The End of Civilization.

§ January 26th, 2006 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on The End of Civilization.

Because no one dared to stop me…bust out the new issue of the Diamond Previews catalog and follow along as we examine…the End of Civilization. (Previous installments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11)

Cover – Man, things start off with a bang, featuring the Michael Turner variant cover for some new Wolverine series. Not so much an incentive as a decentive.

p. 242 – Lost in Space: Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul TPB: reprinting the Innovation mini-series of several years ago, written by Lost in Space star Bill Mumy. Plus: in full color. Minus: you pay for that color, to the tune of $37.95. I know it ain’t cheap for a small press publisher to publish a fancy book like this, but $37.95 is still quite the hit on the pocketbook.

p. 380 – X-Men 3 Movie Novelization MMPB: “By Chris Claremont, based on the screenplay by Zak Penn & Simon Kindberg.” Sorta speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

p. 382 – The Superhero Kit TP:

“The Superhero Kit comes with a handy booklet of tips on how to be a super-hero, and comes packaged with a Super Identity-Hiding Mask, a ‘special person’ sticker for everyone to know how unique you are, a celebratory blow-horn for those after-life-saving victory parties, and a super-hero award to display with pride.”

Only $16.99. Pride not included. Probably wouldn’t make a good gift for these characters. (You can find an image of the kit here…be sure to check out the “celebratory blow-horn.”)

p. 404 – Superman Tattoo Watch: sometimes it gets depressing watching comic book companies and licensees desperately market 40- to 70-year-old superhero characters to a demographic that increasingly couldn’t care less about them. But apparently the watch is “funky” and “new,” according to the solicitation.

p. 418 – Vampire Angel Puppet: okay, when they did that episode of Angel where the title character was turned into, essentially, a Muppet, that was funny, and a high point of the whole series. Then there was a tie-in licensed item, an actual 21-inch plush doll version of Puppet Angel, which was wildly popular. Then there was “Battle Damaged Puppet Angel,” with, um, battle damage. Scars and stuff. Now we have Puppet Vampire Angel, with little plushy fangs.

This is what’s known as “going to the well one too many times.”

p. 432 – Snowbird Sasquatch Mini-Bust: so, not just a bust of Alpha Flight member Sasquatch, but a bust of when (Sasquatch’s alter ego) Walter’s mind was in the body of Snowbird, who had taken the form of a white Sasquatch (AKA “Great Beast Tanaraq”).

p. 452 – Marvel Heroes jewelry: lots of rings and pendants, but Wolverine’s dog tags are in the assortment as well. Just thought that should be pointed out.

p. 454 – Peanuts Classic Wacky Wobblers: not that most of the Peanuts characters look right when seen head on, but Woodstock is particularly disturbing:


AAAAAAAAAH!

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