Free Comic Book Day! UPDATED

There are only three days you need mark on the calender in 2010: Boobquake, Halloween and Free Comic Book Day.

I'll be recognizing this special day at Heroes and Dragons in Columbia, S.C., tomorrow. Between FCBD and work, I'll be pretty swamped this weekend ... but plan to post some photos tomorrow from the scene. Maybe even a video if I can muster it.

In the meantime, I've got a few other items ready to post this weekend, including another entry in Blogs I Like and a link to some free music from ... well, you'll just have to wait and see.

UPDATE:
Well, I went to H&D for Free Comic Book Day ... and totally forgot to take photos. There was a row of local artists signing, selling and sketching (which was a perfect photo op) but I got nothing.

Well, that's not entirely true. I got the new Rachel Rage book, vol. 1 of Godland, the Rocket Raccoon miniseries, the 1989 Batman magazine published by Topps and a handful of freebies. So I wouldn't call the weekend a total bust.

ohmyfugginggodits THOR! UPDATED

Superherohype as the first look at Chris Helmsworth as Thor. I'm both busy and speechless, so I'll let you guys take it from here. (Tip courtesy of the Hypno-Pimp.)


UPDATED
Here's another link and pic from the Hypno-Pimp. He can't be stopped! He can't be reasoned with!
Nor can the Destroyer, a possible villain from the Thor movie. My only experience with this character (if I remember right) is from the Marvel Ultimate Alliance game.

News Design: Superman

Here's a newspaper page showcasing Superman Returns, as well as a character I don't recognize. I'm also not entirely clear on what country it's from ... the language doesn't look familiar. Any help?

When Fetishes Collide!

Remember yesterday's post about the new Hole album? Here's a little art from the Hypno-Pimp.

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 36

Blogs I Like

On paper, Fully Jointed Play Figures sounds like an incredibly dull idea. The author is (more or less) just buying toys for his son and taking photos of the experience. Why not just show is slides of your family vacation, dude?

Surprisingly, though, Fully Jointed Play Figures works. It's a blog that manages to do something that's almost impossible in geek circles: evoke an emotion other than rage. Seriously ... how can you not smile at the photo above?

The site also conveys why so many of us still love toys after all these years, and does so without stooping to pretension, cynicism or hostility. It's actually very genuine and sweet.

It might not be the edgiest blog on the planet, but there's nothing wrong with that. I say check it out!

Insert "lightsaber joke" here

Last weekend G4 held a charity car wash in Los Angeles for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The day's biggest accomplishment was probably making a charitable donation feel kinda dirty. Not that I'm complaining.

Let your mind get as dirty as a Mos Espa cantina here with G4's "Behind the Scenes" photo gallery.

Hole: Nobody's Daughter

Here's a little something most people don't know about me: I absolutely adore Courtney Love. It doesn't matter how bad she fucks up, she's always willing to get back on the stage and give the finger to the world. Whether or not that's a character flaw is debatable, but I admire that about her. If Abin Sur crashed on Earth today there's no way in hell that Courtney Love wouldn't be the first person his power ring found.

While this post might be better suited for a website like www.self-destructive-for-life.com (is that a real thing?) I'm throwing caution to the wind and giving the new Hole album a little love. Above is a video made on-the-cheap for the first single off Hole's new album, Nobody's Daughter. And while this might not really be a "Hole" album, I've got no problems with Love using the band's name to make a little bank. After all, this is the same woman who was accused of whoring out her dead husband for fame, while simultaneously being sued by the rest of Nirvana for not whoring him out enough. And don't get me started on that "Courtney Love murdered Kurt Cobain" bullshit because it will only end with punches thrown.

Head on over to  Muziic.com to give Nobody's Daughter a listen.

The Daily Wire

Save the Whales  Loch Ness Monster

By Crom … it’s Lego Conan!

Georgia Man Arrested in Sale of Fake Movie Posters

Christmas to get all Hobbity again in 2012

Steve Carrell looking to escape The Office

Adam Ant to make 57th comeback?

A look back at the Darkwing Duck NES game

Danny Trejo will kick your ass

News Design: Batman

Here are two "double truck" pages from a Spanish-language newspaper marking the release of Batman Begins. I'm not sure why I love these things so much ... they're usually just a collection of Batman-themed trivia that's about as common as knowledge gets. I love them anyway, though. I just can't say no to a page full of Batmobiles.

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 35

Roofies Not Inlcuded, Part II

Ever wanted to have your name appear on the sex offender registry but didn't know how? Send $2.98 to Elton's and they'll help!

Tron Game Tip #3

This is technically Gape Tip #4 ... but astute readers might have noted that the previous #3 was am accidental repeat of #1. I was asleep at the recognizer that day and apologize.

This tip shows the "break out" style level of Tron that challenged players to blast a hole through the MCP shield before it descended onto your character. It was harder than it looked.

Harry Potter news pages: Part 2

Here's the rest of that Harry Potter-themed newspaper from the Victoria Advocate in Victoria, Texas. I'm not exactly a fan of Harry Potter, but this is some impressive work.

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 34

G33K4L1F3 now on Facebook

Hey, all.

I took a little advice and created a Facebook fan page for G33K4L1F3. I'm still not sure what role it's going to play in the development of this site, but feel free to sign up, post links and talk shit. And don't forget to pass the link along to anyone who might be interested.

Any Takers?

I'm in the market for a few new henchmen, myself.

News Page Design: Geek Style

Like it or not, part of the fun in any movie is how it's marketed. A movie that's not sold properly rarely ever finds its audience, and if it can't find its audience then you might as well not have bothered ... right?

Right.

For those of us who are hardcore film fans, it used to be fun to watch the local newspapers cover a film's release. Bitching about Critic X is a sport in itself for movie geeks, and many of us only read newspapers on Fridays and Sundays to see their entertainment coverage.

As desktop publishing became more common, newspapers began to let their artistic talent go a little crazy (in a good way.) By the beginning of the century it was pretty common to see Batman, the Hulk and even the Watchmen dominating the covers of entertainment sections — and it became a challenge for designers to find ways to incorporate these characters without relying on that tired old "Bam! Pow!" crap.

Over the years I've come across some pretty great newspages and held on to them. Now it's time to pass them along. First up is one of the craziest ideas I've ever seen: A Harry Potter themed entertainment section. This comes from a newspaper in Texas which allowed their staff to design an entire section as though it was a newspaper in the Harry Potter films.

These images are very large (and this site is already image intensive) so I'll post a few a day. After Harry Potter we'll move along to Star Wars, Batman, the Hulk, Spider-Man and others.

The Daily Wire

Ed Roth-inspired Joker art!

Kurt Sutter talks about Walton Goggins, cable TV 

and the death of indy cinema

Adam McKay to adapt Garth Ennis' The Boys?

 Stephen Hawking "aliens theory" doesn't 
scare planet hunters idiots

Rachel Rage: Vol. 2 headed to press

Badass character actor Michael Pataki dies

The first rule of Spingfield Punx?

DON'T TALK ABOUT SPRINGFIELD PUNX

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 33

Care for a chocolate chip nightmare?

I'm not someone who eats a lot of cookies, but would gladly change my eating habits to accommodate this incredible Alien-themed cookie jar. Brought to you by Comic Fusion, it's a ceramic Japanese import that you can use to hold a violent, face-raping monster. Or cookies, if that's what you're into.

(Link courtesy of The Hypno Pimp.)

Book Report: Doctor Whoand the Web of Fear

Here's more artwork from my book report series, drawn between 1979 and 1980 when I was a child. 
I only vaguely remember this book ... or, more specifically, I remember the monsters, but little else. According to Amazon, this story was from the Patrick Troughton years.

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 32

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Animated

Here's a teaser reel for a proposed cartoon based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The animation is surprisingly not terrible, but also has that Bruce Timm vibe that every cartoon after Batman: The Animated Series seemed to rely upon.

I'm also a little confused about where the producers thought this show would air, because it violates just about every ridiculous standard of "childrens television" within this three-minute clip. But it's also not sleazy enough for HBO, either.

Still, it's an interesting relic of a show that almost-was.

Bloodthirsty Firefly Finales

Just a bit of a spoiler/warning: if you haven't seen F)irefly, you won't understand of word of the cartoon above (which is just the first section of a longer gag. And if you haven't seen Serenity, you'll have just as much trouble getting the joke. Jut sayin'.

Anyway, the guys over at Comics Alliance have a short strip that takes one of the more shocking moments of the series/film to ridiculous extremes.

Like many fans of Joss Whedon's "Firefly," artist Mike Russell was impatient for more stories from the fan-favorite universe, and after a conversation with fellow cartoonist Bill Mudron, Russell decided to launch "Serenity Tales," a site collecting fan-made webcomics about the series. "We figured we'd make some totally apocryphal, totally unofficial fan comics for free while we waited. Just a fun way to celebrate Whedon's universe, which we both love," said Russell.

Don't be fooled by the comments above. Serenity Tales isn't just a collection of fanfic wankery. It's  an eclectic of tales ranging from the comedic (such as the site's on-going South Park parody) to the poetic.

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 31

The (Animated) Daily Wire

Trailer for Batman:Under the Red Hood

Looney Tunes makes a comeback

Teen Titans return to CN as Young Justice, 

Mad Magazine gets animated

Stop the presses: South Park pisses someone off!

Star Wars "sitcom" to follow RotJ?

The Invincible Gene Colan Benefit Auction

News is beginning to emerge about the Gene Colan benefit auction. Here are some notes from the official website at genecolan.blogspot.com:

News about Gene Colan's condition will be posted at Clifford Meth's blog. This blog (the one you're looking at right now) is for the sole purpose of listing auction items and items for sale to benefit Gene. Items here either belong to Gene or have been (or will be) contributed for his benefit.

Some contributed items will be auctioned at Ebay. Others will be auctioned or sold here.

A list of pages and artwork available for the auction are posted at the website. Check it out!

Devo performs "Whip It" on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Vintage Star Wars lunchbox art

A few years back I created desktop wallpapers using the artwork from the classic Star Wars lunchboxes from the 1970s. I've lost the original scans (which varied in screen size) but had these little items resting quietly in a Photobucket account.

I love merch from the original film, which comes from a short-lived time when Star Wars was still just a single movie.

Jaws 3-D Theater: Day 30

Sweet origami Yoda

Buried among the owls, cranes and other traditional "paper craft" at Lang Origami is this neat little Yoda creation. Paper craft has been having a resurgence in recent years and I have to wonder if it's a response to the growing digital nature of the world, which has taken artwork into intangible realms. You can now create entire worlds for movies without ever really creating anything at all, so the idea of turning bits of trash into fragile sculptures looks all the more charming.

New 'Jonah Hex' photo

There have been a few set photos to leak from the set of the upcoming Jonah Hex film, but Shock Till You Drop has he first hi-rez still of Josh Brolin as the title character.

Jonah Hex is scheduled to hit theaters June 18, though marketing for the film has been almost non-existent to this point.

'Iron Man 2' Buzz: Gwyneth Paltrow gets punched in face

'Iron Man 2' Buzz Heats Up Over Rumors Gwyneth Paltrow Gets Punched In Face

Book Report: Frankenstein Moved in on the Fourth Floor

I've been a Frankenstein junky since I was 8 years old. After catching a chunk of the original James Whale/Boris Karloff film on television I became borderline obsessed with the story for the better part of a year. I read the Mary Shelley novel in one sitting (I was stuck in a hotel room in England for three months and had lots of time on my hands) and devoured anything with the name "Frankenstein" in the title.

One of my favorites as a child was Frankenstein Moved in on the Fourth Floor by Elizabeth Levy. Looking back, the book captured that constant feeling of panic and mystery that children feel when venturing into the adult world.

More importantly, Frankenstein Moved in on the Fourth Floor is a rare argument against the kind of fear of fear that was peddled to my generation. I grew up in the shadow of Adam Walsh and popular media was fixated on convincing the nation that satanic cults and child molestors lurked around every corner. 

If I recall correctly, the message of Levy's book is that the world is not the creepy, dangerous place it sometimes appears to be. I wish there were more books like it. It might be the biggest reason I never bought into the brand of paranoia sold by goons like Geraldo Rivera.

Above is a bit of art I drew back in 1979/80 to accompany a book report. It's done in crayon and marker, the favored media of adolescent artists everywhere.

You can visit Elizabeth at her website by clicking this link.