Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 28, 2008 in Star Wars
Noriyoshi Ohra is an amazing illustrator from Japan who does quite a bit of work related to the movies dating back the the 70s and covering every film from King Kong (the Jessica Lang remake) to Mad Max. However one of of his more interesting ongoing subjects is Star Wars, and there have been a number of amazing special edition books featuring his work aimed at Japanese fanboys (and fangurls too). What makes his work great is that it has a very strong painterly quality to it, you can see the brushstrokes at work throughout the canvas. His sense of color, lighting and sheer scale is also magical too. If you want to see more of his work check out this amazing article at starwars.com.
I’m sorry I just couldn’t help myself! These two little plushies were just too cute to blog about. Anyway I’ll try not to let this happen again in the future…
“When the new Indiana Jones movie bows on May 22, Indy isn’t a young man anymore. He’s an old guy. So what’s a toy producer to do? Make an old man toy or hearken back to an earlier time? The choice is obvious in Pansonworks’ upcoming Indiana Jones sofubi (soft vinyl) toy which features a fresh-faced adventurer and his wizened dad. Indy’s also sporting about a day’s worth of stubble on his chin.”
“Pressure is growing on NASA to speed up development of technologies that will allow astronauts to explore Mars, as envisioned by President George Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration. A new report echoes earlier concerns that sending astronauts to the Moon is dominating NASA’s agenda.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 26, 2008 in Star Trek
I just love the detailing on this vintage Star Trek replica, in fact I’d love to see some enterprising fanboys kitbash it with an iPod! But sadly you’ll have to wait October to play doctor:
“Based on the classic 23rd century design, the electronic Tricorder features silver highlights over a black finish, as well as light and sound effects taken from the classic Star Trek series. Also included is the removable scanner accessory – perfect for your next away mission! ”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 26, 2008 in Science
When you stop and think about the idea of there only being 2,000 people some 70,000 years ago it’s amazing — you realize how fragile our existence is in this world:
“Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday. The report notes that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 25, 2008 in Comic Books
I’ve always felt that Tori Amos was a second rate Kate Bush! This isn’t to say that Tori isn’t talented, in fact she has a great voice. But yet again Tori is coming in second place by copying Courtney Love by jumping on the “sirens who want to cash in on manga” trend. However judging by the fact that Tori is in my iTunes library maybe this isn’t a bad thing?
Shown above is the cover for the upcoming book Comic Book Tattoo (click on the image to see it full sized) which is slated for release in July from Image Comics, and as much as I love to slag poor Tori — the book looks very promising! The cover illustration by Jason “Stuntkid” Levesque looks wonderful, and over 80 artists and writers are contributing to the project including an introduction by Neil Gaiman. So I’d have to admit that Tori is rising on my charts. The limited edition of the book will set back hardcore fanboys for about $150 while non-Tori fanboys like myself can get away with $30 for the softcover edition.
And as for this fanboy I deeply wish that Kate Bush join the “sirens with manga” trend!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 24, 2008 in Comic Books
Rosemary Travale created the above gouache painting — what I like about the illustration is the sense of High School emotion that you don’t often see super heroes show off to us mortals. Wonder Woman looks vexed, the hidden gem is the framed photo of a frowning Batman. I wish DC Comics would commission Rosemary to do an entire series like this!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 24, 2008 in Pulp Fiction
While wandering around the art show at the Lunacon science fiction convention (back in March) I came across the above painting by Craig Maher and was blown away. Looking back at it I think it was the best work in the entire show — to be fair the above image doesn’t do the actual painting justice. For starters the scale of the painting is much larger (21″ by 31″) and features some amazing detailed brush work, most noticeably on the feathers of the birds. Maher’s use of lighting and color is also amazing too, the surface had an almost iridescent quality to it. And then there is the subject matter itself: In a room crammed full of everything from spaceships to dragons, Maher doesn’t resort to the unknown or unexplored — yet the paining has a very surrealistic quality to it which makes it other worldly.
Posted by Guest Author on Apr 23, 2008 in Comic Books
As part of our ongoing campaign to support the destruction of superheroes I’ve decided to shine some light on publisher :01 First Second books. What I like about these folks is that they’ve done an amazing job bringing high quality yet quirky graphic novels to a world that’s been lost to the epic battle of comic book clichés. So here’s a title from their back catalog reviewed by indie comix expert Jenny Gonzalez:
Reading this book I couldn’t help but picturing it’s protagonist, Ferdinand the Vampire, being ill at ease in the NYC vampire scene, a notion that made me chuckle. He’s an anachronistic lover of acoustic folk music, cats and three piece suits. He never kills when he feeds—in fact, he bites his victims with only one tooth so it will be no worse than a mosquito bite. And despite the sensuality and romanticism that has flourished around vampires in recent decades, his love life is in shambles:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 23, 2008 in Comic Books
As part of our ongoing campaign to support the destruction of superheroes I’ve decided to shine some light on publisher :01 First Second books. What I like about these folks is that they’ve done an amazing job bringing high quality yet quirky graphic novels to a world that’s been lost to the epic battle of comic book clichés. So here’s a title from their back catalog which I think is worth checking out:
Alright stop, I know you’ve just glanced quickly at the cover art of this graphic novel — but go back and take another look. That abstract silhouette in the foreground isn’t jungle growth but the bottom of a giant robot! Grady Klein’s graphic novel is set in on a mythical island cut off from the antebellum south and features a rich mixture of Mark Twain inspired characters living in a Jules Verne world. Under its comic exterior Lost Colony explores larger themes from that era from slavery to industrialization.
Ultra Toukon Densetsu is an SD version of the long running and wildly popular, not to mention highly influential, Ultraman series. The main gimmick of the game is that all the characters are super deformed, shrunk down to childlike proportions with stubby limbs and large heads.
There are three ultra fighters to choose from, Ultraman, Ultra Seven and XXXXXX. All three have slightly different powers and attack methods, but they all boil down to essentially the same thing. One would think that each ultra person would be more individualized to appease the rabid fans, but there is very little uniqueness to any character.
I’ve noticed quite a few videos on YouTube from Japan which feature Ronald McDonald re-mixed in all sorts of interesting ways. The above video Ronald McStalker shows the fast food icon stalking the gang from Lucky Star, below is an even more disturbing video of Ronald kit bashed into the opening titles of the series:
The Amazing Adventures of Mr. F. Lea – Pacific Novelty – 1982
In the rather verbosely titled game The Amazing Adventures of Mr. F. Lea, you take on the humble role of the titular flea. The game itself in incredibly simple and straightforward. Perhaps this is because of the fact that it’s based largely on other games.
The opening selection screen is a bit like that in Tron. You are faced with four possible paths, each one a different game. First, there’s the Frogger clone. In this one you have to get Mr. F. Lea across a lawn filled with “Lawnmower Man” like self-propelled mowers. After that, there is a walkway full of various dogs, some very long, some short, some fast and some slow. All of this plays out exactly like Frogger, and the point is to fill the four houses at the top with Fleas. As you will see in the other stages, this is all very easy, mostly because all of the more lethal elements have been removed. The dogs never disappear, the traffic at the bottom is very regular and there are no crocs to gobble you up.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 21, 2008 in Pulp Fiction
While visiting the Lunacon science fiction convention (back in March) I had a fun time wandering around the art show. It was there I came across the imaginative artwork of Stephen Youll who grew up and learned his craft in England and now resides Stateside. Youll works on a wide range of genres from fantasy to mystery, but my favorite paintings of his are his exotic landscapes that feature spacecraft. His painting sort of invite you in to a landscape that you’d want to hang around and maybe catch some adventure while you’re at it.
Shown above is an illustration for A Forest of Stars from 2002. Below are illustrations for Scattered Suns from 2004, and The Dragon in the Sea from 2006. In all three illustrations you can see how Stephen Youll gives the viewer a wonderful sense of scale while giving you a good taste of the local atmosphere through his use of color, lighting, and textures.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 20, 2008 in Comic Books
For me the unexpected high point of the convention was getting me meet Ryo Moto an amazing artist from Japan (Ryo is his pen name, his actual name is Ryusuke Hamamoto). He was selling copies of his portfolio which was fantastic — everything looks golden: the composition, the color, the textures, the sense of lighting and great life drawing skills. Shown below are two examples of his work from his Spring 2008 sketchbook collection, this book is packed with many more goodies and is a real treat to the eyes. In addition to manga Ryo Moto has also worked on a Nintendo DS game too. I think my only regret is that I was too shy to ask for his autograph and I didn’t buy the other volumes of his work (I also wish I could speak Japanese too).
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 20, 2008 in Comic Books
Imaginism Studios is team of talented illustrators from Canada, shown above is Bobby Chiu. I was quite impressed with the quality of their artwork, their sense of color and lighting works well to tell an imaginative story. Below are illustrations by Kei Acedara (Kimono Girl) and Bobby Chiu (KangamoleBunny):
Sure anyone can show up at a convention dressed in cosplay, but how many people could also find super hero attire for their pet? Above is Cookie Cutter Girl a superhero themed singer who hails from Boston. Not only was I impressed with her diva wardrobe and vocals, but I got quite a kick out of her mad scientist drummer too:
“A Soyuz capsule carrying South Korea’s first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan Saturday, 260 miles off its mark, Russian space officials said. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew — South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko — was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 19, 2008 in Comic Books
I love the film noir look of this poster — it picks up on the comic book so well. I’m slowly gaining faith that Frank Miller may do a good job with this film yet…
Clearly a case of trademark infringement! Despite them ripping off the title of this blog I got to chat with Johnny and James Jacobs about their new book True Confessions of a Fanboy a humorous look at the life of a pack rat fanboy (that’s James) and his ashamed brother (that’s Johnny). I haven’t read the book yet, but I did enjoy looking at the Fanboy Photo Tour on their website which showcases Jame’s fire hazard, err I mean “prized collection of treasures”.
Emotes are a line of designer toys and graphic novels — I got a kick out of running into their oversized mascot (shown above) who’s a bit more lovable than the rad looking charter designs shown below:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 19, 2008 in Star Wars
The first thing that hit my eye at the Gentle Giant Ltd. booth was this life sized statue of Princess Leia. I begged them to tell me if it was part of an upcoming goodie, but all they could to was to grin at me. They did however have a nice line called Star Wars Kustomz which caught my eye — shown here is Jawa in Sandcrawler Kustomz:
