Filed under: Cartoons Dorks Should Be Watching, Comics, dc comics, Info, Marvel, TV Shows | Tags: Ben 10, cartoon, Cartoon Network, Comics, Man of Action, Overview, review
Thanks for joining Universal Dork for issue #1 of our ‘toons you should sure as hell be watching. For this kick off I want to mention a ’toon that is popular with kids but I quickly overlooked. Fortunately, I am a big enough dork to watch any cartoon I can get my eyes on while working out early in the morning. Well I was blessed to have repeats of Ben 10 showing at the crack of down while sweating it up…and I found it was full of many pleasant surprises. As usual, I encourage you to follow the jump for all of the essential information and this unlikely superhero youth!
Here we go…
Filed under: Comics, Info, Misc, Real Life Superheroes | Tags: Children, Comic Books, Comics, Comprehension, Dr Carol Tilley, Graphic Novels, Kids, Learning, Research, Skills, University of Illinois
Well, well, well…vindication at long last! It appears that some recent studies by Professor Carol L. Tilley (pictured below) at the University of Illinois found that children reading comic books is just as beneficial as reading traditional forms of literature. Huh, shocking…I could have told you that when I was 12 and I managed to navigate my way through endless hours of reading my Dad’s uber collection of classic comics. And despite my dork musings at an early age (i.e., being more concerned with details of superhero stories vs. US history or those bothersome family/friends’ birthdays), my reading and comprehension skills were well developed…or so the results of my CTBS tests told me (remember that shit??).
Anyway, no need to blabber on about this fine bit of research, you can follow the links in the blog and read details on the study findings, Grad School, and the author. But one favor the Universal Dork asks of its loyal readers, the next time you hear someone discredit or discount youths and comics…please intelligently inform them of and pass the results of this study, in hopes to ground their arse in reality!
Score one for the superhero’s and real life super-heroines like Dr. Tilley!
Link to Phyorg.com article on Comics and Kids
Link to University of Illinois Graduate School for Library and Informational Science
Filed under: Comics, Info, Marvel, Misc | Tags: Animation, Buy, Comics, Deal, disney, Market, Marvel, Marvel Entertainment, Merger
Well, I am sure all of you up to date dorks out there have heard the big buzz…Disney to buy Marvel Comics…for a mere $4 Billion! When I first got the news that it looked like things were official, I have a wave of different emotions. First, joy, think of Marvel with that type of dollar backing and resources. Think of the animated films with the Pixar studios at its disposal. The sky is the limits when you have that deep of pockets…wow think of all the great Marvel movies to come out of this relationship. Marvel motion picture releases could go on forever! Second, fear, what if there are some really weird demands that Disney makes on Marvel. What if they get behind the wheel of the Marvel van and drive it like a drunken 90 year old grandma on roids…crap. Lastly, calm, Disney is a large company with vision. They have seen what is possible with Marvel and I have to rest my weary head on common sense.
What do you think will come of this new found friendship?
Filed under: Comics | Tags: Comics, macy's day parade, marvel superheroes, robocop
I just came across this awesome video today of the Marvel Superhero float from the Macy’s Day Parade in 1987! I was actually pretty impressed with the costumes, the whole re-enactment and all the different heroes and villains. One thing I don’t understand is why Robocop is hanging out with them on the float?!! Get your own float robocop! Anyway this is pretty rad-enjoy!
Filed under: Awesome Music Videos, Comics, Movies, World's Greatest Comic Book Themed Music Videos | Tags: Comics, Eastman & Laird, TMNT, Vanilla Ice
Hmmmm…the Ninja Rap music video!
A true classic and even though I can appreciate it for how cheezy it is it’s still hard for me to get fully behind having read the original series by Eastman & Laird in the 80′s that my older brother at the time was collecting. It’s strange that many people don’t know that at one time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kicked major ass. They were bad ass vigilantes that drew blood and beat the living shit out of the Shredder in the first story arc.
These Turtles pictured here from the original 80′s comic book would have tore Vanilla Ice a new asshole…
Filed under: bad movies, Comics, Marvel, Movies | Tags: Comics, hulk, Marvel, Movie, She Hulk
I am not sure what made me think of this but I remembered seeing some pics in the late 80′s maybe in Star Log Magazine of Brigitte Neilson (Red Sonja-hell yeah!!) posing as She-Hulk for a possible movie! So I did a little searching online and sure enough I found the pic. I am kinda bummed that they never filmed it because I have a feeling that it would have been watched at our last “Bad Movie Night” with a pretty good response. It sounds like a good idea doesn’t it? The amazonian bombshell Neilson as the Sensational She-Hulk? Well here’s proof that comic books usually don’t translate well into live action movies…
Neilson as SHE-HULK. Wait isn’t She-Hulk supposed to be green?
Filed under: Comics, Movies, World's Greatest Cartoons | Tags: Cartoons, Comics, Movies, Watchmen
Hype up time. It is on the tip of everyone’s tounge, The Watchmen is finally a full length motion picutre. Much like other comic seires before it, The Watchmen was first explored at a television show (not many people know this). Spiderman, X-men, even Batman were all television programs before making it to the big screen. Do you guys remember The Watchmen Saturday morning cartoon show?
It was one of my favorites!
