Author: Glenn Hauman

Santaman!

When naughtiness strikes the city, a letter is sent to the North Pole where our hero waits in his Workshop of Solitude… or so I presume, my German’s a bit spotty.

But really, what’s to know?

It’s Santa Claus. With martial arts training. And a big honking motorbike named Rudolph. He goes from town to town, dispensing presents– and justice. All for milk and cookies.

And we already know where he gets his wonderful toys.

Here, watch the trailer, and try not to tell me that someone should make a holiday special out of this…

The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special fan film

lobo3-4068797So we first told you about this back in August. You’ve probably expunged it from your memory already, and you need it, now more than ever. So we re-present to you the video adaptation of The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special by Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, and Simon Bisley, now all in one piece and with a nice Christmas border.

(Do we really have to tell you that it’s not safe for work or kids? NOT SAFE FOR– ah, you know.)

Happy 18th birthday, Simpsons!

The first episode of The Simpsons, titled "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" also known as "The Simpsons Christmas Special," premiered on this day in 1989 on the Fox Television — well, it wasn’t much of a network 18 years ago, but we have to call it that nowadays.

We mention it because nobody ever remembers birthdays around Christmas time.

But you’re still not getting a second present.

“Dark Defender” Dexter nominated for Writers Guild Award

How do you get nominated for a Writers Guild Award? Write a comic book episode, apparently; one that’s a cut above the rest. (Sorry. Should I have gone with "slice of life drama" instead?)

One of the six nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards in the Episodic Drama category is "The Dark Defender" episode of Dexter, which reimagines America’s favorite serial killer as a vigilante called, you guessed it, The Dark Defender, because he seems to only be killing other killers, so he’s just a misunderstood vigilante. Like Rorschach. Or Faust. Or John Wayne Ga– well, you get the idea.

Showtime has been doing little bumper videos in the style of the Dark Defender comic book, here’s a taste:

The 60th Writers Guild Awards will be February 9th, strike or no strike. The finale of this season’s Dexter airs tonight on Showtime, and the series is rerun a couple of times a week.

Nerdcore 2008 calendar

This one’s for Elayne and Valerie, because dang it, sometimes when guys talk about geek porn, we really mean geek porn:

In the great lineage of comic books, no one has explored heroes and villains quite like Nerdcore™. In this 12-month, 2008 calendar, heroines and their evil counterparts square off in quite revealing ways — a fully nude firestarter igniting her surroundings, a “super” lass undresses after a hard day’s night of battling bad guys, and a katana-wielding vixen, wearing a headband and not much else, shows a few ninjas who’s the real boss is. These are the powered-up ladies that watch over downtown Los Angeles from rooftops and can turn invisible with the snap of a finger. They are the heroes and villains of the 2008 Nerdcore™ calendar.

The best thing about this calendar– okay, tied for first– is that the calendar also includes the high holy days for geeks, including major movie releases like Iron Man, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones 4, Harold and Kumar 2, and The Incredible Hulk; conventions like San Diego Comic-Con, Alternative Press Expo, etc.; anniversaries for Night of the Living Dead and more cult classics; birthdays for Stan Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Jean Luc Picard and others; even Sarah Connor’s assassination, the morning Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 departed, and the day Marty was sent back to the future.

Hey, that’s important to me, I write for a website that needs that kind of important information. Shut up. I need this calendar for the dates. And no, not the dates that involve a jar of– just shut up.

Do I really have to tell you the link is not safe for work? Fine, you’ve been warned.

Now if there was only a way to put in an Amazon link for it… wait, it actually is available on Amazon? Well, what are you waiting for? This has got to make a decent Christmas present for someone you know. Even if the only thing they want to do with it is burn it.

Somewhere in Gotham City, a cave is missing its coin.

I don’t know how, but I suspect Grant Morrison’s hand in this.

He’s going to push through that Knight & Squire miniseries somehow.

X-Men Shojo Manga: First looks

Marvel and Del Rey announced this weekend at the New York Anime Festival that they plan to publish two new manga series based on the X-Men. The first project, scripted by the husband-and-wife team of Raina Telgemeier (writer and illustrator of The Babysitter’s Club graphic novels) and Dave Roman (creator of the comic Agnes Quill), will focus specifically on the X-Men team, with the storyline fashioned as a private school shôjo comedy. (Shôjo manga is aimed at girls and often covers popular subjects such as comedy, romance, and drama.) As the only girl in the all-boys School for Gifted Youngsters, Kitty Pryde, a mutant with phasing abilities, is torn between the popular Hellfire Club, led by flame-throwing mutant Pyro–and the school misfits, whom she eventually bands together as the X-Men. Indonesian artist Anzu will illustrate the two-volume series, which will go on sale in Spring 2009.

The nice folks at Del Rey Manga have provided us with looks at the character design sheets by Anzu, starting with Mystique:

mystique-concept-art-3808508

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