League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alex Ross (with a twist)

30 Rock meets the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alex Ross. Via these fine sites.

*At Toycutter: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen custom action figures.

New Marvel Universe action figures

Big gallery of photos of the upcoming Marvel universe figures, including Mr. Sinister, Gambit, Psylocke, and Beast.

*Buy Marvel Universe figures at eBay.

Link roundup

1. I finally saw Deathly Hallows part 2. All in all I thought it was great, with the talk with the Ravenclaw ghost being especially cool. The special effects were terrific, aside from the horrendous broomstick escape from the flames. And the scene with Dumbledore in limbo flickered so badly (in 2D) that I had to look away.

2. Grant Morrison doesn't like superfans (to say the least). The excerpt mentions Morrison's take on Mark Millar's Wanted. A few years ago, I'd heard so much about Wanted that I picked up an issue and was absolutely horrified by what I was reading.

3. Is this from The Onion? Google is offering a credit card "with what it calls a competitive interest rate, an ample credit line and no annual fee. The catch: it can only be used to buy search advertising on the world's No.1 Internet search engine." Via.

Andrew Garfield Spider-Man action figure

Marvel Universe Andrew Garfield Spider-Man. Via.

And in other Marvel toy news, there will be new Marvel Legends figures. "Wave 1 will be: Klaw (classic look), Hope Summers, Constrictor, Steve Rogers as the Super Soldier, Iron Man (one of his classic armors), what looks to be the new movie version of Ghost Rider, the Comic Con Thor and the Build-a-figure is Terrax." (That is a remarkably undesirable lineup.)

*Buy build-a-figures at eBay.

Lego Hit Girl and Kick-Ass

Lego Hit Girl and Kick-Ass by Iain Heath.

*Buy Kick-Ass posters at eBay.

Link roundup

1. 9% of those special flashlights for the Warren Ellis/Berg SVK comic were broken on arrival.

2. FYI, if you plan on visiting Los Angles, do not stay in a hotel downtown.

3. Book giveaway.

Best Covers: DC Comics solicitations for October 2011

My favorite covers from the DC Comics solicitations for October 2011:


Men of War #2 cover by Viktor Kalvachev.



Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #2 cover by J.G. Jones.



Green Lantern Corps #2 cover by Alex Garner.

Link roundup

1. Art box giveaway.

2. Really interesting article about the economy.

3. The new Captain America: Super Solider video game is apparently barely worth a day rental: "The game (which runs to a stingy six hours at best) is sparsely populated by instantly-forgettable enemies."

4. io9 reviews the Warren Ellis/Berg comic SVK ($32 for 40 lackluster pages).

Wolverine and Captain America by Travis Charest

The highlight of the Wildcats was Wildcats/X-Men The Golden Age by Travis Charest (you can find copies at eBay). And now Charest is teasing a new project, also set in World War II, to feature Wolverine and Captain America.

Revolving doors are hard

It's Namor vs. Daredevil (and Daredevil's building) in Daredevil #7 (site is NSFW).

*Buy Daredevil toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. If Heart of Darkness had starred Cobra Commander.

2. Bill Simmons relating an anecdote from his favorite sports book:

My favorite: someone fighting with Bobby Hull, then hearing the crowd hush like something awful just happened … and realizing that he accidentally pulled Hull's toupee off. This definitely would have led SportsCenter if it existed in the late 1970's.

3. DC's comic book cover artists have a sick sense of humor.

Movie Spider-Man, comic book Spider-Man

The new movie Spider-Man costume looks great. Via these sites.



Amazing Spider-Man #665 cover by Paolo Rivera.

*Buy Spider-Man Happy Meal toys at eBay.

That time that Lois Lane wore a metal box on her head

Find out why Lois Lane is hiding her face in Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane # 13 (site is NSFW).

*Buy Lois Lane toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Good cosplay idea: Instead of dressing up as wizards for the Harry Potter premiere, wouldn't it be way funnier to dress up as wizards trying to dress up as muggles? Via.

2. I never get tired of rereading Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory. Here are some great links exploring the series. Via.

3. FYI, Spotify installation and startup was almost instantaneous. Music playback has been smooth, and it went and added my own music library without any intervention from me.

Link roundup

1. Webcomic: Zero Suit Samus Googles herself for the first ... and last time. Via.

2. Three fairly lackluster reviews of SVK by Warren Ellis and BERG.

3. "There are two lessons here. The first is that Gatorade is a waste of money. If you really want to improve performance, gargle with something that actually tastes good, since it was the activation of reward areas that allowed the cyclists to exert maximum performance."

*Buy Metroid toys at eBay.

Now this would get me interested in Marvel's Fear Itself event

Marvel characters redesigned for the Fear Itself event (I don't know anything about it):




And the Dazzler redesigned by Mitz:



*Previously: Kitty Pryde's Dazzler-inspired costume.

The Griff

The Griff written by Christopher Moore and Ian Corson is an unusual comic. I don't think I've ever read a comic where the artist was so thoroughly deemphasized, almost an afterthought. Check out the book's page at Harper Collins and Barnes & Noble - - Jennyson Rosero isn't even mentioned.

As I read the story I thought, this is less a comic, than a movie treatment. In the right hands it would probably make a solid movie - - a group of brave and attractive people struggle against an invasion force of space dragons and their mysterious masters. And sure enough, when I Googled "The Griff," I found this - - Moore and Corson originally wrote a screenplay based on the concept, and when Reign of Fire came out, shelved the idea until eventually turning it into this comic. The 160-page story, which I received as a review copy, is currently available for preorder for 34% off at B&N.

Comic book review roundup (slight spoilers)

1. The New Avengers: Powerloss by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen: Every few years I forget how much I dislike Bendis's writing, and start to feel an urge to catch up with the Marvel Universe's major team. Well, consider me reminded, and mystified as to this guy's success. Moments after finishing the collection, I couldn't remember a single noteworthy moment or line of dialog. Immonen's art is solid, but wasted. Please team him up with someone who knows how to make use of his skills. Available for $8 used at B&N, which sounds about right.

2. Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution by Rick Remender, Leonardo Manco and Jerome Opena: I'm totally out of touch with anything that's happened to the X-Men since Whedon and Cassaday, so I have no idea why Archangel can sometimes look like regular Angel, and why Apocalypse looks like a regular little boy. But so what. This was a lot of fun. It's the perfect mix of classic X-Men soap opera drama and fast paced (and beautifully illustrated) action. I especially liked the new Horsemen of the Apocalypse. $13 at B&N and well worth it.

3. The Nobody by Jeff Lemire: Fine, I guess. I'll probably try other books he's written since I hear so many raves about him. But this one was definitely not worth the $15 cover price. $7 used at B&N.

4. Human Target: Chance Meetings by Peter Milligan, Edvin Biukovic, and Javier Pulido: The plot's a little darker than I like, but the art by Biukovic and Pulido has a sort of lightness that prevents the story from being too disturbing. Biukovic was one of my favorites during his brief career, and I highly recommend everything he's drawn, especially Grendel Tales: Devils and Deaths. Chance Meetings is $7 used at B&N. Devils and Deaths is less than $4 used.

5. Secret Six: The Reptile Brain by Gail Simone, Paul Cornell, J. Calafiore, Pete Woods, Marcos Marz, and Luciana Delnegro: Obviously I didn't like New Avengers: Powerloss, but at least it was a coherent story. This comic was so poorly told that I thought it was missing panels or even pages. On the positive side, the covers by Dan Luvisi were kind of nice, in a sterile, digital manner. Available at B&N, but not worth it at any price.

Talking With Gods cover by Camilla d'Errico

To be available at the Halo-8 booth (M-03) in the Small Press area at SDCC, the Grant Morrison Talking With Gods documentary will feature a cover by Camilla d'Errico. (There definitely isn't enough We3 fan art.)

Here are the first five minutes of the movie, which focuses on Grant's unusual upbringing:



And here's a short segment in which he talks about the "shamanic moment" that led to All-Star Superman:



Relatedly, you can still reserve a copy of Womanthology with a bonus sketch by Camilla.

And finally, while I was looking for (and failing to find) a specific article about Morrison being a magician for hire, I stumbled on a truly bizarre series of posts at McSweeney's about The Cosby Show. Selection 12, which is dedicated to Morrison and Alan Moore is titled, "Chaos, Psychonautics, and Discordianism in the Huxtable Narrative: Russell, Cliff and Rudy Huxtable as Psychonauts and Chaos Magicians."

*Previously: Helmet Girls cosplay.

Link roundup

1. Fallout-themed app for the iPhone.

2. Kevin Titzer (whose sculptures I've often featured) is giving away a sculpture here (bottom of the post).

3. Frank Espinosa posted some new Rocketo concept art. (I love Rocketo and you can find copies used for $2 at Barnes and Noble.)

*Previously: Fallout paper toy.