More Spidey for the Holidays

As I mentioned earlier, I forgot to post a couple of holiday Spidey pics, and promised to get them up today.

First up is a sheet of return addresses that my wife bought online (for a buck!)


(My daughter told me to blur my address before posting this pic. She is so cute, and yesterday was her 15th birthday)

Then, of course there was of course the gifts themselves...



And my stocking was hung (with webbing) by the chimney, with care...


And (of course) the wrapping paper...

Which I’m keeping!

Enjoy Efendi!

Happy Pre-New Year

I'm working off my laptop, right now (the wife is on my computer because the laptop she uses is...never mind, it's a long story, and not really worth the telling), so I don't currently have access to all of my art. Therefore I can't post the couple of Spidey-related Christmas images that I forgot to post last night.

Yep, not only do I have a couple of more Spidey presents, but, well, as everything was wrapped in Spidey paper. I kept that to! Plus, I got the remainder of the roll as an additional "gift".

In the mean time, I want you to look at this classic Spidey & MJ Christmas gift set that I found on ebay.



No I didn't buy it (I received one as a gift several years ago), and is packed away somewhere).

Personally, I think that Pete should marry that girl...why is that thought so familiar...mmmmm

Anyway, have yourselves a Happy Spidey New Year!

The 12 days of (Spidey) Christmas

OK, so I know that you, my loyal readers, are all jealous of me, and have been hanging on pins and needles waiting for me to tell you what Spidey gifts I acquired for Christmas from my family, so I won’t torture you any longer, and I’ll post the pics now.

In no particular order...


A Spidey Cup & Plate


A (very cool) Spidey-head coffee mug


The Spidey mug came in this box


Marvel-themed lounge pants


Yet another (very cool) Spidey T-shirt


A Spidey magnet


A set of four Marvel tooth brushes


A 2010 Marvel calendar


A mini Marvel 2010 calendar


This was a very cool metal Spidey box


Spidey mouse pad


A Spidey memo pad


A Spidey note pad


A box of Spidey stickers


A window cling for my car.

I was thinking of splitting this batch into a couple of posts, but finally decided to post them all in one batch.

So, how was YOUR Christmas, eh?

I Am Iron Man Too (er, 2)

OK, this has been out for a little bit, but I wanted to share it here as well. The Trailer for Iron Man 2:

This Flic is going to be totally coolmas!

Where will the New Year find you?

I know that Marvel is going all hype to get my dollars and all, but this is kind of something new. Marvel wants Comic shops around the country to hold New Year’s Eve events.

Marvel Comics is pleased to announce the official Marvel's New Year's Eve EVE Party all day Wednesday, December 30-right at your participating local comic shop!

Fans of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, and all things Marvel are invited to come in and celebrate the new year during this all-day event.

Yeah, yeah, I totally want to glom free stuff, so you know that I’ll still be there, but you know, earlier in the day so I still can go out and drink.

Fast Food Heroes

As I’ve mentioned a time or ten (no not nine, but 10) I’m something of a of a collector of both superhero comics and their related tchakatas. Well, this lead me to write about the combination of the two back in 2001 when an article I wrote on the subject, grew into a book about fast food toys and collectibles. Well, that book lead to me writing a column about fast food toys for America Antiquities, as well as me actually appearing on The Food Network’s Top Five program (I also appeared on The Fairfield Exchange, a local cable show here in CT, as well in a number of newspaper articles, including on in the Los Angeles Times)

Well, as much as I’ve always enjoyed both of these unique collectibles, I have also enjoyed movies foe years (and even have had several movie columns (versions of which appears both here and here. Well, recently I acquired toy sets for both Marvel’s the Superhero Squad, and James Cameron’s Avatar. Both were cool enough, though Superhero Squad had three figures and an “item” (while I always prefer figures to tools or items), and the Avatar toys didn’t all quite stand on their own.

That is to say, some of the figures couldn’t quite stand on their own without leaning against something. Now I personally don’t understand people who design figures that can’t stand on their own. You know what I mean. Now I know that these are for kids and all, and that they will play with them and then toss them in a topy box, but seriously, the toy should be able to stand up, because (and the folks designing the toys should know that collectors are going to want to acquire them and then stand them up on display); and yet, virtually every time I get toys from some fast food place that is a figure, there tends to be one or two of them that simply won’t stand, and this makes me very upset.



As you can see from the above image, all three of the humanoid figures (Na’vi) won’t stand free, and require assistance. I don’t suppose that posting here is going to change any of that, but well, I was irritated and just needed to vent. Having now done so, I can move on to other things. Thank you for your indulgence.

A Decade = 10

How do you get to 10? Me, I start counting... 1, 2, 3...and wind up with 10. I’ll just bet that most of you folk do the same. Well then how come when we are counting years everyone always ends with Nine?

You heard me. Everyone is coming up with their “end of the decade” lists, when the enc of the decade doesn’t come for another year.

Yeah, yeah I know what you are saying, Next year begins the new decade, but that simply isn’t the case, as 2010 winds up the 10-year period from 2001 (when this decade started), ‘til the end of it.

Yes I realize that this classifies me as something of a math geek (which is funny because everyone in my family knows that I really can’t count, add or subtract without the aid of a calculator). Still, I’m right about this, and I like gettin grouchy about every 9, er 10 years.

You don’t want to make him hungry!

OK, today I managed to score the last of the four Superhero Squad characters from Burger King. As you can see from the photo to the left (right?) that figure is the none other than the Incredible Hulk (yeah, the green, one not his red or blue doppelgangers). Still, he is a cool character (though why they kept this typically non-compliant character waiting ‘til the end is beyond me, You think that he might have gotten upset and started trashing the place).

Anyways, he is (finally) here, and I’ve added him to my collection of fast-food action figures. Hey, if you didn’t know, I pen a column on fast food toys for American Antiquities, and have written about fast food heroes once. I’ll probably have to do it again, as I now have added several new sets to my collection.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, this Hulk figure comes as a back-pack clip, and — although I doubt anyone will clip him to their pack — it is sort of cool. Which of course brings up the point that I always wonder how the folks who develop these toys decide which ones to make into figures, and which to make into clips.

Hey, I’m a freelancer who works in funnybooks, I have a ton of time to think about silly crap like this

Famous again?

Well, I wouldn’t really call me famous (infamous, perhaps?), but I did (somehow) manage to get myself interview by Jasma Online, a very cool website dedicated to talking about comics with comibook professionals (yes, even guys like me).

Anyways, I (as the VP of Media Relations for Atlas Unleashed, answered a few questions about both Atlas Unleashed, and well, myself, and you can read what I had to say, when you go to Jasma Online.

Have fun, I know that I did, as I got to talk about not only Atlas Unleashed, but the Wülf Girlz, and some other projects on which I’ve been working.

Avatar comes to McDonlad’s

Yesterday, I told you all about the Avatar toys that are now appearing at McDonald’s; well, I ran out to see which of the actual toys I could score, so I could post their images, and — as it turns out — I found a McD that not only had all of the toys, but was willing to sell them to me without having to choke myself on all those burgers and fries. (Needless to say, BK charges me under a buck for the toys, while Mcdonald’s toys tip in at $2.11 each.)

So, anyway, here we go...


A gathering of Avaters


Jake Sully


A Dire Horse


Neytiri


a Great Leonopteryx


Tsu’tey


A Hammerhead Titanothere

Whelp, that’s it for Avatar. Now I just need one more Hero from Burger King to complete my Superhero Squad.

Avatar toys @ MickyD’s!

I was so excited that Marvel’s Superhero Squad toys were at Burger King, I failed to realize that there were Avatar toys at McDonald’s.



I’m heading out, but will be back with whatever toys I can wrangle and will post ‘em soonist!

Clone Saga Redux

So I’ve been reading Spider-Man The Clone Saga (no, don’t ask me why), and well, I understand that it is ostensibly how the story would have been told had the two original writers (Tom DeFalco & Howard Mackie) been allowed to write it the way they originally had intended to write it; but I can’t help thinking that there is stuff I’m missing from issue to issue.

That is to say, it appears that — unlike a typical on-going comic — this one is just hitting the high points from a time-line that has already occurred, and there are significant events occurring between issues, in an attempt to show the passage of time. This is okay, I suppose, but it is a little bit disconcerting.

Anyway, that really isn’t why I’m writing about this morning. Take a close look at the title logo to this comic...



...is it me, or does that look like Clone “BABA”?

yeah, it is probably me...

Superhero Squad @ Burger King

As you all should know by now, Marvel’s Superhero Squad toys are appearing this month at Burger King. The third toy in the BK Superhero Squad set is none other than that denizen of the galactic winds, the Silver Surfer. He appears on a stand with a backboard depicting Galactus. By removing a board in the Galactus diorama the world eater changes from B&W to full color, a nifty little “value added” to the toy. The first toy (Captain America) has a “shield shooter”, while the second (and Iron Man Uni-beam), lights up. Not sure what the Hulk’s “power” will be, but having each toy do something is kind of cool.

We probably should mention that along with this set — which is targeted for boys — BK is also offering a four-toy “girl toy” set of cute fluffy animals, as well as a Large-Sized cup spotlighting New Moon (again, less interest to us, unless you want to pick up a couple of Twilight: New Moon cups solely to hang on to them a couple of years, strictly for the resale value on ebay when the next installment of this wretched series is foisted upon us. Personally, we weren’t going to go into Burger King just for a New Moon cup, but, as it turns out, my daughter wanted to go get an after-school snack, so we went in, which is how we even learned about the Superhero Squad toys. (Remind me to thank her again.)

Yes, yes, I know that girls also get to get their geek on as it were, and yes I also understand that they probably don’t get (or like) our superhero films, but this film is just such abysmal crap that it is hard to understand how anyone with a pair of brain cells that they can rub together can like it.

Anyway, the fourth figure in this set will be The Hulk, and I hope to acquire him by the end of the week. Oh yeah, and in case any of you folks out there don’t realize, most fast food places will sell you the toy separate from the meal, if you aren’t inclined to eat the food. True, the toy will cost around buck or so, it is still worth it if you like the toy but aren’t interested in clogging your arteries in the process of collecting.

Here's what I think

So, a couple of days ago I told you all how I contributed a short piece to Only in Whispers #2 (Free Lunch Comics). Well, I finally got the time to read the rest of the book, and well, I think that it is a pretty good tome. the book consists of three illustrated tales (two by Free Lunch Publisher, Steve Kanaras), a prose tale by Steve, and a trio of prose true ghost tales (one of them mine).

I do so enjoy this type of format, that of multiple tales each showcasing different artists (or writers) each exploring the soft underbelly of the pseudo mystical side of our world. It really reminds me of the kind of comics I read when I was much younger, and these type of creepy tales made up a larger part of the marketplace.

Well, I’ve been enjoying this series and, I’m recommending that you look it up and chase down an issue of your own.

On the first night of Chanukah...

Yeah, I know that Chanukah is over, but I didn’t have access to the camera ‘til today. This year for some reason (unfathomable by me), the wife and I only exchanged gifts with each other on the first night. This is what I received on that night.



Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Chanukah, a friend of mine showed me this very entertaining Menorah.



Which got me to thinking that I’ll just bet that there is a Spidey or a Marvel Menorah out there, especially as I already have these items:







Sorry for the blurriness on the yamauka. I took that pic with my cell phone camera, and, well, I guess I was too close to get a good shot. I'll have to get a better pic of it later. In the mean time. It’s Festivus for the rest of us!

Funnybooks should be fun.

That’s right, you heard me, I believe that funnybooks should be fun. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that they should be humorous, but fun. Now, just as I can have fun watching a serious or a scary film, I can have fun reading a well-written, entertaining, serious funnybook. Hence, the “fun.”

Unfortunately, many of the comics that I seem to be reading these days are something less than fun. (As to why I’m reading comics that aren’t fun is the subject of an entirely different post, but let’s not drift off point).

Anyway, Like I’ve been saying, it seems that these days I’ve been enjoying the depiction of Spider-Man in virtually every book in which he appears except for Amazing Spider-Man which can't seem to quite nail down his personality for some bizarre reason. Anyway, Spidey shows up (again) in Ms. Marvel #47, and he actually has a date with Ms. Marvel. Well, technically, Peter has a date with Carol Danvers, but u know what I mean). This issue is fun, entertaining, and reminds me very much of the Spidey I was reading during the ‘80s & ‘90s. Why the writers can’t hit this rhythm in Spidey‘s own book is beyond me.

Another Spider-title I’m enjoying is New Avengers. Here again, Spidey’s personality is pretty much dead on. Right now the team is still on the run and in this issue (#59) they need to rescue Luke Cage from the clutches of H.A.M.M.E.R. I’m telling you, when Bendis wants to tell a story, he can really write the Hell out of it. Seriously, this is a good story. I’m totally loving Spidey’s run as an Avenger, it is a stature that he should have achieved a long time ago, and I’m glad that Bendis finally accorded him the honor.

Oh yeah, while I’m here I might as well mention that New Avengers Annual #3 was a ripping good yarn as well. It is nice to see Mockingbird back in action and this episode plays nicely into the on-going storyline.

In with this batch of Spidey-related comics I want to toss in Spider-Man Secret Wars. I have to say that I’m totally puzzled as to why this was considered fodder for a re-hash because, it can’t change what happened during the original Secret Wars, and it doesn’t seem to be offering us anything more than just a retelling from Spidey’ point of view. This was totally unlike the Spider-Man Clone Wars limited series, as the Clone Wars purportedly is not only by the original authors, but told the way they wanted to tell it originally.

Anyway, that’s what I have now. more later.