The Legends Return!

First off, I hope everyone is having (or has had) a great Holiday season! Mine was very good - got to spend lots of time with family and friends and of course my traditional X-Mas bottle of  Drambuie .... (mmm...sweet golden liquor...). Warmest wishes to everyone who helped make this a great winter holiday (you'll note I'm being non-denominational here), May the Force be with you, one and all..

And now back to the expected nerdy weirdness...

I've accquired a few new action figures lately, as well as having parted with a few old favorites. Power Man is gone, as well as Kingpin, both casualties of the recent Central Canada Comic Con this last October. (You've read all about that here already, right?) Theirs was an acceptable loss, since each went for a good price, and I brought home this awesome replacement:

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Marvel Legends

Elektra / Ronin

Two-Pack

I've never really followed the stories of these two characters, and I don't really know much about them, but I'll share what little info I've got on them. Of course, I could link you to their respective Wikipedia pages or their entries on Marvel.com, but nothing is more fun than reading a review by someone who doesn't know jack, am I right?



- Elektra is a former love interest of Daredevil. Where their relationship stands at this point, I don't know or care.

- Elektra first appeared in Daredevil #168, was killed by Bullseye in Daredevil #181. Since then, I'm sure that Marvel's writers and artists have resurrected/re-killed/re-resurrected her a bunch of times. (Comics do that a lot, eh?)

- Ronin is actually a bunch of characters who all apparently look the same and kill people with swords & nunchuks. This version is alias Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye (the archer, longtime Avenger). Although I haven't been current with Marvel books lately, I've read that Ronin was at one time a deaf girl and also one of Moon Knight's multiple personalities.

Like I said, I'm not really a fan of these characters, but I couldn't pass up this deal. I wanted the Elektra figure so I could have another female in my collection. She's way better than the mostly non-poseable Wonder Woman that I have, and comes with all the cool stuff you see in the package above. I like that she can hold a sword as well as her trademark sais, but why they gave her an extra head with a different hairstyle is beyond me. Ronin is a pretty cool-looking figure too, complete with a katana and a pair of nunchuks (which I can't seem to remove from his left hand without breaking his arm). He's pretty much your standard ninja, and I definitely needed to get one of those.

These two were purchased new in the package, which is rare for a cheap-ass like me. As you've already seen in Everyday Heroes, there's a boatload of comedic potential with these two, and I'm very happy with them. 

So, as a note to Power Man and the Kingpin:

So long, suckas!!

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Marvel Legends

Ghost Rider

(Series 7)

This guy was on my list of 'Holy Grail' action figures - the most desireable and hardest to find characters; a list that also includes The Juggernaut (Ser. 6), Tigra, Savage She-Hulk, Vindicator, Brown Suit Wolverine and The Silver Surfer (see below). There have been a few Ghost Rider figures in the ML line, but this is the one I wanted most. I mean, check out those flames!!

The sculpt of this figure is amazing if you ask me... I love the detail of the skull and neck, and the realistic-looking leather riding outfit. His motorcycle looks pretty good and stands well on the shelf. You can remove the front shield portion of the bike so it looks more like a bad-ass chopper. I bought this figure mint in the package from a seller on Ebay, and though I considered keeping it this way to retain its value, I think I lasted a whole 5 minutes before I ripped the box open. Ghost Rider is just way too cool to be stuck in the package.

Here's some facts about the character:

-Real name: Johnny Blaze - motorcycle stuntman. First appeared in Marvel Spotlight #5 (1972).

-Made a deal with the Devil to save the life of his adopted father who was dying from cancer. He ended up dying in a motorcycle accident immediately after he was declared cancer-free, and Johnny was still indebted to Satan. (Just goes to show ya....)

-Transforms to the Ghost Rider when evil is present.

-Fights for the innocent and punishes the wicked.

- Was once a member of the ill-fated (and rapidly cancelled) super-team known as The Champions, which also included the Black Widow, Iceman, the Angel and Hercules.

-Was (horribly) portrayed in the (half-assed) 2007 film by Nicolas Cage. I've just read that there is a sequel scheduled for release in 2012, for reasons that are beyond my understanding...

- Has often worked with Marvel heavyweights like Spider-Man and the Thing (Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One, respectively).

There's lots more history and stories about him, but basically, he's a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle - and that's about all you really need to know. 

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Marvel Legends

Silver Surfer

(Series 5)

w/Howard the Duck

What these two guys are doing together, I don't know. One is the cosmically-powered sentinel of the spaceways and a former herald of Galactus; the other is a three foot anthropomorphic waterfowl. As far as I can recall, the Silver Surfer and Howard never appeared together. The toymakers decided to package them together for some reason, but the Silver Surfer packaged without Howard the Duck (and otherwise exactly the same) is actually worth a lot more. I really only wanted SS anyway, but when I ordered him loose, he still came with the Duck.

- Silver Surfer first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 (1966) and has been going strong in Marvel Comics ever since, having had at least 3 ongoing self-titled series. Often teams up with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, and was once a member of the Defenders along with Namor the Sub-Mariner, the Hulk and Dr. Strange.

- Howard the Duck first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 (1973), alongside the Man-Thing. Howard himself is not at all fearsome in any way, but he can sometimes be dreadfully un-funny.

- The Silver Surfer has battled Thor, the Hulk, Spider-Man and many other Marvel characters, but is for the most part a good guy - just misunderstood.

- Howard the Duck has battled no one in particular. I don't think I've ever seen him throw a punch. Most of his comics are concerned with political and societal disapproval, and there's not a lot of action.

- The Silver Surfer travels the universe on his Cosmic Surfboard.

- Howard the Duck lives in Cleaveland.

As you can see, these two are as different as night and day, and have no business being together. I guess that they really wanted to make a Howard the Duck Marvel Legends figure and couldn't really sell him on his own. I think he would have been better suited as a sidekick for the Man-Thing, since they've at least been in comics together. Either that, or they should've packaged him with a figure of Beverly Switzer, his longtime human female companion. His actual figure is a bit disappointing too - his feet aren't very stable and he falls over all the time. His beak is stuck wide open, and he doesn't come with his trademark cigar (but then again, you don't see a lot of toys with tobacco-related accessories). Actually, since he's in the proper scale, Howard the Duck looks kind of cool next to the other Marvel Legends figures that I have, and I have to admit that he does look pretty funny riding Ghost Rider's bike.

The Silver Surfer rocks. He comes with a cool stand and his feet are actually magnetized so he sticks to the metal on his board. He's well sculpted and painted, but I wish he had poseable fingers like some of the later figures, such as Spider-Man, Power Man and Moon Knight. Still, he's pretty awesome.

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I'm sure you'll see all of these figures in on this blog in the near future. I've also just recently got a 6" Superman figure as well, but since he's just a lowly DC character and not from the Marvel Legends line, he's not worthy of being in this blog entry. (Calm down DC fans, I'm only kidding...)

Happy New Year, and

May the Force be with you...

Stumblin' Through the Flix

If you were hoping for some more zany action figure comic strips this time around, sorry to disappoint you. I do have a life, you know... As much as I love doing stuff like that, it is somewhat time-consuming, and time is a valuable commodity for me, especially during this holiday season. I don't want my blog to become a barren wasteland (though it might already be so intellectually), so I've got to write something. Movie reviews are always a good filler...

My wife just recently set us up with Netflix to play through our Nintendo Wii, and while I don't want to endorse either of these companies too heavily since they're not paying me anything (yet), I have to say that I'm more than happy with it so far. I don't see a lot of newer stuff on there - certainly not as much as you'd see in the local video store - but while browsing, I've stumbled upon a whole boatload of great movies and TV shows that I probably wouldn't see otherwise, unless I was specifically looking for them, which I wouldn't if I had to pay minimum $3 a pop to see them on DVD.

Here are a few of the movies I've seen on Netflix lately. I've also watched a lot of television shows (mostly cartoons), but talking about those would fill another blog post entitrely...


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SEVEN SAMURAI

A lot of people have obviously reviewed this film before me - this is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. Not my #1 favorite film ever, but it definitely ranks up there among my Top Ten. I just saw it for the first time recently and I'm scolding myself for waiting so long to see it. In case you didn't know, Seven Samurai is also known for being the inspiration for The Magnificent Seven, which is considered to be one of the best Western films of all time. (Unfortunately however, Mag. Seven in turn was the inspiration for Battle Beyond the Stars, arguably one of the worst Science Fiction movies ever made....).

Released way back in 1954, it's a classic storyline, and a great period piece. Seven Samurai also happens to have been produced by Toho Studios, the company that also brought us Gojira (better known to North American audiences as Godzilla, King of the Monsters) that very same year. What I noticed right away was that several of the actors involved in S.S. also appear in the latter as well, and keep re-appearing in many more (awesome) Godzilla films.

I realize that the above picture actually only shows six Samurai, but trust me - there are seven, even though the first guy gets killed relatively early on. The film tells the story of the poor peasants of a small village in feudal Japan who go to the city to seek out the assistance of Samurai to protect them from constant harassment by marauding bandits. Along the way, we meet a whole slew of interesting characters; far too many to mention here. Let's just say its a great 'ensemble cast' all working towards a common goal, a technique later emulated in countless other films to this very day, such as The Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, Armageddon, Oceans Eleven (and Twelve and Thirteen), A Bug's Life, Star Wars, etc, etc....

I can't say enough about this movie. I am by no means a professional movie reviewer, but I think any film critic would agree that Seven Samurai remains to this day one of the greatest and certainly most influential films ever made. Do yourself a favor; turn off that stupid vampire sequel and watch a real  movie.

A+

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MEGASHARK vs GIANT OCTOPUS

OK, so this one is definitely not one of the greatest film ever made. This would perhaps be somewhere near the other end of the spectrum. That being said, I am a giant monster (or Kaiju) movie lover as well as a fan of campy films, so this is right up my alley.

As an intentionally 'so bad its funny' movie, it totally succeeds. The actors appear to be taking it all so seriously, even when spewing out the ridiculous, pseudo-scientific dialogue. The effects are intentionally horrible (the shark eating the Golden Gate Bridge shot is about as realistic-looking as it gets), and the plot makes little to no sense. A lot of shots are recycled over and over in the movie and the sets look like they were all filmed in the same room, just re-arranged. Megashark vs Giant Octopus also stars Deborah "Debbie" Gibson in the lead role. I was never a fan of her music, but I think she did pretty well for this movie. It must be hard to prove yourself as an actor in a film where your acting is supposed to be terrible. Oh, and Lorenzo Lamas. Let's not forget him...

On the flip side, as a giant monster film....... it's waaaayyyy disappointing. There's far too few scenes of the two title creatures, and what there is is hard to make out and mostly looks like two ugly puppets flopping around in the dark, or the lowest of low-grade CGI work... Sure, old Kaiju movies like Godzilla and Gamera look fake too, but at least we get to see a lot more of the monsters. I was expecting just a tad more in this department from MSvsGO.

Megashark vs Giant Octopus was the first movie we watched when we got Netflix. I was just that excited to see it. Overall, I guess it's sort of funny, but not 'monstery' enough for my liking.

C+

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KUNG FU HUSTLE

Now this - this is funny. It's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Looney Tunes. There's a lot of truly amazing martial arts going on here, backed up by some really cool effects, extreme acting and crazy jokes. The action is completely over the top and super-fun. And did I mention that it's funny? ...It's like almost "s**t your pants" funny.

The storyline is pretty far-fetched but cool, all about Kung Fu masters and gangsters in 1940's China. Written and directed by Stephen Chow, this is sort of a follow-up to the hugely successful Shaolin Soccer, which is also "s**t your pants" funny. Personally, I preferred this one, mostly because of the Landlady (pictured above). She's got to be the best charater in this film by far. Since I highly recommend this movie and don't want to give anything away to those who haven't seen it, let's just say that she steals the show. Look at her picture again - you don't f**k with that lady...

The movie loses a bit of steam around the end, but that's only because you were so blown away with awesomeness earlier in the film that the awesome ending loses impact.

I love this movie! If only there were more like it!! It's no Seven Samurai, but it's the second-best movie I've seen on Netflix so far. BTW, Kung Fu Hustle is subtitled, so if you don't like to read while you watch movies or don't like foreign movies at all, then too bad - it's your loss.

Dirty pants aside, it deserves a solid A

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So that's all I got for ya today. Take care and Happy Holidays!!

...and as always,

May the Force be with you...

Nunchuks and Cactus Juice

Been a while... seems like every other post I'm saying that. I've got a lot on my plate right now, and a lot of stuff in the works for this blog, but without further ado, here is this week's installment of my web comic. Hope that you like it. Any questions can be directed to me via email. Any complaints will be directed to my Spam folder.

Enjoy!!

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(click on the pages to view larger)

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May the Force be with you...

Trashed!

So I promised you some new action figure stuff this week, and here it is. I had the day off from work today, so I spent it alone at home with my camera, my laptop and my superheroes.... and this is how all that ended up. It's a bit wordy, but I was having fun with it. If you don't like it, at least the entire day wasn't wasted - I still got all of the laundry and the dishes done and all of the garbage taken out....so there.

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( click on pages to view larger )

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In case you were wondering, I shoot everything on a Pentax k200d, with a Tamron 90mm f2.5 manual focus lens. It's all then edited with Adobe Photoshop 7 and Comic Life. (I really need to upgrade my Photoshop, BTW) Focus is a little loose on some shots, but I actually think it enhances the mood. It's all shot hand-held at ISO 1600 in Aperture Priority (Av) Mode. Although I make it sound complicated, it's really a matter of tweaking a button, framing the shot and releasing the shutter when the focus indicator beeps.... 

So what if you don't know much about photography, and you weren't wondering... Well in that case, just consider this to be free lesson #2 in my series on action figure photography. You can view free lesson #1 here. I like to think of my blog as being both entertaining and educational. Don't say I never do anything for you.

Even though this blog rarely ever has anything to do with Star Wars; until we meet again,

May the Force be with you...

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Jerk

So I mentioned before that I had just recently gotten a program called Comic Life that makes comics from photos yadda, yadda... Here's something I whipped up using photos from about a year ago or so....again, I apologize for recycling the same photos and jokes over and over...like I said last time, new stuff is on the way.

All of the photos (and comics) are from me - by me - property of me, Andy Bailer, using my toys, that I own, my camera and software that I paid for....I'm not trying to make money off the backs of Marvel Comics, Disney, Microsoft, Lucasfilm, DC Comics, Nickelodeon, Hasbro, DOW Chemical, Coca-Cola or any other megacorp that actually owns the rights to the likenesses of the action figures and/or characters in my photos and/or comics.

The depictions and portrayals of said character or characters expressed in this blog in no way represent the actual actions or opinions of that character or characters as intended by their parent corporation(s).
 That is to say... Marvel might flip out and sue me if I try to ruin the reputation of, say...Spider-Man....who just so happens to be the focus of my 2nd ever comic via Comic Life.

Hope you like it! This is what I think your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man might do with his free time - when he and the other heroes are not fighting crime. If you ever wonder what happens to the Avengers on their days off, this is the comic for you. This is:

(click on the image to see it somewhat larger)

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If you like my photos and/or comics, feel free to link to them and pass them around. Just make sure you mention my name (Andy Bailer) and remember that I will be expecting a gigantic cheque in the mail if they become an overnight success. When I hit the Bigtime, I'll remember y'all - don't worry.

May the Force be with you... 



Evil Cats, Shouting Germans and Peasant-Punching

I haven't seen a ton of movies lately, but here's a few that I saw recently. Before you read any of my movie reviews, you should know that my favorite three movies of all time are The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the King and Destroy All Monsters. I also have two young kids, so I watch and enjoy a lot of cartoons and kids movies. Hopefully that'll put things in perspective for you....

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DAS EXPERIMENT

I wouldn`t call myself a fan of foreign films, but I enjoy them occasionally. I never have a problem with subtitles like a lot of folks do - I think people just don`t want to read anything other than textspeak anymore...In fact, if a movie is filmed in a language other than English, I would prefer to see a subtitled rather than dubbed version. (Maybe not all of the time - in Godzilla movies, the bad dubbing actually makes it all the more fun.) Anyway, let`s just say that I normally don`t go out of my way to see many non-English language movies, even though they are usually far more original, at least from my point of view. This certainly was pretty ``out there``....

In case you didn`t know, Das Experiment is the original German movie that inspired the recently released American film appropriately titled The Experiment, starring Adrian Brody. (I haven`t seen that one and didn`t even know of it`s existence when I watched the German one.) The story is about a social experiment in a mock prison environment. The volunteers are seperated into groups of inmates and guards, and are pretty much left alone to figure things out, all the while being monitored by surveillance cameras. Basically, things go wrong - horribly wrong. After only a few days there emerges a bitter power struggle between the two groups that results in torture, humiliation, severe beatings and the deaths of several participants. Was the experiment a complete failure - or a resounding success? (I think I stole that line from the back cover of the DVD)

Certainly, the filmakers succeed in creating an intense thriller that passes from being psychological into being more than a little psychotic - a rousing tale of sadism, violence, domination and other nasty human tendencies. .....Well, okay, so it's not Saw or anything, but it seems far more real to me and that's what makes it far better (I am not a fan of the Saw films, BTW). Das Experiment is in fact based on a an actual experiment conducted at Stamford University in 1971 (read about it here). I highly recommend this movie, and I`m sure the American version is probably pretty good too - but it likely doesn`t have a bunch of angry Germans yelling in it. Somehow that makes Das Experiment that much more intense.  

A-

(minus because it`s a little disturbing)

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SKYLINE

It`s Independence Day (without the All-Star cast) meets Cloverfield (without the shaky camcorder video) meets Dawn of the Dead (without Zombies) meets War of the Worlds (without Tom Cruise). That last one`s not really a detraction; I prefer most of my movies to be without Tom Cruise (insert rimshot). There`s no real surprises here. It fairly easy to recognize all of the standard elements of the Sci Fi/Horror/Monster genre present in Skyline, but there's nothing in this film that we haven't seen before, except the actors....

At least it has gigantic, freaky-looking alien monsters in it. That's always a plus for me.

C+

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TIME BANDITS

I have always been a fan of Terry Gilliam's films. His  name is synonymous with dark, dirty-looking fantasy imagery and an irreverently silly sense of humor that could only have developed within the bowels of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Although not one of his best films, Time Bandits is a good example of his early post-Python work.

It's about a little British boy who's generally ignored by his parents and a little unhappy with his life, finding solace in the pages of ancient history books. Six dwarves suddenly appear through a dimensional vortex in his bedroom one night, being pursued by the Supreme Being. The boy gets swept up with them and whisked through time, meeting noteable historical figures such as Robin Hood (played by John Cleese), Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery).  Along the way, the group is also pursued by Evil (the bad guy - that`s his name) and must confront him in the end.

It`s not ROTFLOL funny - it`s a little dry, but witty, like most Brit comedy and Python-related material in particular - but it holds up alright. Not nearly as good as the later produced Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but still better and more lighthearted than the pointlessly bizarre Tideland.

Best scene in the movie: Robin Hood and his band of Merry Peasant-Punching Men.


B+


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CATS & DOGS : Revenge of Kitty Galore

Basically, this film is mostly-CGI dogs and cats voiced by well-known actors playing out a pseudo-Bond/Spy Kids sort of mission. It may sound really lame to an adult, but its good for the kids and watchable enough for mom and dad. I must say that I prefered the first Cats & Dogs to this one. They`re both cheesy, but I enjoyed them both, being a confessed long-time fan of talking animal movies. (Yes, I`ve even seen both Garfield movies...) I liked that they brought back Mr. Tinkles in this one (the supreme evil cat from the the first movie), but his Silence of the Lambs tribute scene is a little questionable for a kids movie.

 That being said, evil cats are funny. C`mon - they just are.


B


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That's all I got for you right now. I'm going to be working on some action figure photos and comic pages this week, so stay tuned for some fun stuff!

May the Force be with you...

Filling the Void...

Well....my Star Wars Miniatures collection is now gone. *sniff* *sob* They sold for a nice fair price on EBay to a lucky fella in the US and I just dropped the parcel at the post office this morning. Godspeed, little minis! I hope you like your new home! I hope your new owner takes good care of you, and takes you out to play often.....

(Thanks to everyone for their interest and to everyone who bid on the auction BTW)

As I said before, I`ve held on to the complete first set (Rebel Storm) for nostalgic purposes....I`m hoping that someday I can get my wife to play nightly games of Star Wars Minis when we`re retired and driving around in our behemoth RV... I`m sure I`ll have to watch a whole lot of Sandra Bullock movies and go to a lot of craft shows until then to get her to agree to that....

So what do I do now? What will fill the void left behind now that Star Wars Miniatures is gone? Well, I do have a few ideas....

GUILD WARS

I picked up this game about 3 weeks ago....and I'm frightened by it. This is my first experience with online gaming (other than Boggle Bash and Scrabble) and I'm afraid that I'll get eaten alive by twelve year-olds and hackers. I've only created one character so far, and I think I'm like 2nd or 3rd level after about 5 hours of playing time. It seems really awesome, but I really need to learn the controls better if I expect to get anywhere in the game without dying every 5 minutes. No, the picture above is not from me - I'm not quite at the 'Dragonslaying' stage just yet. (My apologies to whoever owns this image for my using it without consent, but it's an awesome picture, and it's not like I'm taking credit for it or making any money off of it.) Definitely not me - I'm still having trouble fighting giant worms that pop out of the ground and stand still in one spot - I'm a Newbie, through and through. Also, I can't type fast enough to chat with anyone in-game....they just walk away when I'm still typing.

Be that as it may, it seems to me like it'll be worth the struggle to play it. The graphics are amazing and the possibilities seem endless. I'd comment on the storyline, but so far I'm so overwhelmed with new information that I have no idea what's going on in the story......if there even is one. All of the mini-quests that I've accepted and/or completed are pretty standard fantasy story stuff but I've got no complaints - that's what I signed up for. 

But of course, who has time for video games when you've got all this other cool stuff to do....

For example:

HEROCLIX

Although I've always been interested in Heroclix and even own a handful of figs, I have never played a game. I've skimmed over the rules and it seems pretty straightforward like SWM - basically move and attack and roll to hit - but with six-sided instead of twenty-sided dice. Instead of the Star Wars motif, we're dealing with comic book characters, so this is an acceptable trade-off for me. I believe that the two types are interchangeable, but I think I would prefer to invest in the MARVEL instead of DC Heroclix. There's also HORRORCLIX as well, but I'm not so into that and I hear it doesn't adapt directly to the other games. Of course, I`ll have to start buying into another collectible miniatures game that makes you spend all your money chasing after the rarest and best figures.....it would be just like Star Wars Miniatures, and the whole thing`ll start all over again...

Whatever. I just want to see Wolverine dukin`it out with Howard the Duck amongst the smoldering ruins of Asgard.

`Nuff said!

(click on image above to view larger)

COMIC LIFE

And, speaking of geeky comic book weirdness, I just got an awesome program (Comic Life) that allows you to easily create comic book-style pages with your photos. This opens up a whole new world for me and my toy photography. What you see above is my very first go at it with a bunch of old photos that you've probably seen on my blog countless times already...of course with the same jokes too. That says two things:  1) I really need to take some new pictures...and  2) I really, really need new jokes.

The program is so easy that a child could use it - and they do. I actually learned about it from a teacher that uses it in her class for assignments...

Man, I wish I had this when I was a kid... but then again, when I was a kid, most computers took up an entire room and only printed in dot matrix... When I was a kid, I used to hand draw a lot of comic book 'masterpieces' and even though the artwork was crude (as was the humor) it still took forever to make a single page. Now I can just drag and drop my photos right in to the templates and type in voice bubbles wherever I want! Although it may seem like no big whoop to you...this program is definitely going to see a lot of use from yours truly.

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There are a lot more other things that I could/should do with my time now that I won't be playing SWM anymore (well, I'll still play, but certainly not as often), and I'll highlight some of those things on upcoming blogs. I should probably focus on my photo business and website (Rebel Alliance Photo), but the in and outs of wedding and portrait photography aren't really all that fun to write about. I'll of course be featuring more comics and action figures again soon, and I'll get back to some more movie reviews too - once I actually get to see some more movies...

That's it for today. Take care, and thanks again for listening.

May the Force be with you...

5 Comics to Read Before You Die (The Comic Book Bucket List Part 1)

I guess you could call this "The Comic Bucket List".....You know....like the movie The Bucket List (which I've yet to see)....the two old guys who decide to do all the things on their lists of things to do before they 'kick the bucket'. This post is not so much about the things that I accomplish before I reach my deathbed.....but what I'll be reading on my deathbed. I vow to have a big stack of comics right beside me as I pass over into the Great Beyond - maybe even a longbox full of comics tucked under said deathbed....just in case I want to skim through Secret Wars before I croak.

Seriously though, this is an attempt to present a few of my all-time favorite comics and recommend them to you (highly). Since I've read so many great ones, it's impossible to list all of them in one post, so I'll highlight them a few at a time, starting with these ones right here today.

 I'll start with a 'Canadian Classic':



ALPHA FLIGHT # 23

Truth be told, this comic doesn't come from Canada at all, but at least writer/artist John Byrne actually lived in Canada and all of the stories take place here....and at least one major character gets to say 'eh' all the time, eh?  I've spouted off plenty about Alpha Flight and Sasquatch before, and I don't feel like repeating myself (yeah....like I never do that). If you are really dying to know more about this awesome comic title and Sasquatch in particular, check out this previous post,  Marvel Legends - Sasquatch . I'm pretty sure there's a full synopsis of this issue in there.....

Let's just say it's all about two giant bigfoots(feets?) laying the smackdown in downtown Vancouver. Throw in a hot Quebecois girlfriend with a multiple personality disorder and a Dwarf in a wetsuit and you've got a rollicking good time, eh?

ROCKET RACCOON Limited Series (1985) # 1-4

Although I had erroneously stated in a previous post that Rocket Raccoon was first introduced in The Incredible Hulk #271 in 1982 (see Bronze Age Keys  from a little while back), I just read that his first appearance was actually in 1976 in Marvel Preview #7. So I was wrong...sue me. None of that matters, because the Rocket Raccoon  limited series in 1985 was the pinnacle of Rocky's career in my humble opinion.

Like I said before, this isn't for everyone, but I found it to be an excellent read, and the artwork by Mike Mignola (later famous for Hellboy, of course) is fantastic. It's a silly-looking comic that actually takes itself pretty seriously and manages to pull it off. I preferred the limited series over Rocky's Hulk appearances, since we didn't have the Hulk as an earth-based counterpoint, and it takes place entirely within it's own universe. I guess that makes it more 'believable' to me...and easier to accept a gunslinging, robot-fighting bipedal talking raccoon....and let's not forget the otter and rabbit and walrus either.

READ IT! BEFORE YOU DIE!!

AMBUSH BUG Limited Series (1985) # 1-4

Early on in my comic collecting life, I was a bit of a DC hater. I didn't actually know why, I just knew that Marvel comics were cooler. Maybe I just couldn't forgive the cheesiness of The Superfriends and the 60's Batman TV show (and let's not forget the Shazam! show...). It took me a while to get over my fear of DC comics... I think Saga of the Swamp Thing #1 was my actual first DC Comic purchase, but then I eventually got wise to Vigilante and then the greatest DC non-superhero of all time: Ambush Bug.

This limited series is jam-packed full of jokes, many of which I didn't understand, since they were about characters and situations in the DC Universe that I knew little to nothing about. This comic is DC's way of making fun of itself, and that obviously appealed to me. I found myself actually wanting to know more about Superman & Batman & Wonderwoman and the like, just so I could get the jokes in Ambush Bug. That being said, I wasn't going to risk wasting my money buying more DC comics while the Secret Wars limited series was going on... Besides the abovementioned titles, I didn't buy many DCs at all until this millenium (sounds like a really long time when you use the word 'millenium').

Anyway, Ambush Bug rules because he's basically aware of his audience and his place in the fictional comic book world....and constantly refers to us readers as 'fanboy'. His sidekick is a seemingly inanimate, super-cutesy doll in a homemade super-suit named Cheeks the Wonder Toy. His arch-enemy is Argh!Yle! an evil, sentient sock who wears a Dr. Doom-like iron mask. Ambush Bug himself has only one real power - teleportation. This allows him to basically disappear and reappear wherever it's funniest to do so.

Overall, one of the stupidest comic series that I've ever read....followed closely by the Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer #1 (X-mas 1985) and the Son of Ambush Bug limited series (1986). There's also the recently produced Ambush Bug-Year None limited series which sort of recaptures the stupidity of the original. Rest assured there are a lot more stupid Ambush Bug appearances...all of which I'll hopefully read before the final curtain....

By now, one might assume that all I like are silly comics, but you couldn't be more mistaken. Case in point:

ELRIC-The Sailor on the Seas of Fate # 1-7

I love the writings of Michael Moorcock. His books are always full of violence and gore and the occasional bit of sex. Pretty raunchy for the fantasy genre. He has produced a lot of great characters, including Prince Corum, Hawkmoon and Jerry Cornelius....but his greatest and most well-known character has to be Elric of Melnibone - the gaunt, brooding albino anti-hero, who (with the help of the sentient, soul-stealing black sword Stormbringer) feeds off of the life energy of his opponents. He's kind of evil, but usually finds himself combating far greater evils and protecting the innocent as well as those few he can call 'friend'. Initially unknown to Elric, his life is all part of the cycle of the Eternal Champion...as are Corum, Hawkmoon and Erekose...all of whom he meets in this limited series (adapted from the novel of the same name) and allies himself with.

The comic book adaptation is done by Roy Thomas and Michael T. Gilbert. Very well done, in fact. Being a 'Mature Readers Only' comic, you could always expect a good level of gore, and at least you could catch a glimpse or two of some boobies in comic book form every month (this was, of course, very important at age 13). I can't remember if I actually read these comics or the novels first. There are comic book adaptations of at least six Elric novels that I know of, and I don't know what order I read either the comics or books in. Sailor on the Seas of Fate is my favorite, and The Vanishing Tower is a close second.

When it comes to 'swords and sorcery' type fantasy, Elric has to be my favorite character. No disrespect, but he's so not Conan.

GODZILLA - King of the Monsters # 1 (Marvel 1977)

I just couldn't go any further without mentioning Godzilla. I am a die-hard G-fan for life and appreciate Godzilla in all his forms, the 70's Marvel version being no exception. He's more like the real Japanese Godzilla in this than in the  Godzilla animated series from roughly the same era, and certainly more than the disappointing 1998 Hollywood production, but still not quite the same. According to this comic, he appears in Alaska and then makes his way across the western United States and somehow finds his way to New York City. Along the way he encounters many Marvel Universe icons, like S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers...and less iconic characters such as Dr. Demonicus and the Champions. While it's nice to see Big G battling Thor and Hercules, it just doesn't feel quite right. Instead of blue radiation beams, Godzilla apparently spews actual flames from his mouth. He also looks a lot more lizard-like and leaner than his Toho counterpart. Still, it's great fun to see how America would deal with this walking natural disaster instead of seeing the same old crowd scenes of Japanese people running around in utter panic. (And there's no horrible voice-over dubbing in the printed version either.)

If you call yourself a giant monster fan at all, you absolutely need to own this comic. Next to Alpha Flight # 23 , this is the one comic I wish I could take with me to the next world when I die. I'm hoping they'll at least allow for carry-on luggage so I can take more than one...

If that is the case...y'all better start packing! Don't forget to include these titles on your Comic Book Bucket List, and stay tuned for some more essential reading!


Until Next time,

May the Force be with you...

STAR WARS MINIATURES GAME - My collection for SALE!!

Just to give y'all a heads up if you're into this type of thing - 

 I just listed a HUGE lot of Star Wars Miniatures on EBay. I've decided to keep only the complete Rebel Storm set, as it was the first set released and the first set I completed, but...

 everything else must go!! 

 It's hard to let go of my beloved collection of so many,so very cool little plastic men (and women ...and wookiees and droids of course), but in all honesty, I could certainly use the money a lot more than the minis...

(Sorry about the crappy photos...I didn't have a lot of time to do this...)

I thought that, rather than milk it forever and try to sell off the figures seperately or in smaller lots, why not just put them all together in one massive lot. Being as hardcore into this game as I have been over the years, it'll make it less painful for me as well, I suppose, if I just get rid of them all at once and quit cold turkey....

In all, there are over a thousand miniatures in this one-time-only auction, plus a great collection of maps, rulebooks, counters and promo items. I've played games with almost all of them, but there are a good number of these minis that have never seen the light of day...  So yes, they are used, but no, they are not abused. There's a good number of Very Rares and a ton of Rare figures in there, plus legions of Stormtroopers, gangs of Gungans, clusters of Clones, regiments of Rebels, tons of Tuskens and at least enough scum and villainy to fill several wretched hives to capacity...

Instant armies at your disposal...

 

 

To the best of my knowledge, all stat cards for all figures are included, although there may be, like 12 Stormtroopers and only 11 Stormtrooper cards or something like that...but Stormies are all the same, right? There definitely would never be any unique characters that are missing cards. I've taken good care of my little plastic men over the years.

So anyway, if you're interested in my (ex-)collection, have a look at the auction here:

GIGANTIC Star Wars Lot - EBay.ca

 

If you have any questions about this auction, you can contact me through EBay or through email or this blog or whatever works. BTW, even though the auction says shipping only to US/Canada, I could possibly ship to other countries as well, but it's going to get expensive...we're talkin' 25lbs of little plastic men here, for the love of Yoda...

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Thanks for taking a look, even if you don't care about Star Wars Miniatures at all. At least this gives you some idea where all my time and money has gone over the last 6 years....well, this and comic books...

Thanks again for listening.

May the Force be with you...

Andy's Brag Blog

I know I say I don't like to brag, but here's a quick list of recent statistics and accomplishments that make me feel good about myself and how I'm doing:

 1) Current total number of hits on this blog  = 1606  - Now, I just recently stopped registering my own views with the counter, so at least a few hundred of those have to be me...I'm pretty critical of myself.

 2) List of countries that recorded hits on this page = Canada, USA, Great Britain, Denmark, China, South Korea, Slovenia, Spain, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Finland, Poland, Argentina, Netherlands, Iran, France, Australia, South Africa and Turkey. - I get the most views from Canada and the States, but there's more than a few countries that recorded more than 10 hits, making me hope that these are people who actually read and enjoy this blog rather than just someone trying to hack me or something...  Paranoia aside, it's pretty cool to think that someone on the other side of the world might like something I wrote.

 3) Had a better-than-expected experience at Central Canada Comic Con 2010. - Of course I just wrote about this last time, but it was great and I can't wait until next year. I'm just one guy (even though I had some help here and there), and definitely the 'little guy' compared to most of the other vendors and artists at the con, but I was pretty happy with how I did. Hope everyone enjoys their comics and figures and stuff! I'll have a lot more up for grabs soon!

 4) Recently taught myself to play and sing "Are You Experienced?" by Jimi Hendrix.  - No, I can't play it backwards like it's recorded or left-handed like Jimi....and I can't do much for a solo yet, but I think I can do a passable version that might earn me a few busking bucks....Not that I've ever actually 'busked' before....the guys you see playing guitar out in public always seem to be either super-good or super-crappy (and/or super-drunk). I'm not sure which category I'd fall into. I've been in several bands and played live a few dozen times in my life, but never solo, so maybe it's time to get out and play. I'll keep you posted if I'm getting anywhere near this....

 5) Basement renovations are 90% complete.  - I can't take much credit for this - I slacked off a lot. I am not a fan of this type of work and I'm not very good at it. A huge thank you to my wife and (especially) her dad for 'gittin' er done' and figuring out all the nitty little details that I hate so much as well as doing the bulk of the work. There's still some trim and doors to do, but it's now pretty functional down there and pretty nice to look at compared to the dungeon it used to be...

 6) My collection of 'Harry Potter' movies is now complete and up to date.  - We recently watched them all in order over the span of a week or two. I enjoy the series a lot (does that make me a Potterhead?), and I'm excited to see the next installment. I think splitting Deathly Hallows into two films will turn out to be a great idea, although I'm saying that as someone who hasn't read the book and doesn't know what's going to happen.

 7) Set up a wireless network in my home (with help) and learned how to stream media and share files between computers.  - Many of you probably have no trouble at all with this sort of thing, but this was another of those 'too many details to deal with' types of tasks for me. It feels good to get it all going and it's cool to be able to manage it all so easily. Let's hope I use it wisely - with great power comes great responsibility...

 8) Earnings in my Google Adsense account so far = $0.01  - Obviously not enough to retire on, but it's all symbolic,y'know? Feel free to click on some ads on my blog - help a brother out, willya?

Anyway, that's an octet of awesome things that are going on for me lately. Hopefully, life is treating you all good too.


May the Force be with you...

Comic Con / Halloween 2010





First off, I want to do a big shout out to all the folks who helped make this year's Comic Con a huge success for a small-time guy like me. I sold a lot of comics and figures, and I passed out a ton of business cards. (Also a gigantic Thank You with hugs n' kisses to my wife for helping me out)

It seems kind of silly of me to direct so many folks to this blog lately, and not have any new content for like 2 weeks...... Suddenly, for someone who normally can't seem to ever shut up, my communication skills don't seem to be all that hot. Truth is, I am burnt out beyond belief, especially when it comes to comics, action figures and other sci-fi/pop culture-type stuff. It seems like all I've been doing lately is organizing, pricing, transporting and handling comic books, games and toys. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't even want to look at another comic right now. (Maybe after a few days off from my real job...)

As I'm sure you gathered from all that shameless self-promotion (or 'SSP') in my previous posts, I spent this past Halloween weekend as a vendor at the Central Canada Comic Con here in Winnipeg. It was a great time, and I sold a lot more stuff than I'd expected to. Met a lot of cool people there too. I'm hoping that some of you out there who are reading this ran into me at the convention. If that's the case, and you're new 'round these here parts, welcome to ALLIANCE of ONE, the official blog of Rebel Alliance Canada! Hope I don't waste your time.....

There has been some other great stuff happening too. My daughters had a fantastic Halloween (or so I am told - I was too busy with the comic con to actually do any trick or treating with them). Daphne was the cutest little Ballerina and Chloe went as the Corpse Bride (from the movie of the same name). They must have done pretty well, since there were two gigantic bowls full of candy on the kitchen counter when I got home that night....

Also, we just recently got a new cat - a little grey and white kitten named Momo. She's still pretty shy around people, but she's really gotten attached to our other cat Pepper in the last two weeks. She can't seem to leave him alone, and even though he pretends that he doesn't like her, you can tell he loves the companionship (just like a typical male, right ladies?). It's been almost exactly a year since we got Pepper. If the current trend continues, by Halloween 2018 we should have 10 cats and be running our own comic con....

I also just purchased a brand new laptop, and I love it! I'm hoping it's going to inspire me to blog more, and hopefully it'll allow me to work 'on the go', even though I don't really ever go anywhere.... Main reason I got it was simply to have a better, faster computer that I can edit photos and play games on, and also use as a portable digital portfolio. It's taking me a while to get used to the smaller keyboard and the pointing device, but at the rate I'm using my laptop in the two days since I got it, I'll have mastered it in a week or two.

If you met me at the comic con and are looking for more info on the things I sell, I'm sorry you had to read this far and hear all about my personal life when all you are looking for is some more cool stuff to buy. In the future, I'm hoping to sell items directly through this blog, but for now I'm limited to my EBay store, which is actually pretty barren right now since I was saving everything for the con and have yet to get a chance to list what I've got left (see 'Essential Links' in the upper right hand corner of this blog). Any items or photos seen on this blog can be purchased locally from me as well. Email me for details ( andonator2000@yahoo.ca ). Watch out for some Kijiji ads maybe too....

As always, thanks for spending the time to read this blog. I promise I'll be back with some actual fun stuff soon.

May the Force be with you...