STREET FIGHTER GUILE Says: I Am An ABBRACADABBLER...Are You?

Coming Attractions: Full-On Awesome Trailer For THE LAST AIRBENDER

We haven't been on an 'bender' for -- wow, time flies -  FOUR months, and the movie most deserving of the name 'Avatar', M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, has come full circle in that time.  Although promising clips from the action/adventure borderline Eastern fairy tale flick -- an adaptation of Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon series -- have been teasing audiences for nearly a year, everybody and their brother's been eagerly awaiting Airbender's 'big-hitter' - the full-throttle trailer that will prove their wait worthwhile.

Dabblers, that wait is over. Paramount Pictures released Airbender's 'big hitter' over the weekend, and it's amazing.  If you're new to the magical realms of Airbender, a quick read of our short synopsis will be all you need to protect you from the elements:   

  

The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is one in which the four elements of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air can be controlled, and those who control them are  known as "benders".   In Airbender, the powerful Fire Nation is waging a ruthless war to control the others, whose only hope for stopping the war rests on the shoulders of a reluctant young boy named Aang. The last known Airbender and survivor of the peaceful Air Nomads, Aang is  also the Avatar. He's  the physical embodiment of the world; he can control all four elements and draw upon the combined power, knowledge, and experience of all the Avatars before him. His duty is to maintain a peaceful balance between the four nations and the spirit realm, but it's a balance threatened for upset by the Fire Nation's war. 

Aided by the protective teenage Waterbender  Katara and her warrior brother Sokka, Aang begins a perilous journey to restore harmony to their war-torn world. Standing in their way is the ambitious Fire Nation Admiral Zhao, and Prince Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation who seeks to capture Aang to regain his honor.

While the proof will ultimately be in the pudding, any concerns we've had of M. Night directing a movie of this magnitude vanished after seeing the latest trailer. From the utterly awesome way the film uses its over-the-top special effects to the fact that we get to hear the characters speak for the first time, the new High-Def Airbender trailer suggests we're in store for a four-star feature.  

That's our opinion, anyway. If you liked the Airbender teaser Coming Attractions brought you in January, you just might need to change your Jockey shorts once you've seen what's on tap today. Check it out ...

Pretty darn sweet, huh? Yeah? Were we right!? Hell yeah we were! Damn!! The Last Airbender will easily be one of this summer's blockbuster kings after it hits on July 2nd; that it'll be an experience of the three-dimensional kind just adds to the wow factor.  Almost too much to handle in one afternoon without having a nervous breakdown.  Whoa...can...can somebody get me my clonopin...   

Visit the official movie site of  

The Last Airbender  
[ here].

One Shot One Panel: Boy Wonder KELLAN LUTZ

Twenty-five year old actor Kellan Lutz  may be a future Ryan Reynolds in the making. He's got the body for it, and he's definitely a fan boy, as this paparazzi snap from last Halloween clearly attests.  

Lutz is also building quite the resume: from a small role on the Heroes Season One episode "Five Years Gone" to his much larger one as Emmett Cullen in the movies of The Twilight Saga, his affinity for the comics genre is plain to see. 

But horror is what fans will see him in next:  Lutz will be trying desperately not to go to sleep when the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street opens this Friday.  After that, the recent Calvin Klein underwear model will get the chance to bare his chest across the Silver Screen, as he'll be portraying Poseidon in the currently-filming Clash of The Titans-inspired  Immortals.

Abbracadabbling BLOG SNEAKING - The Blog With Magic Inside - Coming Soon!

STAR TREK Slash-Up: Bill Shatner's COMMON / PEOPLE

When we checked in with Bill Shatner one week ago this very Hump Day, a contingent of his Northern fan base was hard at work beaming the original Kirk into Canada's Governor General's office.  Today, a well-timed yet decidedly less-conservative Shatner fan succeeded at doing what few have ever done before: giving us all $@%-eating grins hours before we'd ever consider mixing our first martini. 

That fan in question is You Tuber kirkslashspock,  who skillfully edited episodes of the mid-70's Star Trek animated series to the beats of Shatner's spoken-rock cover of Pulp's Common People - and the result is pure mash-up awesome. Bill's rendition, featuring vocals by Joe Jackson,  topped the popular cuts from his 2004 album Has Been, produced by Ben Folds.  

Kirkslashspock, like his (her?) name implies, took the tune  and video edits somewhere even Shatner's mind's never ventured: into the realm of slash.  If you're not hip to slash, or "Kirk/Spock", here's Wikipedia on the subject: Almost from the beginning, fans noticed the loving nature of the relationship. A few fan writers started speculating about the possibility of a sexual relationship between Kirk and Spock. The Kirk/Spock phenomenon eventually took on a life of its own, and became one of the driving forces in Star Trek fanzines during their heyday.

Yeah, we don't get it, either. But the video - or should we say, slash-up - is  a hoot, and despite the way it sounds, no worries of work safety need enter your head. Just kick back and groove to Shatner sound, crappy Seventies animation, and a great - if not slightly twisted - imagination.

Need more slash? Visit kirkslashspock on You Tube [here].

Figures In Action! Barbie Adding MAD MEN In July

Wondering if you're a Pop Icon? Check the toy aisle. Find a Barbie  or Ken doll in your likeness, and you'll know that not only have you arrived, but your place in the pantheon of pop culture is assured, reserved, and complete with stocked wet bar. Yes, when it comes to Mattel's infamous Barbie, there comes a point when the doll is no longer a doll, but a status symbol.

After just three seasons, Lionsgate /AMC's multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning  series about Madison Avenue advertising in the 1960s, Mad Men, has attained that laudable level of popular-culture popularity.  This July, Mattel's premium-price collectors’ series for adults - the Barbie Fashion Model Collection - will add four new  versions of Barbie and Ken styled after Mad Men characters - from left:  Joan Holloway, Roger Sterling, Don Draper and Betty Draper.

In top form, the  Mad Men Barbies and Kens will be attired and accessorized in iconic costumes fans of the series will immediately recognize  as spot-on to their televised counterparts, the key players from the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency.  Our fave: Barbie Joan Holloway, who's looking mighty chic in that purple skirt suit she tops off perfectly with the styled red coif and her staple accessory - a pen necklace. 

The Mad Men  dolls are the latest additions to Mattel's high-end collectibles line that's also been responsible for immortalizing The X-Files Mulder and Scully, the cast of Twilight,  Star Trek, Wonder Woman, and I Love Lucy in Barbie fashion.   But the Mad quartet are unique in that they're the first licensed dolls to ever join Barbie's esteemed signature silkstone collection. They'll also be in limited supply; the toy manufacturer's only making 7,ooo to 10,000 of each, and the dolls will be available only in specialty stores and on the web at either
amctv.com or barbiecollector.com.   Each of the four dolls will carry the mad price of $74.95.

For an even more elaborate run down of the new Barbie and Kens, we suggest you check out AMC's Mad Men blog and their interview with Robert Best, a former Project Runway contender and the Mattel fellow who designed the dolls in question. Check it out at the [link]. 

Otherwise, we'll send you home with the news that Mad Men's fourth season is gearing up for the big debut on Sunday 25 July.  Mad Men info is [here] and [here].

Lastscionz Enters The Mushroom Kingdom with SUPER MARIO BROS

Although they're often overlooked as a comic book publisher, Canada's Udon Entertainment Corporation is well-known as one of the premier artists' collectives (studios) specializing in comics based on some of the world's most popular video games.  From their flagship series adapting Capcom's Street Fighter to their more recent Darkstalkers line, the Udon Crew have made names for themselves even beyond the video set.  Marvel's requested they bring their Manga flair to superhero series like X-Men Evolution and the super-popular Deadpool, while DC Direct's tapped their talent to design the company's line of Ame-Comi Girls PVC statues.

Jeffrey Chamba Cruz - Udon Crew member and known among the Deviant Art set as Lastscionz - has become the hot talk of the comicsblogosphere the last few days for his just-completed Enter The Mushroom Kingdom.  The name alone is buzzworthy, but Cruz' line work sends us over the top.  


With so many video game characters popping into comics - most recently, DC/WildStorm's sell-out God of War series - we're kind of surprised that the Super Mario Bros haven't also made the leap.  Then again, they've never looked so good or so...studly! Cruz has packed on the muscle while tossing the Bros some personality where it counts. Hmmm... could the announcement of a new Udon series be in our future?


Cruz hasn't even suggested one way or the other; he completed the 11x17  Enter The Mushroom Kingdom earlier this month, and it's intended to be a convention print.  But that doesn't mean it's not a promo for something the Udon Crew's been cooking up in secret.  Mario and Luigi have kept console jockey's hooked for nearly three decades, making Super Mario Bros one of the best-selling video games of all time.  They might not require it, but they've certainly earned it.  A rockin' comic series with Lastscionz on the art would  likely be a big seller-- and give pop culture's infamous Italian brothers all the extra lives they'll ever need.

Enter The Mushroom Kingdom 

We'll be bringing even more lastscionz art to the comics blog this week! Meanwhile, level up on Cruz's awesome stuff by checking him out on Deviant Art [here] or on his art blog [here].  For Udon Entertainment Corp, go [here].

Abbracadabbling Goes North To STUMPTOWN Sunday; Check Out Some PAUL POPE

So life happened, and our Office trip up the 1-5 to Portland's Stumptown Comics Fest has been postponed until tomorrow. We're bummed we missed Brian Michael Bendis' Teaching Comics presentation - The Dabbler would consider it a privilege and an honor to take the comics writing class  he teaches up North - but there's plenty of other awesome to be found at the 'Fest tomorrow, too.  If you've haven't hit Portland's grand finale to Comic Book Month, get in gear and never fear, because our crew will see you there. 

Meantime, needless for us to say, we won't be on the comicsblog tomorrow; instead, we'll be feasting on all the awesome eye candy 'Fest has to offer -- especially the visual delish served up by the Con's headlining special guest, Paul Pope. 

We've even whipped up a small appetizer of the DJ and artist extraordinaire's pop art masterpieces to show ya what you'll be missing - if for some reason we don't see you there. Geography is no excuse, dabblers; same goes for failing to check some of the hot spots on the world-wide where you can scope even more of Pope's fine art.  Sweet linkages are below...!

Conflict

Steel Jeeg 

SHAKEDOWN

Spider-Man

Batman: Year 100 (overlay)

Batman: Year 100, Issue #1

Paul Pope w/Jose Villarrubia (DC Comics)

We scored our Pope art from the following sites, so check 'em out:  Paul Pope's blog [here]; Hollywood Comics [here]; and Paul Pope's Flickr [here].  Thinking about some new reading material? Paul's Batman: Year 100 would be our recommendation. The story and art rock, dabblers - and even better, you can buy it from us and support your fave comicsblog in the process! Spend that cash here: [Batman Year 100]. 

Move Along, Please. Move Along...

[via]

SAVE THE DATE: Free Comic Book Day Is Just One WEEK Away!

YGI: The LITTLE MERMAID Incident and 22 Comic Covers Fred Wertham Would Love To Hate

Gutters can be dirty places, but every once in a while. all of our minds occasionally tend to drift into them.  Because no matter how filthy they are, our inner kid delights in making messes our outer-adults have to clean up. Even the most restrained parent can't suppress a chuckle when their five-year-old's latest word happens to be the four-letter one they don't understand yet nevertheless chose to scream during the middle of Sunday Mass. 

There's a kid-like thrill adults get when they're being a bit naughty, so for some of that naughtiness to pop up in kid's material made by adults almost seems like a given. It makes sense, and most folks probably deplore the possibility in public while secretly applauding the subversion in private. Disney animation and theme park artists have spawned numerous urban rumors of hiding subliminal sexual images in their work; the most notorious of them all being The Little Mermaid's secret stash of phallic spires.

Surely you've heard the tale: people of all ages began seeing a penis featured prominently in a piece of promotional artwork (above) used for the animated movie, said to be the handiwork of a disgruntled Disney employee. (From his year and a half working for the Mouse,  our  own dear Dabbler will attest there's no short supply of disgruntled Disney employees.)  Apparently, the truth of the story is that the artist - commissioned and not employed by Disney (yeah, right) - completed his masterpiece late at night (makes perfect sense) and didn't even notice his unintentional phallic protrusion until Disney called him on it. After which, of course, the artwork on countless Mermaid VHS covers and promo posters was promptly replaced.

The Little Mermaid incident proves that subliminal perversion does happen. And if it goes down at Disney, it can just as easily happen at DC, Marvel, Archie, or any comics publisher.  Maxim online pulled together an awesomely hilarious collection of 22 comic book covers that can't help but catapult any adult reader's thoughts straight to the nasty.  Probably not too tough a job, but the one they did is pretty bang up.  It definitely made us wonder: are these 4-color snafus the creation of unintentional innocence gone wrong, or are they instead the work of mischievous pranksters?

Wonder Woman #68  (DC Comics)

World's Finest Comics #14  (DC Comics)

Betty & Me #16  (Archie Comics)

Dr. Fred Wertham, the distinguished psychologist who thought comic books, with their hidden social and sexual messages, were bad for kids and who lead the public movement for censorship of comics industry in the late 1940's, would likely mouth an 'I Told You So' if he  had chanced to see the seven covers on the comicsblog today. As luck might have it, only one  -- the soon-to-be skinny dipping Dynamic Duo on the cover of World's Finest #14 published in 1944 - was on the racks during Wertham's reign of terror.   The other covers range from Wonder Woman #68 (1954) to Alf #48 (1992), which coincidentally Marvel canceled just two months later.

Don't get us wrong: if Superman and Batman plan to jump naked into lake full of bare-ass teenage boys, we've got no problem with that - for what else could it be but a portrayal of a simpler, kinder bygone era?  But is Archie Comics Betty & Me #16, published after pop culture met sex, drugs, and rock and roll in 1968, just as simple and innocent? It certainly makes sense that "Beat off," a verb with origins dating back to 1697 and meaning "to drive something away," is something Archie could say to describe his warding off of Betty's other (likely aroused and amorous) suitors. But "beat off" of the masturbation inclination is what we first thought of - and we know you did, too; coincidentally, the two-word term picked up its more vernacular meaning in the mid 1960's.

Double entendre, you say? Never let it be said we comics folk aren't clever little fucks. 

 

Be sure to satiate your graphic imagination by checking out rest of Maxim's naughty but oh-so-funny collection of inappropriate comic book covers [here]! 

DARK HORSE COMICS Schedule @ Stumptown Comics Fest This Weekend

Earlier this month we abbracadabbled on and on about Portland's Stumptown Comics Fest, the unconventional comic book convention that wraps up the city's certified Comic Book Month.   I guess we've been busy blogging or whatnot, because the con weekend's almost here. Stumptown kicks off this Saturday, 24 April, at 10am for a two day affair, bringing along some of comics' best in the process. Can anyone say, 'Paul Pope?'

In the nick of time, Portland's own Dark Horse Comics announced their convention events and professionals' signing schedule today. Check it out below, and visit Dark Horse's homepage [here] for even more Stumptown  fun.

Dark Horse Comics - Schedule of Events - Stumptown Comics Fest

Saturday, April 24th:

12:00pm – 1:00pm -- The Book of Grickle creator Graham Annable 

2:00pm – 3:00pm -- Too Much Coffee Man creator Shannon Wheeler
(The first ten people in line will receive a free copy of Postage Stamp Funnies!)

 3:00pm – 4:00pm -- Creepy and Supersized artist Lukas Ketner
(The first ten people in line will receive a free copy of MySpace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 3!)
4:00pm – 5:00pm -- Portfolio Reviews with Dark Horse Editors

Sunday, April 25th:

12:00pm – 1:00pm -- Star Wars and Supersized artist Ron Chan

(The first twenty-five people in line will receive a free copy of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #42!)
1:00pm – 2:00pm -- Dr. Horrible and Troublemaker artist Joëlle Jones
3:00pm – 4:00pm -- Finder creator Carla Speed McNeil
4:00pm – 5:00pm -- Achewood creator Chris Onstad
5:00pm – 6:00pm -- Portfolio Reviews with Dark Horse Editors

Stumptown Comics Fest  (Click to enlarge)

We'll be in Portland on Saturday, and we hope to see you there. Be sure to come up and say say Hi (especially to Raley - she loves mixin' it up with the dabblers and she'll probably even buy you a drink. She's kind of a drinker...). For more information about the Stumptown Comics festival, please visit stumptowncomics.com

Boy, It's Vintage! V FOR VENDETTA Comic Book Series Ad

The first two-thirds of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta was originally published across the pond as a series of black and white strips that appeared in Britain's Quality Comics' anthology series, Warrior. V was among the most popular of Warrior's inclusions, but Quality canceled the series after its 26th issue, leaving a host of publishers clamoring to complete the dystopian tale of a near-future London. 

Our vintage comics advertisement above appeared inside many DC Comics titles during the first part of 1988. DC had emerged Victorious where V was concerned, and in 1988, began publishing V for Vendetta as a ten-issue limited series.  Printed below the DC 'bullet' as the company's Vertigo line didn't yet exist, the 'new' V reprinted the Warrior  stories in color, then continued the series to completion.  Moore's unpublished third of new material  first appeared in Issue #7.

For a better look at DC Comics' V for Vendetta, click our link or visit [here].

LOST? Find Your Way With These Cool TAROT CARDS

When you think about it, the Tarot and the TV show Lost just seem to go really great together. People have been reading Tarot cards at least as long as Lost's been on the air, and in all that time, most folks still couldn't tell you what either of them means.

Don't get us wrong; J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof are fanboy gods. But Lost just isn't a show that's ever rocked our socks off.  The Tarot, though, is an entirely different story;  even with counting all 72 cards of the Major and Minor Arcana, it's at once simpler and more complex a mystery than Lost could ever be. But the two do mix like Reese's Pieces, and we've gotta give it up for Alex Griendling, an obvious fan of both and the first guy we've come across who's made that connection.

Alex's customized Lost Tarot deck is pretty sweet, and we're loving the colors.  That he managed to find the archetypal in ABC's top-rated series isn't any small feat, either.  Take a walk down the comicsblog to check out a few our favorite cards, then hit the link to jump over to Alex's Flickr where you'll find the rest. Dabblers, your destiny awaits... [link]

(Click any card to enlarge)

IDENTIFY YOUR INNER DORK (Or Geek) (Or Nerd)

If you feel like your going in circles some days, maybe you are -- especially if you've already self-identified with one of our Venn Diagram's three circles.  It's simple enough, but boy oh boy did it explain a lot.  It's as if life, the universe...hell, everything -- became suddenly clear. We've figured out which one we are; how about you? Nerd, Geek, or Dork? This ain't the Census, dabblers -- stick up for your own kind and be counted! Back Issues below...

Star Trek Triology: NIMOY Retires, SHATNER Aspires, and CHRIS PINE Inspires A New 'Jack Ryan'

Unlike his longtime friend and fellow Final Frontier explorer William Shatner, a man who craves and indeed thrives on the bridge of popular attention***, Leonard Nimoy's long-preferred a less direct light. Where Star Trek's Mister Spock was concerned, the spotlight became a brilliance Nimoy once chose to avoid completely.  Even before publishing his 1975 autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy had well-separated himself from the role that made him famous.  


You can read about Nimoy's reconciliation with his Vulcan alter-ego in his 1995 follow-up autobiography, I Am Spock, but despite the amelioration, the actor's preference for the fringe has remained intact since.  In that light, it's poetic irony that Nimoy, who just finished taping his final appearance as William Bell, the chairman of Massive Dynamic on J..J Abrams' Fox television series Fringe, has announced that he is officially retiring from his acting career - for good. 

Fox will be renewing Fringe for a third season, and the second film of Abrams' reimagined Star Trek franchise is currently in the works and set for a summer 2012 release. For the fans who've been wondering if Nimoy, who appeared as Spock in the new Trek last year, would do the same in the sequel, the speculation is over. Nimoy prefers to fully pass his Star Trek heritage on to the 'Science Officer' of the next generation (actor Zachary Quinto) and instead turn his attention to final convention visits and then his hobby, photography.  "I’ve been doing this professionally for 60 years," Nimoy told the Toronto Sun  on Sunday. "I love the idea of going out on a positive note. I’ve had a great, great time."

Much like the man who created the role that's now become his, Chris Pine is today's Captain of the Enterprise and a charismatic actor who adores the bright lights every bit as much as William Shatner.  Last year, Pine took Shatner's iconic Kirk and made it his own when Paramount Pictures rebooted Star Trek; this year, now that Paramount's confirmed plans to reboot another of its franchises, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Pine has been signed to do so again. 

Clancy's character, CIA Analyst Jack Ryan, made his first fictional - and later, cinematic - appearance in The Hunt for Red October, published in 1984. The movie adaptation came six years later, with Alec Baldwin playing Ryan.  Harrison Ford took over for the next two films, succeeded by Ben Affleck in the 2002 movie, The Sum of All Fears.  Four actors and eight years later, Pine is set to assume control in Moscow, the first film in the franchise not directly based on any previous Clancy novel.

Moscow explores the untold chapter of Ryan's life following Red October to before he became an analyst for the CIA. According to Clancy's back story for the character, Ryan was a stockbroker working for Merill Lynch.  Moscow will find Pine's Ryan embroiled in a global financial meltdown.

Since we've been following a very subtle Star Trek theme with today's comicsblog, we figured there couldn't be any better time than the present to give y'all an anatomy lesson. Nope, we're not posting naked pics of Channing Tatum - we'd get ourselves into all kinds of trouble. The only kind of trouble we don't have a problem with is of the Tribble kind.

Tribbles, of course, made their first television appearance on 'The Trouble with Tribbles' episode of the original Star Trek, back in 1968.  Unquestionably real yet barely seen, these little balls of joy are more than simply balls of fur.  Aside from being able to annoy Klingons with their high-pitched twitters, Tribbles have other internal organs that human scientists are just beginning to chart, study, and understand. 

Buzzfeed just made public the first scientifically valid and anatomically correct chart of a Tribble -- at least, it's the first we've ever seen. Crude, but explaining so much, it's good to see modern medicine and today's technology catch up to Star Trek yet again.  First the iPad and now this...2010 is turning out to be quite a year.

[Source]

*** Shatner's love of the limelight was recently validated in an unofficial poll  conducted by the Canadian news site TheMarkNews.com. The site, building on momentum generated by a 10,000 strong Facebook  fan page that has identified Shatner as their candidate in Canada's  Governor General election this year, ran the former 'Captain' against the current twelve hopefuls for the office. In the final results announced earlier today, Shatner received 43% of the vote, while Rick Hansen, the country's leading political candidate, came in a distant second with just 11%.