Archive for the ‘ books and comics ’ Category

Romics spring: part 1

The Roman comic convention Romics, spring edition. We went the first day as usual, a Thursday, taking a day off from work. It is the only way to avoid crowd. What is empty in these photos is full as a Roman public transport during other three days.

I’m a little sad because the first day only a few cosplayers are here. However you can watch the fair very better!

Dresses are a large part of the fair. Comics are only the motive for all is relate to them. Sometime who dress like a comic or a manga never read them, it is a concept that lives for itself.

Wigs are related to this world as if this would be a fair for hairstylists. It is not a scandal, it is the modern way to feel comics.

Japan dresses. Or better, something that can be taken for Japan dress. Japan is manga and anime. So this is the right place. Simple.

The ultimate match for your apparel. Select the best for you.

An innovation: a maid cafè! This is a group with female dancing waitresses too! An information booth was available for the fan club…

A Warzone cosplayer. This miniature game is still popular around.

Back to comics. Budget purchases were available around. I am attracted by ’70 comics, things that I couldn’t buy when I was a child because of small age and poor wage from parents.

Andrea was in Romics together with me. Two days after he went to Modena for the Italian game convention, Play Modena. Here while he is enjoying some original comic tables.

I said to myself that with an house I could buy some original to put on the walls. Now I have the house but not so much money to buy these things. And no free walls due to the large amount of books that I collected. Maybe after the refurbish works I will pick something…

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Romics: Autumn 2014

With Autumn, Romics came. This is the second annual edition of the Roman convention about comics and cosplay, with games added. We haven’t a table because people is not interested in wargame but cards games as Magic. Sometimes you can spot Warhammer. Cultural issues are not contemplated, all is about comics and gadgets vendors. Cosplay is the only thing that provides huge hordes of people (more than 100000 presences?) in this far land outside Rome. But to be free from the crowd we visited the fair only the first day, Thursday, so we couldn’t see lots of naked girl around.

Japan is worshipped in every form. Here one of stands with Japanese blades (but made in China and sold though San Marino state). At the end a ramen shop. However this Romics edition will be remembered as the one with 28 people intoxicated by rotten sushi sold in the fair.

A vendor specialised in coloured wigs. Yes, we are in a comics fair…

“Mommy, I want the RedSkull bust!”. And the vendor eats a panino with roasted pork (porchetta).

Some toys prototypes. Ma.K.s!




This time was present the local 1/6 action figures maker called Kaustic Plastik.

A new gladiator set in the box was presented as preview.

Their 1/6 real metal helm collection. I bought the secutor one and one of the legionary types.

And now another kind of action figures. Big breasts here.

Other fine imports from Japan.

And if you don’t understand, more Japan porn for you…

We met our friends of Elara, sci-fi editors. And after we visited the film area, where we viewed a trailer of the upcoming Doreamon film. It is like the anime but in 3D. I want to watch it!

In the late afternoon, under a raining sky, we proceeded toward the Ikea near my house to buy a new large bookcase for Andrea’s miniatures.

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April report

Some news about the last month that I didn’t put on these pages.

Romics is the opportunity to buy comics and watch cosplayers. I went even this time with Andrea for the Spring edition. But I chose to go the afternoon, so we had less hours for our visit. It was the first day on the four days fair but a lot of people was around the same. More stands were present. My regret was the scarce time to do more things: time flew and I couldn’t took usual tons of photos and buy all what I thought. So only a DrWho mug for upcoming dices and a comic book about Roman times. At the end a fast pizza at the station, waiting the last train to Terni for Andrea.

Another time Andrea came for a playtest session for Power Legion, the super heroes rules by Ganesha Games. We are working on them since some years but it wasn’t the right time for their publication because we were not so sure about the results. Even this time we changed some mechanics. After this session we found new ideas for a better gameplay. Andrea is writing the book just now.

Do you remember what I said about the wargame convention in Canino? Diego broke his car, Andrea broke his car, I broke my car (one foot indeed). So no convention for us from Rome. After the give up of this year Hellana and Salute, respectively to health and money problems, even Canino.

To resolve this sad situation, the day before we met with Andrea at Diego’s house, for a full playtest day on Power Legion rules. This time we had a half definitive written text, so we tried it with real slugfests.

A true kitchen game, because Diego have to buy a green game mat! However we had games packed with flying cars, crashed buildings, powerful blasts and big bosses at large. A lot of notes were taken to refining the rules. Another playtest is scheduled in the following days.

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Lucca C&G 2013: walk around

Let’s start again with Lucca Comics and Games report! Yeah, I know: all this was two months and half ago. But it is still interesting according to me. To restart we can begin with a photo of the evening before the fair, the stands set up.

Then a view on the public crowding that was for the 4 days after.

The fair was mainly held inside pavilions around the city of Lucca. A map and a printed guide (or an app for tablets) was needed to find all the numerous places where something was. You had to show your ticket every time you entered a pavilion.

Someone could share one ticket with a friend, to see the fair one a the time. Very hard, especially for some larger areas! Some are free areas, like cosplay and music ones or live roleplay pavilion. So you could live the fair for a day without paying at all. A lot of things to see around.

A couple of churches were used as exposition area or as auditorium, like this one.

Cinema was present too, especially for anime or sci-fi films. Guess which preview was held in Lucca…

Instead only a teaser for the new Godzilla flick. Look carefully: Godzilla is the monster behind Andrea, it is not Andrea’s new career as actor…

When stands and pavilion were not enough: temporary stores! Some were empty for the economical crisis, others were converted only for those days. A sign said: “we will return as usual after the fair”.

This one is the biggest pavilion, the games pavilion! We were inside this one at the other end. Look carefully, it is composed by two large tents, a double structure.

An inside look. A bit crowded. Think, we lived in this mess for 4 days!

Outside the pavilion there is this traditional illegal market. Magic cards at most. The walls of Lucca on the right part. And on the walls other pavilions. In the bottom the stage for cosplay contest and for music spectacles.

Lucca was initially only “Comics” and a few of people. After some years they thought to add another area, the “Games” one. At that times this meant few tables and stands more. 20 years after, in the 2013, the fair is exploded so games are not so crucial but part of a great mess. And the Games pavilion is huge.

As usual no photo of comics in my reports. Sorry, but I am attracted by unusual things while shooting photos. Like this one, a 3D advert for books about zombies.

Last year that was a exhibition on Diabolik. This character is an institution in Italy. Today you can have even its umbrella…

Some originals could be found in the fair. These ones are from the States. I like Ashley Wood very much but these are doodles sold as precious things. 100 US dollars for something that he drew in 10 minutes with a marker pen is too much.

An usual feature was the presence of vendors with gadgets. A very coloured view.

Sometime instead of common gadgets there is something more creative and handcrafted as these puppets.

What remains after 4 days. Boxes on the way for home. However it seems that business went very well for vendors, better than the previous year.

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Romics 2013 fall edition

This year we had two Romics. It is the main comics fair in Rome. It is always nice to walk around huge piles of comics and gadgets. Together with Andrea (Ganesha Games) we came here for a full day (10.00-19.00), watching stands and buying stuff. We met some people too, and we had interesting chats with a medieval style fencer and with a games vendor. It is a 4 days long fair, but I visited it the first day because I will be very busy for work in the weekend. Moreover the fair is pretty overcrowded the other days.

A blast from the past: once upon a time comics fairs were populated mainly by middle age people.

Nowadays this kind of fairs are full of young people with costumes. And half naked young girls with exhibitionism symptoms.

I like so much this world of cosplayers, a touch of colour in life, comics and animes in the real world.

A big organised group is the 501th Legion, local imperial forces inspired by Star Wars.

The usual Nintendo stand with young girls as hostess.

Among comics a huge presence is for gadgets and statuettes. These are very nice!

A choice of pillow-cases for lone people pillow to hug during the night.

More gadgets and another kind of pillow among them: the pizza pillow!

The food choice in the fair were good but we opted even for a more exotic flavour as these Japanese sweets.

Really a beautiful day, the time fled away smoothly and we had fun.

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Turin

This time only an holiday report, there aren’t miniatures here. But only a three days trip in Turin, a city in the north of Italy.

I begin with this cupola, the symbol of the city. When I went here some 15 years ago, it was only an empty building, after it was converted in a cinema museum. Under there is a photo of the elevator inside the cupola while it is going towards the roof terrace. It is realised all in clear glass, so you can have vertigo symptoms. And you pay 4 euro for this too.

Canyons made of bricks, in a raining night, with lights from the streets. After the trip to the roof.

My friend tied up with a 19th century 3D peep show experience in the cinema museum.

The Po river full of water. It is the biggest river in Italy. At the deep end of the photo you can see the Mole Antonelliana cupola.

Turin under the rain. The castle inside the city and the cupola again. It is like the Eiffel tower in Paris, in every photo you have to have the symbol of Turin.

The monumental door from Julia Augusta Taurinorum, a piece of the Roman ancient times.

Black stones from Egypt in the famous Egyptian museum of Turin. Pity, it is in refurbishment so I could have only a partial vision of the collections.

We had a fantastic experience in Pietro Micca museum because of a guided visit, thanks to a retired official. We lived the moments of the 1776 French siege of Turin, looking to weapons and models of the fortifications. After we walked for 300meters under the citadel walls inside underground galleries that are 31km long!

The main event in the city was the biggest fair in Italy about books. It is held inside an old car factory. Cars were the motor of Turin development, and decline, in the 20th century.

I prefer the smaller fair in Rome about small editors because you can find some unknown gems. However even dimensions are important, so this fair is a must see. I bought only two books (60 euro…), one on a Gothic manuscript and another one on sacral and ritual aspects of Bisanzio’s hippodrome.

Me together with a green cow-man… Well, it is a bull, like the totemic animal of Turin, city which name means “city of bulls” indeed.

The new underground made for the winter Olympic games of 2006. It is pretty small inside the wagons, like a tram. But stations are big.

The new train station of Porta Susa. It is still in the making. We arrived and left here.

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Romics 2013 spring edition

I’m a comic reader before I could reader: I watched only images at that age. Another Romics edition in my city. A big business because from this year we will have a spring and an autumn edition. And this time the organisers thought to add more trains for the location, the same nowhere place among ex-swamps.

I understand why I came all the times to this kind of fairs. It is not only comics or sparse game stands, it is principally about girls. Here you can watch lots of young and very beautiful females in their best age. Half-naked females with imaginative dresses. Exhibitionism is the rule. It is called cosplay… Sometimes the situation is really embarrassing. Among girls that practically wears bikinis with some fabric variously added, one of them with one D size bra on put herself on all fours on a car to show better her boobs to a crowd of males.

As I always say, this is a place where to show your costume, and your corpse. Everyone take photos of everyone, it is an infinite play of images based on fantasy worlds better than crude and monotone reality. Mine was a really fast trip, I stayed only 5 hours inside the fair on the 4 days duration. So I didn’t take lots of photos. You can find more on Flickr.

This time among cosplayers I noted more male and female homosexuals than usual. Some famous drag queens played to this costume thing too.

More sex talking. This Japanese statuette impress me. Only 110 euro to have a sex slave on a bookshelf of yours.

Something more polite and childish. My partner in the trip while is buying a Spiderman nice puppet.

In the very old times you cannot find a Gundam model, they were a chimera. Now the usual wall of models, everyone with their price tag made by post-its.

Another fair view. Some gadgets around and the upper entry of one of the 3 pavilions used for Romics.

I have to show even some comics, otherwise you could think that there weren’t comics in a comic fair. Here my partner while is buying from the author a comic that I don’t like at all about a fat panda… Instead I bought a Belgian/French school comic about airplanes in the WWII. I have got a better style of life…

The next appointment for comics is in autumn here in Rome and a month after there will be the Lucca madness. Instead, wargaming speaking, the next appointment is Hellana, this Sunday. I will be present with Ferrum et Gloria.

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Ultimate Gladiatrix

Today is Giovedì Grasso, one of the two major Carnevale days. So I want to propose this extravaganza about half naked gladiatrices! We are speaking about a comic by JulianApostate. Fighting women are a classic kinky topic and this comic about gladiatrices is setted in the Roman world. You can find the comic here.

From the paper to the screens. If the Avengers and superheroes have got their films so even Ultimate Gladiatrix have got a flick! This one is a 18 minutes production by Amazon Warriors, a photographer and film maker web based and specialised on fighting girls. This time his models staff fight and kill in the arena. You can buy it here. Below some screenshots to admire the technical fighting skills of these young girls.

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