I saw this giant decoration in a Sendai shopping arcade. Presumably having no Thanksgiving holiday as a start date means a couple extra weeks of Xmas decorations. Now to me this looks a lot like Buddha dressed up as Santa Claus but I don’t know.
A friend who happened to be carrying her own Chinese knockoff toy with half the features of Mickey Mouse and Astro Boy in combined into one hybrid character disagreed as to the Buddha I.D. but couldn’t explain what was going on here. So at the very least, he’s a very meditative Asian department store Santa.
Nick Kent is a New York based artist who works with electronic media and is an occasional pop culture pundit.
“Ms. Simone was talking about her rise from hairstylist to online commentator to professional comic-book author. This month she added a new title. With the publication of issue No. 14 of Wonder Woman, which hit stores two weeks ago, Ms. Simone has become the regular writer of that amazing Amazon’s super-adventures, published by DC Comics. She is the first woman to serve as “ongoing writer” (to use the industry’s term) in the character’s 66-year history. It’s an assignment that will only increase Ms. Simone’s profile. It’s also the latest move by DC Comics to push Wonder Woman, the company’s third-ranked hero, behind Superman and Batman, into the spotlight.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2007 in Science
Shown above is a photo that shows a part of the Moon’s surface from a camera aboard China’s Chang’e One lunar orbiter. I hope the Chinese keep it up because the best thing for NASA would be another space race:
“China’s leaders celebrated the first images sent from the country’s first lunar satellite on Monday, saying they showed their nation had thrust itself into the front ranks of global technological powers. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, visiting the scientists who have guided the lunar probe Chang’e 1 into space and around the moon, proclaimed the mission a success after it began to send back images, according to Xinhua news agency.
“The full success of our country’s first lunar exploration mission is helping to turn the Chinese nation’s 1,000-year old dream of reaching the moon a reality,” Wen said. The picture on the Xinhua Web site showed a patch of grey moon surface splotched with craters.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2007 in Comic Books
It will set you back about $100, but this variant cover by Marko Djurdjevic for Howard The Duck Omnibus looks great to me (I love the use of color and the painting technique). The Omnibus sports over 800 oversized pages featuring the complete comic adventures of Howard.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 25, 2007 in Comic Books
But Noooooo! It’s my cover!!! This superhero cat-fight reminds me a bit of the relationship between Betty and Veronica ala Archie Comics rather than what you’d think you’d see on a typical DC Comics cover featuring Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl. This cover was illustrated by Sanford Greene and Nathan Massengill and for me the energy found in the composition more than makes up the coloring which feels a bit flat and faint to my eye. My favorite little touch is the snarl on Wonder Woman’s face, simply priceless…
“Giant-sized telescopes such as Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra offer unprecedented views of the cosmos, but astronomers are eager to put more powerful tools into orbit around the Earth. Without the extra help, said Rachel Somerville, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, it may be impossible to resolve some of the universe’s greatest mysteries.
“We need better observations to make our models better,” Somerville said, noting her search to understand galaxy formation and mysterious quasars. “… If you just put theorists in a room for the next 15 years with the biggest supercomputer you can find, it will never happen”.”
“Anika’s Odyssey is a magical adventure deep into a lush and enchanted land. Break away from reality to enter a mystical world inspired by Aotearoa, New Zealand, as you meet the curious spirits and exotic creatures that inhabit this wondrous wilderness. Anika’s Odyssey is an enchanting point-and-click adventure game, full of a surprises and charm. Help Anika explore her colorful landscape as she journeys to reclaim her beloved friend.”
We’re here to aquire breeding stock for our planet!!! What’s intersting to me about this classic 1965 drive-in movie is that the uncredited space monster is played by well known character actor Bruce Glover who went on to have many bit parts in every tv series from Mission: Impossible to T.J. Hooker. Although you might be more familiar with his famous son who is Crispin Glover. By the way hardcore fanboys might get a kick out of this cute collectable showing Frankenstein knocking out the Space Monster.
“Doctor Who’s first producer, and the BBC’s first female TV producer, Verity Lambert, has died aged 71. She was also the youngest person to take charge of a BBC television show when the sci-fi drama started in 1963. Lambert oversaw the first two series of Doctor Who before leaving in 1965. Russell T Davies, the current writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, said: “There are a hundred people in Cardiff working on Doctor Who and millions of viewers, in particular many children, who love the programme that Verity helped create. This is her legacy and we will never forget that,” he added.”
I’d love to see this reimagined anime inspired Wonder Woman Vinyl Figure in an actual comic book! The statue is designed by Udon Studios and goes on sale July 23, 2008. There are also some other nice figures in the Ame-comi manga inspired line put out by DC Comics.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 23, 2007 in Comic Books
This cover by Dustin Nguyen for Detective Comics #841 reminds me a bit of Vargas with the lady in red in the center of the illustration, although I also like the health dose cartoonish chaos that brings a sense of humor to the cheesecake. It’s not what you’d expect for a typical Batman cover from DC Comics and I find that quite refreshing.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2007 in Animation
This video is from 1997, an era when MTV was still showing music videos and had some entertaining animation. Who would have ever thought that we’d wish for the good old days of Beavis and Butt-Head?
“I always felt myself to be an unlucky person like Donald, who is a victim of so many circumstances. But there isn’t a person in the United States who couldn’t identify with him. He is everything, he is everybody; he makes the same mistakes that we all make”.
About Donald Duck. Interview by Donald Ault and Thomas Andrae,
4 August 1975. Carl Barks Library, page 8C-597.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2007 in Videogames
Cosmic Fantasy was a NEC PC Engine Super CD-ROM2 role playing video game from 1989. The game featured a futuristic science fiction/Fantasy theme with some humor. The game series did pretty well in the early 90s and even managed to inspire a OVA (Original Video Animation) anime title in 1994. You can also find some great screenshots of the follow up game Cosmic Fantasy II at this website here.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2007 in Science
This is a very interesting article from Scientific American on the idea that there may already be aliens living on earth, although as a fanboy you may be let down that E.T. is the size of bacteria:
Are Aliens Among Us? In pursuit of evidence that life arose on Earth more than once, scientists are searching for microbes that are radically different from all known organisms
“No planet is more Earth-like than Earth itself, so if life does emerge readily under terrestrial conditions, then perhaps it formed many times on our home planet. To pursue this tantalizing possibility, scientists have begun searching deserts, lakes and caverns for evidence of “alien” life-forms—organisms that would differ fundamentally from all known living creatures because they arose independently. Most likely, such organisms would be microscopic, so researchers are devising tests to identify exotic microbes that could be living among us.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2007 in Comic Books
My favorite touch in this cover for Tiny Titans by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani is the cute little bee girl character in the upper left. This book is part of a new line of DC comics aimed at younger kids which should appeal to overgrown fanboy and fangurl parents.
This is too cute! Shown above is an Alien vs. Predator Cosbaby by Hot Toys. There are six in the series (Alien Warrior, Grid Alien, Scar Predator, Chopper Predator, Celtic Predator, and Alexa Woods) and they each stand about three inches tall (perfect for terrorizing your desk) and will be available early in 2008.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2007 in Videogames
Chasing Ghosts is a film that takes a look at the video arcade scene in the early 80s. It’s funny I remember finding arcade centers from everyplace from my hometown to my local shopping mall. If you’re near New York City on Saturday, December 15th at 6 p.m. you may want to catch the film at the New York United Film Festival.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2007 in Star Trek
Behind every great heating company there’s a fanboy heading up the marketing department! I love this Star Trek themed parody/commercial from 1982. There’s also a Star Wars reference when they introduce the robot slideshow.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 19, 2007 in Comic Books
A nice, simple mission for She-Hulk has gone horribly wrong as, deafened and reeling, she finds herself facing the combined might of the Absorbing Man and Titania! Maybe her trusty sidekick Aloe Vera can help?
![From Popular Science: Courtesy Dr. Godfrey Louis- E.T. Under the Microscope: Scientists have yet to identify the unusual particles [above, magnified 500 times] isolated from India’s mysterious red rainwater.](http://www.fanboy.com/archive-images/alien-bacteria.jpg)
