Manga Now Exhibition at the British Museum, London

The British Museum is one of my favourite place s in the world; not only is it a magnificent building but it houses some of the worlds greatest treasures. I go there every month at least for a couple of hours to take in the wonders of the ancient world. However the British Museum has teamed up with some manga artists to create a new free exhibition called Manga Now; the displays feature newly commissioned and recent pieces by Chiba Tetsuya, Hoshino Yukinobu and Nakamura Hikaru. Out of these the only artist I know is Hoshino Yukinobu from his masterpiece 2001 Nights. I loved the 10 part space opera and look forward to seeing some of his more recent work. I am also excited to see the work the other two artists have produced and maybe discovering new artists to follow, always a boon! The exhibition is on from now until 15th November 2015. I'm going this weekend to see it and will post some pics and give a report on the exhibition.

My collection of 2001 Nights, from the original 1990 run- a real collectors item!

Hell's Club- Where Film Icons Meet

I like me a mashup; taking lots of examples of one media type and fusing it to create something quite new and original from the old. Antonio Maria Da Silva (AMDSFilms to his friends) has taken this idea and run with it to create the ultimate film mashup of iconic film characters. In his own words:

There is a place where all fictional characters meet. . . Outside of time, Outside of all logic, This place is known as HELL'S CLUB, But this club is not safe
TERMINATOR VERSUS TONY MONTANA VERSUS TOM CRUISE VERSUS CARLITO BRIGANTE VERSUS BLADE VERSUS JOHN TRAVOLTA VERSUS AL PACINO VERSUS PINHEAD VERSUS THE MASK VERSUS ROBOCOP VERSUS DARTH VADER VERSUS MICHAEL JACKSON.

This is one awesome edit and deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Spread the word!

Frozen Unnecessarily Censored is Hilarious

Frozen is a wonderful children's film that has seen the song 'Let It Go' become a phenomenon around the world. However the Jake Vale Show, inspired by Jimmy Kimmel's Unnecessary Censorship has turned it slightly vulgar. The result is hilarious and shows how much a bit of censorship can make the most innocent things sound dirty. Enjoy!

Metal Gear Solid V Japanese TV Commercial

Ahhh Japan, famed for it's amazing electronics and quirky sense of humour as highlighted in films like Lost In Translation. Ahhh Metal Gear Solid, famed for it's incredible gameplay and bad-s#*t crazy storytelling. Now combine them both for a Japanese TV commercial for the game and you get something truly special. As of yet to subtitles have not been provided but you'll get the gist of the advert when you see it.... it is something truly unique.

Pokemon Intro Recreated with GTA V

Merfish loves Pokemon and he loves GTA V, in fact he says so in the description of his amazing video:

Today I turn 23 years old, and for 17 of those years I have devoted my life to Pokémon. It's one of the few video game series that matches GTA in my heart, so surely a combination of the two would be something special, at least for me. So this is my birthday gift to myself that I wish to share with all of you.

So watch the video below and give some love to the guy, it's a brilliant vid!

Every JRPG Ever

College Humor have created another hilarious video, this time the target is the JRPGs. We all know that there are stereotypes and stock characters in certain JRPGs but seeing it distilled like this is funny. Check it out!

Why A Smash Bros./ Street Fighter Crossover Would Never Work According To Dorkly

I love Dorkly, their video game inspired short animations are hilarious and this one is just perfect. Enjoy!

Double Fine Adventure Videos Available to Watch on YouTube

Double Fine were an early Kickstarter success story, easily securing the funding to make a new Point and Click adventure game. Now the video footage of the process they went through to plan and create the game is available for everyone to watch, a must for budding game developers and creators everywhere!

Fanmade Tribute to Hayao Miyazaki

There are millions of Studio Ghibli fans out there and the works of Hayao Miyazaki strike a particular cord with many. There are many fan tributes out there but this one is something truly special. I won't spoil it for you but the creator, Dono, should be extremely proud of his work.

What If Werner Herzog Directed Ant-Man?

Marvel is onto a winner with Ant-Man performing admirably in the cinemas across the world. But what if it was directed by the wonderfully eccentric director Werner Herzog? How would the film change? Well question no more as a YouTube user, Patrick H Willems, has created a trailer answering this exact question. Now watch and think of what could have been!

Racing For Rupees

There are a lot of fanmade animations online but this is one of the best I have seen. We've all been on rupee hunts as Link right? Smashing jars, cutting grass and trashing peoples homes to get enough money to buy stuff. Well, see what happens when Link races for rupees to buy a shield!

Gillen & McKelvie Signing In Gosh Comics in London

I've recently fallen for the work of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie through The Wicked + The Divine, a comic series which explores the idea that a pantheon of 12 Gods return every 90 years and live like Rock Gods, but they only live for 2 years. The series has won many nominations for Eisners and was named the Best Comic at the British Comic Awards 2015 .

The pair previously worked on Phonogram and are signing and promoting volume three. I haven't read Phonogram yet but hope to pick it up whilst I'm getting my The Wicked + The Divine trades and comic signed.

Come along if you're a fan! I'll be there and will share pics of my signed swag here.

Kickended

Kickstarter has revolutionised the way funding works for a large variety of projects; for once people power stands for something. However not all Kickstarter projects are successful and Kickended is an archive of those projects which failed to gain any backers- that's $0. It is interesting as schadenfreude but also more importantly it is a record of unrealised projects, dreams and aims. Have a look through, some of the projects are out there interesting and some are just plain gosh-awful!

End of Story for Comic Series Fables

After 13 years Fables, the multi award winning Vertigo series, comes to an end. Mark Buckingham, the artist of the series since the beginning was at Orbital Comics in London signing the graphic novels and comics. It was a pleasure to meet him, he was an affable and chatty guy.

Having read the last graphic novel I can say that it is a fitting end to the long running series and has many emotional beats that bring a closure to proceedings. It is sad to see the series end but with Buckingham moving onto Miracleman with Neil Gaiman it won't be too long until we see his sumptuous art again.

...And they all lived happily ever after

This is my signed final graphic novel.

It was wonderful to chat to Bill Willingham.

Double Fine Let's Play

Double Fine's devs Let's Plays are great fun, showing a deeper level understanding of coding, programming and level design. Their recent video on 'The Lion King' is great and fun as there is an appearance by Louis Castle, a Westwood developer, who actually worked on the game being played.

Mysterious Cities of Gold Golden Condor Model For Sale

Anyone who knows me knows that the Mysterious Cities of Gold cartoon series is my favourite programme of ALL time and was a formative part of my childhood; single handedly creating my interest in anime, manga, South and Central American culture and synthesizer music (that's why I love Jarre, Vangelis and Oldfield).

I created this influence map 4 years ago and you can see that MCOG is featured very prominently.

I am super excited with the release of the MCOG Golden Condor by Metaltech. This model is 40 cm X 30 cm X 10 cm and comes with a cool stand so your model can soar through the beautiful blue sky (well it does on my head anyways). I like the fact that the model is pose-able and very detailed. 

I have a MCOG medallion and an original cel but the condor was that first moment of wonder I had, any piece of memorabilia associated with the condor is highly sought after (and incredibly rare). I have extremely powerful memories of the condors first flight, the point when the machine comes online for the first time and flies is etched in my memory. I've seen this episode more than any other (I watch the series annually) but I still get goosebumps when the music kick in (I've linked to this scene below, check it out it is an astonishing piece of animation).

I am hyper excited to get my Golden Condor model and whilst it is bad to wish time away October cannot come quick enough!

LINK- What Games Teach You

LINK- MCOG Golden Condor Model

Link: Japan- My Journey to the East

Studio Ghibli Animator Makes Amazing Booze Commercial

Yoshiharu Sato is an animator who has worked on My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, and The Secret World of Arrietty. In a slight shift of genre he spins a touching tale of home and family... and booze, specifically Satsuma Shiranami Imo-jochu (sweet potato liquor). Beats the heck outta the crappy Budweiser 'Wassaaaaap' adverts we had to put up with years ago.

Ladybird Books Exhibition in London

For people of a certain age Ladybird Books bring back fond memories of reading and childhood. The Ladybird books were much loved due to their wonderful text but more importantly due to the wonderful illustrations. Well in celebration of Ladybirds 100 years of publishing House of Illustrations in Kings Cross, London is holding an exhibition and organising many events to commemorate this momentous event. The exhibition is running from now until 27th September. For more details check out the video below and check out the link underneath that for details on tickets and when the events runs.

Mark Buckingham, Fables Artist, Doing a Signing in London

Fables has been a much loved Vertigo title for over 10 years now and with it's final graphic novel (volume 22) coming out Mark Buckingham is joining people in London to sign off the end. As well as a signing in Orbital Comics on August 1st from 5-7, Mark will be giving away 22 pages of his original artwork from the final comic in a prize draw. As a huge Fables fan I will be there with a few of my favourite trades. Will you? For more details about the event check out the official Orbital Comics website linked below.

My Fables collection. There have been a few offshoots and they are great too!