'Bone' Goes to Warner Bros.

'Bone', the 55 issue comic series drawn and written by Jeff Smith, has recently had it's rights bought by Warner Bros. Studios! The books had their run from 1991-2004, and prior to this new development had been under the eye of Nickelodeon, who at one point had wanted to make a children's animated television series of it; however they did not due to the protest of the creator, Jeff.

I personally think Warner Bros. has a chance of doing justice to this series. It's definitely been a comic series I've made time to dabble in over it's course. Although it started with a bit more comedy, the series really turned into a sort of high-fantasy with adventure throughout.

For those who are unfamiliar with Bone lore, the series centers around the Bone family. They are creatures who are small, bald, white, and big-nosed. "Phoney" Bone, Smiley Bone and (everyone's favorite) Fone Bone, originating from Boneville (though you never get to see boneville, oddly enough), get thrown into a world of adventure after being cast out form their village.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm intrigued as to what Warner Bros. has in store for this series. Finger's crossed!

Free Comic Books!

While this may be old news for some of you, I recently stumbled upon Vertigo's recently released website which offers the first issue online for many of their current publications...completely free!

Ever since Vertigo was created in the 1980s by the masterful hand of DC, it has been a major contributor to the industry for some seriously edgy and controversial material. The all-star line-up has included such hits as V for Vendetta, Hellblazer, Sandman, and more.

Just today, I finally read the last issues of Vertigo's American Virgin and Y: The Last Man. While the former of the two had a lackluster ending, I was still thoroughly impressed by both stories. I'm still working on Transmetropolitan and 100 Bullets, and I'm interested starting Army@Love any time now.

Do yourself a favor and check out some of the great work. It might just spark your interest in something new and exciting.

UBIQ & Secret Base Collaboration - Ghost

Not much is certain in these crazy times which we live. But one constant - a beacon of hope in a hopeless world - is that the Japanese make some damn cool toys.

Don't get me wrong, I love the works of many North American artists. Artists such as Frank Kozik, Huck Gee, Sucklord, and many others continue to release fresh and fun toys for our enjoyment every year.

With that being said, I always hold a special place in my heart for many of the Japanese releases. Even with all of the cultural differences that a 10,500 km distance brings, I find that many of their toys hold the same relevance no matter what your location.

Perhaps that's a bit too epic of an introduction for the newest release from Tokyo's Secret Base. The new collaboration between them and UBIQ is certainly cool with it's jelly-covered zombie alien ghost good looks. But is it really THAT special?

Sometimes, all a person wants is a really cool toy to put on their desk at work or to add to their collection at home. For that person, we have Ghost.

Marvel Facebook, Part 2

Hey so I just went on there and was reading some Cable & Deadpool. When you begin to read, a pop-up shows up in the bottom corner, informing the reader of the comic's availability in your local comic store! How neat is that?

And just as a side note. A decent number of comics you can view completely free cover to cover. However, many of the newer ones are only half-available for online viewing. A subscription to the MDUU site, however, takes care of that. 60 bucks a year for unlimited reading of all the posted titles start to finish uninterrupted. Not shabby considering the amount of reading material.

Excuse me, I'm going to go read some and then quite possibly go and buy some!

Marvel on Facebook

Marvel Comics has entered into the Facebook App. fold. Yesterday, 'Marvel Digital Comics' came online for any Facebook user to add to their applications list. The app itself opens up the availability of over 3000 Marvel Digital Universe Unlimited titles (the collection of which ICv2 has posted here).

Another feature of the application is the "My Must Reads" option, where you may post your favorite comics on there for your friends to see. From there you may also note your friends and their recommended comics. Marvel news will also be posted on the app's home page, as well as image galleries, videos, and information on other marvel entertainment ventures.

I know what some are thinking: if comics are released online to read, won't purchasing go down and eventually be wiped out? Actually no! The titles that will be released on the Facebook app are all the titles that are released through Marvel Digital Universe Unlimited, as mentioned. However, comics are only added to that list 6 months after publication, leaving a very healthy amount of time on the store shelf before being available to view (but not own or download) online.

I think this is an incredible idea to draw back the readers of comics who have left over time, and also a good way for readers to catch up on their series before plunging back into a comic store to buy the newest one!

Here's the link to the MDUU website! Go! Read!

Over There

72 hours of no sleep...

2,700 participants...

1,200 ideas...

$15,000 in prizes...

Kluster is a a community-driven platform to get ideas heard. It offers the opportunity to contribute your ideas and have others help build off of them. It was announced at this year's TED conference.

To kick things off, they had a 72 hour challenge to create a product, any product, that may change the world. Lofty goals, to be sure. But what they developed is certainly intriguing.

The game is called Over There and is based on the 2006 talk by prominent American philosopher, Dan Dennett. There are 21 stops on the route that correspond to 3 types of cards: chances, actions, and questions.

The idea behind the game is that different organizations are able to customize the cards to help raise awareness for their cause.

The website is a brilliant concept, and I'm excited to see how organizations may use the game as a platform to raise awareness. As well, if you haven't already visited, the TED Conference website offers hours and hours of speeches and demonstrations from some of the world's greatest minds. Click through and expand your mind.

R.I.P. Gary Gygax

The Dungeon Master himself, Ernest Gary Gygax, died yesterday. Aged 69, Gary co-created possibly the most interactive table-top role-playing game in history - Dungeons and Dragons - with Dave Arneson.

I can't even begin to tell you how many authors, designers and artists he's influenced over the course of his creation's career thus far, how many imaginations he's sparked. It's good to know that his work will live on long after him, with the highly anticipated 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons due to come out soon.

I take solace in the belief that Gary is now rolling his d20's in a better place.

You will be missed, Mr. Gygax.

Pearls Before Swine

"Neither cast ye your pearls before swine"

--- Matthew 7:6

The daily chronicle of four anthropomorphic animals: a megalomaniac rat, a dim-witted pig, diplomatic zebra, and intellectual goat; Pearls Before Swine is a delicious look into their unique and ever-changing lives.

Written and illustrated by ex-litigation attorney Stephan Pastis, Pearls was syndicated on December 31, 2001. Shortly after, Pastis chose to leave his job a pursue his now budding career in newspaper comics.

Pearls has become a daily staple in over 400 newspapers and has won awards recently from The National Cartoonists Society. Many praise Pastis' simple drawing style (most characters have stick limbs, dots for eyes, and often no mouths) as revolutionary. Pastis' states, "People say that they like my strip's simplicity, but I'm doing the best I can to just to get up to that level. I'm not dumbing the art down."

Crown Mickey

Medicom is a Japanese toy company that specializes in highly styled and ultra cool toys for all ages. Recently, they collaborated with both Disney and Japanese clothing brand Roen to bring us the extremely stylish Roen Crown Mickey. The design is based on a limited edition collaboration tee that Roen did with Disney.

Disney seems to be taking an interest in collaborations as of late. I think it's fantastic that such a big company is allowing re-interpretations of one of its classic characters and hopefully we'll see even more of this in the future. Disney has developed such a diverse set of characters in it's long history, I am excited to see what might be next.

Medicom has released their share of interesting collectibles in the past, but this one is definitely up there as one of my favorites.

Sam & Max

I just purchased a copy of "Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway" (Limited Edition Harcover).

Let me introduce you all to a brief history of Sam & Max.

Picture a 1960's black and white DeSoto Adventurer cruising down the street at break-neck speed, a 'hyperkinetic rabbity thing' hanging out the driver window wielding a Luger, and a 6-foot-tall dog-detective clutching his hat on the passenger side - all the while engaging in an extremely witty dialogue. You have now met the loveable duo of Sam & Max - the former being Max and the latter being Sam!

Created by Stever Purcell in the late 80's, the two characters are thrown into the oddest of situations, with only sheer wit and somewhat nihilistic humor as their allies. Also guns.

Kids of the 90's may even remember the television series based off of Steve's works (which was dimmed down a bit for child audiences) airing on Fox Kids for a 24 episode run. Or even more may remember the successful video game in 1993: Sam & Max Hit the Road. Although I was a child when these premiered, even I could understand the potential of underlaying adult comedy of incredible quality.

Telltale Games, a veritable Sam & Max oasis in the dessert that is the internets, was kind enough to keep the legend of these two characters alive over the past decade, selling merchandise, posting a (particularly) delightful mini-series web comic (which sadly seems to have finished its run long ago), and even creating it's own new material - Sam & Max episodic games (with the help of Mr. Purcell).

Don't just stand there, go and check out the site. The wit is always sharp, and the art is always fantastic in my humble opinion. I can't wait for my copy of the revamped "Surfin' the Highway" (with new content), to arrive!

A review on it to come!