For those who missed it, I made sure to snap pictures of our PopCap crew manning their table and making art the whole livelong day!

I saw Sarah Dicken painting this, and now it is mine. Yes, in this case, the Finders Keepers rule applied to art acquisition. I'd've arm-wrestled for it if anyone got in my way.

David Ryan Paul and Rich Werner never stopped sketching, and the Zombie watched over them.

Jordan Kotzebue happily hawked Hominids while modelling the finest in Solitaire Blitz couture.

Hominids is a webcomic that comes out weekly online and then is collected regularly in print format. I hear that is the future of the comics industry. Go check it out!  (Hominids is not an all-ages comic. You are warned.)

Note: In this image, Sarah Dicken was busy painting the bunnies. And they are mine.

How adorable are these?! If I had kids, these are the blocks I’d want them playing with. Mix-n-Match Creatures by Sarah Dicken (aka One Dill Pickle), coming soon to an Etsy near you.

Karin Madan giggles behind her display copies of Monsterpedia, volumes 1 & 2.

Visit Karin online and check out her Etsy store for handmade jewelry!

When I saw Erin working on this kitty sketch, I was instantly jealous of whoever had commissioned it.

If you were there, send us pictures of you reading Hominids or Monsterpedia, wearing a Karin Madan necklace, drinking out of an Erin Middendorf mug… we’d love to see! If you weren’t there, you can still visit the artists’ sites and online shops, and you can even get a copy of Monsterpedia volume 2! It’s the easiest way to get your hands on some lovely bunnies by Sarah Dicken, among other things.

Monsterpedia 2 is at times monstrous, at times adorable! This story by Sarah Dicken proves that there is nothing more endearing than a bunny you could ride.

Although, she gives her bunny some adorable competition with this puppy of a unicorn!

Many of the original Monsterpedia contributors have returned for this second volume, as well as some new faces. I am immensely proud to have written a story for it myself, and prouder still that it is illustrated by the amazing Dev Madan.

Dev and I go all Twilight Zone on a poor comic book creator. It's kind of my favorite thing ever that Dev Madan's pencils brought my characters into the world.

Erin Middendorf will be on hand with more of her gorgeous pottery.

I look at this and squee, "Corgi! Kitty!" And so forth.

I defy you to look at her animal art without trying to reach into the art and pet the adorable creatures. It just can’t be done. Don’t believe me? Have you played Solitaire Blitz? There are puppies who are soaked through, and you just know they smell like wet dog, but of course you would hold them and cuddle them anyway.

Readers of the first Monsterpedia will be excited to know that Karin Madan is back for Volume 2 with another story about the tragic and endearing Lil’ Dusa.

Don't worry -- this is just the title page, not the final panel. Lil' Dusa will be fine... probably....

So if you’re attending the con this weekend, be sure to stop by booth 506 and visit! The full complement of Monsterpedia artists and writers will be around, so pick up a copy of Volume 2 for thrills, chills and beautiful bunnies that you could totally ride if only you were tiny enough. And who knows? It’s Comicon. Probably someone there is selling reproductions of Alice in Wonderland cakes, and you can’t be sure they won’t shrink you unless you try.

A.J.
My favorite thing in 2012 was two things, Sookie and Rory (my dogs). Considering that they are yearly my favorite things, I think I should get a third one, too, for last year, which would be the delicious bottle of truffle oil I got for, like, only $4 at the Conad Market in Mercatale, Italy. It would have been about $30 here.

My prediction for 2013 is that the movie The World’s End (directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and Martin Freeman) will make me very happy. Also, I think that PopCap is going to blow your mind (yes, you). Also, I think that I will ride to work on a motorized elephant.
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Curtis
My favorite thing ice cream from 2012: Housemade Maker’s Mark ice cream from Screamin’ Mimi’s, the best ice cream shop ever. Yes, really.

My prediction for 2013: The Mars Rover will be stolen by an invisible clan of Marsmites that prey on bored robots. Soon after, we will discover we were better off with the Mars Bar.

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Dana
It’s hard to pick a favorite thing in a year that included the glorious film version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, an amazing superhero movie like The Avengers, and new books in the Mistborn, Dresden Files, and Ender’s Game universes. (See how I snuck in a couple of other things so I could almost avoid choosing? Argo also rocked.)

But I’m a comics girl, and there are still a number of great options there to narrow down from, like Invincible, which continues to be the best ongoing comic, and Green Lantern, but I’ll finally commit to one thing which is my favorite for the year:

Angel & Faith. I love Buffy, but I thought Angel was even better, deeper, more profound, the Torchwood to Buffy’s Doctor Who. In comics, however, Buffy had gotten better treatment for the most part… until Christos Gage took the helm. He brings these characters to life more fully than any other writer has since the shows went off the air, and he clearly loves them. It’s been a monthly gift to read this book and return to a world I had really missed. It’s a perfect continuation of the story and the characters, lovingly crafted and utterly respectful of the original shows and their fans. Thank you Joss Whedon, Dark Horse, Christos Gage, and Rebekah Isaacs.

In 2013, I predict that Marvel will announce a new Daredevil movie, rebooting that franchise with Matt Davis (Alaric from “The Vampire Diaries”) in the lead. Okay, that’s totally my wishful thinking but psst, Marvel dudes, it’s the best idea you might not have had yet.
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Jeff
My favorite thing of 2012 was also sort of my least favorite: Sending my daughter off to college in New York City. The bad part was sending her off. Because, seriously, where did those 18 years go? Was she just not putting a bowl of spaghetti over her head? (Okay, maybe she did that at the dorms, too.) But the awesome part was seeing my kid as a newly minted young adult, taking on NYC and kicking ass at it. (In one week, she: saw “Book of Mormon,” met Katie Couric on the street, sat in the Colbert Report audience…and aced her term paper. I didn’t do one thing half that cool in my six years as an undergraduate.) Being a parent is the best and hardest thing in the world. When you have any successes at all at it, no matter how big or small, nothing comes close to being more satisfying. Oh but I also loved The Hobbit.

Prediction for 2013: I will see The Hobbit 12 more times.
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Julie
My favorite thing from 2012 is farro. Specifically the delicious version sometimes served as a small plate at Bar del Corso here in Seattle — simmered in a dark, savory broth, with wild mushrooms and creamy cheese. Yum!

Prediction for 2013: Farro will soon be out of fashion, replaced by some new “ancient” grain. Like maybe teff. Or amaranth.

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KUHU

Kuhu shall speak about 2012!
There is no past; there is only future. There is no regret, only hope… and sometimes fear. But there was once, on May 15, an excellent sunrise!

Kuhu foreknows 2013!
The seventh month of the flying baboon reveals Truth For All: and we shall know the glory of a perfectly fried onion ring!

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Philip
My kid is learning how to read. My favorite thing from 2012 was sitting in her room while she read Dr. Seuss’ Hop on Pop out loud to the dog.

I predict the Seattle Mariners will realize that those teal alternate jerseys make them look like an intramural softball team and they will stop wearing them. I will be so happy that I won’t even care when they miss the playoffs. (I hope to be at least half right.)

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Zombie

Favorite Thing from 2012: Brains.

Prediction for 2013: Brains.

"We've got everything we need except a caption"

Now comes the fun part. Send us your captions in the comments below and next week we’ll pick our favorites and post them on the blog. Then everyone will vote for their top pick and the winner will be publicly lauded for their brilliance and receive the eternal gratitude of our entire team of “English bitters” (and one somewhat tangy Theater major).

My caption: “Pass the oil. Keep the butter.”

Now go to it!

Erin Middendorf was the first artist to sell out! Um, I mean that in the good way... she kept her integrity while unloading all her stuff.

Dev Madan and David Ryan Paul sketched and sold all weekend long and never stopped smiling.

In addition to prints and sketchbooks, Dev had a full-length adventure, Monstertown P.I., featuring Frank Neil Stein, the character from his delightful Monsterpedia story. This is one of the many items I failed to pick up, as I was mostly busy cosplaying and winning trivia contests. Fortunately, I work in the same building as Dev, so I guess it’s only fair to give the other fans first crack at his wares!

Lynn Hogan in PopCap finery, or "bling" as I hear the kids call it.

Lynn’s new graphic novel, Prydwen, is available in both hardcover and soft, and it’s gorgeous! She was busy signing all weekend.

Karin Madan went bananas for this con. Sorry, I really couldn't help myself there.

As I photographed Jordan Kotzebue, I said, "Ooh, hold still... your head is covering the boob in the picture right now, that's perfect."

There were lots of great costumes this year, including roving hordes of Doctor Who in his various incarnations, at least half a dozen Katniss cosplayers, Hogwarts students travelling solo or in packs and representing at least three of the houses (as usual, no love for poor Hufflepuff). Here are a few of the highlights I managed to get on camera:

All Gryffindors here, but Slytherin and Ravenclaw both made a pretty good showing at ECCC this year.

I would like this just slightly better if the team simply represented all four major Robins, rather than three Robins and a Batgirl... but still, very nicely done!

In line for Stargate Atlantis star Jason Momoa, a trio of Wraiths menace Rodney McKay (whose Ancient shield device must have worn off already, or he shouldn't look so scared).

And last year after San Diego Comic Con, I challenged readers to correctly identify my cosplay (incidentally, no one did, but their guesses were good). This time, I went with a much more identifiable character, so no challenge. It was great walking around being recognized even by very young children who love the character! Kind of gave me hope that the next generation of comic book fans is here.

Avengers, assembled. At least two of 'em.

This year, a number of our artists joined up to take on Emerald City Comicon, and in addition to their own unique wares, they brought a limited edition comic book anthology called Monsterpedia (the arty beast described above was not included, but that’s what sequels are for, right?).

Noah Maas’ charming tale of bonding with a bogeyman over the joys of dental hygiene makes you wonder if monsters might be friends you haven’t made yet.

Karin Madan’s sweet story plays on how we all feel a little monstrous at times… and how we can make peace with that.

The first question may be: Why monsters?  Well, why not?  For one thing, they’re fun to draw.  They allow a creative freedom unique to the fantastical compared to the restraint of depicting the recognizable.  And yet they are recognizable to us, a kind of shorthand for the subconscious, a shortcut to metaphor.

Lynn Hogan tells a tale of a nightmare monster (literally, a monster whose role is to visit sleeping children and inspire their nightmares). If you want to hug these monsters, you’re not alone!

Dev Madan (whom BlogRiders may remember as the designer of the Wolfpack shirt!) has a history in comics and started this monster ball rolling.

Dev brings us an old-school hard-boiled private detective story… starring Frank Neil Stein, PI

Monte Michaelis: I thought to myself, "Monster stories are fun, but what if monsters were REAL? What would you need exactly?" That was the genesis of the "Queasy Street PSA".

Monte: The Monsterpedia was really Dev’s brainchild, and I credit him with really lighting a fire under the rest of us. We all met for lunch to hammer out the theme, and I remember everyone being on board with drawing monsters from the start. The idea of the “Monsterpedia” just evolved naturally from our discussion.

Monte: My photo of the whiteboard notes from this first meeting. And, for the record, I have no idea who "Ashley" is.

Another driving force behind the Monsterpedia is the “all-knowing, all-seeing beard of David Ryan Paul,” known as DRP.

DRP: Everyone was immediately excited about the book, and we all got to work on planning faster than any game production I’ve ever done.  Dev and Steve (Notley, of Bob the Angry Flower fame!) were incredibly helpful on the practical points of the process, both having experience with printing and publishing books. The entire group was helpful during the story creation phase. I remember bringing in different versions of my script for people to read, and got good help hammering out the flow of the story. It was exciting, because everyone had a different approach to creating their comic. Seeing all the stories in various stages of completion was invigorating and inspiring. I think that’s the biggest advantage of doing an anthology… you aren’t alone.

DRP: The inspiration for my story, stylistically, was Creepy, Eerie, and House of Mystery... basically comic book versions of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, of which I’m a huge fan.

Adrien Yorozu had what sounds like an unenviable task at the later stages of the Monsterpedia, but she pulled it all together like a boss!

Adrien: "Monsterpedia" is reference shelves meets shadows in the night and I wanted to convey that on the cover. My favorite is the "O"… she's so sassy.

Adrien: I really wanted to get involved from the start… I don’t draw awesome comics so I thought that I could contribute some of my print background to the cause while hanging around the cool kids.  It was exciting to see everyone’s work come together and nice to be part of making it really look like a collection.

Gene Blakefield’s Monster Pin-Ups are so hot, I can literally only show one panel: The Invisible Woman!

As a comic book fan, great visual storytelling knocks me out, and when there’s a single panel as gorgeous as this one by Misael Armendariz, I can get stuck staring at it for minutes:

(Check that out! You can almost *hear* that bell ring!)

And when I teased the notion of a sequel up top, I wasn’t just toying with your fragile monster-loving hearts!  A second volume of the Monsterpedia is in the works, so keep an eye out for PopCap artists at conventions so you can get a signed copy with nifty little sketches like this:

Emerald City Comicon 2012, here we come!

Of course, if you can’t wait till the next convention to get your mitts on this monster work, you can find it for sale here!  We must caution, however, these comics are not for all ages. As hinted by the “Invisible Woman” photo above, there are definite non G-rated elements to this book, not to mention some scary monsters!

Let’s start by getting this much out of the way: I am a geek.  A big, big geek.  I have surrounded myself with comic books, comic art, superhero symbols and figurines — I’ve seen the latest X-Men movie so many times I don’t even need to read the subtitles anymore to follow the dialogue.  Comic Con to me… it’s like Christmas is to kids.  And here’s why:

When you think of geeks, nerds, whatever your preferred term is, one of the main qualities that comes to mind is social awkwardness and anxiety, right?  Well, it’s true for me.  It’s always been a big obstacle.  It’s painful and stressful, and it holds me back in a lot of ways.  If you’re a geek, you probably know the words to that tune, and you may also sometimes wonder what your life would be like if you were one of those people who seems so at ease and confident all the time, who can just walk up to strangers and strike up a conversation.

Well, at Comic Con, you can.  That’s the beauty, the magic, the miracle of this kind of event.  You can turn to your right or left in any room at any time and know that the stranger you’re looking at is probably just two degrees away from being a friend.  You’re all there for the same thing; these are your people!

Ok...this is not "your people" so much as your dog.

There’s so much to do, it’s really too much to choose from, and you’ll never see it all, but everything you see will be cool!  If you want to try to see all the most popular events and exhibits, you’ve got a lot of standing in line in your future.  But if you just wander around and check out the rooms the big crowds aren’t as desperate to get into, you can have a leisurely time and discover new things you might not have found on your own.  They premiere films and screen television pilots; there are game demos on the main floor you can play (I saw a bunch of brave souls playing a Kinect dancing game on a big stage); artists sit behind tables and draw beautiful things, and you can stand there and watch them do it!

Our very own Steve Notley has been writing and drawing Bob the Angry Flower for almost 20 years!

One of the best experiences you can have at a con is the opportunity to meet people you admire and tell them how much you appreciate their work.  They’re happy to hear it, and artists and writers (we comic fans call them by the catchall term “creators”) are by and large the nicest, most gracious people you can imagine.  They love what they do, and they know how lucky they are to be doing it.  Not unlike the people at PopCap!  We are lottery lucky to be working in games, and we all know it and are so proud to be here.  I don’t make the games myself, and at times I find myself going all fangirl when I talk to some of my fellow PopCappers who do have that incredible talent.  That’s how it is to be here every day —you’re a geek in a room full of them, and you’re impressed by everyone you know.  Again I say, lottery lucky!

I know you've heard of this one before!

One of the first friends I made here at PopCap is also at Comic Con every year, selling collections of his long-running comic strip, Bob the Angry Flower.  This year, he was also proudly promoting his newest PopCap project, Pig Up!  And here we are together, enjoying the con in style (first commenter who can identify my costume gets a code for a free PopCap PC or Mac download!).

Hint: I'm not Superman or Batman.

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