Sunday, July 31, 2011

KINGDOM OF THE DISCO SKULL

For the uninitiated let me explain Diamond Comics' PREVIEWS catalog.  The PREVIEWS catalog is a monthly publishing offered to comic book stores that allows them a sneak peek at upcoming items.  For comic books it's usually 2 months in advance.  For other stuff it can sometimes be 4, 6 or even 12 months before some of the toys, graphic novel collections, statues, etc. will see the light of day. 

Fortunately my local comic book store gives regular customers, like myself, one of these catalogs for FREE.  Which is great, because some stores will charge you the 4.95 cover price... no matter how much you spend in their store. 

I used to refer to new PREVIEWS day as a monthly Christmas.  In the late 90s the thing was practically phone book sized.  These days it is about the size of a large magazine.  Which means it still filled with all kinds of crazy stuff.  I have decided to start a regular column here about some of the CRAZIER shit I find in the pages of PREVIEWS.  This first entry features items from the JULY catalog for items shipping in September 2011.
"I'M BACON!"


Let's kick it off with a little item called MY FIRST BACON! Why not? MFB is a googly-eyed, 19" plush toy in the form of a bacon strip! Ooh... and he talks too! The only thing that would make this better is if he were edible.  (SRP $20)



If anthropomorphic pork products aren't your thing... perhaps I can interest you in a DISCO BALL SHAPED LIKE A SKULL?! (SRP $50)

This is either the creepiest dance club accessory ever OR the coolest Skeletor variant Mattel has come up with thus far!

I usually roll my eyes when I see those pricey inflatable yard decorations people put in their yeards for Christmas or Halloween... but this... this... I would want.


WHAT DID YOU DO RAY?
 
An EIGHT AND A HALF FOOT tall, inflatable STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN! MOTHER PUS BUCKET!
 
 
 
How about a $9 box of crackers? No? What if they were made of people?
 
NOW you're interested, aren't you!
 
What do you put on SOYLENT GREEN crackers? Clothing?
 
 
The best way to end anything is with the letter "Z" as in ZOMBIE... ZOMBIE HOMER SIMPSON!
 

($20) Available in up to size 2XL

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Sunday, July 17, 2011

WE'RE #1 (or #2?)!


Just looking over my comic book order for SEPTEMBER 2011 I see I have requested EIGHTEEN books that are kicking off with issue ONE! Most of this is due to the relaunch/reboot/recycling of the DC Comics' Universe... in which the month of September will see 52 brand spanking new #1 issues.

However there are some other noteworthy #1 releases that are not being released by the folks at DC. I thought that I might direct your atttention towards a few of them.

In September DARK HORSE kicks off season 9 of it's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER comic book. Season 8 ran for 40 issues, will season 9 be equal in length? Only creator Joss Whedon probably knows for certain. Prior to season 9's launch in September, August sees the debut of ANGEL & FAITH #1... and you may be surprised to learn that this Buffy-verse spinoff is an ongoing series. Huh. Who saw that one coming?  

Not this Slayer fan that's for sure. However I am highly pleased that the entire crew of the Buffy-verse is back under one publisher.   Hopefully the stories will be good enough to erase some of the memories of IDW's ANGEL season 6.  WTF was up with that goldfish, anyway?

Who ya gonna call in September?  That's right... it is finally here, the debut of an ongoing GHOSTBUSTERS comic book series from the folks at IDW.

With GB fan favorite artist Dan Schoening handling the interiors, and at least one of the slew of variant covers that will be available for each issue.  IDW has announced that each issue will feature a "classic album" variant cover by artist Nick Runge.  Issue 1 is an homage to KISS.  Issue 2 features the GBs walking down Abbey Road.  And issue 3 pays tribute to the cover of Queen's second album QUEEN II, an image also later made famous in their Bohemian Rhapsody video. 

The series is being written by Erik Burnham, who did an excellent job on the GHOSTBUSTERS part of IDW's multi-title event - INFESTATION.

As I've written and vlogged before, the GHOSTBUSTERS comics so far, have been hit or miss for me.   If you can find 'em... track down the "Legion" four issue GB mini-series from 88MPH Studios.  And IDWs "Displaced Agression" four parter is pretty decent too.

The monthly GB comic will also include regular backup material, in the form of case files being reviewed by Walter "Dickless" Peck. 

The success of a book like GHOSTBUSTERS depends highly on sales, particularly pre-sales, so I encourage you to find your nearest comic book shop and pre-order your monthly GHOSTBUSTERS fix.  Perhaps one of each cover... just to make it safe.

IDW is also launching (tee hee) a new ongoing STAR TREK comic in September.  This monthly series is set in the continuity of the 2009 film and will take a look at the new Enterprise crew as they embark on missions that re-imagine stories from the original tv series.  

Along with GHOSTBUSTERS and STAR TREK... IDW is introducing a new TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
comic.  Issue 1 actually hits in August, with issue 2 scheduled for September.  Original TMNT creator Kevin Eastman is co-writing the series.  In addition to these new TMNT adventures, IDW will also be reprinting many of the hard to find original TMNT books into collectible hardcovers.  RADICAL!

Sheesh! Is nothing sacred?!
Naturally my order form also includes many  (ELEVEN) of the relaunched DC titles.  As a comic book nerd I can't help it.  You've got to admit it'll be kind of cool to have NEW #1 issues of books like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.   However I am kind of disappointed that the new costume designs mean the demise of Superman's little red undies.
 
I know most fanboys hate the red "outer shorts", ehhh... but I've always kind of liked them, of course a lot of fanboys just outright hate Superman... come to think of it, too many of them seem to focus on the crimson britches. 
 
Though I have a feeling with a new SUPERMAN movie scheduled for theatres for the Holiday 2012 season... Superman's "classic" look won't remain gone for long. 
 
I've been reading comics for about 33 of my 36 years.  This "reset" or similar gimmicks have been done before... only for everything to go back to the way it was... eventually.  Let's call it... THE NEW COKE EFFECT.   I must say that I have been rather amused by some of the outrage and breakdowns this event has caused for some of the geek community.  I wish I could sit them down and tell them to relax... afterall...  It's just comics man!
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Thursday, July 7, 2011

WHERE MY TOYS AT? #1: AUDREY II

Well... I started a regular feature here about awful toys that got made.  Now I'm going to start another one about toys that I am still waiting for TO BE MADE!

For a long time it was pretty difficult to find toys/action figures based on anything that was not directly aimed at kids.  'R' rated horror movies? Forget it!  Fans longed for articulated plastic versions of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Meyers, Pinhead, Leatherface, Pokerface... er, uh...

Then came the late 90s and companies like McFarlane toys, NECA, Mezco, Palisades... and suddenly movie properties that had been previously ignored started filling up the toy aisles everywhere... well mostly at places like Suncoast, Hastings, Spencer Gifts, and Game Stop stores.  But still! They were there! In our grubby toy collecting mitts!

For years we clamored for a figure of Ash (Bruce Campbell) from the Evil Dead films.  And McFarlane toys came through... not just with Ash, but also BAD ASH... and 18" talking Ash... even a Good vs Bad Ash 2-pack!   Then Mezco came through with all kinds of stuff... cutesy little Army of Darkness mezitz... Palisades even attempted a 4" collectible line. Then NECA took the license and gave us S-Mart Ash and Medeival Ash.

Clearly the toy world has run out of ideas.  Or have they? 

Ever since the horror movie toy craze began with McFarlane's MOVIE MANIACS line I have been praying to the molded plastic Gods for a figure/puppet/dioarama of some kind featuring that MEAN GREEN MOTHER FROM OUTER SPACE... Audrey II!


AUDREY II is one of the greatest cinematical special effects achievments, pre or post CGI, in this blogger's humble opinion.   Of course in the film the plant goes through several stages from tiny pod to a towering toothy terror.  
You will earn $35.98 in ebay bucks.  I bet you will... I bet you will...



HOLY SHIT! Look what I just found on eBay!!! Anybody got $2000 I can borrow?

So... where's my Audrey II toy? I want a miniature replica of that killer plant in his meanest greenest form as seen at the end of Little Shop of Horrors!  It's be great if it were some kind of puppet or animatronic thing. Just somebody get on it... STAT!
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Sunday, July 3, 2011

FAVORITE TV CHARACTERS #1: DET. ROBERT GOREN

Sunday June 26th, 2011 saw the series finale of LAW and ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT as well as the departure of Vincent D'onofrio's Det. Robert Goren from television's vast landscape of quirky detectives.  Or so, as before, we've been led to believe. (More on that later.

On September 30th, 2001 L&O:CI began on NBC as the second spinoff of the L&O mothership.  The show quickly dominated it's timeslot, and did so for 3 seasons... until that damn Housewives show began on ABC in 2004.  Beginning with season 7 the show was moved to the NBCUniversal-owned USA cable network, as a budget sharing measure, due to the series' declining ratings. 

The seventh season became the highest rated show on cable and quadrupled USA's previous Thursday night ratings.  So naturally for season 8 they moved the show to Sundays.

I will admit that I was not always a fan or even a viewer of L&O:CI.  An avid television watcher, even I recognize I watch too much tv, so some things fall by the wayside.  It didn't help that prior to season 5 it was announced that actor Vincent D'onofrio would be cutting back his Goren duties to every-other episode of the show.  Chris Noth, portraying his Det. Mike Logan character from the original L&O,  filled in on the the non-Goren episodes.

Initially I scoffed at reports of D'onofrio's fatigue.  "Hmmmmph. Actors."  But it turns out it was actually pretty serious - he was hospitalized in 2004 for nervous exhaustion.  

When I ultimately became hooked on the show, I grew to see how depicting a character like Det. Robert Goren could be physically and emotionally grueling for an actor, especially one as skilled as Mr. D.  

My love of L&O:CI and Det. Goren began in 2009 after being unemployed for over a year.  My L&O addiction began with the original flavor L&O classic which I discovered was on somewhere just about every day of the week - particularly on cable's TNT - which features mini-marathons on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  When those ended I could usually count on L&O:SVU being on the USA network and then one Saturday I stumbled upon another mini-marathon, this time of Criminal Intent on WGN America.  It wasn't long before I realized that Mondays on the USA network usually feature a good 8 to 10 hours of Intent.

After that it was Man Crush City for me and Detective Goren.



Goren is most frequently compared to the most masterful of Detectives... BATMAN!  Er, uh... Sherlock Holmes.  While Goren is sensitive and vulnerable.  He does carry the Holmes-ian qualities of being a quirky and extraordinarily intelligent investigator/criminal profiler. Goren typically employs his knowledge of an enormous range of topics: physics, chemistry, literature, history, psychology, (multiple) foreign languages, pop culture and currrent events.  It's obvious that Robert Goren is a man who spends any of his free time studying. 

One of my favorite examples is from an episode where Goren notices a murder victim has an unordinary amount of nickels... he quickly deduces that the microfiche machines at the library require nickels and that the library would be a great place to investigate the case further. 

Goren's analytical approach, at time, resembles that of a high functioning autistic or someone with extremely high OCD.  Though both detectives display arrogance,  Goren makes his living as a detective in NYC's "Major Case Squad" while Holmes only focused on cases that he considered to be complex (paging... Dr. House!).

Goren's partner Alexandra Eames often serves as his Dr. Watson. She is actually the lead detective in all of the duo's cases, since Goren's methods are often considered peculiar or outlandish by the higher-ups at 1PP.  While their relationship is quite businesslike, the pair also frequently play husband and wife during their investigations. During those times when Eames notices Goren is under stress, she will address him by his less formal name "Bobby". 

Goren even has a Moriarty of his very own.  Nicole Wallace (portrayed by Olivia D'abo) appeared in several episodes over the show's run. 


Professor Moriarty, I presume?
Goren also likes to toy with "persons of interest" as he questions them.  Frequently he will play off his looks, as the big lug, by being obtuse or immature.  It's a blast to see him play with people's minds like putty.  Often he is many steps ahead of them, when some of these schmucks think they've got the upper hand.

There are many theories about what occured after season 8 of Intent.   Chris Noth left the show after season 7 and quirkmeister Jeff Goldblum was brought in to take over.  While Jeff Goldblum is another actor I enjoy watching, but his Detective Zack Nichols character was no Robert Goren. 

For some (monetary?) reason, it seems that the network thought the show could continue without Vincent D'onofrio and Kathryn Erbe and their contracts were not renewed.   ***NOTE: I found a really interesting Q&A w/ D'onfrio where he talks about this topic.

However the duo appeared in the two part season 9 premiere.  For me, it was a very emotional moment at the end of part two when Detective Goren is forced out of his job.  I teared up every time I caught that part.

After season 9, for whatever reason, Goldblum decided he was done with the show.  Nobody was sure what would happen to L&O:CI... most of us thought it was done. Stick a fork in it.   Then, SUDDENLY, on September 21st 2010 it was announced that D'ONOFRIO IS BACK on L&O:CI, BABY!  For a shortened final season of 8 episodes. 

They weren't the best episiodes that Criminal Intent had produced.   One thing I did love about season 10, were the therapy sessions Goren was required to take as part of his reinstatement.  In fact I wish we'd gotten a little MORE of that, and a lot less of the "ripped from the headlines" cases featured in each episode.  

At least this time Goren got more of an upbeat ending.  I still teared up, but mostly because I was proud of how much progress "Bobby" had made in these final 8 episodes.

There was talk that season 10 may not be THE END.   However the USA Network seems pretty determined that the show has now seen it's SERIES finale. 

I think it would be great if Goren and company returned once in a while for some Criminal Intent tv movies.  Or better yet a NEW series, where Goren leaves the NYPD and goes out on his own as a private eye/detective.  Leaving the sometimes stiff L&O framework... and allowing the stories to be more Goren-esque.  But that's probably a pipe dream.  And maybe it's better that way.  Goren's adventures will have to continue in my head... they're probably better in there anyway.

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