Muttpop Blog

Avatar666 Spotlight

Muttpop — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:56:00 -0500

Whether you know him as Avatar666, El Chakal or ELCHAKAL666... his talent and attention to detail are undeniable! Avatar666 (as we know him here at Muttpop) graced our figures with his wonderful custom skills prior with his Blanka Tequila and Czar Vodka Tequila (both shown below). He recently revealed his El Panda custom based on Batman villain The Penguin. I love the significant alterations Avatar666 does to the faces of figures. You can see his contributions to our Fan Art Section HERE. I also recommend you check out his Flickr gallery for some making-of pics and some nice photos of his toy collection and other custom figures. Check out his Fickr Gallery HERE.

The September Issue

Muttpop — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:02:00 -0500

I just watched the SEPTEMBER ISSUE documentary. It's an interesting view of the Fashion industry, particularly from the vantage point of the Fashion magazine Vogue. Amidst the deadlines of putting together their September Issue, Vogue's most popular issue of the year, we get to know Editor In Chief Anna Wintour and her eclectic staff. With a series of interviews and by following the actions involved in making the magazine, the film eventually places focus on Anna and Vogue Magazine Creative Director Grace Coddington. In an Industry filled with wannabes and divas, these two weathered professionals exist beyond the fragility of a business built upon temporal trends and youthful beauty by helping to define it.

The big draw for the film is Editor In Chief Wintour. The successful book and film THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, is loosely based on Wintour's experiences with an assistant. I wouldn't be surprised if financing for this film is attributed to 'The Devil Wears Prada's success. But, as much as people want to demonize Wintour as a heartless bitch, I found her to be relatively human. Compared to Anna Wintour, Creative Director Coddington seems way more sensible and creative. By comparing the two individuals, the film candidly looks at the balance between business and creativity that exists in Fashion and Publishing.

The film starts off a bit slow and initially plays into the general stereotypes of the Fashion Industry's affinity for pretentiousness and vanity. But by the end of the film, you come to better understand the people that exist behind it all and the layers of reputation they build to protect their position in Fashion.

Kirby Influence On Fantastic Four

Muttpop — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:43:00 -0500

I've recently picked up and enjoyed a few issues of Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham's FANTASTIC FOUR comic. It's the first time I feel the creative team has captured the spirit of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's classic run on Fantastic Four. I love how the group's dynamic as a family and their spirit for exploration are more important than any aspects of conventional Superhero comics. My only problem is that I wish Eaglesham could do ALL the issues of Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four.

It's really interesting to see what Eaglesham and colorist Mount's are doing with the visuals on the book. Eaglesham's building upon his take on the hyper-realism he's previously established as artist of JSA by giving his characters and structures a Kirby feel. His faces and proportions feel very close to Kirby's work, but he's giving details a more realistic form and texture to them. Paul Mounts is amping up his color palette with some vivid primary colors that still embrace the highlighted coloring approach that is the current norm for Superhero comics. Overall, it's a successful hybrid of the 'pop' abstraction of Kirby comics and the 'hyper-real' take on superheroes of the 21st century.

Seeing Eaglesham's work makes me think about the many artists that have tried to build upon the dynamic art style of Jack Kirby. As much as I love Kirby's art, it doesn't hold up to today's sensibilities. There's a brilliance and power that exists beneath Kirby's line work that takes a bit too much commitment from the typical comic book reader to appreciate. Superhero 'Geeks' these days want something that looks polished and cool. Eaglesham mixes those two sensibilities and is creating something very interesting in the process. With the awesome story Hickman's building, I look forward to see where it goes.

Below are two other modern artists taking drastically different elements from Kirby's work into present day comics. The first image is Ladronn's recreation of a classic Jack Kirby Fantastic Four cover (see the last image for Kirby's original cover). The fourth image is ,G0dland artist, Tom Scioli's rendition of Fantastic Four supporting character and Inhuman Black Bolt. The 2nd and 3rd images are excellent examples of what Eaglesham is currently doing in the current Fantastic Four book.

Tron Lives On In Video Games

Muttpop — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:47:00 -0500

The unconventional design sense of the TRON movie universe has had an even larger cultural impact than the movie itself. The movie failed to live up to expectations, but its beautiful virtual game universe (with it's wacky neon lighting and abstract vehicles) live on in a variety of ways including the upcoming film sequel and it's influence on video games. Two of the most interesting things I discovered from Nintendo's Media Summit (from last week) are that they are doing downloadable game remakes of 'X' and 'Dotstream'. Curiously, both games have an undeniable stylistic influence from the TRON film. Is it strictly coincidence that both remakes are coming out in the same year as TRON 2? I don't know and don't care. All I know is that both games look and sound great and I look forward to playing them both!

I happened to have owned both games at different times in my life. In the early 1990s my uncle lived in Japan and he'd often purchase and send me used Game Boy games he'd come across. Two of his more memorable purchases was the puzzle game 'YOSHI NO TAMAGO' (Yoshi's Egg) AND 'X'. I remember being incredibly frustrated with 'X' because it was an atmospheric and technically impressive game for the Game Boy (with it's amazing soundtrack and polygon wire frame graphics) but I had NO IDEA how to play the damned thing. I'd keep screwing up and and seeing that funky head talk to me in Japanese and couldn't read enough to understand what to do. I have no idea what I have done with my copy of the game. It might still be stored in the attic at my parents house...

I also currently own DOTSTREAM. I purchased all the Bit Generation games from a video game import store when the came out. I LOVED the concept and packaging and was pleasantly surprised that the majority of them were also very good games. DOTSTREAM is a very fun expansion on the Tron light cycle concept complete with super minimalist graphics and an amazing soundtrack.

I love seeing what the original games were like and comparing them to the new versions. You can check out the original game and revamp videos below.

Original 'X' Game Boy game from 1992:

Revamped DSi sequel 'X-Scape' to be released in 2010:

Original 'Bit Generations: Dotstream' Game Boy Advance game from 2006:

Revamped Wii Ware successor 'Art Style: Light Trax' to be released in 2010:

Terminator 2 Judgement Day

Muttpop — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:10:00 -0500

It took a while, but I finally got around to watching TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY with my wife. It's been many, many years since I saw the film (last time I saw it was over 15 years ago at the age of 13 or 14). As a young teenager, I remember really liking the film but not being in the manic frenzy that many of my friends were in for it (for example, I just saw it once in theaters compared to a buddy that saw it roughly 10 times... in theatre!). I also remember it brought a bit of attention back on Guns 'N' Roses since they did the theme song.

So, how was it at my more critical age of 31 years? Good. My wife really liked it... but many bits of it were a bit too hokey for me. Having the first TERMINATOR film film fresh in my memory, the more kid-friendly version of T2's Arnold's T-800 leaves a bitter taste after the utter bad-assery he embodied in the first film. It tended to drag a bit with some extremely long action sequences, but it was still a fun film to watch that holds up over the years.

One thing that really stuck out for me was how long the film would go without dialogue. Many of the action scenes were minutes of pure action with just the sound of guns, vehicles and destruction. It was during these moments I came to realize how universal the film was since story and character are largely being conveyed without any need of understanding the English language. In place of a spoken language, characters spoke through movement, how they looked, and weapons/vehicles of choice. Arnold's T-800 was a beast of force. His weapons of choice were things like grenade launchers, vehicles like Harley Davidson motorcycles. The T-1000, by comparison was way more efficient... often killing with liquid blades and riding around in a police car. One of the most impressive things in the film is the perfect complement the T-800 and T-1000 are to each other. As the T-800, Arnold Schwarzenegger is over-powering beast... something like a gorilla. Instead of choosing a rival with a similar presence, Cameron and his team went in a completely different direction with the T-1000, creating a monster that is far more elegant and quick... something way more feline in physicality. The T-1000 is beautiful, lithe, and almost-feminine compared to the testosterone-fueled physicality of Arnold's character. It's a fascinating and very entertaining choice. It's odd that, in many ways, the T-1000 feels even more feminine than Sarah Connor (who has become so obsessive with the ominous future since the first film that she's dedicated her life to training for the War). But it's also one of my biggest problems with the film because Sarah comes across like a dysfunctional alcoholic more than someone who has dedicated their life for battle.

All in all, it was fun to revisit T2. It's not as 'cool' as it was when I watched it at 13 (which seems to be the age they were aiming for when making the film) but pleasant nonetheless.

Catfish Deluxe

Muttpop — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:41:00 -0500

If you know Muttpop products, then you are familiar with the amazing design work of Gobi, Bill, and Mense. The 3 talented artists were our inspiration for creating Muttpop. When Jerry was showing me the amazing character designs Gobi, Bill, and Mense were doing for his various Lucha Libre comics I demanded that we find a way to make toys of those characters. As with all talented people, the 3 artists continue to grow in skill and imagination. So much so that they've decided to share some of their wild ideas via their newly dubbed site CATFISH DELUXE.

I had the pleasure of helping them out with the English on the website. It was really fun reading descriptions of the different universes... and even crazier to later see those universes realized in their beautiful illustrations. I recommend... no, I COMMAND you to check out their site! :-)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CATFISH DELUXE WEBSITE.

Robocop

Muttpop — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:06:00 -0500

When I was a kid, I'd ask my mother to let me hang out in the magazine section of the local supermarket while she shopped for groceries. All that food shopping go me bored and I was too big to sit in the front of the shopping cart. So a nice compromise was I was able to browse the various magazines at the front of the store while she went about getting our weekly supply of food. My browsing was usually limited to a few comics, videogame magazines like Gamepro and EGM, and some sci-fi special fx magazines. I remember the first time I saw a photo of Robocop on the cover of one of those Sci-Fi magazines. WOW! It was that amazing image of Robocop stepping out of the police car (see below). To my 9 year-old brain it was the epitome of everything that I thought was cool... and it drove me CRAZY that I was too young to watch the film. The designs of Robocop and the ED-209 were like some sophisticated version of my favorite transformers and I was willing to stomach the bloody gore to watch the movie. Sadly, my parents wouldn't let me. As soon as I could, I rented to film (I think I was 12 years old when I finally saw it) and fell in love with Robocop, ED-209 and all the sex and violence my pre-adolescent eyes could handle!

With time, ED-209's movements don't really hold up (the animation looks like it's done by a Harryhausen reject). I've come to realize that many scenes seem border-line stolen from Frank Miller's DARK KNIGHT RETURNS comic. But I still love the music, Robocop and ED-209 designs. As long as I forget Robocop 2 and 3...

No More Heroes 2 Review

Muttpop — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:23:00 -0500

I completed NO MORE HEROES 2 about a week or two ago. I enjoyed it but didn't feel the same level of cohesion that I felt with the first NO MORE HEROES game. It's still a great deal of fun and, despite a few bits of irritating gameplay, it's a gaming experience I strongly recommend for anybody that owns a Nintendo Wii, has a sense of humor, and doesn't mind some sex & violence in their videogames.

I'm on a bit of a Grasshopper/Suda51 gaming binge these days. In anticipation of No More Heroes 2's release, I went back and played No More Heroes 1 to completion. Since beating No More Heroes 2, I've decided to give Grasshopper and Suda51's previous game, KILLER7 on the Gamecube another shot and am currently playing it's last of 6 chapters.

Since I literally started playing NO MORE HEROES 2 the day after completing the first No More Heroes game, many of the changes felt jarring. The graphical style is a bit more realistic than what was used in the first game. There are still bits of that harsh polygon shading style I like in KILLER7 and the first game but Grasshopper has refined the graphical style to one that feels more like Capcom's Resident Evil 4 and the Final Fantasy games. There's a softness to the facial features that gives the main character, Travis Touchdown, a feminine quality that I didn't really like. His eyes look like they've got touches of mascara and his lips and hair look a bit too "glam" for me.

NMH2 has also done away with the overworld from the first game and made the mini-games an unnecessary side bit to the main beat-em-up game. In the first game you had to play the simplistic mini-games to earn enough cash to enter the next death match. This time around, you can go straight to the death matches. The mini-games are still very relevant because the money you earn from them allows you to upgrade your fighting speed and/or health, buy new light sabers, and buy new clothes.

Like the first game, mini-games are basic affairs. Most mini-game controls are simple and, appropriately, the games graphics look like old 8-bit NES games. It's a novel visual concept. But I was surprised at how the look and gameplay of the mini-games completely took me out of the game. As annoying as the mini-games were in the first No More Heroes, I felt like I was always in the same world as the fighting levels since their visual consistency and presentation were identical. But as the visual style changed from 8-bit game to the regular polygon style in NMH2, I was constantly reminded that I was playing a game and had a harder time connecting with the world of the game. Yes, it was nice to get straight to the more exciting fighting bits... but I didn't feel the same level of intimacy with the city of Santa Destroy that I felt in the first game.

I found that most of the mini-games were unplayable with the traditional wii-mote and nunchuck controller combination. Most of the games needed some very precise movement that was not possible with the nunchuk's analog stick. I was just about to give up on all the mini-games when I decided to start playing them with the classic controller and immediately noticed that the controller's gamepad was the perfect way to get the precision I needed. One other bummer was the poor quality of the mini-games graphics. It seems as though they were built to play on an HD TV. On my Standard TV, the mini-game screen was very small and graphically blurry.

With the wii-mote and nunchuck, the actual fight mechanics for Travis are improved ever-so-slightly from the first game. General fighting feels identical to the first (in a good way). Also, the different light sabers you can select in the game give you different strategies for fighting. Some are fast but weak. Others slow and powerful. I also noticed that some sabers are faster when in the high offensive position versus low. All of that gives you a lot to experiment with during fighting.

As with the other Grasshopper/Suda51 games the story is non-sensical in a stream of consciousness on acid kind of way. Oddly, I found that this game was even more non-sensical than the others. There were a lot of interesting bits to the story and I love the way it plays with different game styles like Resident Evil 4 and Metal Gear Solid. But there doesn't seem to be as much of an overall theme as in the first game. It's just a bunch of interesting moments. Most of those moments are satisfying, a few will irritate the crap out of you.

Overall, I'm glad to have played No More Heroes 2. There are enough great characters and neat ideas to forget about the occasional odd gameplay choices.

We Live In An Image Comics World

Muttpop — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:16:00 -0500

Lots of weird things have been happening in the world of comics. Disney bought Marvel. Paul Levitz, DC's President since 2002 was asked to step down and take a more active role as a writer while Executives from DC's corporate owners, Warner Bros., decided what the next big step with the company will be. Today that next step was announced as Jim Lee and Dan Didio become Co-Publishers and Geoff Johns becomes a Chief Creative Officer. Assuming that Warner Bros. gives all three guys a generous amount of power and creative control, this is a great move for DC. But it also made me realize something else: the current American Comic Book Market is one whose foundation is built on the crazy day in 1992 when 7 "superstar" artists decided to create Image Comics. With time, Image has been blamed for the comic book industry collapse in the late-1990s. But if you look at the careers of many of the more popular Artists (and to a lesser extent writers) of the last 10 years, the Image influence is undeniable. Add to that the significant improvements in overall comic production quality (particularly to paperstock, lettering, and coloring technology) and the many companies and imprints built as a reaction to Image's success and it's obvious: Mainstream Comics today would not exist without the creation of Image Comics.

The obvious connection to DC's announcement is Jim Lee. Jim Lee's been the "golden child" of comics for the last 20 years. The Image founders widely acknowledge that thier biggest move was getting Jim Lee on board with their crazy idea of starting a publishing company... so it's fitting that he is now co-publisher of DC. But what other series/creators can we easily link to Image?

Brian Michael Bendis began writing superhero comics with his POWERS series (which began as an Image book).

Leinil Yu (artist of Marvel's 2009 event comic SECRET INVASION) was discovered and mentored by Image Founder Whilce Portacio.

David Finch (artist of Marvel's ULTIMATUM and DC's upcoming BRIGHTEST DAY) mentored under Image Founder Marc Silvestri.

SAVAGE DRAGON creator Erik Larsen gave many young artists like Jeff Matsuda, Andy Kuhn, Rob Haynes, Tomm Coker, and Jason Pearson some of their earliest professional comic opportunities.

Chris Eliopoulos career as a letterer began when he was hired by Erik Larsen to hand letter his Savage Dragon comics after seeing a few sample pages of his comic strip test pages. Chris' career would expand with the forming of the Virtual Calligraphy digital lettering studio, one of the lettering companies consistently used by Marvel.

The current tone of mainstream superhero comics is heavily influenced by Warren Ellis' amazing run on Image comic's STORMWATCH. The last couple of story arcs on STORMWATCH introduced readers to the beautiful work of BRYAN HITCH, an artist who broke out with the STORMWATCH spin-off AUTHORITY and mega-success with Marvel's ULTIMATES. In fact it was widely acknowledged that Marvel's ULTIMATE universe was inspired by Ellis' & Hitch AUTHORITY. So much so, that Hitch was teamed with Authority's second writer (Mark Millar) on the seminal ULTIMATES comic series

IRON MAN and X-MEN writer Matt Fraction admits it was Ellis' seminal run on Image's STORMWATCH that reinvigorated his interest in comics. He was first getting noticed as a vocal and active participant in Warren Ellis' old Discussion Board.

One of DC's biggest financial successes in comics publishing of the last 10 years was Jim Lee & Jeph Loeb's run on BATMAN.

Comic book publisher IDW was founded by members of Wildstorm after it was purchased by DC and left Image.

Robert Kirkman was hugely influenced by Erik Larsen's SAVAGE DRAGON in his decision to pursue a writing career in comics. He would later co-create and write THE WALKING DEAD for Image Comics, the best selling black & white independent comic of the last 5 years.

If you include Image Comics DIRECT influence on other creators, their presence is even more significant:

Mike Mignola and Frank Miller openly acknowledge that the financial success of Image Comics led to their creation of the LEGEND imprint for Dark Horse, It was through Legend that Mike Mignola began his HELLBOY comics and Frank Miller continued his SIN CITY comics.

Joe Quesada and Jim Palmiotti co-created EVENT COMICS publishing in an attempt to create their own version of Image Comics. After finding success publishing their ASH comic book series, they made a business partnership with Marvel Comics to create the MARVEL KNIGHTS imprint. MARVEL KNIGHTS creative and financial success eventually led to Joe Quesada's promotion as Editor In Chief of Marvel.

Like I said, it's an Image Comics world. :-)

Terminator

Muttpop — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:12:00 -0500

Since my wife enjoyed AVATAR a whole bunch (as did I), I decided it was a good time to introduce her to the classic films of James Cameron. Up until now, the only Cameron film she’s seen is TITANIC (is there a women under 30 who hasn’t seen that film?)… I thought it was long overdue that I share some of James Cameron’s best work with her.

When I come to think of it, James Cameron’s list of movies isn’t that big. When you consider which of his films are “Must Sees” it gets even smaller. For me, the Cameron “Must Sees” are TERMINATOR, ALIENS, and TERMINATOR 2. ABYSS had its moments but fell a little flat for me. TRUE LIES was fun, but felt like Cameron’s reaction to stuff like DIE HARD and JAMES BOND more than being an honest Cameron film. TITANIC… well, I never saw TITANIC completely. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the film and recall over ten years ago walking in on my Ex-Girlfriend watching the end of the film on TV. I ended up watching that last half of Titanic where the boat is sinking and remember thinking that the movie was better than I had imagined because it had some guy falling to his death and ricocheting off of a gigantic propeller blade (morbidly awesome!).

My attempts at getting her to watch ALIENS (and indirectly Ridley Scott’s masterpiece: ALIEN) failed miserably. She immediately thought it’d be too terrifying for her tastes (darn it!). But I succeeded in suckering her into watching TERMINATOR because A: it has a love story and B: it’s a bit like Carpenter’s Halloween (which is oddly one of her favorite films).

I’ve had a DVD copy of TERMINATOR (in a nifty double DVD set with ROBOCOP) but haven’t garnered the energy to watch the film. In fact, I hadn’t watched the film in around 15 years. It was fun to experience it after all these years. Pleasantly, the film was as good or better than I remembered. Terminator is the ultimate 80s action flick with it’s black leather jackets, neon-lit urban landscapes, and feathered pretty girl hair. It’s structure is very simple but works.

At it’s spine, Terminator is freakishly close in plot to John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN: a mysterious man is breaking into homes and murdering women in cold blood. While Halloween’s Mike Myers tool of preference is his knife or bare hands, Terminator’s T-800 prefers an arsenal of guns complete with infrared scope. Much like what we see in Avatar, Cameron takes a very calculated approach in his use of the more hokey elements of the Sci-Fi genre. From a distance, Terminator is a relatively pedestrian story about a good guy protecting an beautiful girl from the bad guy. The sci-fi is all in the details: robots, time travel, apolyptic wars… but it’s all brilliantly played out in a very current interpretation of Los Angeles. The brilliant thing about this take is that it immediately justifies any suspension of disbelief. Sure, a “normal” guy can’t survive a crazy car crash or fire… but the Terminator’s a freakin’ robot! Rambo, James Bond, and John Mclaine never had that liberty. They can do the impossible because it’s a movie. Terminator can do it because he’s a robot from the future.

There are two things that struck me most when revisiting Terminator. First off, John Carpenter hugely influences Cameron. The way he shoots night sequences with rich hues of blues and reds feels like it’s coming straight out of a Carpenter film. As I said before, the overall structure and main character are an homage/inspiration from Halloween. Even their taste in women (androgynous mix of beautiful and strong) feels consistent. The other is that John Woo was HUGELY influenced by Cameron’s work on Terminator. I love Woo’s films like Hard Boiled, the Killer, and A Better Tomorrow. Never once did I make the connection between his Gun Ballet style and Cameron’s work. I cannot believe I never made the connection. The slow-motion gun battles, leather jackets, sunglasses, expressionless faces… all of those Woo stylistic trademarks can be found in Terminator. When watching the big Police Department gun battle in Terminator I couldn’t stop thinking about how much it must have influenced the huge gun battle in Hard Boiled. It’s pretty amazing seeing what a huge influence this movie was on the whole Hong Kong mafia film movement in the mid-to-late 90s.

All in all, it was a lot of fun watching Terminator. I should make an effort to watch it more often. Now it’s due time I give Terminator 2 another shot…

Daredevil Man Without Fear

Muttpop — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:07:00 -0500

My favorite Marvel Superhero is DAREDEVIL. There are many, many reasons for that. Not all of them are entirely objective. When I got into comics, I was at that age where I wanted to like stuff that others didn't... so knowing very little about what was the "hot" book at the moment... I decided that I would pick up Marvel's big revamp at the time: Spider-man 2099. I recall reading a 5 page preview in some weird holographic anniversary issue of Spider-man that my friend had and was really blown away by the art. So SPIDER-MAN 2099 became my first regular comic.

As time passed, I got tired of Spider-man 2099. The first 3 issues were really cool... but the art and story in later issues didn't have the spark I felt in that first story arc. I decided to give Daredevil a try. There was all sorts of buzz about Daredevil having a cool new costume. And the artist at the time (Scott McDaniel) was regarded as a cool new guy. I bought a few issues of that and HATED it. The costume was super lame (what was with those razorblades on the side of his leg!?) and the art seemed a little too odd for my taste. I stopped reading it after a few issues but recall people mentioning how awesome Daredevil was when Frank Miller was doing it in the 80s. As with anybody with a mild interest in comics, I knew about Frank Miller. Frank Miller wrote and drew THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS which was one of those widely accepted references of comic book perfection. At the time, I thought Miller's DARK KNIGHT was pretty nice to look at, but didn't read past the first 48 pages since it had too many words (hey, I was a 13!). I was really curious about what Frank Miller did on Daredevil... but this was before they were putting out trade collections of comics and I refused to pay a lot of money for old comics. So I had to wait to experience those "classic" issues of Frank Miller's Daredevil.

A couple years passed and I heard that Frank Miller was doing some new Daredevil comics (called DAREDEVIL: MAN WITHOUT FEAR). Only this time around, Frank Miller was just writing and working with some artist named John Romita Jr. The cover looked pretty cool, so I decided that THIS would be my first experience reading Miller's DAREDEVIL.

DAMN.

That's all I could say when I read that first issue of John Romita Jr's and Millers Man Without Fear comic. Something exploded in my adolescent mind and heart with the comic book bliss that first issue took me too. Everything complemented each other in the most perfect of ways. The pacing. The dialogue. The subdued colors. All of it was perfect.

I continued to feel that way all the way through the first 3 issues of Man Without Fear (pretty much until the end of Elektra's appearance in the miniseries). Issues 4 & 5 were solid... but didn't reach the level of perfection as those first 3 issues.

Since then, about the only Marvel comic that I've consistently picked up is DAREDEVIL. I'm by no means a Daredevil completist. But if I hear that there's some interesting things happening in that book, I'll buy it. As such, I've read and owned various copies of a lot of the better known post-Frank Miller stories: Quesada's run with Kevin Smith, Born Again, Bendis & Maleev's run, the Brubaker & Michael Lark stuff. I even went back and read those old Frank Miller Daredevil comics.

There are a few great Daredevil comics, some very good ones and a lot of mediocre ones. But none of them measure up to the feelings I had reading those early issues of Frank Miller and John Romita Jr's DAREDEVIL: MAN WITHOUT FEAR miniseries. For me, as a teenager, those first 3 issues showed me comic books could make magic.

500 Days of Summer

Muttpop — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:24:00 -0500

As I watched (500) DAYS OF SUMMER this past weekend, I started feeling like I was under some sort of weird voodoo spell done by the dark priests working for Fox Searchlight. I've been trying to find films on Netflix that I can enjoy with the wife. I gave up on trying to convince her to watch the more violent and subversive films I enjoy (she is STILL traumatized from watching Edward James Olmos' AMERICAN ME with me 3-4 years ago). I often can't stand a few of her choices (NOT ANOTHER TEEN COMEDY!?..... really?). So I've been a bit proactive at trying to find movies that we'll both enjoy watching. The last one was WHIP IT. This time around it was (500) DAYS OF SUMMER. Little did I know that both films are from Fox Searchlight. Like I said: voodoo spells. :-)

My reasons for wanting to watch the film were the main actor (who was the kid from that NBC comedy 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN) and the director being recently dubbed as the next Spider-man film director. The main actor (whose name escapes me) was on SNL a while back and seemed like a cool enough dude. He wasn't really the funniest SNL guest, but he had this old Hollywood charm that reminded me of doofy yet classy actors like James Stewart. A few days after watching his SNL appearance, I heard that the (500) Days of Summer director is replacing Raimi as Spider-man director. So my curiosity went past the "mildly intrigued" and into the "let's rent it" status.

For those not in the know (which I assume is probably everybody who's reading this), '(500) Days of Summer' is about a hopeless romantic guy that falls in love with Summer, a pretty girl who doesn't believe in love. You're warned from the get go that things don't end the way conventional love stories do... and then you're jostled back and forth to different moments in the relationship with Summer to simultaneously get a sense of both how the romance began and ended.

Much of the movie's charm comes from the way it plays with time and the limitations of the film medium. By knowing the the relationship won't work, as a viewer, you cautiously invest your feelings into the early stages of the relationship. There are also several nice parallels showing how the things the main character loves about Summer become the very things he hates about her once the relationship ends. One of my favorite movie narrative tricks is a scene using a split screen. On one side is the main character's "expected outcome" on the other is "reality". Most of these non-traditional techniques challenge the relationship between the audience and the movie. When you see stuff like the split screen... it reminds you that you are watching a movie and creates a distance between you and characters in the film. Because of the unconventional nature of the film, it works... but you end up not completely connecting with the characters.

It was also interesting seeing how the city of Los Angeles was shot for the film. As a Los Angeleno, it was pretty trippy seeing the L.A. in '(500)'. For the first 15 minutes of the film I assumed the city in the story was Chicago or Boston. It was like the Director wanted to created a version of Los Angeles that was as ideal as the main character's concept of love. A friend of mine is passionate about the various urban developments happening in Los Angeles. It's a pleasure to see Los Angeles through his eyes... but the L.A. he sees is very different than the one that I live in. '(500) Days of Summer' is the closest thing to the Los Angeles in my friend's imagination that I have seen. I found the portrayal of L.A. to be very refreshing. Yes, it's not true to life... but as creators, I think it's vital to distill the elements of things you love into something inherently your own. Director Marc Webb does that nicely with the City of Los Angeles.

Overall, '(500) Days of Summer' was a decent film. At times, the story and narrative techniques are so biased that you end up not connecting with the characters or story. But you forgive it's flaws for its willingness to try something different.

Now, could Marc Webb do a good Spider-man film? Eh, no... not from what I have seen. Webb has the potential to portray a romantic take on New York (as he has done here with Los Angeles) which is essential to a Spider-man film. There's a pure quality to his directing that could create a timeless look to Spider-man that would ring true for fans of John Romita's romantic take on the character. BUT much of Webb's style comes from unconventional techniques that would not work in a Spider-man movie. Also, there is nothing in '(500)' that shows his ability to shoot action (does a musical ensemble count?). The only rumor going around is that he wants Zac Efron as Spider-man/Peter Parker. We'll see how it all unfolds until it's 2012 release date.

Bayonetta 1.1 Million Sold

Muttpop — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:03:00 -0500

Bayonetta sales, worldwide, for the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined has hit 1.1 million. If so, great news for Platinum Games/Clover Studios! There is some debate as to whether that number represents games shipped or games actually sold... either way its a nice step forward for a company known for creating quality games that have consistently struggled to find an audience. I loved what Kamiya-san and his team did on games like Viewtiful Joe, Okami, God Hand and Madworld. It's good to see that they've found a decent following with their latest action game. I wonder who is buying Bayonetta. Is it just the old-school fans feenin' for a new beat-em-up style game? Or has Bayonetta found a way to attract gamers that would normally play a game of Halo or Gears of War? There have been many arguments that traditional gamers (who are mostly male) hesitate to play as a female protagonist. It's nice to see that Bayonetta has been able to challenge that conception. I have yet to play Bayonetta (as I niether own a PS3 or Xbox 360). But my interest in the game is there. I've heard it's a lot of fun to play. Design-wise I really like the main character's look... but have a hard time appreciating the cast of villains in the game. Overall it's got a very garish SquareSoft Final Fantasy design style going for it... which has never been a look I've really liked. With all the trinkets and metal the characters are wearing it's very difficult to make out what the characters actually look like. To my eyes it just looks like blobs of 'bling bling'. Despite that snafu, Kamiya's got my trust. I assume it all makes sense once you give the game a little playtime. As I love the Bayonetta character you play as, I decided to include a selection of some really nice development sketches of the character from Platinum games. You can find more on their flikr account.

Pluto Manga by Naoki Urasawa

Muttpop — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:02:00 -0500

If you have a decent familiarity with manga (Japanese comics), there's a good chance that you've heard the name Naoki Urasawa. Over the last 10 years Urasawa-san has become the gateway drug to the world of manga. His style is just realistic and cinematic enough to appeal to American and European comic fans unfamiliar with the more extreme stylistic choices found in most manga titles. I'm ashamed to admit that I've been lagging on my Urasawa "fix". A friend living in Japan told me I MUST read Urasawa's MONSTER manga. I picked it up, flipped through a few pages and wasn't really intrigued by Urasawa's art style. I later heard great things about Urasawa's 21ST CENTURY BOYS. The art style in 21ST CENTURY BOYS was mighty impressive. Urasawa brought a more sophisticated line and rendering style. It's a bit more European in its complexity while still retaining a clean and simple Japanese cartooning sensibility. It's gorgeous to look at. With tons of willpower I held off from jumping into a 21st Century Boys comic buying binge. But I kept hearing about its brilliance from various comic readers and friends. I was ready to buy everything that's available in English... and just as I was about to buy them, the Comic Gods must have heard my plea, as I got volumes 1-3 of Urasawa's PLUTO manga for Christmas. SWEET!

PLUTO is Urasawa's reinterpretation of Osamu Tezuka's "Greatest Robot on Earth" story from the ASTRO BOY/MIGHTY ATOM manga series. As a HUGE fan of Osamu Tezuka's comics, PLUTO was the perfect way for me to officially discover Urasawa's work. After flipping through a few pages, I had a feeling that I'd enjoy the series so I purchased the remaining volumes that are available in English (4-6 of a 9 volume story) and began reading.

Even though I am a Tezuka fan, I never had the pleasure of reading much of his Astro Boy comics. I recall buying and reading 2 of the 20+ volumes that Dark Horse released... but neither volume included any part of the "Greatest Robot on Earth" story. So it's impossible for me to compare and contrast the story to the source material. But based on my experiences reading Astro Boy (which, from what I read, focused predominantly on the Astro Boy character) PLUTO takes many creative and narrative liberties to make this as much an Urasawa story as a Tezuka one.

One thing I found very shocking and effective is that we don't meet the Mighty Atom/Astro Boy until the final pages of Volume 1. Essentially the story is a detective mystery. Somebody has been killing off the most powerful robots on planet Earth, and the remaining Robot super powers try to solve the mystery as they are murdered one by one.

Urasawa's style is incredibly realistic compared to the hyper-stylized Manga standard. His work feels closer to Otomo's work on AKIRA with it's realistic human proportions and environments. The characters never overact like you often find in manga books. So the reading experience feels far more cinematic than what we get from other Manga books. It all works superbly in bringing the reader into the world of Pluto. Every character emotes and reacts in ways that are familiar and sincere. All the primary robot characters are designed to look human... and it ends up making the reader immediately connect with the characters strongly; something that wouldn't have been as natural if the robots looked like robots.

As a detective story, the story starts with a detective character (complete with trench coat and the big nose) so on many levels the visuals give you cues to the appropriate mood and style. Once you're in that world, Urasawa uses tricks in narrative and plot development unique to the robotic characteristics of the primary characters. And amidst all this, Urasawa creates a story that explores philosophical quarrels regarding life, humanity, and the makings of the soul.

The pacing of PLUTO is impeccable. Much like the TV show LOST, very little new information is given to the reader... but the murder mystery and reveal of the various characters at play is unspooled in a manner that tantalizes you just enough that you HAVE to continue reading. I've been warned that a common problem in Urasawa's work is his conclusions never match the masterful way he teases the reader... but as I haven't read the final 3 volumes, I'll have to reserve my own feelings about this until later. For now, PLUTO has been a helluva ride... one that I'm sad will have to eventually end! Thus far, I am LOVING Pluto. So much so, that I think I'm going to have to get my hands on 21st Century Boys as well!

I found some amazing comparison pic between Tezuka's original design (in sepia) and Urasawa's (in black) on this website. They can be found below along with some samples of Naoki Urasawa's beautiful pages.

Whip It Movie

Muttpop — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:39:00 -0500

I rented WHIP IT, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, and watched it with my wife this past weekend. While it wasn't perfect, it was a really fun coming-of-age film with a heckuva ensemble cast and a really beautiful portrayal of the sport of Roller Derby. Ellen Page (of JUNO) stars as a high school girl trying to find herself despite the pressures and expectations of her controlling mother. She finds a sense of self in the tomboyish sport of Roller Derby but has to lie about her age in order to participate. It's a very standard coming-of-age story that does little to tread new emotional territory. It's a bit difficult to swallow that the beautiful and intelligent protagonist feels that her only way out of her boring small town is by playing Roller Derby. Also the love interest/boy toy of the film is kind of ugly (at least by my wife's standards). But if you're willing to look past those odd qualities it's a pretty fun movie. The cast is pretty awesome. The main roller derby team (known as the Hurl Scouts) includes Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig (of SNL), and Zoe Bell (from Death Proof & Uma Thurman's stunt double in the KILL BILL films). The main rival team is led by Juliette Lewis (who has the PERFECT look and attitude for Roller Derby). And you have some nice bit parts from Jimmy Fallon and Andrew Wilson (the 3rd Wilson brother... I didn't know there was a 3rd one!). The star of the movie are the Roller Derby events which seems like the female equivalent of Mexican Wrestling. An impressive directorial debut by Drew Barrymore.

Golden Fist of Apocalypse

Muttpop — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:18:00 -0500

Fellow Muttpop artists: Gobi, Bill and Fabien have donned themselves the Catfish Deluxe and are doing a live art performance on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th at 6pm at the Angouleme International Comic Festival in France. Angouleme the biggest comic convention in Europe (think of it as the San Diego Comic-con in a castle!). Those lucky enough to attend can watch the character designers behind Tequila, El Panda, Red Demon, Dr. Destruction and King Katch work their doodling magic live and on stage. Sadly Jerry and I will not be there... but we're sure the Catfish Deluxe will put on a helluva show!

For more details and information CLICK HERE. Some teaser illustrations can be seen below!

Ocran Ocinatas Tequila Solicitation Goes Out Tonight

Muttpop — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:29:00 -0500

I have just received confirmation from our distributor, DKE Toys Distribution, that the solicitation for the latest Frank Kozik X Muttpop collaboration, Tequila Ocran Ocinatas goes out tonight. That means that beginning tomorrow, your favorite Designer Toy retailers will be able to order Ocran Ocinatas from DKE. We figured that Ocran Ocinatas was an appropriate way to start 2010. I hope he was worth the wait!

No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle

Muttpop — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:01:00 -0500

Today No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle comes out in the US for the Nintendo Wii. I'm really looking forward to playing it. Suda 51 created an amazing universe in the first game and I am very happy that we'll have another opportunity to play in it one more time. From a stylistic standpoint, there are very few games as cool as NO MORE HEROES. It's got a great sense of humor, beautiful character designs, and a very refreshing take of the West Coast. As with what our artists do on Lucha Libre, it often takes an outsider's eyes to effectively distill the beautiful qualities of an environment. Even though Suda 51 and Grasshopper Studios are in Japan, they really got the tone of the West Coast with its mix of Surf, Punk, and Urban style. And, unlike some of the wackier fashionable choices you often find in Japan videogames (*cough* Squaresoft *cough*)... Grasshoppers Studios found a nice mix between the bolder design choices of Japan, geek culture, and general fashion. To me, the No More Heroes cast of characters are some of the coolest and most refreshing designs since Kojima's Metal Gear Solid. The characters are eclectic, beautiful, and yet somehow feel like they organically belong to the same universe. It's a delicate balance that is rarely found. As a showcase of the strong design found in the first No More Heroes Game, I've chosen some of my favorite character designs from the amazing Creative Uncut resource library. I've also included a trailer to No More Heroes 2 below.

Beat Em Up Arcade Games

Muttpop — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:30:00 -0500

With the release of Suda 51's NO MORE HEROES 2 on the Wii a day from release, I can't help but feel the tinge of nostalgia for the good ol' Beat 'Em Up Arcade games. For you little kids out there, there was once a time when arcade games reigned supreme. Yeah, you had your NES or Sega Master System, but the capabilities of those system paled in comparison to the stuff you'd find in the arcade. I clearly recall the first time I saw my first 'Beat 'Em Up' game. I couldn't BELIEVE what they were able to get away with!

I was in some bowling league at the Panorama Bowl... but I could care less about bowling. I sucked (and so did the majority of my bowling team), so I'd frolic through my 10 frames of bowling quickly enough to play a few arcade games before my mom came to pick me up. As with most bowling alleys at the time, Panorama Bowl had many of the latest and greatest arcade games. But there was a whole new level of buzz the day that DOUBLE DRAGON showed up. At the time, that game was all kinds of nasty! Your girlfriend (that you see the bad guys PUNCH) was dressed pretty raunchy. You could SMASH dudes with your knee. You could even pick up a baseball bat (a FREAKIN' bat!) and start wacking guys in the stomach. It was 9-year-old heaven. I couldn't watch a single Rated R film... but I could get away with beating the digital crap out of pixel thugs at the Bowling Alley arcade!

Let's ignore the fact that I was so intimidated by DOUBLE DRAGON that I'd end up watching OTHER people play more then play it myself. I found the confidence to play an occasional game during a rare instance when nobody was around. And during those times I played, my adrenaline was going so hard that I could barely play. DOUBLE DRAGON was the start of a series of Beat 'Em Ups.

I remember BAD DUDES came out right after Michael Jackson's BAD album. It was super lame, but somehow we were all suckered into it because it had ninjas and your character screamed, "I'M BAD!!!" after beating level bosses.

FINAL FIGHT was the game that took Beat 'Em Ups to a whole new level. The graphics were INCREDIBLE. And every character was beyond cool. I had a huge man-crush on Guy (kind of still do). Guy was freakin' awesome. The way he moved screamed bad-ass. Then you find out he's some sort of ninja... and anything 'Ninja' in the 80s was automatically placed in the 'Cool' Department. For me, there's few arcade Beat 'Em Ups that rival FINAL FIGHT in terms of utter-bad-assery. I remember really digging things like the first Ninja Turtles Arcade game and getting blown away by the epic 3-4 screened X-men arcade cabinet... but, as a game, none of those really felt as awesome as FINAL FIGHT.

The Beat 'Em Up successfully made gaming a communal experience. It was fun playing alongside a friend or stranger. And there was so much going on that it was really fun to watch other people play as well.

The genre found quite a following on the 8-bit consoles with various incarnations of Double Dragon. While they weren't bad, they didn't really stand up to the arcade experience (although I LOVE the cover art to Double Dragon II... shown below). RIVER CITY RANSOM was the first game to expand the conventions of the beat 'em up game into something richer and deeper for the home console gaming experience. But it's graphics (although stylistically PERFECT for the limitations of the 8-bit NES) couldn't really compete with what was being offered in the Arcade.

It's nice to see that the Beat 'Em Up genre lives on in games like NO MORE HEROES, MADWORLD, and GOD HAND. Brings the old gamer in me back to my time as a 9-year-old at the Panorama Bowl!

DOUBLE DRAGON

BAD DUDES

FINAL FIGHT

DOCTOR STEEL Revealed

Muttpop — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:44:00 -0500

The cat's out of the bag: Muttpop co-owner and Lucha Libre co-creator Jerry Frissen is partnering up with Sean 'Cheeks' Galloway on a new French comic series from Soleil called DOCTOR STEEL. Many of you may be familiar with Cheeks beautiful art work on the Teen Titans chapter in DC's Wednesday Comics. He's done a variety of covers for various Marvel and DC comics. Sean's also got some beautiful toys and comics based on his BASTION 7 universe. He's probably best known for the character designs he's done on a variety of animated projects including the HELLBOY ANIMATED SERIES and the SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN animated TV show. Yup, Cheeks is a busy dude. But, somehow, someway, he's found time in his always busy schedule to work with Jerry on DOCTOR STEEL! I've had the fortune of being the middle-man on this project... cleaning up Jerry's English scripts for Sean Galloway to work his magic on. From, what I've seen, this is going to be a beautiful project.

DOCTOR STEEL is Cheeks and Jerry's unique take on the Pulp stories of yesteryear. Expect plenty of fist fights and blimps in this one. Sean blew us away with his gorgeous teaser image (seen below)! Soleil's publishing this one for the French language market. I'm not too sure what the US publishing plans are... but we'll be sure it's out for you to enjoy.

My Playstation 2 Game Collection

Muttpop — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:56:00 -0500

As they say: you are what you eat. I'd argue that the saying holds true beyond the realm of nutrition and into gaming. You want to see what my gaming taste is like? Well then, take a look at my Playstation game collection. I don't have a Playstation 3, but a quick glimpse at my library of Playstation 1 & 2 games makes a clear indication at my 'sophisticated' palette! In case you have a hard time reading the game spines in the photo, games are as follows:

PLAYSTATION 1 GAMES: One Piece Mansion, Parappa The Rapper (this one's actually my buddy's... I regretfully sold my old copy), Um Jammer Lammy, Heart of Darkness, Metal Gear Solid, Strider 1 & 2

PLAYSTATION 2 GAMES: GrimGrimoire, Odin Sphere, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy, We <heart> Katamari, Gitarooman, Rez, Space Channel 5 Special Edition, Frequency, Amplitude, Guitar Hero 1 & 2, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, Street Fighter 2 & 3, Okami, God Hand, God of War 1 & 2, Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 (the original Special Editon versions), Zone of Enders: The 2nd Runner, Gradius V, and that black case is a used copy of Contra: Shattered Soldier (super bummed I couldn't find a copy with that awesome Ashley Wood cover :-( ).

World of Goo

Muttpop — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:09:00 -0500

I'm fully aware that this games been out for a while but I FINALLY got around to playing WORLD OF GOO on the Nintendo Wii. Verdict? Why oh why did it take me so long to give this game a chance!? It's freakin' awesome. The concept is simple and straight forward (build things with goo droplets to get from point A to point B). The puzzles are a clever balance of inventiveness, challenge, and fun. And (at least thus far) it's got the a wonderful sense of pacing that keeps you coming back for more. For some reason, I kept delaying the purchase of WORLD OF GOO because it was a little higher than other Wii Ware purchases (it's $15 when most games are around $5-$8). But after playing the free demo for a few minutes I realized the error of my ways. It works seamlessly with the Wii Remote (it works much like a mouse does on a computer) and, once again, shows me how exciting the world of downloadable games have become. So, if you're bored and happen to own a Wii, download the FREE World of Goo demo. At worst, it'll be 5 minutes of a new gaming experience that's not really your thing. At best (or maybe worst) you'll become addicted and immediately purchase the full game (as I did). So far I've just completed the 1st of 4 worlds. There's plenty more to do... but I had so much fun that I just HAD to share my love...

Ocran Ocinatas Coming Very Soon

Muttpop — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:40:00 -0500

The official wide US Release of the Muttpop X Kozik collaboration: Tequila Ocran Ocinatas is quickly approaching us. We are currently in the midst of of organizing our solicitation with our distributor DKE Toys. As such, you're favorite Designer Toy Retailer should be able to order them early next week (around January 25th) and you should start seeing them in stores between late January and early February. Stay tuned...

Art of Communication

Muttpop — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:04:00 -0500

We're taught to believe that creative people dig deep into the recesses of their imagination to create something unique and personal. Through art they make their personal world a reality and (hopefully) find an audience that can emotively connect with their world. But is that really what its about? There is a language to everything that we do and, I'd argue, that without a genuine understanding of that underlying language, it's impossible to communicate to an audience that can genuinely understand your work. Pop Art aims to communicate in a language that most people are, at least, familiar with. As a person living in America there are certain things I do and objects that I interact with. A good American Pop Artist is able to exploit the similarities of such experience and communicate it to me in a way that I "get". Here are some immediate examples from (as seen from top to bottom) us (Muttpop), Kozik, Sket One, Shepard Fairey, and Kaws.

Roger Dean And Avatar

Muttpop — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:12:00 -0500

If you're only as good as your influences, then clearly James Cameron must give some love and respect to Roger Dean. Mr. Dean is an English painter best known for the series of album cover paintings he did for progressive rock band, YES. He also had his hand in painting a few things for a variety of videogame companies including game developer PSYGNOSIS' logo and the cover art for SHADOW OF THE BEAST and TETRIS WORLDS.

Throughout his more personal paintings, Roger Dean developed a peaceful exotic world filled with floating rocks, oversized bonsai trees, AND serene blue vistas inhabited by a variety of exotic fantastical creatures. It looks a lot like like James Cameron's ambitious vision of Pandora, the planet and arguably the star of his uber-successful 3D film AVATAR. Is what James Cameron used as influence closer to stealing or homage? You decide.

Thanks to Jerry Frissen for allowing me to steal from his amazing post (from our Muttpop France blog). Jerry immediately recognized the influence (my naive eyes didn't even know who Roger Dean was!) and was privy to share Dean's connection to Cameron's Pandora.

Steve Jobs And Apple As Pop Artist

Muttpop — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:43:00 -0500

I'm pretty surprised how much buzz is floating around about Apple's announcement of a new Tablet product. With just an announcement, Apple's got the whole world talking about how they're going to change the business of publishing. And this is before a single specification regarding the product has been revealed. The world is ablaze with anticipation over the idea of an Apple "tablet". Crazy. Can Steve Jobs and team Apple meet the lofty expectations of the general public? I have my doubts. When the Buzz gets as frantic as it has, it's tough to meet expectations. But there's no denying Apple's instrumental impact on the last 25 years of technology. I'd argue that Steve Jobs and Apple are the most influential artists of the last 30 years. Time and again Apple single-handedly changes the way we interact with information and the world around us. At a time where access to information is instantaneous and infinite, it's difficult for things like a popular song or movie to have a significant affect on us. With attention spans becoming smaller ans smaller, the tool with which we access information and experience is becoming as (if not more) important than the cultures we choose to influence us. And if there is one company that has successfully established the foundations within which we access the digital world, it's undisputably Apple. Apple changed the way we access music. Apple changed the game of telecommunications. Now, people claim, Apple's on the verge of changing the game of publishing. It's a new world, my friend. One where we can all be stars to a devoted few and where the tool is as important a he/she who wields it.

The Year 2010

Muttpop — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:41:00 -0500

As well all return to the familiar rhythms of a full work week, I hope you all are having a wonderful start to the new year: 2010. Wow. Twenty-ten! It's tough to believe that it's arrived. Has it really been over 10 years since the Y2K paranoia? Remember that? Everyone was freaking out that, with the dawn of the new millenium, our computers would go haywire because they couldn't compute having "00" in the date column? As we all can see, we came out of that just fine.

It's also pretty mind boggling that we're 8 years removed from the devastating events of 9-11. For me, that day still feels pretty fresh. I remember the crazy amounts of American flags hanging from cars seemingly moments after the horrific tragedy. Everybody, and it was very close to being everybody, had those funky car window American flags hanging from white pvc pipes for about a month after. In a country of people busily trying to prove their individuality, we collectively decided that we were, first and foremost American (or at least wanted everybody to feel that way).

2005 was the beginning of Muttpop. It's almost been 5 years since Jerry and I decided to take on this zany journey. In the beginning of 2005, Jerry and I (along with our buddy Francis) had begun exploring the possibilities of establishing a publishing company. That quickly evolved into a toy-making venture that we now know as Muttpop Inc. At the time, Jerry and I were just a couple of outsiders with a mission to make toys. We had no clue how or with whom... but we were so in love with the beautiful Luchador-inspired characters created by Gobi and Bill that we just HAD to find a way.

Now, in 2010, we're excited to see where this will all take us. To all of you that have joined us on this journey: we thank you. Let's continue to have a helluva time!

Happy Holidays

Muttpop — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:43:00 -0500

As 2009 comes to an end, everyone at Muttpop wishes you a Happy Holiday! We hope that 2009 was a wonderful year for you and that 2010 is even better! Thanks for the support and we hope to continue sharing with you our love of design, toys, comics and whatever else we feel is cool enough to share with you in the next year and the many more years to come!

Review of James Cameron AVATAR Film

Muttpop — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:43:00 -0500

I was fortunate enough to see James Cameron's AVATAR film in its ideal format and environment (Imax 3D and on the monster projection screen at the legendary Hollywood Cinerama-Dome) this past Friday. It was a helluva experience that has me marveling over what the next steps in the spectacle of film will be. The 3D action epic that is AVATAR pushes the movie making experience to ambitious limits. It's big and grand in a manner that only an American Studio film can be and manages to, at the benefit of some people and detriment of others, connect it to a heavy-handed but intriguing mythology. Here are my thoughts with my best attempt of not including spoilers.

The "new" techology on display is might impressive. The 3D experience appears to be built on a slightly refined version of the 3D polarized lens made famous by the old Disney Captain EO experience. The glasses used are a bit heavier and supposedly use a better form of the technology (complete with batteries that apparently destroy their abilities if the glasses are stolen). The glasses were my least enjoyable aspect of the experience as they were clumsy, heavy and ill fitting. Much like the older form of polarized 3D glasses, the ear bands connect to the main lenses in a one-size-fits-all headband style. While it worked well for the lighter weight previous glasses, the heaviness and clunkiness of these new type of glasses have them fighting (and losing) to gravity far more often. As such, you'll catch yourself doing the nerdy glasses readjustment move (quick poke of index finger between eyes).

Despite the glasses, the 3D is far more nuanced than we have previously experienced. Depth in 3D has reached an all-time high. Nothing in the movie will reach out and try to poke or scare you... but there are consistently multiple planes of depth to experience. I was a little concerned during the opening moments of the film as it seemed that colors were a bit washed... but by the time of the first major action sequence in the forests of Pandora, either my eyes acclimated to the colors or the artists behind Avatar figured out how to solve the faded color dilemma I initially experienced... because, by that point, vivid blues and greens were glowing beautifully from the screen. The one thing I did notice suffered a bit from the 3D were quick movements, particularly in the more intimate moments of action. All the big ship and wide lens action was captured beautifully. But on the occasional moment where we're brought close in on the action like in 1-on-1 fight or chase scenes, the action gets blurry and the 3D effect is partially lost.

In regards to the film itself, I loved it. The world of Pandora is one that I loved visiting and intend to visit again (via a repeat viewing of the film in Imax 3D). The Earthling technology is a natural evolution of the wonderful "Space Marine" technology Cameron introduced in his classic films like Aliens, Terminators 1 & 2, and Abyss. I always felt that Cameron was the one guy doing sci-fi film that built upon the military robot tech made famous in Japanese anime series like Gundam. The earthling tech in Avatar supports this theory.

Pandora and its blue-skinned inhabitants are part of a rich universe whose look and culture have benefited from the 12 years it took to make Avatar. The world of Avatar is the true star of the film. The variety of creatures and plants we are introduced to are all incredibly imaginative and beautiful. The number and variety of creatures introduced in the film are too much to take in on a single-viewing.

The story is epic but clunky. The characters and plot suffer a bit from the broadness within which they are written. But with a story as large as this one it's fitting. The story of Avatar is one of technology versus nature; logic versus intuition. It is a story filled with a war of 1000s of people/aliens/monsters/hoverships... and, as such, its easy to forgive the broadness with which the overarching story is told. The broad story is a framework within which we are asked to experience the unique world of Pandora. The story isn't a bad one... but it is definitely a familiar one filled with the classic themes of love and power. I believed and easily bought into the sincerity of the story. But I suspect that some people will feel that the inherent philosophy in the story comes across a bit too strongly (particularly if that person is in disagreement with the suggested dogma). I actually like the harshness with which Cameron chooses to convey his ideals. If you take all this time building a universe, you may as well have it abide to the rules of your philosophy!

All in all, Avatar is an amazing experience. Now I look forward to seeing how talented A-list directors like Spielberg and Jackson react to it!

Our Love of Blue People

Muttpop — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:53:00 -0500

As you all know, AVATAR came out today. And, it's guaranteed to be a humungous hit. Why? Because it's got blue people in it. Hear me out, everything with blue skinned people is beloved by the masses. Smurfs devoured our childhood. Tron, even though it was far from being a perfect film, burned our brains with funny looking neon glow pajamas and blue faces (I'll admit, that crazy cool motorcycle scene helped a bit). Fantomas, despite being a sociopath, thief, and sadistic murderer, is one of the most popular French characters in crime fiction; and he has, you guessed it, a funny looking blue face/mask. The Las Vegas Blue Man Group? Um, what the hell?! I heard they even have a school for children! Is that Indian deity Vishnu behind this odd occurrence? I have no idea. For some reason a green faced guy is scary (damned martian!), a red faced guy is scary (demon!), but a blue faced guy? We freakin' love him!