The Steampunk World's Fair Returns May 13-15th

The Steampunk World's Fair (steampunkworldsfair.com) comes roaring back into the heart of Piscataway, New Jersey this May 13^th through 15^th as one of the most unique and memorable events on the East Coast celebrates its 7^th season. 

This year's event hosts a veritable cabal of international performers, a sea of vendors providing temptations for miles, a packed schedule guaranteed to both titillate and educate and a series of special events that will keep you smiling from ear to ear for months to come!

Anime Fan Fest in New Jersey This Weekend with Bandai, Otaku USA, CrunchyRoll & More!

MAD Events follows up a fantastic 7^th year of the Long Beach Comic Expo with a return to the Garden State! The first ever Anime Fan Fest comes to Garden State Exhibition Center in Somerset New Jersey May 6-8^th, 2016 with MAD's special brand of geek-centric entertainment, bringing creators and fans together for two days of celebration of manga, anime and Asian culture.

Aurelio Voltaire's NecroComicon This September

Horror conventions got you feeling like you pay to enter, then pay for autographs, then pay, pay pay? Comic Cons are not much different, with 300 of them popping up across the planet year round. Isn't there a place strange people can get together for drinks, watch awesome performers and musicians, dress like creepy maniacs and be assured the youngest person around to be offended by their horrible jokes is merely 16?? NOW THERE IS. Voltaire's Necrocomicon returns to Piscataway, New Jersey this September, promising to deliver the 3 day Halloween party you're not going to find around Halloween.

Still Recovering From The Steampunk World's Fair

I've done 4 days of New York Comic Con with added set up the day before and break down on Sunday, shooting something like 2 thousand pictures a day. I've done 5 days of San Diego Comic-Con with interviews at opposite ends of the massive convention center a half hour apart and parties into the night. I've done BEA, lugging home so many books the wheels on my suitcase fell apart half way through Penn Station, AnimeNext where my full eye black contacts tried to eat my head and Rock and Shock where your worst enemy is being talked into continually drinking til 5am...with a 9am wake up call. I have survived all of this...and yet 1 day at The Steampunk World's Fair has done me in. Either I'm getting old, or I'm finally doing this show correctly.

The Steampunk World's Fair May 15-17th

The Steampunk World's Fair  steampunkworldsfair.com  is firing up pistons and stoking the blast furnace in anticipation of a 6th year in Piscataway, New Jersey! Wondrous sights, sounds and adventure from an era of Scifi/Victorian super science await children of all ages this May 15th through 17th. Visitors may explore two hotels filled to overflowing (quite literally, as we use the courtyards too) with craftspeople, costumers, exotic teas, artists, writers and more. Around every corner you'll find live music, programming to entertain or spark your intellect, circus performers and our costumed guests, which are a spectacle all their own! Grab a costume and join the fun, or just come as you are and enjoy. We promise a full day of fun!

Geek Flea 9 Coming to Kearny, NJ

2 floors of dorky goodness await an unsuspecting crowd at the 9th Geek Flea this April 18th! The First Presbyterian Church of Arlington in Kearny, NJ is once again home to Geek Flea; a packed house full of artists and crafts people, folks unloading some awesomely geeky items (like toys, comics, t shirts, video games & more), fantastic foods, excellent music and contests held all day long. The show goes from 10am to 5pm and admission is FREE! Click here to map the location and we'll see you there!

Geek Flea Invades Kearny, NJ November 15th

Just before Christmas music invades every corner of your life, GEEK FLEA WILL HAVE ITS DAY!!

Bummed Halloween is over? Never fear. Saturday, November 15th will bring with it all the fun of rubbing elbows with people in costumes coupled with the thrill of hunting down collectibles you always wanted (or never knew you needed), discovering new artists, participating in contests for amazing prizes and rocking down the isles to some killer music...all for the low low price of ZERO CENTS! That's right..it costs no dollars to enter the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington in Kearny, New Jersey when Geek Flea takes over! 

The Second Annual Rahway International Film Festival Arrives July 12th

Rose and Pearl Films presents The Second Annual Rahway International Film Festival, Rahway, New Jersey's premier annual international short film festival and networking event this summer on July 12, 2014.

Festival founder and director, Gina Rodriguez says, “There is such a large film community in New Jersey that often gets overshadowed by our proximity to New York.  I created the festival as a way to show both filmmakers and film lovers that they don’t need to travel that far to find inspiration. It’s right here in their own backyard!”

AnimeNext 2014: ALL THE COSPLAYS

I am guilt ridden. Always. It's part of my genetic anxieties..and my charm. For AnimeNext, I am guilt ridden because I feel I could cover the show more completely, and so with this thought driving me, I created a schedule that included cosplay meet-ups, pannels, time in the vendor room and live music...and as I exited my vehicle to dive into the day's activities, I left that lil schedule shoved into my air vent.

You see, while I fully intended wider coverage of AnimeNext, my ADHD addled brains are assaulted with a SEA of cosplayers on a beautiful lawn, surrounded by twisting trees, on a cloudless summer day with the tiniest breeze to kiss our sweaty faces...and so all dissolved away and I wanted to take ALL THE COSPLAYER PEEEECTURES. You could not blame me. AnimeNext boasts a range of skill level across the board when it comes to cosplaying, with zero attitude from anyone, anywhere, and so it's all great fun. What did I have to compete with this spectacle?

Steampunk World's Fair 2014

Every year, it seems that there are more and more comic conventions popping up ..to the extent that we'll soon be able to boast a comic con within an hours drive of EVERY HUMAN BEING IN AMERICA...at least once a year. Alongside these geekfests we have the ever present horror cons..and the anime cons..and those specialty cons for fans one ONE specific show where you pay to enter, get photos, get the photos signed, touch your favorite star, say three words to them..and so on til you're broke. Amid all this convention fun, one show will always stand out for me as a place where the folks are friendliest, the costumes range from "maximum fun with 2 minutes effort" to "holy damn that must have taken you a year" and wall to wall entertainment is available all day long.

Steampunk World's Fair Roars Into Piscataway, NJ May 16-18th

Consider this your heads up! The sleepy little town of Piscataway, New Jersey plays host to an industrial revolution/scifi retrofit next weekend as the Steampunk World's Fair takes over two hotels and their surrounding courtyards...which are still barely enough space to contain all the fun!

As most of you are well rounded geeks, I'm sure you are aware of Steampunk as a style of costuming incorporating Victorian era dress with cogs and bronze and top hats with goggles mounted upon them, as well as those who choose to goth it up a bit, incorporating these retro-techy elements to garments that would make Bram Stoker's Dracula (the Gary Oldman version for our purposes) blush with pride. SO...you are pretty much guaranteed this spectacle as costumers from novice to super-uber-advanced parade past you in every hallway, but that's only scratching the surface of what this event has to offer.

New Jersey Gets Geeky At Geek Flea 7!

April 5th will bring with it an end to this bitter cold and the return of GEEK FLEA to the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington in Kearny, New Jersey!

This family friendly, FREE event boasts two floors with over 40 vendors selling everything from toys and games to comic books and T shirts that will make your inner child (or actual child) do a happy dance, and amazing artists showing off their latest creations. You'll also find mouth-watering food and drinks to fuel your dream toy hunt, and groove to live DJs as you wait to see if your raffle ticket will score you free T shirts, toys or even a PS4! Admission, as always, is FREE FOR ALL.

Steampunk World's Fair This Weekend!!

As the largest, ticketed Steampunk event in the world, Steampunk World’s Fair is bringing to life festivities and unforgettable adventures for all ages! This year's entertainment includes headlining musicians of no small reputation including Voltaire, Steam Powered Giraffe, Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, and Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band! Dozens of other performers and entertainers pack our weekend long schedule spanning both the Radisson of Piscataway and the Embassy Suites Hotel in Piscataway, NJ. You'll see artists, acrobats, belly dancers, fire breathers, burlesque, ballroom dancing, (mostly) imaginary duels to the death, costume contests (actually there will probably be costumes everywhere you look), games, programming just for kids, comedy, karaoke and more.  In between both hotel venues we host a massive carnival tent providing outdoor attractions, activities, and extremely talented and innovative vendors distributing their Steampunk inspired jewelry, fashions, goods, and countless other curiosities!

See I Sell The Dead with Cast and Crew in NJ

JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN! An event ALL AGES will dig!

Tired of tortured Tommy Hilfiger teens being passed off as horror? Looking for a smart, rollicking throwback to the heyday of Hammer & Channel 11's Chiller Theater? Look no further...
Spend the evening in one of the oldest theaters in New Jersey with the coolest guys in modern horror!

Raconteur Ventures & UC PAC Present
An Evening with Glass Eye Pix Founder LARRY FESSENDEN, Director GLENN MCQUAID & I SELL THE DEAD! On Stage Conversation/Screening/Q&A/Meet&Greet
8 PM, Fri. Oct 26 - The Union County Performing Arts Center (UC PAC)
1601 Irving Street Rahway, NJ 07065 (Just three blocks from the Rahway station & only 30 min from New York Penn Station via NJ Transit’s NE Corridor Line)
All tickets: ONLY $10. For advance tix visit: http://ucpac.org/html/event_popup.cfm?id=289
For more info contact Danni Rumsey @ danni@ucpac.org or call (732) 499-0441

Asbury Park Comic Con 2 This Weekend

These days, it seems like the Comic Con craze is at an all time high with no signs of slowing down in the near future. As counterpoint to the giant halls of Hollywood film representation, rows of video game try-out stations and endless miles of other promotions that are fun enough, but have little to do with actual comic books, a group of people have decided to get back to basics and are hosting their movement in a sleepy little state called New Jersey. Welcome to Asbury Park Comic Con!

Asbury Park Comic Con Lands May 12th

These days, when you say Asbury Park, NJ, folks think Jersey Shore and Zombies. One drive through town and you'll agree it is the perfect location for most Troma films (take that as you will), but among the bitten up streets and closed down venues is a shining diamond called Asbury Lanes. This venue is doing its best to breathe some life back into this dusty town with Dr. Sketchy, Burlesque, films and the standard...punk rock bowling. NOW, the venue pulls a quick change and becomes the location for an actual, full blown Comic Con.

Asbury Park Comic Con will feature a wide variety of comic book & pop culture purveyors as well as many comic book creators, artists and illustrators from the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Comic fans will have a rare opportunity to meet the artists, who will be available to sign books that will be sold at each artist’s table. Commissioned sketches are also available from many of the artists for a fee. Special guests include:

• Eisner Award winner Evan Dorkin (creator of Milk & Cheese, co-creator of Beasts of Burden, writer for Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Shin Chan,)
• Sarah Dyer (creator of Action Girl, writer for such television shows as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Shin Chan, Superman, and Batman Beyond)
• Michael Kupperman (creator of Tales Designed to Thrizzle and Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910-2010)
• Jamal Igle (Super Girl, The Ray, Green Lantern Corps, and many other DC and Marvel books)
• Danny Hellman (cartoonist for New York Press, Time, Sports Illustrated, Screw, Village Voice, and many others)
• Steve Mannion (creator of Fearless Dawn published by Asylum Press)
• Fred Van Lente (co-creator of Cowboys and Aliens, writer for Marvel, Valiant, and Evil Twin’s Action Philosophers)
• Stephanie Buscema (illustrator for Web of Spider-Man, Girl Comics, Adventure Time Comic)
• Mike & Ming of the AMC television show Comic Book Men. The pair from Secret Stash and the podcast I Sell Comics will be doing a live broadcast from the Asbury Comic Con.

Also on hand:

CLIFF GALBRAITH • RYAN DUNLAVEY • CHARLES SOULE • DAVE RYAN • ERIC GRISSOM • PHIL SLOAN

The event features a unique location for a gathering of the comics community. The Asbury Lanes is a second home to punk rockers, hot rodders, artists, and bowlers. Built in 1963, the Lanes is like a time machine to a bygone era of low-brow bowling heaven and rock’n’roll refuge. The venue has hosted music legends and cult heroes such as Dick Dale, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Reverend Horton Heat, Mick Jones of The Clash, The Supersuckers, The Butthole Surfers, Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys, The Gaslight Anthem, Murphy’s Law and Bouncing Souls.

And yes...there will be booze!

So hit the Asbury Lanes this Saturday, May 12th to meet some excellent comic creators, buy some comics and say hi to me! I'll be the guy buried beneath 300 Mucus Tick action figures. Come buy one!! Visit Asburyparkcomicon.com for more info