With the riveting news coverage of Balloon Boy from last week, it was bound to eventually bleed over into a historical reference.  Enjoy this moment from Cyanide & Happiness

 

With October fastly approaching, our minds tend to shift away from what was summer....the romances, the beer, the food....and move onto more fun things like Halloween! 

Everyone has his/her ideal superhero that they loved to dress up as, fantasize about having sex with, etc.  Barring any weird radioactive experiment, super birth (if Superman was so powerful, did he rip his mom's vagina when he came out?), spider bite, etc. then it will all remain just a dream. 

For those out there who are thinking of dressing up as your hero, please view the following as a warning on what not to do.....

Newspaper giant Washington Post is making news itself this week. The paper made the decision to bench sports cartoon Tank McNamara this week. In all, 6 panels were denied and "reruns" appeared.

Above are two of the "offending" strips. Satirizing NFL commish Roger Goodell, the NFL's problems with the police blotter, Michael Vick and Dick Cheney. In the strip Cheney says Goodell should rub out dog-killin' Vick.

Over the line? Perhaps. But worthy of censorship? Please. Read that list of who is involved again. Aside from Dubya, are there people that have given late night comics and newspaper columnists more material?

This stinks of hypocrisy. Especially since the Washington Post spent 8 years satirizing and hammering Cheney. And a comic strip is what gets shut down? It's a bloody cartoon.

Free speech applies to Jeffy and Dolly in The Family Circus but not Tank?

Nonsense...

From the new world of old media...

One of the speakers and the Absolut event I went to last week was Anthony Zuiker. Creator/Producer/Writer of the CSI franchise. His new endeavor is quite interesting.

He wrote a book!

Okay, it's not just any book. It's a dark thriller.

Okay, not just a dark thriller novel. A "Digi-Novel."

One that attempts to incorporate elements of new and old media.

To quote the site Level 26 is "a multi-platform experience that moves the reader from passages in the books to videos and interactive content."

You don't just read Level 26: Dark Origins, you log in, watch and interact with it. There are webisodes after every chapter which piece together more parts of the story and unlock special codes. Plus a social media aspect to the book where readers can compare notes and interact.

The first installment of the book will arrive in stores September 8. Till then you can register on the site and begin your experience.

It's an interesting approach. Lets hope it works.

One of the interestingly twisted creations of animation specialist Alex Butera.

So what's better than the Geekfest known as the San Diego Comicon, which kicks off today?

How about the Suicide Girls doing cosplay at the Comicon?  Yeh, exactly :)

Evil Richard here. I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. And I'm not sure when or if "Wednesday is New Comics Day" will be returning. (Free tip: Go pick up DC's Wednesday Comics book today) But, Scaramouch gave me permission to stop by and fill you in on what I've been up to. Especially since I got some exciting news about it last week.

Nathan Sorry is an online graphic novel that I've been working on for a while now and is just starting to ramp up. It's about a guy named Nathan Sorry who should have been in the World Trade Center on 9/11 but instead disappears with a new identitiy and $20 million stolen through a Ponzi scheme. Two months later a guy named James Goode shows up in a small town in North Carolina and shakes up the lives of a few of its residents.

Last week, Warren Ellis, writer of such famous comics as Transmetropolitan, Planetary and The Authority, mentioned Nathan Sorry on his website as a webcomic worth watching.

Come check it out here. I'm working towards getting to a 1 page per week schedule as there's a lot more stuff to tell. Stolen and confused identities, online sex ads, an unsolved murder, cheating hearts and the War in Afghanistan all play a big part in the story to come.

Mickey Mouse has only had three principle voices since his "birth" in 1928. Uncle Walt himself, Scottish born Jimmy MacDonald and since 1977, Wayne Allwine.

Mr. Allwine passed away on Monday from complications from diabetes. He was 62-years-old.

Allwine started in the mailroom at the Walt Disney Company in 1966 before being promoted to the sound effects department. Many may not know that he was actually married to the voice of Minnie Mouse. Seriously. Allwine wed Russi Taylor in 1991.

For many, including myself, Mickey Mouse still represents hope and happiness in a cold and cynical world. Whether he was a hobo, a ghostbuster, a symphony conductor or a window washer, Mickey never lost optimism and helped countless millions laugh a little.

Here is Wayne and his widow Russi chatting about the character's voices. There's a real sweetness to their relationship.



I'll put the other two parts after the jump if you'd like to see them...

Saturday Morning Cartoon? The results I'm afraid would not make the fans happy.

On the day Watchmen is finally released (to somewhat mixed reviews), I thought I'd share a couple of sketches from my collection. The first is a Rorschach sketch by Watchmen artist, Dave Gibbons. It's the standard headshot he does for all fans, but I like that I got it in "2000 AD", which is also the British comic that gave him his big break.

The second is an inked by Transmetropolitan artist Darick Robertson of The Comedian. I commissioned this soon after 9-11, which inspired me to think that if we were living in the Watchmen Universe, this is exactly the kind of poster the US would be using to recruit for the military.

Click either image for a larger version

This is what the world needs right now. Forget the stimulus packages, the bailouts, the end to wars - if everyone had a little Kyle Piccolo in their lives, we'd all be living in a world not unlike the covers of Jehovah Witnesses brochures - with rainbows, gliding butterflies, and children playing with pandas. Kyle doesn't just dispense therapeutic advice through the medium of comics, he also gives you that sense of accomplishment and understanding similar to the "knowing is half the battle" segments they used to tack on to the end of G.I. Joe.

Also it's funny. Very funny. If you're a fan of comics ... fuck it ... if you're a fan of LIFE, check out the new installments of Kyle Piccolo.

Jesus Christ. Sometime a comic cover tells you everything you need to know about a story.

Normally, I wouldn't even bother watching a video trailer for a book. But this one can stand on its own! Still, I might check out the book (a graphic novel), Etcetera and Otherwise, even though I don't know what it's about. Audio NSFW.

(Thanks, Jeremy Barker)

Author and Comic Book Writer Brad Meltzer introduces a short video about the house where Superman was created in Cleveland, Ohio, and launches a campaign to save it from destruction.

The cynic in me says, as Meltzer has a new book out today (the plot of which involves the creation of Superman), that this video is motivated by a little more than just goodwill.

Nevertheless, it's worth posting for two reasons. I really believe that our literary heritage is incredibly important to preserve, to continue to inspire future generations. Plus - the T shirts and art that are being used to generate cash are all pretty cool.

Wonder Woman has AIDS?

No wonder there hasn't been a Hollywood movie about her yet. Get well soon WW.