Exciting news: Geek Girl on the Street has joined forces with the Geek Girls Network (run by the fabulous Kristin Rielly.) As of today, GGotS is beginning the process of rolling our content into the GGN’s data feed. Starting on September 15th, the GGotS URL will automatically redirect to the GGN.

We hope you’ll join us for this exciting new chapter in our publication. By joining forces with the GGN we’re able to reach more geeky readers every month and continue to bring you the best in geek news and editorial content.

Thank you for making the 18 months this site operated independently a wonderful and educational time for me and everyone who writes for GGotS. We’ve loved what we’ve accomplished here and are truly excited to take GGotS to the next level via the GGN!

Cheers,
Editor Kate

PS: You can check out my first post on the GGN today! http://geekgirlsnetwork.com/blog/2011/09/geeklist_funnyvideos/

I’m feet on the ground in Baltimore this weekend attending the Baltimore Comic Convention. If you’re interested in what’s going on down on the floor this weekend, make sure to follow me on Twitter: @adorkablegrrl – as I’ll be live blogging both days of the convention, including the Harvey Awards tonight.

One of the really nice things about BCC is that it is a COMIC CONVENTION.  A nice, sweet, good old fashioned comic convention. As opposed to the “entertainment shows” like C2E2, SDCC and NYCC…

This is a hardcore comic reading crowd. Not to say we aren’t seeing some cosplayers. After the cut I’ve included a few of my favorite costumes thus far (including the Doctor and Sexy the TARDIS you see above) and a few pictures from the floor of the con this morning. Enjoy!

The Krayola Krew

Not sure who this is, but his costume is cool!

Our lovely Sex Geek, Ms. Amber Love and Smashing-Ashley!

Author, Paul Storrie in Booth 1605 pimpin’ his many excellent books.

Friend of GGotS and creator of Love and Capes (also in Booth 1605), Thom Zahler (nominated for a Harvey Award, yay!)

Anthony Del Col and Connor McCreery show off their new “Shakes-gear” which made it’s debut at BCC. (BTW, our favorite Canadians are nominated for a Harvey Award for Kill Shakespeare… yay!)

Comic Con is a weird and wonderful place. One minute you can be the only female member of a panel on critical approaches to comics, and the next sitting in the sun at a private café drinking free cocktails in advance of a makeover.

It’s no wonder we love this crazy annual event.

When I received a message from our lovely editor, Ms. Kotler, who sadly couldn’t make it to the con this year, asking if I was interested in receiving a “True Blood” makeover from tarte™ cosmetics, my response was an emphatic, “Um . . . . YES!”

So there I was, at the chic invite-only Wired café at the Omni Hotel replenishing my waning blood sugar by drinking Fangbangers (Vodka and True Blood, natch), and eating cheese and shrimp quesadillas while waiting for my appointment. Amid the thumping music and trendily dressed attendees, I watched as Janina Gavankar, aka Sam Merlotte’s love interest “Luna,” was filmed receiving her own makeover. Though truly, she was already redonkulously gorgeous.

When it was my turn, the make-up artist and I decided to go with the “Vamp Glam” look. The tarte™ for True Blood™ limited-edition line features four signature looks designed by Emmy® award-winning makeup artist and True Blood makeup department head Brigette Myre-Ellis. Vampy Vixen and Vamp Glam provide more of an evening look, while Not Your Average Waitress, a mixture of bronzes and browns, and Luminous Fairy are daytime options. All of the shadows on the 17-shade palate have True Blood-inspired names such as Charmer, Telepath, and The True Death.

“We’re really excited about our partnership with HBO,” says Candace Craig Bulishak, Director of PR for tarte™ in between sending text messages to the team back in New York. “We just thought it was kind of a supernatural type of take on it. We partnered with their licensing department to create products that evoked the show’s image.”

Janine McGoldrick, who works in Corporate Affairs at HBO, adds that True Blood has such a large cross-over audience that the licensing product, one of the biggest for the company, is starting to expand. She also says that HBO doesn’t just partner with anyone, but chooses companies organic to their fanbase.

The collection includes three exclusive items: a palette (suggested retail price: $52 US/$68 CAN), that features: 17 matte and shimmer eyeshadows, emphasEYES™ aqua-gel eyeliner in black, a deluxe lights, camera, lashes! clinically-proven natural mascara and a deluxe lifted™ natural eye primer with Firmitol™, natural cheek stain in shimmering red (suggested retail price: $30 US/$39 CAN), and LipSurgence™ natural lip tint in shimmering red (suggested retail price: $24 US/$31 CAN). All products are available for purchase in the U.S. and Canada at Sephora, Sephora.com, store.hbo.com, HBO shop, tarte.com, Ulta and Ulta.com.

tarte™ and HBO wanted to showcase the line at Comic-Con because, as Bulishak says, “Part of Comic Con is being somebody else by dressing up. The make-up,” she notes, “would allow for a ‘Pam look or a ‘Sookie” look’ and it’s all in one collection.” It’s a true convenience for cosplayers and everyday fans alike to be saved from the hassle of running around trying to find the perfect and complementary colors.

Feeling vampy glam, satiated from the sugary booze, and definitely glamoured, I wandered off in search of my vampire lover . . . and maybe a Sephora.

For the last several months, Geek Girl on the Street has been running a semi-regular series of webcomics written and drawn by 20-year old art student, Stephan Lapin.

Stephan is a pretty remarkable kid — the survivor of TWO heart transplants by the time he was 18, he now is enrolled in art school full time and has recently finished drawing the first issue of a comic series entitled “The Adventures of Hey-Zeus, the Hero Who Doesn’t Fight.”

Stephan’s goal is to find a colorist for the project and then self-publish a small run of books so that he can sell the book in Boston/New Hampshire area comic stores, start to make a name for himself in the comics industry and (hopefully) find a publisher for subsequent issues of “Hey-Zeus.”

Yesterday, he launched a Kickstarter campaign to fundraise the monies needed to hire a colorist and publish issue #1 of “Hey-Zeus.”

About the project:

“Hey-Zeus is the story of Murdock Simonson, a down-on-his-luck columnist is being threatened by a leg breaker hired by the top crime lord to squeeze out the money that Murdock borrowed from them. However, before Murdock receives any serious injuries from his aggressor, his life is saved by a small albino child who runs in and takes a bullet for him. Although the child first appears to be dead, Murdock’s young hero comes back to life in a matter of minutes with an out-of-this-world light show that rejuvenates the boy. Instead of being scared, Murdock’s interest is piqued, and he attempts to find out more about his savior. The gawky writer soon learns that the lad’s name is Hey-Zeus – that’s “Hey” for “Hello” and “Zeus” like the Greek god. Hey-Zeus then persuades Murdock in fighting the world’s tribulations through pacifism while renewing a his faith in the divine.”

If you have a few dollars to spare, please consider donating to Stephan’s Kickstarter campaign.

Here’s a roundup of what we’ve published on Bleeding Cool recently:

• The Internet is Really Really Great (for Comic Book Parody Porn)
• A Girl’s Guide to Surviving San Diego Comic Con
• The Curious Case of the Man From Space
• The Wonderful World of Webcomics

Plus, Marc Jackson replied to my column which outed his publicity whoring (I say that with love, Marc) Twitter antics:

Man From Space, Is There a Fallacy in the Galaxy?

The foxy ladies of Sugar Gamers and our pals at URChicago are once again gearing up to bring Chicago geeks a fantabulous free party: The Awesome Black Mask Party!

This event is the “official end of Tech Week,” and will feature a special performance by rapper, Nikki Lynette. Video Game TV will be live streaming the event (and, I hear on the rumor mill that some geeky-girl editor of a geeky-girl website might be interviewed live on VGTV on Thursday evening…) Plus, there will be a host of prizes being given away, donated by Warner Brothers and Steel Series…

Make sure to RSVP and arrive early, as this will be the hottest party in Chicago this Thursday! Deets below:

THE AWESOME BLACK MASK PARTY
Hosted by Sugar Gamers and URChicago
Thursday, 7/28 from 8:00-11:00pm
LURE Izakaya Pub
2017 S Wells, Chicago 60616
Chicago, IL
RSVP to info@sugargamers.com

Shannon Wheeler is one of the busiest men in comics and cartooning, producing a whole slew of books this year and a regular comic strip, Too Much Coffee Man. At this year’s Eisner Awards at Comic Con International, Shannon took home an award for Best Humor for his collection of rejected New Yorker cartoons, I Thought You Would Be Funnier from Boom! Studios. Geek Girl on the Street caught up with him the day after the ceremony.

GG: Congratulations on winning for a book that was initially rejected.

Shannon: Yeeeeah…there’s a little bit of an irony to that.

GG: I’m not the first person who’s brought that up?

Shannon: Right. (laughs) But it’s real typical too, that all the cartoonists who are running in the New Yorker submit hundreds of cartoons and only one or two run out of that hundred. And they all say, “Oh yeah, just take your extras and make a book out of it later.”

GG: And it turns around and wins!

Shannon: Yes! (laughs)

GG: That had to be exciting.

Shannon: Yeah! It was great. And Boom! really pushed it, they pushed me to do it.

GG: Have you been nominated for other Eisners in the past?

Shannon: I won an Eisner for Too Much Coffee Man back in, like a long long time ago. They used to look different. They were made out of stone and (makes chiseling motion).

GG: They were printed on leaves!

Shannon: It was in a pre-metal period. I dunno, it was a long time ago.

GG: So the [Too Much Coffee Man] Omnibus is coming out. What is in the Omnibus?

Shannon: The five books that I did with Dark Horse. We’ve finally collected them and I’ve fixed tiny little things that drove me crazy. Just like misspelling and, I don’t know, terrible stupid things. And then a lot of new material as well. I’ve been continuing to draw Too Much Coffee Man so we cherry-picked strips I’ve done over the last four years, since the last book came out.

GG: So where do those strips publish?

Shannon: They run mostly in the Austin Chronicle newspapers a lot. I syndicate the strip as a weekly and run it in Austin, Eugene, Albuquerque, and about five other places.

GG: And this is also from Boom!?

Shannon: No, this is from Dark Horse.

GG: Are you planning on doing anything else from Boom!?

Shannon: Oh yeah, we have like a 3 book deal or whatever. I’m definitely doing more books with them. The next one we’re doing is called Grandpa Won’t Wake Up. And it’s about these two little kids who are trying to wake up their grandfather. A buddy of mine did it and I did the drawings for it. They try to be cute, and pinch his cheeks and try to play music, and then it goes dark, as you can imagine. Every page you think, “Oh, that’s really offensive, it can’t get worse,” and then the next thing you know they’re dressing him up like a Nazi, and you think, “Oh, no, oh no.” And then they’re Satan worshipping with a candle. It’s so offensive and so awful that it’s unbelievable.

GG: If it works, it works.

Shannon: It made me laugh. Friends of mine are always pitching ideas going, “Oh, I want to do this,” and they’re terrible ideas, and I’m always like, “Oooooo, I love it but I’m just too busy,” is what I always say. But with this, I saw it and I was telling him about it, and saying, “Oh, I’d like to do this but I’m so busy,” and I was reading it and I said, “Ooooohhh, I gotta do this.”

GG: When is that coming out?

Shannon: That’ll be out in October. Really really soon.

GG: So you’ve got some really big projects coming up. The Omnibus in September and Grandpa Won’t Wake Up in October, and…anything else for the rest of the year?

Shannon: Yeah, earlier this year I also drew a graphic novel. (laughs) Seriously! I went to New Orleans with a group of Oregonians and one of them is a writer named Steve Duin and he wrote a graphic novel, and I drew it, and Fantagraphics is putting that out. That’ll be September, October as well.

GG: So you’re dealing with a lot of publishers in a very short amount of time.

Shannon: I just whored myself out. I ran out of money, and was like, “I need to do more books,” so this year I’ve just worked really, really hard.

GG: That’s great, you’ve produced some great stuff. How many years is it for you [going to Comic Con]?

Shannon: Shoot, ‘93 I think? ’92 maybe was the first one, so almost 20 years. Missed one or two in there.

Winehouse’s last public performance was July 20th when she joined her goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield on stage at the Roundhouse in Camden as part of the iTunes Festival. Following this performance, she checked herself back into rehab and her management released  a statement:

“Amy Winehouse is withdrawing from all scheduled performances. Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best and she will be given as long as it takes for this to happen.”

Prior to this statement, Winehouse’s most recent trip to rehab was in May 2011, upon doctors advice, in order to prepare for her tour of Europe this summer. Sadly, the Grammy Award winning songstress was not able to overcome her battle with addiction and tragically has joined “the Forever 27 Club,” a group of musicians who died at age 27, which includes Jim Morrison, Jimmi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

From an article I wrote in 2009 about Amy Winehouse and her battle with substance abuse for BitchBuzz:

In late 2006 I was 33, jaded, working in public relations and running on an elliptical trainer watching VH1 trying to whip the stress out of my body, as I did every morning at 5 am.  In amongst the “Buttons” and “Umbrellas,” I heard something that stopped me dead in my tracks that morning: it was “You Know I’m No Good.”  Listening to the sultry, beehived, tattooed, dark and deep voiced Amy Winehouse hooked me on a pop album for the first time in at least 20 years.

Amy Winehouse was the most promising new artist in at least a decade; and, her mercurial success was also the key to her downfall.  The themes of heartbreak and unrequited love and allusions to deeply seeded fucked-up-ness in Winehouse’s music told stories that every person could empathize with.  

Of course, at this point people really had no idea how prophetic the song “Rehab” was to become.  Plagued with addiction, alleged eating disorders and mental health issues, in a few short years she has gone from the highest of highs (figuratively and quite, quite literally) to persona non gratis. As an artist, one of the worst insults that could be slung at you is to be labeled a “Winehouse.” …

Truthfully, the girl has some major, major problems. She’s a hot mess. It is incredibly sad that a 25-year-old – kid, basically – such as Winehouse is so seemingly surrounded by people who not only enable her addictions and mental health problems; but, have allowed her to be exploited by the media in such a way that it adds fuel to the already flaming disaster of her current life. I wonder, even if she really wanted to, if she could get legitimate help for her problems?

All I know is that while the majority of people are laughing or shaking their heads and fingers at Amy Winehouse, inside I’m crying for her — for her lost talent, for how sad her life ultimately has become… Amy Winehouse the person is as heart wrenching as any of her soulful songs.