I’m just going to post a few links because I’m lazy.

• • •

EDIT: Oh good heavens…this just turned up in my Twitter feed, and it’s like God is punishing me for having sold POGs in the ’90s:

And now…some Batman items on the eBay.


Image from the eBay auction titled “Fantasy Mask, Similar to Batman” — why, yes, that is quite similar.

Here is a permutation of the “Got Milk?” campaign that I never quite expected. (But you can have Batman Beyond right now, in the current Superman/Batman annual, now on sale!)

What the hell is Killer Croc wielding, there? “BEHOLD MY CLAWED PERISCOPE OF DEATH, BATMAN!”

I have to say I’m very disappointed in the search results for Batman in the Specialty Services category. “WINNING BIDDER WILL HAVE ME AS THEIR PERSONAL BATMAN FOR THE DAY.” That’s what I was hoping to see.

So is the stain part of the design or is it, just, you know…stained?

I would so totally lose fingers on this double-bladed Bat-knife. I like how “Batman” is just etched on the belt clip.

I don’t know why offering just a single Joker’s Henchman Lego figure makes me laugh, but it really does. I mean, it could be a rare item for all I know.

“18 Tongue Ring Playboy Batman Ganja Skull Logo Whistle” – sadly, these are descriptions of different tongue rings, not all the same tongue ring. “GANJA PLAYBOY BATMAN SKULL TO THE RESCUE! tweeet tweeet!”

“I Believe in Batman” — don’t we all, friend…don’t we all.

I guess I’d better mention it here…

…since I’ve been getting e-mailed, messaged, and otherwise contacted about the rumors of a possible reintegration of Swamp Thing into the main DC Universe, and away from the mature-readers Vertigo line. Given the story’s initial source, I’m going to wait for some confirmation before I get my hopes up, but I think it would be a nice change of pace after the last handful of attempted relaunches. Frankly, I was just a bit Vertigo-ed out on that particular interpretation of Swamp Thing. If you want to read a summary of what’s supposedly going on, I direct you to the main page of Roots of the Swamp Thing, where proprietor Rich H. has a few words on the matter, and Comics Alliance has further commentary on what this could mean for the Vertigo line in general.

Anyway, if true, I suppose having Solomon Grundy fill the Swamp Thing role didn’t work out as planned (even though that recent Grundy series was pretty good). Maybe we can get a couple of titles out of this…hey, if Deadpool can have, what, seventeen different series, we can have two Swamp Thing titles. A regular solo book and The Swamp and the Bold, with Swamp Thing teaming up with a different character every month. You’d totally read that, don’t you lie to me.

• • •

In other news: Bully the Little Stuffed Bull explains the Marvel Universe in a tour-de-force that must be seen to be believed.

Frankly, I’m not sure where I stand.

From Yahoo Answers:

“Yes it is so unique!!!!!! <3 but I would spell it: Cwompe Thenge" "WTF really lol I'd say big asss NO!" "Hahaha 'Swamp Thing be nicer to your brother!' I like the sound of that." "Swamp Thing's daughter is named Tefe. (tay-fay) It's a river in the Amazon jungle. Call her Tefe. Source(s): 1990s Swamp Thing comics"

I didn’t submit that last one.

So I finally got around to seeing Iron Man 2.

(SPOILERS AHEAD, like you all haven’t seen it already)

Yeah, I know, I’m like the last person on the planet to see it…or at least it feels that way, given the number of conversations about the movie I’ve had to avoid at the shop over the last couple of weeks. But, I finally got in there Saturday night, with a surprisingly large crowd, and…well, the film was okay. I did enjoy it, but it’s not really a patch on the first film. Once or twice early on in the flick, I found myself thinking “why is the movie showing me this instead of more scenes of Iron Man doing something awesome?” Okay, I know it was necessary character set-up stuff for future plot events, but still, it seemed like there was a little more forward momentum and…”spark,” I guess, to similar scenes in the first film.

When you actually count out the number of Iron Man action scenes in this film, there really aren’t that many, and I’m not sure if I’d count the very uncomfortable bit of business with Tony acting like a buffoon at his party (though it does set up how Tony and Rhodey are able to defeat the bad guy at the end). I’d heard some complaints about the climactic battle being hard to follow, but I didn’t have any trouble (and I usually am the first to complain when a film’s action sequence is poorly directed).

And I had heard comments from folks about having yet another bad guy with a Bigger, Badder Iron Man suit for our heroes to fight, and…yeah, they should probably change it up a bit for the next movie. I’m pulling for Living Laser, myself. Though I’d die if it was MODOK.

Oh, and hello, Sir Scene-in-The-Trailer-And-Not-Appearing-in-This-Movie:


Supporting cast was strong: every time Sam Jackson shows up in a Marvel movie as Nick Fury, it’s a hoot, and I can’t wait for his version of Fury to get a meatier part in some future film. (Though Fury gets plenty of screentime this time around.) Plus, Sam Rockwell is suitably slimy and obnoxious as Stark’s competitor Justin Hammer, and Mickey Rourke is quite the imposing presence as Ivan Vanko. Also, I seem to remember hearing gripes about Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts and her particular storyline in this film. Aside from being more scenes that aren’t Iron Man doing cool things, I didn’t see any particular problem with her arc, especially as its purpose was to show how Tony reacts to it. What was your exact beef, gentlemen?

By the by…so decades ago, Poppa Stark hid the description of a secret element for his son to later find, and it just happened to be the right element to solve Tony’s current health/power generator issues? …Sure, why not. I did figure the city layout was a hidden message to Tony from his father early on, but I thought it was going to reveal plans for a circuit board. I mean, it did look like one, right? A bit? Somewhat?

And yes, there was that bit of business at the end of the film, after the credits…and I do wish they had inserted the scene, like, a minute or two into the credits instead of at the very end, because man, sitting there and waiting is a drag.

But there was the scene, and the few other suckers audience members who waited it out cheered when they saw the hammer, and at least one guy exclaiming “it’s Thor!” I also overheard someone explaining to his friends what the significance of the hammer was, using Adventures in Babysitting as part of said explanation. I thoroughly approve of this.

Also, I’m glad I was going out of my way to see or read anything about the film ahead of time, because man, when I was going through the trailer to pick out images as my “spoiler borders,” it’s like the entire film was in it. It’s almost Disney trailer-esque in its reveals.

But most importantly…just how fantastic was Garry Shandling in this movie?


“Very fantastic” is the correct answer.

World’s Frownest.

So first, Employee Aaron drew this:


And then I drew this in response:


Neither of us were particularly sad at the time, so I have no explanation. But that won’t stop me from slapping these pics up on the site for all to…”enjoy.”

In other news:

  • Say, you know what’s five years old this week? Why, the weblog of Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull, that’s what! Since Bully is only six years old, he’s been doing his site for 5/6ths of his life! And who among us can say that?

    Congrats, Bully! May you defeat all the matadors life throws at you!

  • Fellow Bureau Chief Matt Wilson penned an article looking at the problems with “nerd news” reporting. Some interesting food for thought in there (especially the bit about some folks just not being able to admit they were wrong about something).
  • Here’s something I didn’t expect to see…the all-seeing Neilalien turns his Eye of Agamotto upon the last episode of Lost. It’s a short, thoughtful, and reasoned response to the show, and I can’t disagree with it.

    Speaking of Lost, get a load of Nedroid‘s “Twitpic” stream, with plenty of Lost comics and illustrations. If this strip doesn’t make you wish for a follow-up TV series with those two characters, then I don’t know what to tell you.

  • Longtime customer Kevin started a sketch blog and I’ve kept meaning to link to it. So here you go. The man wields a mighty pen.
  • If you somehow missed out on ordering the print version of The Journal of MODOK Studies fanzine, like I did, you can now get all three issues as PDFs from the official website. You’re welcome.

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

It’s an all-new installment of the End of Civilization, going on 5 1/2 years and still ending strong! This particular edition is very heavy on the fake dialogue, so please enjoy the voices in my head being transcribed here for your pleasure. Crack open your copy of Diamond Previews (June 2010) and follow along, with me and my magical elf friend Elfy! Right, Elfy? “Right, Mike!”

p. 92 – The Brave and The Bold #36:

“When Adam Strange offered Lois Lane the chance to file a story from Rann, she jumped at it – but she wasn’t expecting to become an interstellar war-correspondent!”

She certainly didn’t expect it the last time, either!

p. 134 – 51 Ways to Save Her Vol. 1:


This new CMX book sounds pretty good. Can’t wait for future installments!

p. 270-1 – Miscellaneous Green Hornet comics:


So, there are seven different Green Hornet periodicals, plus a hardcover reprint, this month. Pretty good for a character that, not that long ago, was mainly referenced by people trying to remember Green Lantern’s name.

p. 301 -The Smurfs Vol. 1 The Purple Smurf & Vol. 2 The Smurfs and The Magic Flute:


I’M TOTALLY BUYING THESE SHUT UP

p. 346 – Lost Encyclopedia:


“So, who was that on the other outrigger shooting at our heroes?”

“Um….”

“Oh, does it say who was still dropping off supplies on the island?”

“Well, uh….”

“At least tell me it has the Man in Black’s name.”

“Er….”

p. 349 – Star Trek The Original Series 365 HC:

“In addition to a wealth of never-before-seen images and newly commissioned photography, [this book] presents a treasure trove of remastered stills from the CBS archives….”

“Newly commissioned” pics aside, it seems to be there’s a finite amount of period photos from the original Trek series. Eventually archivists are going to be pouring through old episodes frame-by-frame trying to find an image not already used:

“Okay, this frame from ‘And The Children Shall Lead’ – cleared for use?”

“Wait wait, lemme look…nope, used in the ’70s bubblegum card series.”

“DAMN. How ’bout the next frame?”

“Checking, checking…okay, that one’s good. Slap that sucker on a t-shirt.”

p. 349 – Star Wars Year by Year – A Visual Chronicle HC:


“Hey, the book stops at 1998!”

“Trust me, it’s better this way.”

p. 360 – Multiple Mang T-Shirt:


Yes, “Multiple Mang.” Also, the shirt looks like it’s celebrating model sprues.

p. 365 – Zombie God Save the Queen Black T-Shirt:


So we’re just throwing zombies onto anything now, are we? “WOO check out my zombie toaster, man! It makes toast…UNDEAD TOAST.”

p.372 – Marvel Select Juggernaut Action Figure:


“Man, what are we going to do with all these leftover misshapen lumps of plastic from our action figure factory?”

“Oh, just throw them out…wait, hold on, I have an idea.”

p. 376 – World’s Greatest DC Heroes Retro Action Figures:


“I really need to pick a shade of blue and stick with it.”


“Look, they didn’t have glove-cuffs my size, okay? Just lay off.”


“Stop making sense
Stop making sense
Stop making sense
Making sense”


“Man, look at me. I’m badass. I don’t belong with these losers.”

p. 378 – Auto World Batman Slot Car Track Set:


Okay, so here’s a Batman slot car set based on the 1960s TV show. And also in this catalog is

p. 384 – Auto World Dukes of Hazzard Slot Car Track Set:


If one were to, say, combine both sets together: ADAM WEST BATMAN VERSUS THEM DUKE BOYS IN THE RACE TO END ALL RACES.

Surely the world does not deserve such beauty.

p. 386 – Fisher Price Milk Wagon:


Soon to become a Fisher Price Beer Wagon in some college student’s dorm room.

p. 386 – Fisher Price Record Player:


“Here’s your very own record player, Little Billy!”

“A what player? Where’s the USB port? Why are these CDs so lumpy?”

p. 392 – Avatar Jake Sully’s Na’Vi Dagger Prop Replica:


For extra authenticity, prop replica available solely as 3D graphics on supplied DVD-ROM.

p. 392 – The Phantom’s Jungle Bowie Knife Prop Replica:


Hey, remember that one time the Phantom totally shanked a guy? That was awesome.

p. 394 – Harry Potter’s llluminating Wand Prop Replica:

“Wave the wand and a light shines from its tip. Wave it again, and the light is extinguished.”

Oh, I think we’ve all experienced that, am I right, guys?

…

What, yours doesn’t glow?

p. 396 – Thor Classic Mini-Bust:


“Verily, the fish I doth caught was this big!”

p. 398 – Nick Fury S.H.I.E.L.D. ID Set and Pistol Prop Replicas:


This is a government security breach waiting to happen. And by “security breach” I mean “some dope getting the crap beat out of him when he tries to get past some checkpoint with these.”

p. 424 – Batman Folding Pen:

“Use the writing implement designed for billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne….”

…Which totally has the Batman logo on it. That Wayne, he’s got chutzpah.

p. 437 – Smallville RPG Core Rulebook:


“Okay, so Luthor hops into his plane and flies off with the Kryptonite. What do you want to do?”

“I’ll fly after him.”

“Sorry, you can’t fly yet. Not until after ten years of campaign time have passed.”

“Wait, what? What can I do, then?”

“You can look longingly into Lana’s big watery eyes and say incredibly evasive things that exacerbate everyone’s problems.”

“Oooh, I roll for Save Vs. Ridiculous Plot Developments.”

“Yeah, you can try.”