Well, I didn’t go to the Comic Con. I have a good excuse — I live five hours away. But I’m wishing I got to go now, ’cause the pictures in the A-J’s Spotted section look like everyone had a lot of fun.

Looks like the folks in the costumes were out in force. The guys from Abilene’s 501st Legion were in the house — they brought Darth Vader and everything…

No, wait, that’s not Vader. Here’s Vader — he’s a little short, but see how he bends Stormtroopers to his will…

There was a guy dressed as Jack “Starman” Knight, complete with a homemade cosmic staff, which is pretty awesome.

There were kids dressed as Cyclops, Storm, and possibly, Captain Pike from Classic Star Trek.

There was this guy, who was apparently supposed to be Optimus Monkey.

And here’s Ballerina Spider-Girl and Black Hand.

Let me emphasize this — some parent dressed their child as a murderous zombie Black Lantern. That parent is the most awesome parent in the universe.

And here’s one of my favorite pix.

I love these photos of parents bringing their kids out to see the costumes and pick up some comics. It’s what events like the Comic Con are all about.

Here’s to the next Comic Con — I should have my vacation hours worked out by then, so I’ll definitely get to be at the next one…

The West Texas Comic Con is today!

Head down to the Science Spectrum, 2579 S. Loop 289, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.! Tickets are cheap — just four bucks for adults, two dollars for kids 12 and under, and dead solid free for toddlers and anyone wearing a costume!

There’s lots of stuff happening, like:

• 10:30 a.m.: “How to Read Comics” by Rob Weiner!
• 11:30 a.m.: Writers workshop and panel, featuring Matthew Sturges, Dirk Strangely, Josh Howard, Scott Zirkel, and Paul Benjamin, hosted by Will Terrell!
• 12:30 p.m.: Registration for the costume contest starts, leading inevitably to…
• 1 p.m.: The Costume Contest!
• 2 p.m.: Twitchy Dolphin independent film panel, featuring their movie “Funny Books”!
• 3 p.m.: DC  Fan Panel with Matt Sturges!
• 4 p.m.: Comics game show! With prizes!

There are tons of special guests, tons of exhibitors, tons of artists, tons of vendors, tons of great people — this is gonna be more fun, for less money, than you’re gonna comfortably believe.

Here’s the Comic Con’s official website! Here’s my article for the A-J! (Yes, I’ll probably be linking that in every blog post from now on)

Come on, folks, it’s a bye weekend for Tech football, so you got no excuses! Git down there or I’m whuppin’ on you with a truck axle!

Hey! Ya seen the latest edition of the Avalanche-Journal’s GO! entertainment magazine? Here’s the cover, for those of you who don’t have access to the paper edition:

You may recognize the artistic style. Yes, that is by Will Terrell, founder of the Lubbock Sketch Club, creator of the “Super Zeroes” webcomic, and one of the organizers of this Saturday’s West Texas Comic Con!

You want more details? Let’s check in with the cover article, written by — why, I do declare, it was written by me!

YAY, ME!

Anyway, go read the article, show it to your friends, go get yerself a good costume, and show up for the West Texas Comic Con this Saturday! Do it or face my undying wrath!

And it looks like they’ve been adding more and more special guests as time goes by — I looked at the list just last night and found a few new ones, so here’s the latest roster of guests for the convention:

• Matt Sturges, who is one of DC’s go-to writers, working on everything from “Jack of Fables” to “Justice Society of America” to “Blue Beetle” to “Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!” to “House of Mystery.”
• Josh Howard, writer/artist of Dead@17.
• Paul Benjamin, who has written several “Marvel Adventures” titles and done writing/producing for computer games like “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.”
• Dirk Strangely, who writes and illustrates creepy-crawly titles like “Darkened Bedtime Stories for Children” and “Agnes and the Flies. (I just love that title)
• Scott Zirkel, a writer for Viper Comics and Penny Farthing Press.
• Joel Watson, creator of the “Hijinks Ensue” webcomic. 
• Chris Nicholas, founder of the “Staple!” independent media expo in Austin.
• 7,000 BC!, which is the entirely awesome name for the sketch club out of Albuquerque.   (Artists and members from the Albuquerque based Sketch Group!)
• Twitchy Dolphin Flix, an independent film company out of Austin.
• The Abilene chapter of the 501st Legion, an international organization of “Star Wars” cosplayers. I have no idea if they’ll be allowed to compete in the costume contest, but you better bring your best costume, just in case.

So anyway, go read my article (Yeah, I do think I need to link that again), gasp over how impossibly awesome it is, and make your plans to be at the West Texas Comic Con tomorrow!

Hey, didja hear we’ve got just about three weeks left before the West Texas Comic Con? IT’S TRUE!

Remember, it’s happening November 7th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Science Spectrum. There will be guests galore (Matt Sturges, Josh Howard, Dirk Strangely, Will Terrell, and more) and the entry fee is dirt-cheap. It’s just $4 for adults, $2 for kids 12 and under, and free for toddlers and folks who come in costume.

Costumes? Oh, of course, there’s going to be the big costume contest starting around 1 p.m. And remember, the WTxCC is happening just a week after Halloween, so if you’ve got an unusually cool costume, it’s probably going to be worth your while to either pay for an extra week on the rental, or just make sure you keep your makeup and costume materials on hand to re-use for the convention.

In other clothing-related news, there’s also an official convention T-shirt! You can get it for just $10 if you order by October 22 — yes, I know that’s very short notice. But complaining will do you no good! Go print out the order form, fill it out, and run it by Star Comics at 2014 34th Street ASAP. But even if you miss the pre-ordering deadline, you can still get the shirts for just $15 at the convention itself.

In summary, get the T-shirt, get a costume, go to the West Texas Comic Con. In fact, that’s not just a summary, that’s your “To-Do” list, so hop to it!

Like I said last week, the West Texas Comic Con is coming up on November 7th at the Science Spectrum, but did you know they’re already adding new guests? In addition to Matt Sturges, Will Terrell, and Dirk Strangely, we can now add…

* Josh Howard: writer and artist on “Dead@17,” “Black Harvest,” and “The Lost Books of Eve.” Had you heard that “Dead@17” has been optioned for a movie? You have now…

* Chris Nicholas: sometimes known as Uncle Staple, he’s the driving force behind “Staple!: The Independent Media Expo,” Austin’s annual comics/art/animation/self-publishing convention.

* The Abilene 501st: the Abilene branch of a worldwide “Star Wars” costuming organization operated entirely by fans. Will they be competing in the costume contest? Just in case, you better bring your A-game, Lubbockites.

* The Lubbock Sketch Club: Lubbock’s best and brightest all-access art club is, of course, going to be a very important part of any comic convention in the Hub City.

That’s way, way more special guests than I was ever expecting, so mad kudos to everyone hammering out the details and making the contacts for this. This is looking like it’ll be the best comic convention Lubbock’s seen yet, so y’all better get your calendars marked for the West Texas Comic Con — Saturday, November 7th, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Science Spectrum!

Another Lubbock comic convention? Heck, yeah!

The West Texas Comic Con is happening on Saturday, November 7th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the main exhibit hall in the Lubbock Science Spectrum at 2579 S. Loop 289, Ste 250. There will be panels and presentations, vendors, artists, comics, costumed folks, and more fun than you can shake a stick at without getting investigated by the Lubbock PD.

Admission fees are cheaper’n dirt, too. Adults pay $4. Kids 12 and under pay $2. Toddlers get in free. And people who come in costume get in free! So keep your Halloween costume for an extra week so you can use it to get into the Comic Con, alright?

“Aww, come on, man! A Saturday in November?! I gotta go tailgating!” No, actually, November 7 is a bye week for Tech! Ain’t no football — so come on down!

Numerous presentations are planned, including a writers workshop, at least one humorous fan panel on “How to Read Comics,” a game show, and of course, the ever-popular costume contest, starting around 1 p.m.

And listen up — this year, there are going to be special guests.

The featured guest: Matt Sturges, writer of “Jack of Fables” and “Justice Society of America.” He’s also worked on “Blue Beetle,” “House of Mystery,” “Shadowpact,” and “Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!” Matt lives in Austin, believe it or not! He’ll be participating in the writers panel and a Q&A session.

Will Terrell will be there, of course. He’s the Lubbock artist who’s worked on “Disney’s Gargoyles” and “The Goblin Chronicles,” as well as helping found the Lubbock Sketch Club. And he designed the convention logo at the top of this post! He’ll be helping out on the writers panel and probably almost everything else. His current big project is the webcomic “Super Zeroes.”

And a guy named Dirk Strangely will be there, too. Dirk does extremely creepy (and often, very funny) illustrations and has written a couple of nicely morbid children’s books. I spent a lot of last night clicking through his gallery on his site, and I’m entirely loving his stuff. I’m really looking forward to meeting him.

So go ahead and make your plans for the West Texas Comic Con — Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Science Spectrum! Be there or I’ll whup ya with sticks!