Saturday Morning Cartoon Ads

Here are some cartoon ads that appeared in Comic books

Challenge of the Gobots 1986

Jestsons and Galtar and the Golden Lance, 1986

NBC's moring lineup 1978, Including the Fantastic Four with no Human Torch and Godzilla with his little buddy Godzuki

-Swinebread

Personal Irk

It bugs me when people say "ro-BUTT" instead of "RO-bot"



-Swinebread

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Tonight

The beginning of the end is here. The final season of Battlestar Galactica at 10 P.M. on SciFi.

Here's a few vids

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Promo



Battlestar Galactica: What the Frak is Going On? (season 1 to season 3 recap)



Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Preview (minor spoilers)


-Swinebread

Favorite Marvel B-Listers

STEPHEN at Comic Book Weekness had a quick post on his favorite Marvel B-listers. Well here's a some of mine. Although to most folks these might be Z-listers.


Jack of Hearts



Deathlok



Doctor Spectrum



Starhawk (the guy on the top)


Adam Warlock


Dagger


Killraven



Machine Man


Gargoyle



Darkstar


Monica Rambeau (Pulsar?)



What are yours?


-Swinebread

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Invasion of the Love Robots indeed!

-Swinebread

Phased-Plasma Rifle In the Forty Watt Range

We’ve been enjoying the Sarah Conner Chronicles here at Casa de Swinebread, but my SO was having some trouble with the context of the show. She couldn’t really remember the movies and to make matters worse, FX had been showing Terminator 3 over and over again, which is totally ignored by the TV show, so she was confused even more. It’s been a while for me too for that matter.

Freddy’s was having a DVD sale so I picked up the first Terminator movie for seven bucks and we watched it this last weekend. I gotta’ say, Man, what a great piece of Sci-fi fun! I’m really getting CG’ed and kungfu-ed out, so it was nice to watch something made on a smaller budget with straightforward action. In fact, by today’s standards the look of movie seems almost grindhouse, but that's part of the appeal IMO. After all these years, I still enjoy the performances and I also realized I prefer Arnie as a robotic killing machine rather then a sympathetic hero (or Governor?). My SO really enjoyed the film too and the whole Sarah Conner and Son thing was finally cleared up for her.

Since we’ve gotten some chorological distance from ‘80s, I’ve noticed another aspect of the film I don’t think I could have recognized when I was younger. The Terminator is also a horror film of sorts. Think about it. A mindless killer, that can’t die, keeps coming back over and over. Sounds like any number of slasher flicks from the 80s and 70s to me. But this film works much better than any Slasher flick because it actually has a plot and an inventive use (for the time) of sci-fi tropes. Who, isn’t bored by the dumb ingénue that’s alone in the dark, but with Terminator, it could be night or day with lots of people around and the killer is still there chasing you. I feel the film also taps into fears of gun violence, which is much more of a real concern than a guy cutting you up in your dreams.

So, after all this time and all the special effects that have come down the pike, I like the first one the best. The Terminator is an excellent science fiction film and maybe that’s because the one-liners are actually delivered by a “robot.” This picture is also different too, because motherhood is seen as a strength and the brief romance between Sarah and Kyle is must if humanity is to survive. In fact, the only thing I don’t like about this film is Sarah Conner’s hairstyle… that’s one part of the eighties that didn’t age every well.

Trailer:




On a side note, Dynamite Entertainment is currently doing a 4-issue crossover between their Painkiller Jane and Terminator 2 Infinity comics and it's surprisingly entertaining. We get a strike team invading Skynet, John Conner in command, and another Terminator randomly sent into the past. The first two issues are out now with last two next month.

-Swinebread

Come With Me If You Want To Be Renewed (Hopefully)

FOX may have a hit on their hands with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I really enjoyed the first half of the premiere this last Sunday and I'm looking forward to the second half Monday night.
From Wikipedia:

[The Show is about] the adventures of the title character and her son in the years after Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The series will ignore Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Sarah Connor will be alive. The series starts with the return of the Terminators into their lives, prompting Sarah and John to stop running and focus on stopping the birth of Skynet. They are aided by Cameron, a Terminator, played by Summer Glau, who poses as a student at John's school and whose mission is to protect John. Meanwhile, an FBI agent named James Ellison pursues Sarah and John with the belief that Sarah is deranged.

I didn't pay attention to any of the publicity for the show and I'm glad I didn't because the plot was a delightful surprise. A great premise, good actors, and thrilling action (for a TV program), make Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles a winner in my book (so far). Sure it's got a TV budget but it works for what they're trying to do with this program. It's a case where less is more. It makes me happy to see Summer Glau on network TV again and it makes me really happy the whole thing doesn't look like Vancouver B.C.

Of course I could be all wrong and the Sarah Connor Chronicles will get cancelled... this IS a sci-fi show on FOX we are talking about here.

trailer:


-swinebread

Trip to Japan Part VI

After the relaxed time my wife and had had the day before, we decided to make one last big excursion into Tokyo. Our destination… Ueno Park. It’s a popular area with museums and cherry trees among other things. After the hustle and bustle of the Ueno station, it’s a huge busy place, it was nice to walk into the wide open space of the park. As there are many things to see and do in Ueno Park we came with a specific goal of going to the Treasures of the Tokugawa exhibit (since closed) at the Tokyo National Museum. But wouldn’t you know it on the way there my SO spied a poster for The Great Robot Exhibition at the National Museum Nature and Science. We checked our watch, and figured we had enough time to for this as well.

My ticket for The Great Robot Exhibition

The exhibit was a showcase of current robots, past automatons, and futuristic designs from comics and film, basically it was a celebration of Japanese robots both real and imagined. After entering and walking by an impressive display of Gundam toys, we came into large room with many displays but what immediately caught my attention was a live presentation. Now the robot they were showing off wasn’t very impressive, the poor guy who built it, couldn’t get it to work, but the gal helping him threw me for a loop. See, she was crouching there and her ass was hanging out! Here was this huge family-like crowed with bright lights and a near full moon was on stage. This was rather surprising because Japanese folks tend to be very careful about covering themselves up. Standing where I was, there was a great view so it wasn’t surprising that a rather large group had developed. I managed to get a shot of the scene with my camera though I wasn’t allowed to use a flash and I had to zoom in, but you get the idea. The ass gal

After the butt shot I got back why I came and began exploring the various robots. The early clockwork automatons, called karakuri ningyo were very impressive. I was especially fond of the tea servers, as I had seen them before on the history channel. The other displays had both real and imaginary robots side by side. I got excited about one in particular, it was a model of Astro Boy (Atomic Boy) along with two pages of actual Astro Boy manga art by Osamu Tezuka himself. I was so into looking at the inked strokes and lines on the pages that I didn’t realize I’d placed my hand on the case and an attendant had to come over to and tell me to “not touch.” I was so into it in fact that I totally forgot to take picture. One of the things I do remember though was that the paper had turned yellow but the paint used for corrections was still very white. The strokes and line work were just perfect though, and if I had only seen this and nothing else it would have been completely worth it.

3 robots including Doremon

A robot suit for disabled folks

A robot for dancing

Mazenger Z


Here’s Asimo. You probably have seen him on the news. For this robot they had a big production where he performed all kinds of tasks for a family of four, like learning a dance and setting up a table for a meal. His movements were impressive, very smooth and near lifelike.



After the Great Robot Exhibit we headed over to the Tokyo National Museum, which I had been to on past trips to Japan to see their regular exhibitions. The Treasures of the Tokugawa exhibit was incredible with all manner of kimonos, mother of pearl furniture and gold treasures but alas no picture taking was allowed. I got quite overheated as I did with the Chōjū-giga exhibit but I still I was able to look over the heads of the crowds. Of course the armor (I’m always surprised how small they are) and swords were very remarkable as was the first Clock in Japan (a gift from the Portuguese), but what really affected me the most for some strange reason were two documents. The first was the one that officially established the Tokugawa government under Tokugawa Ieyasu and the second was the document that dissolved the Shogunate in 1868. That’s 264 years of Japanese history on two pieces of paper… …Amazing. We bought a book with photographs of the collection but we decided to give it to my in-laws instead as a thank you for everything they provided for us on this trip. Going to two very different, yet very Japanese exhibits made me think up a phrase that sums up modern Japanese culture in my mind: In Japan the Future is now, but the Past is present. I refer to this part of our trip as Shoguns and Robots.Tokyo National Museum
Ticket for Treasures of the Tokugawa

It was twilight when my SO and I left the Tokyo National Museum. We decided to check out Ameyoko a bazaar-like shopping district close to Ueno. We trotted around the seemingly endless market until we came to my wife’s favorite store Niki No Kashi. It’s candy shop that sells sweets in bulk but not in the orgy sizes like Costco. My wife discovered it many years ago when she worked in Tokyo. We grabbed all manner of goodies including a box of Apple Kit Kats. Then it happened, I stumbled across my favorite candy in the whole world… Tropifrutti. The German gummy candy maker HARIBO makes it. Unlike most of their products such as Happy-Cola and Goldbären, Tropifrutti is not sold in the states or least I’ve never seen it. I developed a taste for it when I was in Germany in the 1990s. Tropifrutti has wonderful soft texture that’s not too chewy and has an amazing combination of flavors (Banana, Pineapple, Strawberry, Tangerine, Passion Fruit, Mango, and Kiwi to name a few of them). I love this stuff so much I keep the empty bags just so I can smell ‘em to remind myself what Tropifrutti tastes like. It’s my Crack. I still have one bag left…
The outer edge of Ameyoko from Ueno Park

A street in Ameyoko



As it was nighttime, we took a train back to Omiya for a late dinner with an old girlfriend chum of my SO. We had a nice time and the restaurant staff had a great time as well watching me bump into things and hit my head because the place was so tiny. After our meal my wife and I took a taxi back to her parents house. I think I was finally starting to adjust to Japan-time, which was a shame because the next day was my last full day in the Land of the Rising Sun.

-Swinebread