“They moved to France 16 years ago, sickened, they said, by the infiltration of their once sleepy California town, Winters, by newcomers who bulldozed hilltops for McMansions. The Crumbs also wanted to shield their daughter, Sophie, from a growing conservative and fundamentalist Christian influence while continuing to educate her in what they consider the classics. They reared her on “Little Lulu” comics from the 1940s and ’50s and Three Stooges videos.
It was Mr. Crumb’s absorption of such popular culture that led to his signature style. He applied a lowbrow, all but forgotten crosshatched technique to a kaleidoscope of sexual fantasies, controversial racial topics and images of the hippy counterculture. In so doing, he laid the groundwork for adult-theme graphic novels, influencing everyone from Daniel Clowes, the creator of “Ghost World,” to Art Spiegelman, the author of “Maus.”
“He’s a monolithic presence, who rewrote the rules of what comics are,” Mr. Spiegelman said.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 20, 2007 in Animation
Hanasakemee is a popular avatar character on Yahoo! Japan created by Polygons. Here’s a well done (and very cute) animated commercial designed to introduce the Hanasakemee:
Readymechs are flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are designed to fit on an 8.5″x11″ page and printed with any printer. You ’ll need double-sided tape, thick matte paper, and 10-15 minutes for build time. And they’re 100% free:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 19, 2007 in Comic Books
This is a video clip from a documentary called ‘The Masters Of Comic Book Art’. It’s introduced by Harlan Ellison. Jack Kirby is seen talking about his cosmic Marvel comics and how those led to his Fourth World books at DC. He then says a few words about the history of comics:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 18, 2007 in Comic Books
Following his 50th town hall meeting in Massac County. U.S. Senator Obama poses in front of the Superman Statue in downtown Metropolis, IL. known as the home of the DC Comics super hero.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 18, 2007 in Animation
In the press they’re going on and on about how cell phones in Japan are as cool as the Apple iPhone. I don’t know if that’s the case, but this DoCoMo commercial from Japan does show that the Japanese are having fun with their cell phones. The advertisement below showcases a phone (the FOMA 901i and 700i) that allows you to play animated ring tones (ChakuMotion) using Disney characters:
“Disney is optioning rights to the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi series “John Carter of Mars” as a potential franchise for the studio. The pic begins with a Civil War veteran whose retreat into a cave to avoid capture by Apache Indians takes an otherworldly turn as he’s transported via time portal to the planet of Barsoom and taken prisoner by 12-foot-tall green men. Burroughs wrote eleven volumes of Carter’s adventures and Disney is hoping the film will launch a franchise.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2007 in Star Trek
Here’s a preview of the Delta Vega station from the remastered Star Trek episode ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ which airs this weekend (click on the image to see full size):
The first rule they tech you in film school about directing a horror film is ‘never show the monster on screen, it’s more scary that way’. Well here’s a sneak preview image from the upcoming ‘Alien vs. Predator 2’ flick, and yes it looks like the director skipped class:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 16, 2007 in Comic Books
DrawerGeeks is a website where professional artists (mostly from the comic book, animation and illustration world) draw their own version of a famous fictional character. Since 2004 the site has been a showcase for quite a few little gems representing every character from Catwoman (shown above) to King Kong.
Well ok ‘suggests’ is a bit strong. Primeval is not a masterpiece by any stretch but it had it’s own appeal as well. Based ‘loosely’ on real events and betrayed totally wrong on TV spots and theatrical Trailers Primeval isn’t the story of a serial killer in the most honest sense. It’s actually a film about a man eating crocodile who has killed over 300 people in the swamplands of Africa.
The story is set to the backdrop of civil war torn Burundi where a killer crocodile is devouring people on a regular basis. A news director at a fictitious television studio decides to send in a team to film and capture the crocodile in time for sweeps.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 13, 2007 in Comic Books
Lunchbox is a new webcomic by Ovi Nedelcu, an illustrator based out of Portland, Oregon. He’s best known right now the Pigtail comic published by Image. Ovi’s new webcomic features a sister/baby brother team, and has a sort of nice Sendak “Where the Wild Things Are” quality to it (minus the monster suits of course). There’s also a hint of the playfulness that you see in Calvin & Hobbes as well. Ovi ‘s draftmanship is A+, and there are already six strips in the series. I can’t wait to see more…
“At a time when it’s near-impossible to launch a new linear cable network, NBC Universal thinks it has a plan: repurposing old content and programming it across digital platforms. The company is planning Chiller, a horror-themed network that will exist as a standard and HD cable channel, a VOD package and a broadband Website.
Chiller, which is slated to launch March 1 and already has carriage on DirecTV, will use for its programming old horror TV shows and movies from the Universal library and others. Titles include the TV shows Twin
Peaks and Tales From the Crypt and movies The Shining, Psycho and The Birds.”
Of course everything old is new again, here are the opening titles from “Chiller Theater” which use to run in NYC during the 60s:
…of course the title designs I remember for the show which were done using claymation animation in the 70s can be found it at the bottom of this webpage:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 12, 2007 in Television
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an amazing kids show that I found on the net a few months ago, well now it looks like it’s set to premiere on Nick Jr. in Fall 2007:
“Super secret sources indicate that Yo Gabba Gabba!, a zany kids’ show produced by Christian Jacobs (The MCBC, duh) and Scott Shultz, has been picked up and will begin airing on Nick Jr. in Fall 2007. The first 20 episodes have been in production for a couple months now and from what I’ve seen so far all is going well in Gabbaland (don’t know what it is called, your guess is as good as mine).
Yo Gabba Gabba! is a revolutionary approach to children’s programming; it combines a HIGHLY imaginative cast of characters and beautiful set design and imagery that stimulates visually with an upbeat focus on learning and creativity. Guest stars will include Biz Markie and Aquabats band members The MC Bat Commander and Ricky Fitness.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 12, 2007 in Animation
Emelia is a beautifully made computer animated short by Derek Flood, who has been working as an animation director and lead animator for both high end commercials as well as for feature films. “Emelia” tells the story of a five-year-old goth girl and the world as seen through her eyes. This dark and quirky story of redemption takes us into Emelia’s head, letting us see in wild and fantastic images what she feels and thinks internally as she deals with parents, playgrounds, and all the angst and despair that every little goth girl has to deal with.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 12, 2007 in Japanese TV
The Toto Washlet Apricot is the latest in high tech toilet fixtures from Japan, but for some odd reason they’re using a giant chicken and frog mascot in their commercials (but the jingle they use is quite catchy):
