My Parents Were Cool, But Not This Cool...

I had great parents that encouraged all of my idiosyncrasies and afforded me great things (like comics & toys) throughout my childhood. They allowed me to do what I wanted with my room, and I often decorated it with the things I loved (mostly comics & toys.. lol). But Joe Fletch sent me a Reddit thread that blows doors on anything I ever had as a kid... and it comes courtesy of a great dad that should be commended for being so creative. This dude turned his son's bedroom into Avengers Central, with all four corners of the room embodying each of the Big 4. They all have a corner, and each is cooler than the other. The Cap corner has his signature shield, Thor's corner has Mjolinir, Hulk's corner has his terrifying scowl, and Iron Man has his signature helmet. There is also a Stark Industry bookshelf, a hidden Ultron visage, a Iron Man suit breaking through the wall, and so much more.... really great! Parents need to pay attention, this is how you do it! Check out the pics of the room after the jump...

 

Marvel Robots by Keanu 432

The robot has been becoming more and more prevalent in pop culture. Yup, everything has its way around. Vampires were hot about 5 years ago, then zombies. It is the robots time to shine. Pacific Rim, Transformers 4, Almost Human... yeah, its time for the robot overkill. Enter artist Keanu 432, who decided to re-imagine some of the classic Marvel characters as if they were robots. You certainly get the feel that this is how they would look if they were robot like beings. These are quite good, and he has other cool stuff over at his Imgur page. Check out the Marvel Robots after the jump...



Thanks Joe Fletch...

 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Thus Far by One Man Sidekick

One Man Sidekick is a graphic artist who loves that Marvel Cinematic Universe. He decided to show his love for the excellent work that Marvel is doing on the big screen by compiling some pieces of all the major characters from each film, giving them all the proper shine they deserve. These are absolutely great, given the fact that he is using stock images of the characters. The way he arranges them and makes them play off each other, and also chooses specific versions of each character to bring his pieces to life. Check them all out after the jump... he even has a Thor 2: The Dark World one in there, so that he is right up to date!!!



 Thanks for the heads up Joe Fletch:

Iron Man

The Incredible Hulk

Iron Man 2

The Mighty Thor

Captain America: The First Avenger

The Avengers

Iron Man 3

Thor: 2 The Dark World 

Sean Hartter & Entertainment Weekly Team Up To Imagine The Future Of Iron Man & Disney After The Great Merger

Damn it feels good to see people up on it! Yup, I just quoted Puff Dady right there... and my words couldn't ring much truer. I have been extolling the virtues of the very talented artist Sean Hartter right here on CCD since way back in September 2010, and have developed an excellent relationship with the man that will finally come full circle when we team up for the CCD/Hartter booth at the 2013 NY Comic Con. So imagine how happy I was to get a message on Facebook from my buddy Sean providing me with a link to Entertainment Weekly's website, where he created 9 images for an online article by Geoff Boucher about the future of Iron Man after the great merger between Marvel and Disney. Boucher does a great job proposing some excellent team ups for Tony Stark to join Disney properties, and Sean uses his unique photo manipulation style of art to make these possible collabos come to life. There are 9 pieces created for the article, and they are exclusive to Entertainment Weekly online, so click here to see them in all their splendor. My personal fave is the Wizard of Oz and Tron mashups... and the Herbie the Love Bug one is classic! Good to see my man Sean getting some mainstream recognition from a big publication like Entertainment Weekly, and I wish him all the best in all his future endeavors. The guy has got talent, and talent goes a long way. Can't wait for October to expose all of NYC to his wonderful artwork....

This Is Why I Absolutely Love Marvel Comics No Matter What They Do....

Even though I am a 34 year old man and have known many adult comic book fans, the core audience for comics is and always will be children. Kids are who the comics are made for... and most of us life long fans started out as wee lads and lasses reading the funny pages. So now that comics have become a billion dollar industry and Marvel Comics is on top of the heap, it is nice to see that they still no how to do something great for a child in need. Enter Anthony Smith, a 5 year old boy with hearing problems. He uses a blue hearing aid device to help with his condition, but being a stubborn 5 year old he didn't want to wear it because it made him feel different than the other "normal" kids in his school. He also said "I can't wear a hearing aid because Superheroes don't wear them". Cue up Anthony's super mom Christina, who emailed Marvel Comics wondering if there were any superheroes in the companies vaunted history that had hearing problems so that she could use it to help Anthony want to wear his ear piece. A few weeks later Christina received a package that featured artwork for a new superhero, The Blue Ear, a hero who uses his hearing aid to hear a pin drop on the other side of the state and fight crime!!!! They sent Anthony some fantastic artwork featuring a young Blue Ear ready to fight crime alongside Hawkeye, as well as a grown up Blue Ear on the cover of his own book ready to fight crime! They also made Blue Ear an honorary member of the Avengers. How wonderful is this!!! Marvel has also teamed up with Phonak, the maker of Anthony's hearing aid, to produce a stand alone comic featuring one of Marvel's most recognizable character, Iron Man!!! The book will be made available for free to be given out at hearing doctors office around the country, and hopefully Iron Man and Blue Ear can inspire more kids to get over their trepidation for wearing hearing aids. It seems to have worked, as Anthony is thoroughly taking to wearing his hearing aid since he feels he is now a superhero. Great idea and execution by one of the big corporate entities in the world. Check out all the pics after the jump...

Cool Down Your Drinks Super Hero Style With Marvel Ice Trays

Whenever I see products like this it reminds me of what my house would look like if I had infinite disposable income available to by nerd shit. My house would probably look a lot like Jon Lovitz's house in The Benchwarmers, when he grows up from nerd to millionaire and has an R2D2 butler and shit. That would probably be expensive, but here is a little piece of nerd houseware that anybody could probably afford. Marvel Comics themed Ice Trays!!!! For a mere 10.00 bucks or less on Amazon you can own either the Spider Man set or the set featuring The Thing, Hulk, Iron Man, and Cap. Either set is great, but I am leaning towards the multi hero one as better. Check out the pics after the jump...

Iron Man's Drunk Again...

I love the videos that the guys over at Dorkly post, mostly because they take cool nerd tidbits and turn them into classic originals. Take this riff on Marvel vs. Capcom that has Spidey calling on Iron Man for a teammate assist, only for Tony to show up all 'Demon In A Bottle-d' up and unable to help at all. Love the Jill Valentine cameo as well... Check out the video after the jump.

The 'Item 47' Teaser Trailer... Marvel Short Films Just Got Real!!!!

So it looks like my decision to not buy any of the Phase 1 Marvel superhero movies on Blu Ray yet is paying big dividends. The ginormous box set that is being planned with the release of Avengers in a few months will include Iron Man 1 & 2, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk & the Avengers... but it will also include all of the Marvel short films which have bridged the gaps between all of these movies. It also includes 'Item 47', the newest short film that takes place AFTER the Avengers movie. It stars Jesse Bradford & Lizzy Caplan (I absolutely sweat this girl) as two regular schmoes who stumble across a piece of Chitauri weaponry and decide to make some criminal moves to better their life. Yeah, I'm in. Check out the teaser trailer after the jump, and grab the box set when it comes out on September 25th.....

Popular Mechanics 1965: Inventing Iron Man by Robert Hack

Now this is some excellent fan art done by an excellent artist. Robert Hack is the cover artist for IDW's Doctor Who classics series, and he is also at creating new pieces that look very vintage. So he decided to take a look at what a cover of a 1965 issue of Popular Mechanics would look like... and how could Popular Mechanics have possibly ignored the appeal of the technological genius that was Tony Stark? While I love the simplicity of the faux cover, the thing that makes it are the other blurbs on the cover highlighting a few other tidbits from the Marvel Universe. You can see much more of Hack's work here & here. Check out the full size image of the cover after the jump....

How To Build Your Own Arc Reactor From Dollar Store Components

One of the coolest aspects of the Iron Man films starring Robert Downey Jr has to be the Arc Reactor that is present in his chest. He is always updating it, but at the end of the day it is like a super charged car battery that keeps Tony's ticker ticking. Now more than ever you can get your hands on some real cool replica movie props, but those could cost you a pretty penny. But what if you could build one of these arc reactors yourself, using only a few cheap components that could be acquired for a few bucks at the Dollar Store? The gang over at XRobot show you how to do just that... so get cracking on the coolest DIY project I have seen related to comics. The how to video is after the jump...

Silhouette Super Kids by Andy Fairhurst

Lots of artists  draw superheroes... nothing new there at all. But a good artist finds a niche way to make those famous heroes their own, whether it be a certain look that they give them or a certain medium that they draw them in. Andy Fairhurst's subjects may be familiar to you, but the way he chooses to convey them are quite unique. He uses a silhouette style to bring out the characteristics of the subjects, and he also chooses to portray them as kids. He has a series of 12 of these, which I included after the jump. But he also has lots of other great artwork, so click here to check it out...



Thanks to Jeff for another great find...