Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Monday, April 21, 2014
Artist Darren Rawlings has taken it upon himself to merge different cars from pop culture and figure out what they would look like if they happened to also be Transformers in their humanoid forms. It's an incredibly Fanboy-esque idea, and the execution is amazing. Below are some of my personal favorites out of his gallery, but you can check out his DeviantArt account Rawlsy and follow him for more of these as well as his other work.
Are you a Fanboy artist? Send us your work and we might just feature it on the website!
Posted by
Unknown
- Sunday, April 20, 2014
Episode 72 of the I Got Gameplay radio show is now live. Michael Burhan, Zack Latour, Travis Goss, and Craig Kellerman talk Pax East. From cosplaying to gaming, the gang talk their favorite moments from this year's biggest gaming expo!
You can check out the episode by clicking on the following links:
Libsyn: http://smarkoutmoment.libsyn.com/rss
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/igotgameplay/id570120518
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nerdgenious/igotgameplay?amp;refid=stpr
You can subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/IGotGameplay
You can join the discussion by going to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/igotgameplay.
Join the IGG army in style by purchasing an I Got Gameplay t-shirt from our store. To order yours, just click on the appropriate link below! (UK and EU) http://nerdgenious.spreadshirt.co.uk/i-got-gameplay-retro-t-A25715613/customize/color/348 (US) http://nerdgenioususa.spreadshirt.com/
The t-shirt comes in eight different colors and six different sizes, including Small, Medium, Large, XL, XXL, and 3XL. Shirts are £16.50 UK and $19.90 US. Grab yours today!
Posted by
Sarrah October Young
Resurrection is a tricky thing to pull off. Although there are countless stories about it ranging from who's done it, how to achieve it, and why you shouldn't do it, Death remains a natural part of life and should garner the same amount of respect that life does. When there is a lack of respect for natural order, terrible things usually happen. Look at Jurassic Park: great example of how meddling with powerful forces can cause a heap of trouble. Sometimes it’s better to leave things alone rather than try and "fix" them, as illustrated by the following examples.
Aunt May
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| Art by Joe Quesada |
Let's start with Peter Parker and Aunt May. Although technically not a resurrection, the argument still stands that he should have left well enough alone. In the "One More Day" storyline, Aunt May, a woman who has pretty much had a target on her head since the day Peter got his powers, is shot and her life is hanging by a thread. Grief-stricken, Peter makes a deal with Mephisto, who just happens to be passing through this plane of existence. Mephisto offers to save Aunt May, but only if Peter sacrifices his marriage to Mary Jane and all accompanying memories. He agrees, saving Aunt May from what could have been a very nice peaceful rest and bringing her back into a world of being a perpetual target.
Question: What's the worst that would have happened if he'd let Aunt May die? Sure, he'd miss her and he'd grieve but he'd get over it. Maybe there'd be an inheritance. Maybe he'd hit the town all fancied up, hang up the suit for a night, and actually enjoy himself. Who knows? We won't because heroes aren't supposed to be happy. But it's nice to fantasize about, especially for Peter. He's had some rough days.
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| BTVS - Season 6 Episode 1 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Knowing that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a television series, I'm still including it due to Buffy's second death and subsequent return to the land of the living. Also, people who use magic shouldn't be trusted. Just putting that out there.
During Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers died twice; first by drowning (resuscitated through CPR) and second when she sacrificed herself to close a portal that would have destroyed the world. Fearing that Buffy was being tormented in a hellish afterlife (but not thinking to check and see if they could contact her, which to be honest should have been the first step; if you're powerful enough to bring someone back from the dead, you should at least be able to spirit-Skype or whatever), her friends bring her back to life using magic. Because they didn't check, they had no idea that Buffy was doing just fine and at peace. Instead, they shove her back into an ugly world that she has to defend all over again. Also: no one was there to maybe give her a hand getting out of her grave and possibly give her a hug.
The depression and self-loathing she experiences as a result of being brought back to life could have been avoided if her friends had just left her alone. Ten Slayers agree: upon Buffy's death (for realsies) another Slayer had already been activated, so bringing her back was neither needed nor deserved. Especially without there being some sort of welcome committee waiting for her. That just sucks.
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| Daredevil #190 - Frank Miller |
Elektra
Elektra's death at the hand of Bullseye and Daredevil's actions afterward completely make sense. Why she still ends up resurrected does not make sense and, just so you know, the Skrull fiasco will not be addressed.
Here's the scenario: after being stabbed by Bullseye, Elektra shows up on Matt Murdock's front doorstep and dies in his arms. Murdock is heartbroken and buries her but does the right thing when he finds out The Hand is going to attempt a resurrection. Daredevil intervenes and stops the ceremony, ensuring she stays dead. In a momentary lapse brought about by his many feels, he thinks that The Hand may have actually brought her back and tries to revive her. Why? Who knows, maybe the huge cold stone slab she was lying on moved because it was settling, and he thought she had moved her eyes. In any event, he fails to bring her back but succeeds in purifying her soul, which is a pretty great parting gift for your troubled girlfriend but also kind of invasive.
Elektra's mentor Stone is a troubling man: he disappears and takes her body, somehow managing to resurrect her. After the usual round of "What the hell am I doing here?" followed closely by the much angrier "Why didn't you leave me alone? I was happy dammit!" he tells her to go do some stuff like help Wolverine regain his humanity (another story in itself). In a "totally-saw-it-coming" twist of fate, Elektra discovers that the evil purged from her soul didn't actually dissipate: it created an evil double named Erynys. So of course Elektra has to fight her, and when Elektra defeats her, the evil that had been cleansed from her soul is regained and Elektra is as tainted as she was when she died. Hindsight is always 20/20, even for the blind.
The usual suspects such as Barry Allen, Jean Grey, Superman, Bucky, and all the rest who pop up whenever "resurrection" is mentioned were not included for one very good reason: they bore me. Personally, I don't think their stories are quite as frustrating as those mentioned (and believe me, I could have gone on ad nauseum) and I just wish that dead people would stay that way unless they are either Deadman or Resurrection Man. Those guys are cool.
What do you think? What's your least favorite comic/television series resurrection?
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Friday, April 18, 2014
The comic book industry can be quite confusing to follow. With dozens upon dozens of titles for each character, decades' worth of continuity that is always being changed and manipulated from one writer to the next, and so many in-universe ways to completely change canon in the interest of keeping things fresh, it's virtually impossible to keep track of what's going on. Even when DC and Marvel make company-wide mandates that the continuity will reboot and start anew, things always get muddied up and confusing sooner than later.
It has been a mission of many fans that are supremely dedicated to this form of entertainment to try to fill in the gaps and answer the questions that have no answers. As a result, Hypercrisis was born.
This is the attempt on behalf of the Fanboys out there to weave a thread of interconnectivity between virtually all aspects of the DC Universe, primarily using the works of Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns as the basis. For the most part, these two writers were chosen not just because they are two of the most prominent creators in DC today, crafting some of the most influential stories that affect the continuity, but they are also two of the best historians that DC has. They are always bringing up old things and incorporating them in new ways and trying their best to make sense of the haphazard nature of comics, very much in the spirit of what the fans themselves do.
One fan on 4chan took it upon himself to give his Hypercrisis theory, and it makes so much sense that DC Comics themselves may just consider adopting it as an actual part of their plan. Below is the anonymous member's post (unedited):
So get this in DC Cosmology, the boundaries of the Universe are this massive impenetrable barrier called the Source Wall right? And on the other side is The Source, the cosmic originator of all things?
Well, it's pretty apparent that Sourcewall= Fourthwall.
Because check this, when we see the multiverse, it's set up like a massive cell structure, with the walls acting as membranes while being held together within the bleed, or to make it more literally, comic book panels within the gutter. From there we can see that the Sourcewall isn't only metaphorical comics "Fourthwall" but the literal Fourthwall as well. In the same way that the stages Fourthwall is the invisible barrier between the audience and the front stage. Thus, what is the Source other than US. OUR reality? We are in fact the Source of everything in the DCU. Readers Writer editors etc., we all feed into the massive microverse that is those comics. Why do you think communication with The Source takes the form of writing?
What makes this even better is how this gels with the Anti-Life Equation. What is the Anti-Life Equation? It's an objective proof of nihilism, effectively proving to any lifeform that its life is meaningless and pointless and worthless. Now, how else could one do that outside of SHOWING THEM that there life has no real value, that it isn't real? This is why we see the Antilife equation beyond the Source Wall, and why it is described as the negative aspect of the Source. Can you imagine what would happen to your psych if you found that you and everything you've ever known were mere fiction cooked up by the brains of a thousand different people? The Anti-Life equation would just be a Crimson Chin-esque existential blast.
Now let's talk about The Flash. You ever notice how one is always involved in these various cosmic muckamucks? Flash of Two Worlds? Crisis on Infinite Earths? Final Crisis? Flashpoint?
Because you really have to look at the nature of movement, time and the multiverse itself.
The Speed Force is defined as the cosmological "force" that is the very act of movement within reality. It is in effect the abstract embodiment of agency. Now looking at the idea of the Multiverse, what is it other than a series of possibilities? Many Worlds theory literalizes this by presenting it as the result of an infinite chain of Boolean actions, but that mechanic need not objectively apply. But the neutral tenant is that what differs one world from the other is choice; movement. One particle is here instead of there, one earth is there instead of here. In effect the various configurations that Space can take up over Time form a Multiverse.
So therefore, what more is the Speed Force that the cosmic engine that runs the Multiverse? This extends to the time travel powers they all have as well. (As seen in the very first issue of Barry comics) time itself is merely the summation of various actions taken on each other in scale. When you extend these many points, or actions in series with each other you get a line. The timeline, but in a multiversal model you account for all the OTHER possible actions not accounted for and thus you achieve a massive branching cube time.
This is what we call "Hypertime."
You can see this then that the various Flashes act as its champions called upon the Speed Force to serve it in times of multiversal crisis.
And, for bonuses, as we stated above the Multiverse is made from the Red of the Bleed and the Yellow of the Source Wall. And what colors are The Flashes? And the Speed Force? Red and Yellow. These are also the colors of the Waverider, seer of Hypertime. (Whose Skin was made to create the time traveler Skeets). And , most importantly, the Kryptonian Symbol of"Hope." For what is Hope but the recognition of Possibility. (Thus the sea of Blue in the background)
This is why Barry Allen was given a Blue Lantern Ring. By that same onus That's why Barry was able to overwhelm Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation in Final Crisis. The Speed Force ("3X2(9YZ)4A") is the "Life Equation."
Speaking of the Lanterns this acts a good Segway here. Now what is a Lantern? They are, regardless of the color, devices that translate the energy of a pure emotive "drive" into physical aspects. A construct. They are in effect the end point of the very IDEA of technology (or magic, from which out word "Machine" share its roots.)
And what does the energy take the form of? A Flame.
Going off the Promethean and symbolic aspects of Flame as the embodiment of Human Progression and achievement. (See: The Flame of Olympus) we can take this to the realm of the New Gods.
Remember, when the forge god Himon created them, he needed to give them a "mysterious rapport with nature" they were powered by Element X, the ultimate power source.
This Power Source of Course, when seen, was a burning white flame.
The Same white flame that we see the Entity embody; the sum total of all the emotive drive of the universe.(In the same way White Light is the sum total of the Spectrum)
Thus we can see continuity. From the basic fire uses by the first men to the Super Science Lantern Rings to The Anything-inator: the Miracle Machine to the God Box, the Mother Box.
Devices at their core that are the same as any device, something that translates living desire, living will (thus it being at the center of the spectrum) into an action.
That's why it is the most powerful force in the universe. It's Imagination.
For after all what are comic, stories, cultures, nations, or ideals but imagination? What makes us human, are sentience is that we can take our feelings and manifest them in ways utterly new to the world. Our Language are technology our fiction, all began as ideas within us. Making something up doesnt mean it's not real, making something up makes it REALER.
The Comisc Flame, Emotional Engine, whatever you want to call it, it's the same thing at the core of all of us. And in the dramatized Hyper-Energy real of Superheroics. it's the most powerful force there, because it's the most powerful force here.
If you want to read more reactions to the original post, it is archived here: http://archive.foolz.us/co/thread/58260677/
So what do you think of this theory? Does it hold up, or can you find some holes? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted by
Fellonius Munch
- Thursday, April 17, 2014
In one of this week's more bizarre and shocking stories, Christian rapper Andre Johnson, aka Christ Bearer, is currently recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after a suspected suicide attempt!
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| Andre Johnson aka Christ Bearer |
The news currently trending is that Johnson is affiliated with famous rappers Wu-Tang Clan, as RZA produced the 2004 debut album of Johnson's group Northstar, titled RZA Presents Northstar. However, the group have been quick to distance themselves, stating:
Parental Advisory: Don't believe the HYPE. This motherfucker ain't got shit to do with the Wu-Tang brand!
Only a couple of days ago did the soon to be 41-year-old Johnson (cough) release a new single with Rugged Monk, conveniently titled Oooh. Johnson was then found severely injured at 1am yesterday morning, Wednesday, April 16.
It is believed that after cutting off his own…
…he dove from the second-story balcony of a building in north Hollywood and was then discovered at the side of the road and taken by paramedics to Cedars Sinai Medical Center for emergency treatment.
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| Quick! To the Willy Doctor! |
So far, there is no news as to whether foul play was suspected, or if Johnson was on drugs at the time, although a neighbor claimed that he didn't take drugs. Neither do we know if medical staff managed to save Johnson's penis in the end, or if it's since become a prized collectible alongside Wu-Tang Clan's single-copy $15 million dollar secret album The Wu - Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. Check eBay for updates!
Sound off, Fanboys! What the actual hell? Comments below and thanks for reading.
Posted by
Orion Petitclerc
Hello Symbi-dopes and Dead-heads! Welcome to the review of the second issue of Deadpool Vs. Carnage. Let's not waste too much time and get right to it, yes?
Okay, I lied: we have to waste just a little bit of time before we can get to it. Don't fret, though! I'll make this as quick as possible. First off, I just wanted to let you all know about a couple of Carnage-related news bits: Cletus Kasady and his symbiotic alter ego will be making his first film-themed debut in The Amazing Spider-Man 2's video game and has been teased to be the main villain for the spin-off Venom film. Looks like 2014 may be a bigger year for our psychotic symbiote than anyone anticipated!
Now let's recap issue #1. Our tale began with Carnage beginning a brand new murder spree hot out of jail and Deadpool happening upon a news station covering the story. By providence, Deadpool went on a hilarious journey to track down and kill Carnage once and for all, quickly drawing first blood and startling the heck out of Kasady. The issue ended with the first guest star of the limited series making her deadly entrance and literally melting Deadpool's face off: Carnage's old gore gal, Shriek.
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The government probably spent millions
in developing anti-symbiote weaponry. |
Issue #2 picks right back up with Shriek and her boo having their fun with Deadpool's blasted and battered body, giving Cullen Bunn—our writer—a golden opportunity for exchanging witty snipes between the main men. As it would be expected from the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool really knows how to pick at Kasady's scabs and exploits every opportunity to do so, if not simply just for the fun of it. Bunn really plays up Deadpool's playfully planned improvisation to school Carnage on the whole chaos business he's so desperately trying to preach and live by and show the reader the fun in organized chaos.
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| Apparently not Deadpool's biggest fan. |
We also get some great moments in which Deadpool interacts with the normal crowd, although that's really stretching it for the voluptuous Doverton character he stumbles into. (Okay, enough with the bad puns.) Doverton apparently plays a key part in Deadpool's hunt for Carnage because he's on the same crazy wavelength as the two loonies, but whether he will be making any more appearances in later issues is questionable.
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I bet editor Jordan D. White had to change "fridging" to
"frigding" to avoid backlash. Oh well. |
The issue ends with a highway chase scene, Shriek ending up in a questionably critical condition after having her head driven through a car windshield, and Carnage and Deadpool preparing for round two. Once again, Bunn delivers a frightfully frenetic, hilarious, and reference-filled issue in which he allows both characters to really let loose and be who they were meant to be: Deadpool and Carnage. Salvador Espin and Glenn Fabry once again delight with their colorful and highly animated art, shining its brightest with Deadpool's characterizations—most notably under the mask, which is perhaps the biggest challenge many artists face with the particularly emotionless prop.
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Some Cullen Bunn Easter eggs. Right: "The Storage Bunn-galo" in Deadpool Vs. Carnage #2. Left: "Bunn's Truck Stop"
in Deadpool Vs. Carnage #1. |
Deadpool Vs. Carnage #2 receives, again, 5 stars out of 5 for both art and writing, making it another must-read issue. No, really; pick the first and second issues up already if you haven't and let the creators know how much you love them. Then tell me what you thought of issue #2 and my review in the comments section below. Oh, and don't forget to continue following me here on Fanboys Anonymous for the next issue's review AND follow The Venom Site for all of your symbiote news, reviews, and points of views!
Posted by
Anonymous
- Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Indie comic supporters and enthusiasts, I've found another one for ya! I stumbled across a preview for a graphic novel I think is going to be great. Thus far, I get a very "Max Payne meets ghost" vibe in this Kickstarter campaign I'd like you to scope out.
Ike Taylor is a 1950s detective and WWII vet who knows how to get things done. In fact, you might say he's very hands-on. He's had some marks against him for thinking with his fists too much, but hey, it was the 1950s.
One day, as Ike looks into a murder on behalf of a high-rolling Hollywood producer, he loses his life in a Chinatown warehouse as a result of supernatural forces. The warehouse then becomes his prison for the better part of 60 years, until it's destroyed. The result? Ike is set free in the modern world to investigate his own death.
Obviously, being a specter—while better for getting into closed or secret places—makes it awfully difficult to get things done. What would you do? Maybe rent a body. Well, that's what Ike would do.
The Kickstarter campaign hints at the possibility of Ike righting some of the wrongs done to him and helping out the love of his life. There are a million places the creators could go with it, and it could be a fantastic read. Check out Dead For Hire and tell me what you think downstairs. Indie?
