Figure I’d start things off with the usual shot of the Cool Jerk table, but as I was going through our photos, I realized I didn’t take a photo of the table! So here’s the next best thing: a pic of some Starfleet cadets with a Photobomb thrown in free of charge.

Here’s Kady and Keith, a couple of long-time Cool Jerk readers, with their haul. Keith got himself Bimboozled (and a FREE T-Waster print, because he had a subscriber coupon), plus a couple of the canvas panels. I debuted the panels this year to much interest and fanfare. It was interesting (to say the least) to see which ones sold. (Memo to self: Must do more comics that feature zombies, boob jokes, ultraviolence and John C. Reilly.)

Many of the attendees’ costumes are half-assed and unfortunate. Melissa Felton’s Huntress was NOT one of them. Bravo!

Now this is pretty cool. David Oakes — a certifiable LEGO Maniac — made a custom LEGO of Armpit. Lovin’ it! He promised a Puppy LEGO is just around the corner.

Speaking of LEGO Maniacs, here’s the charming and delightful John Layman, author of Chew. I’m not sure if this is before or after he won the Eisner Award for Best New Series. I’d say after because it looks like he’s been celebrating, but he ALWAYS looks like he’s been celebrating. Hearty congratulations, John! It was serendipitous that he wrote Bimboozled’s foreword for me.

Lil’ Terminators. Skynet/CyberDyne keeps making ‘em smaller and smaller. I guess they go through less titanium alloy that way.

Again, excellent costuming. Yes, we’ve seen Indiana Jones. But I’ve never seen his dad… OR the old knight from the Last Crusade! “We named the dog ‘Indiana!’”

Little bit of crossplay, with a female Blade. Or maybe Daywalkers have infiltrated “The View?” Never did get the story. Love the teeth!

I, uh… sorry. Lost my train of thought there. Unfortunately, there is no way to crop this picture without damaging the artistic integrity of the composition. I’d thought this lass was actually veteran cosplayer Ruby Rocket dressed as Emma Frost/White Queen, but by Day 3 I was pretty sure she was just a gal who liked wearing underwear in public. Note the inset: It would’ve been HILARIOUS if her fingers were just a little bit longer, so as to cover up the second “O” in the book title.

Here’s a lovely Sue Storm, drawn for me by Ming Doyle in the front of her sketchbook. This is the first sketch I’ve had drawn for me in many a year! *blushes* (the Scotch tape effect is part of the printed sketchbook) She also drew Darlene a Barbara Gordon Batgirl. ORIGINAL ART IS AWESOME YO!

This is a fun after-hours photo of Matt Groening being interviewed by Scott Thompson (from The Kids in the Hall).

A few minutes later, we left the convention center. Oxygen yay! BATMAN RETURNS (to Hall C) — apparently he was called back into the convention center to thwart some villainy.

The crowds were cray-cray, as you can imagine. The sweet spot of this photo is Jack checking out the gal in the lime green shortshorts.

We don’t need another hero! These cosplayers ROCKED. Extra credit to Mad Max who screamed a profanity-heavy tirade into his cell phone.

It takes some extra moxie to pull off Luke Cage: Power Man (circa 1977). And the wings on Hawkgirl are WAY above-and-beyond the call of cosplay duty.

Here’s the wife-beater variant of Logan with Sailor Maan.

Here’s some eye candy for the ladies: Chris Hemsworth, who will be better known as Thor come May 2011.

Marvel Studios had a gigantic display. Actual-size Asgard Throneroom. Here are the helmets of Loki, Odin and Thor. In a neat trick, the display cases were usually fogged up with dry ice, so you couldn’t see what was contained within. They also had the Destroyer armor (hidden inside the Twilight Sword behind Odin’s throne) and — apparently — the Infinity Gauntlet. *thorgasm*

Something for everyone! Here’s a rubber dress-wearing Daphne (Scooby-Doo) for Jonathan Solomon. The previous page had a lot of Sharpie marker bleed-through, so that’s why there are little black and red spots here and there. (The guy who drew on the previous page? Me).

Darlene stumbled upon Joshua Jackson — one of her Island Guys ifyouknowwhutI’msayin’andIthinkyoudo — while getting lunch at the neighborhood Ralph’s. Double-Jay (as Darlene now refers to him) was holding “Pacey-Con” across from the convention center, attracting female fans far and wide. Darlene even got an autographed 6-page fanfic “Pacey and Joey Have 6 Kids.” D was walking on clouds for days, until she learned it was all being filmed for a Funny or Die short. Luckily (?) she didn’t make the final cut. More of this tale from Darlene’s point of view here!

Riverdale High represent! Betty, Archie and Veronica stopped by for some chocolate malts. Note the blue hilights in Ms. Lodge’s hairdo.

Pretty much the creepiest super-hero costume I saw was Red Lantern Mera at the DC booth. I can’t confirm if she was puking blood or not prior to this photo.

Couples! Here we have Tim Burton-style Queen and Mad Hatter, Spock (XX chromosome variant) and an Orion Slave Girl, and Mary Marvel with Captain Marvel. I know I’ve been going to A LOT of these shows when I start to immediately recognize cosplayers in different roles. You might recognize the Marvels from previous ‘cons, when she was Batgirl and Black Canary and he was Kirk Alyn-style Superman.

Squirrel Girl! Didn’t see Tippy-Toe or Monkey Joe, however. I think Kevin Church voted this the best costume at the ‘Con.

Here’s my buddy “Magic Snapshot,” who comes by my table every year. She’s going through a rough patch but I’m — we’re — confident she’ll be coming back year after year. XOXO

Here’s another example of cosplay done right! Meet Brittany Skipper. That day she was Sleeping Beauty, but I know she’s also cosplayed most of Disney’s stable of princesses (Belle, Ariel, Tinkerbell, Alice, Cinderella, Snow White, among others). And it’s kind of refreshing to see costuming done completely devoid of the perv/skank quotient. Bravo, Brittany!

Simple, yet effective. Best Uhura I’ve seen.

Our friends Sarah Kuhn and Jeff Chen came by the table, too. I think they had a fun convention: Sarah was on the Geek Girls Exist panel, and Jeff helped out over at JustJennDesigns a couple rows behind us. In this photo, I think Darlene was telling them where they could sneak away to have a nap.

Little slice of life behind the table. Here are my neighbors Wendy Chin-Tanner and Jose Cabrera during a brief — but welcome — lull in table traffic. Good neighbors to have!

If you’re going to fail, FAIL BIG. That’s my motto. At first glance, I’d just chalk up these costumes to being half-assed (like seeing a dude with steampunk goggles and backpack but wearing a polo shirt and Tevas). But these two guys transcend fail and bring it to an art form. I don’t know who I liked better: the Stormtrooper with a bucket for a helmet and paper plates as a suit of battle armor, or Iron Man in bathroom slippers, armor made from Coca-Cola boxes and touch lights on his palms. Let’s call it a tie.