“Ode to Joy” from Threadless
March 3, 2011
design by Joe Carr
If you have to go, go out in a blaze of glory. And by “blaze of glory” I of course mean “a fight with a space squid, using some kind of laser staff, while standing on the outer hull of your rocket ship which is careening at full speed into fiery oblivion.”
This is a new reprint of an old design that has been out of stock for ages. As of this writing, it costs $20 and is available in all Guys and Girls sizes. Buy it now from Threadless!
Wednesday Comics Lightning Round!
February 16, 2011
World's Finest by Guy Davis
(Via Aw Yeah Comics!)
"Don't Cross The Streams" by Andy Kuhn
(Via Hello-Zombie!)
Kazar (?) by Jordi Bernet
(Via Spaceship Rocket)
Wolverine by David Rubin
(Via Spaceship Rocket)
Aquaman and Topo by DocShaner
(Via Time Travel and Rocket-Powered Apes!)
Judge Anderson by Duncan Fegredo
(Via Aw Yeah Comics!)
Wednesday Comics: Beware the Atomic Flying Elbow!
May 12, 2010
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 (Sept. 2007) ©Dark Horse Comics
The Umbrella Academy is a thoroughly delightful series written by Gerard Way with art by Gabriel Bá and published by Dark Horse Comics. Instead of a continuous on-going series, Umbrella Academy is released as separately numbered mini-series, beginning with Apocalypse Suite #1 (September, 2007).
The original Umbrella Academy was made up of seven extraordinary children, each gifted with a different ability. Together, they were an unstoppable force against evil, but they eventually disbanded under mysterious circumstances. Now all grown up, the surviving members come together after the death of Sir Reginald Hargreeves, the only father the children had ever known. They realize they must now face a new looming crisis and that only a reunited Umbrella Academy can save the world.
This beautiful cover of Apocalypse Suite #1 by James Jean depicts the Eiffel Tower sprouting a number of giant tentacles. This is, of course, exceedingly cool. It also shows a person (as both a man and a boy) with a mass of tentacles emerging from his chest. This is The Horror, who is long dead when the story opens, and remains one of the most enigmatic members of the Academy. (Incidentally, the blond knife-wielding man is code-named The Kraken, but that is the extent of his cephalpod-ness.)
From the very first page of Apocalypse Suite (below), it quickly becomes obvious to the reader that anything can happen in the world of The Umbrella Academy.
And it does.
©Dark Horse Comics
Also, there are talking chimpanzees. I’m just sayin’…
Available on Amazon.com:
The Umbrella Academy (Vol 1): Apocalypse Suite
The Umbrella Academy (Vol 2): Dallas
Music Week: squid album art
August 10, 2009
I know, I know. Music Week was last week, but somehow I ended up being too busy over the weekend for my last planned post. So, here is that final straggler—three of my favorite squid album covers.
Brooklyn’s favorite sons (sorry JoCo, but the Johns have this one!) make their second Music Week appearance. (The first being their tentacular collaborations with Hine Mizushima.)
For my money, TMBG’s fourth studio album, Apollo 18 (1992, Elektra Records), is the mark to beat when it comes to squid-themed album art. What’s more awesome than Architeuthis dux vs Physeter macrocephalus? That same fight…IN SPACE!
The Gourds are a honky-tonkin’ alt-country band from Austin, TX, and their album Noble Creatures (2007, Yep Rock Records/Redeye) could almost be the sequel to Apollo 18—if the cover art is any indication. The Giant Squid, having either defeated or escaped from the Sperm Whale, now faces down a longboat full of lunar whalers! Man, that Space Squid is having a bad day!
Finally, we have To the Bottom of the Sea (2008, Projekt Records) by wacky Goth troubador Voltaire. No Space Squid this time…unless he has followed the whalers back to their ship to exact his final, horrible revenge. The title track mentions a “She-Kraken,” so Voltaire gets points for actually including a cephalopod in his squid-covered album! (Shout out to Kevin Z. at Deep-Sea News for posting this one first.)
