ON THE LOOSE AT DRAGON CON 2010!!!-Part 4

Here's the last installment of my adventures at Dragon Con 201, so here we go!

Following another one of those excellent heart attack breakfasts at the Hyatt's buffet, I once more set forth into the swirling maelstrom of costumed humanity and captured many a fine specimen via photography. This time my morning's objective was the "Servo Vs. Servo" panel that featured both J. Elvis Weinstein and Kevin Murphy. Needless to say, the path to the lecture hall was peppered with yet more costumed fun, but this example stood out like a radioactive dick at a kabuki play:

Parked in front of the liquor store — a good stand-in for the Quick Stop — were the best Jay and Silent Bob I've ever seen. A solid 10 out of 10.

The Servo panel was just as much fun as the previous day's MST3K gathering, only much more intimate thanks to it being the two Servos and the moderator.

Josh Weinstein (L) and Kevin Murphy (R): the two voices of Tom Servo.

Tom Servo groupies represent.

After the show, I mixed and mingled with most of the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 gang who'd shown up yo attend and occasionally heckle, and I even got photographed with them backstage.

(L-R) Josh Weinstein, Frank Coniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Yer Bunche, Trace Beaulieu. The bag Trace has over his head contained one of the actual Tom Servo puppets used on the show.

With my limited budget already mostly eaten up buy autographs and what was left being reserved for drinks at the Hyatt's bar later in the afternoon, my acquisition of other geekish items fell by the wayside, but I did check out the various dealers of shirts, books, bootleg "gray area" DVDs, and other assorted tchotchkes. I snagged a few shirts — most notably the one seen at the top of this post — and finally found a vintage issue of PLAYBOY that I've been after for a while. It was the October 1969 issue, featuring the first twin Playmates, the adorable Collinson sisters.

The landmark issue in question.

If the name of Collinson rings a bell, that's probably because the winsome Maltese lasses later went on to star in my favorite of the Hammer Studios' Karnstein vampire trilogy, TWINS OF EVIL, where they worked the old "good twin/evil twin" trope to very entertaining — and hella sexy — effect.

The now-legendary Collinson Twins centerfold: ah, the lovely symmetry...

The issue is also notable for comics geeks as well, because it contains the photo spread that Jack Kirby cited as the inspiration for my all-time favorite superheroine, the awesome Big Barda. I snagged my copy, in very good condition with that delightful old magazine smell, for a total of eight bucks; the same magazine was going for over three times that in NYC collector's venues, so "Score!"

After dropping off my newly-acquired vintage porn back at the suite, I headed out again, checking out of costumes at Artists Alley and eventually meeting some friends from last year in the Hyatt's bar.

The best of the many Hunter S. Thompsons I've seen at cons, by virtue of him having plastic bats circling his head and warding them off with a fly swatter.

I love geek-girls and their t-shirts. The one of Princess Leia is genius.

I had a long chat with this Lone Ranger about how odd it is that when we grew up nearly all the heroes on TV were gunfighters and yet we grew up as firm believers in justice and the practice of non-violence, while today kids are blowing each other away left and right, every day. Makes ya think...

A fellow Misfits fan represents. "You betta think about it, baby!"

The best Godzilla shirt ever!

A fetching Maria Hill, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This outfit has really caught on over the past five or six years, and this lovely was one of several that I saw over the course of the expo (I was too slow in shooting the others).

Agent Hill and fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. operative (and Captain America's squeeze) Sharon Carter.

An exhausted Amanda Conner, following two nights of being unwillingly kept awake by the inconsiderate cock-monkeys (and monkettes) whose uber-loud drunken caterwauling and non-stop partying kept us all awake for the better part of each night we were there.

A favorite from last year, Dolly Death Star, only now with a slight costume upgrade and a website.

Old school Star Sapphire.

Hermes (in mortal traveler garb) and Hephaestus. As a mythology nerd since the age of seven, I loved this and they were quite pleased that I identified them by name when asking them to stop for the photograph.

Cowboy from THE WARRIORS.

Gotta love the Christian geeks. And you'd be effin' metal too if you did even a quarter of the stuff Jesus did. I'm partial to the sorting out of those money-changing assholes.

Oh, HELL yeah.

The Straczinski Wonder Woman represents.

I'm not a fan of the whole steampunk thing, but I do like this guy's take on the Green Lantern.

I never expected a DEATH TO SMOOCHY tribute, but here it is.

Geek parents: breakin' 'em in young. The look on that little girl's face just says it all.

Former colleague from my Marvel Bullpen days Tim Tuohy and his family.

Freakazoid.

A definitive portrait of the excellence that is A.C.

I can't believe this was not a pre-planned pairing: Gwen Stacy and Death (comics geeks know what I mean.) I saw these two coming down the escaltor and flipped out.

A fan of THE MONSTER SQUAD represents.

A Kubrick Thor. He said he had the whole blocky bodysuit, but opted not to wear it due to the heat.

Mary Marvel and Lady Blackhawk.

By the time I hit the bar, things had gotten into full swing and the place was the perfect spot for costume-watching.

Must-have geek item: the yarn Infinity Gauntlet.

A dead-on Barf from SPACEBALLS.

"Blue Screen of Death."

Prometheus is alive and well and stalking the floor at Dragon Con.

Zap Brannigan, as embodied by a Brit who flew over from Devon.

Of the many Zap Brannigans I've seen over the years, this guy gets my vote as the best of the lot.

From RANMA 1/2, Shampoo and P-Chan.

The only way this look could be any geekier is if he were wielding a bat'leth in his left hand. Well done, sir!

The bar at the Hyatt Regency, 5PM. (photo by Anne-Marie Whisnant)

Dragon Con: where the minds meet.

As previously stated, the army man gag just does not get old for me.

Gettin' my drink on with noted author John Ringo (who's a fun guy to party with, BTW).

FUTURAMA's Dr. Zoidberg.

It's good to know that I'm not the only Mon-El booster out there.

Representatives from IRON MAN 2 and WATCHMEN.

Gotta love Tony's arc reactor!

METALOCALYPSE's William Murderface.

Impromptu and hilarious geek theater: Captain Sisko plays with a xenomorph who acted like a happy and excited dog. Note the Tribble squeak toy and the Brain Slug on the xenomorph.

The real Tooth Fairy makes a political statement.

A fantastic idea for a couples costume: the Black Queen and Mastermind.

Spider Jerusalem.

She-Go and a wee con-goer.

Some of my Atlanta peeps.

Old school ROLLERBALL, not that remake bullshit.

Proof that not everything about SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW sucked.

Kickin' it old school.

An awesome Hawkman.

A case of perfect timing: Hawman and Harvey Birdman.

As a lifelong Legion of Super-Heroes fan, I was psyched to see this excellent Brainiac-5.

A very enthusiastic cosplayer rocks an incredible Ditko Vulture.

A parting gesture from the Doctor.

The poor bastard who built this — and hauled it to Atlanta from Australia! — waited for over an hour in hope of getting this thing onto one of the packed elevators. He was still waiting when I finally got on one of them.

And with that, I attempted to get some sleep before I left the hotel at shortly after 6AM for my connector flight back to LaGuardia, an ultimately failed quest thanks to the continued loud and wasted shenanigans of the attendees. By the time I made it back to Brooklyn, I was an exhausted mess who had somehow managed to function on approximately fifteen to twenty hours of sleep over a period of four days. And that state of being was prolonged by my having to wait until just after midnight from a driver from U.S. Airways to drop off my luggage, which had been lost in Philadelphia during my stopover (I was one of about ten people that happened to). But that's what I get for booking my flight so fucking late...