Thundarr Gangnam Style

Long time No see!

Here's my own Gangnam Style music video  I threw together from some old Thundarr VHS I had laying around, enjoy.





-Swinebread

Captain Power... I remember

-Swinebread

It's so obvious it is funny!

-Swinebread

News I Missed... A Jericho Comic!

Well, back in March Devil's Due Publishing announced that they had secured the rights to continue the Jericho story in comic book form. (See here). Obviously I missed that bit of pop news, proboably because i'm busy taking care of Swinebread Jr. As of yet, there is no mockup or cover to go from (it's due in October) but I'm cautiously optimistic despite the fact that the art for such projects can often be less than stellar.

Personally, I think a comic book is a great way to continue the story since Jericho was cancelled (Twice!). A comic gives one that visual connection to the characters that you just can't get with a novel. Plus, several other franchises have been succesfully continued in comic form. Some hardcore fans don't quite agree (see here) but for me it bodes well. I'm really interested in finding out more detail concerning the conspiracy to create the Allied States of America.

I do wonder though, if Dark Horse or Dynamite Entertainment might have been a better fit to publish a Jericho title as DDP are the same guys that are doing Barack the Barbarian.



There is a tiny rumble about a Jericho movie too, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

-Swinebread

Movie of the Week: Saving Vault 13

One of the all-time great sci-fi films.


-Swinebread

My New Comics... From Last Week

Swinebread Jr's Grandma has been in town, so I've been busy but here is last week's list.



This last week’s best cover is The Age of Sentry #6.


Jonah Hex #41, Marvel Comics. I’m getting a latter-day Conan/Red Sonja vibe going on between Jonah and Tallulah Black. This comic hasn’t let me down yet.

Last Reign #4, Boom Studios. I wonder if they realize that the plot in this issue is stolen right out of TMNT RPG After the Bomb.

Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #4, IDW.

Army of Darkness #37, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Age of Sentry #6, Marvel. The End of another mini-series, and thus my box list gets smaller.

Trade Paperbacks:
Savage Sword of Conan Volume 5 Dark Horse. Yeah Baby!

Books:
With all the money I’ve been saving I went ahead and picked up the paperback of Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. I can’t wait to dive into this one, but I gotta’ finish the paperback version of The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America first. The Ten Cent Plague is must read for anybody that wants to understand how pop was culture negatively transformed and how the comic book medium’s potential was basically destroyed for the next 40 to 50 years. A chilling and sadly forgotten chapter (outside of comicdom) in US history... until now.


-Swinebread

I watched Mad Max 2 this last weekend... I hadn't seen it in awhile and I was reminded of what fantastic movie the Road Warrior is.

I was stuck by two things that seemed odd though. The first was that several scenes are sped up to make the action more exciting but to me, with my 21 century eyes, it just looks silly.

The second is the total lack of people who aren't white. I guess we just had to wait for TIna Turner in Mad Max 3.

Mel is great in this film but I realized why his character Max is such a disturbed loner... it's because the The Apocalypse occurred and Jesus didn't come back....


-Swinebread

Kid's Guide to the Apocalypse

I f-ing love this!



-Swinebread

Name This Character

Leave a comment and name this character!

I will update this post with the best suggestion.

UPDATE: The Winner is matty321654 with Commander Pete

-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Kull #3.


Xena/Army of Darkness #3, Dynamite Entertainment.

Last Reign #2, Boom Studios.

Jonah Hex #39, DC Comics.

Secret Six #3, DC Comcis.

Marvel Zombies 3 #4, Marvel Comics.

The Walking Dead #57, Image Comics.

Guardians of The Galaxy #8, Marvel Comics.

SGT Rock: The Lost Battalion #3, DC Comics.

Kull #3, Dark Horse Comics.

War of Kings: Saga #1, Marvel Comics. Free giveaway


-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Marvel Zombies 3 #3. Love the Evil Dead tribute


She-Hulk: the Cosmic Collision #3, Marvel Comics.

Crossed #2, Avatar.

Jonah Hex #38, DC Comics.

Necronomicon #3, Boom Studios.

Marvel Zombies 3 #3, Marvel.

The Astounding Wolf-Man #10, Image Comics.

SGT Rock: The Lost Battalion #2, DC Comics.

Kull #2, Dark Horse Comics.

Solomon Kane #3, Dark Horse Comics.

Jungle Girl: Season 2 #2, Dynamite Entertainment.

Hulk Family #1, Marvel Comics.

Trade Paperbacks:
Wasteland Book 3: Black Steel in the Hour of chaos Oni Press.


-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is PistolFist #4.


Star Trek: Mirror Images #5, IDW.

The Dark Tower: Treachery #3, Marvel Comics.

Fall of Cthulhu: Godwar #3, Boom Studios.

PistolFist #4, Bluewater Comics.

Walking Dead #54, Image Comics.

The Last Reign #1, Boom Studios.

Cthulhu Tales #8, Boom Studios.

Trade Paperbacks:
The Chronicles of Conan # 16, Dark Horse. This one more pages then other editions of CoC.

JLA*Avengers Marvel.

Twisted Toyfare Theater # 9, Marvel. Oh Yeahhhhhh!


-Swinebread

Movie of the Week: Deep Impact

-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Star Trek: Romulans: The Hollow Crown #1.


Star Trek: Mirror Images #3, IDW.

Red Sonja #37, Dynamite Entertainment.

Doctor Who Classics #10, IDW.

Star Trek: Romulans: The Hollow Crown #1, IDW.

The Dark Tower: Treachery #1, Marvel.

The Stand: Captain Trips #1, Marvel.


-Swinebread

Random Comic Panel

-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Anna Mercury #2.


Zorro #4, Dynamite Entertainment.

War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle #4, Marvel Comics. Wow, I hope this WWI comic can have even more talking heads. ZZZZZZzzzz

Anna Mercury #2, Avatar.

Cthulhu Tales #3, Boom Studios.

The Un-Men #11, DC Comics.

Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters #4, Dynamite Entertainment.

Streets of Glory #5, Avatar.


Trade Paperbacks
Y the Last Man vol 10. DC Comics.

Conan: Born on the Battlefield Dark Horse Comics.


-Swinebread

Pics from the Road

Here are some shots from the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It's Stars Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy. It will be released this November.








I think Viggo is a good choice for the the father and the images look appropriately grim enough. The Road is about love, and it's about survival, but don't call it post-apocalyptic sci-fi because the masses would never enjoy anything like that.


-Swinebread

Chimps in Space & Terminators in the Future

Well this was totally off my radar. I might be too busy in July to see Space Chimps but dam, I do loves me some monkeys. I think I see a few nods to the POTA movies in those costumes... and ah... to Evel Knievel as well.

trailer:


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Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is now in production with a release set for May 22, 2009. The official site has it's first blog post up:

We’ve officially started principal photography on Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Like you guys, I’ve been a long-time fan of the series and I understand your passion for the Terminator movies -- and it’s my full intention to deliver a film that lives up to the previous three installments. I’ve spent time with James Cameron, spoken to Arnold Schwarzenegger, gone over the story with Jonah Nolan, and enlisted Stan Winston.

Everything we’re shooting is designed to be tactile and real, you’ll be seeing a whole set of inspired designs you’ve never seen before, and best of all you’ll finally get to see some of the post-judgment day future that was only hinted at in the previous movies.

John Connor will be pushed to the brink. And for me, Christian Bale embodies Connor’s strength and tenacity perfectly. And after visiting Sam Worthington on the set of Avatar, I know he’s perfect for his role.

As you know, Anton Yelchin is playing Kyle Reese, and his prep has been unbelievable. The guy's been watching all three Terminators incessantly and he’s definitely going to capture the essence of the character Michael Biehn created in Cameron’s first film.

We started principal photography with a sequence at Griffith Observatory. I've already seen a cut of it -- Anton and Sam are excellent. I’ll have more on that soon, and can’t wait to share some of what we’re doing with you all. Stay tuned for more.

McG

With this new film and the TV show, the terminator franchise is on a role.


-Swinebread

Free Comic Book Day and Other Strangeness

Don’t forget Free Comic Book Day is tomorrow at a comic book store near you. It’s gonna be a wild ride around here as the festivities will also include Iron Man and Dim Sum. I’m looking forward to it as I’ll be spending the day with Dean Wormer and his unruly Deltas.

On another note, a fellow coworker’s son lucked into a comic book windfall. Apparently he was looking around on Craig’s List and found an ad for a box of comics for 50 bucks. See, some poor sap was being sent off to Iraq and he told his mom to sell his stuff. Well, when my coworker’s son got the box home, he discovered it had a bunch of old comics. He didn’t have all the details but my coworker said that there was a superman from the forties or fifties and a lot of Spidermans from the sixties. If that soldier makes it back, I wonder if he’ll be pissed his collection went for so little. More info to come if I can get it.

I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a wonderful post apocalyptic novel, and a great work of literature. The simplicity of the book is its strength IMO. The father and son relationship is the core of the story (it’s that relationship that helps them endure the gristliest of horrors) but I also really enjoyed the survival aspect. Adventure can be found in the purest things, an old house, a rusty truck, or a destroyed forest. It’s my understanding that The Road is being made into a movie and it’s shooting right now. I heard on the local news that the studio is looking for a pregnant body double for Charlize Theron here. Yup, a quick check of IMDB revels that some of The Road is being shot in Oregon. That seems a little strange as the book is set in the South but Oregon does have a varied environment. Also, some of the scenes will be shot at Mt. St. Helens, which makes perfect sense at it has a blasted landscape, of ash and downed trees.

Remember Free Comic Book Day tomorrow!


-Swinebread


P.S. I swear I'll get to your comments soon, thanks for checking in.

Coloring Kamandi

It was amazing how much I enjoyed Countdown Special: Kamandi, which reprints issues 1, 10, & 29 from the original Kamandi run in the 1970s. These post–apocalyptic classics were written and drawn by Jack “King” Kirby. I had never read Kamandi: That Last Boy on Earth before (although I wanted to) so it was a real treat. The premise of the story is that some undefined “Great Disaster” has remade the earth. Most Humans have devolved into animals while conversely animals (like tigers, apes and dogs) are intelligent, walk upright, and rule their own empires. The title character is the teenager Kamandi, who adventures across a shattered landscape with his mentor Dr. Canus, and the mutant Ben Boxer. It’s easy to see that Kamandi was heavily influenced by Planet of the Apes, and that it, in turn, informed both Gamma World and Thundarr (which Jack worked on BTW).

Being a post–apocalyptic enthusiast, it makes sense that I would find this enjoyable. I’m even tempted to pick up the new hardcover collections that DC is putting out, and I’ve never been tempted to do that previously. This title really works for me and I like Jack Kirby’s art and storytelling here much more so than his New Gods work. It’s nice to see DC embracing Kamandi again through republishing and by reintegrating him into new storylines. In fact, Kamandi and OMAC (his grandfather) are the only reasons that I’m even remotely interested in the Final Crisis event at all.

When I was reading my copy of Countdown Special: Kamandi, a question struck me: how would Japanese folks respond to the quintessential/classic art style of Jack Kirby? Their experience with comics and their aesthetic tastes are so different I just couldn’t imagine what they might think. Would they like his art? Would they hate it? Could they even relate to it? So I showed some pages to my SO. The exchange went something like this:

Me: “Hey, what do you think of that art in this comic?”
Her: “Hmmm… It’s very busy.”

I thought: “ah, Jack’s dynamic action is too much for her”

Me: “Yeah, this artist is known for his incredible action and powerful figure drawing.”

Her: “the Color is too much, it’s too busy. The background color changes in each panel. It’s distracting”

I thought: “Huh?”

Me: “Ah well, the artist didn’t have anything to do with the color. See, these are comics that originally came out in the ‘70s and…”

But she had lost interest in what I was talking about and went back to reading her book.

That did get me thinking. The bold use of color, which is so common in older comics, was just too visually overpowering for her. She really couldn’t focus on Jack’s art at all. I was kinda stunned but then I remembered that Japanese manga is a black and white medium. The "in-your-face" color had a strong negative impact on her. When for me, it was nearly incidental, particularly because it appeared in a reprint of Kamandi. I recognize that the colorist’s job is much more integrated into the artistic creation of comic books nowadays (computer technology has completely revolutionized the nature of color), but back when Kamandi was first published; it almost seems like an afterthought position. The intent of the coloring process in the days of yore must have been to keep the eyes interested by flashy uses of 4-color shades… whether they matched from panel to panel or not. Looking at the Kamadi pages was such a disharmonious experience for my SO; that the art style didn’t matter at all. For her, the application of color didn’t seem to be thoughtfully considered nor carefully applied. Very interesting. I easily separate Jack’s art from the hues that someone else decided upon, but my SO sees them as one thing. I often have to remind her that American comics are largely a collaborative medium. In the past, my SO has expressed that American comics are too wordy, and bogged down with unnecessary exposition that redundantly describes what’s already visually depicted, but this is the first time she has said anything about color. I guess I gotta’ show her something of Jack’s in black and white to really get her opinion on the his art style. That's sorta' weird for me...



-Swinebread