It's been a long time / I shouldn't have left you / without Links of Interest to step to.

Haven't done one of these in years so let's get right into it.

* - First of all, it is Science Art Tweet-Storm Day!

TODAY BEGINS THE #SCIART TWEETSTORM. PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE DELUGE.

— IAmSciArt (@IAmSciArt) March 1, 2017

* - Also, if you are a picture-drawer of prehistoric life, go take the Paleoart Survey.

* - The Beasts of the Mesozoic Raptor Series figures are available for pre-order and darn me if I know which one to pick.

* - Also in "Shut up and take my money" news, look at Safari Ltd's new Tyrannosaurus rex!  Look at him!

* - There have been loads of great articles on TetZoo recently, but my favorite is this post on Paleoart Memes, what they are, where they come from, and how they're sort of an inadvertent record of the prevailing (or, interestingly, NOT) theories of their time.

* - And that article is based on a lecture Darren Naish gave during the Popularizing Paleontology event back in September.  The whole shebang is available on the event's official website.  (And now I have even more questions about "The Good Dinosaur"...)

* - Do you like post-apocalyptic fiction?  Yeah, who doesn't these days?  Start reading T. Michael Keese's "Paleocene" already!

* - Speaking of webcomics, there's never been a better time to catch up with Tom Siddell's "Gunnerkrigg Court".  Dude just wrapped up a story arc from ten years ago! 

* - If you'd like some instant inspiration, check out Burger Fiction's fantastic montage of every Best Cinematography Oscar winner in chronological order.  Their Best Special Effects montage is a stunner as well.

* - The Annie Awards inspired me to check out the work of Caroline Leaf and my God, why am I just learning about her?

* - We all need some chillout music, so why not head to E82's archive of EPCOT ambience from days past (days of future past, one might even say)?  They just added themes from CommuniCore/InnoVentions and the Horizons soundtrack is a must-have.

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Art of the Day!

Everybody loves the Chubby Tigers.

Let's Look at the State of Superheros Back in the Day!

You've probably noticed that in the 2010's, superheros are a pretty big deal.  Back in 1994, there were also lots of superhero shows -lots, as we shall see in a minute- and "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" was a monster hit.

So of course, more Sentai series flooded the airwaves to cash in ride the tide.  I wonder if anyone has any nostalgia for "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills"?  (Which, unbelievably, it turns out isn't made up by the author as a joke to see if us readers in the future were paying attention.  Although maybe, given later series like "The Mystical Knights of Tir-Na-Nog" [Sentai and also Irish folklore as interpreted by somebody who saw the commercial for "Celtic Moods" once] and the insane "Big Bad Beetleborgs" [Sentai and also classic movie monsters and a horrifying Jay Leno Genie thing because sure why not], it's not that unbelievable.)



But it's in animation that we find more of the established comic superheros in 1994.  This deeply strange (oh, we will get to that) article credits "Power Rangers" for their rise in popularity while ignoring the fact that, under some title variation or other, arguably the greatest superhero animation in recent history has been going strong for several years now.  I speak of course of "Batman: The Animated Series", which the author of this article enjoys because he can watch it with his six-year-old son, since it's easy to tell that Batman and Robin are good guys.  Not like in "Gargoyles", where the titular characters look scary.

Now... six is definitely a little young for "Gargoyles" to be fair.  It was the show you had to take notes on after all.  But the thing that strikes me as weird is that it's not only the little kid who can't process the series; that'd just be understandable.  It's also the grown-ass adult who can't understand that the monstrous-looking but very honorable Gargoyles are good guys, even though they fight obvious villains to protect the city and Goliath spends at least half of every episode talking about duty and bravery and generally being Proud Warrior Guy With A Very Sad Back-Story.

You know, like Batman is a Proud Warrior Guy With A Very Sad Back-Story.  Though the author just doesn't get who Batman is and why he fights villains and... uhhhhgh...

There's other weirdness, including a dismissive mention of "X-Men" and a very brief side-glance at "The Tick".  There's also a surprisingly fair explanation of why Disney was way out of their tree when trying to market "Gargoyles".  (I still can't look at their initial home media release's cover without thinking, "Ahahaha, damn..."  Looks like the States got that "Moms, this is totally an OK Disney movie to buy for your kids look how everybody's smiling cutely" cover while European markets got something just a tiny little bit more indicative of the actual show.)




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Draw of the Day

Everybody has a "Gargoyles" fan-character, here's mine. She's a library Gargoyle of course.

In Which the Bookshelf Tour Continues!

More books!  Here comes shelf #2:



That's All Folks: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation, Steve Schneider - Once upon a time, there was a Warner Bros. Studio Store in my local mall, right across from the Disney Store.  And it was actually far more awesome than the Disney Store, because it sold original animation art.  It also sold this very nice art book, which can be found for dirt cheap now and is a must-have.

Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse, To Beauty and the Beast, Bob Thomas - I got this beautiful book at the Animation Gallery, the proverbial gift shop you'd exit through after experiencing the original Magic of Disney Animation at Disney MGM Studios (curiously, the gift shop is still there in essentially it's original form).  Note that there are two editions; this is the older and far better edition which chronicles the making of "Beauty and the Beast".  That section of the book alone is worth hunting it down; getting a nice concise history of the Disney studio with it is icing on the cake.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals and The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Jeff Rovin - I got these two at good old Buck-A-Book and, as with the aforementioned Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals, I'll be keeping them until newer and more accurate options ever appear.  These two books are crazy extensive, and I've never quite found anything like them.

The Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars, John Cawley and Jim Korkis - Similar, though smaller in scope, to the above Jeff Rovin encyclopedia.   These were among the first books to try and catalog every animated character, so I can cut them some slack.  There's a nice selection of art and information about failed projects involving the characters, but it'd be very nice to have an updated book.  This one only goes as recent as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and it's a little jarring not seeing "The Simpsons" or "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". The complete text is online at Cawley's personal site.

Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia and Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia, Carol Rose - Never realized how many Encyclopedias of Weird Stuff I had.  These two are very good and I highly recommend them.

The Last Dinosaur Book: The Life and Times of a Cultural Icon, W. J. T. Mitchell - A very, very unusual book I (luckily, it turns out, since this is very hard to find) picked up at an antique store just based off that intriguing title.  It's an analysis of dinosaurs in human culture and I might have to re-read it and give it a full review someday.

Traditional Tales From Long, Long Ago Hardcover, Philip Wilson - Very nice collection of Celtic folktales with charming illustrations.  Plus my copy came with that radical bookmark.

Our first run of picture books!  We've got some Chris Van Allsburg, Janell Cannon, and a stray Berke Breathed.  More on the latter in a bit.

Fairy Art: Artists & Inspirations, Iain Zaczek - Another art book I've yet to read, but this is a very nice collection of classic fantasy art.

Voyage of the Basset, James C. Christensen and Alan Dean Foster - The illustrations in this book are outstanding, almost on the same level as Dinotopia.  The story... ehhh...

The Katurran Odyssey and Animals Real and Imagined, Terryl Whitlatch - I love Terryl's creature designs like crazy and I dearly wish she had a proper omnibus of art.  These are pretty good and we'll see The Wildlife of Star Wars later on.

Dinotopia, James Gurney - The complete collection.  Need more be said?  These are essential.







The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson, and The Bloom County Library by Berke Breathed, and others - My three all-time favorite newspaper comics.  The omnibuses are essential if you are a fellow fan.  You'll notice I also have Breathed's picture books and the three Outland collections, Larson's There's a Hair in my Dirt! (on it's side), as well as the Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book and (on it's side) the Prehistory of the Far Side.  Both are easy to find and essential companions to the complete collections.

Next week:  We take a break for Kill, Refurb Marry.  Then, NEXT next week, more books!  Nonfiction books for the Nonfiction God!  Reference books for the Reference Throne!

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Sketch of the Day!

"Skies of Arcadia" reminds me of "Treasure Planet" except weirder.

Links of Interest - Snowed In Edition!

Yeah, you know the drill by now.

* - First off, go help Project Daspletosaurus somehow!

* - Also, help /Filmcast's raise money for FilmAid!

* - Passport to Dreams Old and New has written what may be the definitive last word on "Captain EO".

* - Both Total Media Bridge and The Onion AV Club did recent retrospectives on "Ducktales".

* - Total Media Bridge also revisited "Loonatics Unleashed" so that we don't have to.

* - The AV Club also prompted a lively discussion of media that is hard or impossible to experience.

* - Don Carson's blog has a treasure trove of wonderful Disneyland concept art.

* - Andreas Deja shared some beautiful character design sketches by Milt Kahl of what would have likely been a very different version of "The Black Cauldron".

* - Speaking of "Black Cauldron", according to Parkeology, Tokyo Disneyland once had a unique interactive walk-through attraction based on the film for years and years.

* - As far as new stuff in the Disney parks, after reading this FutureProbe post, I am not looking forward to the fallout from My Magic+...

* - Filmspotting SVU did a terrific episode about mostly-obscure Disney films.

* - I am kind of in love with this Uncanny X-Men cover art by Stuart Immonen.

* - Haven't seen "Cabin in the Woods" yet?  Fix that immediately and then read this Dinosaur Dracula post about its best scene.

* - So... "The Stooge".  I've said this before and I'll say it again, I'll believe that a "Roger Rabbit" sequel/spin-off is actually happening when I am sitting in the theater and actually watching it. 

And here are my results for the Great Backyard Bird Count weekend! Not the most disappointing GBBC I've ever had, but still kind of a bust:

9 species total
2 Mourning Dove
2 Downy Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
15 American Crow
2 Black-capped Chickadee
2 European Starling
2 Northern Cardinal
1 House Finch
50 House Sparrow

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Sketch of the Day! A while ago, on Twitter, Brian Switek wondered aloud why he couldn't combine "Downton Abbey" with a simultaneously-airing documentary on giant squids. How could I resist? Ladies and gentlemen, "Downton Squids":

Links of Interest - Disney Cruise Recovery Edition!

Well, I just got back from my family's very first Disney Cruise Line experience.  It'll take a while to sort through everything and get the trip report accomplished.  So until then, have a good old Links of Interest post!

* - First off, new "Hobbit" trailer!  New "Hobbit" trailer!  New "Hobbit" trailer!!!

* - Oh dear lord, this XKCD strip...  Don't miss the zoomable version.

* - My Year of Flops takes on the biggest flop of the year and attempts to parse the thinking behind the truly insane "Oogieloves' Big Balloon Adventure".

* - Speaking of insane ideas for movies, Warner Bros. (*sigh*) is going to make yet another attempt (*sigh*) at a Looney Tunes movie (*sigh*...  Believe me, I'd like to be optimistic for this. But after years of "Space Jam", "Baby Looney Tunes", "Loonatics Unleashed", "Back in Action", those recent weird Flash and CGI cartoons, and other, worse things, I'm pretty much conditioned to anticipate any officially sanctioned new thing involving these characters with dread.)

* - If you happen to be at Walt Disney World on the week of October 1, don't miss the special events being held to celebrate Epcot's 30'th anniversary.

* - Passport to Dreams Old and New shares the strange history of the segment of WDW's Magic Kingdom now known as Storybook Circus, observations on it's current incarnation, as well as where the look of Toontown in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" might have come from.

* - Holy crap, "Saving Mr. Banks" is actually happening!  With Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, yet!

* - Geek Dad reviews the "Chuck Jones' Mouse Chronicles" DVD collection.

* - TetZoo informs us that iguanas may have a far more complicated social life than you'd think.  (Yes, I squeed at the fraternal behaviors.)

* - Emily Willoughby met a Green Heron and pondered the implications of heron necks.

* - Comics Alliance brought attention to concept artist Ashley Stoddard, who in turn came up with an alternate version of "Willow" that would have been fascinating.

* - Tor.com shared another inspirational seasonal art gallery, this one, naturally, themed to autumn (some NSFW images).

* - I'm starting to put together my four-part(!?!) Disney Cruise trip report.  Here's the beginning of a much more cynical (but hilarious) take on one of the newer boats by TeevTee at Parkeology.

* - I finally got to see "Brave" recently.  I was going to write a full review but Lili Loofbourow's essay, "Just Another Princess Movie" expresses my feelings more eloquently than I ever could (my review would have just been, "Y'all are high!  'Brave' is great!" over and over.)  It is by far the most intelligent reaction to the film I've seen.  (Spoilers galore!)

* - Tim Brayton of Antagony and Ecstasy has just launched into his own Disney sequel marathon.  Given his hilarious take on "Belle's Magical World" (oh my God, the whole bit about Crane the writing paper), we are in for a hell of a ride.  I wish him Godspeed, and good luck!

* - If you're a "Brave Little Toaster" fan, you're going to want to see the film's director Jerry Rees' extensive website, filled with memorabilia and information.   Rees also recently hosted an open Q+A with fans.  (LOL at the people who thought Toaster was male...)

* -  And finally, The Rotoscopers/Animation Addicts posted their incredible interview with Don Bluth, in which he talks about his work on "Sleeping Beauty", his surprising new career as a teacher and theater director, and gets downright philosophical about art.  Definitely a must-listen!

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Sketch of the day!

There are times when I am sad that illustrators and writers don't get a lot of attention.

But if the unintentionally hilarious/sad Famous Comic Book Creators trading cards made in 1992 and recently dug up by the Comics Alliance blog are the alternative, then I'm not so sad. Don't get me wrong, they are a great idea. A well-done set of trading cards highlighting genre artists and writers could be wonderful; maybe even a game a la "Authors".
The Comic Book Creators cards are... well, the *backs* of them are pretty cool, with brief biographies and lists of their works. But those photographs! What were they thinking!
Their photos for the three (just three!?!) female writers/artists are just... *tragic*.

That Todd MacFarlane photo though...

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Sketch of the day!
In-between having my sister take pictures of me being awesome (I was inspired by Todd MacFarlane), I drew this Velociraptor, who is also being awesome:

Highlights from the Bo-Com-Con Pile

I have just read everything in this pile:



Let's just dive right in and I'll share my thoughts. Click the picture to access the large size, as usual. Starting in the lower-left corner and spiraling clockwise...

Sara Richard's stickers and Sketchbook. The fishing kitty now proudly resides on the protective case thingie on my MacBook. I never really mastered ink and brush, so I am in awe of Sara's beautiful line art. That, and the sheer amount of art she's produced.

A Schedule of Upcoming Guests/Topics on Sci-Fi Saturday Night. Someday, I will do a post about all the podcasts that have helped me keep sane while Photoshopping. "SFSN" is a semi-local 'cast and I have nothing at all bad to say about them because they love my rabbit illustrations.

Inbound 4: A Comic Book History of Boston. An anthology created by the Boston Comics Roundtable, and a fascinating read to boot. The old Mug-and-Muffin coffee shop has been immortalized for all time.The Tick Comicon Extravaganza. I am not going to get too crazy here. It is a comic about comic book conventions, and it stars Quincy's own superhero.

Fat Cat Funnies' Distracula. Speaking of Quincy, it turns out Fat Cat Funnies is based here. A local publisher! A wikkid local publisher, if you will! Awesome.

(Barely visible) Mouse Under Glass by David Koenig. Actually, this is the book I brought with me to read on the T. It's pretty interesting and I will review it and another "secrets of Disney" book I finished earlier soon.

"After Watchmen, What's Next? Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis!" That's how I'm reading the title anyway. There were similar abridged comics like this at the autumn Boston Comicon. The best of them had excerpts from all of DC's comics that could remotely be considered dark and/or edgy. At least with this one, I got to learn for myself what everyone else already knew about the Identity Crisis storyline.
Spoilers: Imagine sitting down to watch "The Thin Man", and suddenly in the first act, the film jump-cuts to the ending of "Seven". The actual "not so much sad as tear-out-your-heart-and-stomp-on-it" ending to "Seven". I'd like to be exaggerating right now.

"Penny Arcade" the books! "Trish why in the world would you buy collections of a comic you can read for free online?" Well, because there's something about a book. I always liked comic strip compilations (I will admit I was never really all that into "Calvin and Hobbes" until I found the first collection.) Mainly, it's because the sheer size of the "PA" archive intimidates me. Plus, the writer's comments on the strips are often hilarious. Glad to know I'm not the only person who looks through their old art and sometimes goes, "Oh dear Lord... tell me I didn't really draw THAT..."
(Cue the kind of music you hear in movies when Foreshadowing happens...)

The Boston Independent Film Festival schedule. While searching for their website, I learned that Boston suddenly has (at least) two film fests! As someone who enjoys nice things, I should try going to both. This festival starts next week, and some of the films sound fascinating. Wish me luck in convincing other people to go.

Various random business cards! I got to trade a lot of cards with people. Urchin Punch had a lot of neat stuff at their table, but sadly there does not seem to be much at their website yet. "Silver Circle" is an independent CGI animated science fiction film with kind of a cool origin story. I may have to dedicate an entire post to it later. The Angry Penguin is a little strange, but how could I resist that sticker? And it should surprise nobody that New England has it's own branch of the Ghostbusters and a Storm Trooper Garrison.

Donald Duck Free Comic Book Day abridged comic. I was intrigued by this for two reasons: 1) Free Comic Book day is in May. 2) This is a Halloween-themed story. It was too weird to leave.

And finally, my Pokewalker, which (it's hard to see) racked up about 51,000 steps... and I still don't have a gimmicky Surfing or Flying Pikachu! This makes me feel angry!

Ah, anyway. Overall, a great haul and a great time.

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At the Realm, there is a review of a strange thing I got at Disney World. If you stop and think about it, the Harry Potter series, much like "Star Wars" and "Avatar" (already!), has a lot to answer for.

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Sketch of the Day!
How about a completely random page?


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Post #200! Yay!!!

Great Arceus! I almost forgot to mention that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!

So visit your local comic book store (I'm not sure if other bookstores are participating) and pick up a new book to read absolutely free. Some stores will also have other special events, so be sure to check their websites. The whole idea behind Free Comic Book Day is to promote literacy, encourage people to shop locally, and support artists and authors. But most importantly: it's about FREE COMIC BOOKS! Who doesn't like free stuff?

You don't like free stuff? You're weird.

"Fun in the Backyard" 33

This time, Woodpecker courtship. Sort of. This episode was inspired by the comedy hit of the winter.

It isn't spring until I feel like I've thrown my back out while transplanting daffodils...

"Fun in the Backyard" Episode 32

We've covered Nut-hatch courtship. Here's Chickadee courtship. As usual, click for the big (and readable) version and it's followup:

If it wasn't yet clear that "FITBY" is my "just for fun experiment with different formatting, media, storytelling methods" outlet, it will be on Friday...

My gosh, it is actually not raining on Earth Day! I get to work outside!

Edit 3:45 PM: Yeah... I spoke too soon on that one. But I got to hook the hose up. :/

Continuing the DC Animated Universe, and a bonus from another major comic publisher.

I left off in Autumn, so let me bring this up to speed.

Early Winter: "Justice League"
This series hit the ground running and stayed consistently terrific. As with "Batman Beyond" there was an excellent sense of continuity and each episode has little rewards for anyone familiar with all the characters. About the only downside -and it isn't even the show's fault- is that I liked this so much, I wanted to keep this project going for longer (normally, there would only be the two seasons of "Justice League Unlimited" left). So I decided to consider the next show part of the DCAU...

Winter: "Teen Titans"
...And I think I know why this usually isn't considered a DCAU series.
Now, to be fair, I'm not a ten year old boy. I'm not the target audience for this show -- but therein lies the rub. I remember watching "Batman" as a kid. I liked it then, and I liked it even more when I went back and watched it as an adult. Most of the best animated series ever made are the ones that purposefully do not go out of their way to appeal only to children. "Teen Titans" is one of the very few series based upon a DC comic that does, and by the end of each DVD I find myself exhausted.
I'm in the middle of the fourth season and just now the series is acting more mature (OK, there were some bright spots earlier, like the Terra arc... which lasted all of five episodes.) I know I'm being unfair here, so I'll talk more about this series when I'm done watching it.

Until then, here's ten gloriously funny minutes worth of "WTF?" from the frequently bizarre Fox Kids "X-Men" cartoon, from around the same era the DCAU hit it's stride:

Highlights include Wolverine being kind of a dick, Table Man, and a possible "Lion King" tribute at around the four minute mark.
Honestly, Table Man might be my new favorite "Hilarious Marvel Character" next to Beak and Squirrel Girl.