Muttpop Blog

TEQUILA CUSTOM by El Chakal 666

Muttpop — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:49:00 -0400

El Chakal666 (also known as Avatar666) continues to raise the already high bar of toy customization with this beautiful Tequila custom. In El Chakal's skilled hands, Tequila has been transformed into Leonidas, the legendary Spartan warrior and inspiration for the 300 film and comic. As with all of El Chakal's toy customs, the beauty shines in the details. For more images of this and El Chakal666's other customs be sure to visit and marvel at his Flickr page BY GOING HERE. As always it is a honor to see El Chakal666 unleash his creative magic on one of Muttpop's figures!

Good Luck to Nowitzki Kidd Terry and the Mavs

Muttpop — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:41:00 -0400

Congratulations to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks on making it into the 2011 NBA Finals. As a Laker fan, I was stunned to see the Mavs sweep the Lakers as easily as they did. Mavs have been a consistently great team for several years. But this year, there's been something magical happening with them.

The NBA is about moments. The Mavs have had plenty of them in the Playoffs. Stuff like: Terry hitting 9 threes on the Lakers alongside a temporarily rejuvenated Peja. Nowitzki constantly coming through with big shots including that Game 4 comeback that began with Dirk taking over with less than 5 minutes left in what looked like a Thunder victory. Kidd hitting that three in Game 4 (I LOVED Game 4!). Shawn Marion stepping up to the challenge of guarding Kevin Durant and looking like the "Matrix" of Phoenix.

Tyson Chandler has definitely brought something to the team. But guys have also acknowledged Caron Butler's dedication to recovery as inspiration. Adding more fuel to their fires of inspiration, Terry had the NBA Championship trophy tattooed on the inside of his right arm at the beginning of this season (see pic below). It's the Mavericks championship this year. Good luck to a helluva team.

Conversation with Paul Pope Sam Hiti and Brandon Graham

Muttpop — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:41:00 -0400

It's rare to hear the craft-related thoughts of any cartoonists... particularly ones that do not regularly work on mainstream superhero comics. And yet, here's a wonderful discussion of story between three of my favorite American cartoonists: Paul Pope (THB), Sam Hiti (Tiempos Finales) and Brandon Graham (King City).

This reminds me that I have to pick up a copy of Sam Hiti's DEATH-DAY.

CLICK HERE to listen to the recorded TCAF panel via Ink Studs.

Tequila Classic In Stores Now

Muttpop — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:19:00 -0400

Tequila Classico can now be purchased in finer Designer Toy Stores worldwide. He's an excellent addition to any toy collection and looks pretty snazzy to our other Classico figures!

Tequila Classico Coming Soon

Muttpop — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:32:00 -0400

Tequila Classico will be offered to your favorite Designer Toy retailers through our distributor (DKE Toys) in the next couple of weeks. Limited to a total of 500 made, Tequila Classico is the long awaited grey/black & white rendition of our favorite masked cactus-inspired warrior.

Avatar 2 Designs by Gobi Part 5

Muttpop — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:05:00 -0400

Here's another detailed look at the Butterfly Dog by Gobi. In these two illustrations, Gobi explains how the Butterfly Dog is capable of scaling walls like a chameleon. The LAST Avatar 2 inspired creature illustration will be revealed later this week.

Avatar 2 Designs by Gobi Part 4

Muttpop — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:58:00 -0400

As we continue showcasing Gobi's inspired designs for his take on Avatar 2, we get a more detailed look at the Butterfly Dog. Butterfly Dogs have a long history of companionship and hunting with a particular sect of N'avi warrior. I love how seamlessly this creature design fits in the world of Avatar.

Of all the things Gobi designed, the Butterfly dog is the most fully realized. More details on the Butterfly dog will be shared soon.

Avatar 2 Designs by Gobi Part 3

Muttpop — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:36:00 -0400

Here's part 3 in Gobi's beautiful character and concept designs for Avatar 2. This time around, Gobi came up with the N'avi's version of a bluetooth communication capability. A N'avi warrior can communicate wirelessly with a butterfly dog companion using a special pair of 'wireless bugs' that uses the N'avi's hair/spinal cord link. This is especially helpful when a N'avi warrior works in tandem with a butterfly dog during a hunt (more on that later!).

I've got 1 or 2 more Avatar 2 designs to share. Expect to see those early next week.

Avatar 2 Designs by Gobi Pt 2

Muttpop — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:45:00 -0400

We continue with Gobi's fabulous designs for his rendition of Avatar 2!

Below are Gobi's rough designs for a Warrior class master whose headdress is inspired by the jaws of the butterfly dog (more on the Butterfly dog design later). I also included a detailed analysis of a warrior's blowgun. Note how, in order to stay consistent with the life cycle nature of all things in the Na'vi culture, the blow gun and it's darts are harvested from special trees from the forests.

The Warrior Class master design is very rough, but I loved it so much I had to share. Hopefully Gobi will be okay that I am sharing it with you guys!

James Cameron Avatar 2 designs by Gobi

Muttpop — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:35:00 -0400

One of the coolest things about messing around with Muttpop is having a rare glimpse at the creative process for artists like Gobi, Bill and Fabien. Whether it's a for a professional project or purely for fun, the Catfish Deluxe team brings their 'A' game to anything they decide to draw.

Shortly after Avatar came out, Gobi told me that he'd love to get his chance to design some creatures and characters in the Avatar/N'avi universe. Recently I received a batch of gorgeous designs and illustrations demonstrating what Gobi would do with Avatar 2.

If James Cameron or the amazing designers at Weta are watching, you know how to contact us! :-)

I'll post more bits of Gobi's amazing Avatar 2 designs over the next few days!

Sucker Punch Movie Stills

Muttpop — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:51:00 -0500

Say what you will about Zack Snyder... but the man's got ambition. After taking a bit of a break by making a children's fantasy film about owls after the mildly successful WATCHMEN film, Snyder's coming up with his first film project that is not an adaptation. It's refreshing that he's showcasing what he's learned from previous film projects with SUCKER PUNCH. This film's got everything I'd dreamed of seeing in an epic action film at the age of 13. Robots, war planes, chicks, and samurais. Now we'll have to see if Snyder and his team manage to make it actually work.

Bunnywith designer toy creator Alex Pardee was heavily involved on the Sucker Punch design. Thanks to ToysREvil for keeping my excitement for SUCKER PUNCH alive.

Morning Glories

Muttpop — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:41:00 -0500

I've been hearing a lot about comic author Nick Spencer these days. He's created quite the buzz with his work on DC's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, ACTION COMICS' JIMMY OLSEN back-up stories, and the recently released IRON MAN 2.0. I read and reasonably enjoyed his first three issues of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS (but wasn't too fond of the guest artist on flashbacks approach). So, as a creator-owned comics fan, it was easy for me to pick up the MORNING GLORIES volume 1 TPB. It helped that it was 6 issues of content (7 if you count the double-sized first issue) for only $9.99.

It's a promising concept that does more teasing than delivering. It's pulling inspiration from all the right places (stuff like THE INVISIBLES, RUNAWAYS, and THE PRISONER tv series)... but the "who the hell knows what's going on?!" approach frustrates in that LOST TV show way.

The premise is a bunch of high school students from disparate upbringings gain scholarship to a prestigious and exclusive boarding school. In a short period of time, the school has established itself as being one of the best. But there are plenty of disturbing secrets hidden around every hallway corner. First off, the kids quickly discover they share the same birthday. Then they are unwillingly put through a few life threatening "tests". Teachers and students conspire to fulfill their respective agendas. Most of the motives and goals are suggested but not explicitly shared with the reader.

The distinct personalities of the main students are effectively established from the get go. Although built on simple stereotypes (stuff like the jock, geek, emo girl, and snob) there's a depth to each student that keeps things enticing.

Beyond the elusive nature of the story's plot, my biggest problem is the artistic limitations of the book's cartoonist, Joe Eisma. Eisma and the colorist do a decent job of visually distinguishing the different characters and Eisma is competent at facial expressions. But Eisma has a very difficult time conveying movement from panel-to-panel and has an inherent stiffness in his art that makes the school's environment and the characters' body language stale. Since the overall universe of Morning Glories is mostly pedestrian (it's uniformed teenagers in a school) the staleness becomes very apparent.

Ironically, the cover artist Rodin Esquejo art has that style and vibrancy that Eisma lacks. There's a level of detail and apparent photo reference to Esquejo's art that assumingly makes it impossible or cost effective to produce the interior art of MORNING GLORY at a comparable frequency. But seeing those covers frustratingly teases on what MORNING GLORY could be (for comparison's sake the 3rd image below is by Eisma, the main cartoonist; the rest are by cover artist Esquejo).

Toriyama Dragon Quest Art

Muttpop — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:02:00 -0500

If something starts with the word "Dragon" and is illustrated by Akira Toriyama... it's guaranteed to be magical; especially if it was made in the 1980s. There's a warmth, charm and confidence to Toriyama's art on the early Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest illustrations. I remember going to Japan in 1990 and being blown away with the cartridge art to Dragon Quest III.

I recently began playing Dragon Quest IX on the DS. I haven't had a chance to test out it's multiplayer feature (sorry, no DS buddies nearby)... but I'm loving the old school vibe of the main quest. The art is also the closest I'll probably ever get to that amazing Dragon Quest III illustration I fell in love with.

Black Mamba Full Film

Muttpop — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 11:11:00 -0500

It's finally here: the full length BLACK MAMBA short film! As both a Laker fan, Troublemaker Studios, and Kanye West fan, this is an awesome collaboration. Great sense of humor and execution. Watch the full film (it's just 5 minutes) below:

Dogtown And Z Boys

Muttpop — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:13:00 -0500

I went into watching DOGTOWN & THE Z-BOYS expecting some tacky biographical movie about the origins of modern skateboarding filled with handsome kids using a little too much make-up to look "grunge". What I got was an amazing documentary with the REAL Z-boys sharing their incredible story of creating a revolutionary sports culture by accident and necessity.

It's a shame that LORDS OF DOGTOWN exists. It's the Hollywood movie inspired by the DOGTOWN & THE Z-BOYS directed by the same lady that directed the first TWILIGHT film. I haven't seen it, but I assume many (like myself) think its the primary film in existence chronicling this very fascinating period of skateboarding history.

My wife had this documentary on our Netflix Instant Watch queue for months... and finally I buckled and decided to watch it with her. And, damn it, I wished I got around to watching it sooner! The Z-Boys reinvented skateboarding and street culture in more ways than I had ever imagined. And the great thing about it is that their cultural movement was honest, creative and relevant.

King City

Muttpop — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:28:00 -0500

I recently finished reading issues 5-12 of Brandon Graham's KING CITY comics. I'm ashamed to admit that, although Brandon Graham's beautiful comics and illustrations have been on my interest "radar" for many years, I just recently got around to purchasing his KING CITY series. Unfortunately, I was unable to find issues 1-4. Overall, it was an engaging read that has me sure to purchase Brandon's future comics work.

King City is about Joe, one of the legendary Cat Masters. Cat Masters are trained to use their cats in battle by injecting them with different serums that give the cat special powers to become a weapon or tool. But Joe's more interested in staring at ladies' bubble butts or helping out his ex-girlfriend than fighting Demon Kings.

Graham's got a very smooth art style. At first glance, it appears to be influenced by manga. But the more you look at it, you begin to realize that Graham's taken inspiration and influence from a variety of disparate styles to create one that is utterly unique and wholly his own. I notice bits of Herge's Tin Tin from the roundness and suggestive simplicity of the character designs. The beautiful women Graham draws remind me of a refreshing mix of Milo Manara, Paul Pope, Ashley Wood and a tiny touch of Jim Mahfood's work. Also, his expansive city scapes have bits of Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira Toriyama, Geoff Darrow, and Moebius.

While reading King City, I was immediately intrigued by the overall style of the characters and environment; so much so, that the main story felt like an excuse to immerse myself into King City's rich world of architecture, culture and characters. Looking at the means by which Brandon Graham tells his story, I got the feeling that the cartoonist felt the same way that I did. The main narrative is frequently interrupted by fun little details like an illustration depicting the contents of a character's pockets (complete with arrows and labels) or a 2-page spread/game board that illustrates 3 different characters walking paths (shown below). Brandon Graham also riddles his panels with words describing various things on the page (and more often than not, done so in the form of a pun). He also occasionally depicts a character's dialogue through iconic illustration (simple doodles of things like 'shit' or 'dick'). This unconventional amalgam of word and illustration gives the reader the freedom to experience the work at a level of immersion that he/she feels most comfortable with. It also forms a linguistic bond between illustration and words. I just ended up reading everything.

Brandon Graham's an amazing talent. I just hope we get to see more of his artwork soon and more frequently. I also am very happy to hear that his next work will be in color. From the looks of his King City covers, it's clear that Graham has a great sent of color. I look forward to seeing what Brandon does once he adds color to his toolbox of materials.

Street Fighter Gender Bender

Muttpop — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:36:00 -0500

Inspired by Bastien Vives transgendered designs of several classic Street Fighter characters, Gobi decided to do some "gender bending" of his own. Woman/Man/Woman Poison hasn't looked manlier (alongside a voluptuous Hugo). I prefer Gobi's female Hakan design to the uber-masculine original. Be sure to also check out Gobi's design for a female Oro and female Necro at HIS SITE.

Happy 2011 from Bill

Muttpop — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:54:00 -0500

Happy New Year in 2011 from our buddy Bill (artist of Red Demon and Dr. Destruction). To join in his 2011 celebration, Bill decided to show how extraterrestrials from the other side of the galaxy PARTY! Krrpk and his fellow party peeps are from Bill's KRRPK comic book series.

Turbo Justice by Gobi and Bill

Muttpop — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:34:00 -0500

To promote Volume 7 of their awesome Zblu Cops comic series (available now in France), Gobi, Bill and a few of their animator friends went to work on this super fresh animated trailer. I'm ashamed to not have posted it sooner... (we were briefly playing around with the idea of doing an English version) but am proud to FINALLY share this amazing bit of animation. Mad respect goes out to Julien Neel who did the music (he's also the cartoonist behind the super successful Lou series). Here's an excellent glimpse into the awesome craziness that exists in the vivid imaginations of Bill and Gobi:

Orc Stain by James Stokoe

Muttpop — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:39:00 -0500

Man, I'm loving me some ORC STAIN.

I've been familiar with James Stokoe's work for a few years now. I bought the first volume of his Wonton Soup comic when it initially came out. I immediately fell in love with Stokoe's art style (a unique mix of manga stylings, Geoff Darrow, and Vaughn Bode)... but was a bit thrown off by Wonton Soup being an intergalactic cooking comic. I was expecting sci-fi fantasy space battles. What I got was a bunch of crazy cooking recipes with intergalactic vegetables and extraterrestrial meats. In Wonton Soup, Stokoe deftly displays his strong sense of storytelling, world building and insane ability to convey a variety of textures through his linework. But I wanted some more ultra-violence!

I'm ashamed to say that initially I passed on ORC STAIN. The covers were beautifully drawn. The main character's design was awesome. But I ended up passing because I'm not that big of a swords & sorcery fan.

Then I read that, in the world of ORC STAIN, sliced orc penis was a symbol of wealth and power (there's even a "how-to" comic on the steps taken to make a chopped orc penis into coins!). That was enough to CONVINCE me to read it!

I am now officially an ORC STAIN fan! It may have taken murmurs of orc penis to read the comic (should I be ashamed?)... but having read the 5 issues that are currently available I'm baffled by the next level brilliance of what Stokoe has created. My geek-love for ORC STAIN is so strong that I bought BOTH the issues 1-5 and TPB collection of those very issues!

Even more so than WONTON SOUP, the world of ORC STAIN is richly realized. From a design and cultural standpoint, James Stokoe has built a brutal world where Orcs social culture of barbarism are seeds from which Stokoe visually and philosophically creates a beautifully bizarre universe.

Go out and buy ORC STAIN. If you still need a bit of convincing, read this FREE PREVIEW OF THE FIRST ISSUE and THEN buy it!

Happy New Year in 2011

Muttpop — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:56:00 -0500

I hope you all have a wonderful year in 2011. It's because of you guys that we can build our little corner in the zany world of comics and toys. For that we are eternally grateful! Let's hope 2011 is a fun, adventurous and fulfilling year for us all!

Below are Happy New Year's illustrations by Ohm (Figure designer for our Tcho! Minis) and Fabien M (King Katch character and figure designer).

King Katch Original

Muttpop — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:11:00 -0500

King Katch Original is now readily available at your favorite Designer Toy Retailer. Feel free to share your thoughts on our newest Lucha Libre figure!

King Katch with Box Sketch

Muttpop — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:34:00 -0500

Fabien was kind enough to sign and sketch on a few King Katch Originals. Its our way of giving those of you outside of Los Angeles an opportunity to partake in Fabien's signing tour. For a limited time you can purchase a King Katch Original with box sketch for $80.00 USD HERE.

LAST King Katch Signing at Stuart Ng Books

Muttpop — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:46:00 -0500

As Fabien's signing tour comes to an end, we've got one more signing at Stuart Ng Books in Torrance, CA. If you're in Southern California join us, Fabien and William Stout for one last opportunity to get King Katch and the Tikitis HC signed by artist Fabien M. Details can be found in the image below.

Mad Sketching Skills

Muttpop — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:40:00 -0500

Fans in attendance at our various signings have witnessed Fabien's sketching magic firsthand. The man is a sketching BEAST! Being fully aware that Bill, Fabien, and Ohm all brought their 'A' game to our various signings, Fabien made sure to give every fan in attendance a beauty of a sketch starring our good friend King Katch.

Secret Headquarters Signing Cancelled

Muttpop — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:37:00 -0500

We must unfortunately inform you that our Secret Headquarters signing on Friday has been canceled. Those of you waiting for your last chance to see Fabien to get King Katch or the Tikitis HC signed and/or sketched on can see him at the Stuart Ng Books store on Saturday from 1-3pm:

Stuart Ng Books
20655 S. Western Avenue
Suite 104
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 909-1929

Wacko Signing Sun Dec 5th 3pm to 6pm

Muttpop — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:08:00 -0500

It's quite the honor to be given the opportunity to participate in a Wacko/Soap Plant event. Jerry says it was walking into the Wacko store that made him decide that he should live in Los Angeles. If you live in Los Angeles and have not experienced Wacko, you MUST check it out sometime... and there's no better time than tomorrow! Jerry, Fabien and I will be there from 3pm to 6pm. It's the perfect place to get some awesome holiday gifts (and the King Katch Original figure)!

Wacko
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
(323) 663-0122

Munky King Signing Sat Dec 4th 2pm to 4pm

Muttpop — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:32:00 -0500

Fabien's now safely in Los Angeles. The King Katch Originals and Tikitis Comics have been picked up from our distributor. Now we're just hours away from our first signing! Join us tomorrow at Munky King, Los Angeles from 2pm to 4pm. King Katch Originals will be $80. Tikitis HCs will be $30. Fabien will be signing and sketching. We look forward to seeing you!

Munky King

7308 Melrose Ave (near Poinsettia)

Los Angeles, CA 90046

2pm to 4pm

King Katch Original

Muttpop — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:59:00 -0500

It's all coming together: King Katch Original are safely at our distributor's warehouse. Tikitis HC are there as well. Fabien M is hours away from flying to Los Angeles for a series of signings. Next week and a half should be fun. If you're in Los Angeles, GO HERE or HERE for the Los Angeles signing tour schedule. It's also due time to start pestering your favorite Designer Toy Stores to begin ordering King Katch Originals. With only 500 of these figures made, we expect them to move fast!

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Muttpop — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 19:54:00 -0500

Thanksgiving is many things for many people. For me, it's spending some decent time with family, homemade cooking and video game playing. If things go my way, this year will be spent playing a bit of DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS. I've played a few hours of it since I got it on Monday and I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience thus far. DKCR is easily one of the best looking 2D platformers I've seen. The environments are rich and vibrant. It's also a very challenging game. I've played through nearly all the levels in the first 3 worlds (there are 8 worlds total)... and I have died many, many times. So far, it's clearly more difficult than NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII... and I welcome the challenge!

As a whole, I find the platforming experience less intuitive than NEW SUPER MARIO BROS... at first it feels a bit cumbersome, but once you get used to the controls you discover that the slightly higher learning curve opens the game up for a deeper sense of control and gameplay depth. Beyond your standard jumping and running/walking... you are also have the ability to stomp the ground, blow air from your mouth, roll, and climb. You will regularly use these extra actions to discover hidden locales and bonus levels. At times, you must also use these actions to solve a puzzle that allows you to progress through the level.

Control-wise, you can choose between holding the Wii Remote sideways (just like it's used in Super Mario Bros) or use the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combination. After experimenting for a few minutes with both, it became clear to me that the true way to play the game is with the Nunchuck. In order to perform the ground stomp, roll, or air blow you need to shake the controller. While holding the Nunchuck and Remote in separate hands, shaking the controller felt way more natural and convenient.

Also, with the Nunchuk set up, you use the analog thumbstick to control Donkey Kong's movement. At first it feels a little weird to move Donkey Kong with the analog stick. But after a few minutes playing the game it becomes a joy. As with most platformers, you will be running through the levels 80% of the time. If you're holding the Remote sideways, you can run by pressing and holding the b-button. But with the nunchuck set-up, you just have to press the Analog thumbstick fully in the direction you want to run. You do lose a sense of directional precision with the analog stick. For example, I found myself sometimes rolling instead of blowing because my directional input was incorrect... but, as a whole, movement feels smooth and responsive.

The last thing I found initially odd but later enjoyable is Donkey Kong's ability to climb. If you see tufts of grass, Donkey Kong can climb it... but in order to prompt him to do so, you must press and hold the B button while moving. At first, this choice feels unnatural (especially since most platform type games have you climb and hold automatically)... but I found that once you get used to the set up your preciseness of movement increases as you have full control over when and for how long you wish to grab onto climbable environments.

Thus far, Donkey Kong Country Returns has been a ton of fun to play. It's beautiful, cleverly designed, and challenging. I'm both excited and scared to experience the more challenging later levels!