Mittwoch, 30. Juni 2010

Art Attack: Ben & Rickey's Infinite Crisis Jam

In the summer of 2006, Rickey and I were struck by a bolt of artistic inspiration with the conclusion after over a year of build and execution of DC's Infinite Crisis. Having both done our fair share of promotional work on the book for Wizard, we decided to express our satisfaction with its success while also congratulating our buddy and the event's writer, Geoff Johns, by drawing as many characters featured in the story as we could and turn that into a card for him.

Our process was to trade the card back and forth, each of us doing two or three characters then passing it along to the other guy. We didn't set out with any assigned list of who would draw who, so it was a free for all to nab the folks you wanted most on your first pass and then hope the next batch wasn't taken when it came back to you.

Not surprisingly, I believe I went for the Suicide Squad guys and Flashes first. Rickey took the Big Three of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as well as showing a perhaps unhealthy amount of enthusiasm for dead Teen Titans and villains with big heads. I'm not sure if he just got to Superboy before me, really wanted to draw sideburns, or I was still grieving.

Here's what we came back with...


I'd say I'm most pleased with how I did on Captain Cold, Bizarro, the Blue Beetles, Hawkman, Killowog and my random addition of Brother Eye. I was pleasantly surprised with how I managed details in a small space, which I think is pretty well represented in most of the characters I just named. I also appreciate that I drew Bushido with X's for eyes to indicate he was killed by Superboy Prime. I think my Zoom and Sinestro turned horribly wrong.

I love Rickey's Chemo and Wildebeest for how crazy they are and also how he used his style to turn out unique but faithful takes on characters like Golden Age Superman, Dr. Psycho, Hector Hammond, Black Hand, Alan Scott and Mongul; he made the villains look way creepy and the older heroes dignified yet clearly aged. And it goes without saying that his decapitated Pantha is a thing of beauty. However, Aquaman with the little fish swimming by aside, my overall favorite of Rickey's characters is definitely his bone-bearded Doomsday, who just looks cool as hell.

We've certainly got very different styles of drawing, as Rickey is way more comfortable than I am and can cut loose a lot easier while I tend to trip myself up in too many details, but I think we meshed pretty nicely here for a nice little collage. If I could do it over again, I'd have even more of our buds contribute for variety.

Back to 2006, we had our boy Jairo scan in the card so we could keep in in our records, then sent it off to California c/o Geoff.

Somehow it never got there and to this day he's never seen the darn thing.

But a week or so ago, Rickey was going through old files from Wizard and voila: there it was.

So happy fourth anniversary of finishing Infinite Crisis, Geoff! You did great!

Detective Comics #402

Detective Comics #402 (On Sale: June 30, 1970) has a great cover by Neal Adams.

The Man-Bat returns in "Man or Bat?" by Frank Robbins, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. The story opens with some thugs pulling a heist at a biochemical lab. what they don't know is that hanging in the rafters above them lurks the tormented Kirk Langstrom, now even more bat than the last time we saw him in the classic Detective #400. He waits in an agitated state for them to crack the safe below so that he can get what he so desperately needs. But just when it seems the hour of his saving is at hand Batman appears to break up the heist. When the Man-Bat appears to join him in thwarting the crime, Batman calls him a friend, but when Man-Bat reveals that he needs something from the safe, something he has brought money to pay for, Batman tries to stop him.

When Batman tries to unmask Kirk he realizes that he is not wearing a mask, but is truly a transformed human. Still he tries to stop the Man-Bat, but is knocked unconscious in the scuffle and Kirk departs with the drug he came looking for.

When he awakens, Batman heads off for the museum when he first met the Man-Bat hoping there to find a clue to his identity. When he gets there he finds Francine Lee, Kirk's fiancée trying to gain entrance. Kirk was supposed to be at an exhibit in Chicago, but he never arrived there and Francine is worried that something may be wrong. Upstairs Kirk has concocted a formula he hopes will reverse his bizarre transformation, but when he is startled by Batman and Francine at his door he drops the serum and flees out the window.

Batman tells Francine that the strange creature who has just fled is her fiancée, Kirk Langstrom, and that when they barged in Batman saw him mouth her name. batman thinks he can recreate the dropped serum in the Batcave and heads off to find Kirk and hopefully a cure for this transformation.

He finds Kirk up on a cliff and when he comes for him Kirk leaps from the cliff in fear, but rather than dying in the fall, huge batwings appear from under his coat and his transformation complete he flies off into the night following the flight of a "brother" bat. He follows the bat to his home, which happens to be, the Batcave. Kirk reaches the inner recesses of the cave just as Batman returns. He is momentarily blinded by the lights as they come one but uses his bat sonar to find an exit. Only, Langstrom's exit is the Batmobile;s entrance and Batman leaps from the car to divert Kirk from hitting it head-on.

He latches on to the Man-Bat, telling him that he is there to help him, to create an antidote, but Kirk takes Batman on a ride to the heights of the Batcave only to drop him from there. Some light fixtures break his fall, but from the floor he sees Langstrom about to fly out the open Batcave entrance. Clicking a remote on his belt Batman closes the door and Kirk is knocked unconscious by the door. Batman then ponders what to do, should he attempt to cure Langstrom, even though his brain may have been permanently damaged by his transformation, or should he leave him alone in his cursed condition? "Merciful heaven--What an impossible decision to make! There can be only one answer...if he must ide...ket it be as the man he once was!"

Batman gets to work in a tale continued in Detective #407. "Man or Bat?" was reprinted in Batman from the 30s to the 70s HC, Man-Bat #1 and Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 HC.

The back-up story is Robin in "My Place in the Sun" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Vince Colletta. The story begins with Robin flying in on the Arrow Jet with Speedy all the way from Teen Titans #28. Dick shows Roy (Speedy) Harper around Hudson University. In the cafeteria a fight breaks out between some "punks" and a group called Project 70 who work with kids from a nearby juvenile detention farm. Dick changes into Robin to stop the fight. Robin goes after the big punk only to find out that it was the little kid Robin was trying to protect who started the fight.

Back in his room Dick is pissed at himself for jumping to conclusions without any evidence. That day Dick hears it all over campus, as Robin becomes the main topic of discussion. Some of the kids are for him, but many think he is just a vigilante and shouldn't be there. When he returns from shopping he finds Roy in his Speedy threads, heading off for a date with Wonder Girl.

After Roy leaves, Dick begins to question his role as Robin, but in the end he decides to keep the name and the costume. "...if I made a mistake once, I'm not gonna make it again! When I go out into that adult world, I want everyone to know that Robin is no longer a boy, but still a wonder!" Not a great story and certainly not great artwork.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Connor Willumsen covers Fantasy Masterpieces 9





















Original cover by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia; Marvel 1967. Connor Willumsen's website is here.

Adventure Comics #396

Adventure Comics #396 (On Sale: June 30, 1970) has a Supergirl cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with "I am a Witch" by Robert Kanigher and Kurt Schaffenberger.

We end with our cover-story "The Mystery of the Super-Orphan" by Leo Dorfman, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Action Comics #391

Action Comics #391 (On Sale: June 30, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover-story, the imaginary tale "The Punishment of Superman's Son" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

The back-up is the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Ordeal of Element Lad" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel. This story was reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 9 HC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Dienstag, 29. Juni 2010

~Bus Service in M'sia~

Yesterday me and a fellow colleague were going back from work so went to the Bus Stop waiting for Rapid Kl bus to come. Though that time we didn't realize the time moving so we chatted awhile then got into the bus and moved on. But weirdly enough it wasn't that long a wait after all as normally the bus would only come once every hour or more.

Something I never got to understand why in such a busy area its so damn freaking hard to get a bus! In fact, the bus is so hidden that people barely notice of it's existence!

Imagine how busy a place Uptown Damansara is but with sucky public transport service!! Eventually Metro Busses are more frequent visitors there!! *smack head*

Anyways I reached Kelana Jaya at 8.15PM!! Mind it that I was off work at 6.30PM yesterday!! Yea , its that bad plus the terrible jam that always happen at the LDP for no logic reason. So from Kelana Jaya LRT I was waiting while reading a novel I borrowed from another colleague. "A Walk to Remember" and eventually I was literally halfway through when the bus even got started up!

And there was almost some fight that started off with people being really unhappy with the bus driver and lucky the station master was smart enough to come and get the bus moving though he was kinda moody as well. And not to forget the driving style! Gosh! Felt like a newbie driver on rage! Wtf?!

Finally reached back at 10plus plus and was too tired to do anything else. Ended up FFK my friends and went straight to sleep after a short chat with ma baby.

I wonder how we, the public could do to make the public transportation system to improve... Sigh

Oh Crystal, you utter hussy...

Crystal's greatest infidelity hits, from the recently-collected Avengers: Vision & The Scarlet Witch - A Year in the Life.

To set the scene, at the time of this series, Crystal was married to Quicksilver and had recently given birth to their daughter, Luna. Let's see what our favorite elemental Inhuman/village bicycle is up to...




Why I never!

For those of you who didn't want to blow up the panels, let me share some highlights from Crystal Rationalization Theater:

***

CRYSTAL - "We've always had to sneak before, Norman -- what with Wanda and Vizh living so close by! But now that they're on vacation--! Oh, it's so perfect!"

***

NORMAN: "If only you weren't married--!" (She knows how to pick 'em!)

CRYSTAL: "Now, Norman, we promised we weren't going to talk about that!"

***

NORMAN: "Let's tell [Quicksilver]! Tell him you want a divorce and stop sneaking around!"

CRYSTAL: "Well...easy for you to say! You don't have nearly as much to lose!" (Norman, you selfish asshole!)

***

CRYSTAL: "It's better I continue to tell [Quicksilver] I miss Earth, take the anti-pollution potion (Science!), and come down for fabulous weekends -- and I do mean fabulous, hunk-o!" ("Hunk-o" is Inhuman Royal Family for "convenient")

***

Annnnnd scene!

All together now...

OH CRYSTAL! (Cue laugh track and closing theme)

Dan Bru covers Iron Man 128





















Original cover by Bob Layton; Marvel 1979. Dan Bru's website is here.

David King covers Starman El Libertario 119





















Original cover believed to be by Agustín Gómez Díaz; Editora Cinco 1981. David King's website is here.

For my Baby~





Love Quote that really made my day today was,

Johnny's girlfriend asked him to get her roses to show her how much he'd love her. He realized if her were to buy all he'd go broke and the world would go outa stocks for Roses. So he bought 99 real roses and 1 fake rose. He gives the 99 roses and lastly when giving the last rose, he tells her that he'd love her until the last flower dies.....

This is touching. Really made my day... =)

How to unmake an omelet?

Want to hear a good joke?

My medications cost more than we earn. We don’t quite earn enough for rent and food. Because we are 58% below the poverty line instead of 60% I cannot get welfare. I don’t want welfare, I NEED disability assistance. But I can only apply for disability assistance once I am approved for welfare. I waited for two weeks to get a phone call which told me I could not get welfare however in two more weeks I am, on special grounds, allowed to SEE a welfare officer.

If I HAD disability assistance, our income would be more than it is now. But I can’t get disability assistance because I have to be on welfare, and if you have the amount people on disability assistance get, you can’t GET welfare.

My parents went on a cruise last week while this was going on. It is their 28th vacation in the last three years. No, not retired. Just inheritance, which bought a $500,000 condo, split level for them to live in.

In two weeks, I will try to apply for disability assistance but that will take……eight weeks to process. I don’t have that many pills. I don’t have that many pain pills. But then, since the medication to keep my heart beating, the medication to keep my TIA’s minimized, my seizures to 10 a week or less. So I have to choose between housing or screaming.

Linda talked to the Welfare officer. If I am placed in a full care home, that qualifies as ‘involuntary separation’ which would nullify our marriage for welfare terms and then, once I am on the machines and getting 24 hour care…..I could get that appointment in two weeks to show up at THEIR office to fill out the forms for disability. Of course, the way that ALL disabilities are treated the same, from extreme ones in hospital to homebound mental illness, fibro, terminal illness, Lupus, lower back pain – it is actually discrimination and against the British Columbia law and human rights code.

I tried to explain the problems with this inflexibility to a supervising manager but, having been to a specialist that day, I was tired and my slurring was significant. I simply could not make myself understood. The disability section of the office has no way to be contacted except through welfare, and they have to call YOU. So if you can’t use a phone or they can’t understand you – as was in this case, I was left trying over and over to say my name, “Hello, this is Elizabeth McClung” until 4:30 came and they hung up on me, because it was time to go home.

The day before I found from Linda, who had been invited out to lunch with my biological parents, who use the phrase ‘dead to her’ when talking about me. It turns out that my parents have left town, they bought a water front condo in another city, and sold the other one, which is why they wouldn’t leave us the key to it when they went on vacations. Why? Well, they bought it months ago. Like the new van.

Linda meets once a month with the other excluded managers who were terminated as soon as they handed in year end paperwork and one, my only other relative who speaks to me, got a job far in the interior. It was his goodbye. I was too ill to be moved. He didn’t come by. But now, not a single person left besides Linda in this town (of about 35 relatives) who will speak to me, who would care if I live or died.

My VIHA manager doesn’t want me in a care home. She wants a doctor to declare me palliative and there have been meetings with VIHA, and others I did not know about and the consensus was…I was going to die in 1-4 months. With Palliative I get to stay married, until I die, we just have no medicine or food. I found this out on Thursday. Linda however says that she believes that I will make it for 6 months: she is an optimist.

I would not be the first person to die 'for Canada', first every hemophiliac and blood transfusion/plasma need up to 1989 was infected with HIV/Hep C, B and died. They all died because Canada bought plasma from a few prisons which were condemned by the Center of disease control in the USA and mixed it with ALL the plasma in Canada. Then all the patients with Lymes disease died until 2004 or so because there IS no Lymes disease in Canada. Now patients with rare diseases and those needing IVIG, transplants or any operation costing...well, money, since post Olympics, this province doesn't have any. I would have a better and longer chance of living in the US (oh hell would I have bills, but I would have a doctor for more than a year out of three!), UK, EU, Cuba, and many other countries. Canada is very good at throwing bodies under the wheels of 'the common good' and I think I may be used as traction soon.

My boxing coach asked Linda to let him know once I go into hospital. No one told him, he just can see the changes ‘they are too fast’ or as the specialist said today, “the kind you see with congestive heart failure” before telling me he wasn’t going to treat me as I don’t fit his parameters.

My mother approached Linda with a box of my early writing, and other mementos, they have already given away or sold most gifts I gave them, and they offered to sell (we don’t ‘get’ furniture from my parents we pay for it, like $450 for a table, etc, the same way they can charge a child rent and did). I realized that my parents were starting over. One of the first memories of arriving was Linda and I sitting behind my parents and a woman coming up to my mother from her church and saying, “Was that your daughter Elizabeth McClung I read about in the Globe and Mail? (Canada’s National Paper) Her book looked really good.”

My mother said, with me sitting behind her, “No, no, I think you are mistaken, that isn’t my daughter, that’s probably another Elizabeth McClung altogether….” The woman insisted she was sure it was, well, ME, but no, no no, my mother insisted, and she never praised the book or read it.

I realized that by the time I die, there will be no evidence that I lived at all, at least, not at my parents. They attended no games of mine in high school, my first degree I had posted to me, my last, the doctorate, I sat alone on the floor, with Linda watching. My mother had come over for Linda’s graduation earlier. No pictures of us over the last few years, no meeting after our trip to Japan, or Hawaii. Invitations to come over once a week turned down, to meet at restaurants once a month always cancelled. No pictures of me fencing, never went to a single competition. No picture of me performing, don't have the album I am on, never went to an single orchestra performace I gave.

No one, no earthly power, can stop MY love. I realized people can TRY to crush love, but they can only refuse to accept it. I love my parents. I love my relatives. They can move away, they can stay away, or act like odd rogue KGB agents. Their actions can be hurtful. Their actions can be hateful. “I hope everyone has a friend like you,” my mother told me, “so they can experience how painful it is.” But I love them, and sure it hurts when they say and do what they do, but I love them. I love my whole family.

“Don’t you get it” the specialist said, “if you have a disease of the central autonomic system, you’d be dead.”

I worry that I won’t be able to get enough postcards out to everyone before I go.

I cry every day, and have since Wednesday. As Sister Rosette (a fighting nun exorcist!) from the series Chrono Crusade who bound her soul to another so that they might live, at the end of final battle, the clock that holds her life is broken. They don’t tell her that it could be a day or a couple months. She is in bed, and says, “I spent my life running, fighting, now I am still but I fight, I fight dying.”

Whatever time a person has isn’t really enough, and to end in pain, the pain, oh, the things that can be borne, must be borne. No, I never really had support, as my father said to me as a teen, “You could have had a college fund, but we traveled instead.” It was his decision and why I worked full time and lived on yougert (because it cost .35 cents) and slept on concrete. My intellect scared/scares most and so almost every university advisor was glad not to see my questions anymore; though a few professors missed me – the ones who liked a challenge. I wish I could see them again.

I may not have been the child my parents wanted, the unplanned child, the ‘extra’ child, but I was still here. And my grandfather became my father to me; the one who loved me, who listened, who accepted my fears without commanding me to dispell them as Satan in my mind. His last words to me were words of love. I only had one grandfather, but he taught me how to use a chainsaw, start fires and steal government equipment while still a ‘tween’ – that’s cool. And how to live with the woods, to see the wildlife, the trees, the paths of people before. But also I think he taught me that love means that you accept the limitations a person has: I sent him books, as he loved books. Books on cruise ships, then as his eyes went, books on pictures from his home, pictures of cruise ships, of boats, of the history of BC. Of whatever would make him happy, even if it was for a second, postcards of cruise ships he had traveled on. I don’t know if he ever said anything about the books, or the postcards, but when you love someone, that doesn’t matter. Just knowing that he would be somewhere turning the pages and humming that odd tuneless song he hummed when happy was enough. He died humming, after humming his way in a coma. Whether he was watching ships, or watching fires, or setting them, or setting me to chop wood, or turning hanging a picture into a 5 hour job with his hunting though jars of screws collected over the years, I don’t know, but he was happy.

So I all I need is to find a GP who will sign me off for palliative care, and the VIHA and care people are behind it. It seems everyone agrees it is time for me to go except me.

Yeah, it might hurt to breath most days, lying on the bed, sucking air at the end of the day, trying to get the strength for one more heave of the ribs. I lived life, traveled a lot of continents (4 at least), and asked directions in at least 25 languages (15 verbs, 30 nouns and a lot of hand guestures!), I’ve been homeless at least three times I can remember, a vagabond twice, stayed in picker shacks twice, got degrees and classes and qualifications and awards in a lot of things. I always tried my hardest, I didn’t lie and I didn’t allow bullies….to bully people when I was there. I used to be sad because I had almost finished my ‘great work’ which would change the way people see themselves, the meta-popular culture which transcends different cultures (why I always worked on islands, to study how culture is when unchanging), though books.

But right now, Linda is hurting, Linda is worried about taking care of me, and keeping us housed and I am the person to make sure Linda does not hurt. And I can’t. I don’t care about the meta project. I hurt when people are mean, and with email, people can be mean almost every day. And no, maybe it isn’t the life I imagined, and yes, maybe I would have made a great mother, but that just isn’t what is. Struggling to breathe, to move, to talk at times, that is what is. Finding out we will be alone, that Linda will have to take care of me alone unless I move into a bed where I will shortly die (my grandmother moved into a home with care and died in under two weeks, not a single time was her oxygen connected correctly or the bed inclined so she could breathe: she was incompetently cared….to death), or maybe if I have one last burst to find a doctor who can say, “Yes, she will die in a few months.”

It has been a long day. Maybe a few days, but they all seem long too.

~ Till you come by again~

My baby's gone back again........





It's going to be another long long wait till she's in her car again on the way to kl. How I wish it wasn't as such and I could just run to her whenever I wan to. Sigh. But still all is well as I've grown up in alot of ways since last year. More matured and trying to be more responsible of coz!




Well that wasn't what i wanna talk about. *smack head*

Talking about this the whole time i've got ma baby here in kl its just awesome! So awesome that I could fall sleep not outa tiredness but outa comfort. I really can't explain how I feel but to cuddle someone to sleep and wake up to see their face and feeling their warmth right beside is really awesome!! Those with the experience would know i supose! *wink*





Well though I really miss ma baby, I know I'll be seeing her soon! So I no sad ady but looking for the day when she gonna be back her!! *cuts 1 day by 1 on the calender*



Plus am gonna be getting ma very own Iphone soon too!!! Been really really dying to have one and am gonna get 1 thanks to Digi!! Mad &heart; Digi!!! XD

Would certainly put it up here to brag once i get ma hands on it!! Till i get some loop hole in during my call waitings to blog guys~


Ps: So sry guys for the rain... I supose its been raining as i broke my record as i never really posted this many blog posts ever!! This is my 7th post in June alone!!! XD



Montag, 28. Juni 2010

~SATC2~

I was never a fan of SATC before. I used to think that it was a stupid show but few weeks ago i watched the series with my girlfriend. Though being as sceptical i can always be, I was still being negative on the show until i watched a few episodes, i realized that this is actually a good show.

So when my girlfriend told me that the SATC 2 was coming out, I was hoping to catch it with her as i dunno with who else could i got for the show. She eventually replied saying She'd Never Watch It with Me! T___T

So i was hoping that maybe after that we'd get a DVD eventually and watch it together again. Somehow luck was on my side as last sunday we went to watch it!




And yea it was as expected as awesome as i hoped it would be. It was never a let down as I didn't really get much chance to catch any of the wanted to watch movies this year, it was a nice experience. The story which evolves around the below 4 ladys


Sex and the City 2 Movie PictureSex and the City 2 Movie Picture



Sex and the City 2 Movie PictureSex and the City 2 Movie Picture

It was really hillarious with how the whole story was but I really salute the whole storyline as it was just awesome! Wouldn't mind watching it the 2nd time as this movie actually taught me alot of things.

From my opinion this is a must watch movie for the young adults as there alot of valuable morale values that our community lacks at the moment! Personally this actually taught me to see things on a different angle when its regarding my girlfriend. I learned how to deal with tight situations.

Plus wardrobe chosen for the movie!! OMG!!! AWESOME X100!!! The dresses they used sometimes makes me wonder what the HECK such dresses for certain activities but they totally proved me wrong with the way they actually carried themselves with those outfits!!!

GOSH!! Still remember the whole storyline in ma head!! *blush*

Note from me! DO WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN'T yet!! Thanks to my baby darling who actually didn't mind to bring me along.

Though we made it look like a camping as we bought food worth RM28!!! while the movie was only RM18!! XDD

but the food supplies ran off not even 15mins through the movie.... =(

More post bout ma past weekend would be coming up soon!!! Stay Tuned Readers!!















Linko! L

Damn! When Ben and I decided to start adding Roman Numerals to this thing, part of the reason was because I didn't really know how that system developed as it got passed SuperBowl numbers. 50 is L. How about that?


* Jeez Louise, you guys...if there is just one link you HAVE to check out this week, it's Foreign Policy's gallery of photos from a circa early '60s book on life in Afghanistan. Above: co-ed college students study Biology. So many more amazing pictures that combat the gross "Afghans are stone age savages" rhetoric out there these days it's INSANE.

* And hey, not to make this too political (but I guess why not because it's our fucking blog), but with all the news coverage of the piece, I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to read the Michael Hasting's Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal that caused his firing. [SIDE NOTE: Was everyone REALLY that surprised that Rolling Stone wrote such a story? They've been covering war in general and our current wars in particular for years. Has every on air talent at CNN, MSNBC and Fox literally never read a copy of America's biggest Rock N Roll magazine?]

As a follow up to the initial profile, I'll say that a lot of the time I defer to my brother the Iraqi War veteran Brian's opinion on most matters involving our military, and like him, I agree that there are some interesting points made about what exactly McChrystal was fired for in this D.B Grady post at The Atlantic. I mean, Grady comes off like a total ass clown when he gets into his "Obama has given up on victory in Afghanistan" track later on, but I guess I'm just glad that someone is questioning whether or not the General really said anything worthy of being called insubordinate or worse.

* OK, on to comics! The I Love Rob Liefeld blog has another of its super helpful roundups of comics in book form worth buying. Go check it out and start setting aside cash now!

* Did you know that CBR has the entire first issue of David Hine and Shaky Kane's Bulletproof Coffin up to read for free. Well, WE DO! Go check it out!


* Sean T. Collins crack Link: i09 has a pretty radical gallery of He-Man concept art up, although the blogger who posted it seems not to quite grok the awesomeness of Masters of the Universe.

* Semi-related Link?: Sean blogged this as well, and I think it was Chris Ward who first drew our attention to it, but the Slate revisiting on the Dick Tracy movie is SO worth your time.

* I kind of know about this show because I see its commercials on those odd nights I'm up at 3:00 AM watching Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends repeats, but apparently that "Phineas and Ferb" show on Disney XD is on its way to being a Spongebob-level hit for the kid set. Who know, bro?

* Finally, thanks to my bud "I'm down like" Cullen Brown for this thought-provoking link on the potential dangers of 3D movies.

Tomasz Kackowski covers Batman: A Death in the Family





















Original cover by Jim Aparo; DC 1988. Tomasz Kackowski's website is here.

Teaser Post~~





Sonntag, 27. Juni 2010

My Baby's Bday gift~

Been wondering what gift that I could give her for this year's birthday as last year gave her a pair of earings just to find out that she doesn't use those. =( So I was left pondering what excatly would be the best give that could lid her up like the sky when a big comet passes through. And after months of ponderings and all, decided that sunflower would be the best gift as I know that she madly loves sunflowers and roses.

So far I've only got her 1 rose and that experience is something that I'd rather not mention. *smack head* So this year I decided to give her suprise so I went and bought her a sunflower as gift!

Here is the flower!




Gosh must have seen her face when she saw it!! She was so so happy that it was all the I needed to see! Wish had taken a pic of her face when she saw it!

Best gift ever I could have ever received! But that wasn't all I saved a card for the last suprise but BUMMER!! I forgot to take the pic of that card!!! BuawWww~!

And again her face lid up again like a baby who just saw her mum!! XD SO CUTE!!!

and yea received a nice warm warm hug with a peck!! *hyper*

But the sad part is that, she went back today.... T____T

More post to come on our latest weekend adventure coming up!!! XD

The sad, squandered potential of Kitchen Confidential

Today’s television climate has made me a paranoid consumer.

Shows get canceled so quickly and sometime with such random rationale that it feels like the freakin’ wild West, man (not really, but that’s a great go-to analogy). I get super-excited about the new Fall season and reading what new programs are debuting, then almost immediately pull back and won’t watch anything without a season behind it for fear I’ll get abandoned on a cliffhanger four episodes in.

I’ll generally subscribe to the theory that if I watch a first season on DVD, then I’m safe to get into season two, but even that can backfire (thank you, Dirty Sexy Money). And hype is no proper barometer either as the stuff with the all-star line-ups and huge marketing campaigns tanks as easily as the under-the-radar sleepers (I’m pretty glad I didn’t put any eggs in the FlashForward basket, but I’m pretty psyched Parenthood will be back in the fall).

To varying degrees, shows like Firefly, Better Off Ted, Veronica Mars, Jack & Bobby, and of course the patron saint of all unjustly cancelled shows Arrested Development have all broken my heart, but one case of television euthanasia stands chef’s hat and shoulder above the rest for me.
When Kitchen Confidential hit the airwaves in the fall of 2005, it had the full weight of the Fox promotional machine behind it to begin with and I tuned in because I was a fan of Bradley Cooper from Wedding Crashers as well as his stint on the aforementioned Jack & Bobby (not to mention Wet Hot American Summer). I thought the first couple episodes were pretty good, but then it went on hiatus for the World Series, pulled mediocre ratings, and got cancelled after only two more installments. Truth be told, I—like most of the viewing public—forgot about the show during the hiatus and wasn’t much bothered by the cancellation.

Last year for Christmas I got the full 13-episode series on DVD and wow—that this show only got four chances to show what it could do (not to mention a momentum-halting stoppage right after it started) is a travesty.

It’s a smart comedy that comes out the gate with a different feel. It was based on chef Anthony Bourdain’s “reformed bad boy” lifestyle working in restaurant kitchens which provided a unique setting a few years before cooking reality shows hit it big. The writing is sharp and the look inside the dining industry provides enough varied plots to keep it from feeling like just another sitcom.

But as well-conceptualized and written as Kitchen Confidential is, no question the cast is what sets it apart.

If Bradley Cooper enjoys life as a movie star, he should really be thanking Fox for botching the management of this show so badly, because his Jack Bourdain is such a great character tailored so perfectly to him that had Kitchen Confidential taken off, I would not be surprised if he ended up a TV lifer; and that’s a compliment, by the way. Jack is exactly the kind of charming in spite of his douchiness rogue that Cooper plays so well, but unlike in Wedding Crashers or The Hangover, he’s the emotional center of the piece here rather than the antagonist or sidekick. This is the guy we’re meant to root for and feel empathy towards, despite the fact that he’s cocky, a womanizer, ill-tempered, etc.—and Cooper pulls it off! You love Jack when he’s reeling off one-liners or getting the girl, but there’s also that deep-rooted layer of good that shows through in his loyalty towards his friends, his drive to be the best and his commitment to warding off his demons that not only humanizes him, but provides dramatic grounding for a very funny show as well. Cooper—in conjunction with the writers and Anthony Bourdain—crafted one of the more unique television “heroes” of the past several years on this show, and that we didn’t get to see more of his journey is probably the greatest crime to come with its dismissal.

However, Bradley Cooper is hardly carrying this show on his own. You look over the cast and it’s pretty darn impressive both on the screen and in terms of what they’ve done since. Nicholas Brendon is still—and likely always will be—best known for playing Xander on Buffy, but he flipped the script here as pastry chef Seth Richman, a far more confident and outgoing type whose comedy comes from his unfamiliarity with failure and awkwardness rather than Xander’s constant love affair with both. John Francis Daley plays the odd man out among a group of alpha males as newbie chef Jim, not shockingly becoming probably the most endearing character on the show in the process—his romance with ditzy bombshell Tanya, played by Sin City’s Jaime King, is just adorable—and creating a template for his work the last several seasons on Bones. Owain Yeoman plays a great mini-Jack as sous chef Steven, which makes it even funnier when he displays a broad emotional side, and he’s currently a regular on The Mentalist. And lest the boys have all the fun, Bonnie Somerville is hysterical as conniving and neurotic head waitress Mimi, matching Cooper perfectly as the best nemesis he has.

Did I mention frigging Frank Langella is a recurring character as the restaurant owner? And Harold from Harold & Kumar is on the show too—yeah, Sulu (yes, I know his name is John Cho).

For my money, there is no greater missed opportunity when it comes to cancelled TV shows in recent memory than Kitchen Confidential not only because of how great it was and how amazing it had the potential to be, but due to how little of a chance it was given.

Freitag, 25. Juni 2010

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #103

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #103 (On Sale: June 25, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover-story "The Devil's Bride" by Robert Kanigher, Irv Novick and Mike Esposito. The back-up story is "The Fantastic Wigs of Mr. Dupre" drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger and reprinted from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #35. Lois Lane attends a performance of Booth Barry, an old actor. Barry invites Lois backstage and relates a story about magical wigs that cause a person wearing them to die in the same manor as the model for the wigs did. Barry then is accidentally shot with a pistol in a manor similar to Alexander Hamilton, whose wig he was wearing.

Lois investigates the story and is led to the shop of Anton Dupre. Lois tests two wigs herself and is nearly killed. The third attempt nearly succeeds as Lois wears a Supergirl wig, however the real Supergirl has replaced Lois. Together they expose Dupre’s plot to eliminate Lois from discovering his underworld activities. The dangerous wigs were merely a hoax, and Dupre turns out to be Booth Barry in disguise.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Heart Throbs #127

Heart Throbs #127 (On Sale: June 25, 1970) has a cover penciled by Jay Scott Pike and inked by Vinny Colletta.

We begin with "Choose Between Us" and move on to our cover-story "Heartbreak for Two" penciled by Jay Scott Pike. We end with "Am I Too Young for Love?" inked by Bernard Sachs.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Girls' Love Stories #153

Girls' Love Stories #153 (On Sale: June 25, 1970) has a cover inked by Dick Giordano.

We begin with "For Love or Money," which according to Wikipedia, contains the first American comic work of Tony DeZuniga. In this case it is Tony's inking that is introduced over the pencils of Ric Estrada. We move on to "The Engagement Ring" pencilled by Don Heck. Next is "The Cheat" inked by Vinny Colletta and we end with "The 3 Faces of Love."

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Sacha Borisich and John Dallaire cover Tales of the Zombie 1





















Original cover by Boris Vallejo; Marvel 1973. Sacha Borishich's website is here and John Dallaire's website is here.

Florida Supercon 2010 Picture Show

Heya folks! Kevin here with a few of my pictures from the Florida Supercon! Before we get into that though, my thoughts on the show itself:

This was my first year out to this particular convention and let me tell you, I did not expect the amount of people I saw there to actually be there. Between the overall small size of the show floor itself and the amount of attendees, it felt like San Diego Lite. There was a lot of cramming and my friends and I lost each other constantly. That said though, the costumes were AMAZING. Besides meeting up with my comic buddies--shout out to the always awesome Jim McCann, Fred Van Lente and Filip Sablik who attended this year's con--checking out all the rad costumes is easily my favorite part of going to conventions. At lot of these people put in some serious time and effort and their costumes come out looking really great. What really sucks though is that with so many costumes and so many people I missed a lot of opportunities to nab some pictures, including one of a really awesome Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Anyway, check out the pics I did manage to capture below!


Above, my friend Amanda who made her very own Hawkgirl costume, which not only looks amazing, but she also looks amazing in

Here are my friends Bridget and Jose as one of comics' greatest couple, the Joker and Harley Quinn

Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. Alas, she is unfortunately not my friend

Wanda and Cosmo! "Two wrongs don't make a right." "But three rights make a left!"

Save the mask, this guy made the entire costume by himself--including that Gatling Gun, which is ridiculously awesome and in fact spins

That Nemesis guy also hand made this Flash helmet. And the picture really does no justice on how spot on the helmet turned out. Seriously, Jay Garrick himself wouldn't be able to tell the difference

And finally, Invader Zim crew! The Gaz is even playing a DS!

Mittwoch, 23. Juni 2010

Brave and the Bold #91

Brave and the Bold #91 (On Sale: June 23, 1970) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

"A Cold Corpse for the Collector" featuring Batman and the Black Canary is by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy and I remember this being some really great artwork. I wish I could remember the story and I know I have this around here somewhere, but everything got rearranged when I moved my new table into my studio. Damn! I'll find it soon and put a real entry in here. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Developing a Brocabulary: Types of Bros

It's been far too long.

Yes, following more than a year's hiatus, I am once again cracking open the pages of Brocabulary: The New Man-i-festo of Dude Talk to explore it's hallowed teachings.

The topic this time around is a simple yet vital one: some different kinds of bros, as covered in the chapter Brommunication (n.) The art of communicating in a brophisticated manner, with or about your bros

sack pack - A bunch of dudes traveling in a group, or a cock flock. When they turn into a door jam by jockeying to get into a club, they're known as a bluster cluster, and when they storm a party they're known as a bro storm.

cerebro - The bro who does the thinking for you. You're R2-D-Dude and he's C-3P-Bro.

guyamese twins - Two bros who are pretty much inseparable (eg. Batman and Robin, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Michael Knight and KITT)

PAL 2000 - when a bro who seems to have your best interest at heart suddenly turns on you like HAL 2000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, usually by giving you bad advice and claiming it's for your own good: "The dude was my brother half until he PAL 2000ed me by convincing me to dump my girl and then hooking up with her. He totally soaked me in traitorade."

wannabro - A dork who tries to be a bro but is nothing but a wannabe. Sometimes referred to as a wannaDB as in "Dude, you're not even a douchebag, you're a wannaDB."

Vincent Van Bro - A bro who is so loyal he would cut his ear off for you.

Noah Patrick Pfarr covers La Femme Piège






















Original cover by Enki Bilal; Les Humanoïdes Associés 1990 (Originally published by Dargaud, 1986). Noah Patrick Pfarr's website is here.
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