I caught a little of Chris Mathew’s show Hardball on MSNBC. He was talking about the third debate between Barack Obama and John McCain when he compared the two of them to Looney Tunes Characters. Obama was Bugs Bunny and McCain was Elmer Fudd.
I don’t want to turn this into the Swinebread Jr.’s blog, this is Atomic Romance after all, but where my pending son’s life intersects with pop culture and comics, I’ll happily post away. I might start another blog if I feel the need to talk extensively about my upcoming fatherhood. Anyway, here are a couple of fun shots.
The first is a shelf of toys from SB jr’s room. Don’t worry it’s up high where he won’t be able to get his hands on anything for years to come and we’ve got other age appropriate toys.
From left to right: Baby Bugs cloth book, Ultraman, Spiderman bank, Totoro, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Owly, some random rabbit behind him, Peter Rabbit, another random rabbit (in back), Mr. Usaji [portmanteau of the words usagi (うさぎ?), (rabbit), and jii-chan (じいちゃん?) (grandpa)] He’s a supporting character on Domokun’s NHK show, Nyan-mage the Edo Wonderland mascot cat. Plus there’s a little hippy Volkswagen Bug in front.
The prevalence of bunny rabbits is due to Mrs. Swinebread. She likes rabbits quite a bit. I think Easter is her favorite American holiday based on Rabbit imagery alone.
Looks like I’ll need to pick up a plush Smurf, Godzilla, Vulcan, and Cthulhu to round this set out properly. Heh heh…
This second pic is an image of Swinebread Jr.’s new kid-sized rocking chair. It’s currently occupied by the Wolf-man, the bride of Frankenstein, and a Tribble.
Last Sunday, I watched coverage of the Phoenix land on Mars. I’m happy that it landed safely and that the mission has been such a success so far. It was fun to see the crew get so excited by the whole process. The Phoenix also made me think that if we’re going to waste billions of tax dollars, it should be “wasted” on exploring our solar system not on a stupid war like the Iraq debacle.
All this info about the new Mars mission also got me thinking about my favorite Martians from fiction, comics, and film. Too bad Mars is a dead planet.
Marvin the Martian This soft-spoken alien packs a big disintegrating punch. He’s the first Martian I remember and he’s one of the funniest Looney Tunes ever IMO. What’s even more fantabulous is that he’s on the official mission patch for the Mars Rovers. This is Marvin's best appearance in the famous cartoon Duck Doddgers in the 24th and ½ Century:
And just because Marvin is so cool here’s his first appearance in Haredevil Hare from 1948:
War of the Worlds Martians H.G. Wells created something both exciting and shocking with his WotW Martians. Every alien invasion and sci-fi horror story ever written owes so much to these grotesque blobs that pilot tripod death machines. Regardless of whether they’re plausible or not they’re still very scary and have shown up and been reinvented numerous times. You just gotta’ love ‘em.
The High Overlord and Skar In 1973, Marvel Comics published a post-apocalyptic series in the pages Amazing Adventures. In this title, the Martians from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds came rushing back to earth and conquered our planet in the year 2001 and this time they inoculated themselves against the our planet's microbes. Almost two decades later, the earth is much transformed by the invaders into an almost Barsoom-like place and a hero, Killraven, rises to battle these Martian conquers. His most fearsome reoccurring enemies were Skar, a cyborg assassin, and the High Overlord, a Martian that had his alien body modified to fit inside bipedal suit of armor. They’re wild and wacky, but these two sci-fi evildoers are great pulpy villains none-the-less.
Mars Attacks Martians I’m much too young to remember the Trading Cards but the movie was a real hoot. These gross looking Martians almost conquered the world using every trick known to the atomic horror genre. These little nasties are a great antidote to “serious” invasion monsters from films like Independence Day. It was almost a relief when they blew up the federal government. Too bad they couldn’t withstand Slim Whitman.
Dejah Thoris This Red Martian hottie hails from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom and makes the grade because of her wild adventures with John Carter, her regal rule of the city state of Helium, and her lack of clothes. Sword and Planet has never seen anything better.
Martian Manhunter I’d never been particularly interested in J’onn J’onzz until I read The New Frontier and watched Justice League: The New Frontier animated movie. I’m finding his desire to understand humanity and his alien nature fascinating. He’s kinda’ like half Spock and half Klaatu with superpowers. J’onn J’onzz with the Kents at Xmas:
The introspective and telepathic aliens of Ray Bradbury’s Martians Chronicles are eerie and haunting. They turn the invasion scenario on its head by being the victims of Human colonization (in a metaphor of western frontier migration). They are not particularly malevolent like other Martians and are unable to deal with the threat the Human setters represent. Ultimately, they pass away except for a few ghosts and their cities are the ruins that the humans build a new Mars based culture upon.
Here's a scene from the 1979 TV adatption of The Martian Chronicles. (The TV show was OK but it is dated)
Every Easter I can't stop thinking about Bugs Bunny...! Maybe it's because of his cartoon titled Easter Yeggs where he takes over for the Easter Bunny.
He’s simply the best character from the golden age of animation IMO. Bugs is crafty, funny, and full of chutzpah, what's not to love about him? I feel I’m so lucky to have grown up watching his zany adventures. Bugs Bunny cartoons truly are national treasures and can be enjoyed on so many levels. Bugs Bunny for president! Bug Bunny forever! What’s Up Doc?!!!!!
On a serious note we shouldn't forget the REAL meaning of Easter as this comic strip so faithfully demonstrates.
List 7 random things about yourself that people may not know.
Link the person who sent this to you, and leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours.
Post the rules on your blog.
1. I’ve been to Disneyland three times.
2. I hate Gambit… a lot! I dropped the X-men, and even comics for a long time after he showed up. He symbolizes everything that was wrong with ‘90s comics IMO. Plus, all the great stories from the 80’s that were adapted by the first X-Men cartoon series didn’t have Nightcrawler or Colossus; No, instead we got that stupid Gambit guy. That bugged me to no end; the Dark Phoenix saga with Gambit? Yuck! He didn’t show up in the first three X-Men movies so that was way cool although he is in the new Wolverine film.
3. Some high school chums and I buried a time capsule. I can’t remember what we put in it beyond a war comic that I didn’t want. It was a metal case about the size of small toolbox and it was wrapped in a plastic bag. I’m sure it’s long since been ruined by now.
4. My Favorite Looney Tunes character is Daffy Duck.
5. I’ve been to the site of the Dachau concentration camp while on a backpacking trip through Germany years ago, horrific but necessary in my opinion..
6. My favorite episode of Star Trek TOS is The Return of the Archons. It used to be Mirror, Mirror for a long time until after I became an adult and learned a little bit about how computers worked. I also love what it has to say about religion, and technology. “Festival Festival!” It’s totally cheesy and very deep at the same time.
7. I ate pig brains once…
I’m going to tag Heidi Meely (who never does my tags but that’s OK), and ah… anybody else that wants to do it I guess…
I came home from work the yesterday and my SO struck up a conversation about a friend wanting to borrow some DVDs. Well, I started to look through our collection when I noticed one was facing backward. My SO said, “What’s that?” I grabbed it and turned it around. To my surprise it was Lady Snowblood. She had found it on sale and grabbed me a copy. It’s one of those films I’ve always wanted to own but just never got around to buying. The film is based on the excellent comic (currently published in English by dark horse) written by Kazuo Koike of Lone Wolf and Cub fame. Most folks have gotten to know Lady Snowblood because of Quentin Tarantino's affection for the film. It’s a classic with plenty of drama and martial arts action that only a deadly lady assassin could deliver. What a nice surprise indeed.
Last month, My SO also got me a copy of Looney Tunes Golden Collection #4. I’m a big fan of these wonderful characters and cartoons, so I’m really happy. It’s interesting to watch my SO’s reaction to these animated shorts. Ya’ see, she’s originally from another culture so she’s watchn’ these ‘toons with fresh eyes, while I other hand grew up them. She finds them very creative and likes the fact that they’re only a few minutes long. Her favorite characters are: Speedy Gonzales, Road Runner and Coyote, and Marc Antony and Pussyfoot.
