For about the past week all across Manhattan I’ve been spotting giant billboards for the upcoming Mel Gibson film The Edge of Darkness. And looking at this poster every day I couldn’t help but think “what the hell were they thinking?” Mel’s last public performance was being arrested after driving drunk and then uttering some not so nice words. So you’d think that Mel would want to put this sad episode behind him — yet his poster taunts us with the tagline “Some Secrets Take Us to the Edge”. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 26, 2010 in Comic Books
I’m always intrigued when I see commercials for light novels from Japan — because you can be looking at the next big thing, or a title that will never go anywhere. However this spot for Sunday is Not a God caught my eye due to the production value, it almost looks like pitch for an anime series. Apparently this light novel won the top prize at Fantasia 21 and was praised by Shoji Gatoh, the author behind Full Metal Panic!. Here is some interesting promotional artwork I found from the publishers which combines a shared theme of moe and ammo: Read more…
I have to say that one of my bigger disappointments of seeing Avatar wasn’t just the lack of plot in Avatar itself, but the uninspiring trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland which made me heartbroken. Now there’s a chance that the trailer was rushed, and I hope that’s the case because I’m a Burton fanboy and would trust him to get the animation right. Although looking at the above featurette I’m still on the fence.
A true Jedi must always be prepared to deal with the dark side — and that includes cloudy days with a chance of showers. But fear not young Padawan for with this Star Wars Light Saber Umbrella you can protect yourself from the wet side of the force. When this telescoping water saber is deployed the shielding mechanism will instantly display a Death Star, an X-Wing Fighter, and of course the Millennium Falcon.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 26, 2010 in Comic Books
If you’re a manga fan looking for an American comic book to check out I’d highly recommend Kick Ass #8 which will be available this Wednesday. At first glance one might confuse the moe character designs in this book as a Marvel title aimed at kids — but there’s too much splatter going on which is one of the fun things that anime fans would instantly love: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 25, 2010 in Animation
Leiji Matsumoto was born on this day in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1938 — and he went on to dominate anime in the 70s much to the delight of a generation of fanboys including yours truly. He got his start in 1953 drawing romantic shōjo manga for girls and although he disliked this genre you can see the influence it would play in the many strong (but rail thin) female characters which would be featured in his work for years to come. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 25, 2010 in Comic Books
For me the joy of science fiction is that it’s somewhat believable — and once upon a time before the comic book code there were some amazing comics that had science fiction themes. However with the code and the dawn of the silver age of comics superheroes dominated the medium. Superhero comics may have some elements of science fiction, but they’re always used as window dressing using dull plot devices like superpowers being caused by genetic mutations. However from time to time you’ll see a book that tries to reintroduce the genre, and Guardians of the Galaxy tries hard but doesn’t quite succeed at this task: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2010 in Science
This is a nice video that sums up the work of the Opportunity rover on Mars which was expected to be a 90 day mission, but that has been going string for six years. Of course my frustration watching this video is that one wishes that humans had made the trip instead of a robot — but the images are still impressive.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2010 in Animation
FUNimation is bringing out Slayers Revolution on DVD in March and what’s funny about watching this clip is that even with the slickness of current anime productions there’s something so 90s about this series. Although what I might be picking up here is that Slayers has this wonderful sense of humor that you don’t see in anime too often in the age of Death Note. Yes you’ve got all of the typical wizards and demons, but there’s something so snarky about this franchise which makes it endearing. Here’s the original opening titles from the show which hold up pretty well (despite the poor resolution of this clip): Read more…
Miyamoto is THE man who made Nintendo what it is today: He got his start with designing Donkey Kong and is also the genius behind Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Of course most casual videogame won’t know this, but that’s the joy of this t-shirt featuring a Shigeru Miyamoto gag if you’re a hardcore retro-gaming fan. I also love the Iron Chef reference as well…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 23, 2010 in Comic Books
I was reviewing all of the Marvel titles that are set to be released next week and as usual the the one cover artist who always seems to be standing out is Skottie Young. Usually marvel takes itself so seriously so it’s nice to see Skottie injecting his humor and cartoony style into the stiff world of superheroes. At first I would say that Marvel is limiting him to comic books aimed at kids, but frankly these are turning into the best publications that Marvel is producing. Shown above is the cover for X-Babies #4, and below are the covers for The Marvelous Land of Oz #3 and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #59: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 22, 2010 in Science
This video shows an interesting interview with Evan Thomas works for NASA on “water recovery systems” which means converting urine to drinkable water. Although it should be pointed out that similar systems are already used on here on planet earth. What I found interesting about this interview is that the NASA technology can also be applied to helping folks who are living through a drought.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 22, 2010 in Animation
Thank you Tokyopop — I had no idea that Tsuneo Goda, creator of Domo came to the United States and did an interview! It’s amazing to think that Domo-kun was created all the way back in 1998, he’s really taken on a life of his own these past few years. From my own point of view the thing I’ve always liked about Domo is that he’s a stop-motion character which sets him apart from anime yet gives him a quirky quality that you can’t quite capture in computer animation.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 21, 2010 in Comic Books
I love how this cover for King City #9 by Brandon Graham harkens back to the great tradition of paper cut out dolls: Frankly it’s highly refreshing to see a cover take chances like this for a change. Sadly I’ve overlooked this series in the past, but having unearthed these other covers from the series I have to say that I’m impressed with Graham’s style: Read more…
We come in peace — shoot to kill! It’s not powerful enough to kill Klingons but this modified Playmates brand Star Trek Phaser (from 1994) is strong enough to pop balloons: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 20, 2010 in Star Trek
90 years ago today in the town of Toccoa, Georgia the wife of a local Baptist minister gave birth to Jackson DeForest Kelley. Foreshadowing his science fiction and television future DeForest was named after pioneering electronics engineer Lee De Forest who played a major role pioneering both radio and sound-on-film. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 20, 2010 in Comic Books, Tech
The latest issue of Player vs. Player features the epic quest for the Apple iPhone. Being an Apple fanboy I love it when geeky tech things find their way into comic books, and Scott Kurtz has scored a hit in my nerd zone: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 19, 2010 in Japanese TV
There’s something just freaky about this Japanese commercial for Aflac which stars Aoi Miyazaki (宮崎 あおい) sharing the screen with a creepy look animatronic duck and kitty. The odd kids song being performed is Song of the Duck Beckoning Cat and is featured in this very cute animated music video which Aflac has also put out: Read more…
Dear Mattel it’s the year 2010 and every little girl in America has known for generations that Ken is gay: So why do you continue to keep him in the closet? As we can see with the Barbie Harley-Davidson Barbie and Ken Dolls Gift Set poor Ken is cast playing a role that he clearly isn’t. Ken is obviously suppose to have that dangerous Harley biker look, but instead he comes off looking like George Michael after the break up of Wham! in the 80s. Read more…
Above: The painting Dennis Hopper 1971 by Andy Warhol.
It’s with great sadness that I was just reading that Dennis Hopper is struggling with cancer and may be on the brink of death. Sadly the gossip hounds are focused on his announced divorce — but instead of doing that I’d rather pay tribute to an iconic actor who has dominated so many films with his larger-than-life personality. Although I should add that in addition to be an actor that Hopper is also a gifted photographer — here’s an amazing shot he took in the 60s of Andy Warhol and crew hanging out at the Factory : Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 18, 2010 in Comic Books
This amazing video is from a 1931 silent promotional film which featured the cartoonists from the Tribune chain of newspapers. Shown at work are John T. McCutcheon, Gaar Williams, Carey Orr, Sidney Smith of The Gumps, Frank King of Gasoline Alley, Frank Willard of Moon Mullins, Carl Ed of Harold Teen, Martin Branner of Winnie Winkle, Walter Berndt of Smitty and Harold Gray of Little Orphan Annie. Here’s a quick gallery of these artists to give you an appreciation: Read more…
I was given an opportunity to play with the new iPhone app Fullmetal Alchemist: State Alchemy Exam and enjoyed having an anime themed game at my fingertips. Now if you’re a serious gamer you might be let down with this app, but if you’re a fanboy (or fangurl) looking for an entertaining casual game then State Alchemy Exam is worth checking out. Exam is the key word here as this is a trivia quiz app which tests your knowledge of Fullmetal Alchemist with physics and chemistry thrown in for fun: Read more…
On this day in 1929 artist Elzie Crisler Segar added a new character to his Thimble Theatre comic strip named Popeye the Sailor Man. It’s hard to believe but Thimble Theatre was running for ten years before the sailor was introduced to American readers — Popeye would go on to take over the strip which was followed by quite a few animated films and television shows. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2010 in Animation, Fandom
The year is 1985 and anime fandom is buzzed about new shows like Macross: This amazing video shows a cosplay competition from this long gone pre-internet era when fans traded VHS tapes from Japan. Keep in mind that if you had an anime gathering of any sort back then even having a hundred fans show up was nothing short of astounding.
