Our next super hero is professional adventurer named Leonard Walton, Trailblazer. He’s a special forces agent from Britain’s SAS who left the service to move to northwestern North America. His one man war against international crime is combated with his mastery of tactics, weaponry and combat skills.
Hot damn, does this look like it’s going to be an awesome movie. As much as I’m a fan of pretty much anything GI Joe related, I’ll admit that the first movie didn’t really do it for me. But this looks awesome with all the ninja feuds and the whole GI Joe on the run from the American government which has been infiltrated by Cobra.
I wasn’t sure how I felt a bout the Rock playing Roadblock in this film, but this trailer convinced me that this is a good thing. Not only that, but the sequence with Bruce Willis was mindblowingly cool.
This film comes out in June…what do you think?
Sacramento’s super hero, the King not only protects the capital of California with his mastery of combat, but with his mental powers! Archie Weber (an amalgam of the names of Kings legends Nate “Tiny” Archibald and Chris “No Time Outs Left” Weber) is a mutant with the super powers of telepathy and telekinesis, both of which he uses to protect the city.
Wonder Woman is a hero to the world, but is she a hero in the kitchen? We will never no for sure, but she can at least help you. Kitchen Aid has this really cool Wonder Woman themed blender/mixer that makes an awesome conversation piece for your kitchen.
Unfortunately this might be a little too difficult to get for a last minute gift, as its only available in Brazil. But if your seeing a Wonder Woman fan after the holidays….
Two things are widely believed:
How about you combine both of these into a Sam Malone jersey? In the show’s back story, before Sam was the bartender/owner of the place where every one knows your name, he was Red Sox pitcher Sam “Mayday” Malone.
His career was talked about both being brilliant and terrible on Cheers, but this jersey would make an awesome gift. Even Yankees fans would have to agree how awesome it is!
Next up is the guardian of the Golden State, the Warrior! Phillip VII is an immortal warrior from the Greek Pantheon who woke up in modern day California and is the self appointed guardian of the Bay Area. Armed with various period weapons, he keeps the area safe.
ORIGIN: George Baylor is an orphaned alien in Los Angeles. With super powers from his long forgotten home world, he protects Tinseltown!
POWERS: Super strong…flight…indestructable…the Superman of the NBA universe.
OTHER: His name is a tribute to Lakers greats George Mikan and Elgin Baylor.
Comic book storage can not only be ugly, but it can be difficult. Having a stack of long boxes to sort through to find Dazzler #23 can take forever. But with some of the more elaborate comic book drawer boxes its a lot easier. These boxes are designed like filing cabinets, so you can pull out the drawer to find something you’ve filed away.
This makes finding comics a lot easier, something that your comic collector friend very grateful for.
If you know someone who has been enjoying The Walking Dead on AMC, this is a great reminder to them of how much even more awesome the original comics by Robert Kirkman are.
The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 collects the first 48 issues of the comics series in a handy single volume. This is a huge book; imagine a phone book filled with comics.
You doubt me? Amazon weighs this bad boy in at 5.3 pounds. That’s about the average weight of a Pomeranian, and this book is a whole lot more fun.
ORIGIN: Daniel Nash is Earth’s representative in the Solar Corps. This intergalactic peacekeeping force has endowed him with special powers.
POWERS: Super strong…flight…solar blasts
OTHER: His name is a tribute to Suns greats Steve Nash and Thunder Dan Majerle.
As the whole entertainment industry is moving towards digital distribution, comics are no exception. If your looking for a big fancy gift, get that special someone an eReader. Whether it’s an iPad, Barnes and Noble’s Nook or Amazon’s Kindle, they will be able to enjoy comics–digitally.
The one thing to keep in mind is that this is kind of a gateway present…buy purchasing one of these, your committing the recipient to the format and that they will have to purchase their content.
But if they really want it, go for it.
Photo courtesy Youseph Tanha
Blogger Youseph Tanha has provided comics fans with not only a cheap way to show off some of our favorite issues but an inexpensive way to make a comic book gift for your cooler friends and family.
It’s simple; frame some comics! Ikea’s Nyttja photo frames cost $1.99 and are the perfect size for issues. Since your picking out comics to give as a wall hanging, they don’t have to be OMG COLLECTOR ~! comics; just ones with cool covers. And the cheap bins at your local comics shop are stocked with something with a nice cover, done by an artist or with characters your gift recipient likes.
It’s that easy…check out Youseph’s website for some more pictures!
Our next hero is the second most popular super hero from Los Angeles the Clipper!
ORIGIN: The Clipper has a stolen top secret liquid metal armor suit that he uses to fight crime.
POWERS: Super durable…liquid metal armor changes shape to protect him as needed usually in the form of sharp things.
Thundercats, hoooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Not only is Bandai making the current style of Thundercats, but they’re releasing oversized and super articulated versions of the classic characters, starting with Lion-O and Tygra (the one Thundercat that always eluded me as a child)!
They’re super posable and would make any office awesome. They come with weapons, including Tygra’s whip, the Sword of Omens (in two sizes) and the gauntlet! Best of all, they’re at the same scale of the original toys so they won’t look too out of place with the rest of your Thundercats collection!
Our next hero is the Mr. Grizzly!
ORIGIN: Mr. Grizzly is a mutant bear, not a human! He was born humanoid and left the zoo to start a career as a private investigator and he fights crime in Memphis, when not eating barbecue.
POWERS: Super strong…powers of a bear
OTHER: His weakness is barbecue. I got the idea from Tim the Bear from The Cleveland Show.
Let’s look at a classic super hero toy commercial! This comes from 1984 and it is for Mattel’s line of Marvel Secret Wars toys! This one is for two vehicles, Doctor Doom’s Doom Roller (which looks like the gerbil ball from hell) and Captain America’s Turbo Cycle.
Those figures were pretty cool due to their simplicity and super durability. But the one thing that sticks out to me was how unenthusiastic the children are. They’re playing with some cool toys! Let alone, a Doctor Doom action figure! I bet they were too impressed by the RDI Halcyon to play with such simple toys.
Boy did I love The Muppets. Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller wrote a wonderful yet complex story that sets the stage for the Muppet revival. I’m not going to talk about what made this a great movie, but some of the important messages of the film.
UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS: There were plenty of these to go around. Walter and Gary certainly both had a fear of their future, and by spending so much time with each other didn’t have to worry about growing up. Clearly, Walter wanted to run off and perform with the Muppets just as much as Gary wanted to start a life with Mary, but they were both terrified of taking such a big step in their personal development. Instead of advancing their lives, they used separation anxiety as a reason to stay together.
Kermit and Piggy probably are the poster couple of a dysfunctional couple. Most of their problems are from the fact that they so poorly communicate with each other what they want in a relationship, which always leads to problems. Kermit obviously just wants someone to go out to dinner with once in a while, whereas Piggy wants someone who will sit around worshiping her. I’m not saying that they should break up, but they clearly need to understand and accept what the other wants in a partner.
PREJUDICE AND STEREOTYPING: Uncle Deadly, an original Muppet who was barely a blip in the original Muppet Show, reminds us all of the dangers of discriminating people based on their appearance. Although he’s a slyly grinning blue dragon, Uncle Deadly had a chance to show his true colors at the end of the film when he was finally given a chance to explain himself.
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS: Walter’s story is obviously about that. But we see the dark side of not following your dreams in Gonzo. He gave up his stuntman/daredevil live to become a plumbing supply mogul, which ultimately made him unhappy. When given a chance to go back to his old life, he was literally exploding at the chance. We should all remember to never give up what makes us happy, as that is ultimately what makes us who we are.
NEVER ISOLATE YOURSELF: The Muppets are an ersatz family and interdependent of each other. When Kermit and company try to find everyone, we see that everyone is pretty miserably personally or professionally. It’s very important to keep the important people in your life. The only person who enjoyed ‘retirement’ was Rowlf, but I think that’s because he came way before the rest of the Muppets and is used to being a solo act.
That’s all I have for now. It was a fun movie that you should definitely see. Here are some other thoughts I had on the movie.
The new The Looney Toons Show might just be the best adult animated series on television these days. The crew over at Warner Brothers Animation took a classic property, mildly twisted it and have gold on their hands. Gold I tell you!
There are two video volumes of the series that you can purchase and both are recommended. This newest incarnation features Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck primarily, as the two are roommates in Bugs’ suburban Los Angeles home. There’s a definite bit of an Odd Couple dynamic between the two of them that works. The pair interacts with the rest of their animated pals throughout the city, including Speedy Gonzales who operates the local pizzeria, their extremely inconsiderate neighbor Yosemite Sam, and their really whiny and weird pal Porky.
The humor of this show is a lot like that of the Shrek and Pixar films, where its funny for kids but there is a lot of sophisticated humor. A perfect example of that is the Bugs-Lola Bunny-Daffy Duck love triangle.
So yes, get this for people as a gift. Whether you buy them the DVDs, or send them a single episode from iTunes or Amazon digitally. They will really thank you for it.
Batman: Arkham City is this year’s must have video game for comics and super hero fans. It’s a more elaborate sequel to Arkahm Asylum, and you get to guide the Dark Knight and his allies through Gotham City in an epic war against the Joker and company.
Do I need to say any more?
If you know someone who likes the Avengers, stop by your local Disney Store. They’ve teamed up with Diamond Select Toys for an exclusive line of Marvel Select figures featuring the Avengers!
What’s so special about them? Marvel Select is a line of high end collector action figures that are super detailed. This line features four Avengers who were heavily featured in some of the recent Marvel films wearing their classic gear. They also come with really elaborate stands and backdrops. Thor can stand victoriously on a huge boulder and Captain America comes with a base and background to recreate the iconic John Cassady cover.
They hit it out of the park with the Black Widow and Hawkeye figures. Not only do they come with a base of building wreckage and a dismantled Ultron, but they come respectively with a tiny version of Ant-Man and Wasp! The detail on Wasp is amazing; she’s sitting on an arrow!
Ridiculously Awesome 