gotten there early enough), bring it back to its roots.

With that said, we’ll see you at a future comic book convention.

MicroCon III

Wall Comics

Gordan Purcell

Tom Nguyen

MicroCon III at Mermaid Center, Mounds View (08 April 2023)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com