Anyone remember The Addams Family cartoon?

I used to watch when I was a kid, but I honestly cannot remember anything in particular, other than the redheaded kid's parents constantly scheming to get rid of the Addams, because they didn't like the latter's lifestyle. I liked the Beetlejuice cartoon more.

This picture of Emma Frost is horrifying

I was reading Multiversity Comics article today about the dos and don'ts of being a comic book pro on Twitter when I saw this picture of Emma Frost:

Do.not.want.

Jesus, she looks like one of those forty-somethings that wears clothes meant for women younger than them, bleaches their hair weekly and overdoes their makeup. Emma's face looks like she chain smokes too. Who in the name of the Gods of Kobol drew this picture?

I think I've figured out the real reason behind CM Punk's recent heel turn

For the non-wrestling fans, CM Punk is a wrestler who works for the WWE (formerly WWF), where he is their WWE Champion. You can't see it in the above picture, but one of Punk's many, many tattoos is the emblem for COBRA Command from G.I. Joe.

What I never noticed until last night, when that picture was taken, was that he also had the symbol of the Arashikage Ninja Clan (also from G.I. Joe) tattooed on his right forearm (the red blocks). Snake-Eyes and every member of that clan has that tattoo, which, combined with the COBRA tattoo, led me to only one conclusion...

Arashikage ain't nothin' to fuck with!

...CM Punk is Storm Shadow! That would explain the heel turn - COBRA kidnapped Punk and brainwashed him into doing their bidding (again)! IT ALL MAKES PERFECT SENSE!

So now I'm wondering if that makes Colt Cobana Snake-Eyes?

Pictures via kitty- and JIMSMASH ! ! !.

50,000 hits!

Yay!

Watch artist Hong Yi set fire to Adele (sort of)

Completely and utterly amazing.


According to Hong Yi, this is part of a project where she creates art using one of the four elements of nature - Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. No idea if Heart will be used, though she should be cautious, as that has a tendency to summon Captain Planet, when combined with the other four.

Though using a heart wouldn't be advisable.

h/t Jamie Noguchi of Yellow Peril. Comic via VG Cats.

New Doctor Who trailer!

h/t Nerdvana.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlepersons just gave me a massive nerdgasm

You have no idea how badly I want this to be a thing that is real. Unfortunately, it isn't. Instead, this is the masterwork of Chris Bird from MightyGodKing and Andrew Wheeler, with art by Davinder Brar. Based, of course, on Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Here's a description of the plot:

Abuse of Playback, the technologically-derived drug made from distilled human memories, is sweeping the world – and Special Agent Fox Mulder learned too late that Playback was put forth on this planet by the Purity, seeking to condition humanity to their rule so as to better combat the Deadite incursion threatening the aliens’ homeworld. Now Mulder is missing, and it falls to his partner, Dana Scully, to re-activate secret protocol LXG-71, the “League of Extraordinary Gentlepersons” (protocol renamed 1993 for “sensitivity reasons”).
Scully swiftly collects Hong Kong Detective-Inspector “Tequila” Yuen, hyperviolent Wiccan practitioner Nancy Downs, the biological experiment/walking weapon known only as “Edward,” and a young high-functioning sociopath named Zack Morris who has the strange ability to stop the flow of time itself. Perhaps it is this last who attracts the attention of an enigmatic man who answers only to “Rufus,” and who asks Scully to “set history right” and see that two young musicians – that, so far as she can tell, never existed – be born anew, so that peace may flourish on Earth. But the Purity have never shown any signs of temporal travel capability… so who, then, altered history?

If some of the names sound unfamiliar, here's a rundown:

• Tequila Yuen is from the movie 1992 film Hard Boiled, played by Chow Yun-fat.
• Nancy Downs is Fairuza Balk's character from the 1996 film The Craft. I actually thought it was Winona Ryder's character from Beetlejuice.
• Dana Scully is obvious from the X-Files.
• Zack Morris is from Saved By The Bell. I never saw him as a sociopath, but I guess his constant plots and schemes could mark him as one.
• Rufus is from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey.
• Edward Scissorhands is well, that's pretty self-explanatory.

My favorite parts are the pokeball in the glass case and the pictures on the wall. I have no idea who the person with the question mark for a head is supposed to be. Oh yeah, you can buy a print of it here.

Jarred Super Friends, collect them all!

I don't know what's harder to believe: that Superman can punch out of a jar,
or that Batman doesn't have a can of jar repellent spray in his belt.

The Super Friends Collector Jar Series was great, but they got progressively more disappointing after the fourth wave. I think they still have a warehouse full of the El Dorado ones in Indonesia.

Gif via Space Ghost Zombie.

Damn amazing: Top Cow raises $117,135 for Cyber Force relaunch

Astounding! Cyber Force is a title that goes all the way back to the 90s; it was one of many to come about during a decade that many comic fans probably wish never existed. While not a big Cyber Force reader, I did have some issues and they were pretty decent. Not great, but it was better than anything Rob Liefeld was putting out at the time, but then again, what wasn't? Cyber Force was about a group of mutants who were kidnapped by an evil corporation called Cyberdata who, apparently, decided that their being mutants just wasn't good enough, so they slapped some cybernetics on them. They escaped and formed the eponymous Cyber Force in order to take Cyberdata down. One of the things I always weird was the fact that one of the characters, Stryker, had four cybernetic arms. Cyberdata replaced both his regular arms, then went "what the hell" and added a two more...on his right side. He has three arms on the same side of his body. COMICS EVERYBODY! I always thought he was pretty bland, being too much of an overly grim and gritty Cable ripoff.

Hey, look, the 90s in a nutshell.

Well, anyway, Top Cow Productions wanted to have another go at the team, six years after the last run, and for whatever reason, hit Kickstarter in order to raise money to do it. The goal was $75k, but when the dust cleared, they raised over $117k. What I find interesting is that a big comic company did a Kickstarter. True, Top Cow isn't as big as Marvel, DC, Image, or Dark Horse, but they're not exactly small fries. The new series looks interesting:

Cyber Force is about a group of cybernetically enhanced resistance fighters on the run from a monolithic multi-national conglomerate. The essence of the new Cyber Force series is bio-cybernetic steampunk. Top Cow founder and Cyber Force creator Marc Silvestri (The Darkness, Incredible Hulk) is returning as co-writer, art director, and cover artist spearheading the unique vision for the new series. Co-writer Matt Hawkins (Think Tank, Lady Pendragon) is collaborating with Marc to create a cutting-edge world based on real technology. Artist Khoi Pham (Mighty Avengers, Daredevil) will be working hand-in-hand with Marc to make sure that every issue is filled with the spectacular, dynamic art fans have come to expect from Top Cow. Rounding out the team will be master colorist Sunny Gho (Artifacts, Incredible Hulk) and letterer Troy Peteri.

Steampunk? I mean, is it actually going to have steampunk elements or is that just a buzzword or catch-all term? Steampunk is usually associated with the past and "bio-cybernetic" doesn't sound like something you'd find in the 1890s. The most intriguing aspect of this, though, is that the first five issues will be free in both digital and physical formats! As Todd Allen from The Beat points out, this could be a hook to get people willing to buy future issues. I like it and I not only hope it works, but that it propagates through the entire comic book industry.

Cyber Force cover via Saltmanz.

Well, there goes Tony Scott, RIP

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past day or so, you've probably already heard about the death of Tony Scott, who directed some pretty good movies like Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, and Unstoppable. He was also the younger brother of Ridley Scott. First off, my condolences to his family, his death is a sad, tragic thing. His death was a big shock for no other reason than the cause: suicide. Tony Scott jumped from a bridge in Los Angeles for reasons yet to be revealed. It was originally reported that he was recently diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, but his wife and family have denied it. He did leave a suicide note, but what he wrote is unknown. Eyewitnesses, however, have said that Scott jumped to his death with no hesitation, so he was clearly determined. Hopefully, we'll find out at some point.

Robot Chicken's doing a DC Comics special? Me gusta.

And if the trailer is any indication, it will be awesome.




I would totally watch a spinoff series featuring the Legion of Doom. I liked the douchey prank Superman, Hal Jordan, and Wonder Woman pull on Aquaman. Unlike the rest of America, I never forgot about Chillblaine...because I never knew he existed. Man, I have to start reading the Flash comics.

h/t Topless Robot.

The new Guardians of the Galaxy movie sounds a lot like a certain scifi series

If the rumors are true and The Grid can be believed. According to that website, which apparently tracks the development of movies, the plot for the yet to be made Guardians of the Galaxy movie is thus:

About a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.

My skepticism - one shared by both Topless Robot and The Mary Sue - is based on that fact that that is the premise of Farscape, a popular science fiction TV show that ran on SyFy back when it was still called the Sci Fi Channel. Farscape centered around a NASA astronaut (aka a U.S. pilot) who ends up on the other side of the galaxy and is forced to go on the run with a group of alien ex-cons. They're chased both because of the living starship they're on and more importantly, because of John Crighton, the aforementioned American pilot, has knowledge about wormholes (specifically, how to create them) in his noggin. If The Grid isn't bullshitting and that really is the plot for the GotG movie, then either Nicole Perlman or Chris McCoy ripped off Farscape.

Picture via IMDb.

NEW WHO COMING SOON MOTHERF*CKERS!

New episode of Doctor Who on September 1st! Asylum of the Daleks! I can't wait!

The All-New X-Men aren't really new, but they are X-Men

They look vaguely familiar, yes.

Before anybody loses their shit, Marvel hasn't rebooted their universe via a Crisis of Infinite Chimichangas. Instead, these Men (and one woman) of the X are from the past, and probably from an alternate timeline, who were brought to Marvel's present somehow. Yeah, I haven't read the current AvX event, but I think it's involved. Honestly, I wouldn't buy the series even if I had the money too, but I digress. Hopefully, Brian Michael Bendis will remember that this Cyclops isn't a total douche nozzle like current one is.

Well, looks like Marvel managed to bring Jean Grey back without resurrecting her again. Clever. I figured Hope Summers would regenerate into Jean or something.

By the by, that should have been the lineup for X-Men: First Class, had it been a proper reboot, and not that random hodgepodge we got instead.

Picture via the fine folks of Multiversity Comics.

These custom made book covers for vidya game cases are sweet as hell

They're custom jobs by an artist named James Bit. Just email him with the name of the game and its platform (he does DVD covers as well) and he emails you a PDF of the cover. Then its a simple process of printing the cover and slipping it into the case. Six dollars gets you three covers, but on larger orders, he only changes $1.49 each. They'd come in handy if you've ever bought used games from a GameStop and didn't come in their original case or if you just want something different.

Picture via bonerack. h/t Laughing Squid.

Cartoons that existed: James Bond Jr.

Yes folks, the early 90s gave us this short-lived gem of a show featuring the exploits and shenanigans of 007's nephew, who bore the suffix "Jr." for some reason. He introduced himself to people like his uncle: Bond. James Bond. Junior and even had his own Q, in the form of I.Q., the grandson of Bond's own Q. He also had muscle in the form of Felix Leiter's son, Gordon (nicknamed Gordo).

He might not be licensed to kill,
but he'll destroy your ladyparts.

The premise of the show had the younger Bond attending a academy (as rich Brits do, apparently) with his friends, while sneaking out to fight bad guys from an off-shoot of SPECTRE called SCUM - Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem. The show featured a few of Uncle Bond's adversaries, such as Jaws, Oddjob, and Dr. No, who for some reason, has a Fu Manchu and green skin. Oh, and he's alive. And has cybernetic arms. He looks more like The Mandarin did from the 90s Iron Man cartoon, to tell you the truth.

"We have you now Iron Man--I mean Mr. Bond. Junior.

The show didn't last long, running from September 1991 to March the following year, yet the show managed to accumilate 65 episodes, a comic, and toys. I had a James Bond Jr. action figure and it was pretty meh. Articulation was limited to the shoulders, hips, and I think the neck.

Pictures via Chud, jenkarr, and Wikipedia.

Go ninja! Go ninja! GO! Vanilla Ice's Ninja Rap

Oh yes, it existed. Back in the early 90s, Vanilla Ice created a song for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and it was the greatest rap song ever. EVER. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, feel free to punch their in their stupid mouths.

Fun fact: In TMNT 2, Super Shredder was played by professional wrestler Kevin Nash.

The following people can go f*ck themselves

Click to embiggen and rage.

Saw this on Yellow Peril. Japan Probe collected screencaps of various tweets from incredibly ignorant morons in response to the U.S. Women's Soccer Team defeating Japan's team for a gold medal. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. When Japan was devastated by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters, idiots made similar comments.

I can only imagine survivors of Pearl Harbor seeing these tweets and facepalming. This is nothing but disgraceful and wholly disgusting racism.

Check out the cover to the FF reboot and how the Fantastic Four reboot is basically Doctor Who now

First up, the cover for the new FF series, which I dig.

Like the art? It's by Mike Allred, famous for creating and drawing Madman and the X-Statix. I really like his art style, it's a huge throwback to the comic artwork of the Silver and Bronze Ages. For the non-comic book geeks, here's a brief rundown of things:

• The characters on the cover are Ant-Man II (Scott Lang), She-Hulk, Medusa, and a brand new character called Miss Thing. Yeah.
• FF is a different, but related title to Fantastic Four. Basically, Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) grows tired of geniuses everywhere resting on their laurels and founds a new group called Future Foundation with the aim of mentoring the next generation of super-geniuses - be they human, mutant, or something else - and making actual contributions and benefits to the world. FF was created after a storyline in Fantastic Four that ended with the "death" of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Obviously, he got better and the team was reformed.

The premise of the reboot is tied directly to the Fantastic Four's own reboot:

The story line to kick off both of his new books, which share a definite road map, is actually inspired by, of all people, Gov. Angus King of Maine. When he left office in 2003, he, his wife and his two kids hopped in a 40-foot RV and for six months, saw America by driving 15,000 miles over 34 states.

"It was this intensive road-trip home-school experience," Fraction says. "I don't really know any parent who wouldn't want to do that with the time and money available."

The story stuck with Fraction, and it became the root of his idea for the Richards clan: Reed builds a ship that will take his team and his children across time and space for an epic historical lesson, the writer says. "If they're studying ancient Rome, then by God let's go have lunch with Caesar on the Ides of March. If they're looking at the Big Bang, they're going to watch it from the front row."

While the trip will take a year for the Fantastic Four and family, only four minutes will pass for everyone else. Still, Reed decides to put together a backup team to hold the fort for those four minutes. Each member of this team is chosen by each member of the Four. Additionally, Ant-Man is chosen to head the Future Foundation.

Is it just me, or does the new Fantastic Four sound sort of like Doctor Who? During the early years of the show, it had a more historical bent, with the Doctor and his companions traveling to different periods in time. This was before Daleks, Cybermen, and such. I hope Fraction or Allred is a Whovian and sneaks the TARDIS in somewhere.

Yes, but can Dark Knight Returns Batman do the Batusi?

Look on the bright side, Robin,
at least it isn't the All Star Batman.

I've seen this picture by Marco D'alfonso floating through Tumblr and had to post it. He's done a few other pictures too, including one featuring my favorite Decepticon and Deadpool!

After a night of fighting crime, there's nothing like a cup of tea, chum

Click to embiggen.

Remember when Batman used to say "chum"? I miss that. Remember when he wasn't an ultra-paranoid asshole? I miss that too.

(via dean trippe)

Okay, now this just ridiculous - a fridge with a Twitter app

Someone on reddit posted this picture of a refrigerator they saw while out shopping. Look at the icons at the bottom of that screen. It has apps for Twitter, AP News, Pandora, etc. Now, I'm not complaining about this thing having a touch screen or a memo app, because A. It's the 21st century and we're bound to have touch screens everywhere. and B. A memo app would be pretty useful if you can't find a pen and paper and need to leave a note or a reminder. Pandora gets a pass too because, hey, a lot of people have a radio in their kitchen and this simplifies things, but what is the point of a Twitter app? What could you possibly tweet about at a fridge? "Getting some ice. #ilovefrozenh2o"? The AP News app just seems pointless because I can't see someone standing at their fridge, hunched over and reading the news. Epicurious also gets a pass because I just figured out what it is.

I just dread the day someone has the idea to put a touch screen and a Twitter app on a toilet. Worse: It automatically tweets every time you use the toilet. Every.time. "Just took a shit. Man, I need to lay off the Mongolian BBQ. #epicpoops"

Like Harrison Ford, I'm getting frantic

Barenaked Ladies - One Week.

Is there a Doctor in Asgard? Christopher Eccleston cast in Thor: The Dark World!

So sayeth Deadline. I read reports this morning on Tumblr that he was in talks, but I didn't want to post about something that might not happen. That's a lie, I didn't post it because I wanted to post the DW season 7 trailer. Also, laziness. Yeah. Hmm.

Anyway, Eccleston, who (for the non-Whovians) played the ninth incarnation of the Doctor will be playing the villain in Thor: The Dark World, Malekith the Accursed. I have no idea who that is. Admittedly, I haven't been a big reader of the Thor comics, but according to Wikipedia, he's a dark elf and ruler of Svartalfheim, home of the dark elves and debuted in 1984.

Excellent. Most excellent.

Pictures via Sci Fi Scoop and  Super Powered Fiction.

Watch Batman sing "Am I Blue?" while your arguments are invalidated

From the season one* episode of Justice League Unlimited "This Little Piggy".



In the episode, a woman named Circe magically transforms Wonder Woman into a pig and she only agrees to change her back if Batman sings. Great Bat-moment or greatest Bat-moment? The writers really cockteased fans with a possible Batman/Wonder Woman relationship, but despite it being obvious that they were into each other, it never came to be. I'm assuming DC was responsible for that. Bastards.

*Really, it was season three, since JLU was just a continuation of the Justice League cartoon with an expanded roster of characters.

Welp, we passed 400 posts

Huzzah? Huzzah. Now I just have to get this blog into some blogrolls and acquire more followers. Would probably help if I posted more.

Oh me gusta - Doctor Who season 7 trailer

Rory: "Who killed all the Daleks?"
Doctor: "Who do you think?"

Oooh, Eleven's got some darkness in him. The Doctor still blames himself for the way he ended the Time War and added The Master's sacrifice from "The End of Time" to his guilt trip. Absolutely can't wait until Fall when the new season finally premieres!

Oh, I hate you Vista (well, more than usual)

Baby, come back...

Who has two thumbs and discovered the other night that he can't get neither Medieval: Total War nor Master of Orion II to play on his new(ish) computer? This guy! The former works normally, right until I try and start a campaign, then it keeps going back to the pause menu, then crashes. MOO2 simply won't run at all because it's missing the dplay.dll, which apparently was removed from the most recent versions of DirectX. Fortunately, I didn't googling and wikiing and discovered the problem: As it turns out, dplay.dll wasn't removed, Microsoft, for some reason, renamed it dplayx.dll. I found the solution on Atari's (current owners/publishers of MOO2) forums. Basically, you just have to copy the .dll and rename the copy dplay.dll. The downside is that the file is in the System32 folder, which is the one thing on your computer that you do not want to go monkeying around in. I only risked it because the solution came directly from an Atari staff member.

I'm a bit worried, however, about my other old games. I've developed a preference for older titles because I've never had a computer that's been powerful enough to run newer games. Sure, my current rig can play games that its predecessors couldn't, but there's no way it could ever run Crysis or anything from the last few years. As a result, most of my computer games are old. How old?

I own a original copy of Myst. Back in like '97 or 98, my parents bought* me a computer and the first game I got for it was the Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, followed a week later by Warcraft 2. I still own both copies. I know, it's not Zork, Commander Keen, Star Control, or anything like that, but how many gamers have these games on disk? Well, probably a lot, but not the young whippersnappers. I'd be surprised if they even knew there were Warcraft games before WoW. Not being able to play Warcraft II or Starcraft would suck badly.

By the by, if you're hankering for a hunk of chee...I mean, if you're want to play Master of Orion II, you can buy the game at Good Old Games for less than six smackers. One of the best games, ever.

M:TW picture via Giant Bomb.

*Well, leased it, since it came from one of those rental retail places in town.