Otis Frampton's sketch cards, collected in a book



I think Otis Frampton's art is terrific and actually own a few sketch cards. If you're going to be at San Diego's Comic Con, then, for just one dollar, you can get a book featuring 144 full color scans of personal sketch cards plus space on the cover for a personalized sketch. That's an unbelievable bargain. I mean, just look at his Dark Knight and Robin. Link.

Gallery of posters by Saul Bass



I particularly like this one for Saint Joan. Gallery. Via.

*Previously: The Star Wars opening credits, if they'd been designed by Saul Bass.

Review: Heresy #1

(I received a review pdf of Heresy #1 by Jon Brady, Roger Mincheff & Steve Perkins. Apparently, the issue comes out July 2008, although I could find no mention of it at either Ape Entertainment or Spacedog Entertainment.)

The action moves swiftly from modern day United States to 1919 Siberia and back again, as a detective tries to unravel some gruesome crimes - - he aptly describes the murderer as "Bobby Flay meets the Highlander." It's definitely one of the more effective horror comics I've read, and Perkins' photorealistic art suits the subject matter well. My only criticism is that I found the action a bit disorienting and had to reread it a few times to keep the characters straight. But that's always a problem in non-superhero comics.

If you like The X-Files, you should give Heresy a try.

*Comes out late August 2008.

Angry little German soccer fan



If babelfish is to be trusted, he's saying, "not even European champions." Via.

Ultraviolence has never looked cuter



Droogs from A Clockwork Orange, spotted at Mojizu. Impress your friends: "droogs" means friends in Russian.

*Find vintage movie posters at MoviePoster.com.

Etsy's 404 Error Page

Santa vs. Satan (the book)



I received a review copy of Santa vs. Satan by Jake Kalish. At first I dismissed it, just like I always used to flip rights past the spreads in Wizard asking whether Batman would beat Wolverine in a fight. (And just like I keep speeding right past information on the DC/Mortal Kombat game.) However, Kalish, who has written for Playboy, Details and a bunch of other magazines actually did something clever - - he asked lots of people their opinion, ranging from bloggers like Will Leitch (formerly of Deadspin), to genuine experts. For example, here's what Jim Nelson, author of Benedict Arnold's Navy had to say about Judas vs. Benedict Arnold:
Arnold would appear to a safe bet. He was, after all, a soldier, a professional fighter. Judas was a ... well, we don't really know what Judas was. Which is too bad, because it could make a difference. If he was a fisherman, like Peter, he might have been a pretty tough hombre, hauling all those nets all day. If he was a tax guy, like Paul (Paul was a tax guy, wasn't he?), then Judas was probably a pretty wimpy guy, and A.D. 31 version of a guy who works at the Department of Motor Vehicles. In any event, we know Arnold was short, burly, and damned tough. He was shot twice, had his leg crushed by a horse, and married a woman half his age and lived to tell about it all. As for Judas, one little setback and he runs off and hangs himself. That shows a serious weakness of character. As a professional historian, my thirty pieces of silver are on Benedict Arnold.

That's actually pretty interesting information. In a nutshell, if you enjoy reading the news/history articles in Maxim, then you'll enjoy this book. It's available at Amazon.

*If you'd like to know more about my taste in books, then peruse the Amazon widget in the sidebar.

James White turns the Toyota Matrix into a very desirable car





Direct Flickr links. Beautiful prints available in his store.

*Previously: Scion Crest Generator.

Threadless T-Shirt Design: The End of Summer


End of Summer? - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

Comparison: Zombie, Ninja, Pirate footprints



Useful guide from Woot. Via.

Ode to Edo poster



For an event at Jerome Jenner Gallery. Via.

*Buy vintage propaganda posters at AllPosters.com.

GoDaddy Vice President caught bidding against customers in their own domain name auctions

Link.

Police Chief Dicks orders officers to crack down on sagging pants

Honest. Via.

McCain 1908 T-Shirt




On sale at

Desktop Wallpaper: Gallery of July 2008 Calendars



Several designs here. The snail-riding fairies are by Vlad Gerasimov.

More photos of Michael Lau's upcoming Gardner figures




045 JORDAN and more here and here.

*Previously: Michael Jordan discusses the time he punched Steve Kerr in the face.

*Buy designer vinyl toys at Fugitive Toys.

Obama supporters taking on middle name of Hussein to show their support

Or crazed adulation. Link.

"Mr. T" and other strange vintage cereal boxes.




Gallery. Via.

*Find vintage A-Team toys at eBay.

"Williamsburg doesn't need a space elevator"



Actually old to the web, but new to me. Spotted here. Here's the official site for the brave men and women of F.E.T.S.E.o.t.N (Fight Extremely Tall Space Elevators on the Northside.)

Wall-E: Best movie ever . . . featuring a creepy guy who

lives in a garbage dump, drugs a girl into unconsciousness after she spurns his romantic advances, ties her up, and takes her bound, comatose body on dates. Naturally, she falls in love with him.

Ladies, better keep a close eye on your drinks if you meet anyone that works at Pixar.



*Previously: The Lorax's real message.

Panda Kaiju t-shirt



On sale here.

Whaddya know, a genuinely funny use of lolcats



See the whole comic strip here.

Desktop Wallpaper: Nosferatu, perhaps?

Desktop wallpaper sized image here.

Hug Your Tears plush



Buy.

Make your own baby Yeti kit



$15 kit comes with:
-Detailed & Illustrated instruction pamphlet
-Pattern (can email this to you also if it comes to you damaged or you need another)
-Four pieces of felt (If you'd like a different color for the head/chest, just ask!)
-Large piece of white faux fur
-Four black glass beads (Just in case you lose some)

You'll need
-Needle & thread
-Stuffing
-Rice (optional)

How To: Create wall art with electrical tape and coloured acetate



Instructions here. Via.

Eve desktop icons (Wall-E)



Download here. Via.

Vintage Skippy Peanut Butter Tin (From the 30's)



Flickr link. Via. How often is the older design better than the new design - - 95% of the time?

None available at eBay right now, although they do have Skippy the Propellerized Robot Dog, from the Tick.

Aliens, Sweded





Via.

*Previously: Tron, sweded.

Swedish Furniture Name Generator



Link. Via.

Video of "The Bridge" by Michael Cross

The stepping stones appear one by one, only to disappear after they're needed.



Official site. Via.

Wind God, Thunder God Bearbricks



More photos here. Will be sold at the Tokyo National Museum.

Man, Bearbricks are the worst designer toy platform. Every good design succeeds despite the Bearbrick shape, not because of it.

*Buy Bearbricks at eBay.

Sith with a pirate hook/lightsaber



This Lego vignette by Sir Dano is really dynamic, but what I love most is the lightsaber pirate hook.

*Find great deals on Lego at eBay.

Owls with switchblades and giraffe hitmen




Just two of the eight most dangerous animals of 2007. Via.

Cannibal Girls of the Forbidden Island







Posters by Kevin Dart on sale here. Via Kevin.

Regular old teddy bears made terrifying, in a cute kind of way





Spotted at Flickr. $50 at Etsy. Chelsea Rae's blog.

New photos of Michael Lau's 049 Jordan and 2bb1




More photos here.

*Buy Michael Lau vinyl toys at eBay.

Anthropomorphic Printer



Spotted at Flickr.

This little guy belong in the same world as this furniture.

Mysterious ARG turns out to be an elaborate rickroll



lysistrata at Metafilter:
A few days ago a post appeared on the Something Awful forums noting a curious website called Notes to Mary. The notes are a series of threatening letters from a high schooler named Robert to his crush, Mary. The goons figured out pretty quickly that they had an ARG on their hands and went to work on solving the puzzle. Several other forums picked up on the game. Robert began interacting with players, sending them strange messages and several series of numbers that appeared to be some sort of code. A Flickr pool was started. Players even created an IRC channel to swap clues and information in real time. The Notes to Mary site offered a link to a login. All effort was made to crack the user/pass combo. Finally, several days after the game began, users were finally able to log in. The game was solved. The players would be rewarded for their hard work. Where did the login lead? Here.

Via.

Barry Bonds has offered to play for the league minimum AND donate that money to charity

and still no one will sign him. He's truly a jerk for the ages. Via.

*Previously: Barry Bonds Plays Myst (A Clickthrough Adventure).

"Wraith" G.I. Joe Action Figure



I'm not much of a fan of the nostalgia lines, but this upcoming Wraith action figure is awfully cool.

*Previously: TV commercial for the old G.I. Joe Street Fighter II action figures.

"100 Hulks" Charity Auction Cover Gallery



See high-res images of 30 of the covers at Comic Book Resources. (Although I thought most of the covers were pretty lackluster.

*Find Marvel Select action figures at Entertainment Earth.