Museum of the Flaming C Served Up Awesome in the Gaslamp
There were a lot of festivities surrounding SDCC 2011. The Gaslamp district, the downtown neighborhood around the Convention Center, was filled with various Comic-Con niftiness and activities.
Media giants like SYFY took over cafes. Adventure Time set up shop in a pizza restaurant towards the edge of the Gaslamp. CNET took over a hotel bar on 5th and gave out free soda and cupcakes. There were little event centers for gameing companies setup in various nooks and parks. South Park created a Town Square in the 5 Star lot across from the Children’s Museum. A 3D shark movie had a shark bull ride setup near the pedestrian bridge.
But the absolutely best media event in the area effect of SDCC was COCOMoCA: Museum of Conan O’Brien Art presents the fine art of The Flaming C. Otherwise known to fans as The Museum of the Flaming C.
And I have to say that the COCOMoCA gave out the BEST freebies at SDCC 2011.
The WHAT?
Quickie intro for those of you out of the loop on this one.
Back in December of 2010 Conan O’Brien, known to his fans as COCO, realized that his talk show was produced practically next door to Warner Brothers Animation here in California. So the late-night star wandered over there with his cameras and sat down with Chief Creative Officer Peter Girardi and DC Universe animator/producer Bruce Timm.
The ultimate outcome was that O’Brien got Bruce Timm to design a comic character to his specifications. Thus was The Flaming C born. The video of it is pretty entertaining).
My favorite things about the character are that he’s armed with an oven mitt – for serving up steaming hot justice – and he wears sexy fishnets. The jai ali glove is pretty hilarious, too, but it’s main amusement comes from looking like a giant spoon.
The COCOMoCA Serves Up The C
The Flaming C character created by Conan and Timm became a bit of a fan sensation. So, as part of the Comic-Con festivities, the TBS network took over a store front at 363 Fifth Ave,Suite 102. 5th Avenue, for reference, is the neighborhood’s main drag (it’s that street with the big, old timey “Gaslamp” sign over it). The humble store front became a fancy gallery for SDCC from July 21 to 24.
COCOMoCA: The Museum of Conan Art store front in the Gaslamp
There were strapping men dressed as guards in nice black suites. They piped in elegant instrumental music. And everywhere there was fan art by actual professional comic artists and others, all depicting The Flaming C. My favorite pieces were the electronic portrait with eyes that literally followed you (and crossed), the Flaming C riding a pair of unicorns circus style, and a re-envision of the classic Action Comics cover that debuted Superman.
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Interaction and The Best Freebies in Town
And let’s not forget the interactive fun at TBS’ Museum of Conan 0′Brien Art in the Gaslamp
Flaming C Collective Art Piece
They had a wall with four canvases that together made up a large picture of The Flaming C’s face. But they were blank except for outlines and numbers. It was a paint-by-numbers quadtych that the organizers called a Collective Art Piece. You went up to the young ‘guard’ who had a bag filled with cards. Each card had a number and the number you drew determined which number you would ‘paint’ with a big crayon. I drew #1/Blue. It was fun.
The Best Swag in Town
The Museum of Conan Art gave out a different t-shirt each day. Or they planned to. I think demand exceeded their supply because by the time I left the Museum later in the morning they were handing out a different design already. But I got there early enough Thursday morning to get the best shirt they gave out, a graphic design showing the Flaming C as the letter ‘C’.
This is my favorite thing I got at Comic-Con.
Take a Green Screen Picture With The Flaming C
The best activity at the COCOMoCA, though, was the green screen photo booth.
You went into a room equipped with a green screen and got to put on a purple cape and oven mitt. Than you chose between lifting a school bus or shooting lasers out of your eyes alongside The Flaming C.
Eye lasers, baby, every time.
They had a laptop and little printer setup right there on a table, so you could watch the ‘guard’ adjust the laser beams to match your eyes and then, in a matter of moments, he’d print out the photo for you.
Chriss Cornish, CFB's Managing Editor, in souvenir photo from the COCOMoCA museum at SDCC.
AND you got to choose between keeping the purple cape or the oven mitt. I went oven mitt, though most chose the cape. I figured I’d use an oven mitt more often than I’d sport a cape.
I was going to write this all up the week of Comic-Con, but got a little distracted somehow.
