Coop's Blog

BRAIN: Coop has a really fun blog. It's called Positive Ape Index. He talks about his paintings and his cars and even shows his kick-ass collection of Japanese toys.

Marvel Zombies Still Selling Out

BRAIN: I thought the hype would die down after the first issue but they are still selling out and getting reprints. Above is the cover for the third printing of issue #1 and below is the second printing of #3. You can see all of the other covers here.

What Is Your Cyborg Name?

BRAIN: The Cyborg Name Decoder will give you a name that you can use after the robots take over. It's only a matter of time, so check it out. Here is ours...

Favorite Catwoman

BRAIN: Just watched Batman, The Movie (1966) again and remembered just how hot Lee Meriwether was as the Catwoman. She deserves a little gallery to jog everyone's memory...

Spidey In A Black Suit

BRAIN: Or is it Venom? The first publicity shot from Spider-man 3.

Superman II - Good News/Bad News

BRAIN: Good News. The much anticipated Richard Donnar cut of Superman II will be released on DVD in November. This will be 40% longer than the theatrical release and include more Brando footage. Richard Donnar was fired after filming almost three-quarters of Superman II and was never able to finish this film. It is being reconstructed from the original shooting script and Donnar's original notes. I've seen some footage of Zod shooting up the Oval Office with a machine gun... Pretty cool.

BAD NEWS: You will have to buy a 14 DVD Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition to get it.

ZOD

I've Always Liked Mexican Wrestling Masks

BRAIN: Natcho Libre: He wrestles for God...

Ultimate Avengers The Movie

BRAIN: I am happy to report that I didn't have a problem with this movie. In fact, I enjoyed it. I went in with pretty low expectations so I guess it was easy to exceed them. Yes, the animation was not to my liking. Supposedly the characters were based on Bryan Hitch's art, but it's been pretty dumbed down and a little generic. I hope this DVD sells well so the movies that follow will have a larger budget to really nail the art. The story is a mix of the first twelve issues of The Ultimates but does not follow them exactly. I think they did a good job merging the two stories and some the fight sequences were really cool. I did not like how they made Hank Pym such a dick, but Thor was really frickin' cool!

I give it a solid B.

After watching this again, I just can't get over the lame animation... I want to lower the grade to a C+

Artist Profile: Dean Trippe

ZED: Ever since you sent me that link about Dean Trippe I've been checking out his site and his strip Butterfly it's awesome...Birdie (Robin) Knight-Bat's (Batman) sidekick, get's a sidekick himself—Butterfly, he's kind of a panzy and it get's pretty funny. Read the strip at www.deantrippe.com.

Deadman

BRAIN: After watching last weekend's Justice League Unlimited, I've been thinking about Deadman. Deadman is a character I've seen over the years but I've never bought or read any of his comics. I've always thought he seemed really cool. My brother had some Batman's with Deadman in them and they always kind of scared me. I'm going to pick up some back issues.

I've been looking around and found some really cool images.

ZED: I liked him in that episode too, I have that Kingdom Come figure, one of my favorites. I have a cool daredevil, deadman team up comic somewhere that was cool. When are they putting the JLU dvds out?

BRAIN: March 21. But the first set will be just the Justice League and not Justice League Unlimited...

John K's Blog

BRAIN: John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren and Stimpy, has a blog called all kinds of stuff. He posts some great sketches and things he is working on/pitching now. Pretty funny stuff. The characters of Tom and Katie are great.

Spider-man: The '67 Collection

BRAIN: I've done it. I've made it through all 6 DVDs in this collection of Spider-man cartoons from 1967 - 1970. This has been in my DVD stack since in came out in 2004 but it was recently that I started at the beginning and watched all 52 episodes. I was looking for something to watch with Jack (my year and a half old son) that didn't consist of songs sung by four Australian guys sporting primary colored, Star Trek looking outfits. It worked. He watched, or at least didn't mind having it on in the background. I love these. They bring back memories of spending Saturday mornings in front of the tube and sitting about six inches away from the screen. They are a little before my time, but I was lucky enough to see these in rerun. They did a great job restoring these. I've had bootlegs on VHS and they were pretty murky. They are now bright, crisp and sound great (but still mono). The animation looks really dated though, so I doubt most older kids will get into these. Me, I like the simple animation style. The buildings are painted different colors, Spidey swings the same way where ever he goes, the plots are simple. About half way through they start getting pretty bizarre though, Ralph Bakshi takes over. Spidey stops fighting guys like Electro and Scorpion and starts fighting monsters and mad scientists, the sky in the background goes from a light blue to an almost LSD-inspired wash of water color and the music even gets a little funkier. These stories play out a little more like Jonny Quest or Scooby-Doo. Something else I discovered, the voice of Peter Parker is the same guy who did Hermey on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I had a great time watching these.

At about buck an episode, you can't go wrong. I give this an A-.

M.M.M.S. part 2

BRAIN: I posted two weeks back about the Merry Marvel Marching Society and how I really love the 60's style Marvel look and feel of their fan club. Maybe I like them because they don't take themselves as serious as most comics do now. Here is another find. It's Marvel stickers from 1967. Their not really funny, but to me it has an innocent charm that brings back memories of reading comics when I was a kid.

It's Back And I Couldn't Be Happier!

BRAIN: Remember watching roller derby on tv back in the 70's? Well roller derby leagues are spring up all over the place again and we have a great one right here in Minneapolis. We have to go. Pabst Blue Ribbon is the only beer served. That pretty much sums it up right there. I've talked to a couple of people who have seen the Minnesota Rollergirls and they say it's excellent. I think there is only two more home events left; March 24 and April 15. Who's with me?

New Bond Girl :: Eva Green

BRAIN: The official Casino Royale website has announced the newest bond girl to be Eva Green. Above is the picture attached to the press release. My first impression was just mediocre, but we'll see I guess...

"After an extensive search we have found the perfect actress. Eva is one of France's most accomplished young actresses, now receiving international acclaim. She brings to the complex role of Vesper an exciting combination of enigmatic and seductive beauty."

I went to IMDB to see what she has been in:
1 :: Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
2 :: Arsène Lupin (2004)
3 :: The Dreamers (2003)

I looked around for some other pics and these were the best I could find.

Star Wars Read-Along Records

BRAIN: I've never been accused of spending my time on productive things... That being said, I've ripped these three Star Wars Read-Along records in and saved them out as mp3s. These bring me back to a time when Star Wars was fresh and new and pretty much consumed all of my time. They have authentic Star Wars sound effects for R2 and Chewie but use voice actors for Luke, Leia and Han. I think they actually hired Anthony Daniels for C3P0. They rush through the stories pretty fast because they have to fit on the front and back of 7 inch record, but that's alright. The simplicity of these are what make them great. I originally thought they were from Power Records, but they are actually from Buena Vista Records.

A NEW HOPE
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
RETURN OF THE JEDI

Megaman *&$#*% Hard

ZED: Megaman X Maverick Hunter is awesome on the psp, gameplay is exactly like it was when I played the first Megaman on the NES. Better graphics and a not-too japanimationy look make this a must-have psp title. But damn is it hard, I've put in about 10 hours and I still haven't beat a boss, the levels themselves aren't too bad, but the bosses are tough.

Zim

ZED: Invader Zim is the present day animated version of Calvin & Hobbes, it is awesome if you haven't seen it.

Holy Terror, Batman!

BRAIN: Frank Miller is in the process of writing and drawing another Batman story called Holy Terror, Batman! Batman will be going after al-Qaeda in "a propaganda piece" that is "very pulpy" and "quite emotional." He went on to say that he feels that this is some of his best art ever.

"Superman punched out Hitler, and so did Captain America," Miller said. "It seemed kind of silly for Batman to chase around the Riddler, when you have al-Qaeda out there."

ZED: Sounds dumb, I see the comic universe as an alternate of ours, I hate it when they shamelessly sponge off dramatic current events, batman vs. terrorists I could see, but does it really need to be al-Qaeda? I am losing respect for Miller ever since DK2 (except for the part when the atom jumps around in Superman's ear and screws up his equilibrium, that was awesome). I'll reserve judgement until I see more but...

I Can't Decide

BRAIN: Do I like Alex Meleev's art? Sometimes I look at his work and I'm blown away and other times I wonder what he was thinking... I'm not sure what it is. Composition is nice. I think it's the way he draws faces maybe.

The sample page above is from The New Avengers: Illuminati. Illuminati is a secret team made up of Reed Richards, Professor X, Black Bolt, Iron Man, Namor and Dr. Strange that was formed after the Kree-Skrull War to watch over the Marvel Universe. I guess there is a rift in the group and this starts the Civil War in the Marvel Universe. It may be because they were responsible for sending the Hulk into space somewhere. I'm getting sucked in.

Going Back for More

ZED: Ok, I am late, but an official INVINCIBLE fan, I picked up the second trade, loved it, I'm going to pick up the rest soon. I love the shameless parallels to existing heroes, yet different.

BRAIN: Cool! I'm glad you liked it. It's a slow build. It keeps getting better.

Attack

ZED: This shirt is awesome, they have it at Penny Arcade I've seen it elsewhere too.

Just Don't Make Him Mad

BRAIN: CNN has reported that Lou Ferrigno has been sworn in as a Los Angeles county reserve deputy officer.

Zed and I met him at Wizard World in Chicago. We think he is ready for a comeback. How is that script coming Zed? He was in great shape, not that I
was looking...

Hopes Are Fading

BRAIN: Yikes. Here is a picture of Colossus from X3 that I grabbed from Ain't It Cool News. Now I'm getting scared. I was starting to get high hopes for this movie. A metal mask? He looks like Doom! His fingers look more like metal sausages. Also wondering about the Frankenstein pose and walking through a foggy wasteland? What was wrong with the way he looked in X2?

I Thought This Was A Joke...

BRAIN: It's real! Discover great movies with William Shatner. Let's try and predict the next crazy thing he will endorse.

Stamps

BRAIN: The post office will be releasing some DC stamps this year. It's unclear as to when exactly, some reports say around the San Diego Comic-Con and a different article says September. I think they look pretty dang cool. It's ten heroes with two stamps each, an action pose and a comic book cover. A cool mix of classic and current artists; Lee, Adams, Kirby, Perez, Kubert, more. I also read that we may get some Marvel stamps next year. I hope so.

ZED: Probably not, Marvel's a bit off the ball it seems lately.

Kelsey as Beast, part 2

BRAIN: These are promo posters that were handed out at WonderCon last weekend. I think they look pretty cool but Kelsey seems a little uncomfortable...

ZED: and the Angel shot looks like a Victoria's Secret for Men ad.

Star Wars Valentines

BRAIN: Something Awful has posted some really freakin' funny Star Wars valentines!

SIDE NOTE: The guy who played Uncle Owen just kicked the bucket yesterday.

Your Personal Kung Fu Soundtrack

BRAIN: Fun site. "I Know Where Bruce Lee Lives" lets you mix a soundtrack to your own kung fu movie starring Bruce Lee. The design is great and you can even record and playback your masterpiece.

War is Hell

BRAIN: OK Marvel. My interest is peaked. There is a Civil War coming and no corner of the Marvel Universe will be unaffected. "...when the greatest minds of the Marvel Universe can't agree, it can only mean one thing: WAR!"

Now please deliver. If you are going to show Captain America with a shield full of blood (below), you better show him pounding the living shit out of someone! How many comics have a bought with the promise of two heros duking it out only to find a Three's Company style misunderstanding? Some people will say that heroes should be heroes and live by a higher set of rules and standards. Me, I say they can snap every once in a while so let the punches fly. AND if you are calling it a civil war, someone better die or this is the last comic gimmick I'm falling for! (right...)

Separated at Birth?

ZED: I'm not so sure I'm excited about the way Kelsey Grammar looks in the upcoming X3 as the beast. I'm having a bit of deja vu here especially when I saw the fur hanging out of his suit at the wrists.