King Aroo

 

I love comic strips and feel that they don't usually get the love they deserve. Fortunately, IDW has started to reprint the long forgotten strip King Aroo in nice hardcover volumes similar to the Complete Peanuts books put out by Fantagraphics. King Aroo was a comic strip that ran from 1950 until 1965 and was written and drawn by Jack Kent. I had never even heard of this strip before IDW began reprinting it, so I was in for a pleasant shock when I, on a whim, purchased the first volume and began reading. Not only was it good, it was REALLY good. The whimsical and pun-filled nature of this strip along with the jam packed imagery in each panel make me understand why people say this strip is reminiscent of Pogo. I REALLY hope these volumes sell well enough for them to reprint the entire series. If you love comic strips, please run out a pick up a copy today or, at the very least, convince your local library to pick up a copy. It really is that good. 

Disclaimer:  We get a small percentage of the sale price if you buy through these Amazon.com links. If you would like to support this blog, then please purchase through these links, but don't feel like you have to. If you can find them cheaper someplace else than purchase them there, especially if it's your locally owned comic shop or bookstore.
 
AMAZON LINKS

King Aroo Volume One
King Aroo Volume Two

Comic Book Lettering

(Image by Todd Klein)

Todd Klein, who I've previously mentioned here, has a really neat article about his experiences hand lettering comic book. He also discusses the current trend in computer lettering and the pros and cons in doing so. Go here to check out the article. 

Give Me Space

Here's a neat little animated film called "Give Me Space" produced by Brian Carter with an original score by Hillary Thomas.

Chrono Trigger Now Available on the Virtual Console

Chrono Trigger, one of the best role playing games of all time, has finally been released on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console in North America! Click here to read the press release.  For only eight bucks, you can download this classic Super Nintendo game to your Wii and enjoy a great story., awesome music, multiple endings and much more. Considering how much this game goes for on the used market, you're probably not going to be able to get this game much cheaper.

The Smurfs and the Howlibird

I received a package from Amazon earlier in the week and this was one of the many gems contain inside. This is the sixth book Papercutz has released of the fabulous Smurfs comic stories. I've mentioned these comics before but every time I get a new volume in the mail I just have to post and let you know. They've been out of print in the U.S for so long that it's a relief to see them finally being reprinted so a new generation of readers can enjoy them.  

Disclaimer:  We get a small percentage of the sale price if you buy through these links. If you would like to support this blog, them please purchase through these links, but don't feel like you have to. If you can find them cheaper someplace else than purchase them there, especially if it's your locally owned comic shop or bookstore.
AMAZON LINKS

The Smurfs #6: The Smurfs and the Howlibird
The Smurfs #5: The Smurfs and the Egg
The Smurfs #4: The Smurfette
The Smurfs #3: The Smurf King
The Smurfs #2: The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
The Smurfs #1: The Purple Smurfs

Coloring Comics

 (Image by Todd Klein)

Before the advent of computer coloring, comic books had to be colored by hand. Todd Klein has a neat article explaining the process. Go here to read all about it.

The Adventures of Big Boy Comic Books

When I was a kid, our family used to go to the local Big Boy restaurant to eat. One of the neat things about Big Boy is they give out free comics to kids starring their mascot turned comic character, Big Boy. The comics would vary in quality over the years as different people would write and illustrate them, but we read them anyway. Being FREE, the price was certainly right. Go here to read an interview with Craig Yoe from 2007 after his company took over production duties on The Adventures of Big Boy.  Also, if you go here you can  find out more about the beginnings of Big Boy and read the entire first issue from 1956 produced for Big Boy restaurants by Timely Comics (aka Marvel Comics) and written by some guy you may have heard of who goes by the name of Stan "The Man" Lee. Enjoy!

Backwards Mario

Here's a fun little hack. By swapping the horizontal deflection wires on the yoke of a CRT television and swapping the left and right buttons on a NES controller, someone called JJ was able to play Super Mario Brothers backwards. Check out the video below as well as go here to find out more.

WARNING: Televisions contain enough voltage to KILL you. Only mess with them if you know what you are doing and take suitable precautions.

Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus

This mighty tome arrived on my doorstep two days ago. The Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus collects the entire run of The Mighty Thor produced by Walt Simonson back in the eighties.  This includes Thor #337-355, #357-369, #371-382; Balder the Brave #1-4.  At almost 1200 pages, you would need to be worthy of Thor to be able to pick this baby up. It's not a small book. The production quality of this book is outstanding. With a quality sewn binding it opens easily and it doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart at any minute like some books do. The artwork and coloring are probably the best this material has ever been presented in. The stories contained within are often considered the best Thor stories ever produced. After only two days, I'm already halfway through it. I just can't put it down.  If you like Thor then you NEED to pick this up. It's that good!

AMAZON LINK
Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus



Disclaimer:  We get a small percentage of the sale price if you buy through these links. If you would like to support this blog, them please purchase through these links, but don't feel like you have to. If you can find it cheaper someplace else than purchase it there, especially if it's your locally owned comic shop or bookstore.

RIP Elisabeth Sladen

According to the BBC, Elisabeth Sladen passed away yesterday morning after a long bout with cancer. She was 63. As an actress, her most well known role was when she played Sarah Jane Smith in the British television program Doctor Who back in the seventies. She also also starred in two different Doctor Who spin-offs, K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Out of all the actors and actresses who appeared on Doctor Who playing one of the Doctor's companions, she was probably the most well liked. Whenever I would see her in an interview she always came across as being very professional. She also seemed to really care about people. She will be greatly missed.

EDIT: Tom Baker has a really nice tribute to Elisabeth here.

Early Muppet Commercial - La Choy Dragon

Here's a classic commercial created by Jim Hensen and Frank Oz for La Choy Chow Mein. Frank Oz is in the dragon suit, while Jim Hensen does the voice of the dragon.

Missile Mouse in The Guardian Prophecy

I've talked about Missile Mouse before here and here. If you've bought both volume one and volume two of the Missile Mouse graphics novels, you might think you have read all the available Missile Mouse stories. You would be wrong. Missile Mouse first appeared in a twenty page short story called "Missile Mouse in the Guardian Prophecy" printed in the anthology graphic novel Flight Explorer volume one. This story has NOT been collected in either of the two Missile Mouse volumes currently available. It's a good story and it's worth picking up Flight Explorer volume one for it alone, but there are several other pretty good stories in the anthology so don't feel like you're getting ripped off if you buy it. It's well worth the money.

Here are links to the respective volumes on Amazon.
Disclaimer:  We get a small percentage of the sale price if you buy through these links. If you would like to support this blog, them please purchase through these links, but don't feel like you have to. If you can find it cheaper someplace else than purchase it there, especially if it's your locally owned comic shop or bookstore.

Amazon Links

Flight Explorer Volume One
Missile Mouse Volume One: The Star Crusher
Missile Mouse Volume Two: Rescue on Tankium3

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Today Amazon's Gold Box deal is all 5 seasons of the Dick Van Dyke Show for only $66.99. It MSRP is $249.98 so if you were ever thinking of picking this up, now would be a good time. Click here for a direct link to the Amazon page.

How Potato Chips and Cheese Puffs Are Made

Here's a cool little video about how potato chips and cheese puffs are made in a factory.

Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly

Here's a fun clip of Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly. With both of them being highly talented, it's a joy to watch them work so well together.

Power Pack Classic Volume 3

"Power Pack Classic Volume Three" is out. Hop on over to Amazon or drive to your local comic shop and pick it up today! The latest trade paperback collects Power Pack (1984) #18-26, Thor (1968) #363. When I was a kid I used to go down to my local drugstore and pick up a comic or two. "Power Pack" was at the top of my list. I loved it! Then Marvel went and did something silly. Starting with issue #26 they decided to only sell "Power Pack" to the direct market (i.e. comic shops only). What prompted this I don't know, but what it meant to me is I could no longer get "Power Pack" since the town I lived in didn't have a comic shop. I had tried subscribing to "Power Pack", but Marvel's cheap shipping methods made me decide to never do that again. All they would do is take a brown paper sleeve with the address on it and wrap it around the issue to be mailed leaving the ends exposed to the elements. Not to mention the issue would almost always get ripped, torn, mutilated, bent in half, destroyed, etc. Also, to add insult to injury, when Marvel made the switch to the direct market, they also stiffed me out of the last two issues of my subscription.  So I was supposed to receive issues #26 and #27 in the mail, but never did. Thanks Marvel, I really appreciated that.

The Smurfs and the Egg

"The Smurfs and the Egg" is the latest volume of the original smurf comics to be released by Papercutz.  It was originally scheduled to be released March 23rd, but  it's been bumped up to the 15th instead. If you haven't already ordered it, then head on over to Amazon or drop by your local bookstore and grab yourself a copy today!

Free Game - Professor Neely And The Death Ray Of Doom

"Professor Neely And The Death Ray Of Doom" is a fun adventure game about a professor who discovers one of his former pupils is  attempting to create a death ray for nefarious reasons.  The game is FREE! Go here to download it.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

Did you know that the Wii version of "Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings" has a secret unlockable game hidden inside it? Well it does and it's none other than the fabulous "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis!" While "Staff of Kings" is a fun, but short, action game, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is an amazing example of classic point and click adventure game goodness!

To unlock the game go to the main menu and while holding down Z press: A,U,U,B,D,D,L,R,L,B. If you own a Wii you NEED to pick this game up, it's that good! Remember it's ONLY available in the Wii version, none of the other versions of "Staff of Kings" has "Fate of Atlantis" as an unlockable so run on down to your local Gamestop or pick it up cheap on Amazon.com.

Greatest Car Chase Ever

Probably the greatest car chase ever filmed comes from the 1968 Steve McQueen thriller "Bullitt".  While the rest of the movie is only so-so, the car chase scene is AMAZING! Enjoy the entire car chase courtesy of YouTube. If you would like to own this on DVD it's currently going pretty cheap on Amazon.

Marvel Masterworks

For several years now Marvel Comics has been releasing color compilations of their older comics in hardcover called Marvel Masterworks. The high cost of these hardcovers ($50 each) makes them quite expensive to collect if all you want to do is read the stories. Fortunately, they've finally  wised up and are also releasing the Marvel Masterworks line in trade paperback form at a much more reasonable price point. Out of the 153 hardcover volumes they've released so far, 25 are available in paperback, with a new one being released every month. The titles are links to the respective amazon.com page for each volume.

Vol		Amazing Spider-Man 01 !TITLE	ISSUES						Release Date

1		Amazing Spider-Man 01 !The Amazing Spider-Man: Vol. 1	Amazing Fantasy #15, The Amazing Spider-Man #1-10						2009-02-04
2		Fantastic Four 01 !The Fantastic Four: Vol. 1	The Fantastic Four #1-10						2009-02-25
3		X-Men 01 !The X-Men: Vol. 1	The X-Men #1-10						2009-04-22
4		Avengers 01 !The Avengers: Vol. 1	The Avengers #1-10						2009-05-27
5		Amazing Spider-Man 02 !The Amazing Spider-Man: Vol. 2	The Amazing Spider-Man #11-19, Annual #1						2009-06-24
6		Fantastic Four 02 !The Fantastic Four: Vol. 2	The Fantastic Four #11-20, Annual #1						2009-07-22
7		X-Men 02 !The X-Men: Vol. 2	The X-Men #11-21						2009-08-26
8		Incredible Hulk 01 !The Incredible Hulk: Vol. 1	The Incredible Hulk #1-6						2009-09-23
9		Avengers 02 !The Avengers: Vol. 2	The Avengers #11-20						2009-10-28
10		Amazing Spider-Man 03 !The Amazing Spider-Man: Vol. 3	The Amazing Spider-Man #20-30, Annual #2						2009-11-25
11		Uncanny X-Men 01 !The Uncanny X-Men: Vol. 1	Giant-Size X-Men #1, The X-Men #94-100						2009-12-23
12		Uncanny X-Men 02 !The Uncanny X-Men: Vol. 2	The X-Men #101-110						2010-01-20
13		Fantastic Four 03 !The Fantastic Four: Vol. 3	The Fantastic Four #21-30						2010-02-24
14		Captain America: Vol. 1	Tales of Suspense #59-81						2010-03-24
15		Silver Surfer 01 !The Silver Surfer: Vol. 1	The Silver Surfer #1-6, The Fantastic Four Annual #5						2010-05-26
16		Amazing Spider-Man 04 !The Amazing Spider-Man: Vol. 4	The Amazing Spider-Man #31-40, Annual #3						2010-06-23
17		Daredevil: Vol. 1	Daredevil #1-11						2010-07-28
18		Mighty Thor 01 !The Mighty Thor: Vol. 1	Journey Into Mystery #83-100						2010-08-25
19		Silver Surfer 02 !The Silver Surfer: Vol. 2	The Silver Surfer #7-18						2010-09-22
20		Invincible Iron Man 01 !The Invincible Iron Man: Vol. 1	Tales of Suspense #39-50						2010-04-21
21		Fantastic Four 04 !The Fantastic Four: Vol. 4	The Fantastic Four #31-40, Annual #2						2010-10
22		Amazing Spider-Man 05 !The Amazing Spider-Man: Vol. 5	The Amazing Spider-Man #41-50, Annual #3						2010-11
23		Doctor Strange: Vol. 1	Strange Tales #110-111, 114-141						2010-12
24		Uncanny X-Men 03 !The Uncanny X-Men: Vol. 3	The X-Men #111-121 (First printing omitted issue 121.)						2011-01
25		Fantastic Four 05 !The Fantastic Four: Vol. 5	The Fantastic Four #41-50, Annual #3						2011-02
26		Mighty Thor 02 !The Mighty Thor: Vol. 2	Journey Into Mystery #101-110						2011-03-09
27		Avengers 03 !The Avengers: Vol. 3	The Avengers #21-30						2011-04-06
28		Fantastic Four 06 !The Fantastic Four: Vol. 6	The Fantastic Four #51-60, Annual #4						2011-05
29		Daredevil: Vol. 2	Daredevil #12-21						2011-06
30		Mighty Thor 03 !The Mighty Thor: Vol. 3	Journey Into Mystery #111-120, Annual #1						2011-07
31		X-Men 03 !The X-Men: Vol. 3	The X-Men #22-31						2011-08

Free Game - King's Quest III: To Heir is Human Redux

AGD Interactive has done it again. After releasing upgraded remakes of both King's Quest I and King's Quest II, they've now released an upgraded remake of King's Quest III! Help Gwydion, a young boy raised by the evil wizard Manannan escape from his clutches and find out his true heritage in "King's Quest III: To Heir is Human Redux". Go here to download it. It's available for both PC/Windows and Apple Macintosh. Enjoy!

Checkin' in with Goofy

Disney Cruise Lines has a new animated commercial that mimics the classic "How to" goofy theatrical shorts from the forties and fifties. While I personally don't like cruises, I felt like sharing this as I really enjoy the old goofy cartoons and they did a really good job emulating them. Enjoy!

Free Game - The Silver Lining Episode 3

I've mentioned "The Silver Lining" before, but "The Silver Lining Episode 3: My only Love From My Only Hate" is now available for free download. This licensed sequel to the King's Quest franchise has been getting rave reviews.  There are three episodes available for free download, with more on the way. Go here to download them.

Turkish Delight Recipe

If you've ever read or seen "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis, they you will remember the scene where Edmund first meets the White Witch and she asks him what he would like to eat and he says he would like Turkish Delight. As a child, I had no idea what Turkish Delight was, it not being a very common type of candy where I grew up. When I purchased the DVD set of the BBC adaptation of "The Chronicles of Narnia" it included a recipe for Turkish Delight. I've scanned both sides of the recipe card in and you can find them above. Click on the images to make them larger. If anybody makes a batch, please let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!

Crystalis

One of my favorite games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (N.E.S.) was the action role-playing game "Crystalis". It was similar to "The Legend of Zelda" but with experience points. 

The music in the game was amazing. It had a cool science fiction/fantasy plot. The controls were also really good. My original copy was either misplaced or stolen as I haven't seen it in over 15 years. So when I found a copy at a used video game store for $5.99 I had to pick it up. Even after all these years it's still a fun game. If you get a chance, give it a try and maybe you'll like it too.

Dan McDougall and the Bulldozer

I picked up this cool book at a thrift store, "Dan McDougall and the Bulldozer" by Lydia Pender with pictures by Gerald Rose. It's the story of a man who lives in the Australian Outback and wants to visit the city by the sea and decides to drive his bulldozer all the way there.

The story is really good, but the quality of the illustrations really bring the book up a couple of notches. I'm really glad I picked it up.

Superman Classic

Animator Robb Pratt produced this fun little animated film showcasing his retro take on "The Man of Steel".

Free MP3 - A pirate I was meant to be

Lucasarts classic adventure game "Curse of Monkey Island" has a funny song sung by the ships crew called "A pirate I was meant to be".   An MP3 of this song is available for download on the World of Monkey Island web site. Go here to check out the lyrics, download the MP3 and sing along!

Costume Quest

After ending up with an X-Box 360 (you can read about that here), I decided to try some of the neat downloadable titles available for it. One of the first games I purchased and downloaded was Double Fine's amazingly fun "Costume Quest". It's an exploration and adventure game with mild role-playing features. After I beat the game, I liked it so much I also downloaded the additional chapter they have available as downloadable content (DLC). "Grubbins on Ice" is the name of the additional chapter and it was just as fun as the main game. Now let's hope they release more chapters or a "Costume Quest 2" in the future.