Zadzooks 2009 gift guide

Zadzooks: 2009 Gift Guide
By Joseph Szadkowski
Washington Times December 17 2009

More SHOCs - Batmania and Japanese anime in 1966

I went through a couple more fragments of 1966 Detroit Free Press newspapers today.

One of the big stories was apparently the Batman tv show - this illustrated an article on Batmania:


Things don't appear to have changed much in 40 years, do they? It's by Thurston, who also did one of the Odd 'Change comics in yesterday's post.


I'm guessing that DC wasn't paid for this use...


And this wire photo of a Japanese anime character surprised me. I had to go Wikipedia to find out this was Obake no Qtarō (or Oba-Q as in the caption here). From February 28, 1966.

OT: Batmobile replica for charity auction for Africa

I was asked to post about this, and it seems like a good cause. However, you will not see this under the "Mike's new acquisitions" heading.

A working replica of the 1960s Batmobile is being auctioned for The Life Project For Africa, Giving Hope To The Poor.  The replica has 705 hp 514 cu in Stroker motor with Billett alum parts, flame thrower, custom transmission, adjustable air suspension, Pioneer AZIC 3 Navigation system, and much more. 

You can view the detailed information and bid on the Batmobile here: http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/106401

 

Zadzooks likes new Batman videogame

See "Zadzooks: Batman: Arkham Asylum review," Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times September 5, 2009 in which he concludes "Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best licensed comic-book video game ever made. Read that and weep, my friends, as it will take a lot for me ever to write that again."

LEGO Brickfest 2009 continued

Kids - don't buy ice cream from Uncle Joker's trucks. Presumably this came with a specialty Batman set when the movies were released.

Batman at the Renwick

Herschel K writes in "As part of the exhibit Staged Stories: Renwick Craft Invitational 2009, at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery August 7 to January 3rd, 2010 there are a number of Batman items by fiber artist Mark Newport."

Sounds interesting - the Renwick is a gem of a museum too.

Zadzooks on comics, this week

Zadzooks: Comic book reviews, Batman, Aliens and more
Magneto's origins revealed
By Joseph Szadkowski
Washington Times July 1, 2009

Comic characters at last week's Patent and Trademark Expo

Dennis the Menace was on hand to greet us.


And so was Betty Boop - hubba, hubba. Art Rhode, Betty Boop, Mike Rhode. Boop looks good for a 79-year old.

The International Trademark Association had a table to inform you how to be sure of your superhero paraphernalia's status.


Batman counterfeit on right, and true merchandise on left at the Patent and Trademark Expo.


Dastardly Tweety Bird counterfeit on left, and true merchandise on right at the Patent and Trademark Expo.


Superman and Harry Potter counterfeits on left, and true merchandise on right at the Patent and Trademark Expo.


And don't be making your own Mickey Mouse ears - they're trademarked!


Dennis the Menace plays football. He actually caught the ball.

Batcave Companion interview with Kronenberg

Their publisher has a podcast interview with the two authors - "TwoMorrows Tune-In #19: Michael Eury and Michael Kronenberg (The Batcave Companion)," April 1 2009. The direct link is http://twomorrows.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/19_rt_me_mk_090401.mp3

Another Batcave Companion interview

See "Batman in the '60s & '70s: 'The Batcave Companion'," By Zack Smith, Newsarama 20 March 2009.

Kronenberg interview on Batcave Companion

Here's another interview with the former DC-ite, and now telecommuter, Michael Kronenberg on his new book:

Sheriff, Amanda. 2009.
Inside The Batcave Companion.
Scoop (March 6): http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=265&ai=80649

New Batman book written by local DC guy Kronenberg

In "HOLY INFO! EURY & KRONENBERG BATMAN COMPANION," by Jennifer M. Contino, Comicon's The Pulse February 24 2009, the interview with the two writers ends with "MICHAEL KRONENBERG: I’m primarily a graphic designer. I just wrapped up the designs for Batcave Companion and Hopalong Cassiday: An American Legend for Russ Cochran. I’m currently designing Grailpages: Original Comic Art and the Collectors for TwoMorrows publishing. I’m also the ongoing designer for the EC Archives, Twomorrows’ Rough Stuff magazine, and I’m Michael’s cover designer for Back Issue. Like Michael, I do have a day job; I’m the art director for a large environmental firm in Washington, DC." Another unsuspected local comics laborer revealed! Check out the whole interview for more details on the book - I like most of TwoMorrows productions because they're so obviously labors of love.

Dark Knight story in Post a few days ago

THE BACK STORY: A 'Dark' Day When His Business Was Booming, Washington Post (February 22, 2009): M8, is about the movie's special effects.

Comics Articles in Today's Free Papers UPDATED

And there's an online-only Aqua Teen Hunger Force bit at the Express today - "Hunger Forced: 5 Ridiculous Moments From 'Aqua Teen's' Shake."

Porter, Christopher. 2008.
Noisy, brutal genius: The second season of 'Metalocalypse' is a hilarious headbanger.
[Washington Post] Express (December 23): 17

Greenberg, Rudi. 2008.
Just keeps getting quirkier: The sixth volume of 'Aqua Teen' is as whacked as ever.
[Washington Post] Express (December 23): 15

Associated Press. 2008.
Batman and Japan: In a new book, perfect together.
Washington Examiner (December 23); 18

Punisher and Bat movie bits from today's papers

Unsurprisingly, nobody appears to fond of the Punisher: War Zone movie. I must confess that I don't understand the popularity of the character, but I'm sure it ties into a thread that runs through the Shadow to Dirty Harry to the Mack Bolan novels and then into the comics. Anyway, here's some articles.

"A Comic-Book Avenger Strikes," By A. O. SCOTT, New York Times December 5, 2008.

"A Glut of Punishment," Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Friday, December 5, 2008; Page WE28.

"DVD's Lack Of Ledger May Leave Fans Cold," By Jen Chaney, Washington Post Friday, December 5, 2008; Page WE32 on "The Dark Knight" Batman movie.

And surprisingly enough, New Yorker and New York Times (Science section, on Tuesdays) cartoonist Victoria Roberts did the cover of the Post's Weekend section. No pic online that I see.

Zadzooks reviews

"ZADZOOKS: Comic book reviews of Dear Dracula and The Joker; Boy seeks Dracula's assistance," Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Thursday, November 13, 2008.

Joker pumpkin pattern

Yesterday's USA Weekend, distributed in the Examiner, had this in it: Download The Joker stencil for your pumpkin carving, USA WEEKEND October 19 2008. The stencil looks rather hard actually...

Zadzooks on Batman Lego and Bennett's Best

Okay, I can understand the appeal of making your own stop-action animation film using LEGO Batman toys. But a videogame? Can anyone explain this to me? Zadzooks reviews it anyway in "ZADZOOKS: Dynamic Duo must save city in LEGO Batman: The Videogame," Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

And in "Bennett's Best for the week of October 5," By Greg Bennett, Zadzooks blog October 15 2008, Greg recommends DC apes and UK World War 1 stories.

Comic bits in the NY Times

There are two good pieces in today's NY Times. Superhero fan Lethem returns from media purgatory in Maine and maps The Dark Knight onto American Politics in - "Art of Darkness," By JONATHAN LETHEM, New York Times September 21, 2008.

In a story that ties in locally, the Muppets are featured in the paper (much as they are in the Smithsonian for another month) in
"Fuzzy Renaissance," By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times September 21, 2008. I'm sure Barnes' story about Disney attempting to rejuvenate the characters is tied into the traveling exhibit - many of the video clips on the Times' website are the same ones running in the Smithsonian exhibit - and we're talking fifty year old commercials.

NY Times on Frank Miller's latest

In "Arts, Briefly: A Superhero Glitch," By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES, New York Times September 12, 2008, he reports that DC has called for the destruction of shipped issues of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #10 due to language. Black bars were printed over top of Batgirl's profanity. Gustines says, "Unlike other series that are aimed at an older readership, this Batman title does not have a “Suggested for Mature Readers” label," but given the copy that I saw, DC wouldn't have published some of these words in any of their lines. This also begs the question of 'why letter them in, if you're going to suppress them?' It's not like they appear magically - somebody has to put them there and then sanitize them.

I rail against censorship in the comic strips in this blog, but there's only one word for Miller's writing here. Ridiculous.