Thom Zahler’s Commentary: Star Trek the Coloring Book

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Thom Zahler is the creative powerhouse behind Love and Capes.

Zahler is just one of those guys who is multi-talented and fun to be around.  Zahler’s humor and quick wit — not to mention his dead on impersonation of William Shatner can keep people entertained for hours.  Someone should put this guy on tv.

Don’t believe me?

Judge for yourself.  Recently Zahler did a running two-part commentary on a 1977 Star Trek coloring book.  Here’s part one and part two.

Funny stuff, right?  And you didn’t even hear it in Zahler’s Captain Kirk voice.

Houdini’s Personal Effects Scrapbook

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That’s a photo of some pages from a Houdini scrapbook that belonged to Quincy Kilby, who was a friend to Harry Houdini.  

The scrapbook has personal items that belonged to Houdini such as his show requirements (nothing like bowls of just green M&Ms, but still very interesting), an escape challenge letter (which Houdini accepted and was successful in) plus a lot more.

The Houdini Scrapbook is now owned by The Boston Public Library, but you can see more pages and read about it over at Buzzfeed.

Thanks and a tip o’ the magician’s top hat to Bill Crider.

Kyle Holtz Gets Carter, Too!

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When I learned that Kyle Holtz was taking on some mail order commissions, I just knew I had to try to get on his list. I was able to and Kyle agreed to give me his take on Sly as Jack Carter.

The first piece that Kyle created can be seen here. I think Kyle did an amazing job on it. Unfortunately, it was lost in the mail. I have hope that it will eventually turn up. Thankfully, Kyle sent a scan before mailing the art. When Kyle learned that the piece never arrived, he agreed to redo it.

Knowing how much artists hate to redraw something, and because I thought Kyle totally nailed it, I asked if I could upgrade to a larger piece. Kyle agreed. So Kyle created the Jack Carter drawing posted today. I absolutely love it.

If you’d like to see more of Kyle’s art, click on over to his Facebook page. I give Kyle the highest recommendation to folks that collect commissions.

Who is Going “Under the Dome”?

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I’m looking forward to Under the Dome.  Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel of the same name, Under the Dome is the story of a small town that is suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by a massive transparent dome.

Under the Dome’s official site is now live.  If you go there, you can see the dome drop over your house.  Yeah, you’re house.  Or any home or business that you know the address for.  Oh, and you can learn more about the show there too.

Steven Grant’s Two Guns Leads to Three Guns

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Just the other day we were talking about Steven Grant and Mike Zeck’s collaborations on Circle of Blood,   Return to Big Nothing and  Damned.  Those are the most popular Grant/Zeck graphic stories.

Another very popular crime graphic novel written by Steven Grant (but this time with art by Mat Santolouco) is Two Guns.   

  • From the Boom! Studios book description:  A pulp story about cops and thieves and the men that are something in between. Trench has targeted a local bank to rob, and asked Steadman in on the job. Trench figures it’s a great way to score — considering it’s a cover for mob money. They’ll be thieves ripping off thieves. But what Steadman doesn’t know is that Trench is a DEA agent. And what Trench doesn’t know is that Steadman’s a Naval Intelligence officer. They’re both cops! And neither one knows that they’re not robbing the mob, they’ve been set up to steal $50 million from the CIA!

If Two Guns sounds familiar, it could be because you’ve seen the trailer for the movie adaptation starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.   The movie premieres on August 2nd.

The first issue of a six issue comics sequel, titled appropriately enough, Three Guns (again by Grant, but this time with art by Emilio Laiso) is set to drop around the same time. You can learn more about Three Guns from this piece over at the Hollywood Reporter.


Christopher Moloney’s FILMography is Awesome

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Christopher Moloney is the talent behind FILMography — “…an ongoing art project… that matches scenes from movies with their real-life, present-day locations” in photographs taken by Moloney.

Here are three examples…

First up we have John Travolta (above) in Staying Alive.

Next we have Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis from Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Finally, we have Sylvester Stallone and Jack Lemon from The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

Thanks to Mark Evanier for his post pointing me in the right direction.

Grant & Zeck – Get Another “Damned” Shot

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Circle of Blood.  Return to Big Nothing.

These are the two graphic novels that fans refer to most when talking about Steven Grant and Mike Zeck’s best collaborations.

While I agree that Grant and Zeck’s Punisher stories should be the Bible for others wanting to chronicle the Punisher, I’ve always felt that their crime graphic novel Damned was on equal footing with Circle of Blood and Return to Big Nothing.

Unfortunately, many fans missed out on Damned when it was originally published.  If you fall into the group, it’s still not to late to get on board.

Who is Highest Paid: Coach or Governor?

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This infographic surprised me.

In most states, the highest paid state employee is usually a football or basketball coach.  I might have thought that in a few states that would be the case, but overwhelmingly, this is the standard.

The good news is that in most cases tax dollars are not paying (the bulk) of the coaches’ salaries.  I post this not to indicate my belief that coaches are overpaid, but because I was surprised that in almost every state a football or basketball coach led the way.

Thanks and a “Put me in the game, Coach!” to Deadspin.

New “Superman: Man of Steel” Poster Gets It Right

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There have been several teaser posters released for the new Superman movie.  Most of these posters were just ok.  

This new poster is by far the best in doing its job.  This new poster makes me think, “Yeah, I want to see the Superman: Man of Steel   movie.”

If you’d like to see a Superman-sized version of this poster, you can, thanks to the fine folks at IMPAwards.

“The Wicked West” Should be a TV Series

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The Wicked West (written by Todd Livingston & Robert Tinnell, art by Neil Vokes) should be made into a tv series.

  • “Texas.  1870.  An ancient evil has descended on the remote frontier town of Javer’s Tanks, resulting in an epidemic of bloodless corpses.  And the man the townspeople are determined to hang for these crimes is in fact the only one who can save them.”

Cotton Coleridge is a loner.  Quick with a gun and a man with a past. If the town folk don’t kill him the vampires might.

“Cowboys vs Vampires.”  ‘Nuff said, right.  Well, just in case it’s not…

Cotton Coleridge returns in The Wicked West 2: Abomination and Other Tales (written by Todd Livingston & Robert Tinnell, art by various)

The second volume of Cotton Coleridge tales contains 23 outings of the gunslinger facing supernatural horrors in the wild west.

Who doesn’t love a good western?  Who doesn’t love a good monster?  Throw ’em together and you’ve got the recipe for a fun tv series.