Slorge!

Want to re-enact Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit in the comfort of your own home? God, I hope not, but just in case you do (you disturbing person you), Ryan fan Andrea has made this little slorge doll, completely with lace-up hindquarters. Have at! (via)

Here I was at Shelf Porn Central, thinking "you know, we haven't had a big manga-themed post in a long while," when who should appear in my in box but one Emily Snodgrass, with a manga collection to beat the band.

Remember though, you don't have to be an uber-collector to submit your pics to Self Porn. Large or small we'll gladly accept and and all submissions. Just send photos and commentary to cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet and we'll take care of the rest.

And now heeeere's Emily ....

Right now my collection is almost 3800 books, mostly in Japanese. I don't have much room in my apartment, so my organization system is somewhat sketchy. Almost all of it is Shoujo (for girls) manga.

As it stands, I have everything roughly organized by publisher or imprint.

In this photo are my two bookcases that contain most of my series that are published by Shogakukan under their Flower Comics label. Flower Comics is by far the imprint I buy the most series from. And, er, not because they publish a lot of smutty shoujo manga. Really! Ahem.

Within each publisher, I made a half-hearted attempt to group things by author but this never lasts long. When I get new books, I tend to just pile them up in the general shelf and do a more thorough organization maybe twice a year. On top of most of my bookcases are stacks of weekly or monthly manga magazines that most series are serialized in before they are published as a collected volume. I buy these magazines individually, for the most part, but I have had subscriptions at one time as well. I really should get rid of these things, as they take up tons of room, but I had a hard time letting go because they have a lot of pretty color pages,

This bookcase contains a combination of things. Most of it is my small yaoi/boys love manga collection. I like Boys Love manga, but I don't buy as much of it as it is more expensive, and, well, I'm cheap I also have an even smaller collection of English translated manga here as well. Finally, on the top shelf, are some comics published under the Asuka Comics imprint from Kadokawa. These are a lot of fantasy/action series. Down on the floor is a framed animation cel of Tsukushi from the Hana Yori Dango anime. Part of my plushie collection lurks up on top of the bookcase.

This bookcase is filled mostly with books published by Shueisha under their Margaret Comics imprint. I don't buy as many Shueisha titles, but when I do, it usually ends up being a very long series. Included here are two of my favorites: Hana Yori Dango (37 volumes) and Itazura na Kiss (23 volumes). There are more anime plushies up on top. On the very bottom shelf, I have set up a space devoted to books by a single author, Miwa Sakai. She publishes works through a bunch of publishers, and I didn't want to spread her books out across the other bookcases.

Here is more Shueisha stuff, this time their Ribon Mascot Comics imprint, which is for younger readers. Also included here are books from Hakusensha's Hana to Yume imprint. Hana to Yume published a lot of series that are being released in English here, including Otomen, Maid Sama, and KareKano.

This bookcase is reserved for my over-sized manga and my shounen and seinen stuff. Finally, some more manly manga. These shelves contain series like GTO, Rurouni Kenshin, and other series originally published through Shounen Jump or Shounen Sunday comics. I don't collect as much shounen manga, because it always ends up so popular and gets animated and licensed anyway, I don't feel as great a need to follow the Japanese versions.

This is an overflow area, for stuff that doesn't fit with the other publishers, or into the other bookcases. These are mostly older series, awesome 70's shoujo manga where everyone has ringlets and huge eyes filled with stars.Lots of wide-eyes orphans searching for their parents or sparkly-eyed teens enduring brutal training in various sports (ballet, figure skating, volleyball, tennis, etc.) I love 70's shoujo manga.

Here are some more "phonebook" manga magazines, along with some smaller reprinted versions of older series. In particular, I have some reprints of the Hana Yori Dango manga that came out when the TV drama first started airing.

A closeup of my small anime/manga plushie collection. DangerMouse is hanging out with them!

And that's it! I hope I won't have to start selling the collection!

In an interview at writer Poe Ghostal's toy and action figure news blog, the Blackest Night, Green Lantern, and Superman: Secret Origin writer says that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is the only toy property he'd like to take a shot at writing. Now, normally this kind of offhand blue-sky wish-list comment wouldn't merit a post, but I really love He-Man and Johns has written some of my favorite superhero comics of the past several years -- and dammit, I've got a bully pulpit and I intend to use it.

Oh yeah, Johns discusses various other toy-related topics with Ghostal, including his childhood favorites and the highlights of his current collection. Unsurprisingly, Lantern Corps figures from DC Direct and Mattel fare pretty well, with Johns citing the action-figure version of his Blue Lantern character Saint Walker as his fave.

But seriously -- Geoff Johns on He-Man! Start your letter-writing campaign to DC and Mattel in the comments.

It's Wednesday again and here we are for another edition of Send Us Your Shelf Porn. Our guest this week is Batman devotee Julian Smoger, who has accumulated quite the caped crusader collection and wanted to share some of his more interesting finds with Robot 6 readers.

Once again, let me encourage any and all of you who'd like to submit your collection to please do so. Just send any pictures and commentary to cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet and I'll try to get it up on the site in a few weeks time.

In the meantime, I'll hand the virtual mic over to Julian ...

I like Batman. I like Batman a lot. I like Batman so much that I plan on opening my own Batman museum one day. On top of the toy and doodad collection, I've accumulated a few thousand Batman only comic books.

These are my first Batman toys from when I was a kid in the early '80s. The SuperPowers toy is actually a replacement for the original, which I lost when I was young and cried for ever about. The bed comforter was used until I was in college or something ridiculous like that. The 2 Mego toys were bought for me by my parents when they went on a vacation (it's at the point now where, when on vacation, my mother just buys me Batman stuff from antique dealers).

This is probably one of my favorite pieces in my collection. My mom made this from scratch for Halloween when I was mad young. Notice the muscles sewn in to make my scrawny ass look beefy! Eventually, I want to get a maniquin and a plexiglass case to house it in, just like the Batcave!

The story behind this one is a bit funny. I was living in NY and saw the promotion. I did not, however, want Domino's. I just walked in and asked for the box, got odd looks from the staff, then demanded a box. Eventually, they just wanted to get rid of me, so now I have it!

This is a custom piece I had done at the famous Six Flags amusement park! Ha ha. I had originally gotten it for my Grandmother as a present but since she's moved, I've re-inherited it, which is ok with me!

I got this at NYCC2009. I had never really met any big names before, and as I was walking through the aisles, I saw a little unassuming old man at an empty table with a sign that just said "I created the Joker". I walked up and met Jerry Robinson, a very pleasant gentleman who signed this print for me. It was great to be able to meet a piece of history.

These pics are about 2 years old as I now live in a tiny apartment where I'm unable to set everything up. As you can see, my obsession runs deep. If Batman's on it, I'll buy it; spaghettios, shampoo, bubble bath. Since I've moved, I cataloged everything individually. If you want to see more (a LOT more), check out The Batman Museum.

Little Mouse Doll

As part of their ongoing promotion of Jeff Smith's first children's book, Little Mouse Gets Ready, publisher Toon Books has made an exclusive plush doll, created by dollmaker Sabrina Cho. It retails for $75 and comes with a certificate of authenticity and a copy of the book signed by Jeff Smith. Also: It's too cute for words.

Found via Comics Worth Reading

Time once again for Send Us Your Shelf Porn, the only Internet blog post (that I know of) that lets you, the reader, be the nerd king (or queen, or regent) for a day. This week we're featuring the collection of Jeff Keller from New Berlin, Wisconsin, whose got quite the set-up in his basement.

Remember, Shelf Porn can only continue with your help. Got a collection you'd like to share? Let the world see it by emailing photos and commentary to me at cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet.

And how here's Jeff:

First of all, thank you for this great forum. I’ve always been curious how other people display their collections, and you have provided a chance for all of us to share our inner sanctums. I have collected comics for most of my life, and honored to open mine up to all. I hope you enjoy the tour, and I would like to hear what you think.

In my basement room, I wanted people to walk in and be able to peruse the various displays just as you would the aisles of your local comic shop. You’ll find a cross-section of old and new, with the emphasis on DC Comic characters (heavily Batman oriented) and related memorabilia. A large part of my collection is in trade paperbacks of comic strips, dating back to the early 70’s

Lots of comic strip trade paperbacks dating back to the early 70’s

The Overstreet Price Guides start at 1974!

Check out the McDonalds menu board (circa 1974) Quarter Pounder with Cheese for $1.00!

The metal “Best Comics Reading” DC Comics sign came from the spinner rack from the local drug store where I bought comics for 15 years as a kid.

This spinner rack contains one of every DC title from the “Go-Go Checks” era of 1966-67. After over 40 years of collecting, I am “specializing” a little. I am currently compiling a complete collection of every “Go-Go Checks” cover, and I am about 80% complete!

The lateral file cabinets provide a neater storage alternative from the traditional white boxes. Each cabinet holds about 2400 comics.

In addition to the Go-Go Checks, I have also compiled a complete collection of DC 100 Page issues, as well as all of the Bicentennial covers from 1976.

The Toy Corner. A mix of old and new.

Thanks!

Muttpop is calling this figure the "Incredible Tequila Edition" but we know who that green-skinned wrestler really is, right?

(via Comics Alliance)

Is it time once again for shelf porn? You better believe it is!

Our guest of the week is John Kovaleski, who is not only a collector but also a fine cartoonist in his own right, having authored the (now sadly defunct) Bo Nanas comic strip for a number of years, as well as been a regular contributor to Mad magazine. He's also got a new comic out, Great Scott, which you can learn more about here (he's also going to be selling it at SPX if you happen to be down that way and feel like sending some money his way).

With that introduction out of the way, let's get right to it and have John take us on a tour of his shelves ...

My shelves are all cheapo brown pressboard affairs (none bought new) that just about cover my third floor studio's shared wall in our 100+ year old duplex.

When we moved in I spent a lot of time unpacking the books and trying to find the right place for each. I was trying to put them in categories. My wife asked if anyone but me would know. I said another nerd might.

Bookcase on the left: Top shelf - biography and collections. Second shelf - foreign comics. Third shelf - Non-mainstream/graphic novel-y stuff. Fourth shelf - MAD paperbacks, Popeye cup, gag cartoon paperbacks. Bottom shelf - gag cartoon hardcovers.

Bookcase on the right: Top shelf - hodge podge of hard-to-categorize books (ie,comics cookbook) and fiction about the comic industry. Second and third shelf - research and how-to. Fourth and bottom shelf - gag cartoon hardcovers.

Cut off on the top you can see the bottom my Batman alarm clock (which went off at 4:00 am - while still packed in a box - the first night we moved in), Mickey Mouse ears and a Kermit the Frog candlestick phone.

Bookcase on the left: All comic strip collections.

Bookcase on the right: Top shelf - biography. Second shelf - animation, EC comics, Will Eisner. Third shelf - Comic book and non-mainstream/graphic novel-y stuff. Fourth shelf - illustration, MAD related books. Bottom shelf - editorial cartoons.

Shelf one, two and four are all Peanuts. Shelf three is paperback comic strip collections (BC, Wizard if Id, Denise the Menace, etc.)

And I have two shelves of signed books.

Of note, books signed by 1) Nico (from Paraguay), 2) Gahan Wilson, 3) Mell Lazarus (one of his non-cartoon novels), 4) Jules Feiffer, 5) Viril Partch.

Of note, books signed by 1) Bill Watterson*, 2) James Kemsley (from Australia), 3) Milt Gross, 4) Chuck Jones.

*He used to sign books for a friend who owned a small bookstore in Ohio. When it became too well known that he was doing this he stopped.

And now stuff that isn't books.

First off let's look at some drawers. On the front of the top drawer of the file cabinet is a Batman door sensor. Pass your hand in front of it and it plays the 90s animated Batman theme and says, "Batcave defense program activated. Please wait for security clearance." On top left there is a picture of me in my superhero costume. (It's not my fault - read here.) There are also various bobble heads, including one of me my friend Chuck Gamble made for for 40th birthday. On the side are some odd candies from Seattle's Chinatown. On the top of the dresser are some fake Bo Nanas merchandise I made as holiday gifts for my clients. Down the side is some escape artist nerd stuff (yep, they're real handcuffs). Down the front, a couple of lanyards with buttons to keep them from being under foot.

Left to right: A special edition Batman thingy, a cardboard Dilbert periscope, Aku from "Samurai Jack", Ned* and a Dick Tracy lunchbox. Next shelf: mini Batman/Mr. Freeze Rock 'em sock 'em robots being crushed by books.

* Ned was a product the Lynn Johnston created based on a naked suction-cup-to-window guy (a la Garfield) that the character Michael had in her comic strip "For Better or for Worse." I think these were prototypes and she brought a bunch to a cartoonist gathering in Toronto. This one is signed.

Left to right: Avon Peanuts soap from the 70s, an Opus phone (take the handset from his back and he turns his head toward you) and a bird sculpture by a cartoonist friend.

In 1995 the National Cartoonist Society had their Reuben Weekend in Boca Raton, FL to celebrate the new International Museum of Cartoon Art...except the museum wasn't finished yet. So one of the receptions was a hard hat party. We were all given hard hats and Sharpies and, well, you can see what happened. (The fancy-pants glass box is actually an aquarium in its side.)

Welcome to Send Us Your Shelf Porn, where the collections are shared and the eyes are dazzled. Our guest this week is Steve Flack of Brooklyn, NY. Steve recently moved into a new apartment, and just finished refurbishing it, comics collection and all. He's eager to take us on a tour of the place, so get your guidebooks and click on the link ...

My name is Steve Flack. I'm a big fan of the Robot 6 Blog, and I love the Shelf Porn installments. When you started them, I had started my move into my new place, and I really hoped they'd still be running when I finished my set up. Luckily, they are, and my apartment is all set up!

There's a little history here. I've been collecting comics and toys for as long as I can remember, and have been focusing on comics since I was 8. I recently decided to move back into my grandmother's place in Brooklyn. My great grandmother lived there until she passed away over ten years ago. Since then, my father used to keep his baseball collection in there, which was impressive shelf porn of it's own.

When I decided to move in there, a lot of work had to be done to the apartment, including heating and electrical work, tearing down walls, and painting. I documented the entire story over at my blog.

Surprisingly, everything was done over the course of a few months, and now, my setup is all done.

This is my living room, on the far wall, you can see the first of my major comic book bookcases.

In this one are my omnibuses, and absolutes. Along the top is a complete set of Marvel Mighty Muggs, and atop all that is a print of an animated style "Goonies" by animator Steve Silver.

Across from the couch is my TV set up, which is flanked by some great pieces I got over the years.

First up is a Mr. Incredible poster by Mike Mignola, that I was lucky enough to have signed by Mike and the film's director, Brad Bird.

To the right of the TV is a page from Local by Ryan Kelly, and a page from Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. In between the two is a great display case I picked up from Ikea, filled with some awesome toys and statues.

And all the way tp the right is an original Evan Dorkin page from his Bill & Ted comics.

And then, I have two signed prints from the first two MoCCA Artfests, and poster from a Neil Diamond concert rounding out my dining area.

Next up is a signed Matt Groening print from the Simpsons movie, that I picked up when I met him at a recent SDCC.

And then finishing up this room are two Muppets, one a replica of Kermit the Frog, and the other is a Muppet version of myself.

As you walk through into the next part of the apartment, you'll see my original David Mazzuchelli Batman head sketch on the door, my favorite piece of art I've ever bought...

In the next room is my major library. I bought way too many bookcases, but that'll be great for the future. For now, I just grabbed some older comics with fantastic covers, and propped them up with plate holders.

The far left bookcase is all graphic novels grouped alphabetically.

The next bookcases are all Essentials and Showcases. The Spidey comic on display is the very first comic book I ever got, a great book about Spidey from the very early 1980's. I got it signed by Stan Lee at the very San Diego Comic Con I ever went to.

Graphic novels continue to the next bookcase, followed by selected display comics.

Next up are anthologies...

And then books on comics and toys.

The next book case is comic strips, and then random books that are too big for other bookcases.

The final bookcase is all art books..

And then the final two shelves are books that I still have to read.

Running along the top are all original comic art I've picked up over the years. From left to right, it's a Detective Comics page by JH Williams, The Sentry by Jae Lee, Ultimate Spider-Man by Mark Bagley, Ex Machina by Tony Harris, Spider-Man's Tangled Web by Darwyn Cooke, and New X-Men by Frank Quitely. Better shots of these pages and all of my original art collection are up at my Comic Art Fan's Gallery.

Across from the bookshelves are two comic pages from my friend, Matthew Loux. Matt and I went to college together, and now he creates books over at Oni Press (F-Stop, Sidescrollers, and the Salt Water Taffy series), Matt and I have a deal, where he puts me in a cameo appearance in all of his books, and I then purchase the page off of him. Here are my cameos in F-Stop and Sidescrollers.

In the next room is my bedroom...

Across from the bed is my lone non-comics bookcase. It's a mixture of prose books, and books on film and television. Also, running across the top is my collection of Muppet action figures.

Now, there's another spare room to the left left of the bookcase...

And in there are all of my single issues!

To the left of the boxes is my misc. filing shelf, filled with books I need to read and file, and boxes of mini-comics. As well as some pieces of art, including original work by Charles Burns and Jim Mahfood.

And across from the comics is my DVD collection.

So, that's my place. I hope this entry wasn't too long (I even left some stuff out, that could all be seen on my blog).

Thanks for listening!

JLA bobbleheads

And the papercraft kits just keep on comin'. This time it's a set of JLA-themed bobblehead dolls, created by Matt Hawkings of Custom Paper Toys. Better yet, these will be available in Arby's restaurants this week for a limited time with the purchase of a kid's meal. The dolls include Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Bizarro (not pictured). You can see more detailed pictures of the figures on Matt's Flickr page.

(found via the Ephemerist)