1/29/11

Zatanna the Magician in: Kill or be Killed!

In honor of The Other Side's newest feature: 'Zatannurday' - a weekly celebration of all things Zatanna, (inspired in part by yours truly's weekly Harley Qwednesday) I am posting in it's entirety this great little seven page Zatanna back-up story by Len Wein and Gray Morrow entitled Kill -- or be Killed!








Pretty cool story for just a seven page back-up! And even Zatara makes an appearance. Great art by Gray Morrow too!

I found this story in the back of Adventure Comics 415, cover dated Feb. 1972. A fun Supergirl comic I picked up at the swap meet for cheap!


Because, damn, if that ain't the type of cover that makes you want to buy the book, I don't know what is!

Keep your eyes on The Other Side every Zatannurday for more from the world's greatest (or at least the world's hottest-in-fishnets) magician!

1/27/11

Comic Book Zen :: Fanatic-Stopping Fashion Sense


From Adventure Comics #415 Feb. 1972

$2.99! Cheap(er!)


From DC Comics:


"Beginning January 2011, DC Comics will implement a line-wide pricing adjustment, lowering the prices of all standard length 32-page ongoing comic book titles currently priced at $3.99 to $2.99.

"This announcement reaffirms DC Comics' commitment to both our core fans and to comic book store retailers," said Jim Lee, DC Comics Co-Publisher. "For the long term health of the industry, we are willing to take a financial risk so that readers who love our medium do not abandon the art form."

"As Co-Publishers, we listened to our fans and to our partners in the retail community who told us that a $3.99 price point for 32 pages was too expensive. Fans were becoming increasingly reluctant to sample new titles and long term fans were beginning to abandon titles and characters that they'd collected for years," said Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publisher. "We needed a progressive pricing strategy that supports our existing business model and, more importantly, allows this creative industry to thrive for years to come. With the exceptions of oversized comic books, like annuals and specials, we are committed to a $2.99 price point."

On a personal note, I stopped buying new comics completely a couple months ago. the expense was just not worth it even though I was enjoying a lot of the stories and artwork. Just like with toys, it's very hard for me to justify spending so much money on something that five minutes later isn't worth the paper it is printed on, especially when I can go to the swap meet and get handfuls of great older comics or collected volumes for dirt cheap. (Tune in Saturday to see an example.)

That being said, I applaud this price drop (even though it means a content drop as well - a couple art/story pages will be replaced by a returning letters column, which in itself is kind of a cool thing) as a good move if DC Comics want to remain viable in this ever increasingly cautious economy.

1/26/11

Harley Qwednesday :: "Screw Spider-Man - I wanna new costume too!"

I recently discovered this new blog called 'Superhero of the Month.' Each month they invite folks to redesign a superhero's famous costume. This month they are calling for redesigns of our favorite girl in black (and red) Harley Quinn!


I of course submitted my favorite personal Harley Quinn redesign, Harley as I envision she would look were she to appear in the current Nolanverse of the silver screen:

So keep your eyes on Superhero of the Month all month to see my awesome submission as well as some others that are probably equally neato. Because you can never have too much Harley Quinn!

1/25/11

Thunder Thunder Thundercats Hooooo-hum.

Well here it is kids, your first look at the all new Thundercats from the upcoming new cartoon, slated to air some time this year (2011) on Cartoon network.

Not perfect, but not too bad I guess. We'll just have to see how it plays out on screen.

I loved the original Thundercats cartoon back in the day, and I'll give this one a shot. Although the original Cheetarah was way sexier. Hopefully some cool toys are released too.

via MTV Geek.

1/24/11

Green (Hornet) with Envy

I try to avoid paying too close attention to fast food toys, because inevitably I find out something awesome is available and then become a little too neurotic about getting them, which in turn has me questioning my sanity as well as my claim to the label 'adult' as I go into every restaurant from Santa Cruz to Santa Maria for weeks looking for some cheap toy meant to market a movie or cartoon to five year olds as they consume french fries and coca-cola.

But thanks to Jay over at The Sexy Armpit, I discovered that Carl's Jr. was selling some pretty righteous looking Green Hornet toys. Ironic, because there are no Carl's Jr.s in New Jersey. There are however tons of them here in California.

Green Hornet is a superhero I dig and a new movie I enjoyed, and it isn't a property that has been heavily marketed in toy form in my time, so of course I had to have those toys!

Now here's where I brag and show off a little. You see, I wasn't able to get all the toys myself. I tried my local Carl's Jr. but they only had Black Beauty. A little pull-back number that of course I bought.

So I mentioned my failure to procure the entire set in passing to the girl I had seen the Green Hornet movie with. A gorgeous redhead who was not quite yet my girlfriend. Just a funny little 'yes I'm a toy dork and to prove it I tried to buy fast food toys, but I didn't get them all, oh well whadyagonnado' type story.

So what does she do? Completely unprompted and of her own volition, she finds a Carl's Jr. when in a town a few miles away and buys all the rest of the toys for me! And does so right before another toy dork walks in trying to buy two complete sets. That guy was sniped and had to walk out without a second Kato! Hahahaa!

Yeah, she's my girlfriend now.

Okay, back to the toys:

Aw yeah Kato and Green Hornet action figures! These guys are actually pretty great.

Simple enough to not be a Seth Rogen action figure, (because good god who would want one of those?) Green Hornet is a pretty sweet fedora-and-suit clad pulp hero figure.

And his chauffer/sidekick Kato looks dapper in his motoring cap.

Finally, the series included this Green Hornet mask! This was originally the one piece I was most excited about, but the rest of the toys turned out to be pretty cool as well. Not bad for toys of a relatively obscure character from a movie with the potential to be a huge flop sold at a fast food restaurant that is only found in the western US! And take heed, toy nerds; because if I can put that stupid thing on my face and still get the girl, there is hope for all of you.

Oh yeah, before I knew about the kids meal toys, I did buy this Black Beauty keychain from Carl's Jr. a month or so ago. Because a Chrysler Imperial with machine guns on the front fenders is always a cool thing.

1/22/11

Great Horneytoads!

I've discovered that when it comes to my local swap meet finds, the old addage 'when it rains it pours' often describes my finds well.

Having not picked up a Godzilla toy in ages, my last trip yielded a Bandai Mechagodzilla, and today's trip yielded this big Dor Mei 'Godzilla' knockoff from 1986.

This guy is about a foot and a half tall. Nice and massive!

My daughter wanted me to take a pic of him holding someone, and handed me Star Sapphire. :)

1/21/11

La Mujer Murcielago (The Bat Woman) - with subtitles!

I just discovered that someone recently uploaded the entire film La Mujer Murcielago (The Bat-Woman) on to Youtube. If you haven't seen it, La Mujer Murcielago is a 1968 Luchador movie about a female wrestler (La Mujer Murcielago, natch) who fights crime as, well, La Mujer Murcielago.

Whatever. It has scenes like this:  

And this:

So what's not to love?

I've seen La Mujer Murcielago before, but not with subtitles. Will I enjoy it more now that I can understand what they are saying? Doubt it. Everything I love about this film has nothing to do with the dialog. But I'll watch it again anyways. And you should too!




Buy stuff by me at Zazzle!

1/20/11

Long in the Tooth

Alright. I'm sure everyone knows all about the famed Blue Snaggletooth. The original and short run release of the Star Wars Cantina patron, inaccurately made as tall as your standard Star Wars figure and clad in blue with silver boots. Long time Toyriffic readers will also remember the sound trouncing I gave Reis to win this Blue Snaggletooth from the legendary Darius Whiteplume. (I told you I'd never let you live it down, Reis ;) )

But I haven't taken pics of Blue Snaggy with his commonly released short, red clad twin. Until now.

Snaggletooth was one of my favorite action figures when I was a kid. His odd look, bare feet and miniature stature made for a standout alien in all Star Wars battles. I didn't even know about the existence of the Blue Snaggletooth until many years after my childhood obsession with Star Wars toys had faded, but I am still overjoyed to have one in my collection. These guys are super fun to see side by side, and there's just something about holding and posing an original Star Wars action figure that brings back floods of memories. They even have a unique smell to them that reminds me of opening a new action figure on Christmas morning.

Good times.

1/19/11

Breaking (the Bat) News!

The internet is all a buzz and I am all a tingle at the latest Batman: The Dark Knight Rises news.

Warner Bros. has confirmed Anne Hathaway will play Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) and Tom Hardy has been confirmed as BANE!

NERDGASM!

Okay, I saw Catwoman coming a mile away, and I am ambivalent about Hathaway, having never seen her in anything.


However I DID NOT see Bane coming and would have probably put him way down at the bottom of any list as a contender. Wow!

I've love Bane in comic book form since his first appearance in Vengeance of Bane, and really loved his portrayal in Batman: The Animated Series. The idea of a Nolanverse Bane has me feeling all tingly inside.

And if the new movie can touch upon the Batman: Venom story arc, that'd be superb!  Venom is one of the best Batman stories in modern times. If you haven't read it, you should do so now!

Harley Qwednesday :: Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em

A girl's gotta' accessorize!

From Flickr

1/17/11

New Pomplamoose Song - Achin Heart

Woohoo, Pomplamoose just released a new song called Achin' Heart via their PomplamooseMusic YouTube channel.

I am as happy as a little girl!



Now is the time on Toyriffic when we dance!

1/15/11

You Mecha Me Crazy

I haven't picked up or blogged about a Godzilla toy in a long time, having pretty much gotten all of my must have characters some time ago, including the most iconic look in my mind (1968 Godzilla) and Godzilla's first appearance (1954 Godzilla)

But one important Godzilla that I have really wanted and have never gotten around to picking up is the classic 1974 version of MechaGodzilla. That is until now!

This is the 6.5" Bandai MechaGodzilla released in 2009, and is probably still available in stores.

What can I say about this guy other than he is so insanely cool looking. A super fun design and accurate to his original film appearance. No Godzilla collection is complete without him, and I am stoked I finally got him into mine.

"Shall we dahnce?"

1/12/11

Harley Custom Qwednesday

People send me some of the coolest images for Harley Qwednesday. These custom dolls were made by a fellow named James Stevens, who used Bratz dolls to create a Gotham Sirens themed trio!

First up is our beloved woman of the hour Harley Quinn in a jack-in-the-box. Too cool!

Joining Harley on her misadventures is Poison Ivy.

And although this is Harley Qwednesday, I have to admit my favorite of the bunch is this Batman Returns Catwoman - there's just something about the simplicity of the design, and of course that wild hairdo depicting the last few scenes between Catwoman and Max Shreck.

Cool custom dollies, James! Thanks for sharing!

Happy Harley Qwednesday everybody!

1/11/11

Avengers vs. GI Joe


I am loving the new cartoon series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. After decades of being in the shadow of DC, finally Marvel does an animated series right. Avengers takes all that was great about Justice League Unlimited in terms of scope and story, but of course is rocking the Marvel Universe. And like JLU, Avengers packs tons and tons of superheroes and villains into almost every episode. The comic book eye candy alone is worth the price of admission.

I am more of a DC guy than a Marvel guy, so a lot of the subordinate characters are either new to me or I'm only barely aware of, which is a fun change of pace since my DC knowledge is pretty encyclopedic.

But beyond the Marvel Universe, the recent episode 'Gammaworld Part 2' featured a cameo I did recognize and was surprised as hell to see:

Piloting a helicopter and attempting to subdue the Hulk is none other than Wild Bill of GI Joe fame!

Okay so he never says 'Hi, I'm Wild Bill of GI Joe fame. Now you know...and knowing is half the battle!' but if that ain't Wild Bill I'll eat his hat!

Stuff like this makes me all giddy inside. Thank you to whomever was involved in bringing this little Easter Egg to the Avengers cartoon.

And if you haven't already seen them or need to watch again to catch Wild Bill's cameo, you can watch parts one and two of Gammaworld at Marvel.com