Papercraft robot by Matt Hawkins

You can download Matt Hawkin's robot paper toy here.

*Previously: Papercraft panther in a tree.

*Buy wind-up robots at eBay.

All Points West concert poster by EMEK

A giant mecha-shark stars in EMEK's poster for All Points West.

*Previously: Shark paper toy.

*Buy concert posters at eBay.

Demon Mask by Melita Curphy

Demon Mask by Melita Curphy on sale for $45.

*Previously: Dog wearing a gas mask.

*Buy gas masks at eBay.

Stanley Kubrick-inspired art show

The Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin is currently featuring a group art show called Stanley Kubrick: Taming Light. The picture you see above is by Annie Atkins. Lots more beautiful imagery at her site including...Little Red Riding Hood with a metal detector?



*Previously: The Shining poster.

*Buy Little Red Riding Hood toys at eBay.

AT-AT school bus

AT-AT school bus - - one of several clever photoshopped images posted here.

*Previously: Lego Super-Deformed AT-AT.

*Buy Star Wars Lego minifigs at eBay.

Laughing origami frogs (link roundup)

Laughing origami creatures by Joseph Wu.

And a few more links:

1. Meet Teresa L. King, first woman to be the army's top drill sergeant. Via.

2. If your intro to philosophy class was sponsored, you'd get something like Ethical Dilemmas Involving Klondike Bars.

3. Zelda and the Minish Cap fan art. (I liked that game a lot more than Phantom Hourglass.)

*Previously: I regret what I did for a Klondike Bar.

*Buy Legend of Zelda toys and collectibles at eBay.

Church marquee sponsored by Microsoft Bing? (link roundup)

Church marquee says "Some questions can't be answered by Google." Via.

And a few more links:

1. Stephen King's so-bad-it-was-impossible-to-finish novel The Colorado Kid is being made into a television series.

2. Speaking of, here's a longshot. Can anyone point me to the creepy images that were used before and/or after commercial breaks on Kingdom Hospital? I'm guessing they were by Jerry Uelsmann. (They were the only thing I liked about the show.)

3. Looks like the claim that the Raiders' head coach broke another coach's jaw isn't going away.

*Previously: Church marquee says: "Jesus: Stripped and violated just for you."

*Buy NFL bobbleheads at eBay.

Spaghetti cupcakes (link roundup)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs cupcakes. See also: Fortune cookie cupcakes. Via.

And a few more links:

1. The Spanish ribbed newt thrusts its ribs out of its body to use as weapons. Like Wolverine, they can retract the claws and heal the injuries. Via.

2. And here's another weird one: six-foot long jellynose fish. Via.

3. Dan Lyons makes an excellent point about newspapers:

Ask anyone who's an expert in anything—whether it's bicycle racing or brain surgery—what they think when they read a newspaper article about their field. Chances are they cringe, because the material is so dumbed-down, and because it's so clear that whoever wrote the article has no real expertise on this topic.

Via.

*Previously: Wolverine Munny.

*Buy X-Men sketch cards at eBay.

Bonsai trees by Mario Komsta

A few trees by Mario Komsta that seem to be writhing in agony. The second tree is on sale. Via.

*Previously: Heavy metal bonsai tree.

*Learn how to sculpt bonsai trees with these books at Amazon.

Vikings never wore helmets with horns (and other useful trivia)

Vikings never wore helmets, Sherlock Holmes never said, "Elementary my dear Watson," and the 100 Years War lasted 116 years. Trivia I learned from ads by age for propmark. The slogan is, "When the advertising is good, it becomes a part of history," and it's hard to argue with the sentiment. (Of course, the ads don't do a very good job of explaining what propmark is.) Via.

*Previously: Viking paper toy (with horned helmet).

*Buy Sherlock Holmes posters at eBay.

A boy and his monstrous shadow

A few of the shadow monster illustrations Felipe Cruz posted here.

*Previously: Shadow art.

*Learn how to make shadow puppets with these books at Amazon.

The monster under the bridge

Knight, maiden, and giant troll, one of a series of paintings Albert Sorrentino created for the Pam Bay Elementary library. You can see related sketches here.

*Previously: Light Bridge.

*Buy trolls at eBay.

The horse drawn buggy updated for today's world

Seems like something from Worth 1000, but this is the Kurtsystems Car equine training system. The car keeps up with the horse and includes features such as oxygen masks and an electrocardiogram machine. Here's video of it in action:



*Previously: Video of LeBron James losing at HORSE.

*Buy Follies of Science: 20th Century Visions of Our Fantastic Future at Amazon.

Head-bobbing paper toys (link roundup)

You can download these cute bunny, cat, and dog paper toys here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Issue #2 of Robot 13 is now available for preorder.

2. And speaking of comics, GI Joe: Cobra sounds pretty good.

3. And how about free comics? You can win copies of the Fables novel here. Via.

*Previously: One page Fables short story.

*Buy bobbleheads at eBay.

Oni facemask bandana (link roundup)

Costumes don't get much easier than this - - $10 Oni mask bandana on sale at Etsy. Via.

And a few more links:

1. A new law in Los Angeles requires that all new single family homes built in the city have some type of finish that is resistant to graffiti spray paint.

2. New free antivirus software from Microsoft.

3. The girls in the Sweet Valley High novels used to be described as "a perfect size 6," but are now described as "a perfect size 4." Random House was apparently proud to emphasize the change. Via.

*Previously: Tentacle bandana.

*Buy Japanese mythology collections at Amazon.

Zombie Wookiees in Space

The first entry is the Horror of Star Wars art contest is courtesy of Carlos Melgares, who submitted the loading screen from vintage classic Wookiees vs. Space Zombie Wookiees.

Carlos also submitted a very different take on the concept of horror, featuring Darth Vader and Leia:



You can see more of Carlos' work here, and learn about the contest here.

Of course, the real horror is how much time I wasted tonight trying to sign up for the KOTOR 3 playtest.

*At Toycutter: Zombie Stormtrooper action figure.

*Buy Polish Star Wars posters at eBay.

Fearsome Lego robot (link roundup)

Imposing Lego robot by Zip. Via.

And a few more links:

1. A classy, subtle entry by Alex Synge was Spike Jonze's pick for best of the Where the Wild Things Are photoshop contest entries.

2. Guy with a bionic arm and laser whip.

3. Cockroach cupcake and other cupcake wrecks.

*Previously: Bionic Satyr Stilt Legs.

*Buy Iron Giant toys at eBay.

Clash of the Titans poster and t-shirt

Medusa stars on new Clash of the Titans posters and t-shirts on sale at Mondotees. The art is by Skinner and you'll find lots of colorful monsters in Skinner's portfolio:



*Previously: Bubo poster.

*Buy Clash of the Titans posters at eBay.

Umbrella Academy Dallas - - best comic of the year

The first volume of Umbrella Academy - - Apocalypse Suite was excellent. Volume 2, which is named Dallas, is even better. If you haven't tried Umbrella Academy yet, think of it as the X-Men plotted by Mignola. Or as Grant Morrison has said, "It's the X-Men for cool people." I don't want to say any more about the story because it would be a shame to ruin any of the surprises. But you can read the first five pages of the story here - - the team fights the Abraham Lincoln monument.

I have the limited edition hardcover, so let me tell you what that version includes. First, let me say that I'm generally not a big fan of limited edition hardcovers. In my experience most trade paperbacks hold up great through multiple readings. And I couldn't care less if what I own is "limited." In fact, I've only ever bought one limited edition that I was satisfied with - - Kingdom Come. (By comparison, the Earth X limited edition was a tremendous disappointment.)

So anyway, the Dallas limited edition. Here's what you get: it's oversized, so the pages are huge and really show off the art; the pages themselves are remarkably thick; and there's a relatively uninspiring special illustration with overlay by Gabriel Ba. None of that's probably worth the extra price. But you also get a long concept art section featuring character designs and rejected covers. And the real revelation is that Gerard Way is not only a gifted writer, but he's also a fantastic artist. Here's his design for one of the new characters featured in Dallas:



All in all, I'd say the limited edition is only for diehard Umbrella Academy fans. You can order it for 37% off at Amazon. But anyone else who likes comics should order the paperback immediately. It's 33% off at Amazon.

All of this gives me a good excuse to feature some Umbrella Academy oddities:


Umbrella Academy movie poster. (Part of a set of fake movie posters.)





Hazel and Cha Cha cosplay.






White Violin cosplay.




The Rumor cosplay.





Plush Hazel and Cha Cha and Seance.




Hazel and Cha Cha shoes.



Umbrella Academy paper toys.









Umbrella Academy custom action figures by Rust This World.




Umbrella Academy custom action figures by lemondrop.

And finally, did I mention that the author photograph of Gerard Way that graces the end of the book features him and his wife Lyn-Z reenacting JFK's assassination?



*Previously: Playmobil toys used to reenact JFK's assassination.

*Buy Umbrella Academy toys at eBay.