Opinions May Vary

I apologize for the delay in getting this week's episode up. You see, I was busy protecting Metro City from the Skull Cross Gang. Luckily, despite being an elected official and mayor of the city I was blessed with bulging muscles and an incredible mustache. There wasn't a single member of the Skull Cross Gang that was safe from my piledriver. And after all was said and done my beautiful city was saved once more....with the help of this guy named Dean who had electric fists. That was cool, too. Ok, yeah. I was playing Final Fight 3 all night with a friend of mine. But that doesn't make the previous paragraph any less true. Metro City can rest easy knowing Mike Haggar and Dean....Electric Fists(?) saved the day. Anyways. Back in real life we do have an episode for you and it's a continuation of something we recorded a couple months ago. Back in June we talked about some comic shops that Alex had recently visited but we also discussed his fancy new CGC membership and his upcoming plans for some of his books. (Check it out HERE to get caught up.) About 6 weeks later those plans have come to fruition and CGC decided to send his books back sealed in some heavy duty plastic with valuable numbers attached. And we're going to unbox them. On an audio podcast. Where you can't see them. That's what we do here at OMV. We specialize in breaking the mold and we wouldn't be surprised if audio unboxings catch on in the future. (Assuming they haven't already. In true OMV fashion I've done exactly zero research on the matter.) Either way. Check out this week's jam for the shocking results of the CGC unboxing extravaganza! Enjoy! -Jr.

We learned something yesterday. We learned that when Kyle from Decimated Designs hits you up saying he has some spare table space at TerrifiCon and is wondering if you and your best pals would be interested in putting your stuff on their tables for a day...you take him up on that offer. Because the end result is going to include some or all of the following: A fun experience at a new convention. The opportunity to settle a debate of enormous magnitude. Throwing all your money at artists and creators. Meeting comic legends and witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Finding out if you were spared or sacrificed by Thanos. I could go on but you get the idea. We had a blast down at Mohegan Sun and we can't thank Kyle and the Decimated crew enough for letting us be up in their space for 10 hours. Be on the lookout for some insane photos from Babs Who Takes Pictures and keep your eyes peeled if you're ever at TerrifiCon in the future because there's a good chance we might be back. Enjoy! -Jr.

In what could be considered one of the largest upsets of the last decade the unthinkable has happened. For the first time since 2010 we failed to make an appearance at the Boston Comic Con. We know. This is both extremely shocking and upsetting. But we're working through it and we're moving on. Since we weren't going to be able to partake in the annual Boston festivities we decided to make it a learning opportunity. A few weeks ago our friend and OMV veteran Colen ventured down to Virginia to attend the 2nd edition of Blerdcon. Being two old men who rarely venture outside of the New England area for conventions Alex and I were eager to hear about Colen's experiences at a show that runs for 72 straight hours without stopping for rest. If listening to us ramble for the next hour has you interested in the show, be sure to check out their site for updates or even take a look at this video made by our old pal Micah for a more visual representation of Blerdcon to go along with Colen's review. Enjoy! -Jr.

So I'm venting this week. I went to a concert last Saturday with my wonderful wife and my wonderful Colin and while we had an amazing time...there are some things I need to get off my chest. I've had a few days to think it over and I figured I could use my festering rage as an opportunity to educate others on what I believe to be proper concert etiquette. So I grabbed Jon and Alex, sat them down in front of some microphones, and forced them to listen to my rant. While I do a decent amount of whining and complaining this week it shouldn't take away from the fact that I got to witness one of the best concerts I've ever seen and overall I feel fortunate to be able to say I was there. Next step is getting them on the show....maybe another 600 episodes and we'll get there. For now I'm just going to vent. -Jr.

If you're into extremely long episodes featuring multiple guests having a great time talking about a local convention in Hartford, Connecticut boy howdy do we have a treat for you. The last few weeks have been full of ConnectiCon chatter as we had some amazing opportunities to chat with game designers and freelance artists. Now it's time to review. Joining us for our recap extravaganza are our good friends Vicky (of Vee Cosplay) and niece Megan in what could be considered the greatest team-up in the history of podcasting. Tune in for stories, thoughts, reflections and most importantly: Arbitrary Letter Grades (Note: Megan gave the show an A-/B+ but we were dumb and forgot to ask during her segment). There's a ton to get to so I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. Huge thanks to Vicky and Megan for giving us many hours of their time and as always a shout-out to the folks at ConnectiCon for giving us yet another opportunity to check out their show. Enjoy! -Jr.

To say we had a productive ConnectiCon would be putting it lightly. After day one we immediately went back to the studio to chat with game designer Jake Given in what turned into last week's hotness. After day two we had maybe a 2 hour break once we left to get ready for another sit down only this time it was with artist and freelance illustrator Christopher Cayco. Similar to Jake and Lay Waste Games, Christopher had a table showcasing his arts and talents at this year's ConnectiCon. A veteran of over 100 different conventions, Christopher is no stranger to the con life and even uploads in-depth vlogs on his YouTube channel chronicling his thoughts and experiences throughout each unique show. It's a really neat look into the world of an artist from the other side of the table and we're a bit excited to see what he puts out for ConnectiCon. Of course, in addition to his video content, Christopher is also a hella talented artist with some absolutely brilliant perspective pieces and character collages. For example: have you ever met anyone who has made a print featuring every single Pokemon that has ever existed? Or how about every Rick and Morty character on one page? Well it's been done and it was done by Christopher. Peep at his Instagram or click the links above for more of his work and check the listing of your local convention for his name. The man has embraced the con life and there's a good chance he'll be popping into a show near you. In the mean time, check out our talk with Chris and learn a thing or two about amazing perspectives and Pokemon. -Jr.

Day one of ConnectiCon 2018 has come and gone in what felt like a blur of vendors, cosplayers, and food trucks. I'm sure we'll have plenty to say about it soon but for now we need to prepare for day two. Despite only having a few hours to enjoy the show yesterday it was a great opportunity to get my bearings and get a feel for the venue. Now today is going to be all about checking out the vendors, spending the money, and playing the games. Speaking of games: We have a nice treat for you and it's just about as hot-off-the-presses as pre-recorded media can be. Jake Given, co-founder and game designer of Lay Waste Games, is showing their latest creation in the tabletop demo area of ConnectiCon and we had the opportunity to chat with him once the doors closed for the day. Keen listeners may recall we've talked about Lay Waste's games at length in our previous two PAX East recaps with Dragoon being a show-stealer two years ago and Human Era catching our attention this past spring. You can check out their website HERE or if you're super quick you can get down to ConnectiCon either today or tomorrow and meet Jake and his new game in person! Enjoy this week's episode and be on the lookout for our wrap-up in the near future. Until then, I have a lot of irresponsible financial decisions to make at ConnectiCon day 2! -Jr.

Seeing as our annual trip to ConnectiCon is but 5 days away we figured it would be a good time to hype up the show a bit. This is your classic "two birds, one stone" situation here because yeah, we're trying to hype it up for you, the humble listener. But we're also trying to hype it up for ourselves. Seeing as our favorite pals from Super Art Fight won't be in attendance this year; we're going to have to put on our big-boy pants and find other things to entertain us. Like games. Or food trucks. or a combination of the two. We'll make due. In addition to some ConnectiCon hype we thought it would be neat to play a little game of "Where are they now?" in regard to guests of OMV past. It's been quite some time since we've had the pleasure of chatting with a few of our guests so we did some internet searching to find out what they've been up to...and the results might shock you! I hate myself for writing that. Enjoy! -Jr.

Alex is smart. Because unlike myself he knows how to take advantage of being on vacation. At least this week he did because he took a neat trip to states other than Connecticut to visit some friends and, more importantly, comic shops. He also snagged a shiny new membership to CGC (separate events) so now we can get back to sending books in and pray they come back in acceptable grades. I say "we" because I'm absolutely going to piggy back off his hard-spent money and use him for his membership. He probably doesn't mind. We are talking about both of these things this week in a "Justice" episode for the ages. (I don't know if it's ever been explained in writing but when we say we're doing a "Justice" episode it's because there's no guest. It's "just us". We are way too proud of that. ) Anyway, tune in this week to hear tales of Alex's venture into unknown lands and predictions on his first batch of books set to go out to be slabbed eternal. Enjoy! -Jr.

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down for a talk with renowned New England-based cosplayer Raymond Ramos. Having encountered Raymond multiple times throughout several different conventions over the past few years one thing is evident: This dude knows how to become a character. We've had the opportunity to talk with many cosplayers in the past both on and off of our show and its always an amazing experience when we get to learn about their introduction to the scene, their process, and their mentality when it comes to crafting and designing these outfits and Raymond was no exception. This week we got to learn how a man went from modding a simple leather jacket to crafting complete sets of award winning armor within the span of like, 4 years. While juggling other responsibilities like being a father and martial artist with a day job. No big deal. Check out Raymond's work by clicking the link above or if you're going to be in the New England area next weekend (June 30th) you'll be able to see him in person at ComiConn at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT where he'll be cosplaying as a guest and also participating in some panels throughout the weekend. Enjoy! -Jr.