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Every year that Ho has been to Dragon*Con, we've tried to get one of the visiting artists to draw up an original picture for her. Usually the artists will do personal sketches for twenty dollars or so, which is a steal if you value original artwork the way we do.

This year we were fortunate to enlist the services of Andy Runton, creator of the Owly series! Jo actually has these books, and already likes his character and his style, which was a real bonus. Since Jo is mad for DC super heroes right now, Andy was cool enough to rework his characters as Batman and Robin. (Owly's little sidekick is perched on his head). Click on the picture to see it full-size.

Special thanks to Andy Runton for making this an extra special Dragon*Con for all of us! This will be one of the first things we hang up on Jo's new bedroom walls . . .

We're back from Dragon*Con! We got home at 9:00 p.m. last night, and every last one of us crawled into bed to pass out from exhaustion. We had a fantastic time!

Our day began with a trip across town on Atlanta's mass transit, MARTA. Lots of people take MARTA, including . . .

. . . one of the Monarch's henchmen. (Can you spot him? Look carefully.)

At the con, Jo showed off the new Wonder Woman dress Wendi made for her. That night we went to the costume contest. It was pretty dark in the room and my flash did nothing but illuminate the head of the man in front of me, but I still managed to get a few good pics -

- including this brilliant Jack Skellington.

The operator had Jack's shoes and waist attached to his own via poles, and worked the arms with long sticks. He walked behind, shadowing Jack. He could wave, walk, turn his head, and bow. It was amazing, and justifiably the winner of the novice level costume contest.

Best in show went to this crazy-great quidditch team. But there were plenty of great costumes in the halls that weren't even entered in the contest:

Two doctors.

Nite-Owl and Firestorm.

Hagrid.

A wizard. (Not Dumbledore.)

Jo and two Supermen.

Jo and Hawkwoman.

Off-duty Boba Fett and an Imperial Death Star gunner have a drink in the lounge.

The Dynamic Duo.

The Shadow.

Jo and the stars of Princess Bride.

Jo and Teen Titans Robin and Raven.

Jo and Batman.

The Furies from The Warriors!

Dark Helmet!

Jo with Batgirl and Supergirl.

Jo and Elphaba.

A . . . little robot puppet!

Wonder Woman! (Oh wait, you've already seen her.)

An old school Cylon.

Wonder Woman and Harry Potter.

A Dalek. Exterminate!

We saw tons of great costumes and went to lots of panels. We found neat stuff in the dealer's room. I stayed up late on Friday watching a Doctor Who marathon in the Brit Track room, then stayed up late Saturday and Sunday nights playing board games with friends in the Open Gaming room. I even got in on a role-playing game - my first in years. It was a great con all 'round, and Jo got more out of it than ever. A highlight for her was the kids' Star Wars programming on Monday morning, where she heard a picture book version of Star Wars: A New Hope . . .

. . . sat on Darth Vader's knee and told her what the Empire could bring her for Victory Over the Republic Day . . .

. . . and best of all, had lightsaber training!


Use the force Jo!

By the end of the long weekend we still wanted more Dragon*Con, but we couldn't possibly have stayed awake for it. We were totally beat, but came home very happy, and already dreaming about what we were going to do at Dragon*Con next year . . .