kate

Art by Riyoko Ikeda

Frozen visual development art - environments. 

When it comes to the holiday gift-giving season, comic book readers are notoriously difficult to shop for. I mean, most of us are down at the shop buying our favorite stuff every single week, so when the time comes for people who like us to get us something we want, well, a lot of times we already have it. That’s why we’re stepping in with a public service, bringing you comics-related items sure to make the season brighter, whether you’re browsing for a gift or just looking for something to drop hints about so that you don’t get stuck with a random assortment of back issues again.

Some of us are adults with homes that need decorating, right? Well why not make that decorating a little more fun with throw pillows featuring the art of Ramon Villalobos, which mostly involves wrestling moves and Batman.

Continue reading…

The last twelve months offered comic book readers a wide variety of work ranging from the most crowd-pleasing superhero epics to the most idiosyncratic of indies, and the return of old favorites to the emergence of exciting new talent. It was a busy and productive year for the industry, and one we’re pleased to celebrate with what we’re certain will be an uncontroversial, unenumerated list of awards that will prompt only resounding agreement and unbroken fellowship amongst our readers in the comments below. Welcome to part one of ComicsAlliance's Best Comic Books of 2013.

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Starting today, ComiXology is spreading some digital good cheer.

From now until Friday, Dec. 20, the digital comics platform will be giving away one free comic every day. They're calling it the 12 Days of Free Comics. ComiXology users even send the comics as gifts to friends and family members, at no charge.

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adulthoodisokay:

MAC AND CHEESE ALL THE THINGS.

*_*

I bet you didn’t expect to see a Galadriel or Gandalf Muppet today. And if you’re wondering what Richard Armitage‘s Thorin might look like in a similar style go no further.

Previously in Sesame Street

• Catching Fire Parody The Hungry Games
• Oscar the Grouch vs. Grumpy Cat
• Maria Hill Teaches Grover About Courtesy

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Looking to show your nerd allegiances during the colder months? WeLoveFine has you covered with tons of new knit sweaters! Check out their items featuring Star Wars, Adventure Time, Marvel Comics, and more, plus a look at two new hats featuring our favorite Cartoon Hangover animals.

Also check out their Geek Chic & Fanbulous landing page, showing Team Unicorn rocking some of this new gear.

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The elite ninja Kakashi is set to become the star of Naruto Shippuden in the backstory arc "Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops."

The special anime debuts in February. Check out the promo art below...

via Shonen Jump

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Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.

As announced through Entertainment Weekly – as Rob Thomas says, to gather as much media traction as possible – the Veronica Mars movie, Veronica Mars, will be released on March 14th next year.

Not in time for my birthday. A shame.

There’s a clip from the film at EW too, showing Veronica bantering with some old friends and some old… well, enemies would be too strong a word. In the words of Mrs. Connelly, it’s catty.

She’s right. But Veronica Mars has often been that way, finding sharp laughs amidst stories of people being downright terrible to one another – and warm humour on the other side, where people are just lovely. It’s a great combo.

Veronica Mars Set For Release On March 14th Next Year, New Clip Gets Its Claws Out‏

Concerned that your Loyal Subjects Megatron figure just isn't evil enough? Need something that truly hates both sides of the Autobot-Decepticon debate? Well, you're in luck: The Loyal Subjects have a new figure, and it's Nemesis Prime! An evil force that has taken the form of Optimus Prime (and copied all his powers), it only seeks to destroy all in its path. Hopefully, that doesn't include all the other figures on your shelves ...

Nemesis Prime is US$80 and available now from The Loyal Subjects' shop. The 8-inch figure is only a limited run of 500 figures, and it is pretty much a colorway of the original Optimus Prime figure, but might be worth it if you're a big enough Transformers fan.

ninjaconsultant:

tomberi-no:

http://asame.sakura.ne.jp/graph/yotuba.html

@fastkarate YOUR TWO MANGA FANDOMS COLLIDE

NAOKI URASAWA YOTSUBA WHAT IS THIS WHAT IS THIIIIISSSSSS WHAT IS MY LIIIIFE

When I visited the Tyrus Wong exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum a couple months ago, one of the most gorgeous Bambi background paintings I saw wasn’t painted by Wong but by a guy named Art Riley. The painting was exhibited as a reproduction, but nonetheless I was blown away by the subtlety of Riley’s watercolor wash technique and the majestic sense of space and mood that he created in the piece. It served as a reminder that even though certain painters like Wong and Eyvind Earle get most of the credit nowadays, the Disney studio’s background department was filled with amazing unsung talents.

Riley painted backgrounds on countless Disney features and shorts, among them Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Cinderella, Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Hockey Homicide, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Donald and the Wheel.

The series of paintings presented in this post, entitled Christmas in Bugville, were published in Ideals magazine in the early-1950s. I don’t know how many of them Riley created, or whether there’s a bigger story behind them, but the paintings (even in low-quality digital pic form) are worth seeing. In these paintings, Riley displays a remarkable command of composition, design, texture and color, and on top of everything, he understands how to caricature for cartoon appeal.

Needless to say, he was an accomplished artist beyond the animation world, and some of his fine art pieces, which can be classified under the California Watercolor School, are viewable on this website.

[UPDATE]: Animation director Jordan Reichek shares with us three additional Art Riley paintings. They are displayed the gallery below. Jordan tells us more about the pieces and Riley in general:

Really stunning in person and FLAWLESS/EFFORTLESSLY executed. All three are for California Artists Christmas cards, for which Mary Blair, Claude Coats, Tyrus Wong, Eyvind Earle, and John Hench, among others at Disney, did art for. Riley did a lot of extracurricular work for CA Artists, Film Fair, Coronet Magazine, Golden Books/Whitman publishing and other commercial illustration outlets…all while working at Disney. The thing about Art Riley is that he could take the work of other stylists, such as Mary Blair and Eyvind Earle, and use their exact style with more practical application to the films. He’s sort of like the BG equivalent of what Milt Kahl would do to bring Bill Peet’s story drawings to life: capture the intensity of the original while keeping 100% Disney and pumping it up a notch.

jackadiddlediddle:

onyeplaysdrums:

Most kids on this website don’t even know what this is

That’s a coffee table

The Power Behind the Mask by InkOne is $10 today only (12/9) at Shirt Punch

Standard Nerds by Tom Trager is available at Redbubble

Are you always looking for ways to maximize Nintendo 3DS's StreetPass feature? This weekend is for you, because Nintendo is officially turning it into National StreetPass Weekend by mixing up locations and letting players meet more people.

Nintendo will be mixing the North American Zones, giving 3DS users the chance to StreetPass players from other parts of the country. As detailed in the video below, it adds up to over 29,000 locations. 

How fun is this going to be? Apparently THIS FUN:

National StreetPass Weekend takes place in North America on December 14 and 15.

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Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. His blog can be found at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter at @Moldilox.

casgirling:

I just bought my best friend this for christmas, omg I love it so much LOL. from here if anyone is interested

ryeou:

how to: 「totoro poptarts」

wanderingmonster:

list of favorite manga/anime

Gokinjo Monogatari by Ai Yazawa

"The pride, the hesitation, the rules imposed by society, all these things are blowing like the wind on the lake of the heart … and cause the storm that is called love" 

The anime is great too

Cospa's moe/bishoujyo specialized brand Nijigen Cospa has started accepting pre-orders for a full graphic T-shirt and hooded windbreakers featuring the five heroines from the ongoing PreCure TV anime series, Dokidoki! PreCure! on its official online store. Each PreCure girl's catchphrase is printed on the back of the windbreaker; "Brimming with love" for Cure Heart, "The light of wisdom" for Cure Diamond, "The warmth of the sun" for Cure Rosetta, "The blade of courage" for Cure Sword, and "The trump card of love" for Cure Ace. The full color T-shirt is priced at 6,300 yen (about US$63) and all of the windbreakers' price are 5,250 yen (US$52.5).  The day of the general release are set in February 2014. Check the cute lineup below.

"Dokidoki! PreCure" full graphic T-shirt

"Cure Heart hooded wind breaker"

"Cure Diamond hooded windbreaker"

"Cure Rosetta hooded windbreaker"

"Cure Sword hooded windbreaker"

"Cure Ace hooded windbreaker"

© ABC/Toei Animation

Bandai will be releasing a series of 3D molded silicone iPhone 5 and 5S cases based on iconic symbols and mobile suits from Gundam.

The silicone cases, available in 4 varieties, feature raised 3D molds of some of Gundam’s most famous mobile suits and imagery, and are compatible with both the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S.

The Char’s Custom Zaku model is made using the same iconic shade of red that appears on Char Aznable’s customized Zaku II mobile suit, while the Zaku Mass Production Type model is made with green silicone and uses a black and white accent for the mobile suit’s trademark “mono eye”. Also available are cases based on the Gundam shield and the logo of the Principality of Zeon.

Each case retails for 2,625 yen, including tax. The cases will be available through KIWAMONOWEB, a division of Bandai’s official online shop, Premium Bandai, that sells officially licensed merchandise and smartphone cases. Quantities are limited, and orders will close when supplies are exhausted. The cases are scheduled to be released in February 2014.

Mobile Suit Gundam iPhone 5 & 5S Silicone Jacket: Char’s Custom Zaku

 

IMAGES © Sotsu / Sunrise

Links:
Mobile Suit Gundam iPhone 5 & 5S Silicone Jacket: Char’s Custom Zaku
Mobile Suit Gundam Official Site

Source: YATTAR JAPAN

D-Pad by thehookshot is available at Redbubble

Black Lodge Coffee Company by Mephias is $12 for a limited time at Fresh Brewed Tee

** Use coupon code SHIRTOID1 for $1.00 off your order at Fresh Brewed Tee. **

For the DIY toy collector who loves pop culture, Funko's upcoming Boxos releases will let you re-enact scenes and create new adventures for characters from series such as Star Wars, My Little Pony, Hello Kitty, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Batman. What sets these kits apart from previous ones are the inclusion of paper backdrops and accessories, giving you a whole scene to play with and display. And while some papercraft projects require tape or scissors, Boxos do not. Just fold them up and you are ready to go. Apart from the nifty concept, I really dig the art style used on these toys. The simplified cutesy look is so darling. Seriously, check out the gallery. Adorable!

The Boxos papercraft playlets will be available on January 3, 2014. Pricing is unknown.

How does a stop motion animation studio distinguish itself from the pack and avoid having its film labeled as yet another computer animated film? In their new teaser trailer for Box Trolls, LAIKA met that challenge, and then some.

Set to “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” the trailer opens with a full minute of behind-the-scenes puppet goodness: armature machining, sculpting, moldmaking, casting, fabrication, set design, you name it. Then, the payoff: 35 seconds of fantastic-looking footage from the film.

Is this the best way to sell an animated film? I don’t know…and frankly, I don’t care. But as an animation fan, I’m thrilled to see a studio take a stand and do something risky. This trailer proclaims: “Marvel at our artistry! We’re not just making this film to sell you shit. We’re going to tell you a story with the highest commitment to creativity and craftmanship! And we’re proud of it!” What a statement. Box Trolls, directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, will open on September 26, 2014.

If the video below is unviewable, watch it on Apple’s website.