"The King" Draws The Prisoner!

Until about a week ago, I'd had no idea that this Prisoner comic existed! It makes sense that the tone and content of the show would appeal to him. The comic was never completed, but it's still interesting to see bits of Portmeirion and Number Six as seen through Kirby's eyes.

There's two great blog posts about this already, so I'll just link you to them - pages at hyperdave's Datajunkie blog, and more pages (with an analysis) by Charles Hatfield at twomorrows.com. Enjoy!

Thanks to The Jack Kirby Collector magazine, hyperdave, Charles Hatfield, amctv.com, and Karen Prell for the tip-off!

Be seeing you.

Beetle Bailey Joins The Completists' Club

Many of you may shrug, but I was excited to hear that Beetle Bailey was going to be collected in its entirety. I doubt that I'll buy all of it, but I think the strips from the '50s and '60s are very funny! The drawings have a goofy energy, and I like the gags.

It would appear that this isn't a Fantagraphics production (which would make sense, as they have a lot on their plate already), but the brainchild of a publisher called Checker. The cover design is just okay, so who knows what the scans of the strips will be like? Regardless, I'm a sufficiently big Bailey fan to take the plunge for the first book.

There's no release date as of yet, but you can pre-order it for $15.61 + shipping at Amazon.com.

New Watchmen Stills Up

Warner Brothers has posted stills featuring some of the main characters from the upcoming Watchmen film. They look quite faithful to the designs in the comic, aside from the DARK, DARK, DARK coating applied to virtually every comic book movie costume and set since Batman.

It's a nice look, but the book's a riff on old silver age characters, so I don't think it's as appropriate here. I don't know if you need fully saturated colors on spandex, but I think the once-innocent/fallen from grace contrast is integral to the concept.

To be honest, though, production design is the least of the challenges. Watchmen is a really dense, multi-layered story. While I don't think any story is unfilmable, this is certainly a ambitious assignment for a movie.

I was talking with a friend of mine today, and I'm wondering if a television mini-series might have been the way to go. You could go into more detail with six hours (or more) than you can with two. How's this for geeky? A TV mini-series. Twelve one-hour episodes, one a week, the final one airs at 11:00 PM - midnight. I'd buy that for a dollar!

Ilinois Dick Tracy Museum Closes

NORTHWEST HERALD: Funding woes foil Dick Tracy museum
By JENN WIANT - jwiant@nwherald.com
Monday, February 04, 2008

WOODSTOCK – The Chester Gould – Dick Tracy Museum, housed in the Old Courthouse building on the Woodstock Square since 1991, will close June 1 for financial reasons.

Jean Gould O’Connell, daughter of “Dick Tracy” comic strip creator and former Woodstock resident Chester Gould, said the museum had been struggling financially.

“It’s been happening slowly for the past couple of years,” she said. “It was much too difficult to get fundraisers going. It was the same few people [who] were called upon to do it. We just found that we couldn’t make a go of it.”

O’Connell is pleased that the museum, which is privately funded, has lasted this long.

“I’ve put my heart and soul into that museum and tried to make it something that Woodstock would be proud of,” she said. “This is a very sad time for us, but we’ve had very many wonderful years there.”

The estimated 300 pieces of memorabilia and art in the museum, most of which had been donated by people all over the country, will be returned to the owners, O’Connell said. Beverly and Cliff Ganschow, owners of the Old Courthouse, said they would like to maintain a small, permanent display of Chester Gould and “Dick Tracy” memorabilia in a room of the building.

Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager was sad to hear about the museum’s closing.

“The Dick Tracy Museum was a wonderful resource for members of the community, as well as the school youth, and certainly it provided a draw for some visitors to our community,” Sager said. “We certainly are going to miss the museum, but we do understand, with respect and appreciation to the family, the decision that they have had to make.”

Fundraising for the Dick Tracy statue being planned for the grassy area outside of the Old Courthouse had been put on hold, O’Connell said.

Kevin Stebbins, who organizes the annual Dick Tracy Days Parade in June, said the festival probably would cease to exist after the museum closed. The parade will no longer be associated with the comic strip character and will become a community parade, Stebbins said. It has been scheduled for a week earlier this year, on Father’s Day.

When he learned Monday that the museum would close, Stebbins said he was “kind of shocked,” but had expected it to happen eventually.

“I know that they’ve had some financial difficulties in the past and they haven’t had very much support in the community,” he said. “... [But] I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.”

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Crap! I was thinking of trying to go to Dick Tracy Days this year. So much for that... bummer.

Cats, Sticky Tape, And The New Year

Chris Sanders has started a new weekly comic strip (called Kiskaloo) over at his blog, and naturally he's already kicking ass. I can't wait to see more! Keep your fingers crossed for toys...

Thanks to John Sanford for the tip. Check out his strip (Chippy and Loopus) if you haven't already! He has rabbits and nail guns.

Toy OTD: Presspop Gallery Sof' Boy Vinyl Figures - 4" and 8" Versions (2002, 1999)

Presspop isn't that prolific with its vinyl toys, but they make up for it in quality - each release is worth the wait. It's certainly true of their great Sof' Boy figures, dead on-model with Archer Prewitt's design! The sculpt does most of the heavy lifting, as there isn't much paint work needed. The biggest minus is the typical one - balance. These guys are tough to stand up, and the hip articulation doesn't help matters. Be sure to get some museum putty to display these toys!

As far as I know, this character is available in three sizes - four inches, eight inches, and a giant twenty-four-inch version! The big one is sold out (the 200-piece run originally cost $130 each, so expect to pay more if you find it), and I can't find the eight-inch version for sale anywhere (keep an eye on eBay), but you can buy the four-inch figure at forbiddenplanet.co.uk for £12.99 + shipping. Personally, I like the sculpt and pose of the mini-figure the best anyhow!

Toy OTD: Bandai Talking "Big Guy" Figure (1999)

Frank Miller and Geoff Darrow sparked off a mini-franchise when they teamed up their versions of Gigantor (Tetsujin-nijūhachi-gō 鉄人28号) and Astro Boy (鉄腕 アトム, Tetsuwan Atomu) in their comic, The Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot. Even though they were only featured in short, sporadic comic book appearances, the concept spawned a short-lived animated television series, and a line of merchandise.

You really couldn't ask for a better toy of the Big Guy than this! It actually is pretty big - thirteen inches tall - and speaks four phrases (his eyes glowing red) when you push his chest button. I'm assuming that they're from the show: "Candygram!", "For the luvva Mike!", "Fire in the hole!", and "This is serious business!" I've never seen the program, so I can't tell you if it's the same voice actor or not.

One arm opens to reveal a pair of cannons, while the other can fire off from his arm, Shogun Warrior-style. The former can be tricky to close back up, and the latter has a hair trigger, but they're still cool features! He also comes with accessories: a ray pistol, his human pilot (though he always came across as autonomous and sentient in the comic), and a roughly-to-scale Rusty figure. I don't remember how much this figure originally cost, but it was affordable enough that it was a good deal for the money!

There are two talking versions of this toy - the 13" size that has four phrases, and a 6" model with just two (and no accessories). This'll make buying one online a little tricky, so make sure that you're getting the version you want when bidding on eBay!

Speaking of which, I can't find this toy for sale online. You'll have to set up a favorite search - Good luck!

Sideshow Collectibles Makes More Cool Shit

I've been trying to hold off buying any more of Sideshow's quarter-scale, premium format figures - they can really eat into your display space, not to mention your wallet. But they keep - picking - great characters! Here's the latest - a super-sized Thing from the Fantastic Four - and it looks great...dammit.

PS - If you want this version (with the open-mouthed expression), you'll have to get on the website waiting list...it's an internet exclusive and sold out! It comes with two replaceable heads - one open-mouthed, one with its mouth shut.