Despite a scorching case of “too big for its britches,” Denver Comic Con’s second convention was an unbridled success. I understand attendee population ballooned from 18,000 last year to 48,000 this year. Several thousand would-be walk-up convention-goers were turned away at the door once the hall hit capacity (among them our friend Monica, with whom we lucked out and had consolation dinner and beers on Sunday evening). I’m hoping that things get ironed out next year.

Team Cool Jerk was situated in Artists Valley again and we did brisk business. We sold out of some on-hand inventory: Cool Jerk Vol. 1: Hodabeast, the 2011 24-Hr. Comic, Pieces of Flair button packs and the remaining second printing of The Girl with the Donut Tattoo. A hearty thanks to everyone who came by the table, whether to chat about comics or buy some books and things. Hometowns of people who signed onto my emailer hail from Illinois, Georgia, California, Washington, Oklahoma and nearly every sizable town/city in Colorado. And probably every other person was in cosplay or wearing geek couture.

Click here and here to get Darlene’s take on the show.

And now, on to the photo gallery!

The DCC mascot, actual size!

Luke Cage, Stargirl and Jareth the Goblin King from “Labyrinth,” all tilted for your convenience!

Kids, if you’re gonna cosplay in Denver… go big or go home. Here’s She-Hulk, who towered over me at about 6′ 4″.

Fifth Element family. It takes a whole lot of self-confidence for a dude to pull this off.

First Falcon I’ve seen at a comic convention. The wings worked, too!

Most obscure character cosplayed at Denver Comic Con would have to be Aleta from the Guardians of the Galaxy. I nearly walked past her but stopped in mid-step and said, “Aleta?” (as if this was someone I hadn’t seen in 10 years). I was the only person up to that point who ID’d her properly.

Enemies Dr. Doom and Invisible Woman apparently put aside their differences to enjoy the ‘con.

Saturday’s highlight— a visit by our dear friend Monica Mendoza, who was one of the thousands turned away after the ‘con hit capacity.

Line to visit George Pérez. See if you can find Isabelle Laursen crossplaying as Firestorm the Nuclear Woman!

Darlene and George Pérez. George learned two things about us that weekend: I likely got into comics because of his covers of Fantastic Four #197 and Avengers #174 (the first two comics I ever bought), and Darlene got into comics largely because of his run on The New Teen Titans in the early 1980s. And our common appreciation of George Pérez was discovered early in our relationship. DAWWWW!!

I can’t believe it’s over… and I didn’t come down with ConSARS!

This year marked the 10th year of Cool Jerk at San Diego Comic-Con International, but it was my 30th year in a row. Go ahead. Let that sink in.

Let’s start with my tablescape. This photo was taken mere seconds before the doors flew open on Wednesday evening (Preview Night). Looking pretty spiffy, with that new table throw and some vertical shelving on the right. As mandated by law, our neighbor to the left was once again Jose Cabrera and his comic, Crying Macho Man (sharing the table with him was Jim Lujan). Lovely people!

The new comic this year was The Girl with the Donut Tattoo. You can get the 411 on this elsewhere and on my blog. But guess what? Late Sunday afternoon, we sold out! (You can order a copy at the Cool Jerk store, but will have to wait until August for second-wave orders.) Yay, Darlene! We did it! >proud< And now, onto the people!
This was definitely the year of the black Lycra/Spandex/pleather catsuit. In fact, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without smacking a Batwoman, Catwoman, Black Widow or Wasp cosplayer. I imagine many gals chose their character depending on if they had the goggles and whip or belt and bracelets.

Here’s the first of several Hunger Games cosplayers. Katniss here wins because of her resemblance to Jennifer Lawrence. Darlene and I each did a double-take. So that’s a quad-take, I guess.

Another popular costume this year — to my surprise — was Iron Fist. Here are three I spotted (and bonus Luke Cage/Power Man in the third pic, for good measure. Don’t know why he’s throwing a kick, though). I asked each one “…is your fist like unto a thing of iron?” They all said, “Yes! Of course!”

I love when I can get celebrity endorsements for my books… even if the celebrities are fictional. Here are Ben Grimm (Thing) and Amora (Enchantress), each giving props to a book…

…and here’s Betsy Braddock (Psylocke) and Shia LaBeouf, also posing with some excellent comics. Waitaminnit! That’s really Shia LaBeouf. OK, I guess that’s one celebrity endorsement. But hold on…!

Knowing Anthony Bourdain was going to be at Comic-Con to promote his comic “Get Jiro,” I made sure to join Darlene in line and meet the man in person. Darlene goes into more detail on her blog, but it was great to meet Tony. We gave him a copy of our comic The Girl with the Donut Tattoo (which features him on one page) and a Cool Jerk Canvas Panel (also featuring him from a 2008 Cool Jerk). He was thrilled and said, “Nigella Lawson! Awesome! (she’s also featured on the same page). Best swag ever!” Nice guy; I think he was humbled by how many people appreciate pop culture, food and his role in both worlds.

At the Marvel booth each day, cosplayers would gather for group photoshoots. Here we have a mostly-mutant ensemble: Mystique, Polaris, Scarlet Witch, Kitty Pryde & Lockheed (on shoulder), Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, White Queen, Black Widow and Wasp (with Psylocke and Hope Summers in foreground). I recognize cosplayers Yaya Han and R1ddle (Psylocke and Wasp, respectively) but the other identities remain shrouded in mystery.

I love it when a group of friends get together and cosplay en masse. Here’s the cast to Archer.

Here’s a group doing classic Star Trek (incl. pal and fellow exhibitor Dan Bois as the captain on the far right).

And on one night after the convention, Darlene and I went to Sultan Shawarma in the Gaslamp. Who did we see chowing down in the back of the restaurant but THE (movie) AVENGERS! Holy buttnuggets! It was the best! Clockwise from left: Hawkeye, Black Widow, Hulk (GRRR! HULK SMASH PUNY SHAWARMA!), S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson, Tony Stark (Iron Man’s arc reactor was on her tank top), Thor, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill, Captain America… and Loki was forced to eat on the floor BECAUSE LOKI IS EVIL! (If you haven’t seen “The Avengers” and/or didn’t stay all the way through the end credits, then you’ll probably miss how awesome this was to see in real life!)

Speaking of, here are two cosplayers dressed as two of my favorite Avengers: Ms. Marvel and Scarlet Witch (Darlene and I chatted a bit with Scarlet Witch while eating our shawarmas back at the convention center al fresco… Scarlet apparently was there just before us because she saw the Avengers there, too!)

Say hello to BBC’s Sherlock, the backside of Silver Surfer (also Plastic Man), and Jem, reporting live from the Knight Rider display!

Here’s a little something for the small fry — some ladies representing cel, digital and stop-motion animation. Can you name the movies?

The “Crossplay” fad was as hot as ever. Here we have some Lucasfilm (Slave Leia, Han and Leia) and Marvel (Cyclops, Captain America) cosplayers bending genders.

The great outdoors! Fresh air at last!

Outside of the convention center is a great place to mingle with scores of cosplayers. Here we have Moonstone (dressed in Ms. Marvel’s original outfit — long story, kids), Earthworm Jim and Jean Grey in her vintage Marvel Girl outfit.

Here we have world-eater Galactus (also: Silver Surfer, his herald, orbiting him) and Black Panther.

Time to give DC Comics some love. Here we have a collection of heroic young defenders — Miss Martian, Batgirl, Ravage and Robin.

And fresh in from Gotham City… aw, c’mon. You know who they are. Also: A startling version of Supergirl (Superwoman?) and Deathstroke the Terminator.

Sometimes Darlene would sneak away from the table and take some pix. Here she encountered some Asgardians: Sif (with Huntress in the background), Thor Girl and Beta Ray Bill. Thor Girl is an actual character and not a crossplayer, although we saw plenty of ladies dressed as Thor.

Also on one of her treks, Darlene spotted the cast of Fringe exiting an interview. Coming down the stairs are Lance Riddick, Anna Torv and John Noble. Cool — we love that show!

Myself, I find it difficult to leave the table for more than a few minutes at a time. I hate thinking I might miss a sale at the table, or miss seeing a friend wander up. So I was pretty lucky to get a few shots within a stone’s throw from the CJ table, like these of Deadman, Illyana Rasputin (Magik of the New Mutants) and Jan, Jace and Blip (Space Ghost). Incredible costumes, all!

Also spotted some excellent costumes of Hayata and Muramatsu from Ultraman and the Gentleman Ghost!

I always do free sketches for anyone who wants to ask. This year I was approached by several people, and one fellow had a particular theme in mind: “Jesus Christ vs a stegosaurus.” So there you go.

No recap is complete without an appearance by the Poway Posse (or, at least, a few of them)!

And I think I’ll end this year’s comic-con recap with a nice story about Angela Racoosin, who revealed herself as a HUGE Godzilla fan. Comparing notes about our collections, I discovered that she didn’t have the Godzilla obituary I did with John Layman for The San Diego Union-Tribune back in 1995. I told her to come back the next day and voila! I sold her one of my few remaining Godzilla sections I had stashed away in the archive. Another satisfied Godzilla fan! Thanks, Angela!

Aw, you didn’t think I’d let WonderCon go by without a requisite photo recap, did you? FOR SHAME!

Let’s start with Megan Rae as Daenerys Targaryen — chowing on a horse heart — from HBO’s Game of Thrones. A week ago, I wouldn’t have had any idea who this was (Darlene and I binged on all 10 episodes over three days). And what’s funny is Megan did the exact same thing at the same time! I swear we weren’t in collusion! You might recognize Megan — she was a Dalek at SDCCI ’09.

Here’s Megara (from Disney’s Hercules) and Aang the Last Airbender. First time I’ve ever seen a Megara cosplayer… and about the 400th Airbender.

Here are some pals (L to R) — Michelle Mauk, who was tabling a few spots down from me. Deb Aoki, who was on assignment for About.com. You can also see Patrick Scullin of Super Siblings, standing next to the Cool Jerk table.

More pals — the never-not-hyperactive Little Vampires creator Rebecca Hicks and one-man, ogre-smiting army Daniel Davis of Steam Crow fame.

The movie version of the Avengers walked by.

Here’s the charming and delightful Sarah Straub and her husband Beau.

Dawww! What’s a comic-con without a little Star Wars crossplay action?

Mrowr! Male version of Cheetah, yes?

And probably my favorite cosplayer of the show — Darkwing Duck. Reasons? A) C’mon. DARKWING DUCK! B) She was totally into it. C) Her little gun smoked (OK it was probably water vapor). D) It was refreshing to not see a beloved kid-friendly character all slutted out. I’m looking at you, Booba Fett!

Because I forgot to have one taken last year, here’s a pic of me at the Cool Jerk table. There were lots of cool stuffs to get this year, including a dozen new Canvas Panels, two new styles of t-shirts and OMG Color! Vol. 1. I also introduced the Über Canvas Panel, a premium product I’m offering that you can order with your favorite strip! Here’s a pic of me WEARING A COLLARED SHIRT!! with long-time reader and pal Richard Foley, who always makes a harrowing pilgrimage to Comic-Con! (Holy shit I look just like my Commentary avatar from 1996!)

And surprise! Lucky Cool Jerk readers and patrons got a delicious Cool Jerk sugar cookie, courtesy Jenny Wenny Cakes. They were in extremely limited quantity and you pretty much had to buy something from me or cash in your Subscriber Coupon to get one!

Our tablemate to the left was Jose Cabrera (Crying Macho Man), who was without his wonderful wife Naomi this weekend. Instead, he partnered with Jim Lujan, an animator and all-around funny guy. To our right was Ben Seto and his bro-in-law Patrick. Ben’s comic is Skull Bunnies and Patrick was representing his wife’s pillow-quilting gig. Above is a drawing Ben did of Puppy!

Here’s one of Darlene’s obsessions this year: Tokidoki’s Marvel Frenzies. She was determined to not leave Comic-Con without getting all of the Fantastic Four. Mission accomplished!

That’s all well and good, but I know why you’re here— to see all the crazy costumes!

Let’s start with a mash-up. Here’s Star Wars meets Pulp Fiction.

And here’s one for the ladies! Say hello to patriotic and sparkly vampire R.Patz (“Twilight”) wearing Captain America shorts HA! MADE YOU LOOK!!

Here’s a trio of Doctor Who cosplayers: TARDIS, River Song and Amy Pond (in her policeman’s get-up). I’m happy to report Doctor Who cosplayers were abundant this year, and there wasn’t a single Johnny Depp/Capt. Jack Sparrow to be seen!

I always felt safe, knowing Nick Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were on patrol.

Here’s Doctor Doom, quenching his thirst. I like how the monarch of Latveria is such a bad-ass that he can walk around with a handmade Wolverine man-purse and no one’s gonna get in his grill.

Here’s Firestar, Alpha Flight’s team leader Vindicator, H.A.M.M.E.R. Deputy Director Victoria Hand and… some gal in a red dress.

This is great! Here are about half of Darkseid’s Female Furies (Big Barda, Lashina and Granny Goodness). I’ve seen other pics online that includes Darkseid himself, along with Mad Harriet and Stompa (they might’ve all been at Starbucks or in the bathroom at this time).

The following photos I like to call “Crappy Old Nikon Blur-O-Rama!” Here’s Jason Isaacs (l.) of the Harry Potter films, and Rowdy Roddy Piper (r.), notorious for drop-kicking Cyndi Lauper back in the days of MTV/Wrestlemania.

Here are some professional cosplayers: On the left we have Kit Quinn as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (along with The Monarch). On the right is Yaya Han as the Asgardian warrior Sif (along with an unidentified Black Cat).

As Darlene and I took the trolley to the convention center one morning, we shared the ride with Thor and another Sif, Scarlet Witch and Jessica Nigri as Anya Stroud from Gears of War 3. (You might remember Jessica as Pikachu a few years back.)

Here are some characters I’ve never seen cosplayed (l to r): Galacta (the daughter of Galactus) and Rojhaz (from Marvel 1602), animated-style Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz, Judy and Jane Jetson. Bravo, all!

Darlene took these pics of probably the biggest gun on the floor.

One of my favorite crossplayers, Nicki Catterlin as Booster Gold, who ditched Skeets this year and is instead joined by BFF Blue Beetle (played by Mary Stanfield). Here’s Booster and Skeets in 2008.

Not to be outdone, here are some more crossplayers. Actually, they’re cosplaying DC’s Earth-11 heroes Green Arrow (Little Hotshot), Batwoman (Tallest Silver), Plastic Woman, Vixen and Flash (Catherine Pow). Kit Quinn was pulling double-duty this weekend as Superwoman (not pictured). More pics of them at this year’s WonderCon here!

Bring on the mutants! Here we have Dark Phoenix, X-23, Wolverine, Emma Frost and the Beast (doing the splits). Beast might look familiar— here he is in 2006.

Saturday was interrupted by some cosplayers who got into a fight outside of the convention center.

Here’s John Layman and Rob Guillory, fresh off their second Eisner Award win in as many years. And by “fresh” I mean “hungover.” If you’re not reading Chew, you should.

Say hello to Chris and Heather Barber, friends and former Union-Tribune co-workers of ours. This was their first SDCC and they LOVED it! (Also pictured is their entourage whose names I forget.)

Sean and Lacie came by with a print-out of the Cool Jerk strip I sneaked them into earlier this year, and I signed it for them. Lacie has come by the table probably every year since 2003, and Sean the year after (I know this because they’ve been subscribers that long). I’m a little sketchy on the details, but I think one of those Comic-Cons was one of their first dates… and they married last year!

Darlene and cartoonist Emi Lenox, discussing the convention, fashion tips or food. It was cool to meet Emi, especially after reading her book Emi Town. We’re glad she took some time to hunt us down and say “Hi!!”

As you can tell, Thor was a pretty popular costume choice this year. The best part of this photo is the guy in the background peeing on the wall. (Joke— don’t sue, Mr. Allegedly Peeing in Public Guy.)

Here’s a couple who Darlene officially refers to as “Sexy Chewbacca and Emo Han Solo.”

Isn’t he the most adorable lil’ serial killer you ever did see??

I love having cosplayers pose with my books. Here’s Tootsie, one of the best and most original costumes of the weekend! She told us “Some people think I’m cosplaying Ugly Jessica Rabbit.”

And here are… well, I actually don’t have a clue. Let’s call her Silver Bodypaint Alien Sexbot and her friend Ms. Fishnets. I took a photo of Ms. Fishnets holding my book Bimboozled last year, when she was dressed either as Emma Frost/White Queen or just forgot to put on all her clothes (the jury is still out). Note the dude in the background also taking advantage of the photo-op (yes, they were wearing thongs).

I think what we need is a palate-cleanser. Here are three lovely Disney princesses— Ariel, Belle and Snow White.

Darlene got to wander the exhibit hall quite a bit, sometimes to find friends, run errands, get lunch or do some shopping. One thing I look forward to each year is getting the new ashcan sketchbook by Adam Hughes. This year, Darlene was able to get Adam to do a sketch for me. She called to ask who I would want. I always wanted an Adam Hughes sketch! My mind started to race— Should I ask for one of Darlene’s or my favorite characters like Susan Storm or Barbara Gordon? Should I ask for someone obscure like Aurora of Alpha Flight? I decided on Puppy… and voila! *kermit flail* HOLY CRAP ADAM HUGHES DREW MY CHARACTER! *gets the vapors, faints*

Darlene also got to meet comics demigod Walt Simonson. “He was really, really nice!” Darlene says. She told him that I thought his run on Thor was one of the defining moments in Marvel Comics. He asked where I was and Darlene told him I was working my table. AND I WAS! >sob!< I met Walt back in 1985— he graciously autographed for me my set of every Thor comic he’d written and drawn (up to that point) PLUS drew a Thor for me on a comics backing board.

OK. Show of hands— who remembers “V?” I’m talking the original series from the ’80s, not the remake from last year. These guys rocked the freaking casbah. They even brought rats to snack on!

No convention is complete without a zombie outbreak in the Gaslamp Quarter.

As we were eating dinner alfresco outside Ralphs, Aquaman and, um, female Aquaman wandered by. I hope they weren’t offended— we were eating fresh-fried swai.

The end of the show. Here we are, packing it up and hauling it out. BONUS: I’ve attached my only existing photo from SDCCI 2003, the first year Cool Jerk exhibited in Small Press. Darlene hasn’t changed one bit in nine years!

As Comic-Con drew to a close, another life goal of mine was achieved. After years of searching, I finally found Waldo.

For more coverage, check out Darlene’s food-related Comic-Con blog post here!

WonderCon was a couple weeks ago and Darlene and I were there… but NOT as exhibitors (for the first time, actually). I decided to take a break and actually do some networking, socializing, shopping and attend a panel or two… none of which are easy to do when you have to man your exhibitor table. In case you didn’t attend, I took plenty of photos. So, here you go!

This was someone’s sickass ride (I think it had a Hertz Rental Car sticker on it).

Friday was family day. Hey, where’s Cornelius?? um, awkward!

Direct from Asgard, the Warriors Three! Look for them next month in Thor!

CUTEST COSPLAY COUPLE AWARD! I’m thinking… M.O.D.A.M. and M.O.D.O.K.? Not sure about the balls on the face, though.

My favorite Catwoman — Lee Meriwether. MROWR!

If you’ve been to any comic convention in North America over the past several years, you’ll no doubt recognize James and Rebecca Hicks of Little Vampires, who also live in San Diego. (Last year we were keeping each other up to date on the massive Easter earthquake that shook the Southland pretty hard.)

Also with a movie this year, the Sentinel of Liberty himself… the Living Legend of WWII… the First Avenger… (geez, how many titles does Captain America have??)

Nice to see Boomer and Apollo having a chat.

Here are ol’ pals Sarah and Jeff (foreground) and new pals Desiree and Jonathan… all from the Southland. WESTSIDE!

And here’s WonderCon’s pride and joy Ben Walker and Amanda, who I’m told was BORN WITH WOODEN ANGEL WINGS!

Daniel Steam Crow Davis with a creampuff. If it makes any difference, it was a magic creampuff and he leveled up. I don’t really know what that means. Go read his comic, Monster Commute.

BEST COSTUME! This guy I think was dressed as the Penguin, because everywhere he went… HE WADDLED JUST LIKE A PENGUIN! It was SO CUTE! WADDLING EVERYWHERE! All he needed was a top hat, pointy nose, tuxedo jacket with tails, spats, striped pants, trick umbrella and a monocle! (Click the photo to get a better view!)

Here’s a series of photos I took of a group of Earth-11 crossplayers. Their costumes varied in levels of “commitment to the craft,” but all-in-all it was an impressive group. That’s Kit Quinn as Superwoman (she begged people to upload any pics of her in flight, so I hope she can finally prove she’s the last daughter of Krypton).

And we’ll end with rare platinum blonde variant edition Jane Wiedlin, because she’s freakin’ awesome, still wears the Cool Jerk “nighty” from last year and YES! she has a comic, too! ¡Viva Lady Robotika! (OF COURSE she signed my copy! *beams*) Please go track down your own copy — this one’s getting slabbed!

ADDENDUM Although I didn’t take any pics of them, I also lucked out and saw Carla and Lance Hoffman (up from Santa Barbara), Bay Area pal Duncan Cook and Neil (who scored a backroom-deal Bimboozled on the sly). And someday I’ll have to tell you about the shabu shabu dinner we had with Sarah (above) and our friends-who-are-not-associated-with-WonderCon Chad and Todd. We laughed until out faces nearly burst off our skulls.

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.

My fourth-straight year at WonderCon was terrific! Darlene couldn’t make it this time around, so instead I enlisted my loooong-time buddy (and loooong-time Cool Jerk reader) Jay Kenoyer (above) to help man the table on Saturday. We go way back, Jay and I. Like 1982. He’s one of the funniest people I know. So as you can imagine, hilarity ensued. It was awesome to see a bunch of old friends and nake new ones. I’d like to personally say hi and thanks to Daniel & Dawna Steamcrow, Team Space Punks, Team Lunasea Studios, Team Ben Walker, Alex Gamboa, IronChuck, Earthdog, Duncan, Jacob, Korin, Neil, Vinh, Gabby & Raquel, Joseph, Peter, Alan Groening, Gaby, Sam and his pork bun, Chris & Tara, Mimi Cruz, Justin Orr, Brian Peets, Lance and Carla Bloodcolossus, Deb Aoki, Jane Wiedlin and probably many others!

Here’s a brief photo recap, so you can live vicariously through me!

Making sure the walkways are free of Hydra agents are Captain America and Col. Nick Fury! (that’s me in the background on the left, texting Madame Hydra to STAND DOWN!)

Puppy as Agent of WUAAARGH marker sketch for Alex Gamboa, who I think has at least a half-dozen quasi-pervy character sketches from me by now.

Hey, it’s Angel from the X-Men! How’s it hangin, big guy? Um, apparently to the right.

Duncan Cook is in the hizzle, fo’ shizzle! I say that because that’s totally the way he talks. Hey, Sarah Kuhn — he likes your book!

Here’s Valerie Perez as Zatanna, along with Mary Marvel and Supergirl. See? I’m throwing some props to you DC fans, too!

This attendee flat-out rocked the Batgirl costume. Custom-tailored leather everything.

Cool Jerk’s next stop will be in Phoenix at the end of May. I hope to beta-test something really cool there. I’m pretty excited about it, and I think you will be, too. (hint: NOT a book, NOT a T-shirt)

Here we have Chris Gore of G4TV, hanging out at the Cool Jerk table. He wrote the foreword to my third book, Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus, which debuted at San Diego Comic-Con. He was really gracious to Tweet his location so his many stalkers followers could find him at my table. The banners behind me are brand new, thanks to my longtime friend and Cool Jerk ally Nikki at Instant Sign Center, Reno, NV.

And speaking of gore, here’s a “booth babe” for some “chicks with chainsaws” thing.

Here’s comics writer/blogger/gadfly Kevin Church (with drink) and Santa Barbara’s favorite pop culture pundits, Lance & Carla Hoffman. Every single photo I have of Kevin has him drinking something (see inset).

Here’s Eric again with a sketch of Doc Splatter chainsawing everyone’s favorite emo vampire Edward Cullen (his request). “Twilight” was this year’s favorite punching bag.

Spider-Woman and Magneto stopped by to pick up my Cool Jerk books Chickadoowa and Hodabeast. Then they zapped me with a combo venom blast/magnetic pulse and took off.

A drawing of Mr. Pinkle for a girl’s sketchbook.

You’ll remember my friend Shay from last year, dressed as Molotov Cocktease. This year she’s rocking the Dark Phoenix thing.

Yes, that’s Megan Rae in a Dalek dress. She’s holding a plunger and an eggbeater. Check out the shoes. HILARIOUS!! One of my favorite costumes!

That would be director John Landis giving me the thumbs up, because he asked me to sign his copy of Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus. (It’s dedicated to him, after all)

Aw. One thing you can count on at Comic-Con are couples who want to pose for photos. Here’s Batgirl and Batman (circa 1960s TV), Orion Slave Girl and Captain Christopher Pike and Jean Grey as Phoenix with her mentor Professor X.

Here’s a funny moment: Mrs. The Narrator Darlene, our friends Superfro and BavarianErin and O.G. Poway Posse founding member Nathan eyeballing a 6’3″ walking bunny rabbit. No lie.

Did I lie?

I usually can’t get away from my table but for a minute or two, but luckily I was able to squeeze off pix of Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (from “Venture Brothers”), Magma from the New Mutants (I think) and old-school Black Canary (she was also dressed as Batgirl, above).

Speaking of “Venture Brothers,” here’s a squad of henchmen.

And before you know it, POW! Jay Garrick (the original Flash) kicked some ass!

Darlene was able to get shots of most of the “True Blood” cast! Michelle Forbes, Rutina Wesley, Deborah Ann Woll, Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer. There were more cast members but after Darlene got the pix of Stephen and Alexander the lens got all foggy (YOU know what I’m talkin’ about…!).

Here’s O.G. Poway Posse founding members Ben DiAnna modeling the brand-new Cool Jerk shirt, with his brother Joe in the background dropping a Photobomb.

The Poway Posse is ever-expanding! Here’s Dana, Robert, Ben and John, chillaxin’ at the Cool Jerk table before heading off to causing trouble.

More couples! Here’s Black Widow and Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scarlett and Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe, and a couple of reprehensible hooligans (barely) wearing matching outfits.

That’s me and Robert Englund! You’ll remember him as the benevolent visiting alien Willie in the acclaimed TV mini-series “V.” I gave him a copy of Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus. (It’s dedicated to him, after all)

Here’s Darlene and me flanking our friend Robyn Bremner at the Marvel booth, where she was working that weekend. She gave us maple syrup from her native land (Canada).

Here’s Jodi Kurland and Nathan Pierce sharing in some morning waffles, with real maple syrup from Robyn.

No shortage of “Venture Brothers” characters getting cosplayed at the ‘Con. Here’s Dr. Mrs. The Monarch with her Pupa Twins.

USAToday Pop Candy’s Whitney Matheson with her copy of Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus. OMG! She’s so awesome! *swoon*

Probably the most-photographed person at Comic-Con, here’s my dear friend Jessica Nigri as Pikachu. Once she heard that her male twin Pokéyman was a recurring character in Cool Jerk, she jumped onto the sign-up sheet and joined the ever-growing army of Cool Jerk subscribers!

Another one of the most-photographed people at Comic-Con (proof: look behind my right arm), here’s The Lollipop King from “South Park.” I actually know his secret identity and he’s a good pal. I have to confess, I lost a little bit of my innocence that day — I saw things I can’t unsee (and neither can YOU!).

Cool Jerk subscriber Wren as Zatanna. I might be mistaken, but I think she was working for Stark Industries a couple days later. (Wren, if I’m wrong, pls. correct me!)

Vermont’s ambassador of keen fashion style (and new Cool Jerk subscriber) Gina D’Angelo with a copy of Hodabeast to read on her long flight home. She was dressed in Dr Girlfriend’s mall outfit.

As always, here’s a little somethin’ somethin’ for the ladies. That’s Nightwing, evidently on his day off from patrolling the alleys of Blüdhaven.

I’ll start of with some Wil Wheaton action. He’s got a great blog and is a nice guy in person. Those be his devil horns, tho.

Bear with a gun. That’s all I know.

That’s the Owlship. You may be confused now, but come May 2009 you’ll thank me.

Here’s Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn (G4’s Attack of the Show) interviewing a Catwoman.

My tablemate to the north was — once again — the lovely and hilarious Jose Cabrera of Crying Macho Man.

Across the main hall you could find Phoenix’ own Daniel and Dawna Davis of Steamcrow. They’re good friends and wicked(ly) talented.

Here’s my friend Shay with both Cool Jerk books! She’s dressed as a character from “Venture Brothers” whose first name is “Molotov” and the last name isn’t “Cocktail.”

Here’s consumer whore Eric Kocol with a terrific t-shirt. He had to swing by to get Chickadoowa.

There’s Robert Culp (white hair, seated) and William Katt (foreground) from “The Greatest American Hero.”

Here’s the XY chromosome variant of Power Girl. My friend Earthdog calls this “crossplay.” Power Girl was really nice and fun to talk to.

Another example of “crossplay,” here’s the XX chromosome variant of Booster Gold (holding Skeets for good measure).

“Wonder Twin powers… ACTIVATE!” Where’s that damn monkey with the bucket?

Hamster! This pocketful of cute was created by Jodi Kurland.

Trianna. “Venture Brothers” is exceptionally popular this year. Pretty much every recurring character was memorialized in costume.

Now this was one of the most-unexpected costumed couples I’d seen at the show. Bravo, guys. Very Professional.

Hello, Kitty! Hello, Kitty Pryde! Hello Cat(woman)!

Black Cat & Punisher looking to open up a can of vigilante whoop-ass.

Here I am personalizing a copy of Chickadoowa for someone. And by “someone” I mean “a lucky bastard who bought this book!”

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., making the streets safe for Americans, dammit!

Nick Fury giving the “V for Victory” sign after blowing away a bunch of Hydra operatives.

That’s me and James Sime at the USAToday Pop Candy Meetup. He’s a gent. His comic shop Isotope is the crown jewel of San Francisco.

And here’s the hostess with the mostess, Whitney Matheson. She invited me (and nine other cartoonists) to participate in the first-ever Pop Candy Twitter mini-comic!

Can you find Shrek in the crowd?

“So what’re you going to dress up as for Comic-Con?” “Oh, I don’t know… I was thinking TETRIS.”

And here’s Plastic Man. Dude! What’s with the reach-around?!?

OK. So I was off to a bad start. I thought I could do a “pre-comic-con” before the big show but I realized that I would reach more potential buyers IN the San Diego Convention Center.

And voila! My T-shirt says, “You promised to buy one!” Each buyer of Hodabeast sold at Comic-Con got an exclusive Paul Horn sketchbook ashcan FOR FREE!!!111oneone

Things were just smoking at the ‘Con, let me tell you! Here I am being interviewed by Access Hollywood. No, that’s actually David Malki!, the creator of the brilliant Wondermark.

Here’s what I was forced to look at for 36 continuous hours. (L to R – moi, Darlene, ghost writer David Poller, Kim the Catgirl and comics gadfly/illuminati John Layman)

John Layman, apoplectic that he’s getting his Hodabeast signed by yours truly IN THE FLESH!

Sweet baby Jesus! That’s actually Daniel Davis of Steam Crow Press, holding an awesome KlawBerry plushie. Do yourself a favor and buy his stuff. He’s got more talent in his pumpkinhead than most people have in their entire lower abdominal area!

I… I’m really not sure what this gal’s bag is. The hat makes me think “Hogan’s Heroes” and the rest of the outfit makes me think I’ve been a naughty, naughty boy.

“‘ssup, dog! Get some MF’ing Junior Whoppers at my crib, yo!”

It continues to haunt my dreams.

Ghost Rider and one of about a thousand pleather-clad Catwomen seen on the exhibitor floor.

Dr. Girlfriend smoking some Camel unfiltereds. You know… for the voice.

Just about creepy, seeing the “Saw” dude waving to you from the steps of the convention center.

Mary Marvel vs Black Adam.

Ms. Marvel is one of my favorite characters from Marvel Comics, and I’ve never seen anyone even remotely be able to pull off the proper look. She came pretty close (last year, she was Power Girl).

Eisner Award-nominees Sam and Max! I dunno if Steve Purcell was in the Sam costume or not.

Fun little sketch I whipped up for a fan.

…and one of Puppy.

Jonathan Solomon (remember last year’s “Sexy Velma” sketch?) asked for another sketch of another of his fetishes, Harley Quinn.

And a sketch of me by Arthur Baltazar, the artist of Patrick the Wolf Boy. I’ve never met him; Joe and Ben of the “Poway Posse” took my photo with their cell and showed it to Arthur… and 30 seconds later, instant sketch! Thanks, guys!

I don’t know what they were promoting, except Depression-era gangster violence.

Incredibles indeed.

Darlene managed to sneak a shot of Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi on “Star Trek TNG”). I have to say, she still looks pretty damn good.

Not a costume, just comedy.

Jon Favreau’s shiny forehead and Robert Downey Jr. discuss how next year’s “Iron Man” movie will possibly be a mild success in the indy film circuit.

OK. Pretend you haven’t already seen the Iron Man mark I armor already on a quarter-million Web sites. Now bow before its awesomeosity.

Enchantress and Loki. I’ve been seeing this female model in various costumes since WonderCon in February, and the guy is at least a three-year veteran of SDCCI.

Another typical view from the Cool Jerk table (L to R: Adam West-style Batman, Loki and Wonder Woman). Hey, ladies… I don’t want to hear it! I’m just giving equal time for that Flash photo in 2005! Trivia: Guy in Loki and Flash costumes? Same person.

Neighbors to the north Jose Cabrera and his make-peepee-in-your-pants-funny “Crying Macho Man” comics. Behind him is his wife Naomi and “El Gato’s” certifiable Michael Aushenker (in blue).

That’s me and Whitney Matheson, from USA Today’s Pop Candy blog.