J M Wetherington Sr

North Texas Comic Book Show – Sidebar Photos

Posted on February 25, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I attended the North Texas Comic Book Show a couple of weekends ago and you can read about my two days there by clicking here for the first part of day one, here for the second part of day one, and here for day two. Today’s post is just a few photos I took during both days as a sidebar to the main reasons I went to the convention.

My oldest granddaughter, Heather, is going to be taking part in a little bit of cosplay when she attends the MegaCon in Orlando in May with her mom (who is, by the way, only going to ogle guest Jason Momoa) and will dress up as Tohru, one of the main characters in the series Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon.

So, when I came across a group of cosplayers at the convention that uses their enjoyment of cosplaying to make appearances and visits to children who are in hospitals or recuperating at home from illness or disease or are developmentally disabled, I had to stop and talk to them at their table outside the entrance. They were selling this book, which gives short bios of some of their cosplayers so you can see the different “day” jobs each one has, as well as a look at the characters they like to portray. The best part is that all the profits from this book go toward raising funds for the Heroic Inner Kids and Hope Rising charities. I picked up a copy and then was able to get a few of the cosplayers inside the convention to autograph their pages so I could send it to Heather, hoping that she might enjoy the stories and a look inside the community.

And it’s really fun to see parents bring their younger children to the conventions, especially when they dress up like their favorite characters. I’m not sure who the little girl is dressed as, but it’s obvious the little boy likes Spidey.

Here’s Supergirl, who is a bit put off after I had to tell that, while her attention and intentions toward me were flattering, I remain a happily married man who is very much in love with his wife.

And Wonder Woman hanging out with a Power Ranger (I think) in the bleachers during a panel.

Here are photos from the top of the bleachers at the end of the convention hall showing the crowd on day one and the crowd on day two.

Finally, I stayed in a wonderful hotel my one night I was there. Especially wonderful since I was their “Member of the Day” guest.

And as “Member of the Day” you get these personalized snacks.

In fact, the desk clerk was so nice to me that I couldn’t bear to point out that she had used the wrong spelling for “you’re” on my key card holder.

All in all, I had a good time. I met some people I wanted to meet, got some things autographed and had some fun while I was at the North Texas Comic Book Show.

Posted in Comic Books | Tagged Cosplay, Cosplay Unmasked, Cosplayers, North Texas Comic Book Show, Spider-Man, Supergirl | 2 Comments

This and That

Posted on February 23, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Just a collection of this and that from recent things I’ve read, seen or experienced.

Barnes and Noble Going Under? I know, I know, we keep hearing it more and more over the past few years but this piece from CNBC makes it seem even closer at hand, what with the layoffs of their lead cashiers and digital leads in stores across the country. And, in a pretty crappy way too; showing up at work a couple of Mondays ago only to be told they’d been laid off.

I think I’d better go use that gift card I received at Xmas from Amber and Abby before the company goes bankrupt and stops redeeming their outstanding gift cards like these companies did.

The Germiest Spot in the Airport? If you travel by air a lot as I do (and are as old as I am) then this article on the AARP website may have caught your eye as it did mine. Like most people, it turns out, I worry more about germs ON the plane as opposed to IN the airport. I wear long sleeve shirts so the bare skin of my arms doesn’t come into much contact with the armrests; I carry a travel container of Purell so that after I touch the overhead bin, drop the armrest down, and buckle my seatbelt I can clean my hands; and I keep myself hydrated so that a dry throat or nasal passages won’t lower my resistance to infection.

But it turns out THE germiest spot is in the airport at the touchscreen ticket kiosk. Those machines have never been my first choice because I still like knowing a professional at the ticket counter is handling my arrangements, but more and more airlines are moving to them and having your only interaction at the counter be to drop off your bag(s). The last 4 times I’ve flown I’ve had to use the kiosk to print my own baggage tags, attach them, acknowledge that I’m not flying with dangerous substances, and drop them at the counter where a person looks everything over and, if I haven’t messed anything up, sends me off to my gate.

Maybe I’ll start wearing gloves, or using my iPad stylus to make my touchscreen selections.

Have You Ever Heard a Skyquake? And no, I’m not talking about the Transformer toy.

I’ve heard plenty of sonic booms in the sky over the years, but while a skyquake sounds like a sonic boom it is not the same and, to the best of my knowledge I’ve never heard one of those.

But I think it would be a great name for a band.

Facebook Will Send You a Postcard. If you want to buy an ad on Facebook that mentions a candidate, Facebook will send you a postcard with a code on it and you will have to use that code to complete your purchase/order of the ad that mentions a candidate in order “…to prove you are in the United States.”

That’s right, one of the tech giants in the world can’t figure out a better way to prove you are who you say you are and have an address in the U.S. than to send you an old-school paper postcard. I was discussing this with two co-workers (both much younger than myself and more tech-savvy as well) and they both laughed and the first words out of their mouths were, “So, if I’m not in the U.S. and I’m a bad actor, I just get someone to let me use their address, right?”

You can’t make this stuff up…

Posted in This and That | Tagged Airports, Barnes and Noble, Facebook, Germs, Gift Card, Postcards, Purell, Skyquake, Touchscreen kiosk | Comments Off

North Texas Comic Book Show – Day Two

Posted on February 21, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I’m finally getting around to writing about and sharing photos from my trip to the North Texas Comic Book Show – Day Two. You can read about day one, part one here; and day one, part two here. This will be long as I’m trying to fit it all into one post.

The Sunday morning crowd was very, very light when I arrived at 10 am, but you’ll hear no complaints from me. Since I had taken care of the “have to get” items on Saturday, the sparse crowd Sunday allowed me to indulge in a couple of “wants” that I hoped to fulfill.

First up was a book and autograph from artist Michael Golden. I first became aware of Mr. Golden back in 1977 when he did some pencilling on the Mister Miracle comic book, but his big claim to fame came when the first Micronauts comic book was published by Marvel Comics in 1979 with him as the artist. He pencilled a variety of Marvel Comics titles throughout the 1980’s, became an editor at DC Comics in the early 1990’s and returned to Marvel Comics as Art Director in the late 1990’s. In the 2000’s he drew covers for several DC Comics titles such as Superman, Nightwing, and Man of Steel.

So, the day before I had looked over several books he had for sale, trying to decide which one I would buy to have him autograph. I settled on “Excess – The Art of Michael Golden” and if you follow the link you can see in the photo here that the copy I purchased had a different cover, but it wasn’t the cover that made my decision (I’m sure my brother will say otherwise), it was all the great artwork inside. Mr. Golden kindly autographed it for me, signed the Certificate of Authority form and, since no one else was around, spent a few minutes chatting with me.

Next, it was over to the opposite side of the convention floor where artist/writer Jim Starlin (isn’t that a great comic book name?) had his table. At home in the cabin I have several comic books and books by Jim Starlin, but of course none were with me in Irving, Texas. So while making my way across the convention floor I was looking along the way for a comic book or graphic novel I could purchase to have him autograph.

As luck would have it (I’m being sarcastic, it was great product placement) there was a dealer right across from Mr. Starlin’s table selling “Warlock – The Complete Collection” 300-page trade paperback for the unbelievable price of $10! If you’re not a comic book fan you most likely think this is an exorbitant price to pay for a “funny book” (though Warlock, while it does have some humor, is anything but a “funny book”), but the book normally sells for $35, so this was a great buy for me. I asked the dealer (he had 3 more copies on display) how he could afford to sell these for such a low price. He told me he bought a bunch of them from a collector for an unbelievably low price and decided to pass the savings along to other collectors. After I flipped through the book to make sure it was complete (yeah, I’m cynical that way), I paid the man his $10 and stepped across the aisle to Mr. Starlin’s table.

On Saturday, the line at his table had snaked around a third of the convention with people waiting for his autograph. I literally took five steps from across the aisle and walked right up to his table and to the man. He shook my hand, asked where I would like him to sign (while at the same time making an excellent suggestion as to where it would stand out), signed it and thanked me. We were both in a hurry because he was leaving to go speak at a panel and I was leaving to listen to said panel.

The day before, Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and John Beatty held a fantastic panel on the first Secret Wars series. Today, Jim Shooter would be interviewing Jim Starlin about his career in comics, his art, his writing, and various memories that they shared while at Marvel Comics. These are the things that fascinate me; the stories behind what we all know (well, fans know) and how many times those stories behind the stories cast an illuminating light on the stories, books, and lives of these artists. The panel was supposed to last for an hour, but Mr. Shooter and Mr. Starlin graciously indulged us for more than an hour and forty-five minutes, using the last forty-five minutes just to answer questions from the large audience.

Jim Starlin on the left and Jim Shooter on the right as they conducted their 90-minute panel at the North Texas Comic Book Show.

And that wrapped up the day and the North Texas Comic Book Show for me. I had a great time, met some great people and got some autographs I’ve wanted but hadn’t had the opportunity to get in the past.

And I lied. I didn’t get it all into this post. I’ll have one more “sidebar” post about some of the other parts of the convention in a few days.

Posted in Comic Books | Tagged Comic Book Conventions, comic books, DC Comics, Jim Shooter, Jim Starlin, Marvel Comics, Michael Golden, Micronauts, North Texas Comic Book Show, Superheroes, Superman | 1 Comment

Self-Checkout Theft

Posted on February 20, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I can count on one finger (guess which one) the number of times I have used the self-checkout lane at any store I shop at. Actually, I should amend that; I’ve used the self-checkout lane successfully one time, the other three times required an attendant to come over and fix something that went wrong with their machine. I decided that something which didn’t work correctly three-quarters of the time was not worth my time and effort. Plus, it inevitably ended up taking longer than standing in a line with a real, human cashier.

But despite my disdain for this excuse to make me do the store’s work, without even the offer of a discount for doing so, I’ve never thought that I should practice self-checkout theft. I mean, how do people work up the chutzpah to do something like this?

This article in The Atlantic Magazine points out how an estimated 20 percent of people who use the self-checkout lane are practicing self-checkout theft. And it’s not even called “shoplifting” any longer by loss prevention workers, it’s called “external shrinkage” and is accomplished in a variety of ways from failing to scan an item or items to mislabeling an item that a cashier would spot but the scanner doesn’t.

“Anyone who pays for more than half of their stuff in self-checkout is a total moron.”

This person is trying to pay the price of bananas for their T-bone steaks.

That seems to be the mentality of some shoppers who love to use self-checkout. The article points to an audit of transactions.

“After auditing 1 million self-checkout transactions over the course of a year, totaling $21 million in sales, they found that nearly $850,000 worth of goods left the store without being scanned and paid for.”

In the U.S., at least, it seems that this is a behavior that goes mostly unpunished. According to the article, some police departments, like the Dallas Police, won’t respond to a theft in this manner unless it is for more than $100.

But in Germany, at least, that seems to not be the case. A man who earns the equivalent of almost $30,000 per month was fined $256,663 for putting $58.00 worth of veal liver in fruit bag to scan at a much lower price.

It would seem like, if there ever was one, that this is a crime of opportunity that at least one-fifth of us can’t seem to let pass by. And most stores, it seems, let it happen.

Do you regularly use the self-checkout lanes? If so, what has been your experience?

Posted in General | Tagged Self-Checkout Lane Theft, Shoplifting, Stealing, Theft | 1 Comment

Da Vinci or DiCaprio?

Posted on February 16, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

So, if you follow me on Goodreads or see my status updates on Facebook of what I’m reading and where I’m at in the books I’m reading you know that I’m currently reading Walter Isaacson’s “Leonardo da Vinci”, the outstanding biography of the original Renaissance Man.

I had no idea that there were plans to make an adaptation of the book until I read about it in one of the newsletters I subscribe to from Book Riot. And in an interesting little twist, Leonardo DiCaprio is set to produce and star in this planned movie.

Which brings me to an even more interesting twist. The other day, while reading the book, I got to wondering how Mr. DiCaprio came be named Leonardo and if there was any connection to Mr. da Vinci. According to Book Riot, Mr. DiCaprio “got his first name because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when the future star kicked for the first time.”

Now THAT’S a kick in the gut…

Posted in Books, Movies | Tagged Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo DiCaprio | 1 Comment

Gimme Shelter

Posted on February 15, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

According to this article from The Bradenton Herald via the Emergency Management Magazine website, folks in Southwest Florida, Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area will find the availability of emergency shelter during the next hurricane to be in short supply. Some of the shortages cited in the study that the article is based upon are staggering.

Looking at these predicted shelter shortages, I would say that if a destructive hurricane (category 3, 4, or 5) is coming your way and your home is in one, both, or all of these areas it might be best to evacuate as soon as possible and drive north until you’re out of the path. Otherwise, your chances of finding emergency shelter in your area look to be greatly reduced.

Posted in Weather Events | Tagged Emergency Shelter, Hurricane, Shelter | Comments Off

North Texas Comic Book Show – Day One – Part 2

Posted on February 14, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

If you missed it, you can read about the first part of day one at the North Texas Comic Book Show right here.

After getting my main mission accomplished, I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the show.

First up was Jim Shooter’s one-man-panel on storytelling. When Jim Shooter was 14 years old he began selling comic book stories to an editor at DC comics, who had no idea at first that the writer sending him these great stories was barely a teenager. When I was 9 years old, I was reading Superman, Superboy, and Legion of Super-Heroes comic book stories written by Shooter, who was 5 years older than me, and loving them! Of course, I didn’t know that at the time.

Here’s a couple of photos of Jim Shooter expounding on aspects of storytelling.

Afterward, I just meandered around visiting the various seller’s booths remembering when I paid 12 cents for a comic book that now sold for $2,400 and walked down “Artists Alley” admiring some of the comic book drawings.

Next up was the staple of every self-respecting comic book convention – the costume contest. They had one for kids and one for adults who were still kids. I’ve never competed in one, but I could see myself having fun doing that, so don’t take that previous sentence as a snarky poke at those adults who were letting their inner child out to play.

Here are some photos of some of the contestants.

Can you name all of them in the comments?

Then it was on to the final panel of the day; the Secret Wars reunion panel composed of writer/editor Jim Shooter, penciller Mike Zeck, and inker John Beatty. This was one of my favorite parts of the convention and these three gentlemen spent about 90 minutes telling us how the comic book came about, why they made some of the changes to established characters that they did, how hard the project was, how fun the project was, and sharing little-known behind-the-scenes stories while answering audience questions.

Here’s a photo of, from left to right, John Beatty, Mike Zeck, and Jim Shooter during the panel.

By the time this panel was over, I was too. It was time to make my way to my nearby hotel, get something to eat and crash for the night so I could be fresh for the next day at the North Texas Comic Book Show.

Posted in Comic Books | Tagged comic books, Jim Shooter, John Beatty, Mike Zeck, North Texas Comic Book Show, Superheroes | 2 Comments

How Sweet It Is!

Posted on February 13, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I enjoyed lunch at Panera today with two of my co-workers. After I filled my cup with unsweetened black iced tea, I noticed the cup looked a little different.

Upon closer inspection, I found this rundown of how many teaspoons (teaspoons are easier than grams) of added sugar are in a drink that size, with no ice, depending on what drink on the list you were having.

Both of my co-workers are young men in their early 20’s, and neither of them like the taste of cola drinks, so thank goodness for that. Every time we’ve been out to lunch together they both have ordered water to drink. But one admitted that he LOVES sweetened iced tea.

I mentioned to them that I grew up drinking sweet tea and did so until my late 20’s. At the time I was trying to lose some weight and my physician recommended cutting out cokes, which I drank almost all the time, and trying to have my tea unsweetened. Giving up the cokes was not as difficult as I thought it might be, but it took me quite a while to even tolerate unsweetened tea, much less enjoy it.

But one of those funny things happened as over time I drank more and more unsweetened tea; I found I now hated the taste of sweetened tea. If a server accidentally refills my glass with sweet tea, I almost gag when I take a sip and realize it tastes sweet.

Now, as I pointed out to my co-workers, that doesn’t mean I don’t still have a sweet tooth because I definitely do. I have to constantly watch myself to not overindulge. But for some reason, sweetened tea is absolutely repulsive to me, and maybe that’s a good thing.

By the way, extra points to the first reader who comments with the name of the late actor-comedian who made the title of this post one of their signature phrases. I’m guessing no one will unless they google it, but we’ll see if anyone as old as me reads this blog, lol.

Posted in Health | Tagged Eating Healthy, Panera, Sugar | 4 Comments

Black Panther: The IMAX Experience

Posted on February 12, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I’m happy to say I have my ticket to see Black Panther: The IMAX Experience this Saturday at noon. I’ve been a fan of this character since he was first in the Fantastic Four comic book back in 1966 when I was 11. That character, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, has undergone extensive changes over the years, but has always maintained the regal demeanor expected of a ruler.

This looks like it will be a, forgive the pun, marvelous movie!

Posted in Movies | Tagged Black Panther, comic books, Movies | Comments Off

North Texas Comic Book Show – Day One

Posted on February 11, 2018 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I arrived at the convention center on Saturday for the North Texas Comic Book Show at 8:30 am for a 10 am “doors opening” time. There were already a few people in line to get their tickets, but I already had mine so I stepped outside to get a shot of the exterior of the convention center.

It was 44 degrees outside and the wind was brisk, so I took several quick shots with my “real” camera” and my camera on my phone and then headed back inside quickly to the welcome warmth.

I got in line to exchange my tickets for wristbands and then joined the now much longer line of attendees waiting for the doors to open. I did not spend the extra $20 to get in an hour early, but later I would wish that I did.

I finally entered at 10:02 am and immediately went looking for the line where former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief and writer for the Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars series, Jim Shooter, was signing. After standing in the very long line for about an hour (the last 15 minutes of that spent enjoying conversation with Mr. Shooter as he talked to the two men in front of me and myself while he signed their books), I finally stood in front of him and presented my book and a couple of prints I purchased for his autograph. He kindly signed a dark interior page of my book with a light marker, then the prints, and then the Certificates of Authority (COA’s) to prove he signed said items, should I ever wish to sell them. He graciously shook my hand, said it was a pleasure meeting me and hoped I would have a good time at the convention.

Fortunately, the other two men who were the artists (penciller and inker) on the series were right next to Mr. Shooter, so I quickly got in the short line for Mr. John Beatty, the inker on the series. I only had to wait about 15 minutes and then got so involved in talking to him that I forgot to take a photo of him signing the book and COA’s. I took note of the fact that Mr. Beatty purposely left a space between Mr. Shooter’s signature and his (also in a light marker on the dark page) so that the penciller, Mr. Mike Zeck would have room to place his, holding the usual order of credit appearance as writer, penciller, inker.

Then it was over to the line for the penciller of the series, Mr. Zeck. The wait in this exceptionally long line was about 45-50 minutes. I’ve always liked Mr. Zeck’s art so I picked up a print of a Captain America drawing he had done that I had admired for years to have that signed as well. We only spoke for a few moments while he was signing, because there were a lot of eager fans behind me who were also waiting anxiously for a chance to have their various books and prints to be signed.

So, after 90 minutes waiting for the interior doors to open and then another 90 minutes in line to get the three most important autographs I wanted from this show, I considered the paramount purpose of my visit to have been accomplished and could take time to enjoy the seller booths, artist alley and panel discussion that were to come over the next two days.

I’ll write and post about the rest of the show over the next few days, but here’s a panorama shot of the floor on Day One from the top of the bleachers.

Posted in Comic Books | Tagged Jim Shooter, John Beatty, Marvel Comics, Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars, Mike Zeck, North Texas Comic Book Show | 1 Comment