New Year's Eve

Happy New Year, everyone!

For no good reason whatsoever, here's a picture of a smoking kid and his rooster:

We'd like to take this moment to thank all of you for the great year, and to thank you for your continued support. It is greatly appreciated. We have some interesting things planned for 2008 (including our 20th Anniversary in February), so keep your eyes peeled!

Thanks again, and see you all next year!

A Reminder

THIS WEEK'S COMICS WILL NOT BE IN UNTIL FRIDAY!


That is all.

Last minute RIPOVS update!

Comix Connection's house band THE RIPOVS is playing tonight in Harrisburg at Smalls!

Tell Mikey that Bill sent ya!

Josh Middleton is just plain amazing

Check this out:



And click HERE to see more art by Josh on a project that just never came about... too bad, that.

CLICK HERE to go to Josh Middleton's webpage... it's packed with his wonderful artwork.

How Many Five Year Olds Can You Take In A Fight?

Take the quiz!

How many five-year-old can you take in a fight?

23

I can take 23! I'm not sure if that's good or bad. How morally reprehensible are you? What did you score?

REED! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Today all I have to offer is this clip from the incredibly craptacular 1994 FANTASTIC FOUR movie... behold the agony of Ben Grimm - this man, this MONSTER:



You're welcome.

The Greatest Christmas Song Ever

This has been my annual favorite ever since I found the album NATIONAL LAMPOONS'S GREATEST HITS in a record store 25 years ago. Behold:

KUNG FU CHRISTMAS, a hilarious Motown soul parody song from the National Lampoon Radio Hour in 1974, written by Paul Shaffer (of Letterman fame) and Christopher Guest.

Check out the song list from the Nat Lamp Greatest Hits album (it's all good) and also check out the performers:

Tony Hendra, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray,and John Belushi.

Any of those sound familiar to you?

(Oh, and Tony Hendra's John Lennon singing Magical Misery Tour is also an all-time great comedy recording, which is made entirely of words John Lennon actually spoke in a Rolling Stone interview around 1970. If you ask, I will send you a link to the song... it's way too foul-mouthed for this nice, family-friendly 'blog.)

Anyway, it's a little bit late but you can still have a Kung Fu Christmas!

If you live in York

You've heard this:



The New York Wire Company has a steam-powered organ that blasts an unearthly sound that resonates for miles.

It's part of what I like about Christmas in York, PA...

Merry Christmas, everyone and thanks for making us Central Pennsylvania's Ultra-Hip Pop-Culture Mecca.

That Festive Holiday Spirit

is incomplete without this gem from The Ramones:



Merry Christmas, I Don't Want to Fight Tonight!

This one's pretty fun too, but the video is lackluster, so just listen to the lyrics, all you singles out there!



Happy Holidays!

angels sang out in immaculate chorus/down from the heavens descended Chuck Norris

Christian Yother sent me this link to the awesome flash-animated music video:

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

The lyrics can be found HERE.

That is too cool... thanks, Christian!

Chuck can't handle "The Truth..."!

Carlos Ray Norris, codenamed "Chuck Norris" has recently made U.S. headlines for backing Republican presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, but now he's in the news again due to a lawsuit he's bringing against Ian Spector for his little book Penguin published in November called "The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human". Author Ian Spector and two Web sites he runs to promote the book are also named in the suit.

The book which Norris initially endorsed, "capitalizes on "mythical facts" that have been circulating on the Internet since 2005 that poke fun at Norris' tough-guy image and super-human abilities," the suit said.

It includes such humorous "facts" as:

"Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried"

"Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits."

"Chuck Norris can charge a cell phone by rubbing it against his beard."

...and a number of claims I probably shouldn't post here due to content!

Norris' attorney is concerned that "some of the 'facts' in the book are racist, lewd or portray Mr. Norris as engaged in illegal activities". Norris, star of such films as "The Delta Force" and "Missing in Action," says the book's title would mislead readers into thinking the facts were true.

The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks unspecified monetary damages for trademark infringement, unjust enrichment and privacy rights.

So I guess I know why the book is no longer available for reorders!

Hellboy II Trailer hits the web!

I know everyone is all a buzz about the Dark Knight trailer, but I think I'm actually more excited about this sequel next year.

Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW!

Kick it up a notch this holiday season

With the new atomic gastronomic belly bombThe Goosduckmallardguineafowlchickwoodpheaspartridgeon!

Yeesh. That's a little much. Like eating the entire FLOCK! An entire SPECIES!

Let's call in a pizza instead.

Ebay auction hijinks!

Check THIS AUCTION out.

Who knew?

The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

Dark Knight trailer!

Click HERE!

I must say, that looks pretty darn tasty!

And a tip o' the hat to Brian Linnen for the link! Thanks, Brian. Now go back to bed so you can get over that pneumonia.

You never write, George

Check this out: 30 Years of LucasFilm Christmas Cards!

Man, I never get a card from Lucas. And after all I did for him. I saw STAR WARS three times!

Baby It's Cold Outside

A great song for a cold winter night... give it a listen.

Thanks to amthcaictm!

The Weekend Comics Chat Open Thread - the Catching Up On The Mending On A Dreary December Day Edition

So what did you read this week? Do you guys read ANYTHING? Do tell.

Oh, and a reminder:

HOLIDAY SHIPPING CHANGES!

WEEK OF DECEMBER 24th

* On Christmas week the comics ship on FRIDAY DECEMBER 28th!

WEEK OF DECEMBER 31st

* On New Year's Eve week the comics ship on FRIDAY JANUARY 4th!

Thanks!

Useless Timewaster #865

A while back, avid reader Tom Hayes sent me THIS LINK to a fun quiz... WHICH SUPERHERO ARE YOU?

I, apparently, am IRON MAN!

Well, I knew I was a jerk, but I didn't think I was a BIG FAT JERKY McJERKENHEIMER.

Our American heritage

While perusing the American Heritage website I ran across this cool article on the rise of early comic strips and illustrations:

A Revolution in the Funnies
By Christine Gibson

Katzenjammer Kids? They can't hold a candle to Max und Moritz!

German kid's stories are SCARY!

See also: Der Struwwelpeter!


And, yes, I had these read to me as a child... which may explain some things.

Fantastic Tenniel Website

I ran across THIS AMAZING WEBSITE that features cartoonist John Tenniel's political cartoons during the American Civil war that appeared in England's PUNCH magazine.


You may know John Tenniel as the artist of the original illustrated ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 1865, but this website offers up a complete recounting of Tenniel's work from 1861-1865. It's an interesting look at how Civil War events were viewed from across the Atlantic... give it a look.

Is anyone else as old as me?

Remember this?



Click HERE and HERE and mostly for fun HERE for all your Commodore-64 (and Commodore-128!) goodness. I remember when Ned loaded some game with his CASSETTE DRIVE that took forever and looked like crap. And if it didn't load properly the first time, it took another 20 minutes to try again. Is RUNSTOP magazine still around?

Happy 25th, Commodore-64!

PS: I really like THIS even though it's Apple. It's an amazing example of using 1980s "state of the art" programming technology, that now looks incredibly primitive and dated... here's Jed's Other Poem.

Bat-Hype, or how to get Press attention

Jeremy Runkle sent me THIS LINK... Devin Faraci of CHUD.com recently had a JOKER cake delivered to him, all to build hype for The Dark Knight movie. Go check it out it.

The Weekend Comics Chat Open Thread - the Robert Smith reads BEANO Edition

So what did you read this week?

(TRUE FACT: When I was in fifth grade, I bought a big stack of DANDYs and BEANOs at the Sunset Lane Elementary's May Festival from a local family who had moved to York from England. They were awesome and a completely different kind of comic than the familiar American ones I was used to. The next year the neighbor lady suggested I re-donate them back to the May Festival, which I reluctantly did. I've regretted that decision ever since.)

Sock Monkey visits Park Hills Elementary School in Hanover

Check this out! Tony Millionaire's SOCK MONKEY visited Elementary Librarian Shannon Resh and the students at Park Hills Elementary School in Hanover, Pennsylvania recently. The school library has an excellent graphic novel selection that is very popular with kids of all grades. Sock Monkey likes to travel around the country visiting libraries, and will come to YOUR library if invited! That is one well-traveled monkey! CLICK HERE to see all the pictures of Sock Monkey's journeys (the Park Hills Elementary photos start about 14 pictures down.)

And of course all of Tony Millionaire's books are available at Comix Connection!

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM


That is all.

No need to give this guy a big hand

Kent French is the fastest clapper in the world! He's been clocked at 721 claps per minute, or a little over 12 claps per second. Don't believe me? CLICK HERE and watch!

And HERE'S Kent French's website, where I found the following Kent French talents:

Kent can call wild prairie dogs out of their burrows by whistling the theme to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

Kent spins rocks on thin lake ice, which if done properly, resonates an eerie echo under the water and creates a humpback whale-like sound that carries above the surface of the ice.

Oooookay.

I'm just hoping he uses his awesome powers for GOOD.

A Cool Ebay item

My friend Phill sent me THIS LINK to a cool auction currently on Ebay.

Behold:

Description

This is a Very Rare 1944 WWII V-Mail letter. This wonderful old piece has a Great, Vintage design, was sent by US Army Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark to True Comics editor Harold C. Field, comes in it's Original frame, measures approx. 13" x 15", has Great, Golden Age Comic Book content, is a Real piece of Early Comic history and would be a wonderful addition to any collection. In the letter, Clark thanks Field for sending him some comics that he will give to his children and remarks on an issue of True Comics that featured Clark, "I am afraid you have built me up into too much of a glamorous soldier". This letter appears to be in Nice, Crisp condition and displays MUCH better than the picture shows.

more TRUE COMICS info here

and more General Mark Clark info here and HERE

A very cool bit of comics history...

The Colonel takes it to a completely different level

Gaze in amazement at an entire new paradigm in beverage consumption:

THE HALF GALLON BUCKET, or
"THE BLOATER"

(That's me standing beside it.)

Available at KFC, surely this gargantuan drum of beverage will satisfy the needs of even the most demanding of sugary liquid consumer! That's a whopping 64 ounces or well over 1750 ml! Thats more than five cans of soda in one handy drink pail. I love this country!

I first ran across this on my most recent trip home from Florida. I almost cried with joy when my sweetie brought it out to the car, filled with iced tea. Subsequently, I must've seen every single rest stop in the great state of South Carolina...

This one's for amthcaictm.

Batgirl snapshots

Longtime comic fan Steve Sagar of York passed along these great shots of his new acquisition: a 13" BATGIRL action figure!




Very cool! Thanks Steve! And if any of you readers want to send me your photos, please do!

The Weekend Comics Chat Open Thread - the We Are Not Amused Edition

So what did you read that was good this week?


I read DAN DARE #1, from Virgin Comics, written by Garth Ennis with art by Gary Erskine.

Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is a well-loved iconic character to British readers. Springing from EAGLE (a weekly British comic strip magazine) in 1950, Dan Dare has thrilled readers over the years with his space-faring exploits. This latest incarnation will perhaps introduce American readers to this classic character... and with Garth Ennis at the helm, I'm sure it'll be quite a ride. This first issue is a great introduction to the character and his backstory, and casts you forward into the return of Dan Dare. A great start, and I'll be back for more.

How about it? Anything to report?