2 in 1 Showcase Episode 288: Free Comic Book Day 2013 Preview

Next week is Free Comic Book Day 2013, and once again, Blake and Erin are here to walk you through the books being offered. What are this year’s can’t-miss titles? What are books you’ve never heard of that may be worth your time? And what special treat has Blake cooked up for you guys? Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 288: Free Comic Book Day Preview 2013

Everything But Imaginary #445: Every Age

There are so many comics out there aimed at adults, fewer aimed just at children… but what about those that are suitable for EVERY age? This most important demographic is being ignored, and publishers don’t know what to do with those comics they’ve already got.

Everything But Imaginary #445: Every Age

100 Comic Book Movies

With a little time to kill this afternoon, I decided to make one of those “Movie List Challenges” over on Facebook. Being the sort of nerd I am, I whipped up a list of 100 movies based on comic books, graphic novels, and newspaper comic strips. Some of these are kind of indirect — the comic strip was made into a broadway musical, the musical was made into a movie. Some of them will be movies you’ve seen but maybe didn’t know were comic books first. Some of them will be foreign and some of them, especially the movie serials of the 40s and 50s, will be characters you’ve heard of in movies you didn’t know existed. And although I tried to stay with theatrical films, it’s possible a made-for-TV movie or two snuck in while I wasn’t looking. But let’s see how many of ’em you’ve seen. For the sake of fairness, I’ve put an asterisk next to each movie that I’ve personally viewed…

1. The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) *
2. Batman (1943)
3. Congo Bill (1948)
4. Batman and Robin (1949)
5. Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
6. Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom (1952)
7. Lil’ Abner (1959)
8. Batman: The Movie (1966)*
9. A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)*
10. Tales From the Crypt (1972)
11. The Vault of Horror (1973)
12. Superman (1978)*
13. Flash Gordon (1980)*
14. I Go Pogo (aka Pogo For President, 1980)*
15. Popeye (1980)*
16. Superman II (1980)*
17. Annie (1982)*
18. Swamp Thing (1982)
19. Superman III (1983)*
20. Supergirl (1984)*
21. Howard the Duck (1986)*
22. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)*
23. Akira (1988)*
24. Batman (1989)*
25. The Punisher (1989)*
26. Return of Swamp Thing (1989)
27. Dick Tracy (1990)*
28. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)*
29. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)*
30. Batman Returns (1992)*
31. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)*
32. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time (1993)
33. The Crow (1994)*
34. The Mask (1994)*
35. Batman Forever (1995)*
36. Judge Dredd (1995)*
37. Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)*
38. Barb Wire (1996)*
39. Tales From the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (1996)*
40. Batman and Robin (1997)*
41. Men in Black (1997)*
42. Spawn (1997)*
43. Steel (1997)
44. Blade (1998)*
45. X-Men (2000)*
46. Ghost World (2001)*
47. Blade II (2002)*
48. Road to Perdition (2002)*
49. Spider-Man (2002)*
50. American Splendor (2003)*
51. Daredevil (2003)*
52. Hulk (2003)*
53. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)*
54. X2: X-Men United (2003)*
55. Blade: Trinity (2004)*
56. Catwoman (2004)*
57. Garfield (2004)*
58. Hellboy (2004)*
59. The Punisher (2004)*
60. Spider-Man 2 (2004)*
61. Batman Begins (2005)*
62. Constantine (2005)*
63. Elektra (2005)*
64. Fantastic Four (2005)*
65. A History of Violence (2005)*
66. Man-Thing (2005)*
67. Sin City (2005)*
68. Son of the Mask (2005)*
69. V For Vendetta (2005)*
70. 300 (2006)*
71. Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
72. Over the Hedge (2006)*
73. Superman Returns (2006)*
74. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)*
75. Ghost Rider (2007)*
76. Persepolis (2007)*
77. Spider-Man 3 (2007)*
78. TMNT (2007)*
79. The Dark Knight (2008)*
80. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)*
81. Iron Man (2008)*
82. Punisher: War Zone (2008)*
83. Surrogates (2009)*
84. Watchmen (2009)*
85. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)*
86. Iron Man 2 (2010)*
87. Jonah Hex (2010)*
88. Kick-Ass (2010)*
89. The Losers (2010)*
90. RED (2010)*
91. Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (2010)*
92. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)*
93. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)*
94. Cowboys and Aliens (2011)*
95. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011)*
96. Green Lantern (2011)*
97. The Smurfs (2011)
98. Thor (2011)*
99. X-Men: First Class (2011)*
100. The Avengers (2012)

Everything But Imaginary #441: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

So… Michael Bay… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… that happened. This week, Everything But Imaginary talks about movie adaptations that prove the old saying is true — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Everything But Imaginary #441: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

San Diego Comic-Con Day One: I’m still not there

So as I mentioned yesterday, the San Diego Comic-Con is raging like a wildfire out there in California right now. I’m not there, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch the news with a sharp eye and a wistful heart. This is the first day, but there are a few interesting tidbits already jumping out at me…

• IDW Publishing and DC Comics are producing a six-issue crossover miniseries, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes, written by Chris Roberson with art by Philip Moy. I’m psyched, and I have a feeling my Uncle Todd will find this interesting as well.
• Speaking of crossovers, Archie Comics has announced an upcoming storyline where Archie and the gang from Riverdale will have to battle monsters from another dimension alongside legendary rock band KISS. Yes, you heard me. Archie. Meets. KISS. Mike Bellamy may finally have to buy an Archie Comic. (Or rather, four of them, it’s a four-part story beginning in Archie #627.)
• One of the books that was apparently getting wiped out during the New 52 DC Comics Relaunch is coming back. Nick Spencer’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents will return in November with a new #1, despite the fact that the writer is under an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics. Looks like he kept a loophole in there.
• IDW is also going to be doing a sequel to this year’s Infestation crossover. G.I. Joe and the TransFormers will be back for round two, but Star Trek and Ghostbusters are being replaced with Danger Girl and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• The Man of Steel, director Zach Snyder’s relaunch of the Superman movie franchise, has been pushed back from a release date of December 2012 to June 2013.

There have been other things announced, of course, but these are the things that have caught my attention so far. I’m hoping that I’ll get a chance to sit down with Erin this weekend while we’re in Maine and record a Showcase episode about the announcements.

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 216: Green Lantern Footage and More From Wondercon

Blake and Erin chat this week about the new footage from Wondercon of the Green Lantern movie! Then, Blake reviews the new movie Limitless, Erin reviews Bomb Queen Vol. 1, and they talk about the rest of the Wondercon News — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC’s Retro-Active specials, the Artist’s Edition of Walter Simonson‘s Thor, and much more! In the picks, Blake loved the Jimmy Olsen one-shot, and Erin is enjoying the novel John Dies at the End. Plus: more information about Blake’s new eBook! Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 216: Green Lantern Footage and more from Wondercon

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 104: 80s Saturday Morning Cartoon Extravaganza

Put on your Underoos, pour a big bowl of cereal, and rev up your iPod! This week, Chase and Blake banter about some of their favorite 80s cartoon shows! From the top dogs of He-Man, G.I. Joe and the TransFormers to lesser-known but much-beloved properties like Silverhawks and the Bionic Six, the boys talk about their favorite shows, the history of the characters, and where the properties are today. In the picks this week, Chase dug Phantom Annual #2, and Blake is all about Tiny Titans #12. Write us with comments, suggestions, picks of the week, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com!

Also, this week features the third of three “variant covers” created as a 100th episode gift by our good buddy Walt Kneeland! Check your iTunes Album Art! Thanks, Walt!

Episode 104: 80s Saturday Morning Cartoon Extravaganza
Inside This Episode:

PLUS: Now that DC Direct has spoiled the identities of the first two Black Lanterns (don’t worry, we give you a spoiler warning before we say their names), Blake sits down and runs through some of the late denizens of the DC Universe and picks out who he thinks may turn up as members of the Black Lantern Corps!

Week in Geek #9: Blake’s Black Lantern Speculation

The 180 Days of Christmas

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I’m a big fan of Christmas music. Just ask Erin — the day after Thanksgiving we got in the car only for her to discover that my iPod had already been thoroughly Kringled. I’ve got a pretty substantial library of Christmas music saved up on the computer, and when that happens, there are bound to be several versions of the same song. I’ve got lots of Rudolphs, several Frosties, a good number of O Holy Nights… but the song I seem to have more variations of than any other is that perennial classic, The 12 Days of Christmas.

After a quick perusal of my iTunes library I count no less than 15 variations of this song, and I thought it’d be interesting to run them down today in the Christmas Party. First of all, let me point out that the “12 Days” in question actually refer to the Liturgical calendar — the 12 days of the Church’s Christmas Season. It actually begins on December 25 and counts down to the celebration of the Epiphany (a.k.a. “Twelfth Night”) on January 6. Which is also the day St. Nicholas and his helpers make visits to a number of countries — he doesn’t actually do it all on Christmas Eve. But I’m getting off topic.

I think I know why this song gets recorded (seemingly) more than any other. It’s easy. All you’ve got to do is come up with different “gifts” for the twelve days and, BAM, you’ve got a Christmas novelty song. And in fact, none of the variations of the song I have on iTunes are a “straight” version. Because let’s face it, the “straight” version of the song is unbearably boring. The only versions I have that actually use the original lyrics are performed by the Chipmunks, the Looney Tunes, and John Denver with the Muppets (the last of those being my favorite).

Changing the gifts, of course, is a common theme to create variety in the song. Versions I have that do this include:

• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the Turtles apparently gave Splinter “a pizza with pepper-o-ni.”)
• The Smurfs (“a star on top of my tree”).
• Kay DeKalb Smith from the album Humbug! Christmas Songs For the Scrooge in Your Life (in which Ebenezer Scrooge gave “a Partridge Family LP”.)
• Bob and Doug McKenzie‘s version — one of my favorites for this line only: “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a beer.” They don’t even try to fit the rhyme scheme.
• Redneck 12 Days of Christmas, courtesy of Jeff Foxworthy, in which he got “some parts to a Mustang GT.”
• Firefly’s 12 Days of Christmas, in which Julesong pays tribute to one of the greatest dead science fiction TV shows by wishing for “a big damn trilogy.”
• Heavy Metal Christmas, courtesy of Twisted Sister, which features someone receiving “A tattoo of Ozzy.” (Which Erin and I had to listen to through day eight to understand.)

Then there are the ones that abandon the “gift” concept and just go crazy.

• The 12 Yats of Christmas, by Benny Grunch and the Bunch, is a New Orleans-area perennial. It starts with “a crawfish they caught in Arabie” and moves down to an increasingly intoxicated singer with his “Six pack of Dixie [beer]” and an increasingly frustrated house decorator trying to put up the tree “before you drive me nuts.”
• The 12 Pains of Christmas, a classic by Bob Rivers, documents Yuletide headaches from “finding a Christmas tree” to “singing Christmas carols.” This one just gets funnier with every verse.
• The 12 Gifts of Christmas by Alan Sherman is in a similar vein, beginning with “A Japanese transistor radio” and counting out 11 more gifts no one in their right mind would ever want.
• The 12 Days of Clonemas is a parody by JC Hutchins based on his epic 7th Son  novel series, which is very funny, but probably only if you’ve listened to the book.

And finally, the Reduced Shakespeare Company has the 12 Tips of Christmas, which isn’t actually a song, but uses the 12 days conceit, so I’ll count it. Reed Martin, Austin Tichenor and Matthew Croake offer such tips as trying to get David Cassidy as your Partridge in your Pear Tree and picking up Ishtar as your Christmas turkey.

So I’m counting 180 Days of Christmas just on my iPod alone. Which versions have I forgotten, friends?