My friend Jim Zubkavich, who is UDON’s Project Manager, has a new Image comic coming out in September called Skullkickers. That’s the best fucking name for a comic ever. So what’s it about, Jim?
Skullkickers is a fantasy-action comic with a sarcastic streak. It’s a loving homage to the adventure stories that inspired me as a kid rammed headlong in to the reality of how the stories would actually play out if no-nonsense warriors were put in those situations.
The horrible pun I’ve been using to describe it is ‘Sword & Sass-ary’. I know that’s groan-worthy, but I can’t help it.
I grew up obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy novels and magic/mythology/supernatural-centric superheroes. Being able to revisit some of those broader ideas and come up with something energetic and fun is a real dream project for me. Fantasy as a genre has really seen a resurgence over the past few years and I couldn’t be happier.
The previews of Edwin Huang’s artwork over at the Newsarama interview are quite good and as a former UDON colorist, I can’t help be get misty eyed at the wonderful color work. This looks like it’s going to be a fun series. So if you’re sick of the House of Idea giving us a whole new slew of #1 again for bajillionth time, I highly recommend checking out Skullkickers. Seriously, they had me at the name!
You can win some free Gundam from HobbyLink Japan if you win their very first Gundam Video competition:
Want to win some free Gundam?
Prizes
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First Place
1/100 MG V Dash Gundam Ver. Ka
Second Place
1/144 Real Grade RX-78-2 Gundam
Every tournament entrant gets a 10% discount voucher through HobbyLink Japan*
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Best Gundam Photography
Best Gundam Video
This is your chance to show us what your Gunpla can really do. Make us laugh, make us cry, but keep it short: 3 minutes max. The video needs to feature a Gundam kit that you built. How you set the scene or create the story arc is totally up to. Videos submitted without a Gundam in them will not accepted. No tutorials or “how to videos”, only cinematic magic.
How to Enter:
Firstly create a youtube.com account, if you don’t already have one and upload your video to your account. Then fill in the Gundam Competition registration form below. Make sure you include the link to the video you uploaded on that form and fill out ALL the other fields or else your entry will not be accepted. We will then place your video on www.youtube.com/hobbylinktv.
We will also post participants videos we particularly like on our site over the competition period.
Entries will be accepted from June 16th through August 16, 2010. Any submissions after August 16, 2010 will not be considered for judging. Winners will be announced no later than August 31, 2010.
Sonovabastard! Now I gotta go out and make me some Gundam videos!
Angry Zen Minion David Caceres brightened my morning with news that All Nippon Airways and Bandai have partnered together to bring us the very first Gundam themed Boeing 777-300. The gigantic aircraft will be decorated with a Gundam head on the left side and 1/1 scale image of the RX-78-2 Gundam on the right side. The full Gundam is lying on its back as if it’s being transported somewhere like Jaburo or Side 7. The official Gundam plane takes to the air on July 16.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Riding on a Gundam themed aircraft is nice and all, but I want gunpla! You’re in luck. Passengers who take domestic ANA flights between July 1 and August 31 can order a limited edition HGUC 1/144 30th Anniversary Gundam ANA color version. People who fly from July 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011 can purchase a limited edition 1/48 Mega-Size Model Gundam in ANA colors. The Gundam planes will service ANA passengers until March 2011.
You know, when your TV show gets painted on the side of a commercial aircraft you kinda win anime. Cause that’s fucking badass.
YES YES FUCK YES!!! The Scott Pilgrim game is full of yes! And no. It’s coming to PS3 first which means no Scott Pilgrim awesome 2D sprite side-scrolling awesomeness for me. At least for a while. Which makes me a sad panda. But this is still incredibly awesome with sauce on top!
After dealing with his cartoon niece Jade for five animated seasons and that horrible remake of The Pacifier called The Spy Next Door, it’s little wonder that Jackie Chan is sick of kids. Brilliant remix!
Actually, I’m probably going to end up seeing this the weekend Fakebender opens in protest. I like me some Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith doesn’t completely upset me. The title of the thing still irks the shit out of me, but I’m not expecting much. And honestly, it’ll be better than sitting through Fakebender trying not to yell at the top of my lungs. Thanks to AZM Ally Kensei Dave for sending this along.
So this is from last year but I only just discovered this today. Taylor Swift, I’m sorry, T-Swizzle busts out some mad rhymes with T-Pain.
Okay, enough is enough. Someone needs to get T-Swizzle, M-Tizzle (Michelle Trachtenberg), and N-Pizzle (Natalie Portman) together for the Lil’ White Grrlz of Rap tour! Seriously, someone get on this shit and make it happen!
Ralph Macchio may be the nicest guy in Hollywood which is probably why you haven’t seen him in years (unless, of course, you watched “Ugly Betty” for the last two seasons). As any Hollywood star will tell you, it just doesn’t pay to be nice. What happens when he tries to change his image? What happens when he tries to walk on the wild side? The Funny or Die crew presents Wax On, Fuck Off, which I totally wish was a really real for reals film. I’d so much rather watch that then the Kung Fu Kid. That’s right, I said it! It’s Kung Fucking Fu Mother Fuckers!
Journey to the West has been adapted, remixed, reinterpreted, reinvented, and repurposed so many times that I kind of feel that it’s no longer just a Chinese legend but a world wide phenomenon. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is the latest incarnation that puts Monkey in a post-apocalyptic future where Skynet has decided to keep fighting long after The WarTM (there’s always The WarTM) has ended. Instead of a crusty old monk that slaps a magical head band on Monkey to keep him in check while they journey to the West, Monkey’s companion in the future is a Ginger with giant happy fun bags that magically defy gravity to distract Monkey. So the two of them go around fighting robots because as we all well know, someday the robots will end us. END. US.
Unless you have a game where Monkey fucks sheep all day, I’m pretty much an automatic fan of anything with the Monkey King. Yes, even that god awful made-for-who-the-fuck-knows movie starring Russell Wong. I like that Odyssey’s Monkey has the As-You-Will Cudgel and the nimbus cloud and that he fights giant robots. I hope the Ginger actually does something other than just yelling at Monkey for him to save her. I want my Gingers like Amy Pond, not April O’Neil.
Thanks to Angry Zen Minion Tyler Anderson for sending over this latest version of Monkey.
AZM Allies Kensei Dave and deepfreeze sent word last week that a second 1/1 scale Gundam is being built in Shizuoka. Now while this is absolutely really fucking cool, I kinda feel bad that Zeon has been left out of the real scale party. Well it turns out there’s a 1/1 scale Heat Hawk in the Niigata City Art Museum in Niitsu just waiting for a Zaku to pick up. Does this mean we might get a 1/1 scale Zaku in our future? And if it’s Char’s, will it be built three times as fast as the 1/1 scale Gundam? I sincerely hope so.
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