Reviewed: Arcade of Cruelty

I received review copy of this book in the mail a few weeks ago. I've had a hard time reviewing it since then, and here's why: I find it hard to accept that this book is real. I know it exists, but it seems like an elaborate hoax, or possibly a practical joke. Or possibly concept art. Those things are all basically the same thing.

You know those coffee table books that get released upon the death or career turning point of major artist? The ones that collect all their unpublished work for fans to drool and obsess over. That is what Arcade of Cruelty most resembles in style and format, but here's the twist; the book is not about a major artist. It's about Joseph Patrick Larkin, a nonfamous, not particularly successful youngish man who may or may not consider himself a cartoonist.

Arcade of Cruelty is a hateful, self-aggrandizing, self-immolating, intensely exhibitionist celebration of Joseph Patrick Larkin, by Joseph Patrick Larkin, and very possibly for Joseph Patrick Larkin. It collects a wide-cross section of anything Larkin has produced since he was about about eight years old. This includes defaced high school yearbook photos, collages designed for aid in masturbation ("Excerpts From Joseph Patrick Larkin's Beat Off Binders"), visual art so pretentious it may be parody, and an entire chapter of 9-11 jokes.

It would be easy to label this book as a vanity project produced by a crazy person, but for two factors. First of all, some of the material is really funny. While Arcade of Cruelty isn't something I would ever consider reading cover to cover (did I mention it's long?), each section has something that made me smile, chuckle knowlingly, or even LOL. The personage of Joseph Patrick Larkin as represented in this book is a mean-spirited loser, a man who despises women almost as much as he fears them, and whose go-to topics of comedic inspiration include rape, domestic violence, and 9-11. And some of those 9-11 jokes are really funny. Your reception of his humor will probably be best received by A) suicidal misogynists or B) people who enjoy terribly dark humor and who see the whole thing as straight-faced self-parody. I come down more on the B side, but I still feel kind of bad for enjoying so much of it.

The second thing that separates this book from any other sort of self-published wingnut zine is how expensive and fancypants the production is. It's self-published by Larkin's one-man company, Also-Ran, which judging from the website appears to mostly distribute Larkin's personal mixtapes. And yet the book is extremely well designed with a sense of seriousness and professionalism that can be found in absolutely none of the book's content. Each piece in the book is labeled with a Fine Arts Museum style title, caption and date. In the aforementioned Beat Off Binder chapter, every masturbation collage is accompanied by the same caption: "This is deeply troubling." As far as caption-based running gags go, this is pretty good. Also this section includes a really great picture of Fairuza Balk, which may be worth the price of the entire book, which by the way is $7.49 used on Amazon.

What sort of cognative split does one need to undergo to publish the contents of one's attic as if it was going to be sold at the MOMA gift shop? Maybe it will! I am not sure of anything after receiving this book in the mail. End of review.

Batman Animated Series Soundtrack FINALLY Available!

So the universe has finally decided to listen to me. It only took it over 10 years, thank you very much universe. A handful of Shirley Walker's amazing scores for the Batman the Animated Series are finally out on CD. The 2 disc limited edition collection features the full score from 11 episodes plus some bonus material. Unfortunately there's no villain theme medley which is really all I'm interested in... but there's more than enough here to get any Batman fan excited. Besides, my dream of having the Joker's theme as my cell phone ring will finally come true! You can purchase the album through La-La Land Records (by the way, one of my personal pet peeves is calling LA "la-la land"... don't do it).

Also, did you guys know Shirley Walker died two years ago? I was heartbroken to find that out when looking up this album... PLUS the f-ing academy didn't give her a mention in the "In Memoriam" section... which is particularly insulting considering she's one of the only female composers working in Hollywood. Ladies, you should write your congressman/woman complaining about this 2 year old slight!

Batman: Brave and the Bold actually not bad!

If you haven't realized by now, we're bat purists here at Geekanerd. We prefer our Batmen to be of the Kevin Conroy persuasion, sans pun and eyebrow. So of course Cartoon Network's latest Bat offering, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, had me cursing its name. This was the Batman of the swinging 60's; dropping lamer puns than Bond and fighting campy villains with comically over sized death traps. This was the Batman that killed comics for a good 2 decades! How dare Cartoon Network glorify this false idol!

But then I watched it. Two episodes in fact. And, well, it's pretty good. Stepping outside my love of Batman for a second, I can appreciate what this show's going for. Its unapologetic fun; basking in the inherent silliness of comics (which is frankly a nice change of pace from current generation DC and Marvel books). Capitalizing on the pulp stylings of 60's entertainment, this show is driven by the same tastes that drive The Venture Brothers. However, Batman: BnB is more homage than parody (and its opening intro music is an even better approximation of the original Johnny Quest theme than the Venture Brothers').

Is 60's nostalgia not enough to get you on board? Well, there's a secret second reason why this show is a ton of fun. In fact the show should really be called:

Yeah, a HUGE dick. Sure, he has "pithy" one liners and obvious puns for the villains... but his crimefighting companions are the ones who truly earn his oozing contempt. You really see why no one in the DC universe is good friends with the guy-he's condescending to Everyone. In the Christmas episode, the adorably robotic Red Tornado asks him why he dislikes Christmas; to which he responds in the most condescending tone possible, "I don't dislike Christmas, I dislike crime." That shut him up. We even get flashbacks of lil Brucie during Christmases past... and guess what, he was a dick looong before his parents were gunned down in an alley (which this show suggests happened on a Christmas, so I guess you can cut the guy some slack).

So don't let the clunky and unappealing character design stop you (yes, I know, also a throwback... but still it's not that attractive). Even if campy fun isn't enough to get your attention, then let the asshole we all know Batman to be win you over. I promise, even if this isn't your cup of tea, you'll still find yourself chuckling.

Top Ten Rogues Galleries In All Of Geekdom

Surely there are many awesome superheroes; but what makes a superhero truly great? Not his powers, not his costume... but his rogues. You can have the coolest hero with the coolest powers and the coolest costume-but who would give a damn if he or she only fought Captain Lame-o and his goon squad. Here at Geekanerd, we take our villains seriously; they can make or break a hero (ha, sometimes literally!). We also take our lists seriously-so I present to you our TOP TEN ROGUES GALLERIES IN ALL OF GEEKDOM! Also, as an added bonus, the super hero with the lamest rogues gallery... but we'll get to that later.

Firstly, a quick rundown on the criteria. To reach "Rogue" status, a villain needs to plague a hero. No single serving villains here. Secondly, to reach "Gallery" status the villains need to be aware of each other and have some sort of interactivity-whether its a healthy rivalry or the occasional team-up. Alright, enough of the rules, To The List!

#10 Darkwing Duck
First on the list, a cartoon you may have forgotten about-but we here at Geekanerd never will. Not only was this show Disney animated hi jinks at its finest, but it also had the finest villains in your afterschool cartoon lineup. The most common problem with superhero villainy is a painful lack of attention to character personality. Far too often, a villain is simply a vessel for a superhero specifically designed to fight a hero. Same character, different costume. But this Rogues gallery has a varied array of personalities rarely seen in children's tv. With characters like Negaduck, Megavolt, Bushroot, The Liquidator, and Quackerjack; there is no personality overlap. From the willing-to-do-Anything-evil Negaduck to the timid Bushroot (and then of course the bizarre Liquidator who only speaks in TV-ad-speak); its hard to imagine that these characters came from the same studio that gave us the dullest characters ever: Huey, Dewey, and Louie (no no, they're totally different, see? They have different colored hats!)



#9 Freakazoid
This show never gets enough love. Now that it's out on DVD, if you haven't seen it, well you better rectify that. Of course the star attraction is the hilarious and insane Freakazoid-but that doesn't mean his villains don't steal any of the show. The Lobe, Cave Guy, CandleJack, Arms Akimbo, Waylon Jeepers-only a hero as nuts as Freakazoid could deal with this freak show. Some of the funniest moments in all of villainy come from this rogues gallery. The Candlejack episode alone is one of my all time favorites.

Hit the jump for the best Rogues Galleries (and the worst)...




#8 The Venture Brothers
This one may be a bit of a hard sell-most of the villainy occurs off screen in an implied continuity that we are only partly privy to. But, the show takes its villainy very seriously-going to great lengths to create a villainous society with rules, bylaws, statutes and other boring stuff you wouldn't ordinarily associate with villains. And as far as "plaguing" the protagonist goes-you never feel that frustration more than you do on The Venture Brothers-with each attack eliciting hardly more than the lackluster "alright, everyone to the panic room." Of course there's the obvious The Monarch; followed by Dr. Girlfriend (now Dr. Mrs. The Monarch), Baron Underbheit, Phantom Limb, Sgt. Hatred, and even David Bowie... but then you have the implied villainy of The Power Plug, Mecha Mouth, King Gorilla, Mr. Monday, The Intangible Fancy-who knows what any of them did... but you can rest assured that with names like that, their deeds were truly villainous.


#7 The X-Men
Enough funny stuff, let's get down to some serious Superheroics. The first true blue superhero comic to make the list is everyone's favorite team of social outcasts! And their list of rogues is even longer than their ever expanding team roster-You got your Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (who's team roster supplies enough rogues for the Avengers and the Justice League combined), you got your Mr. Sinister, your Apocalypse, your Hellfire Club, your Dark Phoenix, your Sentinels... really, there aren't too many people the X-Men haven't fought over the years. Hell, give Prof. X a nasty helmet and even he'll smash you into a new continuity


#6 Captain Marvel
SHAZAM! *Bonus points if you now what all those letters stand for* Captain Marvel may be a surprise to you, but his villains are all quite memorable-and perfectly fit the pulpy goodness that is Captain Marvel. Each and every one of them could have come out of a pulp magazine from the '20s; Dr. Sivana (the ultimate archetype of your Mad Scientist), Mr. Mind (a planet conquering worm from beyond), Black Adam (a reverse Captain Marvel-getting his powers from those dirty Egyptian gods), and even Captain Nazi (ok, so you would be hard pressed to find him in a '20s pulp mag). Not only are they all great throwbacks to a simpler time, but they've all been given the modern treatment and feature prominently in current DCU affairs. Black Adam is one of my favorite DC characters from the past 2 years!

#5 The Tick
Ok, back to the silly stuff... and it doesn't get much sillier than The Tick. Not the first, but certainly one of the best superhero parodies, The Tick featured an amazing cast of insane villains. Some of my personal favorites include Chairface Chippendale, The Terror (thumbs up to evil!), The Human Ton and his pal Handy, The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight, and of course The Man Eating Cow. Its hard to go wrong when you've got a guy with a chair for a head, a geriatric nut who punched Teddy Roosevelt, and a cow that eats people.*


#4 Daredevil
Now his gallery maybe the smallest of the bunch, but the strength of its individual members more than makes up for the quantity. Sure, he has a healthy sized stable of regular villains (the Owl, Mr. Fear, *cough* Stiltman), but when you think of Daredevil, you think of 3 villains: The Kingpin, Bullseye, and Elektra. And that's enough. These alone are three of the best villains in the Marvel universe-and their relationships to each other are just as messed up as their relationships to Daredevil... its one bizarre ninja family up in there. And of course Kingpin was originally a Spiderman villain; but when Frank Miller took over Daredevil in the '80s, he stole Kingpin from Spidey's stable and remolded him into the menacing and nuanced crime boss that he is today. Also you'd be hard pressed to find a hero/villain rivalry in comics as heated and violent as the Daredevil/Bullseye relationship... I mean he has killed virtually every woman Matt Murdock has ever loved. That's harsh.


#3 The Powerpuff Girls
Sure, laugh all you want, but few have made better use of their rogues gallery than The Powerpuff Girls. Imbuing incredibly unique and bizarre personalities on their villains, this gallery makes frequent appearances on the show-often not as villains but as villainous bystanders merely inconvenienced by the girls' daring-do. With the likes of Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, the Amoeba Boys, Princess, and the supremely creepy villain known only as "Him," its hard not to respect the care and creativity that went into crafting these villains. You really know the creators loved these guys-getting particularly impressive mileage out of Mojo and Him. You mock, but I stand by this one-Magneto ain't got nothing on Him. (*insert gay villain joke here*)


#2 The Flash
Here's a rogues gallery that took the concept to its natural conclusion-they've actually "unionized" into a group simply called "the rogues." These guys practically brought the phrase "rogues gallery" from the Pinkertons to comics. And besides being ground breakers, they're also endlessly entertaining. Though technically there are dozens, the main cast includes Captain Cold, The Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, The Trickster, Heat Wave, and The Pied Piper. Though on the surface they all seem to represent the mind numbingly dull gimmicked villains of the golden age-they have evolved far beyond that. Practically defined by their obsessions, this motley crew really represent the working man's villain. They have no dreams of world domination or mass destruction-they simply want to make some money, and to make it fast (ha, Flash pun!) Individually they are pretty unimpressive-but as a band they are not only intimidating, but tons of fun to read. Their personalities mesh perfectly to create a group of begrudging friends defined by an ambiguous "code of the rogues." Even in the current Final Crisis, they opted out of joining the DC villains at large to stick to what they do best... fighting scarlet speedsters and looking for a quick payday.

Now, before we get to #1, we wanted to give you our least favorite Rogues Gallery belonging to a big name super hero. Granted, there are definitely worse galleries out there-but none that belong to such an important hero that deserves so much better... so, here it is:

The Lamest Rogues Gallery: Spiderman
I know we're going to get alot of grief for this one, but hear me out-this isn't just nerd-baiting. He's one of the best and most unique superheroes in comics-so why doesn't he have any unique villains? The Vulture, The Rhino, Dr. Octopus, The Lizard, The Scorpion, The Chameleon, (you see the pattern?) I get it... he's a spider-does that mean he has to fight every member of the damned animal kingdom? Sure sure, there are others, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Sandman, Electro... but really are any of them that unique? Their goals and motives are all bland and overused; differentiated by little more than a different gimmick and an alternating rate of maniacal giggles... let's be honest-Green Goblin (his arch nemesis I suppose) is little more than a watered down, flying Joker mixed with a healthy dose of Lex Luthor. I'll give you Venom-he's probably the most unique character in the gallery... but not enough to justify the animal themed, experiment-gone-wrong blandness of the rest of em. Too bad they didn't manage to hang onto Kingpin... he's pretty cool.

Now, with that unpleasantness aside, I give you the best Rogues Gallery in all of Geekdom...


#1 Batman
You can argue with me about any of the other members of this list (as I'm sure you will), but there's nothing you can say about Batman. Its a fact; he has the best Rogues Gallery. You're more likely to convince me that the sun revolves around the Earth. How do you counter and obsessive loner bent on an impossible war against crime? Well, throw some even bigger loons his way! Gimmicks and powers don't define these villains, that's too pedestrian. These characters are defined by their own brand of crazy-enough mental illness to fill the DSM. And what's even more amazing, is almost each character alone would be enough to drag any other rogues gallery to the top of this list... but they belong to one man! Joker, Two Face, Penguin, The Riddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Clayface, The Madhatter, Mr. Freeze, The Ventriliquist... I mean seriously, its not until you get onto the fourth or fifth floor of Arkham before you start to find villains of questionable merit (the Ten-Eyed man anyone?). I mean, most of these rogues galleries are lucky to have 3 great villains... Batman's got dozens! Sure, Superman can fly and shoot lasers from his face... but you know he's jealous of these badguys while he's busy cleaning up another one of Toyman's big robots. It's too bad Batman is too crazy himself to truly appreciate the brilliance he's "inspired" in his villains.

*Thanks to Johnny Zito for letting us use his awesome Tick Sketch! Milkshake baby! Boom!

You Too Can Have That Mad Scientist Style

Mad Science isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle. Look at the recent smash web series, Dr. Horrible; Joss and Neil Patrick Harris absolutly nail the fundementals. The egotism. The speeches. The voluminous hairstyles. Unlike this upcoming Adrian Brody movie called Splice; that's supposed to be a mad scientist look? What kind of press still is that? He looks like he's sticking his hand behind the counter of a Baskin Robins. And he's not wearing a costume. No. This is pathetic.

If you're looking to get a piece of that tampering-in-God's-domain style for yourself, see how some of Gnerd's favorite mads have distinguished themselves, after the jump ...

Dr. Victor Frankenstein II, Young Frankenstien

MAD SCIENCE: Creates a frankenstein.
STYLES: Lab coat, welder's goggles, big hair.
DEMEANOR: Mostly quiet dignity and grace, occasional mania.
QUOTE: "HEARTS AND KIDNEYS ARE TINKERTOYS! I'm talking about the central nervous system!"

Dr. Daniel P. Schreber, Dark City

MAD SCIENCE: Creates artificial memories for the unwitting human test subjects of Dark City. It's kind of like the Matrix, but with aliens instead of robots. Also it's much better.
STYLES: Himmler Glasses, labcoat, leather apron, tweed, hair gel.
DEMEANOR: Jittery, stilted speech, cowardly yet subtly rebellious.
QUOTE: "These do bring back memories. This one is still warm. What is it? The recollections of a great lover? A catalog of conquests? We will soon find out. "

Dr. Hubert Farnsworth, Futurama

MAD SCIENCE: Mostly quality of life inventions, and the occasional weapon of mass destruction.
STYLES: Lab coat, incredibly thick glasses, pajamas.
DEMEANOR: Enthusiastically senile, proactive.
QUOTE:
Bubblegum Tate: We need some kind of Doomsday device to create an implosion like that.
Professor Farnsworth: Doomsday device? Aha! Now the ball's in Farnsworth's court. [looks over a selection of several doomsdays devices] I suppose I can part with one and still be feared.

GLAdOS, Portal

MAD SCIENCE: Conducts human proficiency trials for the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. Indefinitely.
STYLES: She's a robot.
DEMEANOR: Passive agressive, petulant, explosively indignant, and more.
QUOTE: "Good news. I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did. It was a morality core they installed after I flooded the Enrichment Cetner with a deadly neurotoxin, to make me stop flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin. So get comfortable, while I warm up the neurotoxin."

Professor Jonathan Crane, AKA Scarecrow, Batman

MAD SCIENCE: Fear toxin, fear toxin, and more fear toxin.
STYLES: More of a theoretical scientist than a laboratory scientist, Crane sticks mostly to academic wear. In some comics and cartoons he has big, one might say straw-like, hair. And of course, he also likes to wear this:

DEMEANOR: He's a comic book character, so he get characterization is inconsistent, but self-agrandizing, cruel, and haughty are good places to start.
QUOTE:
(being dragged through Arkham by Batman and Robin)
Crane: I am the master of fear! The Lord of Despair! Coward before me in witless terror!
Harley: Hi Professor Crane!
Crane: (calm) Good evening, child. (back to Batman and Robin) Worship me, fools! Worship me!

Dr. Strangelove, Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb

MAD SCIENCE: Calls for nuclear shelters to be created hundreds of miles below the earth's surface, to be populated with government officials and a 10 to 1 ratio of beautiful women to men.
STYLES: Black suit, dark glasses indoors, big hair, leather glove to contain his self-destructive left hand (this is a real thing!)
DEMEANOR: Enthusiastic, on edge, fascistic.
QUOTE:
President Muffley: You mean people could actually stay down there for a hundred years?
Dr. Strangelove: It would not be difficult, Mein Fuhrer! Nuclear reactors could... I'm sorry, "Mr. President"...

Dr. Drakken, Kim Possible

MAD SCIENCE: World-domination devices, that range from basic to absurd, including a product called Lather, Rinse, Obey: Doctor D's Brainwashing Shampoo & Cranium Rinse.
STYLES: Blue lab coat, facial scar, big hair.
DEMEANOR: Egotistical yet insecure.
QUOTE:
Drakken: Oh, just because I do bad things that makes me evil?
Kim: Uh...yeah. You're a villain.
Drakken: Oh, you teenagers think you have it all figured out! Sometimes there are shades of gray!

Dr. Clayton Forrester, Mystery Science Theater 3000

MAD SCIENCE: Used his lab's janitor as a test subject in an experiment to determine how to drive people insane with bad movies. Also creates evil inventions, including a guillotine for chocolate rabbits and pills that are intentionally painful to swallow.
STYLES: Green lab coat, green glasses, big white-streaked big hair and mustache.
DEMEANOR: Cheerfully sadistic, professorial but excitable.
QUOTE: "Your movie today is Pod People. It has nothing to do with pods. It has nothing to do with people. It has everything to do with hurting!"

And finally, one of my favorites. Only featured in one episode of a TV show precious few watched, and voiced by the inimitable Tim Curry....

Dr. Mystico, Freakazoid

MAD SCIENCE: Created a race of superstrong Orangu-men. Who's crazy now, hmm?
STYLES: Blue suit, advanced level facial hair.
DEMEANOR: Suave, paranoid, boisterous.
QUOTE: "You think I've got a clock in my head, don't you?!"

Ah, hell, just go watch the episode and take your own notes. And please let me know in angry detail about which of your favorites I skipped; but keep in mind we're talking EVIL scientists, so Doc Brown doesn't count!

The Dark Knight In Stick Figures

How much did I love The Dark Knight? So much I had to draw a frenzied, semi-illegible stick figure comic about it. Maybe not so much ABOUT the film, it really just summarizes the first half hour. It's one of those. Bonus feature: a collapsed interpretation of the Rachel Dawes arc.

HUGE SPOILERS after the jump for anyone who didn't see it...seriously.


TO BE CONTINUED?

Hey, fandom isn't always pretty. Here's what I remember of Rachel Dawes.


Were you shocked? I was shocked.

Your Excellency

All at once, Japan is apparently able to engage in PR, government business, possible subtle parody of goverment business, children's toy and entertainment advertising, blog fodder creation, and the warm mainline cultural moment of giving a beloved classy lady her due. Japan has started appointing cartoon characters to its government.

First, there was this:

This robot cat is called Doraemon, and he is happy to have just been appointed Anime Ambassador to the World. He is shaking hands with the Foreign Minister of Japan, Masahiko Komura. Our analog would be Ms. C. Rice*. Seems Masahiko Komura's trying to exchange a knowing look with Nobita, friend of Doraemon, but, from this angle at least, it looks to be unreciprocated.

Then today:


Naturally, Hello Kitty is now the Tourism Ambassador, specializing in China and Hong Kong. According to one article, she will have 11 other goodwill ambassadors to help her do her job, which is probably a good idea. Although of course.... this is a class act whose 2D disembodied head alone has moved millions of units of merchandise in many markets all over the world. I'm kind of surprised she had time to come and collect her certificate. Nice of her to dress traditional though.

*AHR did this mock-up to give an idea of what it would look like if anything like this were to transpire over here in Americaland.

Pobrecita's just happy to have a friend.

NYCC 08: The Mighty B! Panel

I came to Comic Con on Sunday for one reason; The Mighty B! panel. A full episode ("Sweet Sixteenth") was screened along with a number of pencil tests, character models, and background art, and I am now certain of what I had already suspected; this show (premiering April 26th) is going to be a solid hit with my slice of the cartoon watching demographic. That would be the Too-Old-To-Be-Watching-Cartoons crowd who helped to make shows like Spongebob and Powerpuff Girls such cultural phenoms. Just look at the team's pedigree:

Amy Poehler: Co-Creator and voice of the lead character. As you can see in the character models above, Bessie's personality is an amalgam of many of Amy's child characters, i.e. Andy Richter's Sister, SNL's Kaitlyn ("RICK!"), and especially Cassie the girl scout, who can be seen in the first episode of of The Uprights Citizens Brigade show (Cassie is my 2nd favorite of her UCB characters, right after Arby). Andy Ritchter and Rob Corrdy also contribute voices, and I imagine a number of other New York comedy folks will show up eventually as well.

The other two co-creators are Erik Wiese of Spongebob and Cynthia True of Fairly Oddparents, two shows that I'd say are the finest comedy Nicktoons of the last decade (okay, there may be room on that list for one more). Also on the animation team are folks from Ren and Stimpy, and you can really see the influence of all of those shows in both the writing and especially in the kinetic, wild-takes-aplenty style of the animation.

After the jump: hand drawn animation! Gorgeous painted backgrounds! Goofy, hyperactive female protagonists! They said it couldn't be done, but we have the technology!


Mighty B! is set in San Francisco, and creators Wiese and True mentioned wanting to set the show outside of the generic suburbia so many kids cartoons seem to exist in. They projected several of the show's outstandingly beautiful hand-painted backgrounds during the panel, and though these photos hardly do them justice, you can see the amount of care and artistry the Mighty B team is putting into the show. As an East Bay native who has spent my share of time in San Francisco, I'm impressed with how these painting capture the unique architecture and angularity of SF through the vibrant filter of a child's perspective. The panel also projected a still from an episode called "Bat Mitzvah Crashers" (noted as a favorite by True and Wiese), certainly not something you'd expect to see in a typical nicktoon (okay, fine, Rugrats) so it seems like the diversity of living in a big city will also be reflected.

The animation is all hand-drawn, which combined with a real sense of spontaneity in the voicework (how could you not allow for improv when your cast includes Amy, Andy Richter, and Rob Corddry) gives the show an extremely free-wheeling feel. At times the pacing felt almost out-of-control in the episode I watched, though I don't imagine that kids are going to be phased by any formal wonkiness that nerds like me care about. Besides, nothing risked nothing gained; the chaotic pace also results in some really inspired moments of humor that recall the craziness of Ren and Stimpy's early seasons.

Lastly, the prospect of seeing a girl protagonist in a cartoon that is not "a girl's show" is really exciting. Growing up as both an obsessive fan of cartoons and a goofy, nerdy girl, I was aware from a very young age that all the cartoon characters that made me laugh were boys. Girl protagonists were, as aptly put by Cynthia True, "straight-men and sidekicks". As much as I love female characters like Sandy from Spongebob and Wanda from Oddparents, their roles are generally to pull back the action, to worry and advise against things. Even girls who have their own shows in this brave new millennium such as Kim Possible and Jenny from Teenage Robot tend to have almost model minority personalities; level headed, strong, smart, pretty, and bland. These are cartoon characters with no extremes; where's the fun in that? The most silly, strange girls in modern cartoons may be Bubbles of the Powerpuffs and Starfire of Teen Titans, and both of these characters must share the stage with others. The Mighty B! is Bessie's show, and I can't recall ever seeing an animated character like her before. Wacky to the point of unhinged, energetic to the point of hyperactive, Bessie is made of extremes. Will kids respond to her? I think so. The show's inclusion of choreographed action sequences by animators from Airbender (we saw an pencil test from a Ping Pong battle which had me laughing out loud) and a good amount of ever-popular gross out humor, I think this show has a great chance of connecting with kids, and it's success would go a long way in changing people's ideas of what a girl protagonist can be. This is a show I have been waiting for for a long time, and I'm eager to see how it's received. Fingers crossed.

Sam and Max: The Animated Series Has A DVD Release Date

The wonderful thing about this modern age is that any canceled TV show you've ever loved, no matter how obscure, no matter how unpopular, will one day be immortalized on consumer DVD. You just have to wait. March 11th is the day my waiting ends, because that's the DVD release date for Sam and Max: Freelance Police - The Complete Animated Series. Finally, those who blinked and missed the show's less than one year run on Fox Kids will be able to watch and rewatch every episode in all their light-hearted, anarchic, unabashedly violent glory.

The three-disc set will include creator interviews, animated shorts, and plenty of cross-promotion with the new Sam and Max games from Telltale studios. One of the more interesting items promised on the Amazon product page is an "original series bible by Steve Purcell" though I would guess this will consist mainly of the character design charts which have been displayed before in the official Sam and Max sketchbook, A History of S&M (no longer available at Telltale's website, but you can probably find a copy on ebay. It's worth it!).

Of course you can already watch a number of episodes on YouTube, and GameTap has 23 episodes available for download. But the Telltale site says the DVD includes all 26 episodes, and unless that's a misprint, 26 is actually two more episodes than listed on the Wikipedia episode list, so we might even be in "lost episode" territory. I hope, I hope.

Of course not every episode of this series was great, there are almost as many misses as hits, but the moments where the series does nail Purcell's sense of high flying comedic chaos, it does so in a way that makes it's Saturday morning timeslot all the more admirable and/or questionable. I'll close with some of my favorite near-inappropriate lines from the series.

Note how Purcell's arch verbosity was kept in tact, expanding the vocabularies of kids across the nation.

(after getting zapped with a laser gun)
Max: The pain is almost euphoric, Sam.
Sam: Like falling asleep in a tanning booth.

Max: Can this be of any help, Sam? It's my old fully functional HO scale nuclear reactor. Sure gave model railroading a modern touch of urban peril.

The show did a great job of preserving Max's character without watering it down too much. He's much the same lovable yet dangerously insane bunny he was in the comics...

Sam: You kill me, little buddy.
Max: Only if we're taken alive, Sam.

Sam: I'm sure a heaping helping of our persuasive charms will soon have him seeing things our way.
Max: Or not seeing things at all!

Sam: Good work, little buddy. Thanks to your addled shenanigans, I was able to collar this carp without gunfire or loss of life.
Max: Don't mention it, Sam. May I be rewarded with the pleasure of tenderizing - er, I mean "mirandizing" the prisoner now?
Sam: Okay, but do it in the back, these poor folks have seen enough atrocities for one day.

And who could forget the sheer number of grotesque Alligator-Eating-Max's-Arm jokes, from the classic episode, That Darn Gator...

(figuring out how to feed him)
Sam: That's it, Max! He'll only eat things off your finger.
Max: Like the first three layers of skin.

Max: I think I'm experiencing the heady bond that can only come from motherhood....or loss of blood.

Sam: Look at him go, he'll be on to solid foods in no time!
Max: Good. All this arm hair and muscle tissue can't be good for him.

(having fed the alligator everything in the house)
Max: Well, that's the last of it.
Sam: Not quite, there's still some bean-dip.
Max: I mean the sensation in my arm.
(both laugh uproariously)

Geekanerd's past coverage of the Sam and Max renaissance...

Checking In On the MST3K Renaissance

Our man Fred, who brought us the controversial MST3K Cash-In Race article, gives an update on the plans and projects of the segmented MST3K alumni...

Last time we checked in, the former cast and crew of Mystery Science Theater 3000 had split into three distinct camps, each embarking on a new MST3K-related project in a phenomenon we're calling either "The Renaissance of 2007" or "MST3K: The Great Cash-In Race," depending on our mood. For a quick primer on the players, click here. To see what what our friends are up to now (and to see who the current frontrunner is), read on...

Team Joel
On December 6th, Joel and his posse (Coniff, Beaulieu, Pehl, Weinstein) debuted Cinematic Titanic as a live show for a closed audience at Lucasfilm headquarters. There were a few accounts of the night posted throughout the MST3K webworld, and while most of them were big sloppy wet fanboy kisses (OMG, JOEL IN PERSON!!!), it bodes relatively well for Team Joel that their first outing was a success, even a softball success. Even more encouraging are the production stills posted at cinematictitanic.com. One shows Trace Beaulieu examining a promisingly good-looking prop (revealed, in the caption, to be a "TimeTube"). Another shows an impressive green-screened soundstage with the new silhouette setup. While it's hard to make solid judgments based on these, they firmly put to rest any notion that Team Joel will be half-assing it.

Still, not all is baked goods in the Titanicville: the initial release date of XMas 07 has been pushed back, with no new date announced. Sez Joel: "...there will be slight delay on the delivery date...once we got this curious new show on its feet, and were finally able to see it manifest in the real world, we realized we wanted to have a bit more fun playing with some of the creative ideas that emerged in the process." Translation: they got trigger happy with the release date. So while things are looking pretty good (this uninspired Frank Coniff strike video nonwithstanding), the delay is going to cost Hodgson and Co. the holiday gift-giving rush, and further delays will mean they'll miss out on the current media interest in all things MST3K.

Team Mike
Midwestern Nice Guy(tm) that he is, Mike Nelson came out of the gate with cries of "the more the merrier," jokingly suggesting in an interview with MSNBC that the various MST3K camps establish professional wrestling-style rivalries to increase the audience. However, a close reading of the transcript reveals some minor discomfort, with Mike offering up the occasional "we got there first" statement ("the more people doing the RiffTrax thing, the better") and calling the new MST3K.com "cute." Note also his telling omission when referring to "the new [site] that Jim and my buddy Paul put up." Mike, is Jim not your buddy?!

But we kid Team Mike, which, despite the aw-shucksing, has been quite busy. A number of new Rifftrax have been posted, including one for the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, which coincidentally (or not?) was rumored to be Cinematic Titanic's first movie (it turned out to be 70's monster flick "Brain of Blood"). Mike and the Bots his RiffTrax friends Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy have also put together a holiday greeting video which is actually pretty funny until Murphy shows up and the whole thing takes a turn for the scatological. All of this is well and good, but the most significant developments have been two serious improvements to Rifftrax's content delivery scheme, which (aside from, let's face it, the occasionally mediocre writing) has always been its Achilles heel. First up is the free Rifftrax player, which will automatically synch up the film you're watching with its accompanying commentary track. Bravo! Now I won't have to sit there desperately fast-forwarding and rewinding to get that annoying toaster to synch up with Princess Amidala. Secondly, Rifftrax is teaming up with DivX to offer downloadable versions of the films that Legends owns, complete with pre-synched riffing (to entice fans to register, they're offering a free driver's ed short, "Signal 30"). In other words, despite all the doves and olive branches, Team Mike is streamlining its approach and battening its hatches. And in the midst of all this, someone has quietly added the tags "cinematic" and "titanic" to Rifftrax's YouTube previews.

Team Jim
Initially promising a new animated webisode posted every week, we're almost two months into the new MST3K.com and Team Jim has only delivered three (four if you count the short snippet of Crow/Servo dialogue posted on Thanksgiving). Hard to say exactly what's causing the delay, but fifty-foot waves of fan outrage can't be helping. While bringing original series writer Paul Chaplin on board to voice Crow was a good (if possibly cynical) decision and it hasn't hurt Mallon any, so far it hasn't shielded him from a healthy dose of messageboard ire (my favorite photoshopped piece of hate mail featured Mallon's face affixed to the Incredible Hulk's body). And while the generally tight-lipped Mallon doesn't seem like the type to bend to fan pressure, it's hard not to imagine that he and his minions are scrambling to come up with something to turn the tide. Perhaps the surest sign that this is the case: about two weeks into the new site, when the messageboard derision was reaching fever pitch, a poster claiming to be on Mallon's production team (his unfortunate psuedonym: "SHAD") took to the web to defend the new cartoons. He acknowledged the clumsiness of the site, avowed the team's Mistie cred, and generally offered promises that "If it doesn't get a heck of a lot funnier...we're out of here." Fair enough. I'll give them points for open communication and an obvious desire to improve the quality of the webisodes (not to mention the Space Mutiny-themed T-Shirt now sold in the store). But, as we all know, the path to Internet Webcomic Hell is paved with good intentions. And just in case you're wondering, the latest video sucks.

The Frontrunner: Team Mike!
Predictably, Team Jim has stumbled right out of the gate. Team Joel is showing good promise, but blowing its Xmas release date has cost it this lap. It's Mike's race to lose.

Special Prize: Satellite News. Revamping it's format and offering more regular updates, the unofficial (in name only) MST3K news clearinghouse has been on top of the '07 renaissance every step of the way. Despite the site's occasionally cloying "Guys! It's not a competition you guys!!!" appeal for peace, love and understanding, it's still the best thing going for Misties the world over. Kudos.

Honorable Mention: YouTube "Shreds" Videos

My vote for the most innovative internet adaptation of the MST3K concept.

Spongebob-Plankton Union Yields Stocking Stuffer

While Albo spent his time at the DigitalLife Holiday expo getting the specs on a metal box full of expensive home theater equipment, I gravitated more towards the booths with pleasing cartoon shapes. I would up at the display for Npower, Nickelodeon's new line of consumer electronics for "kids of all ages" or, to put it another way, actual kids and dorky adults.

I was particularly entranced by this itty-bitty SpongeBob camera. It's more fashion statement than gadget, as the resolution tops out at 640x480. But hey, it's only $20 bucks and the design is pretty remarkable, particularly because the thing looks like the mutant offspring of SpongeBob and Plankton, the villain of the series. Surely I am not the only one who sees this.

Team Fortress 2 - Cartoons Never Looked So Badass

Since the PS3 and XBox360 came out I've wondered how long it will be before video games begin using character animation sophisticated enough to make gameplay indistinguishable from say, a Pixar movie. Turns out the designers at Valve are in fact hard at work creating gorgeously rendered, chunky-yet-smooth cartoon character designs for the upcoming Team Fortress 2.


Illustrative Rendering In Team Fortress 2

This behind-the-scenes vid is refreshingly technical and info-packed, but those who, like me, don't include the words "clamped lambertian" in their volcabularly might get lost around 2:13. Might. I'm not saying I did.

For high-res vids of these hot graphics in action, check out the game teasers, which show off a great sense of humor as well.

Via Bleeding Pixels

Justice League: The New Frontier Footage on YouTube

This promotional featurette for Justice League: The New Frontier has shown up on YouTube and features sound bites from Dan Didio, a shockingly youthful Bruce Timm (this guy is 48?! He ain't human!), and Darwyn Cooke himself. It's all pretty standard promotional fare, lots of shots of the beautiful original comic that only make the static-looking animation appear less impressive. Judge for yourself - maybe they're just holding out on us.


Via Newsarama
Thoughts on the all-star cast (all stars of the B-List, at least) after the jump...

So at 1:46, they announce an all new voice-actor lineup, but we don't actually get to hear any of the characters voices. Perhaps because DC knows that any change in the regular Justice League voice-actor lineup is going to cause fanboys' ears to bleed. Since New Frontier features "re-imagined" versions of the Justice League (or if they wanted to integrate the concept of the 52 multiverses, they could just say it was a different earth) it makes sense that they'd have different voices. For the most part the choices seem pretty reasonable...

Kyle Maclachlan as Superman - fair enough. He can certainly play stilted and clean-cut as well as anyone.

Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman - Obvious choice. Still a good one.

David Borenanz as Hal Jordan/Green Latern - Hal wasn't a character in the original Justice League animated series anyway, so David Borenanz doesn't have much to live up to. Plus he's Angel. And he wore a green shirt to the recording session, which earns him credibility points.

Neil Patrick Harris as The Flash - This is supposed to be the Barry Allen version of the Flash, and since NPH is doing the voice I have a feeling he's going to be regulated to comic relief just as Wally was in the regular show. The shot of him being caught in a net (A NET!) at 2:26 doesn't do much to dispel this.

Jeremy Sisto as Batman - ah, here's where I have a problem. Not that I don't like Jeremy Sisto - he was great in Six Feet Under. But I haven't seen an animated version of Batman who wasn't voiced by the legendary Kevin Conroy since, well, ever. I read a book with Batman in it, I hear Conroy's voice. Unless Sisto comes out of the gate with some fantastic new interpretation of the character, it's going to be extremely jarring to watch a movie where Batman is speaking with the voice of...some guy.

Iggy Pop and Sean Penn To Voice English Dub of Persepolis

While Watchmen movie rumors are all well and good, the other most exciting upcoming comic-to-film adaptation is Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. It's the autobiographical story of a girl growing up in Iran while theIslamic Revolution reached it's height. This foreign-yet-understandable trailer focuses on a counter-revolution going on in the 1970s; HARD ROCK.



Bad. Ass. Who says 2-D animation is dead? ICV2 blogged today that A-lister Sean Penn and punk rock god Iggy Pop will both be voicing roles in the English-language release, due out in late 2007.

Analysis after the jump.



This project is only a blip on Iggy's illustrious acting career, which includes a reoccurring role as Michelle Trachtenberg's dad on "Pete & Pete" and a great cameo in Dead Man's most homoerotic scene. But it's a pretty remarkable gig for Sean Penn - it's rare for truly respected American dramatic actor to do cartoon voice over work, since not many high-profile dramatic animated films are released in the USA for widespread consumption. Usually only Miyazaki gets the big acting talent to show up for English dubs. Of course, cinematic acting skills don't always transfer over to the magical craft of voice-acting, so here's hoping Sean Penn nails it on his first time out.

Ratatouille: Advanced Screenings This Saturday!

UPDATE: The 6/15/07 screening has come and gone, but you can still use the links below to try and find other advanced screenings near you...or you can read Geekanerd's REVIEW on the movie, which opens nationwide on 6/29/07.

Original Post follows:

Time for Pixar to redeem itself! Doing a complete cultural 180 from their last movie about a talking NASCAR, their latest "stab" at getting back the ol' magic is a cartoon about haute french cuisine! Fake it till you make it, lads!

Truth be told, I don't have very high hopes from the trailers, but Pixar has a history of horrible trailers for not so horrible movies. So we'll see. I do like rats.

The movie comes out for real on the 25th, but there are 800 advanced screenings around the country on Saturday, June 15th. Oh shizz, that's tomorrow! If you're based in NYC like the Geekanerd Crew, you can buy tickets on Fandango at the following address:
http://www.fandango.com/ratatouille_98260/movietimes?date=6/16/2007

As of this writing, tickets are available for all four NYC screenings! C'mon animation nerds, turn off the lightbox and get it together!

If you're part of that mass of people I've heard about who DON'T live in New York, you can search your zip code on Fandango or Moviephone for showtimes near you (I find Moviephone to have an easier search engine, but Fandango has some screenings Moviephone doesn't).