X-Men, Wu-Tang and Wrestlers... Oh MY! The Eclectic Artwork Of Erle Tompkins

You know that saying "never judge a book by its cover" that is always thrown around so willy nilly? Yeah, I never really subscribe to that theory. I tend to be very observant of people on purpose... and I can usually figure out people pretty well. I have an especially keen 'bullshit detector' sense as well... one that very rarely fails me. I had made the acquaintance of a very talented artist, Erle Tompkins, a few years back and I must say that in this case I was completely off in my judgement. His cousin Frank introduced us, and we hit it off right away with geek talk galore (mostly about comic book movies). He told me he did some art, and I told him to email me. He never did... and I assumed that he must not be very talented. I would see him from time to time, and always it was pleasant to see him. But every time we chatted, still no email and still no artwork. So I just chalked it up to him being not all that good and getting cold feet sending it to me. This weekend I ran into Erle, and he pulled up an X-Men movie universe piece he had just finished working on. Although I was looking at it on a 5 inch I Phone screen, I instantly realized that my man Erle had something... and I couldn't wait to see more. I told him that he needed to email me this instantly, and that I wanted to see more immediately. I made him do it right in front of me so he didn't "forget" to do it later. I forced his hand... and I am able to write this article about his awesome art because of it.

See more after the jump...

Erle has a Tumblr that highlights his unique style of art, but it his interesting array of subjects that make his blog so appealing. He jumps flawlessly from the world of comics to the world of Wu Tang Clan. But he makes his most important contributions in the world he loves the most: Professional Wrestling. He re-creates old matches, particular poses and scenes, and iconic images from WWF, WWE, WCW and NWA fame. He hits on all the regulars, and even digs deeper to include lesser popular stars. And his trademark, at least in my opinion, has to be his "bloody" stuff... the pieces where he highlights the destruction of the human body in the ring. These pieces transport me back to the days of a child watching Saturday Night's Main Event, playing with my WWF Wrestling Superstar rubber figures. Man, these are great. 

So in closing, sometime you really can't judge a book by it's cover. Er;e Tompkins is a soft spoken and nice kid, but I certainly didn't think he had the talent he actually possess. I am glad he finally shared it with me, and I am happy to share it with all of you. Make sure you hit him up at his AMA page, his Society 6 page, and check his Tumblr often for his newest works. Order up kids... and tell 'em CCD sent ya!!!!        

The GI Joe PSA's Get Tweaked A Little Bit...

I was always a fan of GI Joe, it was right up there with He Man and the Thundercats in my book. But the dumbest part of the show was the PSAs at the end of every episode... the preachy nonsense that ensued after a 30 minute show of people shooting at each other never quite made sense to me... So of course somebody re-dubbed the PSAs and uploaded them on Youtube. Now they are lewd, crude, and full of the child abusing dialogue that we here at CCD know and love! Check em out after the jump...






And even more fun:

The COBRA FILES By Postma

Once again Phil Postma nails the characters and adds that little bit extra by drawing these ones as action figure backing cards. Done is a style that would attract ANY age collector to the toys (which would also be wildly successful if created from these designs) he get's right to what makes the GI JOE Universe so great. It's all the characters and the balance of good and evil. Plus no one dies or can hit anything they are aiming at. Sure Cobra Commander is an idiot but he looks great. I guess the two aren't mutually exclusive, Check em out after the jump....

What a great mix of lunatics. You would think that by putting their evil little minds together they could come up with something REALLY EVIL to do to the world and actually SEE the whole thing to completion and success. I know that it's not fun if the bad guys win but I would have liked to see it happen just ONCE, even in a fantasy dream sequence. They ALMOST had a win with Serpentor but Cobra Commander became a jealous whiney baby and messed up the whole plan. He can't even take the win if he can't also have all the credit. Now THAT is my kind of crazy.

http://minionfactory.blogspot.ca/

Tuesdays From The Collection Of Cool - Part Deux

From now on I will be posting articles about toys and toy collecting over here at Cultural Compulsion Disorder. (CCD). I can't thank my 'New York Connection' at the CCD enough for the opportunity to expand my balloon juice to a wider audience. Plus I NEED my NYC friends in case I ever make that vision quest to The Big Apple.

Read more after the jump...

From this Doctor Strange I managed to rebuild a decent action figure collection - one nowhere near the great one I had as a child but good enough to soothe my pain and for me that is enough. I currently have around 1000 individual pieces so I do know a lot about the hobby. So thank you Animated Spider-man for giving us a plethora of characters and thank you Dr. Strange for giving me something else to obsess over.

What figure started you collecting or why do you collect what you do?? Which figures are on your Holy Grail List.  Answer me here or at CCD.

This is one of mine. I usually hate ventriloquist dummies but I love this toy a lot. I would have spent horse disguising myself with Hugo's kit of disguise pieces.

What else don't I have? That is often as important as what I do have. David told me that it was all about the hunt and that is very true. You all know my adventures with EBay and my search for the elusive Oscar Goldman. I am always on the lookout for the following...

The Great Garloo. THE GREAT GARLOO! 'nuff said.

Any of these Classic GI Joe Figures from their Adventure Team division. Where else are you gonna get a cave man, a cyborg and whatever this human bullet guy is?

I would like the complete set of these Doctor Who figures so I can replay the Amy Pond years over and over again. Sometimes when she gets yappy, I know I want to lock Amy in a box and now I can.

I have all the toys from 'The Shadow' film EXCEPT this Thunder Cab. It was the first time I was ever poached on the EBay so not having the vehicle just irks me. The Universe took it away from me once so I am owe a chance to have it come around again. This one is personal.

I had this GI Joe helicopter and it was perfect for all kinds of hero missions around the house. My Mego Spider-Man loved hanging off it the most. More than my share of bad guys have been sliced by it's blades in an explosive crash into the couch pillows.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is one of my favorite concepts and I love the design of Jack Tenrec's Cadillac the most. I am starting to search for all the figures too.

Oscar, oh Oscar. You can never hide from me forever.

Big Jim was a very popular line around my house. He had so many great real life rescue sets. I had many of their vehicles too. I totally missed out on the P.A.C.K. however. Look at that goofy team and all the cool accessories that are included. These are ridiculously difficult to find complete in package.

Come back tomorrow for my post on ROM, SPACE KNIGHT.

So head over to the CCD all this week to read about the toys that got away.

50 Pop Culture Valentines To Share With That Special Someone In Your Life...

So today is Valentines Day, or as some people like to describe it, The Hallmark Holiday. It's just a mad up day in order to sell loads of candy, flowers and greeting cards in order for people to conform and fit the mold they have been told to fit. Well here at CCD we say fuck the norm. Instead of going to your local card shoppe and spending 5 bucks on a card filled with bullshit words and typical heart drawings, we have found 50 great pop culture themed Valentines Day Cards from around the web to share with the person you love and put a smile on their face. Hope these do the trick. So instead of buying a store bought card, print one of these puppies out and you will score some major points with the Pop Culture junkie in your life...