• March 2026
    S M T W T F S
    1234567
    891011121314
    15161718192021
    22232425262728
    293031  

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

TMNT Action Figures 2012: Clip and Collect Profiles

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Walt

The new TMNT figures based on the 2012 Nickelodeon animated series are out…and after scouring local Toys R Us and Target stores, I’ve managed to snag the entire first wave of basic figures. Here are the profiles from the back of the cards:

Profile(Leonardo)

Profile(Donatello)

Profile(Raphael)

Profile(Michelangelo)

Continue reading →

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT Action Figures 2012: The Bad Guys

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Walt

The new TMNT figures based on the 2012 Nickelodeon animated series are out…and after scouring local Toys R Us and Target stores, I’ve managed to snag the entire first wave of basic figures. Here are the bad guys:

TMNTfigures(Shredder)

TMNTfigures(FootNinja)

TMNTfigures(Kraang)

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT Action Figures 2012: The Good Guys

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Walt

The new TMNT figures based on the 2012 Nickelodeon animated series are out…and after scouring local Toys R Us and Target stores, I’ve managed to snag the entire first wave of basic figures. Here are the good guys:

TMNTfigures(Leonardo)

TMNTfigures(Donatello)

Continue reading →

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

New TMNT figures are out!

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Walt

donatellocloseupinpackageFor the last few weeks, I’ve been walking a couple extra aisles in Walmart and Target, keeping an eye out for a lot of green. Ninja Turtles green.

My logic’s been that surely the new toy line would be out AHEAD of the new animated series (which I believe premieres end of September). Unfortunately, not a sign of TMNT stuff.

Yesterday I did a Google search to see if there was any easily (read: “quickly”) accessible information about when the new toys would be out, and I found primarily references to Toys R Us.

donatellobackinpackageFast-forward several hours, and I was headed to a local mall to see if the comic shop there had a couple comics I’d decided I was actually interested in buying…and recalled 1. there’s a Toys R Us and 2. what I’d read about TRU having the TMNT figures already.

So…I decided to swing by the TRU first on the chance they’d have the figures, and that they’d be the familiar $5.99 or so that I’ve seen Power Rangers and Batman: Dark Knight Rises figures priced at.

donatellofrontinpackageWell, they had the figures, but they’re priced like the Marvel 3.75″ figures at $9 ($8.9x anyway).

This Toys R Us had one Donatello, one Foot Soldier, several Kraang, several Splinter, and one April O’Neil. Had they had all 4 turtles, I would have bought Leonardo or Raphael. But, with only one turtle available, I bought Donatello (and I sincerely hope April does not become a “chase”-type figure like with the vintage 1980s line).

Not enthused at the pricing…but it’s TMNT. My weakness.

I have mixed feelings on the packaging…but that also ties to my feelings on the new theme song, both of which I’ll hopefully address in another post in the near future. (In short–there’s a certain retro/homage element I like).

donatelloprofilefrombackofpackage

tmntfirstwavefigures

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Booking Through Thursday: Periodically

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Walt

btt buttonSo other than books … what periodicals do you read? Magazines? Newspapers? Newsletters? Journals?

Do you subscribe? Or do you buy them on the newsstand when they look interesting?

btt20120705aIt’s been quite awhile since I’ve had any real patience for a magazine. Used to be (back in the ’90s and early 2000s) I’d fairly regularly read Wizard (self-billed “The Guide to Comics”). But Wizard ceased print publication a couple years ago, and I’ve never gotten into any of the other comics-related publications. The closest to a replacement for me, for present, may be Bleeding Cool, which had a preview issue recently and begins official sequential publication later this year.

(There’s also “the Comic-Con issue” of something I’m blanking on at present…yet I’ve come to be quite disgusted at what the [San Diego] Comic Con has become and try to mostly avoid the hype).

btt20120705bNewspapers I also rarely read–I’ll flip through the paper at my parents’ when I visit, but overall that’s really my only exposure these days TO a newspaper. For the most part I tend to get my news from the radio, Facebook, and Twitter.

I can’t remember the last time I saw an actual newsletter.

And it’s been years since seeking a journal…half a decade, probably; not since grad school.

But we’re talking “periodicals,” and the list in the prompt neglects the most obvious response from me:

Comic books.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Falling for Digital Comics

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Walt

comixologyatomicrobo001It’s taken me awhile, but I do believe I’ve largely “come around” to a certain acceptance of digital comics. I have not wholly EMBRACED digital, but I’ve come to see some definite perks to “going digital.”

A few months ago, I decided to try the nook app on my phone for reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and found that I loved being able to read prose on my phone. Rather than lugging around this large hardback, I could simply read from my phone’s screen, and since I always carry my phone, I’d always have my book on-hand as well without having to adjust for (physical) space.

dccomixologyappbatwingComics have been a much different thing for me, given the tiny size of this phone’s screen. So I’ve been resistant, occasionally downloading a freebie “just to have it” on the phone, but never purchasing any comics. I did purchase several issues of Batwing digitally, to try out the format, though I’m almost certain as of this typing that I’ve yet to read beyond #2 and quit buying after #7 (hey, once I catch up on the reading, the later issues’ll still be there!).

But a few weeks back, I jumped on the Batman sale from Comixology to purchase the single issues of A Death in the Family, for the sheer principle of having (in SOME form) the individual issues of this story after all these years. $4 for the set when a single issue of anything new is the same price…it was like paying for one comic, and these are in my phone so I can read ’em or refer to ’em whenever…and conveniently. Continue reading →

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Booking Through Thursday: Pet Names

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Walt

btt buttonDo you have any pet that has a name inspired by your readings?

If not, what would you pick if you DID?

Do any of your friends have book-based names for their pets? (Or their children?)

When Dad was first looking to adopt the current kitty, the shelter had tagged him “Sigmund.” I liked the proper sound to the name, and thought we should add to it: Sigmund Dewey.

Dewey of course inspired by Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World.

But Sigmund or Sig never stuck…the cat responded more to a Z sound, “Zig” so quickly wound up Zig or Ziggy (or Ziggster or Zigmeister or any of a number of in-the-moment names).

deweyziggy

I’ve also had it in my head for a number of years that I’ll eventually adopt a pair of cats, naming them Kal and Kara, after Superman and Supergirl from DC Comics.

Not sure that I’m aware of family/friends with pets or children having book-based names.

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

Rediscovering a favorite story in TMNT Ultimate Collection vol. 2

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Walt

tmntultcollection002My copy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimate Collection vol. 2 arrived today.

I think the main reason I placed the order the other day was discovering the TPB of the first TMNT arc from IDW seems to be out of print, and I did NOT want to have to chase this book from the OOP-booksellers online. It also helped that I got to look at a copy of the book at a comic shop on Free Comic Book Day.

But the reason I’m posting…I’m fascinated at my own reaction to this. After I got it out of the box and bubble wrap and such (yeah, the book came in bubble-wrap!) I flipped through, wholly intending to set it aside and continue about my evening. But I had to take a closer look at a couple of the annotations, and before I knew it I was reading the annotations pages (notes from co-creators Eastman AND Laird about the individual issues), reading parts of several of the issues, and just thoroughly enjoying re-immersing myself in these issues.

tmntfirstbookivAnd at least for present, as of this typing…I have to say that several of my absolute favorite TMNT issues are #1, and the Leonardo one-shot and TMNT #s 10-11. The first issue obviously introduces the characters, and especially as a kid it was interesting to read the first appearance of these characters (now as an adult I appreciate so much of what Eastman and Laird did in that issue and the initial concept of the characters!).

The 3-part story from Leonardo #1 and TMNT #10-11 (The “return” of Shredder) has long stood out to me. I first read the story as a kid, in the First graphic novel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Book IV in color with quite an iconic cover. I even have a framed copy of the art from a TMNT calendar I had as a kid) on the wall in my living room.

tmntbookivframedartLater in college, I think that was the only TMNT book the university library had (at least in its general collection for checking out), so I read it several more times through the years. That story also was heavily used in the 1990 live-action film (though there, it was Raphael who got beat up by the Foot instead of Leonardo).

When I was in grad school, I made a point of tracking down the single issues for this arc, and again enjoyed the story.

And now here again I’ve enjoyed it, and even look forward to its re-presentation in single issues in the TMNT Color Classics series.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Possible Packaging for The Avengers?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Walt

packagingthumbThe other day, my roommate and I got to talking about the Avengers movie coming out in a couple days, and then of how we oughtta watch the “solo” films this week in the lead-up to it.

We then got to talking about DVD packaging (I have the original Iron Man in a case shaped like his helmet mask, and I have The Dark Knight in a case shaped like Batman’s cowl; he has one of the Transformers films in a transforming Bumblebee figure. And the gem of the special cases–his model of the 2009 Enterprise, with the film encased in the saucer section of the ship. (Something we’d joked about the time the film first hit theaters: how cool would it be for them to do a case that was the Enterprise, but the saucer held the DVDs? And then sure enough–the idea proved fruitful from elsewhere.)

So our conversation turned toward the packaging of Avengers and/or the solo films. Captain America’s shield–that’s round. WHY Target (they did those other ‘special cases’) didn’t have an “exclusive” packaging shaped like the shield is beyond us.

But then we got to thinking about how there’s bound to be special collector sets when Avengers comes out on home release, with it boxed with the other solo films.

Why not a box/case with Avengers, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Thor attached to a handle–the disc case part being the head of Thor’s hammer?

Or returning to the idea of Cap’s shield…and this is the idea I think we liked best…have the films packaged in a much larger replica of the shield.

They could put the films around the outer rim, with Avengers locked in the center. Have the main front of Cap’s shield as the lid (screw-on, snap-on, hinged…whatever works).

How cool would that be?

capblurayshield
Above: Mock-up of 6-film Avengers package idea

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Funky Numbering = Missed Sale

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Walt

I do not feel that I should HAVE TO do RESEARCH on comics that I buy. Whether about story content, or the comics themselves.

Yesterday, I went to a second comic shop for the first time in a few weeks (lately sticking with my pull list at the “main” shop I go to) and browsed their rack. Bloodstrike #1st issue….er…#26 kinda stood out to me. I physically picked it up to look closer, being struck by the blurb across the top of being a 1st issue…but then I saw the #26.

I remember the “Images of Tomorrow” thing from the 1990s where a number of books put out a #25 being where the creators planned to have their books by then, but never got around to seeing how that worked out (and I believe most of those titles never actually made it to their 20s?).

Bloodstrike was one I do remember buying the #25 for, so this struck me as curious.

This #26, a first issue in a brand new era or whatever the blurb said–did I miss 25 issues the last few years? Is this picking up the numbering of the original series?

I put it back on the shelf, as I had no interest at the time of “gambling.” Is there a “ten year gap” in-story? Other than being the first issue published in years, what incentive makes it a good jump-on issue or not? Is it even aimed at a new/casual reader or is it aimed at fans of the old issues in particular?

This is the sort of case where I truly feel that “a new #1” or “relaunch” or whatever IS appropriate. The title, the property/character(s) have been gone for years (that I’m aware of), so give me a #1 as at least some overt declaration that this is new, fresh material that is at least supposedly geared for the new reader (if, indeed, that’s the case).

Where new #1s and ‘relaunches’ are NOT justified in my eyes are one month to the next, or even an intentional several month hiatus where those involved in the “final issue” of one iteration are already gearing up for the “first issue” of the next iteration. (Such as putting out #544 one month and then in the next 4-6 weeks putting out #1 with the same ongoing continuity.)

While Bloodstrike missed my sale this week, plenty of others have missed my sale when I opt to pass on something “on principle,” such as avoiding the high-number-this-month-#1-next-month stuff. (Or not buying solely because of the $3.99 instead of $2.99-or-less on the cover, etc).

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »