Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I think I need three clones of myself

It´s been an awful long time since my last post but I have a really good excuse because I was busy, busy, busy with my new job, Christmas presents and - last but not least - my Christmas contest on this very blog.


So let´s do the update first. Thanks to my brilliant idea of announcing it at the german Comicforum and Paniniforum most of the books from GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011 are gone and the rest ( and some of the american comics ) are probably going out this week. Last week I sent out the first wave which set me back a whopping 10 bucks for shipping. Man, next time I really have to see if I can find a sponsor. So I hope all people who received some comics are happy with them and if you want to return the postage ( as somebody already did ) you have my address now.

Boy, the lengths I go to for giving away free comics. I even went into Ludwigsburg one more time after spending most of last Wednesday showing my brother the new location of the SAMMLERECKE in Esslingen. It really would have been cheaper to send the comics by mail but since I already had agreed to a meeting in person ( I thought I would go to the comicshop much later and spend more time there ) there was no way out.

So, I think still in the pot - for anybody still interested in getting free comics - are SPAWN Band 50 from INFINITY ( contains issues 99 and 100 ), MARVEL EXCLUSIV 26 - DAREDEVIL HÖLLENFAHRT, SQUADRON SUPREME Buch 2 - HYPERION vs NIGHTHAWK, PUNISHER - DIE LANGE KALTE NACHT and some issues of COMIX : issue 07 / 2010 ( 2 copies ), 08 / 2010, 04 / 2011 and 05 / 2011.

SPECIAL READERS REQUEST

In the comments of the last post somebody asked me to post some art of mine, since he read in my deviantart profile that I was an artist. Now there have been a few people asking for some art of POWER FREAKS and I DID look for it but the truth is I can´t find it at the moment. The only page I found is this one and I´m not sure if it´s safe to post. It´s the splash page for the first issue, art by my brother with inks by me.


The only piece of art entirely done by myself is this illustration ( that is also on the deviantart page I share with my brother ) which I did a few years ago and even sent to the letters page of LEAVE IT TO CHANCE but since I did that around the time the series went on hiatus ( I´m not sure if it´s been officially canceled ) I never found out if they received it.

It´s one of my earliest coloring jobs and being a big fan of crime stories that take place in sewers ( which I think must have something to do with all the EC comics I read ) I put the two main characters there - Chance Falconer and her red pet dragon. I thought about putting some of the gremlins there but then I opted to go for the simple design. I did it in the style used in the series or better TRIED to do but it turned out as a mix of that and Tintin. I think Today I would do it differently.


WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?

One of the things I hoped for with DC´s NEW 52 initiative was that we would see more art by some of the industry´s veterans who don´t do much comic work now. But instead of new titles by the likes of Kerry Gamill, Bob McLeod or Mike Zeck most of the new artists look like they were frozen in time during the iMAGE explosion.

One of my favorite artists has always been Ron Frenz who really should get more work and who did a brilliant zero issue for SUPERMAN BEYOND with the great Sal Buscema. As you can see by this comission piece he still has it.


For longtime readers of this blog it´s no secret that I´m still a big fan of John Byrne and after long weeks fellow blogger Pedro Angosto has finally worn me down by posting a whole plethora of beautiful John Byrne comissions. You can find more pieces here , here and here or just use the link for MAN OF BRONZE on the blogroll.


And since I already mentioned the blog I was really floored when I read that Jason Pearson apparently had some kind of personal crisis around the 10th of this month . He left what sounded very much like a suicide note on facebook and was incommunicado for a dreadful hour. Thanks to the intervention of some friends he´s better now but it´s kind of a shock when you hear that such a talented artist has a nervous breakdown.


YOU HAVE JUST ENTERED THE WEIRD ZONE

I don´t know if that´s a good sign or not but it has been a while since I did my news roundup posts where I include all the funny and interesting and strange stuff you can find on the interwebs. And the first thing I MUST post is this picture that expresses all our feelings about the TWILIGHT saga.


Next comes this aircraft identification chart courtesy of COMICBITS ONLINE ( also to be found on the blogroll ) which really explains a lot.


And I think I found this on facebook or Allyson Mack´s blog. Words to live by.


So Christmas is coming around and there´s still some shopping to be done and you never know what to get.


For all my readers in Germany my tip is go over to amazon.de and get some hardcovers because you can get them sent till Christmas if you order now. My tips would be - as I said before WEDNESDAY COMICS, DARK AVENGERS ( the complete collection ), WEATHERCRAFT, BULLETPROOF COTTIN, iZOMBIE, LOVE AND CAPES, ULTIMATE X - ORIGINS and THE NEW TEEN TITANS - GAMES by George Perez or the long overdue AVENGERS - ASSAULT ON OLYMPUS by comic legend John Buscema.

But I´m sure you´ll find something interesting. I´m wrapping this post finally up as this day has gone different than I thought. Instead of spending my time with watching female wrestling and getting some rest before having to work Tomorrow I have worked on this post for most of the afternoon.

And naturally we can´t end this post without mentioning Today´s celebrity birthdays. First up is Jenny Agutter who turns 59 and who played in such cult classics like LOGAN´S RUN and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. I did an exhausting post on Pop culture icons - Logan´s Run that you should really check out because not only does it have all kinds of stuff about the movie but also the tv series and the comic adaptions.


The other one is Joyce Hyser who celebrates her 54th anniversary and before you ask : you don´t know Joyce Hyser, you don´t remember the movie JUST ONE OF THE GUYS for which she is best known but I bet you remember this scene where she shows her incredibly big ..... talents .


Back in the 80s your best bet to see some naked breasts were screwball comedies because you knew even if the script was totally worthless and the actors without any kind of talent you were going to get boobage. Joyce Hyser may not be famous and may not have played in the best movies but every prebubescent boy growing up in the 80s saw this movie.

And to think she almost didn´t do it. Joyce had a no nudity clause in her contract and was against showing her wonder twins especially after a friend told her : " Honey, with THOSE BREASTS if you go topless in that scene, no one you meet will EVER look into your EYES again. " Thankfully she shot the scene showing her breasts and without showing them and in the end decided that the scene didn´t work if she didn´t go topless .


So the thanks of an entire generation of hormone driven boys is yours for logic winning over superstition. Or naked breasts winning over whatever.


And speaking of breasts - naked or otherwise - the Batgirl costume below is a re - design I could live with. I don´t think that next to prostitute Catwoman and stripper Starfire bikini Batgirl would stand out.


edit : the Batgirl bikini picture above and the one with She Hulk as a singer are courtesy of co4 on DeviantArt. Originally I didn´t put up a link to his gallery because there is some art that is not safe for work ( topless She Hulk and such ) but after posting a picture, a gif and the video of cult siren Joyce Hyser topless I would feel like a hypocrite. So I´m putting the link up but I´m also mentioning the NSFW part for all who don´t want to be exposed to that kind of stuff. I know, too late for that now but it´s different if it´s my decision and on my blog or a link people can follow.

As it´s now waay past 20.00 hours and there´s nothing good on tv I´m going to watch the Doctor Who special VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED. Since the Christmas special won´t air for a few more days I´m watching all the specials I haven´t seen yet like River Song - meaning backwards. I know where The Doctor will end up as I go further and further into his past.

Since I haven´t posted it yet here´s the trailer for this year´s Christmans special THE DOCTOR, THE WIDOW AND THE WARDROBE.



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Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The 2nd big Christmas Contest

Like I promised here is the official announcement of the second annual Christmas contest and what better day for it than Saint Nicholas Day ? Even if you won´t get something into your boots until Christmas I wanted to post the details.


Like the last time around here is a soundbite to get you in the right mood. Now what is the big Christmas contest ? Mainly an excuse for me to give away free comics. TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN will enter it´s 6th year in 2012 ( the gods willing ) and this is my way to give back something to all my loyal readers. Now the situation regarding review copies hasn´t improved much since last year so free comics means mostly that : free comics.

The big blunt of it are comics from this years GRATIS COMIC TAG as I have already promised to give away the issues I have reviewed. Although that didn´t work exactly as planned - I only managed to review a bunch of them - it´s about time to give them away. The end of 2011 is rapidly approaching and I don´t want to accumulate too much stuff for next year. Who knows ? I might even find the time to change the look of the blog back to the old look. Unless you like the new look better. I myself am not so sure. It was nice for Halloween but it´s a tad too depressing for winter and the new year. So unless there´s a massive outcry to keep the new look be prepared to this blog looking like it used to.

Now what is the loot ? As I said, first are the issues from the GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011 ( to which a few copies will be added next week ) namely : DIE SCHLÜMPFE, HOLZHOF COMIX, DIE MÜLLERS, BOULE & BILL, THOR, BLACKTOWN, ZARLA, MONSIEUR JEAN, TALES FROM THE VAULT OF THE GRINGO, DIE MUPPET SHOW, WEISSBLECHS GRATIS GRUSEL GEISTERSTUNDE, DER TOD UND DAS MÄDCHEN, PROFESSOR BELL, UNGEBREMSTER SPASS VOM BSE VERLAG, BONGO COMICS FÜR UMME, MOSAIK, ICOM - COMICS FÜR ALLE, DER GRATIS - COMIC ZUM FESTIVAL MÜNCHEN, DIE PEANUTS, GREEN MANOR, POLLY UND DIE PIRATEN and THE GOON.


And as if that´s not a lot I´m also throwing HELLBOY, STAR WARS - THE CLONE WARS and YTHAQ from the first GRATIS COMIC TAG 2010 into the hat.

Next are the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY comics from this year and since I didn´t get any of the ones I ordered I can only put MICKEY MOUSE from Fantagraphics Books and PEP COMICS featuring Betty & Veronica from Archie Comics on the pile. Additionally there is WOLVERINE ORIGIN OF AN X - MAN, MERCY SPARX - UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT, WILLIAM SHATNER PRESENTS and the IMAGE COMICS SUMMER SPECIAL from previous FREE COMIC BOOK DAYs. More free comics : 2 copies of DC COMICS THE NEW 52 ( for all who are interested ), X - MEN CURSE OF THE MUTANTS SAGA, INVINCIBLE IRON MAN 1 and INVINCIBLE issue 0.

Of course there are not only free comics on the menu, also to be given away for free are THE SAVAGE DRAGON issue 0 ( containing the origin story of Savage Dragon ), X- MEN and SPIDER - MAN 1, DELETE 3, the HUNDRED PENNY PRESS issues of ANGEL AFTER THE FALL and KILL SHAKESPEARE, issue 1 of WEDNESDAY COMICS, X - MEN SONDERHEFT GENERATION M ( contains the full miniseries ), DC COMICS presents SUPERMAN 1 ( containig superman man of steel 121 and SUPERMAN 179, 180 and 185 ), SPAWN band 50 from INFINITY ( contains issues 99 and 100 ), MARVEL EXCLUSIV 26 - DAREDEVIL HÖLLENFAHRT, SQUADRON SUPREME Buch 2 - HYPERION vs NIGHTHAWK, PUNISHER - DIE LANGE KALTE NACHT and VAMPIRE BOY 1 - DIE AUFERSTEHUNG form CrossCult. And last but not least some issues of COMIX : issue 07 / 2010 ( 2 copies ), 08 / 2010, 04 / 2011 and 05 / 2011.


I will probably also throw in some posters, postcards or other goodies but that´s it. Now you will probably ask yourself ( or the next person if have company and think he may know the answer ) what you hav to do to get a piece of the action. Well, almost nothing.

Last year I made it a kind of a contest because I thought it might be more exciting but apparently that was not the case. Or maybe some people thought because I wrote they have to send an e - mail with the quotes and the corresponding comics they had to send in actual comics to win. In hindsight I might have phrased it better. So this time around you don´t have to send me 5 of the comic quotes I leave at the end of the posts and from which comic, movie or tv series they are. You can if you want to but you don´t have to. All I need is an e - mail with your address ( e - mail address to be found on the " About me " section or just post a comment ) and if there are some preferences regarding the comics. I can´t guarantee that you will get ALL the comics you want but if it´s possible we can do the " I´d rather have the PUNISHER trade than the SQUADRON SUPREME one. "

Seeing as most of the comics are in german and keeping in mind that I have to pay out of my own pocket for the sending contestants from Germany are more likely to win but the contest is also open to non - german residents. Heck, I want to hear from TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN fans from all over the world.


There will not be a strict deadline but it would be nice if your e - mail ( with the words " christmas contest " in the about line ) could arrive around December 24th as the latest since I will probably start sending packages before that.

Simultanously I will also open a thread on the german Comicforum and PANINI Comics Forum to give away the issues of GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011. So good luck entering and I hope I can add a few more comics to the list until I have to send them. And maybe I can even review some of them.


From time to time I like to post some funny videos at the end of the post that don´t have to do anything with the topic and Today is no exception. One of the funniest things I have seen lately : the Chuck Norris commercial for World of Warcraft.



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