Tag Archives: wizard world 2011

Aug 16 2011

Sgt. Frank Woods Interview / Call of Duty – Black OPS

“Shoot me in the butt”, is the one thing that comes to mind when I think of James C Burns. This is a very funny man with a very outgoing personality and an all around sweetheart. He was one of the biggest smiles on the floor. He was, simply put, enjoying himself! Talking to his fans, the mini gamers (kids) and the bigger gamers (adults) and signing their pictures.

We managed to have an interview with this one of a kind gentlemen. I hope this will give you a lot of laughs as it did us.

James : Didn’t I see you earlier today? You came by the booth right?

Question : Yes you did, you signed stuff for me and it was awesome.

James : I signed “stuff” for her, uhu!

Question : And you told me to shoot you in the butt.

James : Yea! Shoot me in the can because I say funny things! Hi, I am James C Burns, I am Sgt Frank woods in Call of Duty – Black OPS so SHOOT ME! Because I say really funny things, just not when your parents are in the room. They are a bit dirty.

Question : Was this the first Call of Duty you were in?

James : First one yes.

Question : Have you played any of the earlier ones?

James : Never! I never even played a video game, let alone what it was. It was a job that popped up by accident and I almost turned it down. I called my manager and said “Yea, it’s a video game, something called Call of Booty!“. He said, “Call of Duty?! Are you crazy?! Take the job!”.

Question : Are you going to play it now? Are you going to play your own game?

James : The reason I don’t play it is because I SUCK at it. They told me to stop playing it because I was an embarrassment to the franchise. I had to stop and they were nice enough to cut all the sequences of the game together to a full length movie, it was riveting and I was “wow”.

Question : Do you have more games in line now?

James : I cannot talk about it. I am under an NDA : Non Disclosure agreement! Cannot say a thing!

Question : Ok, that means yes.

James : I cant talk about it. They will yell at me.

Question : Seriously, you have to play video games now.

James : I can’t, see I don’t have a tactile skill. It wont allow me to do the things I want to do. I just don’t have the time, the hours that is spent to develop said ability.

Question : There has been so many amazing people here, to the point where you get over from being star struck by people, maybe if Robert De Niro walked by..

James : Hey if Robert walked by, I’d be star struck too! I’d be like ” YO ROBERT! WHERE ARE YOU!! YOU OWE ME MONEY!

Thank you James C Burns for an entertaining experience! You are indeed a very funny man and we wish you all the best in your future game-acting gigs!

You really need to start playing video games.

As an extra treat!

We are giving away an image (the image that is on top of this interview) signed by Sgt. Frank Woodshimself!

All you have to do is guess what catch phrase he wrote down on said picture!

The only hint we can give you is that it’s a catch phrase from the game itself! Once you’ve figured it out, post a comment and the first one to get it right, will be the lucky winner! Only two tries per person!

GOOD LUCK!!

written for http://www.gamertagradio.com

Aug 16 2011

Wizard World Convention Day 2 Part 2

Day two was so intense that we simply had to split the article into two pieces. It would take to long to load the images alone. Let’s continue where we left off shall we?

Gaming and comics come from the same geeky DNA strand. Where you find a pile of comics, you will also find gamers. They need to be fed just like any hungry person without a meaningful relationship (this being a joke of course).

This enthusiastic person went dressed as Sonic. I have to tell you, I have nothing but respect for people who wear these heavy costumes. It must be so warm in there! Non the less the fastest hedgehog in the world posed for a few photos, then picked up his belly and limped on thought the sea of people.

Going through the crowd, I spot a familiar helmet! Masterchief! I walk towards him with speedy stride and ask him the one thing I could ever think of asking the Master Chief. “Why wont you die?!”. As the helmet is removed and I see the face of my long time nemesis I get one single responds to my question, “Because I am to awesome to die”. Kidding aside, after the helmet has been removed we find a Halo enthusiast willing to talk about the one game I cannot stand. We talked about Bungie, about Master chief and the upcoming remake of the first one. How the 3rd installment of the series was to short and also if Halo could stand as a single player. We both agree that as a single player, it wouldn’t be able to hold it’s own. It’s the community it accumulated over the years that has made this game, hard to get rid of. So woe is me, I’ll have to live with this helmet for a while longer.

After this awkward encounter(but weirdly enjoyable), I continue to see what interesting vendors I can find. Being a very old gamer, I spot something that I haven’t seen in almost 20 years.

Secret of Mana, the original Snes release, very worn but there it was. Along with it, Zelda, Lufia, Final fantasy 3! This was a feast for my very tired and dry eyes.

So many of these are so familiar to me from my childhood. I zoned out as I often do and was brought back to the days of running from my house to a friends house. Knocking on their door and then spend the rest of my day with them, looking while her older brother finishes another game.

I know it is very cheesy to say this, but they do not make games like this anymore. Part of the interaction I think has been lost to us. It is rare today that a game would be considered great. Then again, we do release more games and at times make them easier so people won’t get to frustrated and quit.

Speaking of enthusiasm. Here is me with an companion cube. That table got quickly filled up with young unmarried ladies going “awwwww”. My advice to them, “get the cube, it wont make you do it’s laundry”.

I never thought that I would be standing next to younger woman and giving them relationship advice. The irony.

Being married there was no room for a cube in my life. I thanked the vendor for letting me pose with it. It brought me much joy. Maybe once my husband decides to go belly up on me, I will have room for a companion cube. Till that day, I’ll just enjoy being married to my best friend.

I think this article needs some costumes don’t you think? I will add some costumes for you to look at, because some were just brilliant to say the least!

A lot of talented fans put in many hours into making their costumes and as such should have some recognition.


Now that you’ve been exposed to some awesome costumes. I will conclude this article and continue with day 3 tomorrow. I hope you’ve enjoyed what we’ve released so far. There are much more awesomeness to come.

Stay tuned!

Written for http://www.gamertagradio.com

Aug 15 2011

A sit down with Mico Suayan

Mico Suayan got his first big break 2007 with Marvel by drawing “Moon knight”. He has since become one of the most popular Marvel artist being known specifically for his attention to details! We had the opportunity to sit down with Mr Suayan at Wizard World in Chicago and give him the third degree! Lucky for us, he was willing to talk!

Anjo Banjo: Hello Mico! Thank you for sitting down with us! What I read about your career is that Moon Knight was the one that launched it for you. How was your career before that?

Mico Suayan: Before I did Moon Knight, I was actually working for a story board company where I drew story boards for Tv commercials. Then I got a call from Marvel that they wanted me to do Moon Knight for them. I was so surprised! After that it’s been great! I mean people recognize me more, a lot of people in the comic book community. I’ve been meeting a lot of great people, it’s been fun.

Anjo Banjo: Do you have an Marvel artist that you look up to when it comes to style/art?

Mico Suayan: There is actually a lot of them. but the one artist that I really really like and got inspired by is Leinil Francis Yu. He has been like, I don’t know, like a God to me.

(For you non comic enthusiasts, Leinil Francis Yu is a well known Cover artist with his own deviant art page, check it out when you have a minute, it’s quite beautiful, google it)

Also, he drinks sprite, check out the can by his hand;)


Anjo Banjo: One thing I’ve noticed when it comes to artistry is that once it stops being a hobby and becomes more of a job, a bit of that creative joy and spark vanishes. Is that something that you’ve experienced?

Mico Suayan: Um, at first I was very exited and I still am. There is that hidden pressure that comes with working professionally with comic books, because you have to meet deadlines. You get scolded at your editor if you blow a deadline. So it’s a mixed thing for me. I am very happy with what I do but at the same time, I get stressed because of the deadlines and stuff.

Do you live in the Philippines?

Mico Suayan: Yes

Do you miss your family when you are doing conventions?

Mico Suayan: Actually, this is the first time for me being away from my family this long. I’ve been in America for almost a month now and I attended San Diego Comic con so yea. I mean, I cannot imagine myself living somewhere permanently without my family. It really effects my work a lot.

Anjo Banjo: I can relate, I’ve lived without my family for about 7 years and I miss them terribly.

Mico Suayan: Wow, that must be very hard for you

Anjo Banjo: It is, but I will be moving home soon so I’ll see them then, till then I have my cats. Anywho, what type of techniques do you use for your artistry?

Mico Suayan: Oh, I have two main ones at the moment. One is called hatching, the traditional way to do comic book. If I do a cover, I do the charcoal effect. I’ve been doing that for almost a year now.

Anjo Banjo: A mentor told me once that “Anna, you are not going to be spending your life doing someone elses characters, you are going to come up with something of your own”. Is that something you ever considered? Creating a character of your own I mean. Or  you are comfortable where you are at right now?

Mico Suayan: Yea well, it’s good work. I mean I am very comfortable doing Marvel characters. I’ve been thinking a lot though creating something on the side. When I come to think of it, I mean, it is a LOT of hard work. You have to hire a writer. I think it’s something more for the future, not today. I am very comfortable now with what I do.

Anjo Banjo: Which one is your favorite Marvel character?

Mico Suayan: Hmm, well, I’ve been doing a lot of Thor lately and I like it so far. Wolverine, is my favorite character, because he looks very simple. When he doesn’t have the claws out, he looks like a regular person. I try to stay away from the characters that wear tight-ass costumes. I am more of a realistic artist and I love to draw the creases, folds, jackets and stuff. I love to go into details and spend time on them. I think that that is what makes me a bit different right now because of the details I do. I am a bit of a perfectionist. I don’t want to show my artwork to my editor without knowing that I didn’t do the best I could do. It’s an advantage i think. The advantage is that it looks really good and the disadtantige is that you miss a lot of deadlines.

So there you have it. A lot of details will make you miss deadlines, but god it looks soooooo good!

 

I wrote this article for http://www.gamertagradio.com