The CCD Podcast: Episode #114 - Why Wolverine Matters

We are currently living in the age of the Comic Book Movie... and we couldn't be HAPPIER! There are all types of comic book adaptions finding their way to the big screen and TVs across the globe. Some are GREAT, some not so much. But all are doing it up in honor of the 50+ years of comic lore that exists in those funny books. While some actors have played the roles of certain heroes in numerous films, no one truly embodies their character more then Hugh Jackman playing Logan. In the 10 "X-Films" that Fox has produced over the last 17 years, Jackman has appeared as Wolverine in NINE of them (Deadpool is an X-Film and Wolverine does not appear in it). 17 years he has been playing James Howlett... or Weapon X... or just Logan. With the release of the newest film in the X-Series Logan on screens now, we take a look into the final performance of Jackman in the role and explain the burning question: Why does Wolverine MATTER in this day and age? Jedi Rob is joined by Mike D and the lovely & talented Mrs Alicia Gomes in the CCD Nerdcave to chop it up about everything Wolvie.... what are you waiting for Bub? Give the ep a listen and RATE OUR podcast on iTUNES!

We are the best at what we do, but what we do best isn't very NICE....

Teenage Mutant Ninja X-Men by M7781

I came across artists m7781 (Marco D'Alfonso) over on Reddit due to his awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-men mashup that is making the rounds on the Internet. When I moseyed on over to his Deviant Art page I found an incredible collection of art mashups of pop culture characters that will make your head spin. There are a bunch of good ones, but I still find myself rotating back to the TMNT/X-Men one the most. What a great piece. Leo as Cyclops (the leader), Donatello as Beast (the scientist), Mikey as Iceman (the funny guy) and Raphael as Wolverine (the maniac). We also get April as Jubilee (they did rock the same colors!), Casey Jones as Cable, and my personal favorite side character Metalhead as Colossus. Pretty amazing. Lets hope m7781 decides to do a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants/Footclan mashup.... Shredder as Magneto? Kang as The Blob? Rocksteady & Bebop as Pyro & Avalanche? Yup... that would be great! Check out the full size pic after the jump...

Sean Hamilton Unleashes 'The Uncanny', His Latest Artistic Creation...

I have featured the work of my man Sean Hamilton here on CCD a few times before. My man is super talented, and Tommy Lombardozzi and I have met Sean on numerous occasions at Cons... and the truth of the matter is that he is just a genuine, down ass dude. A kindred spirit due to our geeky natures and sneakerhead ways, Sean and I still regularly keep in touch via the Intrawebs. He is always churning out awesome art, but his latest piece really blew me away and I needed to share it ASAP. Titled "The Uncanny", Sean pays tribute to his love for his favorite X-Men of the 80's and 90's with this mash-up piece. But unlike other mash-ups, he literally takes specific characteristics of each X-Man and uses them to create one face. The results are AMAZING... oh wait, that's Spidey's shtick. Anyway, you can click here to see more of Sean's art and order a print by clicking on his Big Cartel page. The Uncanny will be available for sale soon, so make sure you jump on it if you love the X-Men like me. Check out the full image after the jump...

X-Men, Wu-Tang and Wrestlers... Oh MY! The Eclectic Artwork Of Erle Tompkins

You know that saying "never judge a book by its cover" that is always thrown around so willy nilly? Yeah, I never really subscribe to that theory. I tend to be very observant of people on purpose... and I can usually figure out people pretty well. I have an especially keen 'bullshit detector' sense as well... one that very rarely fails me. I had made the acquaintance of a very talented artist, Erle Tompkins, a few years back and I must say that in this case I was completely off in my judgement. His cousin Frank introduced us, and we hit it off right away with geek talk galore (mostly about comic book movies). He told me he did some art, and I told him to email me. He never did... and I assumed that he must not be very talented. I would see him from time to time, and always it was pleasant to see him. But every time we chatted, still no email and still no artwork. So I just chalked it up to him being not all that good and getting cold feet sending it to me. This weekend I ran into Erle, and he pulled up an X-Men movie universe piece he had just finished working on. Although I was looking at it on a 5 inch I Phone screen, I instantly realized that my man Erle had something... and I couldn't wait to see more. I told him that he needed to email me this instantly, and that I wanted to see more immediately. I made him do it right in front of me so he didn't "forget" to do it later. I forced his hand... and I am able to write this article about his awesome art because of it.

See more after the jump...

The CCD Podcast: Episode #1 - X-Men Film Retrospective Part 1

It's been a long time coming but, I am finally proud to present the first episode of The CCD Podcast. You can stream the show right from the player below, or subscribe via iTunes or RSS, via the links below, and not miss a single nerdy moment.

Click after the jump for the podcast:

'Ex-Men': Cyclops - A Short Film by Pete Holmes

Pete Holmes is a crazy comedian with a show on TBS and has a pretty funny Youtube channel with a bunch of funny skits and crazy stuff filling its table of contents. But one of the funniest things I saw while I was over there had to be 'Ex-Men', a skit that portrays Professor X of the X-Men in the role of a CEO and Cyclops in the role of a about to be downsized employee. Everything is a business, even a team of mutant super heroes! The idea behind this is kind of genius, the name of the skit is brilliant, and the actors look and sound exactly what I would like to imagine Professor X & Cyclops to be. Check out the full skit after the jump...

Variant X-Men Covers By Julian Totino Tedesco

All New X-Men has been a book that has been intriguing me for a bit now. Started about a year and a half ago, it tells the story of the original X-Men team of the 60s coming forward in the future and interacting with themselves (and other current X-Men) in order to help stop a potential disaster from occurring. It has recently lead up to the company wide crossover 'Battle of the Atom' and it is supposed to be fantastic. One of the coolest aspects of the books are the little winks and nods to the original OG series... some subtle, some obvious. So here are a few variant covers of issue #18 that kind of parody an original cover of the old X-Men, except these variants all feature different groupings of mutants to fill out their rosters. Pretty cool stuff, and a book that I plan on checking out now that they have a few issues under their belt (and are appearing in trades!) Check out all the variant covers after the jump...

X-Men 50th Anniversary - 30 X-Men Throughout The Years

The X-Men are in the midst of a 50th anniversary celebration, and when you have been around that long you are sure to have undergone some changes. No way everybody is going to look exactly the way they did in the beginning. But how much have they actually changed? Iceman has gone from a giant snowman in the 60s to one of the coolest ice made figures in the history of comics. Beast has gone through some unreal changes as well... like furry changes! And how about Psylocke turning into Sasha Grey after all these years? Now that is an X-Men casting I would love to see! I must say, Mystique seems to be the one who has undergone the LEAST amount of changes... which is ironic, since her power is to change her appearance into anything she wants! All in all, these pieces are dope and encapsulate some of the greatest renditions of the X characters throughout the years. I am working on finding out who the artist is, but for now just enjoy these fantastic pieces as a trip down memory lane! Can you name them all????

Marvel's X Book Covers Take On Horror Movie Posters From The Past...

X-Necrosha was a huge cross over event that took place in the various X comics of the Marvel Universe (X-Men, X-Force, New Mutants, etc) back in 2009 involving the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club Selene and her quest to become a goddess. Part of the plot revolved around her resurrecting past mutants who had died in the past and involved things like zombification and vampirism. During the original run of these books the higher ups at Marvel thought this would be a great opportunity to cross over these book covers with horror movie classic posters. Lost Boys, Dracula, The Exorcist, The Terminator, Blade Trinity, Underworld, From Dusk Till Dawn, Interview With A Vampire, John Carpenters Vampire$ all get there shot... and these covers are just fantastic! I never seen these when they were out, but they are boss. I am definitely gonna search these particular issues out in cons to come. Check out a full gallery of the covers after the jump along with the original posters that they are based on...

The Order of the X by Nate Hallinan

Buddy of the blog Joe Flesche sent over an email the other day alerting me to a killer series of art from Nate Hillinan featuring a medieval version of the X-Men, and quite frankly they are absolutely spectacular. The funny thing is that this turn of events, Joe emailing me something he found on the Net, is exactly the sort of thing that inspired the start of CCD in the 1st place. We used to all send each other emails of the various cool things we found while surfing the Intrawebs, and I started CCD to collect all of these things in one central spot for the world to see what we shared amongst ourselves. Hallinan's excellent work is exactly the kind of stuff I want others to see. What a great concept, but even better execution... Hallinan is pretty amazing, and he comes correct with each and every piece in the series. Thanks to Joe for keeping the chain going and sharing, and thanks to Nate for killing these pics and giving me something to share. Check out more of his work by clicking here, and check out the description of the project and the full gallery of pieces after the jump...

New CinemaCon Footage Of 'The Wolverine'

I think this will be one of the sweetest rides of the summer. Great story combined with the finest action adventure effects the movies can create these days. The location is fresh and makes Logan the outsider - the position that he is most comfortable fighting back from. I like that Yukio has a large part in this film as she did in the original mini-series - which is something else that you should check out before July 12th.

Classic X-Men by Steve Rude

I have been a fan of Steve Rude's artwork for quite sometime, albeit in a round about way. Rude is the artist who drew a comic called Nexus... not really a largely distributed or widely read comic. But a place that I frequent, Joe Koch's Comic Warehouse in Brooklyn, had a ton of the Nexus graphic novels and used them as a free giveaway to people who spent more than $50 bucks at one of their sales. Since I spend that much EVERY SINGLE TIME THAT I GO THERE, I have a few of these Nexus books. The stories are OK, but the art is just fantastic. So when I saw his take on the X-Men posted over at brother Cal's Cave of Cool, I just had to re-post. With all the news about the X-Men: First Class - Days of Future Past movie dominating the comic book geek headlines, it is nice to take a look back at the early inclinations of the mutant team. I have also started reading the full X-Men run over again on my tablet and always got a kick out of the early versions of Iceman, with his snowman like appearance and hard soled boots. Rude gets it perfect. I love the team shot too... they look so normal there! I am also a fan of the Kirby-esque feel to his work in these pieces. Very indicative of the era that these characters come from. Enjoy much more of Rude's work over at his blog, and check out the X-Men stuff after the jump...

'The Wolverine' Trailer: Samurai Swordplay & Action Galore!!!!

I have been waiting to see how The Wolverine would shake out mostly because I feel like Hugh Jackman deserves better. The guy became famous from playing Wolverine, but most actors who achieve the success that Jackman has would have usually moved on by now. They would have left the claws to someone else to fill. But Jackman loves playing Wolverine, and more importantly he wants to get it right. Wolverine: Origins had lots of problems: Too many characters, not enough action, and a terrible storyline. The Wolverine is Jackman's chance to get it right. If this one goes well, we might get to see more of Hugh in the role of Weapon X in the future. If it doesn't, this will probably be his last hurrah. I am hoping for the former, not the later. The trailer is her, and it looks awesome. Catch the trailer after the jump. Lets hope the movie holds up....

More From 2012 NYC Comic Con: An Interview With Rey Arzeno From Artist Alley

The 2012 NYC Comic Con was one of the greatest experiences that we here at CCD ever had. Lock, Jeff, Tommy, Joe Fletch & I had a fantastic time utilizing our press passes to conduct some really great interviews and meet some really talented people like we were some sort of bigshots. We clearly are not, but those little plastic badges go a long way in getting you a certain access. We shot some great footage, and began to share those videos shortly after the show this past October. unfortunately, due to the after effects of Hurricane Sandy here in NY we had to put the editing of those videos on hold for a bit. But now Joe Fletch is back in the editing groove and  you guys are in for a few late treats. First up is a very cool interview with a talented artist by the name of Rey Arzeno. Rey is kinda of cool case, because before the Con I had put a few of his pieces of art here on CCD. But in my description of his art I made a mistake identifying one of the characters. Rey cleared that up for us in the comment section (hehe... that was a funny day!) and I quickly made the correction. But when I saw his name on the list of artists over at Artists Alley for the 2012 NYC Comic Con I had to walk over and introduce myself. Rey was very happy to meet us face to face, and gave us the go ahead to film a interview with him highlighting his work and providing us with an insight into how he lives his life as an artist. He also discussed some fantastic points about the roles of minority & homosexual characters in comics (his Marvel pride piece highlights the homosexual characters in Marvel Comics), what his motivations for working with certain subject areas are, and just how ahead of their time the X-Men were as being the group of different individuals in the world of comics. A great artist with some wonderful conversation... it is exactly why we do the interviews from the floor of the Con. You can see more of Rey's work by clicking here, and check out the full video after the jump to hear all that Rey has to say...

Peter Dinklage Joins Cast Of X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Check out the cast to this film. Everyone has a reputation for signing onto quality projects which gives me hope that they will do this story justice. It's one of the great X-men tales of all time and opened the door to the best of the alternate reality X-Men stories like Age of Apocalypse. I hope that Dinklage is playing Puck who is a welcome addition to any X-Man story. It would be cool to see him tumbling into things creating havoc. Check out the pics and more after the jump....

Check Out This Advert For The X-Titans DC/Marvel Crossover by Walt Simonson

I have always had an appreciation of Walt Simonson as a comic creator. I love his artistic ability, and he is one of the rare gems that is also an excellent writer and storyteller to go along with his cool ass graphics. Plus the guy may  very well be the most personable man I have ever met... he was so down to earth and cool, very matter of fact and even self deprecating with his 'I'm no big deal' attitude. The guy is a titan. He is also one of the coolest guys to follow on Facebook, because he posts a ton of gems for fans like me. Today he posted this wonderful print ad for the X-Men/Teen Titans (Simonson calls the book X-Titans) from 1982, and I really love it. The two company crossover was written by Chris Claremont, and the art came from Simonson and Terry Austin. I also like the play on Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' movie title in the ad. Check out Simonson's Facebook for more gems like this on a daily basis (he also puts up tons of old panels) and check out the black and white ad in full size after the jump...

A First Look At The Wolverine

The latest poster for this summer's Wolverine movie is out. I hope to see the trailer appear any day now. God bless the Internets. There was a time when you had to go to the big Christmas movies to see the trailers for the summer films. See the full size poster and much more after the jump...

Guess Who Met Chris Claremont??? This Guy Right Here!!!!

The 2012 edition of the NY Comic Con was a memorable one for many reasons. I got to chill with my boys, got treated like a king due to my press pass, got a ton of free swag, bought a ton of cool shit... yeah, all that shit was great. But getting to meet some of my comic creating heroes... yeah, that tops the list by a long shot. In the next couple of days I will tell you guys about meeting the likes of Mike Mignola, Herb Trimpe, Neal Adams, David Lloyd, and many others... but hands down, the coolest person that I met had to be THE X-MAN himself, Mr. Chris Claremont!!! 

Click after the jump for the rest of the story...

CCD Meets Cliff Chiang @ The 2012 NY Comic Con

While walking around the aisles of Artist Aisle, I started seeing lots of familiar works of art that I have featured on CCD over the years. I look at a lot of cool ass web pages (Super Punch, Cal's Canadian Cave of Cool, and Geeks Are Sexy are just a few) that feature dope fan art. But when I came across Cliff Chiang's table I had to stop and make a purchase. Chiang is responsible for the phenomenal six part mashup series that takes superheroes and mashes them up with hit 80s movies/albums. The Teen Titans with The Breakfast Club? The X-Men with Pretty In Pink? Storm with Janet Jackson? Yup, these were great. And here they were right in front of me!!! I had to jump on the set of six post cards for 10 bucks, and Chiang even signed a couple of the cards for nothing. I gifted the Breakfast Club one, signed, to my main man James West because he loves The Teen Titans so much. I kept the other 5, with the Pretty in Pink one signed by Chiang, to put in a nice frame. Chiang was a great guy and had lots of great art for sale, so make sure you head over to his site and check out all of his great stuff. After the jump you can see my 2 pics of the set as well as the six prints in High Res...

X-Muppets by Ken Haeser

Ken Haeser is a very talented comic artist that specializes in zombies. He is the artist from "The Living Corpse" comic, which is awesome in a way that hearkens back to the beginning of the "Walking Dead" run of comics. But one of the coolest things that I have seen on the 'Net has to be Haeser's custom variant covers that he often draws at Comic Cons that he appears at throughout the country. He created an awesome collection of X-Men variant covers featuring Muppet versions of the mutant gang we are all used to, and boy are they great. Kermit as Cyclops, Animal as Wolverine... those are kinda gimmies. But Fozzy as Beast & Gonzo as Nightcrawler are just awe inspiring!!!! Check out those as well as others after the jump, and support Ken by buying his art if you see him at a con!!!