Monday, February 28, 2011

RIP FRANK BUCKLES

On Sunday February 28, 2011, FRANK BUCKLES, the last living U.S. WWI DOUGHBOY, passed away peacefully from 'natural causes' at the age of 110.

Buckles served as a U.S. Army ambulance driver in Europe during WWI and rose to the rank of corporal before the war ended. He also fought to see that his comrades were honored with a monument on the National Mall, alongside memorials for veterans of World War II and the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. Buckles made history when he was asked to testify in Congress on the matter before a House committee on December 3, 2009. "I have to", he said.

His daughter, Flanagan, said preliminary plans began weeks ago, with the Military District of Washington expressing its support for an honors burial at Arlington, including an escort platoon, a horse-drawn casket arrival, a band and a firing party. "It has long been my father's wish to be buried in Arlington, in the same cemetery that holds his beloved General Pershing," Flanagan said.

Buckles' family asks that donations be made to the National World War I Legacy Project to honor Frank Buckles and the 4,734,991 Americans that he served with during World War I. Details can be found at: www.frankbuckles.org

*above taken from CNN

FACEHUGGER PIC

by Dennis Larkins
*thanks, Joanna!

I AM NOW CONVINCED MARVEL IS BEING RUN BY 6TH GRADERS

Glowing Lines, Cybernetic Arm,
Oversized Weapons
& Darth Maul.
Wheeeeeeee!

*Tron Fever , TronVariants

NEW THUNDERCATS TEASER


It's not what I would want in a new Thundercats show (nor was the original), but it seems to be what the kids today like. Sorry, but THEY'RE the intended audience, not us old 30/40-Something fanboys. I'll check it out, but still wish it had gone in a different creative direction. I think the kids today deserve better.

Friday, February 25, 2011

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY: DARTH SLOTH

FETISH FRIDAY: FREAKY STARFIRE DOLL

SCARY!
Make it go away!



Bonus pic: Starfire Statue designed by Adam "T&A" Hughes:

ALIEN CHALK DRAWING

Kedeus posts: "My son’s depiction of an evil alien."

Love it!

(source via Aliens&Predators)

END OF AN ERA: FARE THEE WELL, DYLAN BATTLES

Well, its the end of an Era... DYLAN BATTLES, Back Issues Manager of Golden Apple Comics, is spreading his wings to soar to new adventurous heights. Today is his last day (Friday, 2/25/2011).

During his 8 year Tour of Duty, Dylan brought a unique level of excellence, fun & positive energy to the store. He also organized the crap out of the place, especially after the move to the 'new' store a few years back. He is a rare gem and the store will not be the same without his presence and influence. He shall be sorely missed by many fanboys & fangirls, including myself, who have made The Apple their local comic book store these past 8 years.

So if you're in the Hollywood area today, swing into Golden Apple and give that Fucker a happy farewell slap on the ass. Bring/buy a copy of DC Comics' 'MANHUNTER' (which he starred in) and have him sign it - it will make him really uncomfortable!

Godspeed in your new adventures, Sir Battles!

--------------------------------
Golden Apple Comics
7018 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 658-6047

JAGA & JACKALMAN FIGURES

2 more Sideshow THUNDERCATS figures you're gonna want to buy; JAGA & JACKALMAN. You can find both over at Sideshow Collectibles' website HERE and HERE, $30 each.

BEHOLD THE MIGHTY JAGA JUNK!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

MOVIE KILOWOG THOUGHTS

Above is the movie-version of Green Lantern KILOWOG. I've been hesitating to post about it because, personally, I think the movie looks like garbage. But here we are. I don't hate it, but nor do I like it. I've shown the pic to a few GL fans and the first quesition asked is, "Is that Kilowog?". Which means on one level he's recognizable... but they did have to ask.

For me, my main 'fanboy gripe' is the skin tone, which is orange instead of pink. When I think of 'orange-skin Green Lantern', I go to TOMAR-RE. The other small 'fanboy gripe' is his face design. Maybe if the top face-'tendrils' were longer...? And what's with the blue eyes? Why not something a bit more... ya know, alien?! Finally, his physique - it doesn't look like Kilowog's body shape or silhouette, which is unmistakeable.

Like I said, it looks similar to Kilowog, but.... it's just NOT Kilowog, ya know? I would have much preferred if he looked more like his Comic counterpart:
But maybe not as 'cartoony'... perhaps a blend between the two? Overall, not bad. I neither hate it, nor like it. It just is what it is. And it could have been much much worse, knowing Hollywood. Anyway, those ae my thoughts on a small aspect of a movie I think looks like garbage.

What do you think of it?

Here are two bonus pics:

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

MY TROOPS

While looking for the Viper-on-Card pic, I stumbled upon Ronin's site "MY TROOPS" which has GIJoe figures posed & photographed. Dig those Dreadnoks!

Check it out HERE.

Side Note: One of the first issues of GIJOE I owned was #30 (circa 1984) which featurd the Dreadnoks! That year, I drew so many Whiskey-drinkin' (grape soda), mohawk-sportin' Biker-dudes in my notebooks! Within the comics, I loved the Dreadnoks!

12-INCH COBRA VIPER

Dood, COBRA VIPERS are F-ing sweet, no bones about it. In fact, I'd rank them on my Top 10 Coolest GIJoe Characer List (ooh, future post!). Well Sideshow now has a sweet 12" VIPER. Check it out:

I really dig it, however I wish the front silver faceplate wasn't so obscured by the helmet. Its a personal preference - I just dig the original design more. But please do not let that small gripe stop you from buying me one.

$135 HERE
(excl variant includes xtra portrait head w/padded helmet)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

DWAYNE McDUFFIE PASSED AWAY

Sad news today: DWAYNE McDUFFIE passed away yesterday, due to "surgical complications".

McDuffie co-founded the MILESTONE imprint of comics which included STATIC SHOCK and (my personal favorite of the line) HARDWARE and contributed to numerous pre-established Comic Books. Diehard Marvel fans will also recall he co-created DAMAGE CONTROL!

Upon co-founding Milestone Media, McDuffie stated:
"If you do a black character or a female character or an Asian character, then they aren't just that character. They represent that race or that sex, and they can't be interesting because everything they do has to represent an entire block of people. You know, Superman isn't all white people and neither is Lex Luthor. We knew we had to present a range of characters within each ethnic group, which means that we couldn't do just one book. We had to do a series of books and we had to present a view of the world that's wider than the world we've seen before."
In addition to adapting his Static Shock to an animated series, he was also a major driving force in [the awesome] JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (acting as writer, story editor & producer) and created BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE & ULTIMATE ALIEN. He also wrote some of the recent, badass DC Direct-to-DVD Animated Movies; 'Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths' and 'All-Star Superman'.

McDuffie was a fantastic storyteller and was a positive contributor to Comics & Animation. He pushed for breaking Race Stereotyping and showed that in the end, its all about GOOD Storytelling.

My condolences to his Friends & Family. Thank you for your contributions, Mr McDuffie, and the legacy you leave behind.

*Hardware: Vol 1 available now!

HOPE YOU LIKE STAR WARS!

Check out this killer piece by ULISES FARINAS!

T-800... Oz... Lava Lamps... One-Arm Walrus Man... Jedi Batman... Tardis... Gamorrean Couple... Bloody Protocol ... Thoughtful IG-88... Puking Calamari... Away Team... Romantic/Jealous Fortuna... Bounty Hunter Firefight... Predator... Time Lord... Dewback Tagging... Crashed Vader TIE... Jawa Pickpocket... Superman... LegoMan... Light Cycle... Ninja In A Half-Shell.... Bart... an Alien Egg!! and more!

*thanks Ulises!

Monday, February 21, 2011

HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY !

To mark today's National Holiday, I thought I'd give a shout-out to a lesser-known, often-forgotten Commander-in-Chief: "MADAME PRESIDENT" (unnamed) from the 90s 'X-Men: The Animated Series'!

Friday, February 18, 2011

COMPOSITE HULK? REALLY, MARVEL?

Hulk #30 - cover here - (I've never liked Impossible Man stories)

BONUS PICS:
The 1st Composite Superman (circa 1974):

FANART FRIDAY: ALIEN PAINTING

by JimSmash Reader SHAUN STROUP!

SANDI TOKSVIG RE-ENACTS 'ALIEN'


I'd start watching around 1:35. It's fun/cute.

FANTRAILER: WOLVERINE 2

Thursday, February 17, 2011

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY: SUPER-SOAKER RIPLEY

Buy HERE
*thanks Mitch R!

'LV-426 SUGAR COLONY' SUGAR SKULL

Dig this ALIEN print by JONATHAN KOSHI! Entitled 'LV-426 SUGAR COLONY', its part of his limited 'Sugar Skull' series! Unfortunetly it's sold out with no current plans at reprinting. Which makes me incredibly sad because I would have loved to buy it. Hopefully Mr. Koshi will do another run.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

JOANNE 'LOIS LANE' SIEGEL PASSED AWAY

via ComicsAlliance.com:

Joanne Siegel, the original model for Lois Lane and the wife of Superman co-creator and artist Jerry Siegel, passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Joanne met Siegel and his co-creator Joe Shuster when she was a teenager in the 1930s, and responded to a newspaper ad for a model.

When Siegel saw her, he believed he had found the face of of a certain character he was working on for a comic book. "I thought she was the perfect ideal for Lois Lane," said Jerry Siegel in a 1981 documentary called
Superman: The Comic Strip Hero. "She just represented my image of her."

Joanne and Jerry would later marry in 1948, and after Jerry's passing in 1996, Joanne took up the legal battle with Warner Bros to take back the copyright to the Superman character, which Siegel and Shuster originally sold for a mere $130. Joanne called regaining the copyright "a dream of Jerry's," and the Siegel family would later regain a share of the copyright in 2008.

PULSE RIFLE SIGHTING: DUKE

JimSmash Reader JEYL has found another PULSE RIFLE SIGHTING in the 'recent' GIJOE Figure DUKE - "Pursuit of Cobra" line. It has some lengthened barrels and an odd paintjob which "hides" the Pulse Rifle design abit. But there you go - another Aliens' Colonial Marines M-41A Pulse Rifle in plastic action-figure form!

*thanks Jeyl!

SNOW CASTLE GRAYSKULL

AWESOME.
(link)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

SMART GUN SIGHTING: NEW IRON GRENADIER

The new GIjoe 'IRON GRENADIER' comes with a SMART GUN, as seen in ALIENS! I've always liked the Grenadiers... add in the smart gun and Hasbro just made a sale! (Although I'll have to paint the gun BLACK... maybe the figure, too).

*thanks Jeyl!
BONUS PICS:
Original Designs:
---
GRENADIER AT-AT
by 'Barefoot_Jedi'

PROTOTYPE ARMOR FETT


Remember last year's super-sweet "Vintage" Rocket-Firing Boba Fett Mail-Away? Well this year's mail-away is supposedly 'PROTOTYPE ARMOR FETT' which looks fucking awwwwwesome. I must have. MUST. HAVE.

*thanks, TimeWaster!

LEGO DROPSHIP

Check out this LEGO Dropship by MacLane!
USCM Cheyenne UD-4L Dropship from Aliens (1986). The Chibi FBTB contest inspired me to try out some other ships in this format. Since Aliens is the best movie ever made, I decided to start there. Photo by Neil Helm (cadex41 on Flickr)

Nice! And he's correct: Aliens IS the best movie ever made!

Bonus Pic > AT-AT:
*thanks, Shelly!

Monday, February 14, 2011

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!


*pic via Timothy O'Brien

THE COOLEST TOY OF 2011 ? ? ?

Find the 3 Super-Awesome things in this picture!

*SDCC 2011 exclusive, soon-to-be mine!

Friday, February 11, 2011

RANDOM FIND: COBRA PUNISHER

Though an unsuccessful Punisher...
this pic is still Awesome Beyond Words!

GALACTIC ECONOMIC HARD TIMES


Found over at CHUCK DIAMOND.