Hey Kids, Comics #28 - It Came From the License Part 3: Reading Your Movie Night

Welcome to the twenty-eighth issue of Hey Kids, Comics!  Our current story arc has taken us from all things Star Wars to the realms of television show inspired comic books.  Now, with a little help from a good friend, we delve deeper into licensed comics with a look at films that became more than what you saw on the big screen thanks to the comic book industry.

Stuart Baulk of Midnight Movie Cowboys takes a big step outside of his normal subject matter and finds himself immersed in a new realm of the silver screen.  The cinema came home in a unique way for decades before the proliferation of home video courtesy of a variety of comic publishers.  While many have adapted what you saw on the screen to the page, more often than not, comics took the characters and situations of film and expanded on them.  

Join Andrew and Cole, along with special guest Stu, as they discover even more movies became comics than they ever imagined!

All-Con 2013 Update: The Doctor is...Out

Sad news on the Texas convention front, especially for my personal favorite convention, All-Con.

As previously reported here, All-Con 2013's headlining guest was Sylvester McCoy of Doctor Who and The Hobbit.  As Mr. McCoy is a much sought after working actor, work comes before fan events of the likes of conventions.  All-Con have recently received the news that Sylvester McCoy has signed for a new role that has a filming schedule between February 23 and March 29, 2013.  

This of course has Mr. McCoy in the midst of production during the course of the All-Con weekend.  All pre-sold VIP passes, autographs, and other paid events have been refunded by All-Con and all all announcements have been removed from their site.  This is the official announcement taken directly from said website.

Many of us love Sylvester McCoy for his years as Doctor Who (7th Doctor) and new fans adore him for his current role as Radagast the Brown in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Mr. McCoy is very fan-focused, but he is also an actor in very high demand. This morning we had this waiting for us in our in-box: "I am writing this with very bad news... Sylvester will need to cancel your show as he has just got the lead in a film in the UK and he starts filming on Feb 23 through March 28 and of course work comes first... He sends his apologies."

All-Con has backed out previous announcements and comments about Mr. McCoy's attendance from our website, blog, and FaceBook, not to try to try to distance ourselves from this unfortunate turn of events, but so that as we continue to promote the new people we reach won't see the posts and use them as a basis to attend.

All tickets already purchased to Mr. McCoy's Private VIP Panels and Fan Dinner, along with advance sale autographs will be refunded within the next 24 hours. (We're starting now, but it will take us several hours to get through them all.)


None the less, All-Con has a tremendous amount of content that makes it well worth the price of a weekend pass.  Want to know more about what All-Con offers you?  Visit Convention Awareness Project - Texas in the coming days and weeks for an ongoing series all about this amazing show.  And while I am a bit biased (being head of the Games and Theory Department and all), I also know that this is a convention unlike any other in the Dallas-Fort Worth area or indeed in Texas.  There are over 250 different things going on during the weekend...under one roof...for one great price!

Hey Kids, Comics! #27 - It Came From the License Part 2: Take That, Nielsen Ratings!

Welcome to yet another great issue of Hey Kids, Comics!  "It Came From the License" continues as your hosts Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston are joined by television maven Jason Adams.  Television offers a seemingly bottomless well from comic creators and publishers can draw inspiration. from taking the characters and situations presented on a program in unique directions to literally picking up where a show left off when it was cancelled, the sky is the limit!

Now tune in to a special show all about how the licensing of television programs has not only provided comic book readers with new visions of their favorite programs.  From the most recent incarnations to the vast number of titles available in the distant past, TV had had a long relationship with print media in the form of the comic book.  And as Bill Cosby used to point out at the beginning of every episode of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, "If you're not careful you just might learn something!"

Hey Kids, Comics! #26 - It Came From the License Part 1: Hey Kids, Star Wars!

Due to a variety of unforseen circumstances that seemed to pile one on another this issue of Hey Kids, Comics! has been delayed up to this point. 

Original material is certainly the backbone of comic book publishers, but it is not always the whole back!  Sometimes to punch up the line-up being offered to readers the decision is made to seek elsewhere for subject matter.  And that somewhere is most often the realm of licensing.  Be it television shows, a popular series of novels, hit movies, or even an action figure line, there are always resources out there that fit the bill - a price!

This new story arc, "It Came From the License", will focus on the various avenues of licensing that have been tapped by comic book publishers over the last few decades.  And there is plenty to talk about as Andrew and Cole delve into comics from not only Marvel and DC but also their contemporaries like Dark Horse and publishers from the past like Dell and Gold Key.

To launch this new arc your hosts are joined again by Steve McCauley who brings a special history with Marvel Comics' Star Wars line to the preceedings, getting Andy off the hook for a decided lack of such familiarity with the line.  From the adaptations of the original trilogy of films to the strange directions that Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids were taken between features, there is a long an storied history of Star Wars in comics that continues to this day.  In fact the saga has almost certainly spawned the single longest running movie to comic license in the history of comis!  So join this trio as they talk up, primarily, the life and times of Star Wars at Marvel.

This guy's Star Wars connection will make sense when you hear the episode.

The Collectors Piece - Who Watches Matty Collector?

After over a quarter century of waiting the dream action figure line of fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' master work, Watchmen, is going to be a reality!

Chances are we will NEVER get the Owl Ship,  but then again, who knows?

Mattel Toys will get our new year off to a great start with the first release from their Club Black Freighter line of action figures based on the designs from the comic series, not the movie!  Tomorrow, January 15, 2013, this exciting line will have its first offering, Rorschach, made available starting at 9 AM Pacific.  

The $25 price tag (plus shipping) may seem a bit steep at first, but consider a few key points.  The average retail price of Mattel's DC Universe figures was close to $20 when they were still being produced.  Add to this what will undoubtedly be a much smaller production run than those figures produced for the toy and department store market and the price seems much more reasonable.  And finally, DC Direct had promised a line of action figures based on Watchmen back when the title was approaching its 20th anniversary, but cancelled the project when Alan Moore withdrew any support for DC's planned celebrations.  Collectors have waited a long time for figures of this kind and this limited 6" figure line is an answered prayer at any price.  Rorschach will come packaged in a unique book-like box that includes an oversize trading card.

While subscriptions to Club Black Freighter (which ship two weeks earlier than general orders) have long since sold out, you can order your Rorschach figure on Tuesday by clicking here to take advantage of the offer while supplies last.  It is recommended that you order as soon as possible once this figure becomes available as DC figures from Matty Collector tend to sell out quickly.  

This line will expand throughout the year with Dr. Manhattan being offered in March and other figures likely being put up for orders every other month through the end of 2013.  Six figures (undoubtedly the principle characters) are slated for release in this series, though there is hope that other characters from the Minutemen or Ozymandias' feline companion, Bubastis, may become part of a 2014 expansion.  But that is simply wishful thinking at this point.  The Collectors Piece will be reporting on future releases of Watchmen figures so keep an eye out here for further news.

Also being released on Tuesday are Blue Lantern Saint Walker from the DC Universe Club Infinite Earths line and Netossa from the Masters of the Universe Club Eternia line.   

UPDATE!  Less than 12 hours after the Rorschach action figure offer went live it was confirmed as SOLD OUT!  It may have sold out much sooner, though I have it on good authority that it was still available at least two hours later.  If you are not already on the Matty Collector mailing list I highly recommend that you sign up to get a timely announcement for March's release of Dr. Manhattan. - JediCole  

2012: The Year of the JCU

Since I have always been more than happy to buck tradition, it is of little wonder that, unlike so many who chronicle things in America, I refused to review the year that was until that year was actually OVER!  So now that 2012 has shuffled off to the Archipelago of Last Years and a giant-eared Baby New Year named 2013 has arrived in spite of Mayan threats to the contrary, The JediCole Universe is proud to present not only our first Year in Review, but also a kind of Years in Review if you will.  After all, as this is the first time we've bothered, there are a lot of years to make up for, really.

Before I delve into 2012, by far the biggest year for the JCU,  a brief overview of the past is in order.  This website was launched, believe it or not, in 2008.  It took over a year to finally get around to posting content, however, since the focus of the site was a work in progress.  While I was already actively podcasting and writing over at The United States of Geekdom, there were podcasts (one shot and recurring) I had in mind that would eat up space on the USG feed as well some writings that I really wanted to have their own venue due to their more personal nature.  Thus was the new website born, at least after I finally hit upon the name, The JediCole Universe.  It seemed fitting given the scope of what I had in mind.  Though it took quite a while to realize that ambition at full.

I actually got my start in podcasting back in 2006 with VaderCast, a Star Wars-themed podcast that evolved over time to take on a great number of topics before it was no more.  For more on my early podcasting history click here.  During my tenure on VaderCast (which saw me and the show’s founder Tim Kennedy the only charter cast members to remain on the show from start to finish), I met Rick Gutierrez and introduced him to the world of podcasting as a new member of the show.  He would go on to found and produce his own podcast, Amazing Comicast, which lasted 60 episodes.  I joined that show early on as the new co-host and remained through its eventual change in name and format.  As we began covering non-comic book topics at least as much as comic book topics the show was discontinued and replaced with The United States of Geekdom, a podcast that I still co-host to this day.

With the USG a new element was added to my podcasting experience, a content-driven web page.  So it was that I went from simply talking up topics on podcast shows to publishing written articles that provided more in-depth insights or just showcased my abilities as a creative writer.  In that sense The JediCole Universe was something of an inevitability.  The more I wrote and produced the more I found I not only wanted, but needed to write and produce.  While that drive did not serve to get this site off the ground very quickly, it did help bring most of the features you can find here today to the forefront.  And once I had enough material and potential material I began to concentrate on the site in earnest. 

The first edition JCU trading card.

By July of 2010 the JCU site was beginning to come of its own.  It received a (then) record spike in page views at a whopping 251 for the month.  After that, page views began to wax and wane and not quite reach that peak again until this year.  In January the site enjoyed 238 views, rose to just shy of its record in February with 250, and then exceeded that the next month with 260 page views.  By May a new record of 295 was achieved, followed by a slump in June that was more than rectified in July with 598 views in the course of that month.  Between August and October the views climbed from the 500s to the 700s (796 in October) before hitting our record to date in November – 1036 page views!  Just over a thousand page views may not seem like much, but when the average was about 225 in the past, cresting the 1000 mark is quite the accomplishment.

During the course of last year I have successfully published 3 new editions of my recurring feature What Would Comic Book Villains Do?, brought back Jedi Justifications, and created It Came From the Dollar Store! and The Rantcor Pit.  2012 also saw the beginning of the longest running continuous feature of The JediCole Universe, Hey Kids, Comics!  The JCU’s weekly comic book podcast has been an amazing experience that compliments well my podcasting over at the USG.  With nearly 25 episodes behind us and no shortage of new shows ahead, this has been quite the year.

Looking over the statistics for the year something rather surprising was revealed.  An article I composed in 2011, Marvelution: The Shot Heard ‘Round the Comic Industry has risen to become the number one most viewed feature on the JCU site, followed by the third issue of Hey Kids, Comics!  which slowly made its way up the top five until it arrived firmly in the number two slot.  What Would Comic Book Villains Do? was read live at All-Con 2012 during my talk show, JediCole’s Morning After (which can be heard here) and a different edition was to be read at another convention but sadly that show did not prove viable and the reading was cancelled.  None the less, the series has become the most popular recurring feature on this site after the weekly podcast I produce with Andy.

The official JCU bumper sticker.

2012 also saw the first high-profile promotional materials for the JCU produced.  At the suggestion of Star Wars Super Collector’s Wishbook author Geoffrey Carlton, I eschewed my traditional fliers and invested a surprisingly small amount in a run of 1000 trading cards.  Over 900 of these were handed out at Star Wars Celebration VI in Orlando and inspired me to create even more promotional items.  The JCU has since seen a second run of trading cards (in a new style), a run of post  cards (to be distributed widely at All-Con 2013), bumper stickers, a vinyl banner, and even a run of postcards for our old friend the Mighty Placeholder!  And thanks to the persistence of my friend and co-host Andrew Farmer, the JCU now has a Twitter account (@thejedicoleU) and will soon sport a brand new look on this very website.  And, while not largely utilized as of yet, our new Forums page was added just this year.

The second JCU trading card, currently in circulation.

Looking ahead to the new year, there are two major changes in store.  The first is the aforementioned new look for the site.  I have narrowed the field to two template choices and will have the new look finalized in early January.  Also just after the 2013 arrives, as announced, the Convention Awareness Project – Texas will move from being a feature on this site to having its own committed page!  You will now have a one stop locale for news and information on the Texas convention scene.  But it does not stop there!  The Convention Awareness Project will be expanded with coverage of additional shows in other parts of the country in a recurring feature on the main JCU page.  Andrew and Rick have offered to provide news and articles regarding conventions in other states throughout the year, so be sure to check in for more convention information soon.

The official JCU promotional postcard - to be appearing at various comic conventions all year.

In the new year you can expect more from JCU favorites like Jedi Justifications, It Came From the Dollar Store, Points of Interest, The Rantcor Pit, What Would Comic Book Villains Do?, Odd eBay, and Collection Corner.  Who Do You Love, Half-Ass Roundtable, The Collector’s Piece, Super Geek-Out, and JediCole’s Open Mic Night will all see new life in the new year, many after a long absence.  And you can expect several new features including Site Seeing, Join the Club, and the long-awaited Japanese ball-jointed doll podcast, Doll Shelves, to join the JCU in the new year.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of making 2012 the best year so far for The JediCole Universe!  From fellow podcasters to friends and family, to everyone who listens to the podcasts and reads my many articles, you have all played a role in making this website one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life.  I look forward to bringing laughter and insights and just plain geekiness to you in an even bigger way in 2013!

Cole “JediCole” Houston

Jedi at Large – The JediCole Universe

Raconteur Emeritus – The United States of Geekdom

Head Half-Ass – Half-Ass Productions

Group Captain, Games and Theory – All-Con 2013

It Came From the Dollar Store! #2 - Once More Unto the Breach Dear Friends!

Another article, another five dollars (and change!)

After a holiday hiatus (which included JediCole and Mrs. JediCole's annual Dollar Store Christmas Party) It Came From the Dollar Store! is back on schedule.  So get ready to enjoy the spoils of a total waste of five dollars a month for the benefit of a few laughs at the expense of the modern "Five and Dime".  And if you missed the first edition of this JCU feature you can find it here. 

Fishing for Flavor
The biggest challenge in manufacture with the burgeoning American dollar store market in mind is finding a way to hit that target price point time and time again.  It is especially difficult to achieve such a goal when playing in the decidedly uneven field of competition that is the novelty candy market.  And into that contentious hotbed Hilco Corporation boldy strides.

Brave, brave Hilco.

As mankind grows more and more dependant on technology it is little wonder that an entire industry has arisen to take the manual drudgery out of the otherwise sweetly sastisfying enjoyment of a lolipop.  But even the most minutely charged battery sends the production costs skyrocketing out of all hope of a one dollar retail price.  To find a solution to the conundrum of providing the modern child with an automated means of consuming a sucker while also maintaining their status as sweethearts of the dollar store industry Hilco turned to experts in developing technology that is not electronic in nature, the Shakers.  

You were likely thinking it was the Amish, but as it was the Shakers who's homespun religious devotion brought us the clothespin, casters, the circular saw, and the automatic rice picker that caused Mr. Spock's disfiguring ear injuries (City on the Edge of Forever), they are a natural resource for finding low-tech solutions for high tech problems.

Reel Cherry Flavor

What the community elders provided Hilco was a device that was as efficient as it was simple.  And thus was Sweet Spinz born.  Lacking the necessity of battery power, this analogue candy spinner satisfies a youthful sweet tooth and teaches children about the burdensome yoke of drudgery under which our forefathers labored in their all too brief lives.  By adapting the lathe-carved wood and corncob prototype to an easily mass produced polyethylene version, the hand cranked lollipop handle could be delivered at the ideal consumer price.  In this meeting of past and present, children everywhere can twirl an artificially flavored confection over their tongue with a mere 27.8% increase in effort as compared to simply rotating the stick between thumb and forefinger.

You have been warned!  Now go on, enjoy your candy!

But as is so often the case with the best concepts the human mind can bring from the drawing board to the marketplace, there are risks involved.  The most insidious of these is the inevitable contamination of foodstuffs and their packaging that is a product of residing on the shelves of a dollar store.  To combat this persistent risk, the manufacturer of this toy has dutifully included a warning to consumers that a thorough decontamination of the candy and its vehicle are in their best interest should they value the modern potential of longevity that 18th-century Shakers could never have imagined.

The Winsome Dead
The holiday market is a seasonal revenue stream that is a constant boon to dollar stores.  The ability to provide decorations and the other trappings of any given holiday has long been the sustaining factor of this uniquely positioned industry.  So it is of little wonder that prior to any American holiday the shelves and kiosks nearest the entrance of such shops are always stocked with a treasure trove of inexpensive delights for any low-budget interior decorator. 

If the decoration of this novelty snow globe (though, indeed, is there any other kind?) has not made it clear, this particular piece was found at a dollar store just in time for Halloween.  And as party hosts and hostesses converge on the aisles each October, they find trinkets such as this are ideal accent pieces to place here and there about the house.  Nothing speaks of a former pagan festival turned candy and costume industry cash cow like the good old fashioned ghost.  (Or sheet phantom for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons players out there.*)  

Consider it the last costume you'll ever wear, son.

But one is left asking the question when does the snow globe concept go too far?  Is it the Florida Snowman that consists solely of tiny bits of coal, a hat, and a carrot floating within a dome featuring an inviting beach scene in the background?  Or is it the above, a Halloween decoration that replaces the flakes of white plastic snow with a suspension of fine black particles, thus leaving the living to ponder the nature of the material that clouds the water within the ghost-holding sphere.

Lacking any packaging or other material from which to glean the manufacturer's intentions it is left to the individual to determine exactly what matter hovers about these seemingly friendly specters.  Has a pepper mill exploded?  Are they haunting a coal mine?  Who can say with certainty?  The official JediCole Universe explanation is that these blithe spirits are simply the shades of victims of a fire caused by a poorly wired cackling witch Halloween decoration, the ash from said blaze still swirling about their incorporeal forms on a chilly autumn breeze.  

But at least in death they wear a smile.  Resigned to their fate they seem to take some solace in no longer having to worry about attending their neighbors dreadful alcohol free holiday party.  Truly this ghostly duo personifies "dying happy"! 


Spontaneous Generation, Cheaply**
The dollar store is not generally the ideal source to seek materials that will convey such learned disciplines as biology and language to children.  However, there are indeed exceptions to every rule.  And in the case of the following two inexpensive products, the contention emblazoned on the blister card is indeed borne out.  Though these products were incorrectly remanded to the toy aisle, they are truly educational in nature.  

To illustrate this we must first compare and contrast these two seemingly identical toys.  Each utilizes the same core format, a small plastic vessel to act as a water receptacle, the same mysterious reactive chemical compound packed into the lid, and the same primary purpose - a single use tool that illustrates the miracle of animal reproduction past and present.  They differ only in the choice of species used for this illustration of one common aspect of vertebrate biology.

An amphibious love triangle.

There is considerable disagreement in paleontology circles as to the necessity of a tremendous body of water in the egg-laying process of one of the Cretaceous Period's more colorful species, however.  And while "Dinosaur Lay Eggs" may not provide a completely accurate depiction of parasaurolophus maternity, it does provide an equally important object lesson for youthful students.  Its companion product gives an example of proper grammar in its title as "Frog Lays Eggs".  While "Dino Lay Eggs" may lend the other version of this toy some sense of street appeal, the English lesson it provides is unquestionably valuable.  Imagine the teacher addressing the class with, "Who can tell me what is wrong with this product?"

The age of dinosaurs was littered with boulders.

While the list of possible correct answers is seemingly limitless in this case, poor word use is the least of the worries presented by the accurately labeled frog toy.  An unsettling tale is conveyed on the packaging that is simply inappropriate for children!  The plastic frog on the verge of laying her clutch of eggs is flanked on the card by a pair of bull frogs waiting in the wings like soon-to-be-ambushed guests on the Jerry Springer Show!  The leftmost frog appears to be in a state of shock at the news of the she-frog's pregnancy while the belligerent indifference of the male on the right speaks volumes of his potential fatherhood.

Which one is the "Taddy Daddy?"

While there are certainly lessons to be learned from this product, those that go beyond simple animal husbandry are better left for parents who are conscientious enough to have "the talk" with their children.  The dysfunctional personal lives of members of the Order Anura have no place in the classroom.  This toy illustrates the slippery slope toward The Little Golden Book of Fifty Shades of Gray.  It is high time that someone took a stand!   

Read package directions carefully, their copy editors sure didn't.

On a final note it should be pointed out that the grammatical lessons continue on the back of the card.  In the instructions the first line advises you to "Add water from top holes of the frog till full water in the container."  This is a statement that undoubtedly causes considerable chagrin on the part of English teachers everywhere and has the same sort of poor use of language that seems to plague Chinese restaurant menus and leaves one imagining this is a perpetual printer's joke.  The additional description of the growth of the eggs on the fourth line, "about few hours they will grow to full size", simply compounds this.  And finally, the suggestion that you empty the water from the container after the eggs have grown so that they can be seen clearly invokes the question as to whether or not the copywriter for this set of directions was aware of the natural translucency of the fluid in question!

Jurassic Digits
In the interest of lending some sense of  a cohesive theme to this edition of It Came From the Dollar Store!, I give you Finga-Saurs...

Wearing a Finga-Saur on just the middle finger proves dinosaurs  evolved from birds.

In addition to perpetuating (if slightly) a dinosaur theme, this particular toy also suggests that when it comes to marketing the titans of prehistory in the dollar store market it is important to make the packaging as "gangsta" as possible.  These finger puppets provide kids with a cross section of prehistoric life from the Jurassic (triceratops and tyrannosaurs) and Cretaceous Periods (dilophosaurus and allosaurus, though it could actually be coelophysis since there is not identification given) that are fairly faithful to reconstructions of these animals in life.  However, the use of Dodger blue as a color choice for dilophosaurus may give some paleontologists pause.  

Finga-Saurs is not recommended as a glove replacement.

Equally pause-worthy is the instruction illustration provided on the reverse of the packaging.  If the concept of the finger puppet is so alien to you that you require a pictogram to illustrate the use of this toy, perhaps your dollar is best spent on some other novelty.  This is especially true since the images provided would undoubtedly cause confusion to those lacking the capacity to reason out how to don such puppets.  Close inspection of the drawings reveals that the application phase illustrates the placement of the decapitated prehistoric animal heads in one configuration (index finger – dilophosaurus; middle finger – triceratops; ring finger – allosaurus; and pinkie – tyrannosaurus) while the completion phase fails to match this configuration in any way.  Even the lineup of puppets in profile to the left of that image has the two larger theropods reversed from their placement on the hand shown. 

If dull-witted consumers can manage to get past the labyrinthine logic that is the interchangeability of finger puppets then they can enjoy this particular toy at full.  As dollar store plaything go this one is certainly an attractive bargain with dinosaur puppets netting out at just over a quarter a head!  In addition to the economy of scale represented here, there is also an appealing versatility.  From educational puppet shows about life before man to a handy fix for the lack of foresight presented when one has only fingerless gloves at hand (in low temperature extremes the thumbs may still succumb to frostbite, however).  And don’t forget the level to which a your enjoyment will be elevated when declaring a “thumb war” with one of these monsters gracing your opposable digit!  

And now we must again bid a fond adieu to the world of cheap commerce.  In about a week there will be a very special edition of this feature that has a connection to The JediCole Universe’s signature podcast, Hey Kids, Comics!  Get ready true belivers for a look at comic book related dollar store finds coming soon!  
*Sheet Phantom - "Fiend Folio" (1st Edition); 1981; TSR Hobbies, Inc.; page 78
Next week: The neo-otyugh.

**Spontaneous generation - the creation of life from components in the environment - is an ancient view of biology that was consolidated by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) as an explanation of the origins of many forms of life on earth.  While this belief was the standard for centuries, it would be widely dispelled by the research of 19th Century French microbiologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895).   

Hey Kids, Comics! #25 - Cinema Obscura

It may seem rather soon to have another issue of Hey Kids, Comics!, but not to worry.  We fell behind a bit and this just puts us back on schedule.

Iron Man, Batman, Captain America, Superman, and Thor have all made their mark over the years as they made the leap from the pages of comic books to the big screen.  But not all comic book-based movies had such high profile origins.  Less well known comic characters like Hellboy and the Mask have been given the silver screen treatment.  But even lesser known comics have caught the attention of Hollywood filmmakers over the years.

Andrew and Cole are joined this week by Josh Alpert for an exploration of the hidden gems of the comic book industry that proved box office gold or poison for many a studio.  From Road to Perdition to Tank Girl to Art School Confidential, these and other titles that many comic readers have never encountered went on to grace the big screen.  Learn more about them on this special issue of Hey Kids, Comics!

Did you like what you heard on this episode?  Did you hate it?  Join the JediCole Universe Forums and share your thoughts with other fans.  It’s fast and free to register and a great place to discuss this and other cool aspects of fandom.

Hey Kids, Comics! #24 - HKC! Presents #2: That Darn Bat

It’s Q&A time again at Hey Kids, Comics!  As promised, Andrew and Cole are returning to the listener mail bag to give their take on the burning questions of fans and friends of the show.  The Dark Knight Detective seems to be much on people’s minds as two of the three questions posed are Bat-themed.  Give  a listen to the questions asked (in recorded form in the voices of those asking) and hear what your hosts have to say in reply.

f you would like to be a part of the fun, send your questions to JediCole with the subject “Hey Kids, Comics! Presents” and we may just get in contact with you to record your question for inclusion on a future issue of the show.  Ask about your favorite characters, storylines, or just about anything comic related.  We really want to hear from you and possibly make you a big part of the fun.

The CAP-TX Website is Now LIVE!

Yes, it is true!  The official website of the Convention Awareness Project - Texas is now live and will have content added constantly over the next few days and weeks.  Find out more about the vibrant Texas convention scene right here!

The Convention Awareness Project will be the most comprehensive resource for comic, anime, toy, sci-fi, collectibles, fantasy, gaming, and other such conventions in Texas to be found anywhere online.  If it is a convention in Texas, it will be covered on the new committed site! 

Check out the CAP-TX site today.  It is a bit crude at the moment but I will be updating the template shortly after the main JCU site is updated.