Forbidden Planet in New York City is still very much open, but sadly the shop today is less than 50% of the size that it was in the 80s. This stunning set of videos gives a tour of the place and serves as a vivid time capsule what a comic book shop on steroids looked like back in the day. My art school was just a few blocks away from this place and I spent so many lunch hours there back in the day, so this video brings back a ton of memories: Read more…
With the upcoming release of Tron Legacy, so many companies are rushing to create toys and games to hype the new film. Fortunately for fans of the original, there are a few new products designed specifically to pay homage to the original film, such as this one here. This Tron “Vintage Figure” will be exclusive to San Diego’s upcoming Comic Con International, and apparently comes with some neat little features, such as a case that lights up, and special arcade cabinet packaging. In addition to looking fantastic, they’ll only cost $40 each and will be limited to only 1,500 units, so you’ll need to pick one up while supplies last. Read more…
The Han Solo SL72 sneakers are the latest addition to the Adidas x Star Wars footwear line that was announced last year. The silver scheme, and tongue design is inspired by Han’s carbonite coffin from Empire Strikes Back, but the shoes also feature small details from his costume, including his signature belt and the red trim from his pants. Pretty slick if you ask me. No word on how much they cost, but they’ll be available later this fall. Until then, you’ll have to make due with Hoth-inspired Rebel duds, and a pair of sneakers fit for the Dark Lord himself, which currently retail for $167 and $133, respectively. Check the Adidas online store for more details. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 12, 2010 in Comic Books
To commemorate the July 13th release of the second volume of Koharu Perfect Weather there will be a competition in japan to win the really cool fan shown above. While the language barrier to enter the contest be a bit much for English speaking otaku you can order the manga in Japanese via Amazon.co.jp if you love dog themed manga: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 12, 2010 in Comic Books
With X-Force: Sex and Violence #1 illustrator Gabrielle Del’otto has done a great job of making an everyday Marvel comic book feel like a graphic novel. What makes the artwork look so good is that Gabrielle has abandoned the traditional ink lines that have defined comics since their inception and has instead made every panel look like a painting. Usually Marvel might do this with a cover, but not the entire book — and I’d wish that they’d do this more often looking at the results: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 12, 2010 in Videogames
Born twenty four years ago in 1986 the blue Slime is usually the weakest character in each Dragon Quest game — and now he’s being celebrated with his own non-carbonated soft drink! The Dragon Quest Slime Drink comes in two flavors: Hoimi Cider (shown on the left) which is looks like windex and Mera Tropical (shown on the right). Fanboys should be warned that actually drinking the beverage will ruin any future collectibility value. Read more…
This surrealistic collection of cosplay photos shows the actual model model before and after Photoshop. At first I was sort of offended by looking at this, but then I realized that what the Photoshop artists are doing isn’t any different than what fashion magazines do with their cover models by creating a idealized version of reality that might not be so realistic: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 11, 2010 in Animation
Before Robotech there was Voltron which was the ultimate Japanese robot show about robots that came together: The series featured smaller robots that came together to form a larger robot, and the show itself was create by editing two anime series together (Beast King Go-Lion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV). Incubot is honoring this old school show with a Voltron Nekobot Flash Drive which will hold two gigs of storage and features a blazing sword. Read more…
As a Japanophile of some record, when I first heard the words ‘Super Shogun Stormtrooper,’ my first mental image was of the samurai Darth Vader swag and costumes I’ve seen around over the years. I further extrapolated that a Super Shogun Stormtrooper would be something along those lines: a Japanese-inspired Stormtrooper redesign. How cool is that? Might go nice in a glass cabinet, right? Geeky, but with a bit of class!
As any well-trained fanboy (or fangurl) should know, Comic-Con International— also known as San Diego Comic-Con –is right around the corner, running from Wednesday, July 21st to Sunday, July 25th. Those five days are jam-packed with programming, and as usual, some of those days are…special. Read more…
I’m not much of a Trekkie (nor a Trekker), but even I can get a kick out of the following video, spotted at Topless Robot and shot in what I’m going to guess were the early ’80s, possibly late ’70s, featuring Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and Bill Shatner (Kirk) recalling fond memories of their time on the Star Trek set…particularly as it relates to Nimoy’s bicycle.
Oddly enough, it’s the Shat who spends more time proclaiming to be the logical one in the situation… Read more…
Upcoming villain-as-hero CG flick Despicable Me is opening this week, starring Steve Carell as supervillain Gru who is forced to care for three not-always-adorable children. But while Carell might be better known for sweet guys like his Andy Stitzer in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he’s spent plenty of time being despicable– like in the following Even Step(v)hen bits alongisde his then-colleague at the Daily Show, Stephen Colbert. Read more…
Back in the mid-80’s, Hokuto no Ken — or as we’ve come to know it, Fist of the North Star — was a huge hit in Japan. It eventually produced a number of games, a few of which were localized after being heavily modified for US audiences, an OVA and a sequel. It actually blew my mind when I found out that my copy of Black Belt for the Sega Master System was actually a butchered version of the second Hakuto no Ken title. Thankfully, the games have come a long way since then.
It’s been months since the series finale aired, and yet we still find ourselves trying to make sense of everything that occurred over the course of Lost‘s six seasons. If you’re looking for answers however, you’ll just have to keep waiting until this book hits shelves in late August. Coinciding with the DVD and Blu-ray release of the sixth and final season, this encyclopedia claims to feature over 400 pages of information, from the characters and plot, to the mythologies surrounding the hit the series. Along with that, the book will also contain roughly 1,500 images from various episodes. Needless to say, if you’re a fan of Lost, you’ll want to have this book handy next time you decide to watch from start to finish. It lists for $45, but pre-order from Amazon now, and you can save $15 off the MSRP.
You’ll have to forgive me, but with the release of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge Special Edition only a day away, I felt it was probably a good time to show you exactly what to expect. The trailer above is a perfect example of the quality you can expect from LucasArts upcoming remake, in terms of voice acting, as well the visual enhancements. While I talked a little about that last week, I could only really illustrate so much with the screenshots. So, please take some time and check out this fantastic trailer — you won’t regret it.
Okay, maybe that’s a pretty high estimate, but if you want to prove the Master Control Unit wrong, you’ll need to go to San Diego Comic-Con later this month and be one of the lucky 1,500 to people in line. Why only 1,500? Well, like so many other toys premiering at the event, it’s a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive. Rendered with in a translucent purple, this Be@rbrick features the famous circut design of the outfits from the sci-fi classic. For those of you fortunate enough to be going, you’ll want to head over to the Diamond Comics booth to pick yours up. No word on the price as of yet.
I know it’s been a few weeks since E3, but if you haven’t seen the latest trailer for the latest installment of Silent Hill, then here’s your chance. Konami seems intent on staying true to the formula we’ve seen in previous entries into the series by focusing on twisted puzzels, and their usual brand of dark, thought-provoking, mystery. While that much sounds promising, this will mark the first entry into the series that lacks series composer Akira Yamaoka, who many fans hold largely responsible for creating the terrifying atmosphere that the series has been known for. Not all hope is lost however, as Dan Litch, composer for television’s Dexter, has stepped in. He has some big shoes to fill, but I have high hopes. Expect to see the game hit shelves sometime in 2011. Read more…
You know, it seemed inevitable. C-3PO and R2D2 always seemed so inseparable, so it would stand to reason that they may or may not have given birth to an illegitimate lovechild-droid. At least, web dev and caricature artist Jon Plante, seemed to think so — I just never imagined it’d be so hilarious or horrifying . That said, it sure makes for an awesome t-shirt. The shirt is currently available at teefury.com for only $9 plus shipping, but if you want one, you’ll need to hustle. Due to the format of the site, the shirt will only be available for the next 24 hours and once they sell out, they’re gone forever. If you’re worried about the quality of the shirts, I can actually vouch for them as I order from the site quite often. For more of his work, you can also check out Jon’s infrequently updated web comic Celebrity Skinned. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 5, 2010 in Comic Books
If you’re lucky enough to be in Japan this July do yourself a favor and make it a point to see an exhibition which will be honoring Machiko Hasegawa (長谷川町子) at the Sazae Setagaya Literary Museum (here’s an Adobe Acrobat file with details in Japanese). Machiko lived from 1920 until 1992 and her best known work is her comic strip Sazae-san (サザエさん) which focused on modern family life in Japan during the post-war era. The manga was one of the longest running comics series in Japan (about 10,000 strips!) and lasted from 1946 until 1974 when Machiko retired. But it wasn’t just the quality and the quantity of her work that Machiko Hasegawa stand out as she was one of the first women manga artists in Japan, which is why I wish that more otaku knew about her work. Read more…
The above video (and the ones below) tell the amazing story of the Cinema Arts Centre. Back in my art school days I met Dylan Skolnick who was then a film major at School of Visual Arts — and one of the first things I knew about him was that his parents ran an art house movie theater in Long Island. Now I didn’t think much of this as movie theaters that ran classic and art films could be found all over the nation by the 80s — but what I didn’t know was that Dylan’s parents didn’t just run the theater, but in fact were pioneers of a entire movement. Back the early 70s Dylan’s parents Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky started the theater as they were unhappy with the films they found in suburbia so on their own they started the theater as a non-profit and as the years went by many other theaters across the nation copied their template and we’re all the richer for it today. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 4, 2010 in Comic Books
This August 2010 cover of Monthly Shonen Rival caught my eye because of the very hungry looking cat who seems to be enjoying eating a watermelon. The cat and cat girl are from the manga Was in! Medium Teacher (ほんとにあった！霊媒先生) which just published its fifth volume: Read more…
In this video techie pundit Clay Shirky shares his notion that Lolcats aren’t just a fun waste of time but in fact a sign of progress. His theory is that while in the past humans have had spare time that with the net this potential can be captured to produce things — even if its adding captions to cute kitty photos.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 3, 2010 in Comic Books
Superman and Batman were both born in the Great Depression and focused on subjects that were popular in that era like fighting crime — however Captain America came about as a direction reaction to World War II by writer Joe Simon and illustrator Jack Kirby. And what’s interesting is that the first issue actually hit the newsstands in December of 1940 which was a full year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor when America entered the war. So it’s fair to say that Captain America was actually a political cartoon above all else, in fact the character was created as a reaction to the opponents of the war who were quite organized at the time. Read more…
