Catwoman: When in Rome

I love the above cover artwork for the graphic novel Catwoman: When in Rome for it’s bold graphic quality. However sadly I looked at the final design and they ruined it by putting too muh type on it. This cover was illustrated by Tim Sale, who has a nice flair for cheesecake and cartoony illustrations with a sense of wit and humor.

Thundercats the Motion Picture

Warner purrs for Thundercats
’80s animated series heading to bigscreen

“It’s Thundercats, ho! at Warner Bros. Studio has optioned a script by tyro scribe Paul Sopocy to turn the popular 1980s animated series and toy line into a live action feature. Warner-based Paula Weinstein will produce through her Spring Creek Prods. banner, along with Dick Robertson and Lew Korman.

Property revolves around a group of humanoid cats (with feline names like Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara) who must flee their planet of Thundera after it’s destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer, bent on killing them off.

Sopocy has written the script as an origin story expanding on the major heroes and villains from the animated series, with the plot focusing on Lion-O coming of age as the leader of the Thundercats. Project was brought to Warner by Palek Patel, VP at Spring Creek. Dan Lin is overseeing the pic for Warners.”

Gottu Five Rangers

Show above is episode one of Gottu Five Rangers was a Japanese TV comedy program from back in 1990’s. They make fun of the Power Rangers called Goranger (Go means 5), but what I love about the comedy here is that you don’t need to be a Power Rangers expert or even speak Japanese to get a kick out of the humor here.

Read more…

Kill Bill in 5 Seconds

PX! A Girl and Her Panda

PX! stands for PandaXpress has been a webcomic that’s been around since January 2005, and is set to come out in print this August. Except for Inuyasha it’s pretty rare to see a Panda in a starring role in a comic book which gives PX! a pretty unique sensibility. Manny Trembley who’s the artist behind the PX! features a rich and wonderful candy colored palette on his panels. The story (which is by Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson) is about a young girl named Dahlia who – with the help of her giant and trusty Panda sidekick – sets off on an epic journey around the globe to save her missing father. 

If you like what you see more work by Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson you’d be well advised to also check out Sam Noir: Samurai Detective which is a bit darker but also features a off-kilter sense of humor.

PX!A Girl and Her Panda will be out in August and published by Image Comics.

Speed Racer’s Car Revealed

I almost missed this story, I love that the Mach 5 still has that vintage 60s sports car look:

Speed Racer’s Car Revealed

“As you’re almost certainly aware, the Wachowski brothers are back back back with an adaptation of Speed Racer, the cult anime where all the characters mouths stopped moving several seconds after their dialogue stopped. And, as the title might have clued you into, the series was a little bit car-centric, following a wide-eyed boy racer as he seeks to become world champion with the help of his faithful monkey (because why wouldn’t a driver have a monkey?). And today USA, er, Today offer the first look at his car. And very faithful it is to the cartoon. They also have a few other snippets, like the fact that the monkey will be real and not CG and is actually a chimp.

Speed Racer is released next August and has a cracker of a cast, including Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and Matthew Fox. And a monkey. Sorry, a chimp.”

Debut Enterprise

Seen above is the ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ Enterprise is based on the debut episode of the classic Star Trek series from 1966 (shown below the model are two shots from that episode – seeing your name on a grave stone on an arid alien planet is always a good excuse for a fight!).

Anyway this classic collectable is put out by Diamond Select and is part of their Starship Legends series. The best part is that it will feature light and sound effects including the voice James T. Kirk. But sadly the headstone and 3D chess set won’t be included…

Found via Toy News International.

Cute Korean Tigers

I found the above video via Japan Probe:

“A group of bengal tiger cubs recently born at a zoo in Seoul have made TV news in Japan (for being cute). Don’t worry folks, they still aren’t old enough to eat meat, so those little chicks aren’t going to be eaten!”

…I feel so cheated about my childhood when I watch that video! How come I never got to play with baby tigers when I was growing up? Just look at those kids, when they grow up they’ll think that it’s perfectly normal to play with baby tigers. The closest I got to that as a child was watching the Adventures of Waldo Kitty.

Stray Toasters Returns

Stray Toasters will be back in print! What’s great about Bill Sienkiewicz is that his artwork moves between comics, illustration with just the right added dash of abstract fine art thrown in for fun. The above cover for Stray Toasters reminds me of the illustrator Marshall Arisman with it’s underlying sense of violence and chaos. I’m surprised that with all of the attention that Frank Miller is getting in Hollywood that Sienkiewicz (who was the visual force behind Elektra: Assassin with Miller as the writer) hasn’t been exploited by the suits at this point. In fact Stray Toasters was suppose to come out as a film in 2005, so perhaps this re-release of Toasters which is due out at the end of August will give the film a push in the right direction.

Mode Gakuen Goes Goth

I love the creepy goth look of the animated commercial above which features a nice contrasting upbeat pop tune underneath it. The commercials is for Mode Gakuen which is a vocational school in Japan for fashion, makeup, hair, graphic, and interior design. I wonder if they have courses in designing goth lolita couture?

Read more…

24seven: Robot Heaven

Seen above is the cover for the second volume of 24seven by Austrailian illustrator Ashley Wood. I love Wood’s sketchy quality on the cover which features a decaying Blade Runner looking architecture as a backdrop. Also his use of bold black strokes with little touches of pink and cyan make for a striking contrast.

For those of you who missed the first volume (which will be re-issued) the comic is a group effort of artists telling multiple stories with the common theme of robots. Here’s an insightful quote from 24seven editor from an interview telling how the project got started:

“’24seven’ came about in a bunch of random conversations at conventions and so on with like-minded creators who showed me there was the potential there for a hell of a book,” explained Brandon. “’24seven’ is, for me, somewhat like a smaller record imprint at a major studio. A lot of the creation of work for hire comics is the equivalent of playing session guitars on someone else’s album, whereas in the path to creating ’24seven,’ this quickly became an opportunity to let some of the best minds in comics finally cut loose on their own songs, unfettered by continuity or any of the other bits of the business that hinder free creativity. The result will be obvious, the fans will get to see their favorite creators doing some of their most amazing and creative work.”

24seven Volume Two is published by Image Comics and will be out on August 1st.

Au by KDDI Animated Commercial

The above animated commercial is for a mobile phone service in Japan, I love the look of the character designs and cream toned palette. The commercial doesn’t look like your typical anime show with a love of detailed complexity, but instead has a bit of a graphic hipster feeling to it that you might find in a poster for a band.

The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo

Ah yes there’s nothing better than looking at good old Edgar Allan Poe sitting at the pub and enjoying a tasty brew with an oversized anthropomorphized rodent creature (I would say a rat but I don’t want to make a negative judgement).

What I love about what I’ve seen of this graphic novel is that while the cover art by David Hartman is great (I just love those monsters!), the interior pages by Thomas Boatwright have nice sense of humor to them. In fact Boatwright’s work sort of reminds me a bit of the early comics by Phil Foglio. There’s a several page preview of the book is here which is well worth checking out. Credit for the story inside of Edgar Allan Poo goes to Dwight L. Macpherson who you can tell has a clear love of comic books and tales of horror. Edgar Allan Poo will be haunting your local comic book shop’s shelves on August 15th (published by Image Comics).

Lord of the Rings vs. the Muppets

Shown above is a snapshot from ‘The Muppet Show in Ham’s Deep’, which is a window display at a comic book and action figure store located in Toronto, Canada. I always disliked the Lord of the Rings movies because they were too realistic (I grew up on the Rankin-Bass cartoons after all), but I have to say if they did a Muppet version I’d be first in line to buy tickets!

Killer Art for Killing Girl

Shown above is the cover and and interior illustrations by Frank Espinosa for Killing Girl #1. What I love about the artwork here is that it has a fast and sketchy feeling to it, instead the controlled paint within lines quality that most comic books have. Espinosa has brought his illustrations to life by giving them a sense of animation, in fact the style reminds me of the cult classic Stevie and Zoya which was created by Joe Horne for MTV in the 80s. Frank Espinosa’s previous work on Rocketo is also well worth checking out if you have a chance (it was nominated for three Eisner awards), there’s a real sense of whimsy in his artwork which is entertaining.

By the way as much as I’m a fanboy of sequential artwork, the story for Killing Girl which is by Glen Brunswick looks quite grabbing:

“What if the Mafia had their own secret service…? Sara doesn’t remember her real name. What she does know is that she traded away misery as a former prostitute and became a world-class killing machine. When a routine hit goes sour, Sara makes a shocking discovery: Suppressed memories, haunting her since childhood, are in fact TRUE! And her REAL family, presumed dead, may actually still be alive. She begins to wonder about her life that could have been. Is it too late to reclaim her humanity? No one has ever retired from the Cosa Nostra secret service and lived.”

Killing Girl #1 (of 5) will be published by Image and will be at your local comic book store on August 8th.

I Wanna Be Famous

The above music video starts off ultra cute but becomes quite twisted a few minutes into the tune, which is by upcoming diva Jessica Delfino. The animation for the video is by Nick Fox-Gieg who’s based out of Amsterdam.

Read more…

Ladrönn Draws Elephantmen

Shown above is an alternative cover for Elephantmen: War Toys #1 illustrated by José Ladrönn. What I love about this cover is that it has the charm of a Maurice Sendak illustration, but with the loving attention to detail that you might find in the penmanship of David Levine or Murray Tinkelman. Ladrönn is a comic book penciller and inker who’s from Mexico. Most recently he received an Eisner award (Best Painter/Multimedia Artis) for his work with writer and publisher Richard Starkings on Hip Flask: Mystery City, one of a series of Hip Flask one-shots published by Active Images.

Elephantmen: War Toys #1 is the first in a special three-issue mini-series published by Image and will be hitting the comic book stores in August.

Pokemon Fan Art Video

Some very inspired Pokemon fanboy created the above video which shows off cute girl anime characters based on the most popular Pokemon creatures.

28 New Exoplanets Discovered

Above: An artist’s concept of the Neptune-sized planet GJ436b (right) orbiting an M dwarf star, Gliese 436, at a distance of only 3 million miles.

The inner fanboy in me is very pleased to be alive in an era when we’re discovering so many new planets outside the solar system (236 count ’em all!). However I’m sad about two things:

1. That visionaries like H.G. Wells and Issac Asimov never lived to see this day (although they both knew it was coming).

2. And that I’ll never be able to visit any of those planets (although I’d gladly settle for watching someone set foot on Mars before I die).

Anyway here’s some good news:

28 New Exoplanets Discovered

“Astronomers have discovered 28 new planets outside of our solar system, increasing to 236 the number of known exoplanets, revealing that planets can exist around a broad spectrum of stellar types–from tiny, dim stars to giants. “We added 12 percent to the total in the last year, and we’re very proud of that,” said one of the study team members Jason Wright of the University of California at Berkeley. “This provides new planetary systems so that we can study their properties as an ensemble.”

The planets are among 37 new objects spotted within the past year. Seven of the objects are failed stars called brown dwarfs, with masses that dwarf the largest, Jupiter-sized planets but too small to sustain the nuclear reactions necessary for stellar ignition. John Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley and his colleagues presented the findings here today at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

Astronomers don’t directly spot extrasolar planets, but rather look for stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets. The planet’s size and distance from the parent star affect how strong or weak of a wobble, and more sophisticated techniques for measuring the stellar wobbles has led to an ever-lengthening list of such outer planets. Now they can detect wobbles of a meter per second compared with the 10-meter limit just 15 years ago.”

Tales of the New Republic

This animated Star Wars teaser claims to be not an official Lucasfilm production, but man if this is a fanboy powered tribute it’s one of the best Star Wars tributes that I’ve ever seen:

By the way on a related note here’s a sneak peak the new official animated seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars.

Daddy was a Wookie

Shown above is a snapshot of Star Wars fandom from 1979:

Bret Pardo, wearing a Chewbacca costume, pushing daughter in stroller at movie theatre in North Hollywood, Calif., 1979

“OUT OF THIS WORLD–Seven-month-old Stephanie Pardo is pushed by Chewbacca (her costumed father Bret) to join forces with several Darth Vaders at contest in North Hollywood to mark opening of the third engagement of “Star Wars” at southland theaters. Everyone appearing in costume was admitted to film free.”

…it’s funny to think that Stephanie must be 27 years old today. But I bet that Bret still loves Star Wars, because some things don’t change.

Adopt a Pink Elephant

You know the last time I spotted an elephant this cute was Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street:

I.W.G. Nehanda the Pink Elephant

“New from Rocketworld, Nehanda the Pink Elephant. Armed with a RPG and silver capped tusks, this Pink Pachyderm, is ready to defend her Savanna. As always a portion of the sales of these figures goes to aid wildlife groups.”

Read more…

The Family Guy vs. Star Wars

It looks like some luck fanboys and fangurls will get a sneak preview of this episode this weekend:

‘Family Guy’ meets ‘Star Wars’
Toon kicking off season with approved spoof

“Fox’s animated hit will kick off its fifth season this September with an hourlong episode that retells the “Star Wars” saga using “Family Guy” characters. Lucasfilm has blessed the event, which will have the Griffin family acting out all the key scenes and narrative from “Star Wars: A New Hope,” the first installment of the franchise. “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane is a major “Star Wars” fan and was personally involved in getting Lucasfilm on board, an exec from 20th Century Fox TV said.

Not surprisingly, family patriarch Peter Griffin will play the role of Han Solo, while mom Lois will appear as Princess Leia. Evil baby Stewie will be Darth Vader, natch. Brian the family dog will serve as Chewbaca, while son Chris is Luke. Robots R2-D2 and C-3PO will be handled by Cleveland and Quagmire, respectively, while creepy old guy Herbert gets the Obi- Wan character.

Plot of the episode has the Griffin family stuck at home during a blackout. With no TV to entertain them, Peter decides to tell a story — leading to the “Star Wars” flashback. Planning for the seg began more than a year ago, with the “Family Guy” execs getting Lucasfilm on board. MacFarlane is set to show off footage from the episode at this weekend’s Star Wars mega-convention in Los Angeles.”

Learn the Lucky Star Dance

Step 1: Find the highest quality Lucky Star opening title that you can hunt down:

Step 2: Then study the your dance moves by looking at a slowed down version of the dance:

Step 3: Shoot video, upload to YouTube and net fame awaits you:

Read more…