Denver Comic Con 2015 Artist Alley

Hey everyone! We, the Gameslave crew (Jim, Chris, Crystal, Brandon, Cari and Andrew) will be at Denver Comic Con (May 23-25) again this year!

We’ll be in Artist Alley at booth G21, so stop by and say hi! We'll have a lot of cool prints and our plexiglass displays with some new designs. Our plexiglass pieces are also $20 cheaper than last year's prices, so check them out! We also have some new products like coasters, magnets and dice boxes.

Looks like it’ll be an even bigger event this year! You can check out the other tables in the area with this handy interactive map!

The Gameslave Podcast - TCAF Special

Hi everyone!  Here is a quick dispatch from Toronto with special guest Angi Mauri.

• TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival)
• FREE! (not a convention)
• How show is selected:
  • Prominence
  • A book to release
• Toronto as Geek Town, StreetPasses for All
• Examples: Bryan Lee O'Malley, Kate Beaton
• The Beguilling: Chris Betcher
• Favorites (comics, creators, moments)

The Professional Gamer - May 8, 2015

Hi everyone! As I write this post, I'm sitting in a condo in downtown Toronto.  The Toronto Comic Arts festival is due to start tomorrow, and I'm getting really excited about it.  Travel and vacation usually means more time to enjoy life, and that's been true for me as well.  Read on to see what I've been doing.

Watching: This week, Steven Universe (along with a number of other prominent Cartoon Network serials) were release on Hulu in the US.  I have, therefore, spent much of the past week watching through the earlier episodes.  So far, I've watched 19 episodes, of the 35 currently available, and its been a lot of fun.  Steven, the titular character, is a half-gem / half-human.  Gems are a race of sentient crystals that take on human form.  Steven is looked after by a group of three gems named Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.  The overall arch of the show so far is the story of Steven learning to use his gem powers.  Along the way, he spends a lot of time making friends and simply growing up as a human boy.  In short, the show simply makes me feel good.  I really enjoy the use of music as well as some of the characters goofy expressions.  In short, Steven Universe just feels good to watch.

Reading: During my flight to Toronto I picked up Frankenstein again.  I had somewhat forgotten where I was in the story.  Turns out, I was in the section where the Creature monologues for 3 chapters.  The most striking thing to me is how different the portrayal of the Creature is in the book versus almost all of popular culture.  In the book, he is grotesque, but highly intelligent and very much able to discuss his feelings with the Doctor.  Whereas most popular portrayals of the Creature take after the now classic version by Boris Karloff.

In preparation for TCAF, I visited Little Island Comics and The Beguilling, two of Toronto's notable comic stores.  I purchased Giant Days No. 1, Lumberjanes Issue 5, and Batgirl No. 35.  Then we got lost in Honest Ed's, so I haven't had a chance to read my new finds yet, but I plan to do so soon.

Playing: Since my 3DS wouldn't leave me alone about it, I download the Pokémon Rumble game. It seems to be alright so far, although I am not planning to spend any actual money on the game.  

Tonight, I'll be tagging along with my artist friends to the Sparkler Monthly party.  And then tomorrow, I'll be off to TCAF proper.  Depending on WiFi availability, I'll try to get some tweets and pictures up.  Until next time, Game On!

The Gameslave Podcast - Episode 209

Hi everyone.  We've all had a busy week with work, travel, and preparing for TCAF.  Crystal and Jim are excited to be heading out to Toronto soon, and Chris is excited to sleep in his own bed again.  Show notes follow the podcast.

• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Steven Universe

The Gameslave Podcast - Episode 208

Hi everyone!  We're back from StarFest (ComicFest) and here to discuss our adventures there and the upcoming release of Hulk's Mash.

Show Notes:

• StarFest 2015
• Hulk's Mash Event
• Absolute Duo (Anime) 

First Round of Guests Announced FOR NDK

Nan Desu Kan (NDK) has announced their first round of guests for their convention this fall.  You can read all about it here.  I, for one, look forward to talking with Taliesin Jaffe again.  Do you have any favorites that you'd like us to talk to?

StarFest 2015 Photos

Did you miss StarFest 2015 or simply want to relive some of it? If that is the case then you are in luck.  Today we are posting the photos that I took while visiting the convention this year. Enjoy!

The Gallery can also be found here.

StarFest / ComicFest

We're at ComicFest today selling some sweet art stuff. Come down to the Hilton Garden Inn at DTC today and check it out. Artist alley is open from 10am today and Jim will be running around interviewing people. We hope to see you there!

The Professional Gamer - April 18, 2015

Hi readers! This week has been another busy one at the office.  With the boss gone, I'm responsible for keeping things moving along on a lot of projects.  In spite of that, I had managed to have some geeky fun this week.  I'm thinking more about the role of media in the world and how comics work.  I also played some video games.  And I, along with Crystal and Chris, will be ComicFest tomorrow.  Come over to the artist alley and say hello, and maybe buy something?  Regardless, read on to see how I spent my geeky week.

Watching: I have again spent most of my week watching episodes of the PBS Idea Channel.  At this point, I've watched 100 of the (currently) 145 episodes.  The most interesting episodes this week have been the discussion about what fiction is and whether it exists.  Crystal and I had some fun discussing the issues brought up in these episodes.  My opinion is that fictional realities are as real as any other cultural constructs that we deal with everyday like the nation-state or money.

Reading: I'm still making my way through Understanding Comics.  I'm now in the last section and should be finished early next week.  I'm really enjoying the book still, and every page provides a new revelation on the craft of comics.

Playing: My gaming has again been limited to Fantasy Life and Hyrule Warriors.  Crystal and I are now concentrating our efforts on the Termina Map in Adventure Mode, which frequently requires you to compete against an AI team to collect more keeps, KO's, or rupees.  This competition adds an interesting twist to keep the game interesting.

That's all I have for this week.  We'll be at the ComicFest portion of Denver StarFest tomorrow, so please come by and say hello.  Have a great week and game on!