Occasional Links

Jeff Parker, author of the exceptional Agents of Atlas series, asks the question, "Why Not Wildstorm?"

Pink Kryptonite ponders the idea of free, high-quality comic content by way of Monty Python.


C.B. Cebulski reminds everyone to keep everything in perspective.

Remember CONTRA? Well, you can keep those memories alive with these radical customs by Jin Saotome!

And the crew at Comics Should Be Good shows us all what Final Crisis #6 was really missing!

Characters I Kinda Dig: Rocket Raccoon

Super-Heroes...For Children?

Another post on "superhero decadence" from The Hooded Utilitarian:

"The reason decadent super-heroes can seem so, so wrong isn't because sex and horror are wrong; it's because super-heroes are really meant for kids. There aren't stories where Thomas the Tank Engine turns into a vampire. There aren't stories where the Snoopy is gang-raped. There aren't stories where the Cat in the Hat starts ripping people's arms off. Because, you know, that stuff is for kids, and, aesthetic atrocity aside, you don't want to fuck up the brand."

Actually, I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like crazy people are dressing up like overly-hyped superhero villains and stabbing babies.

Occasional Links: The Alien Symbiote Plague Edition

I'm in bed today recovering from some sort of alien-virus spore that is living within my body. While Reed Richards tries to help me recover, I thought I'd take a moment to round up a bunch of links:

The Green Hornet movie has apparently been zapped. Aint It Cool News quotes HitFix as reporting that Sony has placed the film on "life-support." If you remember, Seth Rogen was to star in this adaptation.


Enjoying Project Superpowers? You might also like this radio show with one of the lead characters: The Green Lama.

Hulu is running the Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. It's a great way to get your NPH on!




I don't think I've had the honor to read Mike Deadato's run on Thor, but this custom figure by LooseCollector on the Fwoosh kinda makes me want to!

Entertainment Weekly believes 2009 is a great year for "Werewolf Movies". I don't know if all that's true, but I do know it's a great year for Werewolf Webcomics!

Also, my BBC-loving, formerly Hull-living, fish-and-chips-eating, Magners-drinking BF is rather partial to this series.

Woman Killed Over Facebook Status

A British woman was murdered by her estranged husband after he found out she changed her Facebook status from "In A Relationship" to "Single." Apparently, her telling him that they were through was not enough to convince him. But a **Facebook Status** ! Well! That's real.

Hey, I like the Internet. I like communicating through it. I like being reminded of a friend's birthday through one of the several social networks I'm a part of. Even being looked up by some old grade-school acquaintance after 25 years is rather neat. Go, Internet!

The downside to Internet communication & socialization, however, is that a lot of these quirks, conventions, and unwritten "rules" have become realer than real to some people. It's the New Real. It's Realspace.

Yeah, yeah I know:

"Get off mah lawn you damn kids! In my day we scratched initials in trees and it meant something, goddammit!"

The Ultimate X-Men Toy Collection?

As a follow-up to yesterday's Ultimate Marvel Legends Action Figure Collection post, Phil has sent in a link to his own impressive X-Men toy collection (check out the rest of the photos at the link):

I would say that the two collections contrast in that the X-Men one is more mint-in-box oriented -- but impressive nonetheless.

Occasional Links: Obama, Phantom Zone Sirens, Dumpy Sabretooth, more

Dan Goldman's Obama webcomic for Tor.com, "Yes We Will," re-imagines our new president via a Philip K. Dick fever-dream. To summarize, It's 2012 and Barack Obama is ready to usher in a new age for mankind...


Phantom Zone Supergirl...


...and Phantom Zone Madonna



Beanie Babies makers Ty insist that any similarities between their "Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha" dolls and any First Family is totally coincidental:

"The Oak Brook-based company chose the dolls' names because "they are beautiful names," not because of any resemblance to President Obama's daughters, said spokeswoman Tania Lundeen."

Frankly, I expected more frankness and candor from the creators of Oats the Horse and Swirly the Snail.



Is it really fair to nominate spoof movies like "Meet The Spartans" and "Disaster Movie" for Razzie awards? These movies freely admit they are dumbass. Were there not better movies to nominate? It's like making fun of farts for smelling bad.


Dan at the Mind Leak blog has envisioned his own version of the cover to Final Crisis #7...

...and Rich at Comic-by-Comic just "Can't Believe It's Not The Black Lanterns"


And finally, Liev Schreiber talks to Details about the upcoming movie "Wolverine":

"I started to read blogs in the comic world with things like 'That's the dumpiest, most out-of-shape Sabretooth I've ever seen in my life!'"

Being dissed on a blog? Who would have thought it!

The Best Marvel Action Figure Collection In Comics?

People who visit our home will immediately notice the focal point of the livingroom: a large built-in bookshelf filled with Marvel Legends action figures. My BF is close to completing his collection, missing about five figures. He has also recently taken to customizing action figures.

Recently, we have added a "wing" to house the spill-over.



Is my BF's collection the best Marvel action figure collection in the comic book industry? Or is there anyone out there who dare challenge his awesome accumulation of assorted action figures?

You decide.

Highlights:Mighty Avengers

New Avengers

Dark Avengers

X-Force New

X-Force Old

Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants

Hydra

Hulk Cast

Omega Flight

Marvel Knights

Exiles

Iron Man Baddies

more photos forthcoming...

Oscar Noms Announced!

The Oscar nominations were just announced and Heath Ledger was nominated in the supporting actor category, though The Dark Knight was snubbed for best picture. Going up against Ledger for supporting actor is Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder.


Battling for the best animated movie are Bolt, WALL-E, and Kung-Fu Panda.


Mickey Rourke was nominated for best actor for his "comeback" film The Wrestler.

Click here for a full list of the nominees.

Your thoughts on the noms?

I Once Was LOST...But Now I'm Found

Last night's season premiere of LOST hit all the right notes: Mystery, Murder, Mayhem, and Dr. Marvin Candle!

What did you think of the episode(s)?

The comments section will contain spoilers, so consider yourself warned!

What Do You Do When Previews Spoils Your Story?

edit: Spoilers for Green Lantern: Blackest Night :-)


Okay, you can use creative solicitation copy and blacked-out images to protect your comic book's secrets...

But what about action figure solicitations?

I'm not familiar with current Green Lantern lore to care one way or another, but obviously the fans consider these images from Previews to contain important information.

This reminds me, in some tangential way, of when the Star Trek III paperback came out before the movie, and I simply read it to find out all the spoilers about Spock. Synergy? Not quite.

"Whoa Superman of Earth 2 looks like Kilowog."

Yeah, that's what I thought. But it's just that his face is messed up, right? Sort of like this guy:

New Comics: What I'm Buying

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #584
Amazing Spider-Man has become, for me, a habit. I don't always read them the week they come out, but instead hold on to them until I get a complete arc. Now, if this is the way I'm going about things, should I just wait until the trades come out? Well, you see, I'd feel guilty buying the trades because it would be an "expense." But there is more of an illusion of not spending a lot of money because it's spread out over the month.

DARK AVENGERS #1
This book really seems like Thunderbolts 2.0 (3.0?) to me.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #9
Abnett & Lanning are currently the best writers of sci-fi comic books, in my opinion.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #21
Looking forward to Dan Slott's turn on the series.

UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #2
I am not a big fan of the "reformed" Emma Frost, as I never trusted her. Some women, in my opinion, are just irredeemably evil and "the love of a good man" isn't going to do some magic trick on their hearts. Will this "Dark Reign" storyline reveal her for the slag she is and finally get her away from Scott? Or am I being too optimistic? I always figured this Frost storyline would end with Jean Grey somehow coming back and leaving Frost just this diamondy smear on the pavement.

WAR MACHINE #2
Not decided if I'm going to continue to read this series, but giving it another issue.

What comics are you buying this week?

BSG: The Roving Eye Of Apollo

One more Battlestar Galactica post, and I'm done. I promise.

Follow Apollo's eyes on this DVD cover:



via Photoshop Disasters

Starbuck "Castrated," Says Dirk Benedict

The new Big Hollywood blog is good for, apparently, watching old sci-fi TV stars get a soapbox and go completely ape-shit.

First there was ultra Right-Winger Gary Graham from "Alien Nation," and now we have Dirk Benedict from the old "Battlestar Galactica" series (as well as "A-Team"!).

Here are quotes from Benedict's blog entry, "Lost In Castration" --

"For the re-imagined terrorists (Cylons) are not mechanical robots void of soul, of sexuality, but rather humanoid six foot tall former lingerie models who f**k you to death. (Poor old Starbuck, you were imagined too early. Think of the fun you could have had ‘fighting’ with these thong-clad aliens!) In the spirit of such soft-core, sci-fi porn I think a more re-imaginative title would have been “F**cked by A Cylon.”"

And,

"One can quickly surmise what a problem the original Starbuck created for the re-imaginators. Starbuck was all charm and humor and flirting without an angry bone in his womanizing body. Yes, he was definitely “female driven,” but not in the politically correct ways of Re-imagined Television. What to do, wondered the Re-imaginators? Keep him as he was, with a twinkle in his eye, a stogie in his mouth and a girl in every galaxy? This could not be. He would stick out like, well, like a jock strap in a drawer of thongs. Starbuck refused to be re-imagined. It became the Great Dilemma. How to have your Starbuck and delete him too?"

Unlike his original BSG co-star, Richard Hatch, Benedict is not going gently into that good remake:

"”Re-inspiration” struck. Starbuck would go the way of most men in today’s society. Starbuck would become “Stardoe.” What the Suits of yesteryear had been incapable of doing to Starbuck 25 years ago was accomplished quicker than you can say orchiectomy. Much quicker, as in, “Frak! Gonads Gone!”"

In case you've missed it, there is lots of penis references in his post.

"Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Hamlet does not scan as Hamletta. Nor does Hans Solo as Hans Sally. Faceman is not the same as Facewoman."

Well, we've got another villain for the collective blog zeitgeist. Best of all, he has that big cigar as a prop.


Related post: Clint Eastwood's "Pussy Generation"

Battlestar Galactica: When Ad Placements Go Wrong

Have you ever watched an unfortunately-timed ad after a certain key scene on a television show?

This Battlestar Galactica clip has just that. It's a 3+ minute clip, but the ending is so totally worth it. One of the most creepy things I've ever seen, like something out of the mind of Kubrick (or early Peter Jackson). I almost vomited, so you know this is choice.

SPOILERS in the clip, so if you don't want to be spoiled for BSG, don't watch. Also, sort of NSFW.



Via

The First Gay Superhero?

Den of Geek decries the shoddy reportage on the Stan Lee's first gay superhero story in the British tabloids. But c'mon, look at the accompanying photo for the story in The Sun:


How much hard-hitting journalism did we expect? Nice handlebar mustache.

Obviously, Stan Lee's adaptation of Perry Moore's "Hero" is not the first treatment of a gay superhero ever done. But, if the project gets off the ground and has a big budget, it might be the first treatment to get a major audience (both comic book readers and "newbies").

And I think there is a world of difference between having gay supporting characters/team members, and having a big-budget comic book starring a gay hero. Sure, you had that Midnighter series, but it's not quite the same thing as having a key character from the DC or Marvel universe proper "come out" and star in their own series or movie.

Wolverine Cast Photo

Hugh Jackman recently emailed Harry Knowles at Ain't It Cool News to reassure him and the fans that the Wolverine movie will "be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations."

Apparently, Harry missed the email the first time Hugh sent it. How do you miss an email from Hugh Jackman?

Anyway, he included the following cast shot:


Gambit is a honey. Though if I had to chose, I'd go past him, Ryan, and Hugh and go straight to Liev.