Bill Melendez the man who animated Charlie Brown is dead at 91. One of the greatest animators who worked for the majors Disney and Warners. He stamped his own style with Peanuts and gave the world some of the best animated classic shows for all to remember. Read more>>

Google Chrome is a new Google search engine for web enthusiasts who have time to fiddle with the new open source project. Pop culture comic book artist Scott McCloud the creator of the classic Understanding Comics, Making Comics and Zot! is having a banner year. If you wanted to explain a new project in graphic form Scott would be your man for the job. Google hired him to draw and explain how this new project works. Google Chrome is an exciting project that will reshape Google to the next level. Here is a company that keeps re-inventing itself over and over again. Google Chrome is the future. Read more>>

Sex sells. The visual media in general are over sexing our youth. The National Film Board of Canada has an interesting documentary about the exploitation of the youth culture who are exposed daily to sexual images and how it is having a profound influence in their thinking. Kids in their early teens should be thinking about having fun. There are no longer any barriers. Mothers are now dressing like they are still younger than they should be. Their relationships with their kids are friend based at the same level. Constantly bombarded with bawdy images and language each day from early morning till they come home to watch shows that have way too much sexual content.

 

Today’s youth can only emulate what is presented to them in front of their screens. The Internet is a free flow sea of sex for all to easily dip in. Sophie Bissonnette’s documentary, Sexy Inc. Our Children Under Influence, explores the harsh realities of this generation of kids who are headed straight into adulthood and skipping their precious teen years. It’s really confusing for parents who want their kids to grow up right and are fighting an uphill battle when everything around them is telling their kids to sex it up. How can a parent battle the odds of a struggle like this? Sexy Inc. Our Children Under Influence is eye opening visual presentation and a concern for parents who are unaware or just don’t want to bother with their kids. What kind of future do we want for our children? Are we so selfish that we doing them a great disservice by not opening our eyes. Sexy Inc. Sexy Inc. Our Children Under Influence is an eye opener for any North American city under the influence of the sex trade that peddles to all levels of the media industry. Watch clips>>

Ultraman is a generational thing in North America, if you were born between 1965 and 1975, most likely you will know who he is. Any generation after that will fall wayside of the pop culture hero. If you live in Japan, that is a whole different story. Ultraman is the icon that began the Japanese pop culture export. Most of the recent Japanese cartoon success owes a bit to Ultraman. This unique series that borrows heavily from Godzilla and every other giant monster guy dressed in a rubber suit creating havoc on toy model cities that recant the destruction of Hiroshima on many levels. Symbolic and yet etched on the culture that if Japan. Now you can bask in the sun with the complete series on DVD this October by BCI Eclipse.

 

When the world is threatened by alien invaders and giant prehistoric monsters, there is only one agency equipped to handle the situation, The Science Patrol, an ultra-sophisticated police force equipped with high-tech weaponry and spacecrafts. Led by Captain Muramatsu, the team defends the planet from the unknown. Unbeknownst to the team, one of their members, Hayata, has the ability to transform into the giant superhero from Nebula M7B, Ultraman, when all their weaponry can’t stop their foes.

Garfield is dead! Well erased from his own strip that is. A world without Garfield is a better world some will say. The famous and in some cases infamous feline comic strip has a love hate relationship with with many readers. When comic strips were stagnant in the 80’s, it was easy pickings for Jim Davis with his creation Garfield. More of a merchandising icon to equal Snoopy in sales. Unlike Peanuts the strip lacked that intellectual twist that Peanuts drove home to the core audience. Now who would think that Garfield would garnish a whole new audience with Garfield Minus Garfield. Jim Davis is astonished himself with the online success of webcomic Garfield Minus Garfield where Garfield is wiped out by a Photoshop eraser. Witness the dark brooding panels of a lonely Jon Arbuckle without Garfield. The idea gives the strip a whole new life, at times it supersedes the original idea. The sans Garfield strip is so popular that now it will be in book form for all the masses to enjoy from Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group. Dan Walsh the madman behind this idea since February 2008 has gained a notoriety for himself and now will reap the fruits of his labor as will Jim Davis.

Renowned world creators Zep and Tebo (Tootuff) have unleashed famous properties such as Fly Tales, Malo Korrigan and the Space Tracers, Kaput & Z?sky and Flatmania. Many of the creations started out in album format in France. There is a big comic culture in Europe. Unlike North America most bodies of works are collected in pristine large format books. The books are collected by all ages. Zep and Tebo are at it again with their new creation Captain Biceps. The super-hero parody character already enjoys a large following in the rest of the world. The advent of trans-continental technology properties like Captain Biceps is slowing making their way to North America. There is a snobbery to amazing talent coming out of Europe, smaller imprints are translating many bodies of works. Captain Biceps as other works of  Zep and Tebo have translated well to animation because of lack of dialogue. Keep a sharp eye for Captain Biceps, this is one fun jab at the super-hero universe.

The Game of Life literally begins when you get married and you emulate one of your favorite games into the scheme of your special day. Seems everything is game under the sun when couples get together. Super Mario Kart had a moment to shine in the spotlight with this California couple in their moment of bliss. Like many couples who look back at their wedding day, this will be one couple thinking of what the hell they were thinking of. Rumor has it that couple at whoop-wii on their honeymoon. The cake was gracefully created by Beth from Let The Eat Cake in Costa Mesa, California. This is one cake looks too good to slide down your esophagus. See detailed cake by Studio V?rit? Photography>>

Strawberry Shortcake is getting a face-lift. American Greetings Properties the owners of Strawberry Shortcake worked over a year to update the popular 80’s icon for young girls. Hasbro unveiled a whole new line of toys based on the slick new ?fruit-forward? makeover, a phrase coined by the rights holder. When characters become stagnant, there is little choice but to reboot the franchise. Characters like Mickey Mouse are due for a new makeover according to Disney. Looney Tunes have in many reincarnations redesigned their characters to lackluster success. Look for Care Bears American Greetings Properties another to get a makeover soon.

The Hulk would definitely fail any anger management control class. The second attempt to bring the Hulk to the big screen is a success with the emphasis on a more humane Bruce Banner that tips homage to the original TV series. The only reminiscent inkling of the first big screen first movie are cameo appearances by Stan Lee and original TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno. Edward Norton who plays Bruce Banner makes him a more compassionate character and Tim Roth his nemesis in the film is a well rounded villain. The movie is a more back to basics to the original premise of the comic books. Marvel seems to be hitting a double barrelled hit with their second in-house movie. Their control of their characters is something of wonder because most publishers will just hand out their rights to  properties to make a fast buck and Marvel is guilty of that in the past where Hollywood really gave us dogs with some Marvel characters. Captain America , Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, and Thor at one time were real turkeys of movies in early incarnations. Marvel seems to be a big player now in Hollywood after two movies, this is great news for all. These characters will finally see the light of day as they were supposed to be.