iPhone Rulz!

I'm going to have to post this in several parts, as I just don't have the time to do a comprehensive review in one sitting...

I heard that I'd have an easier time of it if I got an iPhone from an AT&T store instead of an Apple store. I drove by at 10 am on the 29th and there were 2 people waiting in line, so I decided I'd wait until after lunch to get in line. When I arrived I had this many people in front of me.



And after a couple of hours, I had this many people behind me.



Eventually (about 5 hours later) I walked out with an 8 gig iPhone. There was one disappointment - while the Apple store was limiting purchasers to 2 iPhones, the AT&T store was limiting purchasers to just 1. This thwarted my goal of surprising AJ with her very own iPhone. On the other hand, the AT&T store handled the crowd beautifully - with diligence to make sure everyone who showed up early got a phone - they also handed out chips and soda. When I got inside they were professional and courteous despite about 60 people lined up at 6 o'clock who were *very* eager to get in. They even let people in the queue use their (not public) restroom. Nice.

This is what the iPhone is replacing.



Alright, I got home and removed the iPhone from the bag.



A couple of views of the packaging. Sorry the images are so blurry here, I thought I had set the autofocus properly, but I didn't.





Opening it up, you see this.



Here are all the pieces.



I plug it all in, ready to go (AJ had already updated iTunes, knowing I'd want to jump right in). The phone is ready to go.



Oops! If you're using Mac OS X, guess what - you need to update to v.10. That added another 10 minutes to my wait.





Now it's working. Later I'll post a comprehensive review of each of the major systems - starting with e-mail, but I'll end with this short summary:

It really is an amazing device and it's light years better than my Blackberry at virtually everything it does. The EDGE speed is better than I expected - it's definitely faster than it was on my Blackberry - but it's nowhere near as fast as Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi implementation is seamless - it will even hop from one open Wi-Fi network to the next as your drive down the street. It's very full featured and customizable. It feels nice in your hand, but it's a little heavier than I expected - lighter than my Blackberry (by feel) but it feels very solid.

It comes with a dock, battery charger and headphones. The headphones have a small button and mic built in so you can answer calls, hang up and talk while wearing them. Sound quality on the headphones is good, but the built-in speakerphone is tinny.

The keyboard was easy for me to get used to - index finger typing is as fast as two thumb typing on the Blackberry keyboard, but I have not mastered two thumb typing on the iPhone.

I'm having one problem - the accelerometer is definitely having trouble on my phone. When I move it from portrait to landscape mode, it only notices it about half the time. If I move it forcefully, it's fine, but I'd rather not have to do that. I see a call to Apple customer service in my future.

Battery life seems excellent. I used it for a solid 5 hours after I got it yesterday, usually with the screen active - watching videos, tooling around with features and settings, making calls, etc. I drained about 1/4 of the battery in that time. They say that after 400 charges, the battery will start to loose efficiency - and it's not user replaceable, so that means sending it to Apple to replace the battery for a fee. So I better only have to charge it every other day. We'll see.

Stay tuned!

After posting all this, I decided to make a dedicated page for it - that way I won't be intruding on the hardcore readers here who couldn't care less about the iPhone. Read it here!

He's Back, Jack

There's a new movie being produced you may not have heard about. See, a couple of years ago this great animator came up with the brilliant idea of a feudal samurai trapped in the future. This future is (somehow) ruled by an entity so evil he might be called black-hearted, if he had one. The samurai doesn't really try to stop the entity so much as try to get back to his own past. For if he does that, he can stop the evil there, thus preventing him from conquering the future.

I hope by now you've figured out I'm talking about Samurai Jack. This will be the second property of Tartakovsky's to be developed into a feature length movie, but there is no word yet on how, when, or where it will be shown. It might be a direct-to-DVD thing, they might try and release it in theatres, or it may be shown on TV. This last might be a little more problematic then you might think as this project is not connected with Cartoon Network in anyway. Tartakovsky has joined up with former Hanna-Barbera president and The Fairly OddParents producer Fred Seibert's new company Frederator Films. Along with Jack, Frederator announced two other projects, The Neverhood, based on the DreamWorks video game, and a hip-hop project called The Seven Deadly Sins. Interesting side note about that, Doug TenNapel is on board to write and direct. TenNapel is probably best known for creating Earthworm Jim, but also created The Neverhood, and writes comics, among them, Tommysaurus Rex and Creature Tech.



-Dan

Angry Youth Condoms

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In a sequel to Peter Bagge's Hate Condoms blog, Angry Youth Comix creator Johnny Ryan gives you Angry Youth Condoms. Why do I find these things so damn funny? For your own Angry Youth Condoms go here.

And so I don't rehash an entire belong, here is an another interesting set of images I found on the Fantagraphics Blog:





Do I smell a Love & Rockets movie???

-Jon

Lives Up to the Hype?

I know...not really a Star Clipper related blog all that much, except in as much as it applies to me, and I own the place...

As some of you may know, I've been keeping up with all the iPhone what-not, with the intention of buying one of these babies just as soon as I thought I should. The big debate for me has been whether to buy the first generation iPhone or to wait for the next generation, which would be cheaper and more fully-featured (presumedly). I've also been hesitant about the first gen iPhone because it uses EDGE for cellular broadband - and EDGE sux - I have it with my Blackberry and it's super slow. Supposedly it's faster than dialup, but I find that hard to believe. Of course, the iPhone uses the fastest Wi-Fi network it can find - and I have access to Wi-Fi virtually everywhere I go, so it's less of an issue for me. And I doubt I'll be surfing the web while I'm driving...so, EDGE is not so big a deal.

So really I've been wondering if it lives up to the hype, has bugs, etc. Before I shell out $600 for a phone, I want to have confidence that this first iteration will be a near flawless device. I mean, my first gen iPod from 6 years ago still works great and is probably the best (in terms of reliability) iPod I ever bought (and I've bought many - this Christmas it was Nanos for all the staff), so my feeling is that Apple can make a reliable first generation product.

Well, according to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, the iPhone actually lives up to the hype. That's saying something, as I can't remember the last time anything was as hyped up as this device. Anyway, the reviews are all extremely positive, noting the same basic worry about EDGE that I already mentioned. Pretty much everyone agrees the virtual keyboard takes learning, but after 3-4 days you're usually on top of it. You can watch Walt Mossberg's review below.



So if you're interested in getting one of these, you can join me at the Cingular/AT&T store on Friday at 4:00pm to wait in line. Or stop by the store next week and check it out (assuming I actually receive one).

-b

Sammy The Mouse

In what will possibly be considered a mixture of David Peterson's "Mouse Guard" and "Maakies' Drinky Crow", Zak Sally, the former bassist of LOW, is releasing the first volume of "Sammy the Mouse" this week with Fatagraphics' "Ignatz" series. A double Eisner award nominee, Sally made his name with his comic "Recidivist". As reported on pitchfork, Sally explains "Sammy the Mouse" as a "big long 250-300 page story about an alcoholic mouse and his alcoholic pals." With "Recidivist" being on comicreporter.com best of 2005 list, I would say expectations for "Sammy" should be high.

Click here for a lengthy interview from Sally about "Sammy the Mouse"

As an added bonus, here is an animated video for LOW's Hatchet, though Sally does not play on this track:



-Jon

Super7's VERSION of MIRROR MAN's KITTYFIRE

Super7 is a design collective based out of San Francisco's Japantown. Their storefront and magazine feature the latest trends in graphic art and limited edition toys, with a particular focus on Kaiju and Kaijin toys (humanoid monsters or insect characters from post-war Japanese entertainment). Super7 recently celebrated its 6th anniversary as a publication, and 3rd anniversary as a hip design boutique.

Although the members of this group often recruit a variety of toy specialists to curate shows and organize features, they too have a reputation for being aficionados in their own right. Super7 quenched every Kaiju nerd's thirst for these VERY rare and VERY expensive toys when they began releasing contemporary versions in 2001.

Their two reproduction methods are brilliant to say the least. Often produced in limited editions of no more than 100, contemporary artists and sculptors are invited to interpret their own versions of these vintage beauties by re-envisioning everything from the colorways + structural design to its packaging. Their second methods demands an overwhelming amount of research and sleuthing. Members of the Super7 collective track down the original artists and sculptors in an effort to gain access to the toys' molds. The result is an original toy released with a new combination of colors + sprays! GENIUS!

I nearly fainted when I was able to acquire two Kittyfires for Star Clipper. This Mirrorman Villain stands 15" tall and comes in a super cool black matte box with gold styling! We were able to acquire one of each colorway left from San Diego Comic Con: purple with gold spray + orange with teal spray. Kittyfire is fully licensed from Tsuburaya Productions of Japan, designed by Mark Nagata, with surprise display packaging designed by Super7's Brian Flynn .

Here is a contemporary versions+ the original character below:

For the Love of Rockets!

Calling customers can lead to many interesting situations, but I've never been as amused as I was with one phone call I made yesterday. Without naming any names, I became privy to the information that St. Louis' indie comic elite meet once a year to set off rockets. KAPOW! That is so cool!

This year will be the eighth annual launch of the MissileFits Model Rocketry Club, meeting today, Sunday the 24 at 12 p.m. The launch will be at the open field just east of the History Museum in Forest Park. Their logo: “We get together once a year and launch crappy rockets!”

I'm not going to make any promises on who will actually be there, but I will say that non-other-than Dan Zettwoch designed a poster for last years debauchery, as pictured below:




As many of you know, Zettwoch is also responsible for our awesome Star Clipper tote bags, also pictured. Hopefully, all you loyal blog readers are sporting these crafty bags by now, but if you're not and are looking for something nice to carry a rocket in, perhaps an early visit to the old Clip' would prove especially useful today. By the way, we also just restocked many of Zettwoch wonderful comics.

Now, lets all take a moment of silence at the irony of a group of comic artists spending their day setting off rockets. Remember guys and gals, you need those hands. Have fun!

-Jon

Faster Than Anyone

Warning Spoilers for Justice League Of America #10 and Flash #13

There are things in life that you expect to remain constant. Not so much in comics. Take for example a few of the things that were considered "constants" ten years ago. Batman's second partner, Jason Todd, was beaten to death by the Joker. Hal Jordan betrayed the Corps and killed Lanterns, leaving Kyle Rayner the sole Green Lantern. Books like Justice League and Titans were only for characters who couldn't hold their own books. If you asked ten people, you would get ten different answers as to who Hawkman was. Superman was never a member of the Legion. And Barry Allen died saving the universe, making Wally West the Fastest Man Alive.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Last week announced that Mark Waid and Daniel Acuna (Yeah!) will be taking over duties on The Flash. But, instead of taking over the current run, which was going to end, they would restart the old Flash series with number 231. But why would they do that, unless....? Now this week brings everything into focus. Not only did we see the death of one Flash (Booo!), but the return of some old friends. I must admit Mister Johns and Mister Meltzer had me completely fooled. Like most I assumed that they were bringing back Lightning Lad from LSH, but I guess that was the idea. Personally I'm glad. While Bart had always been a favorite character, Wally West IS the Flash. And really, how much would I care if it had been Lighting Lad? Sure, it still would have been a good story, but they aren't in any books right now. Even the current Legion of Super-Heroes is about a different Legion. There is a great interview over at Newsarama with Geoff Johns and Brad Meltzer if you want to hear some more about it, and you can see what Karate Kid said right before the lightning hit. It's so cool.

While I may be happy that Wally West is back, I am not so happy about the idea to kill Bart. What's the point really? If he had just be rendered powerless that would have been fine. Or how about we try the idea that Bart had been maintaining a vibrational speed attuned to the present, and without it he was returning to his own time period in the 31st century? I'm sure it still exists, there is a multiverse after all.

But the thing I really can't wait to see is how all this affects Tim Drake. What am I talking about? Think about it. Every one that Tim has gotten close to over the years is gone. His mother a few years ago, his girlfriend Stephanie, his father, his best friend Conner, potential new GF Darla Aquista, and everyone he met in Bludhaven were all killed within what must have been a few short months. Now another of his three oldest friends is dead. On top of that, the dead guy he replaced is alive again. And of course there's "big brother" Nightwing, who's friends die, but always seem to come back somehow. Oh sure, we may not have seen Garth around for a little bit, but does a one of you think he's actually dead, or even dead for good if he is dead? I'm just saying, if there is one character due for a bit of a psychotic break, it's Robin.

-b

Mr. Clement

Mr. clement is an emerging Hong Kong artist currently based in the UK. His first graphic novel, "PHOBIA," features the adventures of a curious mushroom figure named Mr. Yeah Kou (pronounced yay-goo), and the problems that arise when this gentle creature becomes overwhelmed by the pressures of a modern city.

In "PHOBIA," mr. Clement re-builds the city in which he lives. Illustrated through the perspective of Mr Yeah Kou, mr. clement divulges his honest impressions of London, and the alienation he experienced as a foreigner. Throughout "PHOBIA" Mr Yeah Kou becomes increasingly frustrated with his inability to communicate effectively- an obstacle we all encounter. But some of the most resonating images are those that mr. clement so brilliantly articulates with comic relief:

.

Mr. Yeah Kou has since appeared in "Yeah Kou PHOBIA vol. 2," limited edition gift products and hand produced, badges, t-shirts, and ceramic figures. . . and let's not forget his recent segue into the modeling industry!



Mr. clement currently plans on self-publishing 6 volumes in total with 6 figures to match. HOW CUTE!

-May

Mad Magazine Founder William M. Gaines Life to Become Movie

Newsarama.com has recently reported that Joel Eisenberg's Iron Mountain Media has bought the rights to adapt Mad Magazine founder and EC Comics publisher William M. Gaines' life into a film. Though the life of a comic publisher may not sound like the most exciting idea for a movie, let us remember Bart's visit to Mad Magazine from this clip from the Simpsons:



If the Gaines movie is anything like Bart's visit, we're in for a treat. Let's hope we at least get an Alfred E. Neuman cameo.

-Jon

Dying By Inches

Enough is enough. I just can't take it anymore. This past Thursday, Stan Lee's office confirmed to Ben Widdicombe of the New York Daily News that, yes indeed, Stan is developing an animated series for MTV starring Paris Hilton.

Yeah, swirl that around in your head for a few minutes. Stan Lee. MTV. Paris Hilton.

If you feel the need to vomit, I completely understand.

It's indicated that the project may be similar to SpikeTV show "Stripperella". Well, that certainly makes me feel better about the whole damn thing.

I don't understand what exactly Lee thinks he's doing. I'm sure Lee thinks he's somehow raising the awareness of the general populace about comics, "Creating new stories for a new generation" or some such BS. But how is this helping? How does it help the comic industry that the only comic writer the public knows is doing stuff like this? How does it do anything other than reinforce the stereotype that comics are for no one but hormone crazed fourteen year old boys with masochistic fantasies? How does it help us when the man that's supposed to be a spokesman for our industry makes cartoons with someone who's best known for being a rich whiney amateur porn star?

Answer? It doesn't.

Give it up Stan. Stop being a caricature of yourself and retire.

-Dan

CULLEN BUNN + BRIAN HURTT SIGNING!

CULLEN BUNN + BRIAN HURTT SIGNING!
Bunn + Hurtt will be hosting a signing to promote their new horror-noir trade paperback, THE DAMNED.

Wednesday, June 27th 2007 from 4-7pm!

Cullen Bunn is the founder of Undaunted Press, and editor of the small press horror magazine, Whispers form the Shattered Forum. He is co-creator of THE DAMNED, an action-packed prohibition-era thriller that combines the supernatural sensibilities of Joss Whedon with the stark reality of Miler’s Crossing and The Godfather.

Brian Hurtt burst onto the comic scene as the artist for Greg Rucka’s critically acclaimed series, Queen & Country in 2002. He’s since lended his illustration skills to the Queen & Country spinoff Declassified , Skinwalker , DC’s critically acclaimed Gotham Central, as well as the DC series Hard Time . In 2006, he launched a new creator-owned series with writer Cullen Bunn entitled, THE DAMNED. This is the first publication that Hurtt has penciled, inked, toned and lettered.



Bunn + Hurtt’s THE DAMNED, contains all five issues from the first miniseries, and will be released Wednesday, June 27th by Oni Press. Both artists currently reside in the St. Louis area.

Be sure to visit our Myspace calendar!

Turtle Vs Bunny: To the Death!!

Web-Cartoonist Joe Dunn (Creator of web-comics that include the movies Joe Loves Crappy and The Coffee Archivers is finally settling the age-old conflict of the tortoise and the hare, with his web-comic Turtle Vs. Bunny. But he can’t do it without your help.

Using a system of viewer voting, the strip tallies up points to see who will be the victor in each strip, with the character who has the most points at the end being the champion of this contest.

But this isn’t just a race—it’s an arms race! So far knives and nets, bombs and bazookas, jet packs and insane amounts of high explosives have all taken a part in the insane race to the finish. Even in this no holds barred struggle cheating ensues wildly as the two call in back up. Both Grandpa Turtle and an Schwarzenegger-esque Easter Bunny help make more mayhem.

The race is over half over, but the heat is still on! And just in case you’re wondering, I’m with Turtle.

Johnny

Stardust Review - Take 2

After reading Dan's review of Stardust, I felt like I had to straighten a few things out. First, I've read some of Gaiman's work and have thought it was mostly OK - nothing earth shattering. I never read Stardust and couldn't get past volume four of 'Sandman' (even though I really like the 'Lucifer' spinoff).

The preview for this movie was not terribly exciting. But it was a Gaiman work turned for the screen, so I figured if I could see it for free then I probably would. Lo and behold, we were invited to a press screening for the movie (at the Tivoli) a full two months before it was due for the screen. And they were serving a free lunch. So I was down for it.

After a tasting lunch and some light conversation with some local movie reviewers, we sat down to watch the movie.

So let me put it in perspective - I wasn't expecting much, and I really went for the free food.

The movie was...incredible. The action begins in the very first scene, and plays on throughout. I have to agree with Dan - it's the next Princess Bride, just minus the slapstick. The story is fantastic, the effects wonderful and the acting is perfect for the film. While Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes are terrific - Danes pulls off a flawless English accent - Robert DeNiro steals the show as the cross-dressing macho captain of a ship that sails the sky hunting lighting bolts. The "Greek Chorus" is both hysterical and serious, constantly being refreshed by the prince brothers Primus through Septus. Ricky Jervais makes a cameo appearance where he's his usual hysterical self. It's a wonderfully original story full of action, comedy and a sweet (but not sickeningly so) love story.

I'll re-post this review, or mention it again when the film comes out, but I think this film may be the sleeper hit of the year - you should see this movie whether you're a Gaiman fan or not. In fact, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to sell Sandman to folks coming in looking for more from the author of Stardust instead of the other way around.

-b

Stardust - the Movie

I must say, sometimes we get pretty lucky down here at Star Clipper. I know Ben mentioned that we got to go and see Stardust today, about two months ahead of time! And as you know, I'm not a big Neil Gaiman fan, but the trailer looked pretty good, and hey, a free movie is a free movie, right?

I guess I didn't expect too much, really I expected I wouldn't like it all that much. Boy howdy was I wrong! What a great movie! It was fantastic! Everything about it, the acting, the sets, the scenery, the cgi, all of it. I had expected something much more serious, and when it needed to be, it was. But more so it was funny. Oh sure, it might have been more of a deadpan dark funny at times, but there were plenty of just outrageous moments. At one point the main character Tristan (Charlie Cox) is told in a very dire warning that he must board an approaching stage coach at all costs or all is lost. Tristan barrels through the woods towards the road, leaping to grab the coach, only to miss and slam right into the side knocking himself silly.

Now guys, don't worry, this isn't just some fantasy comedy type thing, it's also action packed. There are some great sword fights, and more then a few grisly, if satirical, deaths. Think of it more like Princess Bride. An action packed comedic fantasy romance. And seriously, how much of a reason do you need to watch Claire Danes run around in slinky curve hugging dresses? Michelle Pfeiffer was also quite pleasing, and Kate Magowan is just...bewitching as Tristan's mother Una.

Some of you (a few!) might be wondering how it stacks up against the illustrated novel. Well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not much of a Gaiman fan, so I had never read it. However, I felt that before writing this I should at least read over some of it, just for this very purpose. And let me say this, this movie is not an adaptation, such as 300, this was a "Based on..." type of movie. "Inspired by..." even if you like. It's not a direct adaptation. For starters, and I'll just leave it there, no pointy ears. You heard me right. It's still a world of magic, just not the world of Faerie. I think it actually works better that way. First, you don't have to explain why it's called Faerie, and not Fairy. I mean, that would turn people off right away.

On the McNamara sliding scale of movies, I would rate this at about +6 for quality, and a +8 on the fun. Robert DeNiro in a dress is worth 2 points anyway you slice it. Check out their website over at Stardustmovie.com There are still a couple of months before the movie comes out, so it's not quite all the way done - but it's certainly has it's moments.

-Dan

New Frequent Purchaser Clubs

I don't know how many of you fine folks also read our e-newsletter (soon to also be a print newsletter) but we announced in our last e-mail that we've started a couple of new frequent purchaser clubs.

If you're not familiar with our standard bearer - the 'Book Club' - let me bring you up to speed. Any time you've given us your contact info at Star Clipper, you're automatically enrolled in our Book Club. That means that any time you purchase a book at Star Clipper worth at least $7.95, we keep a record of the purchase. If you get 10 books in a year, you get a credit equal to the average price - so it's kinda like 'buy 10, get 1 free' but better - more like 'but 10, get the average price back to use on your 11th book." If the 11th book is worth less than the average, the credit rolls over and you can use it towards another book. Pretty sweet, right?

So now we've extended this frequent purchase club to other departments - Blind Packaged Toys and DC Direct Figures. The same rules apply, except the minimum price is $2.95 for blind package toys, and $9.99 for DC Direct Figures. This is a great chance to reward your collecting habit with another fun toy!

-ben

p.s. Yes this was a shameless post - what can I say? Our regular bloggers have left me hanging. And by the way, I'm going to see a sneak peek of Stardust at the Tivoli this afternoon.

Ghost Rider DVD!

If you missed Ghost Rider in theaters, this week you've been given the opportunity to redeem yourself. Yes, yesterday was the glorious release of the high action Ghost Rider DVD. I looked over the Star Clipper Blog and I've been reminded that our review by Nick Main was not nearly as positive as it should be. 3 Star Clippies out of 12?!? More like 12 Zillion Clippies out of 12! Any movie with both Nic Cage and Sam Elliot as Ghost Rider is worth at least 12 Zillion Clippies. Duh! Nick you're obviously crazy. Crazy I say!

Any who, to commemorate this most excellent of release days, here is a link to some great Ghost Rider trivia . Included is a special guest appearance by none-other than Jesus himself. Hallelujah!

At this point, many of you loyal blog readers might be asking yourself, "Jon, what's with the Ghost Rider Obsession?" Well, both Ghost Rider creators Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich are native Missourians. Thus, logic implies that if you don't like Ghosty you're not a true Missourian. OK, maybe I'm going a bit to far with that one, but enjoy anyway.

How many is a zillion again?

-Jon

Jeffrey Brown's Incredible Change-Bots

Just in time for the "Transformers" movie, the prolific Jeffrey Brown brings us "The Incredible Change-Bots." So, what's a Change-Bot you ask. Well, I imagine, it's a Transformer with a lot of girl trouble.

However, as Brown describes in an interview with newsarama.com, "The Change-Bots are a race of shape-changing robots. They're composed of two factions, the Awesomebots and Fantasticons. While you may think the Awesomebots would be largely noble and good and the Fantasticons would be evil and power hungry, overall all of the Change-Bots are a bit flawed – a little self involved, a little careless, and often cynical. Except Balls, who can incredible-change into a golf cart. He's kind of nice."

Sounds good to me.

You can expect Jeffrey Brown's Incredible Change-Bots to arrive in July, but until then, treat yourself to the trailer for Transformers .

Now that really is "more than meets the eye!"

-Jon

My Money's On Trogdor!

For those of you who have not experienced the awesome flash animation on homestarrunner.com now's your chance. Yes, this convenient link will take you into the animated world of Strong Bad and all the other hysterical characters of hometarrunner.com.

I suggest going through the archives of "Strong Bad Emails" and "Teen Girl Squad," but everything is very funny.

However, you need to watch TROGDOR THE BURNINATOR right this minute. So here you go:



You might recognize that awesome little song from Guitar Hero 2.

While I'm at it, check out the animation of Don Hertzfeldt at bitterfilms.com for some more cool animation.

Go Squeedly!

-Jon

Street Art At Star Clipper

I know, I know...Street Art? At Star Clipper? Pssh...not happening. Star Clipper is all about the comics!

But I beg to differ. Star Clipper has a side that you may not have yet seen. While Star Clipper is admittedly better with comics than books on graffiti, we still have a special place at our store for those who are brave enough to showcase their art for "free."

In case for those of you who have little to no knowledge of street art or better known as graffiti, it's basically any original art done by spray painting onto public areas, or stenciling and stickers public property. For more information on the art of graffiti, check this out http://www.graffiti.org.

Whilst it is still illegal to participate in graffiti in most of the world, there's been a slew of famous artists who start on the underground and do graffiti. For instance, there is Fafi (www.fafi.net), a 31 year old female graffiti artist whose work can be seen from Paris to New York to Berlin. What makes her special is that she works with traditional paints to do her graffiti. She's currently showcasing her work of the "Fafinettes", liberated women painted on buildings worldwide, with Adidas and Lesportsac.

But graffiti artists aren't the only ones getting attention. The Wooster Collective, a project working on showcasing the differing degrees of graffiti around the world. Check them out! There are also several other projects and collectives with growing attention by younger generations. Graffiti is now considered a way to fuel political aggression and a need for revolution by the up and coming generations.



We carry an assortment of books on graffiti (see www.starclipper.com for more information). Some of our titles include The Art Of Rebellon, Million Dollar Vandal and Street Graphics India.

As with all things, if you need someone to help you figure out graffiti and the several different types of books that showcase it, let the SC staff know. We'd be happy to show you the artistic urban side of Star Clipper.

Evey

Virgin Comics Art Show!

Star Clipper presents Virgin Comics Art Show!
A multi-media event featuring original comic art + an exclusive film trailer screening!
July 6th-August 3rd 2007

Based in Bangalore, India, Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation is the creative collaboration of writer Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and maverick Sir Richard Branson.

Similar to the success of Japanese anime and manga, their mission is to define a new wave of Indian character entertainment by permeating this style and vision to audiences from Boston to Beijing to Bangalore. Their studio of artists and writers are generating a creative renaissance in India—leading the country’s transition from outsourcer to a source of innovative and dynamic creations and creators.

Utilizing the powerful and bold Virgin brand, these masterminds have sparked a radical transition in the comic industry with the introduction of three distinctive comic series: The Shakti line of comics collects stories based on ancient Indian mythologies re-imagined for a global audience; the Director’s Cut matches iconic filmmakers with the best comic writers, including Guy Ritchie + Andy Diggle and John Woo + Garth Ennis; and lastly, the Virgin Voices imprint, which features comics created by artists with a background in different media such as Dave Stewart and Nicolas Cage.

Join us for this exclusive Midwest viewing of their dynamic artwork and a screening for a trailer of their upcoming teenage horror film! Friday, July 6th 2007 from 7-10pm.

Be sure to “FRIEND” us through Star Clipper's Myspace account
to get access to our upcoming events calendar!

-May

What Happened to the Funny Pages

When I was a kid, one of the highlights of my week was reading the Sunday Post-Dispatch comics. I'd get home from a friend's sleep-over and my mom would have the funny pages sitting out waiting for me. Laying in the middle of the floor, I would read through all the strips once, and then go back and reread my favorites. Maybe it's because the quality of comics in the early 90's was so much better then they are now, with the likes of Calvin & Hobbes, The Far Side, and Opus still gracing the Post-Dispatch's pages, but the comic section just dosen't have that same effect anymore. Now, readers are forced to suffer through the same rehashed Beetle Baileys, Hagar the Horribles, Garfields and Family Circus' to the point of not caring, as is exhibited by the newly shortened Sunday comic page.

What I can't figure out is why the Post wont take a chance on new and vital comics like the Boondocks or Maakies. Obviously, they both have the popularity to have TV shows based on them on Adult Swim. So, why can't they have a space in the Sunday comic pages? I know Aaron McGruder and Tony Millionaire might not look right next to Mark Trail or Shylock Fox and Comics for Kids, but at this point someone needs to livin' up those sunday funnies.

If you are as feed up with the Post's comic section as I am, please let me know or post on this stltoday forum, and let em know that the Star Clipper Blogs got your back.

-Jon

David Horvath's Bossy Bear!

It may not be well-known that David Horvath, co-creator of the plush toy empire Uglydolls, is also a very sucessfull illustrator and comic artist.

In recent years, he has solidified his name in the illustration community with numerous projects that are inspiring to say the least. His first picture-book, Bossy Bear is loved by children and adults alike.

Of course, the toy designer in him is just screaming for nourishment! What better way to quench his thirst for inanimate friends than to create a vinyl figure that accompanies his new picture-book. Seen here is a picture of Horvath's new 4-inch Bossy Bear vinyl from Toy2r. Bossy Bear COMMANDS you to buy him NOW!



-May

X-Men #200

It has taken 16 years but the "adjectiveless" X-Men , started in 1991 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, are reaching their 200th issue. Like X-Men #1, pictured below with it's four connected variant covers, issue 200 will have a gatefold cover featuring every mutant character that has ever gone under the X-moniker.


X-Men #1


X-Men #200

Issue 200 will feature the X-citing return of Gambit, my favorite X-men, who has been on hiatus from the team since his recruitment with Apocalypse to become Death, from the mediocre story arc "Blood of Apocalypse" featured in X-Men 182-187. Gambit is rumored to return as leader of the Marauders, with their target being the current unstable X-Men roaster.

The issue will also feature the first story of X-Men "Endangered Species," this fall's major X-crossover series. "Endangered Species" plans to fully explore the end of the mutant gene and why some characters retained their superpowers, fittingly with Beast as the primary character.

Oh my stars and garters this is going to be X-treme!

-Jon

The End it Tigh

What a day. I had been having a great day. Got a full nights sleep, had great breakfast from Qudoba and some Starbucks. I sit down and start going through my e-mails, and what do I find? Warren Ellis talking about the end of Battlestar Galactica. Well he's just crazy, they're not ending BSG. Crazy old fart. But made I should check over here at the SciFi website.

Dammit. I really want to see this go on for a bit, not too much, but if it clocked in at five or six seasons, that would be fine with me. But four? Man, nothing good lasts long. Lots of people say this last season is supposed to kick some serious ass though. Both Olmos and Sackhoff commented on the possibility earlier this spring, Olmos had said "This will probably be the most extraordinary season of 'Battlestar'. Awesome, but a bummer all the same.

There is going to be a two hour episode in November, and then the final 22 episodes will start airing in January of 2008. And while BSG writer Mark Verheiden won't be penning the illustrious adventures of Adama and crew anymore, he is scripting the new Teen Titans movie. No real news on this, just that he's writing it and it has a producer attached to it. The producer, Akiva Goldsman, says to expect something more along the lines of Batman Begins. The only character confirmed so far is Robin/Nightwing. As to which probably depends on which other Titans they decide to do.

-Dan

Mini-Post/Tech Update

So blog fans, it comes to my attention that our RSS feed has been broken pretty much since we started this blog. But it should be working now! RSS AWAY!!!!

If it doesn't work for you, make sure you refresh your browser and try again. If it still doesn't work, drop a comment and I'll try to fix it again.

-Ben

DER's 8-INCH RoboDUNNY!

DUNNY goes cybernetic, fully automated, and nuclear powered!

BEWARE! This RoboDUNNY from French graffiti artist DER may feature a smart futuristic design on a lucite DUNNY, but Kid Robot describes it as such:

"The Dunny of the future is built to last and will survive all coming armageddons to effectively enslave the human race in pursuit of universe conquest (as all good cyborgs will do). Make nice with our new robot overlords! Thankfully for mankind, only 1500 of these were made; any more and we'd be doomed for sure."



I was able to find very little during my research on DER. His low profile makes this silver space age RoboDUNNY all the more intriguing. That . . . and the fact that it's human-like brain is half exposed!

Although 1500 were exclusively distributed through Kid Robot, most all retailers are already SOLD OUT! Star Clipper has managed to secure one case, but that's only 6 units available in the state of Missouri!

-May

Let's Croak Us Some Toad!

Last Tuesday I'm checking in the book order and low and behold I come across a copy of the complete "Bucky O"Hare and the Toad Menace." You wouldn't had believed my excitement. I thought Bucky O'Hare had long been out-of-print but apparently not. Unfortunately, the copy in my hands was a special order and I was going to have to wait a few more days until I could get another copy for myself. So, while I wait for my copy, I figure I'll hype you on Bucky and his crew.

I like to describe Bucky O'Hare as the indie rock equivalent to the Ninja Turtles. It's like if the Turtles are Guns 'N' Roses than Bucky is Sonic Youth. Bucky had a comic, TV show and very impressive toy line, but you had to try a little harder to collect it all. His diverse crew traveled aboard his ship the Righteous Indignation, and the best way to describe them is to listen to the awesome theme song from the cartoon:



As an added bonus, here are the lyrics so you can sing along:

In another dimension, another time and space,
A parallel universe was fallin' on its face
When out of the chaos, who else could it be
But the animal adventurers from S.P.A.C.E.?

Bucky! Captain Bucky O'Hare!
Mutants and aliens and toads beware!
You're looking for adventure? Well, this is it,
With Jenny, Deadeye, Blinky, and Willy DuWitt

I said Bucky! Captain Bucky O'Hare!
“And now, an update on Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars!”

In the battle of the aniverse, you don't know what's next,
You only know amphibians have made it KOMPLEX!
When you check out your scanner and the evil that it bodes,
There's only one course of action: Let's croak us some toads!

Bucky! Captain Bucky O'Hare!
He goes where no ordinary rabbit would dare!
If your Righteous Indignation has suffered a hit
And your photon accelerator's broken a bit
And you're losing your mind, and you're having a fit
Get the funky fresh rabbit who can take care of it!

Bucky! Captain Bucky O'Hare!
You say Bucky? I said Bucky!
Bucky O'Hare!
Let's croak us some toads!

The complete collection is presented in a manga size book, much smaller than the oversized comic of it's originally released. For an affordable price of $9.99 you can't go wrong with the "funky fresh rabbit who can take care of it!"

-Jon

Sausage Anyone?

Okay, I don't usually toss stuff like this up here, but you gotta see this one to believe it. Check it out.



Supposedly they have a website, but I think the story being on Fox News killed their server.

They're gonna make sausages out of the whole thing. Sausages? Just think of the all the stuff you could get! Pork steaks the size of your head! Oh, and the bacon. Oh my god the bacon! I would eat nothing but bacon sandwiches for the next six months. Just bacon, mayo and bread. And lots of pepper. That is, if the bacon hadn't been peppered already.

-dan