Worlds, and galaxies, collide in this crossover event featuring two of the biggest (at least in my book) Hanna-Barbera names in action.
Just about a year ago, I posted about Dynamite bringing Space Ghost back and earlier this year, they also kicked off a Jonny Quest series. This crossover event takes places after JQ #5 which has Team Quest venturing briefly into the future from their 1965 home time.
This isn't the first time they've crossed paths in comics but it is the first time in this Dynamite continuity. Back in 2016, DC had the ambitious 12 issue Future Quest that also included the Herculoids, Birdman, Mightor and other heroes.
In this story, an alien craft has crash landed and the military turns to Dr. Quest for assistance. Of course, they've stripped it for parts but there's one piece of tech they can't figure out on their own. Dr. Quest just happens to have something that will charge it up but is hesitant to help before fully understanding it. Plus, the General running the place is kind of a jerk. My money's on him being an alien in disguise.
Boys being boys, Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit can't help but get into trouble and juice the alien tech while everyone is asleep. Only they're shocked to find themselves teleported and face to face with Space Ghost! In their place, the equally bewildered trio of Jan, Jace, and Blip arrive.
The art in the book is great. It may not look like the cartoon, but it definitely captures the feel of 60s science-action. You don't need to have read the Jonny Quest series to understand what's going on. There's enough exposition to get you caught up. With this being the first issue, it feels like they're just lighting the fuse on something that's sure to blow-up into something bigger as it goes.
Finally getting around to wrapping up wave 1 of Hasbro's Dungeons & Dragons animated figures and we've got the biggest for last: Venger and DungeonMaster.
Two figures for double the cost, how can you go wrong? If you're lucky, you might be able to find them at 50% at Target. I learned my lesson with pre-ordering all these figures. I could have easily gotten the entire wave at clearance price so no pre-ordering wave 2.
DM is a solid figure and I mean that quite literally! He has no legs and his torso just kind of goes all the way down to his feet, which are also melded into the body. No issues with the shoulder or wrist joints which are the only articulation. He's a cool little figure that I'd keep on my desk at work if that was an acceptable thing to do. Now I feel like I need to get a Black Series Yoda so they can hang out together.
I was going to hold off on the next D&D figure installment but since the second wave just went up for pre-order (affiliate link) I figured it would be a good time to post.
Hank the Ranger is my second favorite kid in the series. Not so much because he's the leader but because he's got the coolest weapon, a bow that shoots endless energy arrows!
For those of you that haven't yet experienced the new windowless boxes, here's how the figures and accessories are packed.
Come, traveler, let us return to the realm of Dungeons & Dragons to meet a boy and his dog...uh, unicorn.
Today we're joined by Bobby the Barbarian and his unicorn friend/pet Uni. Good job with the naming there, kid.
Again, loving the external package design even if the contents are wrapped in thin paper with nothing really to keep them from getting tossed around inside. Remember last time when I said how much I liked the way they were making a larger image with the box sides? Well, someone fell asleep on that.
Where is the top of Hank's bow or Diana's right foot?? I swear this line just gets more disappointing the further down the rabbit hole I go. I can't overstate how much I want to truly love this line but keep feel like I'm getting kicked in the teeth. Oh well, let's see what's in the box.
Well, it took almost 40 years but we are finally getting action figures based on the 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon! As soon as it was announced, I knew I was going to go all in on the line...even if I have no idea where I'm going to display them.
We're starting it off with the group's most agile member, Diana the Acrobat. By the way, if you're not familiar with this cartoon, you may at least want to watch the intro to get an idea about the series and characters.
Now, Acrobat itself wasn't really a class in D&D and I always thought it was an odd thing to be when you have Fighters, Thieves, Magic-Users, etc. Earlier the same year the show debuted, the class Thief-Acrobat was introduced in Dragon magazine. I'm guessing having a character be even part Thief was frowned on for a kids cartoon so they went with Acrobat.
This is my first purchase with the plastic-free packaging and I have to say, I like the look of it! The box art is fantastic. I understand some people's gripes with it and I think it's definitely going to lead to an increase of scumbags buying them, tossing some other figure in, and returning it. One thing I'm not a fan of is the figure and accessories are just wrapped in a thin paper and not held down inside the box. It feels really cheap.
Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been around
for over 200 years and while almost everyone is somewhat familiar with the
story, they also probably imagine the incarnation from Disney's 1949
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad with his flaming pumpkin
head.
But this was not the first animated appearance of the infamous ghost. In 1934,
Ub Iwerks created an animated short film called The Headless Horseman.
Iwerks also worked on the Disney shorts The Skeleton Dance and The Haunted House. If you're a fan of classic animation, you'll definitely get a kick out of
this.
Click below to go to the Countdown to Halloween site and visit the other
participants!
Archie's Weird Mysteries was an animated series that ran for 40 episodes
between 1999-2000. It was distributed in the US by DIC Entertainment and first
aired on the PAX network. Remember the PAX network? Yeah, I don't blame you.
The series focused on the Riverdale teens encountering all sorts of strange
stuff like zombies, ghosts, and even UFOs after a lab accident goes wrong and
turns the town into a weirdness magnet! It also spawned a tie-in comic series
in 2000 that ran for 34 issues, although it eventually dropped the "Weird" and switched to mundane mysteries.
Among the 40 episodes were a few multi-part story arcs including a 3-parter
called Vampire Night where the climax takes place at a Halloween Party!
Shortly after Funko started cranking out Pop figures, I had my heart set on ones based on my favorite Saturday morning cartoon, Thundarr the Barbarian. While I kept it in mind that they may never happen, over the years I figured they'd start running out of things people were nostalgic for and eventually they would come and they finally have...sort of.
Back in February, Funko announced all the exclusives for their Spring 2021 VirtualCon and among them were these three I had been waiting on for years. Yes, my most wanted Pops were coming but they were going to be an online exclusive. In the span of a few seconds I went from elation to presuming I'd never actually see these at a decent price.
A couple weeks later, I saw something about being able to register ahead of time to order the figures. The only catch was you had to have been signed up two weeks before I found this info. Like Thundarr, I was going to fight on ignoring any obstacles in my way!
I decided to give everyone a recovery day before posting the December recap.
Streaming
The Mandalorian (Disney+) - What a season finale! I cannot wait to see where the next season will take us. Fans will be going broke soon as the all the merch is starting to go up for pre-order.
The Witcher (Netflix) - Only about half way in but I am loving it so far. It's been quite awhile since I've played a Witcher game but this feels just right.
The Big Screen
Frozen 2 (2019)
I enjoyed the first one quite a bit so I was definitely up for a sequel. What I didn't expect was that a few minutes into the new movie, I was actually happy and excited to be back with these characters again. I really like how they used local folklore and mythology for the fantasy elements. I don't think it had as great of a soundtrack as the first movie but the one song Kristoff does solo that looks like it came out of an 80s power ballad video is pure gold. And I think he may have become my favorite character in this series.
It sounds like a no-brainer, right? After reading the rad Batman/TMNT crossover comic series I thought this would be worth a watch. I had high hopes going in as it seemed to start out with a Batman:TAS vibe and then some horribly drawn turtles showed up and the plot degenerated into something silly that I'd expect from the original TMNT cartoon. When you make my boy Donatello look like a dude in a green morph suit, you lose me.
You take the good, you take the bad, you take em both and there you have your average horror anthology. Jeffrey Combs chews up the scenery like the genre pro he is as the owner of an oddities shop where every item has a story. If you can get past the horrible dialog and acting of the first tale, the rest can be entertaining. "The Hand That Rocks the Dreidel" is a bite sized Puppet Master story so it wins the movie for me.
Rating: 5/10 Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
With every new trilogy movie, I need to see it at least twice to formulate a decent opinion and this one is no exception. There's a lot I liked and there's some things that came off as dumb, like(event A happens because we need B next or things happen that end up having no real impact. It's Star Wars, it's a space fantasy and I shouldn't care about "logic" but like the slo-mo chase in The Last Jedi, there are some things I have a problem wrapping my brain around. These feelings generally subside on multiple viewings, listening to podcast reviews, and reading a visual dictionary. We'll see where I'm at after another viewing.
Rating: 6/10
Klaus (2019, Netflix)
I have Mrs Dex to thank for this one, I probably would not have picked it otherwise. It turned out to be a great re-imaging of how Santa came to be from the man that brought you Despicable Me. The animation is fantastic and the story is cute.
Rating: 7/10
Doom: Annihilation (2019, Netflix)
Talk about going out with a whimper. This sequel no one asked for is probably the least entertaining movie I watched all year.Sure, it has things from the game like a chainsaw and BFG but it's also got demons that are clearly people in rubber suits and a cast with less charisma than a box of rocks.
Rating: 2/10
Month
New: 6 Rewatch: 0
Year to Date
New: 75 Rewatch: 3
Here are all the movies I watched in 2019. I stole the idea from Bob Johns at It Came from the Man Cave, go check out his Best of 2019 post! You can get a better look at the movies on my Letterboxd page.
Quick programming note: Yes, I know it's Wednesday. No, this is not an Addams Family post. It's pretty much the Wild West from here on out!
A couple or three years ago, Character Ltd released two series of Scooby-Doo figure two packs. Each pack had one of the Scooby gang and one of their villains. At the time, I passed on the Scooby/Headless Horseman pack and have been kicking myself ever since because now it's "hard to find" aka pricey.
Thankfully, Walmart recently released figure repacks for Scooby's 50th Birthday.
For around $6 you get two figures. Obviously they're not amazing quality but for the price, I think they're pretty great. They've got more articulation than I'd expect for "cheap" figures.
My biggest "problem" with Shaggy is that he's got a mouth but they
didn't color it in. So he looks a little weird from a distance. I mean
if you're going to put the beard lines on his face, would it kill you to
color in the mouth?
Note to self: next time get matte finish backdrops not glossy
Ol' Headless has the same points of articulation as Shaggy but his cape (I guess it's a cape?) gets in the way of his full range of movement. At first glance, it looks removable but has a large peg fixing it to his back.
His hands are oddly positioned so that if his arms are anywhere except by his sides he looks like he's doing the robot. His head may not come off but at least he knows how to party!
These should still be available in your local Walmart and for the price they'd make a great Halloween gift for Scooby fans of any age. The girls have been hard to find in my area but Velma has Frankenstein's Monster and Daphne comes with Wolfman, for you classic monster fans.
If you check out the other Countdown to Halloween bloggers by clicking below, a ghost may follow you home!
Need something to pass the time on your next road trip to a spooky castle?
The Scooby-Doo Encyclopedia was released just last year and thanks to Reis O'Brien on Instagram, I know it exists! I also pretty much inst-ordered it after seeing his post. This book is packed with all kinds of Scooby-riffic stuff!
Let me start by saying I wouldn't call this an Encyclopedia. If you were to flip through it in the store, you'd see it's really more of a character guide. I know Scooby-Doo Character Guide doesn't quite roll off the tongue. Maybe Scooby-Doo Case Files? Do kids even know what an encyclopedia is?
It's broken down into several sections. Each of the gang and the Mystery Machine get their own entries. Then there's a few pages on family (including a Doo family tree!) and some notable friends/guest stars.
Then it gets into the really good stuff: the villains! The cover claims to contain every bad guy from the classic series. I'm no Scooby-phile so I can't verify that, but considering each of the 93 pages has multiple entries, I'm going to take their word for it.
Every once in awhile, one of the gang will pop up in a bubble to provide a tidbit related to the entry. Shaggy tells jokes, Velma provides case breaking clues, Daphne give facts, Fred talks about the location, and Scooby naturally talks about snacks.
For better or worse, the book also includes The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. On one hand, you have Scarppy-Doo but on the other you have Vincent Van Ghoul who was voiced by Vincent Price. I can tolerate a lot of Scrappy-Doo if Vincent Price is involved!
If I had to nitpick the book, my one quibble (how often do you get to use that word?) with it would be that it doesn't give any reference to the episode in which the baddie appears. Yes, I know we live in the internet age and there's probably a Scooby-Doo Wiki that can get me the info but it would have been nice to have that info in the book.
That very minor thing aside, this is a really fun book for Scooby fans of all ages. While flipping through it I found plenty of classic favorite villains as well as quite a few that I didn't recognize, which is why I'd like it to have episode information. The last page even has a recipe for Scooby snacks!
Battle of the Planets will always be one of my favorite cartoons. It was my
first real intro to Japanese animation and was one of the shows in rotation
that my friends and I would use for inspiration when playing out our own
adventures. I remember making our own wristbands and sonic boomerangs out of
cardboard.
The arrival of
Battle of the Planets
in the US was due to the popularity of Star Wars at the time. It's right there
in the name! Star Wars. Battle of the Planets. The original show, Science
Ninja Team Gatchaman, was edited (read: sanitized) for American audiences and
incorporated new footage featuring an R2-D2 inspired robot called 7-Zark-7.
Until the internet age, I had no idea BotP was anything other than what I saw
on afternoon TV. The original Gatchaman is a bit more violent and has some
adult themes, including transgenderism.
Here's the show's intro
Just hearing that music and voice-over makes me feel like a kid again! The
basic premise of the show followed this group of super teens battling the evil
Zoltar and the forces of Spectra. Like any good hero, each one has a signature
weapon and vehicle. Being Japanimation, the vehicles combine but not in a
Voltron like way. This is a quick clip showing how all the vehicles combine
into the command ship, The Phoenix.
I don't know how popular the show was when it aired but I feel like they
missed out by not marketing it in the US with a toy line. I know I kid me
would have been all over it!
The show ran in syndication from September 1978 - May 1980 while the comic
produced 10 issues from June 1979 - February 1981. The first few issues
featured the Gold Key logo and then switched to Whitman. Oddly, issue 4 can be
found with either company logo on it.
The art in the comic is about on par with what you'd expect for a comic
adaptation of a 70s cartoon. It's not going to knock your socks off but it
gets the job done. Like the series, the comics for the most part are self
contained stories. I didn't fully look into it but I think they're all
original stories.
In 2002, Image/Top Cow Comics brought the super teen team back into print with
a 12 issue mini-series featuring alternate covers by Alex Ross. They went on
over the next couple years with a manga adaptation, one shots featuring Mark
and Jason, and a 6 issue Princess mini-series. There were also a pair of
crossovers.
I know next to nothing about Witchblade so that book wasn't nearly as exciting
to me as the Thundercats crossover. Definitely a fun read for fans of
either!
Collecting the Gold Key issues will put a small dent in your wallet. Ebay
shows issues ranging from $10-$40 each and going upwards of $100 for pro
graded copies. The more recent Top Cow books are generally under $5 each.
If you've never seen the show, it's worth checking out. There are plenty of
episodes to be found on YouTube. While the original Gatchaman might appeal
more to us now as adults, Battle of the Planets is still good if you need a
dose of Saturday morning cartoons.
And just the next day, Toy Galaxy posted this awesome video.
I thought with the recent announcement of Wreck-It Ralph 2, this would be a good time to share these photos from three years ago. Timely, right?
Starting around November 2012 you could meet Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz in person at DisneyWorld's Hollywood Studios park. I was lucky enough to visit during this time frame. They were in the Art of Animation building, which has since been converted to the Star Wars Launch Bay. In 2014, they left (presumably to start working on the sequel?) to make way for Baymax and Hiro. Will they return to the parks with the new movie? We'll have to wait and see.
The sign above greets you as you enter the queue area, which is indeed themed to make it feel like you're in Game Central Station. Along the queue are a few video screens made to look like you're inside different games looking out.
The queue isn't a very big area compared to the ones you'd be in for big time characters like the Princesses or Mice but it is a fun area to hang out in. My favorite thing there was a status board that showed if games were on time or delayed.
What really surprised me is the people that put this together did their homework. Well, I guess it shouldn't be that surprising because it is Disney after all. Aside from some of the big names in video games there were also some in there that I'm guessing most people haven't heard of like Zookeeper.
Of course, there are a few mentions of Tron. Disney, all I'm asking for in the next movie is some kind of Tron cameo: lightcycle, recognizer, heck I'll take an identity disc in the background somewhere!
Eventually, the wait is over!
I enjoy meeting the characters and I don't usually geek out too much about it but I was pretty excited to meet Ralph and Vanellope. I thought it was a nice touch after going through the game themed waiting area that the meeting area looks like you stepped into Vanellope's game, Sugar Rush.
Here's a brief video I found to show you what the area is like.
2017 is shaping up to be a fun year for movies and we're just getting
started!
If you're a fan of B-movies, check out
Midnight Macabre Films on YouTube. They've posted a lot of greats like Chopping Mall, Spookies, and The Pit
just to name a few.
Logan (2017)
I don't think a lot of people like seeing their heroes get old and weak but this
is probably the best way it could be done. There's a tiny bit of mystery here
between figuring out what year it is and what happened to the other mutants.
This is really the Wolverine movie I wanted...except a younger version...in
Japan.
Cool: Wolverine is finally unleashed. Plenty of claw action! Daphne Keen
is awesome, I hope she continues to act. Lame: I'm assuming adult people brought the other kids to the meeting
point. Did they just leave the kids there by themselves? I mean, they're
mutants, but they're still kids.
Rating: 8/10
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016)
Not going to lie, as much fun as this is, it's definitely a bit sadder than it
would have been a few months ago. Even if you're not a Star Wars fan (if that's
possible) but are a fan of Hollywood, I'd still recommend this, it's a fantastic
documentary about the relationship between two amazing women.
Rating: 9/10
Moana (2016)
I swear someone at Disney found a way to get into my brain and find out all the
things to put in a movie that would make me love it! Everything about this was a
home run for me: the plot of a mortal helping a demigod, Moana's journey and the
theme of finding who you are, the Polynesian mythology...LOVE IT!
Cool: See above Lame: Needed more coconut pirates!
Rating: 8/10 Beauty and the Beast (2017)
You hear "Disney magic" thrown around a lot, this is it right here. The effects
are really magical. I like Emma Watson but wasn't sure she would be a good
Belle. She's not, she's great!
Cool: Love the wolf scenes, very intense! Getting a peek into Belle's
backstory. Lame: New songs may need some time to catch on. Something about the
design of Mrs Potts...creepy
Rating: 9/10
Full movie on YouTube!
Rockula (1990, Amazon)
Nothing I say here can prepare you for the cheese that is Rockula. It's like 80s
Mtv decided to make a vampire comedy. If not for the musical numbers, I probably
would never have finished watching it. From the white boy vampire decked out
like an 80s rapper (and rapping!) to Toni Basil's horny vampire mom doing a sexy
number in front of her son and his girlfriend...this is Rockula.
Cool: Thomas Dolby is delicious as the bad guy. Toni Basil, just
delicious. Some of the songs are actually pretty fun! Lame: If you're not a fan of camp, steer clear
Rating: 5/10
If you want to read more about Rockula, head over to
It Came From the Man Cave, which is where I lay the blame how I knew this existed.
Gantz:O (2016, Netflix)
I knew nothing about this going in other than the blurb in Netflix and the fact
that it has a 4.75/5 rating. After the first 15-20 minutes I'm wanting to know
where I can buy the RPG and/or video game for this universe. If you're a fan of
action movies and monsters, get this in your queue! While I'm not going to read
the manga this is based on, I am interested in seeing the anime and other live
action Gantz movies.
Cool: Weird ass alien/monsters that can only come from Japan, like a 30'
tall beast made from writhing naked lady bodies. Cool tech. Lame: No real back story on how this whole Gantz thing came to be or why.
It's not a huge deal for me though as it makes me want to know more. The lead
female voice dub is just...ugh.
Seems like this was some good timing on Lucasfilm's and Funko's parts as the box arrived just a couple days before the Rebels season finale aired.
Despite the box reminding me in huge letters that the theme is Rebels, it took me a minute to figure out the character is Ezra. Maybe it's because this is a look from a couple seasons ago.
Awesome! The patch and pin are my two favorite main characters: Zeb and Sabine!
A very cool shirt featuring the entire crew of the Ghost. Totally digging little Pop-ified Zeb baring his teeth but still very cute.
This was an extra long box which means extra figures!
Just like the Vader Hikari figure from the Rogue One box, this figure of Chopper is a few inches tall. Subscribers got one of a handful of random colors. I would have preferred an orange one because he's more associated with that color. It's not as transparent as it looks, I lit him up to show off his details. The foot in the bottom right is a better representation of what he looks like under room lighting.
Funko has started revealing an exclusive from each of their sub boxes in advance and for this one, it was Maul. I have to admit I wasn't thrilled about it. While it was fun to see him make a come back in the series, there are other characters I would have liked to see. But, having it in hand, it's a great looking Pop!
On the flip side of that coin, I was like a kid on Christmas when I saw Rex! He's been a favorite of mine since the animated Clone Wars series began way back when. I was genuinely excited to see him come back in Rebels so having this Pop be a surprise was amazing.
And that wraps up the penultimate Smuggler's Bounty post. I say every post it's going to be my last one and then they announce the next theme and I get pulled back in. Next theme? Star Wars' 40th Anniversary. How can I say no to that?
So I was wandering through Toys R Us this weekend expecting the same ol' same ol' when what to my wondering eyes should appear? A set of Guardians of the Galaxy figures based on the animated series!
It was hard to keep myself from grabbing them all up because I wasn't expecting more Guardians toys until next year. But I had to pick up Rocket!
For now, the figure line up just includes the Milano crew. Yes, even Gamora (although her outfit is not great). But you gotta have bad guys to fight, right? I'd love to get a Nebula and Yondu in this line. Maybe even a Collector and definitely a Cosmo because he pops up in the show pretty frequently.
Rocket stands around 3.75" and potted Groot is about 1.75". Being from a cartoon series, these are aimed at a younger audience but that's not saying I don't like them. I have a hard time justifying paying $13 for the current Marvel 3.75" line. These are $8 (at TRU anyway), not super articulated but are good for what they are. I love the ferocious face on this Rocket.
He's got articulation in his neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and ball socket tail. The tail articulation is nice because he needs some extra stability with his BFG, but it can pop out if you move it too much.
What's not nice about the tail is actually looking at it. I mean, I guess it's the best place they could put all this text? The paint apps are good for the most part. I didn't really notice any problems (like the white on the left side of his head) until I started photographing him. Again, it's a line aimed at kids who probably won't notice or care.
Here's a close up of lil Groot. I'm going to have to find a really fine tipped Sharpie and fill in his eyes and mouth and maybe the soil to make him stand out a little more.
Lastly, here's animated Rocket next to his Marvel Legends counterpart. I've never liked the head they used on the Legends figure, it's way too passive for Rocket! Their guns are almost identical to the point where I had to look them over to see if Hasbro was reusing the mold but it's got a few subtle differences.
As I was getting ready to wrap this up, it occurred to me that I didn't get a shot of Rocket without his gun so you can see his outfit. Not a lot of detail paint-wise but there is some good sculpting and it matches pretty well with what he wears in the cartoon.
