Comic Book Resources

Robot Reviews: Thrizzle and Red Monkey

Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Vol. 1

Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Vol. 1
by Michael Kupperman
Fantagraphics Books, 160 pages, $24.99

The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book
by Joe Daly
Fantagraphics Books, 112 pages, $22.99.

It's tough to be a humorist these days. Time was when simply pointing out the money-grubbing crassness of our culture in a clever way was enough to ensure laughs. Not no more. These days we're well aware the stuff we like is junk. We're far too hip to be told that the emperor wears no clothes. Surrounded by an increasing array of banal and inane pop cultural detritus, what can the modern satirist do but mock the utter absurdity of it all?

That's the path taken by two cartoonists in the Fantagraphics stable -- Michael Kupperman and Joe Daly, though they travel down that path in very different ways.

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Six by 6 | Six comic book action figures that need to be made right now

Action figures!

As a kid, I was a big fan of both comics and action figures; I probably spent my allowance equally on Uncanny X-Men comics and Star Wars action figures. The day I got my Emperor action figure in the mail was almost as good as the day I found a really cheap copy of Uncanny X-Men #129 at a used book store. Unfortunately, those two passions rarely met. It was a post Mego, pre-action figure boom world that I grew up in, so with the exception of the short-lived Secret Wars and Super Powers figures, there weren't a lot of superheroes to be found on the toy aisle.

Nowadays, though, you can find action figures of just about any comic character on the shelves, from secondary X-Men like Forge and Banshee to independent characters like Madman. But there are still a few out there that the world needs, which is why Chris suggested we list a few characters who we felt needed to be captured in three-dimensional plastic with a kung fu grip.

Joining Chris and I this week is a special guest -- High Moon writer and action figure aficionado David Gallaher. You can take a look at David's collection of Marvel action figures right here.

So here we go ...

1. Firestar (David Gallaher)

In looking over my collection, I thought about a character whose history dates back almost 30 years. Playing the lead role in one of the best Marvel cartoons, she starred in her own limited series, was in a couple of coloring books, was a member of the Avengers, an enemy of the X-Men, a founding member of the New Warriors, and is currently starring in Marvel Divas. Even better still – she was featured in her own Hardees kids meal!

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What Are You Reading?

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?

Welcome to What Are You Reading, where we talk about stuff, but mostly books, especially comic books. Our guest this week is our fellow CBR blogger Brian Cronin, whom most of you no doubt know via the excellent blog Comics Should Be Good and author of the new book Was Superman Was A Spy: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed!

To discover what Brian and the rest of the crew are reading, simply click on the link below.

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Friday diversions, Snake and Bacon Style

Kick off your Memorial Day weekend the right way by watching the pilot episode of Snake and Bacon that debuted on Adult Swim the other week. Below is a little snippet, but go here to watch the whole episode.

More on that New Yorker issue

Chris Ware's New Yorker strip

I feel that I should mention that in addition to that swell cover by Daniel Clowes, the latest issue of the New Yorker also features a lovely one-page strip by Chris Ware, as well as a gag cartoon by Ward Sutton and an illustration by Michael Kupperman. Blog Flume also notes that Ware has a strip in the current issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review (Spring 2009) and the current issue of Wired.

Snake 'n' Bacon on Adult Swim!

Snake and Bacon fight crime. Ssss!

Yes, it's true. Tales Designed to Thrizzle auteur Michael Kupperman has revealed that his seminal, wacky pairing of meat product and reptile will debut on the small screen. What shenanigans will they get up to?

Snake ’N' Bacon the TV show pilot is going to be broadcast as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block of programming, on May 10th at 12:45 AM. The cast includes Kristin Schaal, Dan Bakkedahl, Bill Hader, Peter Serafinowicz,  James Urbaniak, Brian Stack, and David Rakoff, in live-action and animated segments.

Kupperman also has a plethora of screenshots at the link to whet your appetites. Mark your calendars now. (And also remember that the fifth issue of Thrizzle comes out soon, not to mention the first trade paperback collection).

'The Wait Is Over'

Rodents in a trash can!

Everyone and their second cousin has already linked to this, but in case you were out of town yesterday it's worth noting that Michael Kupperman's hotly anticipated blog (well, hotly anticipated by me, at any rate) is up and running at a steady clip now.

Is Michael Kupperman actually starting a blog?

Look out for the madness!

Oh dear God I hope so.