I Sell Out So You’ll Buy Me Out

There are always gimmicks associated with every character-based franchise. Cape & Cowl is no exception - I’ve got to diversify them like Disney, Marvel, and Warnes Bros if I want to make a buck!

Some of the biggest sell-outs by American companies is the mangazation of American properties. And of course, you need giant robots and collectible creatures to do that!

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According to ICv2 News:

Courtesy Viz

“The Gadsen (Alabama) Times is reporting that two 12-year-old students at the West End Elementary School were arrested after school authorities discovered a Death Note-inspired notebook containing the names of faculty members, school personnel and students. The two boys, who have been suspended from school, explained that the got the idea from Viz Media’s Death Note anime series, which is running on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. The anime is based on the manga series, written by Tsugumi Ohba, about a precocious teenager who discovers a shinigami’s (Japanese “death” figure’s) notebook. If a person’s name is written in the notebook, that person will die.”

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Gon With The Wind

I had the fortune of flipping through this comic today. While I usually dislike manga on principle, this cute little dinosaur caught my eye (probably because he reminds me of Agumon). Presented in crazy right-to-left order, I found this an interesting book.

There are no words. The story is told with art and manages to be funny just with Gon’s interactions with other animals. The art is deeply rooted in realism and the only cartoony/animey character is Gon, but even he has an air of realism to him. DC’s manga imprint CMX has a few volumes out so far. The only reason I didn’t pick the book up was its price. It is 5.99 but really, you’re only getting 148 pages and 4 stories. I think all manga would be better received if it was cheaper, but obviously there are basic printing costs the publisher has to adhere too.

Maybe if the entire run is collected into one volume in the future, I’ll buy it regardless of price.

Image courtesy DC Comics

Dance, Manga, Dance

Growing up, my favorite movie was The Labyrinth. The movie where Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) wishes her baby brother to be taken away by Jareth the Goblin King (David Bowie). The goblins and various monsters were made by the Jim Henson Company, the people that made the Muppets and Sesame Street, and designed by fantasy artist Brian Froud. Bowie sang, leading the various creatures in musical numbers. Read the rest of this entry »