Is that Hattori Hanzo steel?

So you’ve watch the movie and now you need to own the actual sword, what do you do? Well True Swords carries quite a few sword replicas for die hard fanboys. I was quite impressed with their selection, which includes swords from Kill Bill, Final Fantasy, and even an X-Men Wolverine claw. Anime fans will also enjoy the Bleach, Naruto, and Rurouni Kenshin swords.

Fifty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1956

In 1956 fanboys were mad about Mad magazine (Issue #30 from December shown on the top left) and reading tons of comic books littered with space aliens like ‘Mystery in Space’ on the right which sports a cover by cover by Gil Kane. Below that are some panels shown from a classic Peanuts comic strip from March of ‘56, and on a more serious note the comic book on the right features Martin Luther King Jr. and a story about the early civil rights movement.

Corot: Designed to Find Earth-like Planets

The Corot (COnvection, ROtation and planetary Transits) spacecraft is scheduled for launch today! The spacecraft (seen above, click on the image to view at a larger size) will be capable of detecting small rocky planets of a similar size to our own. There’s a great Mission Overview at BBC News or for more details you can check out the Corot website.

Sixty Years Ago in Comics: Looking Back at 1946

In 1946 for ten dollars you could buy 100 comic books! Shown above is Captain Marvel Adventures #67 in which the captain gets a secretary, on the left is Startling Comics #41 which features the newspaper headline ‘Volunteers Wanted for Atomic Tests’, below is America’s typical teenager Archie and to the right is a cover from Will Eisner’s The Spirit, Oct. 6, 1946.

Optimus Prime Arrives!

This Transformers cover from Empire magazine is making the rounds on the net, click on the image to see it full size!

Dédééééé

Here’s a silly animated commercial from Belgium which seems to be selling lotto tickets:

Notice that while the commercial is using computer graphics, it’s still using traditional 2D animation techniques wen you see the boing and the bounce of the pig running off at the end. The charatcers aren’t just stiff plastic puppets, and they’re interacting with each other.

Racketeers Kidnap Miss Santa Claus

Above: A classic 1948 Wonder Woman themed Christmas cover illustrated by Harry G. Peter.

Here’s a sensational description of the story synopsis:

Racketeers Kidnap Miss Santa Claus

“Diana Prince meets a poor boy named Pete Allen who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. Wonder Woman decides to visit the boy’s family and deliver presents. She discovers that the boy lives in a slum. His mother is scared that her sister’s husband, Joe Bamko, will hurt the children.

Wonder Woman meets Joe who kidnaps the kids to use as hostages against her. Wonder Woman is forced to surrender to the gangster. Under the influence of her own magic lasso, Wonder Woman is then forced to break into the treasury to steal gold for the gangster. With the help of Steve and Etta, Wonder Woman frees herself and stops Joe’s gang from escaping. She then finishes delivering presents to Pete and his sister.”

However historians can only guess why a Christmas themed comic book was released in February…

Calvin & Hobbes: The Art of the Snowman

For Christmas I’d like to share this very enjoyable collection of comic strips that made me smile:

A special tribute to Calvin, Hobbes and
the Underappreciated Art of the Snowman

Found via Comic Ne.ws.

Bugs Bunny Celebrates Christmas

Above: A 1946 cover of Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies Comics #51 featuring Bugs Bunny.

Found via this Looney Tunes Collectibles page.

Pulp Xmas

Something for you Quentin Tarantino fanboys:

Read more…

Tezuka Exhibition Coming to US in 2007

“Tezuka the Marvel of Manga”, an exhibition featuring the work of manga and anime master Osamu Tezuka currently being hosted in Melbourne, Australia, will move on to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in June 2007, after a tour stop at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia.

Found via Toonzone.net and Animaxis.com.

Shatner vs. Rocket Man

Arguably the most famous performance of Elton John’s Rocket Man was in 1978, at a science fiction film awards ceremony, Bernie Taupin personally introduced William Shatner’s unique interpretation of Rocket Man. Shatner’s version utilized then-modern chromakey video techniques to portray simultaneously three different facets of the Rocket Man’s character:

Read more…

Shimura Zoo: Miracle Dog

Warning: The following video from “Tensai! Shimura Dobutsu-en” (aka Genius! Shimura Zoo) will make you want to cry! This episode features the sad tale of the Takahashi family which lives in Aichi prefecture Ichinomiya city and their one and a half year old paralyzed pet puppy dog. But don’t fear, before the episode runs too long we see the return of the mystery psychic pet healer from California who may be able to help:

Read more…

Grind House: Latest Trailer

I’d say that this is on the top of my “must see on opening day” list for 2007!

The Oz Library

Oz magzine was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963–69 in Sydney, Australia and, in a second and more famous incarnation it became a “psychedelic hippy” magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London. Strongly identified as part of the underground scene, it was the subject of two celebrated obscenity trials. On both occasions the magazine’s editors were acquitted on appeal after initially being found guilty and sentenced to harsh jail terms.

Most of the issues have been scanned at high resolution and can be found at the Oz Library (just keep in mind that the issues may be ‘not safe or work’):

The Oz Library

Read more…

Nintendo DS Lite? Manhattan? Sold Out!

So I wanted to get the perfect gift for a tech junkie who already owns not one, not two, but three iPods! Then it hit me: Why not get a Nintendo DS Lite? It’s perfect for someone stuck on a subway, it’s the right price, and best of all it’s an interesting gadget with the cute two screen interface.

Well I’ve just returned from stopping at five stores, and I can tell you that the Nintendo DS Lite is sold out in Manhattan. In fact when I stopped by Circuit City I was told they’ve been sold out for two weeks now. When I stopped by a GamesStop store a sales clerk gave me his explanation:

“From what I’ve seen many parents ran in here to buy the Wii which is also sold out. But they somehow figure getting a Nintendo something will do the trick, so they buy the DS Lite!”

This sort of makes sense to me, but if it’s true something tells me that quite a few kids who asked Santa for a Wii will be a bit let down on Monday morning…

Minuscule: Computer Animation Done Correctly!

Well I gone on many a rant on how sad the state of computer animation is these days in Hollywood (with perhaps the exception of Pixar). However recently I came across a television series called Minuscul from France by an animation studio called Futurikon. Here’s a good description of the show from the TV France International website:

“Imagine a blend between a National Geographic documentary and a Tex Avery cartoon. A combination of 3D characters and live footage, with no commentary or dialog. Based on this offbeat starting point, the series will be zooming in to the grassroots level of the counrtyside to give viewers a bird’s eye view of insects’ day-to-day existence, distorted through a burlesque, yet poetic lens.”

Of course you can also take a look for yourself via the magic of YouTube:

In an ideal world someone in Hollywood would cancel Shrek the Third and allow Futurikon to make a feature film out of Minuscule.

Found via Cartoon Brew.

Sparta 300: Latest Trailer

I have no idea if this film has any sort of plot, but man it looks real slick:

Sparta 300: Latest Trailer

“Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.”

Godzilla Wearing Kiss Makeup

This is a very silly Kiss themed commercial from Japan that’s now airing for Canon cameras:

Found via japanprobe.com.

Real Rescue Robots

This is an interesting video from the 6th Annual Rescue Robot Contest held in Kobe, Japan (the city that had a great earthquake in 1995). There is some amazing technology being created here:

That’s One Mean Ass Looking Robot…

The above images are from a Japanese article on new limited edition Black Getter ‘alloy model’ from Bandai. Black Getter is a robot that appears in the Shin Getter (真ゲッターロボ) robot OAV. Also if you want to see an amazing job that somebody did with a mere plastic Black Getter model, check out this amazing page.

ComicsSpace

ComicsSpace is like MySpace, but for Comic Book professionals and fans. Right now the service allows you setup a page and network with friends, but there are plans in the works to allow comic artists to hosttheir work on the website:

ComicsSpace.com

And if you’re already on ComicsSpace, add me to your buddy list:

Comicspace.com/fanboy/

Digg for Comic Books: ComicNe.ws

I’ve always enjoyed playing with Digg.com which is a social news site, but I have to admit I’ve always hated the fact that there isn’t a section for comic books. Now you might find a comic book link every now and then in the entertainment section, but you have to go through dozens of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears links before seeing anything half interesting. So I was quite happy to discover that someone had setup a similar social news site for comic books and related topics:

The ComicNe.ws Tracker

I’m also impressed that they also have categories for topics like Manga and Web Comics!

Ren and Stimpy: Lost Scene

Had it been produced, the ‘Life Sucks’ episode of Ren and Stimpy might have been the only bit of animation to ever focus on the Children’s Crusade! Below is a storyboard reel (animatic) which depicts Ren realizing it’s his duty to cure Stimpy of his naivety and he takes him on a journey through history to make him wake up and smell the coffee:

Found via the blog of John Kricfalusi (which also has some great additional storyboard art from the episode).