Archive Category: Cartoon & Comic
Little Big Love
Love is hard when you’re a little robot in a big world. A little bit creepy and a whole lot of cute, Little Big Love is a bittersweet short film from Tomas Mankovsky. Link
Comment (5)
Permalink
Please share:  email
this 
|
| Neatorama Shop » Toy & Games » Action Figures | ||
 |
 |
|
See more Action
Figures »  |
||
Dinosaur Twitter
I’ve had some fun today with this generator that marries random Twitter updates with the graphics from Dinosaur Comics. The generator was created by Idefex, who enlarged upon an idea from Bing. Hit the link, then refresh to get new text with your dinosaurs. Link -via Metafilter
|
Comment (9)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Blip
(Vimeo link)
See what happens when two aliens try to take over the same world in Blip, a short animation by Sean Mullen and Ben Harper of the Irish School of Animation. -via the Presurfer
|
Comment (9)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Super Hero Wedding
You may have seen or read about some over-the-top wedding productions, but Tony Lucchese told Sarah LaFore will be going the extra mile when they marry today in Portland, Maine. They will say their vows dressed as Superman and Wonder Woman.
Aquaman, Flash and Spider-Man round out the groomsmen. Ten bridesmaids will be Amazon warriors — in comic mythos, Wonder Woman is an Amazon princess — with spears, togas and sandals.
Two weeks ago, LaFore and Lucchese made an emergency trip to Jersey, down and back in one day, to tweak her costume.
“Paramount to having a successful wedding is having the bride feel pretty,” he said.
He and volunteer carpenters built a Fortress of Solitude altar in a rented warehouse space in Portland. They’ll be married by Kieschnick’s father, dressed as Jor-El, Superman’s dad. Part of the script borrows from Kryptonian wedding vows. The couple will break character to say, “I do.”
The two met while working on a theatrical production in Oak Ridge, Tennessee seven years ago. They have been planning the wedding for 18 months. Link -via Fark
(image credit: Amber Waterman/Sun Journal)
Update: See more at Tony and Srah’s wedding blog. Link (Thanks, Tony!)
|
Comment (10)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
10 Types of Comic Con Fans
If you missed Comic Con, you missed more than just the costumes of course. You also missed the array of personality types that seem to pop up at these large-scale geekfests.You may think you know about the attendees, based on the stereotypes, but really, there’s a lot more too it than you thought.
The Stereo-typical Geek
These are the kids that smell like they haven’t bathed in a week and still get giddy over the concept of seeing a girl “IRL.” While revolting to everyone around them, they still think they’re total studs and try to chat up the illustrious booth girls somehow hoping their Jedi mind tricks will actually help convince the girl they are cool. Even if you don’t see many of these geeks, you most certainly will smell them, as this sign helps demonstrate.
The Twilight Fans
These are the newest breed at the convention and their presence actually worried organizers. There was even talk of organizing things so the panels and booths these tweens were expected to visit would be super far away from the things the geeks were expected to be interested in. Fortunately, these fans actually blended in just fine and were largely the same as the Harry Potter fans that have become a fixture at the convention. While it’s impossible to say how long these fans will stay in the scene, it will most certainly not be a problem having the around.
The Booth Babe
These are professional hotties who actually have no interest in anything geekish, particularly comic books, video games and even shows like “Heroes” or “Chuck.” While they would normally never be willing to be seen with the average people visiting these conventions, they’re happy to chat with them and pose for photos as long as there is a nice check of at least $200 a day in it for them. In more recent years, the standard booth babes have been reduced, thanks in part to Suicide Girls, who tend to have far more of an interest in these type of activities. In fact Suicide Girls even had a pre-Comic Con collection of Cosplay shots just to emphasize the girls’ natural geekiness.
The Cross-Over Costumer
Like Star Wars and Sherlock Holmes? Why not be Jedi Sherlock? What about cooking and Star Wars? Chef Darth Vader of course. One of the most famous crossover fans is Elvis Storm Trooper (to the left), who not only has his own website, but also travels to as many conventions as possible every year. Of course, he always makes it to the San Diego Comic Con every year.
The Star Wars Fans
Comic Con has always been a huge supporter of Star Wars, and not only because it’s a scifi classic. You see, George Lucas actually gave a preview of the movie to fans in 1977 before the movie was released and before the convention was even a big deal. The cult following was inevitable.
Of course, modern day Star Wars fans at the convention tend to be extreme. There are fans who make up their own characters as part of their own fan fiction and there are people dressed as characters who were only shown for a matter of seconds in the film.
The Trekkies
Image Via Stately English Manor
Despite the stereotypes of comic conventions loaded with Klingons, the Trekkies were actually a dying breed for the last ten or so years. But not this year. Since the newest movies are always a major inspiration for costumes (last year The Dark Knight was huge), Star Trek fans were everywhere this year. Interestingly, it was easy to spot the old-school Trekkies, who had only put their gear on the shelf for a few years, and the new-school Trekkies.
The Guy Way Too Into His Character
These guys can be more than a little scary. While a lot of people get into character and enjoy acting their roles, there always seems to be at least a few costumed villains that seem to be living out their character’s lives. Unfortunately, there’s no psychological test given to people dressed up as villains prior to entry.
So far no one’s been severely injured, but it’s only a matter of time.
The Weirdo Hippie Guy
This guy’s a rare breed, but there always seems to be at least one of them at the Convention. They all seem to have taken a few too many acid hits. No one, particularly these guys themselves, actually understands why they are so interested in showing up at the convention every year, but the overall accepting attitude of the attendees makes it a welcome place for these “unique” individuals.
The Steampunks
Steampunk inventions and costumes have been featured many times on Neatorama, but the number of posts is nowhere near the number of steampunks at Comic Con. These guys have always been at the convention, but this last year they’ve really stepped up their numbers. If you’re interested in learning more about the steampunks at Comic Con this year, there is a great article over at KPBS.
The Lolitas
I have to admit, these are some of my favorite Comic Con fans because I just can’t get enough of the outfits. Just like the steampunks, lolitas have always been around at Comic Con, but their numbers really shot up this year. While many people associate the lolitas with gothic culture, the ones at the convention are more of the Japanophile sort and frequently flock to Giant Robot and other Japanese toy booths to see the newest and hottest imports from their country of choice.
|
Comment (26)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
| Neatorama Shop » Home & Garden » Dishware, Drinkware & Flatware | ||
 |
 |
 |
See more Dishware,
Drinkware & Flatware »
|
||
Comic Con 2009 Costumes
If you missed out on the San Diego Comic Con this year, you weren’t alone -tickets sold out months in advance, leaving a whole lot of people locked out. If you were one of the many who wanted to go and couldn’t, or if you just are interested in the event, now’s your chance to see one of the best parts of the con -the costumes. These pictures include my top 20 favorite costumes, but there are a whole lot more out there. If you’re interested in seeing more convention pictures, be sure to use the links at the bottom of the article.
There’s always a lot of cross-over costumes at Comic Con and for some reason, they tend to mostly involve Star Wars. These guys were seventies Darth and Boba Fett. I missed out on the opportunity of getting a picture of another one along these lines, the storm troopper with a gold, disco-ball tiled helmet.
More Great Costumes Behind The Jump
|
Comment (9)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Parry Gripp's Nom Nom Song Animated by Nathan Mazur (OMG That Was Awesome!)
[YouTube]
Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom is a silly yet utterly fascinating collaboration between our pal, animator and T-shirt designer extraordinaire Nathan Mazur of Scared of Bees and Parry Gripp (of the pop punk band Nerf Herder). In the version above, Nathan added animation to Parry’s notoriously catchy tune (I apologize beforehand for getting the song stuck in your head).
If you like that, there’s *a lot* of similar songs over at Parry’s Song of the Week website: Link
Previously on Neatorama: He’s a Cat, Flushing the Toilet!
|
Comment (9)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Fly Guy
(YouTube link)
Simon’s Cat tries to catch a fly. From the drawing board of Simon Tofield. -via Metafilter
Previously: Cat Man Do, Let Me In, and TV Dinner.
|
Comment (13)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
The Spongebob Squarepants Quiz
We all love Spongebob Squarepants! Even when he is (or maybe because he is) ridiculously annoying. Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will test your knowledge of Bikini Bottom trivia. I only scored 50%, but my kids aced it. Link
|
Comment (2)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Post-It Note Stories
Cartoonist Arthur Jones writes stories through text and doodles on Post-It Notes, then reads his stories live to audiences as his cartoons scroll in the background. There are a few on his site, but my favorite is actually a translation of Jonathan Goldstein’s “Man Not Superman”. This is the story of the ordinary guy who dates Lois Lane after she breaks up with Superman, and tries to overcome his feelings of inadequacy. Jones’ comics just make this funny story even funnier.
Man Not Superman (text version)
Via io9
|
Comment (3)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
| Neatorama Shop » Party Supplies | ||
 |
 |
 |
See more Party
Supplies » |
||
Simpsons Mosaic Table
This Simpsons mosaic table is made of leftover tiles and places from a Target clearance sale and leftovers at the local home improvement store by craftster user redflag. She completely freehanded the pictures, which is pretty impressive. I like how suspicious Moe and Mr. Burns look.
|
Comment (8)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Disney's 1983, CGI test for "Where the Wild Things Are"
In 1983, future Pixar boss John Lasseter was a young animator working for Disney when he co-directed a test clip featuring a traditionally animated Max (the lead character from Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are,) running through a 3D house that was created with CGI that was then cutting-edge. The studio rejected the technique for being too expensive… and fired Lasseter soon after!
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by 
|
Comment (7)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
How Do You Pronounce Psi?
Brown Sharpie is an excellent mathematical cartoon series by Courtney Gibbons – it’s like xkcd, but much brainier 
This one above is a classic about how to pronounce the Greek letter psi: Link
And by the way, my graduate thesis was on a yeast prion called PSI+, and I say "psigh" which would make me tainted by a pretentious physicist.
|
Comment (8)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Transformers + Airbrush Car Art + Mad Magazine Fold-In = ???
What do you get when you mix together Transformers, airbrush car art and Mad Magazine Fold-in?
Jeremy Kramer and Eric Vaughn of Truck Bearing Kibble, one of my favorite webcomics, have the answer! I won’t spoil the fun for you, so you’ve got to check it out yourself: Link
|
Comment (5)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
You Auto Lay an Egg
[YouTube - Link]
You Auto Lay an Egg (AKA It’s a Bird) is a 1930 short film by cartoonist Charley Bowers and directed by Harold L. Muller in which a freaky, talking, stop-motion bird lays an egg that hatches into a (real) full-size car.
It looks like they accomplished the trick by sawing the car into tiny bits frame by frame and then running the film backwards, but the results are truly astonishing however they were achieved (Remember, this is before the age of CGI). Set some time aside, because you’re probably going to watch this clip three time in a row.
– via monstersandrockets
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by
|
Comment (6)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Kandor the Miniature Kryptonian City in a Bottle by Mike Kelley
Los Angeles-based artist Mike Kelley brought the bottle city of Kandor from the Superman comic series to life. If you don’t know, Kandor is a Kryptonian city miniaturized by Brainiac and kept in a bottle by Superman:
The exhibition of new works by Mike Kelley at the Jablonka Galerie features sculptures, lenticular lightboxes, and videos related to the fictional city of Kandor, the capitol of Superman’s home planet Krypton. According to the Superman mythos, Kandor is the only remaining vestige of the exploded Krypton, and the city is preserved, in a reduced state, in a bottle in Superman’s possession. Interestingly, the image of Kandor was never codified and the numerous representations of it in the comic book throughout the years vary widely in appearance. In this exhibition Kelley reconstructs ten unique versions of Kandor, with its enclosing bottle, which, despite obvious differences, purport to depict the same city.
John Struan over at Super Punch has more pics and a video clip from the
exhibit: Link – Thanks John!
|
Comment (5)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Angry Octopus
Angry Octopus is a webcomic featuring an octopus that always becomes angry by the final panel. It’s a summer project from Mike and his eight-year-old daughter Zoe. The pictured comic is entitled “Beware of Fugu”. Link -via Metafilter
|
Comment (3)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Work In Progress
An animation from Industrial Light & Magic, Work in Progress tells the story of a couple of modern-day Dr. Frankensteins. The moral of the story is that brains and brawn are small beans compared to the power of magic pixie dust. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
|
Comment (7)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Mickey Mouse Gas Mask
It’s important to keep kids feeling comfortable and happy, even when they need to watch out for poisonous gas clouds -or at least, that must be the theory behind this Mickey Mouse gas mask sold in WWII. Paranoia and consumerism sure make for an interesting combination.
Link Via Consumerist
|
Comment (6)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
The DM of the Rings
The DM of the Rings is a webcomic by Shamus Young which imagines the characters of The Lord of the Rings movies as players in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign who consistently refuse to stay in-character.
Link via John Meunier
|
Comment (5)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
| Neatorama Shop » Custom Bobble Heads & Cake Toppers | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Turn yourself or your loved ones into a hand-crafted, custom bobble head and cake topper. Commemorate a graduation, celebrate a wedding or simply make a Mini-Me of yourself - with over 109 body types to choose from, this bobble head is the perfect custom gift! | ||
See more Bobble
Heads » |
||
The A to Z of Awesomeness
Cartoonist Neill Cameron is spending a month creating and presenting an A to Z list of things that are truly awesome, bringing together pop culture icons such as Hello Kitty, Optimus Prime, and Ironman.
Link via Popped Culture
Previously on Neatorama: The Periodic Table of Awesoments
|
Comment (6)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Comic Origins of Phrases
The following is an article
from Uncle
John's Triumphant 20th Who says that comic books don't contribute much to literature? Here's a few choice phrases, which origin can be traced back to comic strips: Security Blanket
Charles Schulz first used the concept in June 1, 1954, Peanuts comic strip by giving Linus a blanket to carry everywhere he went. Linus called it his "security blanket." The term is now used by psychologists to define a child's (or anyone's) excessive attachment to a particular object. (Photo: Time Magazine 1965 cover) "We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us"
After winning the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, Commodore Oliver Perry wrote in a dispatch to General William Henry Harrison, "We have met the enemy, and he is ours." Walt Kelly, author of the comic strip Pogo, reworded the phrase as "We have met the enemy and he is us," in the foreword to his 1953 Pogo collection The Pogo Papers. The meaning: Mankind's greatest threat is ... mankind. The quote became better known when Kelly used it on a poster he was hired to illustrate for the first Earth Day in 1970. The Heebie-Jeebies
Other phrases coined by DeBeck: "horsefeathers," "hotsie-totsie," and "googly-eyed" (after Barney Google, who had huge, bulbous eyes). The strip also gave us the nickname "Sparky," from the name of Barney's horse, Sparkplug. (Many young comic-strip fans were given the name "Sparky," among them, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.) Palooka
It came from the main character of the 1920s strip Joe Palooka. Joe Palooka was a boxer - likeable but dumb, a trait that probably came from repeated blows to his head in the ring. Soon after the strip's debut, any big, dumb guy might be called a palooka. Milquetoast
Thanks to the comic strip, by the 1930s the word "milquetoast" had become common slang to describe anybody who, like Milquetoast, was weak and timid. Sadie Hawkins Day
It's from Al Capp's L'il Abner. One day a year in the comic strip's rural setting of Dogpatch, single women would chase the single men around. If they caught one, they got to keep - er, marry him. The day got its name from Sadie Hawkins, the first woman in Dogpatch who caught a husband that way. High schools in the United States still hold "Sadie Hawkins Dances," to which the girls invite the boys. Foo Fighter
In Bill Holman's 1930s strip Smokey Stover, the title character rode around in a bizarre-looking two-wheeled fire engine (with a fire hydrant attached to it) that Smokey called a "foo fighter." The term was used by World War II pilots for any unidentified aircraft (including UFOs). The phrase became popular again in the 1990s when it was used as the name of the rock band Foo Fighters. |
|
 |
The article above was reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader. Proving that some things do get better with age, the latest Bathroom Reader is jam-packed with 600 pages of fascinating trivia, forgotten history, strange lawsuits and other neat articles. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!
|
Pioneering
child psychologist Richard Passman is given credit for identifying the
phenomenon of children habitually clutching or carrying a favorite toy
for comfort and security. 
Billy
DeBeck coined the term in his hugely popular 1920s comic strip, 
"Milk
toast" was a simple dish (toast served in milk) frequently served
at soup kitchens in the 1920s. Harold Webster named the main character
in his late 1920s strip, The Timid Soul, Caspar Milquetoast.
|
Comment (6)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
TXT Island
[YouTube - Link]
TXT Island is a stop-motion film by Chris Gavin, who hand-crafted each frame using hundreds of plastic peg-board letters.
The films follows the endeavors of a squad of letters, as they delve deep into the jungle of a mysterious island. What is their mission? And will they succeed?
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by 
|
Comment (2)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Woman Snores Like Donald Duck
Finally! After all these years, the secret of the source of Donald Duck’s laugh (rabid chuckle? mad chatter?) has been revealed! You’d never guess where it comes from …
A Welsh View has the video clip: Link [embedded YouTube clip]
|
Comment (5)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Jedi Kirby Cross Stitch
What’s more awesome than Star Wars? How about a cross stitch of lightsaber duelin’ jedi Kirby by Flickr user gamerghoul13? Link – via Geekadelphia
Talkin’ bout Jedi Kirby, here’s an animated gif by deviantArt user Yoshio1pal. Marvel at the awesomeness (or similarity to Star Wars Kid [wiki]) and weep:
|
Comment (0)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Suco de Laranja: A Fun Little Stop Motion Animation
Brazilian artist Breno Pineschi of Hardcuore had a little fun with this Suco de Laranja (orange juice) video clip. All you need to make a funky electronic music are fresh oranges, some melba toast and a dash of humor.
Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo]
|
Comment (1)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
The Science News Cycle
Biggify at: PhD Comics by Jorge Cham
Oh, this is SO true! Jorge Cham of PhD Comics (which stands for Piled Higher & Deeper, if you must know) nailed it with this cartoon panel, The Science News Cycle, about how a scientific finding gets exaggerated and distorted as it trickles down through "The Internets" and the media.
As proud member of the blogosphere and a trained scientist myself, I’m happy to report that Neatorama works hard to wrestle and twist a lengthy scientific finding full of caveats into short (and hopefully witty) couple of sentences with the purpose of partly enlightening you, partly entertaining ourselves and, of course, driving traffic to the blog. The scientific truth be damned!
Link – via The Zeray Gazette
|
Comment (14)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Archie Finally Chooses Between Veronica and Betty
After almost 70 years, Archie, the perpetual teenager will finally choose which girl he really wants and will propose in an upcoming issue:
Archie Comics’ official blog confirmed the epochal news, digging into its cache of exclamation marks to declare: “ARCHIE ANDREWS IS GETTING MARRIED!”
In the story, Archie has finally graduated from Riverdale High School; in fact, he’s five years older and a college graduate. (We told you this was the apocalypse.) He may even have an actual job when he gets engaged.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by 
|
Comment (12)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
The Cookie Monster Interview
Elizabeth Blair of NPR has interviewed many people, but she may have just met her match in Cookie Monster. From a February 2009 All Things Considered interview:
Years before Sesame Street, Muppet creator Jim Henson made a very similar monster who ate snack foods and computers in television commercials. The basic look and spirit were there, but the character we know today was still a ways off.
Enter puppeteer Frank Oz. For nearly 30 years, Henson and Oz were an extraordinary team. Cheryl Henson, Jim’s daughter and the president of the Jim Henson Foundation, says the two men shared a subversive sense of humor. Their Muppets were regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show.
It was later, on a Muppet game show, that the cookie-fixated creature we know emerged, Oz says. The winning contestant was offered the chance to choose a prize: a vacation, a new house, $10,000 cash, or a cookie. He chose the cookie — and the Cookie Monster was born.
Om nom nom nom … COOKIEEE!!! … Link | The Cookie Monster Interview [embedded YouTube clip]
|
Comment (3)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
The M.A.S.K. Quiz
Of course you are familiar with Transformers, He-Man, and G.I. Joe, but there was also M.A.S.K. If you remember this show, you’ll do well on Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. Link
|
Comment (8)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
| Neatorama Shop » Science T-Shirts (Geektastic!) | |
 |
|
| Great Vocab Didn't Save the Thesaurus | See more Science
T-Shirts »
|
-
Your purchase helps support the blog - Thank you!
