The CCD Podcast: Episode #114 - Why Wolverine Matters

We are currently living in the age of the Comic Book Movie... and we couldn't be HAPPIER! There are all types of comic book adaptions finding their way to the big screen and TVs across the globe. Some are GREAT, some not so much. But all are doing it up in honor of the 50+ years of comic lore that exists in those funny books. While some actors have played the roles of certain heroes in numerous films, no one truly embodies their character more then Hugh Jackman playing Logan. In the 10 "X-Films" that Fox has produced over the last 17 years, Jackman has appeared as Wolverine in NINE of them (Deadpool is an X-Film and Wolverine does not appear in it). 17 years he has been playing James Howlett... or Weapon X... or just Logan. With the release of the newest film in the X-Series Logan on screens now, we take a look into the final performance of Jackman in the role and explain the burning question: Why does Wolverine MATTER in this day and age? Jedi Rob is joined by Mike D and the lovely & talented Mrs Alicia Gomes in the CCD Nerdcave to chop it up about everything Wolvie.... what are you waiting for Bub? Give the ep a listen and RATE OUR podcast on iTUNES!

We are the best at what we do, but what we do best isn't very NICE....

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Teenage Mutant Ninja X-Men by M7781

I came across artists m7781 (Marco D'Alfonso) over on Reddit due to his awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-men mashup that is making the rounds on the Internet. When I moseyed on over to his Deviant Art page I found an incredible collection of art mashups of pop culture characters that will make your head spin. There are a bunch of good ones, but I still find myself rotating back to the TMNT/X-Men one the most. What a great piece. Leo as Cyclops (the leader), Donatello as Beast (the scientist), Mikey as Iceman (the funny guy) and Raphael as Wolverine (the maniac). We also get April as Jubilee (they did rock the same colors!), Casey Jones as Cable, and my personal favorite side character Metalhead as Colossus. Pretty amazing. Lets hope m7781 decides to do a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants/Footclan mashup.... Shredder as Magneto? Kang as The Blob? Rocksteady & Bebop as Pyro & Avalanche? Yup... that would be great! Check out the full size pic after the jump...

Sean Hamilton Unleashes 'The Uncanny', His Latest Artistic Creation...

I have featured the work of my man Sean Hamilton here on CCD a few times before. My man is super talented, and Tommy Lombardozzi and I have met Sean on numerous occasions at Cons... and the truth of the matter is that he is just a genuine, down ass dude. A kindred spirit due to our geeky natures and sneakerhead ways, Sean and I still regularly keep in touch via the Intrawebs. He is always churning out awesome art, but his latest piece really blew me away and I needed to share it ASAP. Titled "The Uncanny", Sean pays tribute to his love for his favorite X-Men of the 80's and 90's with this mash-up piece. But unlike other mash-ups, he literally takes specific characteristics of each X-Man and uses them to create one face. The results are AMAZING... oh wait, that's Spidey's shtick. Anyway, you can click here to see more of Sean's art and order a print by clicking on his Big Cartel page. The Uncanny will be available for sale soon, so make sure you jump on it if you love the X-Men like me. Check out the full image after the jump...

You can also enjoy Sean on The League of Geekz podcast, which is pretty awesome and he is a part of. Videos games, movies, comics... these guys talk it all. Check em out, and tell em CCD sent ya!!! 

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 CCD Podcast: Episode #1 - X-Men Film Retrospective Part 1

It's been a long time coming but, I am finally proud to present the first episode of The CCD Podcast. You can stream the show right from the player below, or subscribe via iTunes or RSS, via the links below, and not miss a single nerdy moment.

Click after the jump for the podcast:



In anticipation of the new X-Men movie "Days of Future Past," the CCD team is taking a look back at all the previous entries in the series. We work our way in detail through each movie, with episode 1 focusing on the first three, X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. We also talk about the long road X-Men took getting to the big screen, false starts, missed opportunities, dodged bullets and fanboy dreams. The recent announcement of Channing Tatum being cast as Gambit in a future film is also touched on, as well as some general observations of the comic movie landscape, past and present, and the X-Men comics history.

 
Episode 2 will be along next week, where we'll look at the remaining films. The good, the bad....and the Origins.

'Ex-Men': Cyclops - A Short Film by Pete Holmes

Pete Holmes is a crazy comedian with a show on TBS and has a pretty funny Youtube channel with a bunch of funny skits and crazy stuff filling its table of contents. But one of the funniest things I saw while I was over there had to be 'Ex-Men', a skit that portrays Professor X of the X-Men in the role of a CEO and Cyclops in the role of a about to be downsized employee. Everything is a business, even a team of mutant super heroes! The idea behind this is kind of genius, the name of the skit is brilliant, and the actors look and sound exactly what I would like to imagine Professor X & Cyclops to be. Check out the full skit after the jump...

Variant X-Men Covers By Julian Totino Tedesco

All New X-Men has been a book that has been intriguing me for a bit now. Started about a year and a half ago, it tells the story of the original X-Men team of the 60s coming forward in the future and interacting with themselves (and other current X-Men) in order to help stop a potential disaster from occurring. It has recently lead up to the company wide crossover 'Battle of the Atom' and it is supposed to be fantastic. One of the coolest aspects of the books are the little winks and nods to the original OG series... some subtle, some obvious. So here are a few variant covers of issue #18 that kind of parody an original cover of the old X-Men, except these variants all feature different groupings of mutants to fill out their rosters. Pretty cool stuff, and a book that I plan on checking out now that they have a few issues under their belt (and are appearing in trades!) Check out all the variant covers after the jump...

X-Men 50th Anniversary - 30 X-Men Throughout The Years

The X-Men are in the midst of a 50th anniversary celebration, and when you have been around that long you are sure to have undergone some changes. No way everybody is going to look exactly the way they did in the beginning. But how much have they actually changed? Iceman has gone from a giant snowman in the 60s to one of the coolest ice made figures in the history of comics. Beast has gone through some unreal changes as well... like furry changes! And how about Psylocke turning into Sasha Grey after all these years? Now that is an X-Men casting I would love to see! I must say, Mystique seems to be the one who has undergone the LEAST amount of changes... which is ironic, since her power is to change her appearance into anything she wants! All in all, these pieces are dope and encapsulate some of the greatest renditions of the X characters throughout the years. I am working on finding out who the artist is, but for now just enjoy these fantastic pieces as a trip down memory lane! Can you name them all????

 

Marvel's X Book Covers Take On Horror Movie Posters From The Past...

X-Necrosha was a huge cross over event that took place in the various X comics of the Marvel Universe (X-Men, X-Force, New Mutants, etc) back in 2009 involving the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club Selene and her quest to become a goddess. Part of the plot revolved around her resurrecting past mutants who had died in the past and involved things like zombification and vampirism. During the original run of these books the higher ups at Marvel thought this would be a great opportunity to cross over these book covers with horror movie classic posters. Lost Boys, Dracula, The Exorcist, The Terminator, Blade Trinity, Underworld, From Dusk Till Dawn, Interview With A Vampire, John Carpenters Vampire$ all get there shot... and these covers are just fantastic! I never seen these when they were out, but they are boss. I am definitely gonna search these particular issues out in cons to come. Check out a full gallery of the covers after the jump along with the original posters that they are based on...

X-Necrosha #1

Necrosha: The Gathering One Shot

X-Force #21

X-Force #22

X-Force #23

X-Force #24

X-Force #25

New X Men Vol 1 #141

New X-Men vol 2 #8

Fletch is killing me with these finds!!!! Keep em coming!!!!

    

The Order of the X by Nate Hallinan

Buddy of the blog Joe Flesche sent over an email the other day alerting me to a killer series of art from Nate Hillinan featuring a medieval version of the X-Men, and quite frankly they are absolutely spectacular. The funny thing is that this turn of events, Joe emailing me something he found on the Net, is exactly the sort of thing that inspired the start of CCD in the 1st place. We used to all send each other emails of the various cool things we found while surfing the Intrawebs, and I started CCD to collect all of these things in one central spot for the world to see what we shared amongst ourselves. Hallinan's excellent work is exactly the kind of stuff I want others to see. What a great concept, but even better execution... Hallinan is pretty amazing, and he comes correct with each and every piece in the series. Thanks to Joe for keeping the chain going and sharing, and thanks to Nate for killing these pics and giving me something to share. Check out more of his work by clicking here, and check out the description of the project and the full gallery of pieces after the jump...