Over the weekend and through the balloons, many turned up on to celebrate the Comic Shop turning both one and 13 at the same time. One for the first year at the new swanky digs. Thirteen for the total of years serving and helping out the readers and collectors in all forms, be it comics, action figures, The Simpsons, statues or busts.

For those early beavers to witness the steps before opening on the Saturday morning, the crew out and decked with safety gear for the celebratory and symbolic smashing of the old to really bring in and hammer the new.



In the battle of Jason and Fox, it was clearly evident that after a knock, Jason is victorious over the smashed head of Mulder.



No more X-Files to deal with here. Only the clean break and we're all new again. Mulder needs a rest it seems.



Everybody pick up a plate, the food is on the table and here's more juice to go with that slice. And the carving up picks up well and truly nicely with all and all having a great time picking up merchandise and back issues to better reach their ceilings with.


Action figures, statues and busts, but don't forget what makes a comic shop a comic shop. The back issues. And here, the search continues with many picking up finds and treasures missed out the first time when on the shelves.



What a weekend.

Thanks for coming to the Comic Shop and celebrating our birthday sale with us.

See you again real soon!

 

About time now that The Simpsons movie was finally out. Which means, now that it has been, it's about been a week now since the site with Burger King in the US has time to settle from the overloading. Sort of.

The site, to make yourself a Simpsons character, doesn't really need a photo to kind of work. Though it might help. Just crank the dial and slider and select parts of Mr Potato Head and be done with it. Results may vary. As below:



For those who aren't on the mailing list, haven't seen the front page of the main site of late or are not keeping up with the Google calendar thing of the Comic Shop, listen up...

Right now and until August 2, everything in The Simpsons corner is knocking at 25% off the current marked prices.

Down in the yellow corner:

• All of the action figures and sets of The Simpsons.
• Board games with their mugs on them.
• Those polystone busts with what appears to be a classically disorientated Abe Simpson.
• Those mini statues that look like you can sort of eat them.
• That Christmas tree with all the townspeople.
• Bendables from NJ Croce. Look somewhat edible, certainly not so when biting into them.
• Wackly wobblers, bobble heads and the bobble banks what give you this jittery look when pressed for questions.

All of that in The Simpsons corner. Until August 2.

 

Clearly from the trailers and the actual film itself, Bumblebee, the cute little yellow Volkswagen Beetle Bug isn't looking so much like himself in the large scale adaptation. Doesn't really matter about the look of the scamp Autobot unless looking for the pure waters in which to soak the ear drums and eyeballs in.



When put to scale against the other statues from the Transformers lot, it's quite the tempting gnaw to see how and if the little yellow one fits into the hungry mouth. Not to be tried though. Merely thought of with a linger.

Anybody who dares actually eat a statue better have a side dish ready in case the polystone, porcelain or resin disagrees vehemently.

 

Early morning into lunch on Thursday morning and out from the media preview screening of Tales from Earthsea at the Dendy Newtown with Ryano,, lunch was on stomach.

Along King Street, it's a good sort and variety if Thai and Indian are the flavour on the tongue. And for the money's worth, something affordable during the lunch period.

One stop not that far from Dendy Cinemas is Newtown Thai. Six dollars a plate and it's quite the menu to choose from. Sure, most of it is stir fried, but them's the deals in Thai food. If you don't like stir fry, you don't like flash fry, which is the same thing and rambling moot.



Stir fried garlic and pepper with rice and chicken. Clean and quick and it's a nice tasty lunch to have one day, any day, but not so many days in a row that the others on the menu miss out.

Tales from Earthsea is a beautiful and warm film. Gorgeous really, nothing less to be expected from Studio Ghibli.

 

Closing out the final part of this three part chapter in Spider-Man's life, the whole gang returns with a party of others in the mix. Quite the busload really, fitting them in takes a lot of switching back and forth. Not unlike web slinging through the city scape as the New Goblin and Spider-Man duke it out.

From there, it's just quite certain that watching Spider-Man 3 at the IMAX is the game of those with loose necks and even looser eyeballs. Eyeballs which may operate independently if given the scope of the action sequences Spidey swings through.

And such swinging, all in a flavour of style which deliberately signals just how much more fluid his actions are, how more in touch he is within. Touch too much and it's a case of emo reflux, comedic in all its glory.



Bruce Campbell is as ever a nugget of gold. Bryce Dallas Howard looking the way she does, really spot on perfect for Gwen Stacy, perfect as the foil and flip to what Mary Jane proposes in the life of Peter Parker. Still, hard to beat the chops of James Franco (Harry Osborn) across the spread of these first three movies. And Stan Lee? Yeah, well...

Forget about those who came in late, they'll always come in late. This is a movie at speed in which things move is quick, no let up save for the pauses to squeeze in the comedy. Sure, things such as characterization blaze right through with an apparent chasm between logic and motives.

Venom and Sandman, things move fast with these two as they develop during the course of the film. Not a hard task at all to follow their stories in this whole scheme of things. So many plots, so many characters, and Sam Raimi delivers it with a punch to the side of the face that keeps you asking for more.

 

One thing that comes from taking in the art and information from the exhibition, Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga at the Art Gallery of NSW, is that Osamu Tezuka, creator of Black Jack, Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, really did have a thing for the metamorphosis angle in life. Or just his stories. Whatever.

Either way, it's not without the next manga work and the next after that, displayed clearly and well with information and sample finishes, that the line between the underlying theme beneath that underlying theme is apparent. Or perhaps this is all a matter of transference.



Up close to his original art, all the mistakes and corrections are spot on clear. Liquid paper collaring the stray and changes, his work is super fine and so easy to read and understand.

All the focus is on the manga, so there are no moving visuals, no animations playing alongside the original creations. Flat, but then the anime is not the donut here.

 

Another close of another promotion thanks to the folks over at Roadshow Films. This time, on the plate of half-shells, TMNT. Those foot soldier beating up loving mutant ninja turtles back on the big screen and without the hand of puppets working their guise.



Running over the course of answers gets interesting only in the points of mistakes and shooting wide off the mark.

Question 1: What is the food of choice of the Ninja Turtles?

Except for the answer of cabbage soup, it was an all out pizza affair. Though talk with a standing order did spark the possibility of someone out there thinking it to be marshmallows. Glorious fluff that it is, not the answer for the prize here.

Question 2: Name the late actor who provided the voice of Splinter in the movie.

There was a hint sent out in the mailing list, mentioning the name of Mako. Or Makoto Iwamatsu for the keen. It was not left on the competition page itself, so those eagle eyes wanting to double check their Wikipedia facts already had a leg up if they were reading their newsletter.

Not everyone did, there was a shot of Kevin Clash or Peter Renaday as the voice actor. Though they may have at one stage been the voice of Splinter, they are still alive, certainly not late. A dead giveaway in the question itself as to the correct criteria.

Voldemort was clearly in jest.

Question 3: What is the name of goalie mask wearing human who helps the turtles from time to time?

Every one was clear on it being Casey Jones. Double points for throwing in his real first name, even if it is also mentioned on the Wikipedia.

Turn out was good and fair, though these questions were sweet compared to one about the Ninja Turtles' rock concert tour and the affected status of Venus De Milo. Don't know her? Never really existed according to canon.

To those who watched it before heading out of the house a few years back, very jarring to the mythos.

 

Please and thank you is such a lost art of communication in the world of sneaking in and running out with a guilt ridden face. More so when picking through the lucky dip which is not exactly a lucky dip to pick and run out with.



Homer Simpson, greeting those who enter this Easter lead up period, decked out in sun hat and BBQ apron, holds onto a basket of big plastic eggs.

Inside those eggs, chocolate eggs that people find melts in their mouth. Or in their hand. Or in the back pocket after having forgotten the fact that it has been left there in the first place.

One week remains to the Easter period, where the Comic Shop will be closed over the public holidays of Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Monday.

Would be nice to see the basket at hold onto at least one egg come the end of said period. It's looking thin right now.

 

Word floats around that a collection worth gathering is a collection worth displaying. And true, to some extent. Or at least to the extent at which space will allow. And then there's the collection not entirely worth displaying. The display that crinkles up a question mark hovering over the vat of cool molten lava.



On the photo above are two stacks of comics. The higher one is the one of the comics that have been read. And the one on the far right is the one that everybody dreads when thinking about their collection. The part of the collection which rues the day and occupies the mind.

The stack on the far right is the stack of comics that are waiting to be read. On such example being a run of Jack of Fables from #1-5. It's as bad as it feels.

the Comic Shop, serving an addiction