ONLY 2 DAYS TO THE AWESOME!!

Robot Chicken Star Wars - Adult Swim - Sunday June 17 @ 10 PM

RUNDOWN UP!

The latest Rundown column is up now over at Forces of Good!

Check it out, so you don't look stupid the next time you are hanging at The Alien's Dungeon and Comicbook Guy asks you your thoughts on Forerunner!

MARY, MARY, WHY YOU BUGGIN?

My latest contribution to FOG! is up and is a
Mary Marvel History - head over an learn more than you ever thought you could ever know about one of comics' oldest female heroes!

DANIEL ROBERT EPSTEIN, 1975 - 2007, RIP

Click over to FOG! for a note on the passing of Dan Epstein - one of the best contributors to web-based entertainment/pop culture interviews ever.

SURFER FLIES SOLO; THOR GETS DIRECTED

So, reports in the LA Times today state that the Silver Surfer will be spinning off into his own film. With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer only a couple of days away, it looks like the studio behind the summer blockbuster are putting the cart before the horse, but who knows. The report also states that J. Michael Strazynski (Amazing Spider-man; Silver Surfer: Requim) will be turning in the first script.

More importantly though, the same article reports that Marvel is going forward with a planned Thor film and links director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake; Stardust) to the production. I loved Layer Cake and the previews of Stardust look amazing, so if there is any truth to this rumor, I am definitely on board. As long as Thor gets to lay the smackdown on some Frost Giants!

F*&!@IN AWESOME

Thanks to Kevin

THE RUNDOWN GETS A PAGE!

My latest COUNTDOWN RUNDOWN column is up over at FOG!. But there's more! The Countdown Rundown now has its own page at Forces of Good - so, if you've missed the first 3 columns, or just need a recap, click here for the Official Countdown Rundown Page!

MY FAVORITE BLOGS!

Looking at a new favorite of mine, I direct your attention to Fist-a-cuffs! The home of the FACA (Fist A Cuffs Association) fight league. Artists (unnamed until after the completion of the match) put up their personal fighting monsters against other artists. You the viewer vote. The winners go up against each other tournament style! All for handmade trophies and certificates by creator and head referee, Sam Hiti.

Here are a couple of the latest participants in the current round of fights:


Voting for Round 1 of FACA 3 ends tonight - so get in and VOTE!

HE'S AN INDY MARVEL!!

Apparently Marvel Comics will be releasing an anthology title allowing indy comics talent to play in their sandbox:



These pages are done by Dash Shaw via Meathaus! Nice!

30 YEARS WAS A LONG, LONG TIME AGO (BUT NOT REALLY IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY)

So, FOG! is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars today - the film was originally released in theaters on Wednesday May 25th, 1977. All day there will be posts from all the contributors about their personal rememberances of the Trilogy and beyond.

Check out my contribution here!

And, check back in with FOG! later tonight for this week's installment of "The Countdown Rundown"

BASEMENT-DWELLING FANBOYS WHO LIVE WITH THEIR MOTHERS, UNITE!

Questionable "action" figure/doll gives fans 13" of delight . . .

Creeeepy!

NEW RUNDOWN UP AND RUNNING

My latest column is up at FOG! Start here:

Issue 50

This week started with a strong appearance by the Man of Steel, as he guides Daily Planet reporter/photographer Jimmy Olsen through the back alleys of NYC. Coming to a locked door, Superman uses his heatvision from a low space orbit to melt away the doorhandle and lock! It continues to astound that creators can find new, unique, and interesting ways to use a 70+ year old character's powers and abilities.

After a brief encounter between the Red Hood and Olsen regarding the circumstances of last week's murder of the Joker's Daughter, the story continues covering the beats hit in last week's issue with Mary Marvel's search for her powers and her family (which are, in essence, one and the same) and then more of a look at the party the Rogues are throwing for themselves. Tensions are rising on both of those fronts . . .continued here!

TRANSPORTER VS. FEARLESS

Dude, its called War!

The Dark Knight Returns!

Ahhhh . . . .

DC AD MADNESS

I love this ad campaign - here are three more for Countdown:

Granny Goodness
Eclipso
Red Robin

BRING DA'NOISE!

Luke Cage=Soon to be kicking yo ass, be'yatch!

Oh yeah! Don't forget to head over to FOG! to read my first of a year's worth of weekly columns on the DC comics series Countdown! Read The Countdown Rundown!

ALL TOMORROW'S COUNTDOWNS

Tomorrow DC Comics releases the first issue of their new weekly series, Countdown. As part of my contributor responsibilities to the new and improved FOG!, I will be doing a weekly recap/analysis/investigative report on the series. So get over there on Thursday to catch the first appearance of my new weekly column: The Countdown Rundown!

I AM IRON MAN!

From Man to Iron Man . . .
The Red & Gold as revealed by Entertainment Weekly and obviously based on Adi Granov artwork/conceptions

My Favorite Blogs!

Here's a new semi-regular feature - I will showcase someone else's much better and more entertaining blog/website. That way, those of you who read my blog will actually get something entertaining for your time.

The first of these that I want to point you all too is the Comics Should Be Good blog over at Comic Book Resources. A great blog, but the best feature there is Brian Cronin's weekly "Comic Book Urban Legends," where Cronin debunks or confirms famous, interesting, infamous, and downright bizarre comic book industry lore and rumor.

This week the feature is celebrating its 100th posting, so check out Brian's very first Urban Legend, plus a number of creator-penned legends. Then head back every Friday for more mysterious geekiness revealed as phooey or cold hard fact!

Warren Ellis has 3 Words for You:

Future Science Jesus.

Read the article here.

Hot Comic Pick!

Marvel Comics' NOVA:

Spinning out of the epic (and far better maxi-series than Civil War) Annihilation blockbuster, the new NOVA series stars the original Marvel Nova, Richard Rider. The results of the Annihalation Wave war have left most of the universe in shambles, and planets throughout the universe are still calling for Nova Corps assistance.

Problem is, Rider is the only Corps member. All grown-up, better at his job then ever, and invested not only with the cumulative powers of the Nova Corp, but also bonded to the Xandian Worldmind (the all encompassing historical database of the Corps and the Xandian people), Rider has his plate full.

Great action from writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning with explosive artwork from Sean Chen, this series promises to be a sci-fi, space-faring hit. Reminiscent of the classic days of Hal Jordan's Green Lantern Corps days, this is sure to be a winner for any fan of Farscape, Serenity or Battlestar Galactica!

First the Herald and then the Master!

Behold GALACTUS! Laurence Fishburne will voice the gigantic purple world-devouring Kirby Kreation. More Kirby Dots please!

EDIT: FISHBURNE will be voicing the Silver Surfer, not Galactus. Plus that pic's from the Ultimate Alliance videogame, not the movie! My bad . . .

But can Ed Norton do this??

He's going to play the Hulk in the next movie from Marvel Films, but can even Ed Norton do this??

PETA Alert!

Who knew Bizarros were such dicks to their pets!!

Iron Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. in the first picture of himself in the Iron Man duds. This is the original suit that Stark constructed, not the later (and better known) red and yellow armor. Very promising . . .

NYC =Spidey's Be'atch!

Check this out, honkeys!

All-Star Superman #7

Three preview pages and the cover of the upcoming issue (in stores Wednesday) of the best super-hero comic being published:

Marshall Rogers, RIP

Here's a copy of my post from over at
FOG!:

While few details are available at this time, the great comic artist, Marshall Rogers, has passed away. The trained architect turned comics penciller was only 57 years old.

One of the most definitive Batman artists of all time, he is best known for his run on Detective Comics with writer Steve Englehart in the late 1970s. Rogers was also highly-acclaimed for work he did on Mister Miracle, The Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange at Marvel, and most recently, new work with Englehart in the Batman universe with their sequel to their classic 70s run called Dark Detective.

The man just deserves the recognition on two sights.

No Bizarro! Yes!

Bizarro no am in Smallville. Never.

Spoiler-ific!

Elf-driven Albinos for All!

from Heidi MacDonald's great site, The Beat!, here's a quote from 300 director Zach Snyder about the eventual DVD release of his latest masterpiece:

He said there would be some bonus footage on the 300 DVD: “It’s my cut, there is no director’s cut. But there was a sequence we cut out with these giant albino giants that had elfs riding on their backs. When I saw I said that’s too much. Even for me it’s too much! Vince Regan cuts the leg off one of the giants. Someone stabs the midget elf who is on the ground in an elf hat.”

Oh, and this info was revealed at a virtual press conference on 300 that was broadcast on Second Life! Now that's just freaky-deaky!

FOG! Risen from the Beyond!

The Forces of Good are back. Or should I say IS back! The website, which I wrote a few articles for a few years ago, is about to relaunch and creator/mastermind/evil emperor of the site, Stefan Blitz, has started up the FOG! blog again to prepare the masses for the eventual onslaught of the full site.

I will be contributing in some way to both entities and have posted my first entry over at the blog.

Go West , Young Man to read of it!

Holy Moly, Billy!

All I can say is WOW!

Changes Afoot

I continue to tweak as I try to teach myself the art of blog-design. Without help of books or a manual. Just tinkering and tinkering until something fits. Tonight I got the posts to move over to the left of the screen.

Also, I will now have the latest episode of PulpSecret broadcasting to the right. Comic Cover Crazy is below that for now until I can figure out how to stucture the layout that I actually want this page to have.

Stay tuned.

And watch PulpSecret before you leave - great new show if a little bit short in time and on content. The heart of the show is in the right place and hopefully future episodes will improve the amount and depth of content.

Two of the Greatest - Hear them SPEAK!

Here is a short interview with Jack "King" Kirby, intro'd by Harlan Ellison:

Kirby!

And here is a link to an interview with Frank Miller:

Miller!

The Most Powerful Weapons Science Could Birth . . .

Why isn't this on DVD?? Maybe I will start a petition.

Science: Coming At'Ya! Crichton-Style!!

While spinning through the halls of Amazon today, I came across this gem!

Man, I liked that movie. And Wolfen too. Albert Finney owns my soul.

That would be a good name for my next record. From my fictional band.

You Say Thor . . . I Say Clor!

following along . . . Sleestak via Beaucoup Kevin!




Keepin' the meme ALIVE!

Paint by Voices

thanks to Drawn! for this head's up! Tobin Sprout paintings.

I like this one:

Reading Desk: The Road

here is a quote from one of my favorite writers on one of my other favorite writers (Cormac McCarthy):

Fundamentally it marks not a departure but a return to McCarthy’s most brilliant genre work, combined in a manner we have not seen since Blood Meridian: adventure and Gothic horror. That book is usually viewed not only as McCarthy’s greatest–a view I passionately share–but as representing a kind of fulcrum [in his career] . . . There are strong echoes of the Jack London—style adventure [and] Robinson Crusoe [in The Road] . . . For naturalism operating at the utmost extremes of the natural world and of human endurance a McCarthy novel has no peer. . . McCarthy has to be accounted as a secret master and the rightful heir to the American Gothic tradition of Poe and Lovecraft . . . I think ultimately it is as a lyrical epic of horror that The Road is best understood . . . The father is visited as poignantly and dreadfully as Odysseus or Aeneas by ghosts . . . Replete both with bleak violence and acute suspense, [this is] a layered, tightly constructed narrative that partakes of the epic virtue it attempts to abnegate . . . What emerges most powerfully as one reads The Road is not a prognosticatory or satirical warning about the future, or a timeless parable of a father’s devotion to his son, or yet another McCarthyesque examination of the violent underpinnings of all social intercourse and the indifference of the cosmic jaw to the bloody morsel of humanity . . . It is a testament to the abyss of a parent’s greatest fears . . . It is in the audacity and single-mindedness with which The Road extends the metaphor of a father’s guilt and heartbreak over abandoning his son to shift for himself in a ruined, friendless world that The Road finds its great power to move and horrify the reader.

–Michael Chabon, New York Review of Books

get The Road

Toy Madness!

As ToyFair kicks off in NYC this week, I will probably feature a few of the thousands of things that catch my eye. First up these DC Direct action figures based on the artwork for DC's first direct-to-DVD movie: Superman vs. Doomsday!!

If this is a true rendition of the artwork from the film, I think we have a lot to look forward to. It's sort of a cross between the Bruce Timm-Justice League Unlimited/Batman style and a more modern, action cartoon look akin to the recent Marvel direct films like the Ultimate Avengers and Iron Man.

Here we have Doomsday himself and a group shot. Hell, even the mullet-sporting, lame-O "Sun Suit" Superman looks decent!

None More Black!

Nice little docu-trailer for Spider-man 3 posted over at the always informative Blog@Newsarama - check it out!

you figure it out!

Visit this site, click enter>trailers>choose the lower of the two (the one with the miniature eyeball man in the soup bowl!) and watch the madness!

Here's a description of Gegege no Kitaro from Jay Stephens' killer Monsterama blog:

Check out the two wicked trailers on the official Gegege no Kitarô site. The screenplay was written by Daisuke Habara, based on the super-awesome manga by Shigeru Mizuki, and it's directed by Katsuhide Motoki (Free & Easy series, Drugstore Girl). For those of you who need to catch up, Kitaro is a young half-yokai (goblin/spectre/monster) who lost his parents at birth. His father's soul lives in one of his eyeballs. Raised within the yokai clan, Kitaro keeps tabs on human society, and fights evil yokai monsters-- protecting virtuous human beings from these threats from the other world. For some reason, the filmakers have invented a human love interest for Kitaro. A high school girl named Mika is rescued by the uncanny Kitaro and gradually falls for him. Her character has been created specially for the film, although Kitaro did have a human girlfriend by the name of Yumeko-chan in the third animated TV series broadcast on the Fuji network from 1985 to 1988. Not that I'm complaining!

D D D

A poster I did for an upcoming show featuring 75orless Records bands in Providence, RI. Be there . . .

The Issue Box

I was always a big fan of the little box at the top left of Marvel Comics that had the issue title and on team books little heads of the roster or some other little drawing. DC in the 80s did a similar thing with non-Direct Market books where they had a slogan (like "Who Watches the Watchmen?" or "DCUniverse is Must Reading") in the ISBN box. In recent years, both of those things have faded away into the realm of nostalgia.

While reading this weeks New Joe Fridays Q&A over at Newsarama I came across this:

Q: “ThomHunt”- Any chance we'll ever see the return of the cover corner boxes on Marvel Comics covers?

You remember, the ones that generally depicted a team book's roster or a solo star in some action pose? They are such a rich part of Marvel's history and a truly unique identifier of the "Marvel brand"; I always thought it such a shame when they went away a few years back. What was the reason for their demise? Maybe put it to a fan vote as to whether they should return?

JQ: Of course I remember them, ThomHunt, I dug them too and during my six years we’ve tried to bring them back in several ways. Many years ago, we used a neat little circle window that had the character in the box. Eventually, artistic aesthetics changed and we stopped using them. Most recently we’re using a version of the character box on our X-Men titles.

So, I guess the short answer is that I dig them and I’m sure they’ll keep coming back from time to time but I think the reason you don’t see people artistically going bananas over them is because it’s something that resonates mostly with people in our age group who grew up with it. There is an argument that covers are busy enough and now that comic shops don’t rack their books like the newsstands, it’s not that important. That was the only reason those icons were up there in the first place, so that as the book was racked, you could see the logo but also get an action shot of the hero hopefully enticing you to pull the book out and see what the art on the cover was. Any attempts at doing that now are just warm and cuddly retro moments for we older fans.

Never knew that little marketing reasoning behind the roster box. Even an old dog like me can learn a thing or two every now and again!

The Metamorphosis has begun . . .

Stay tuned for more changes to the look of the Thunderhouse as I get more in depth with the programming.

Venomous Japan

Here is an early and probably unsanctioned look at what Venom will look like in Spider-man 3! This is the action figure from Medicom Toys of Japan that will be coming out in conjunction with the movie. These 12", 1/6 scale figures - the series of them is known as R.A.H. (Real Action Heroes) is well known to collectors as being highly accurate renditions of movie, cartoon, comic and tv characters. I own a number of them, direct from Japan and can attest to their attention to detail and dead-on likenesses. So, this is what Venom will look like in this coming summer's sure-to-be biggest blockbuster!