superhero supply

okay...

a few weeks before christmas, i got the 411 on this stylish website from my friend, dj renzi--via his sister, also my friend, suzanna--zan.

a very cool site featuring, for your enjoyment and perusal, any and all of the various tools and implements, devices and apparati, needed to pursue your career in crimefighting.

below are a few choice images that i purloined from the catalogue of gadgets and gizmos just to whet your appetite, but go check out the website yourselves at the eddress listed below for some fun!


]



















http://www.superherosupplies.com/


enjoy~!


and if i don't see you--and i won't unless you're matt and suzanne, with whom we will be ringing in the new year--HAPPY NEW YEAR~! may 2012 be the best year so far!
smell ya later!
todd

from all of us to all of you~!

more christmas goodness from lauren~

okay...

here's a wonderful christmas card that i got this morning from our own lauren monardo (now lauren gramprey) featuring a choir of singing dogs on the front...




...and a personalized choopie on the flip~!

thanks, lauren~! your card brightens the season every year! : )



be here tomorrow for OUR christmas card to all of YOU!
merry christmas!
sell ya later~!
todd

disturbing christmas

okay...

rich (woodall) dug up these disturbing christmas pictures to make the season merry...
...or a little creepy.




like dressing your pets up in clothes and costumes, i know someone was encouraging this probably very cute little girl to make this demonic face.
cut it out.





mmm, i think i'll just go outside...





(no funny comment)




and, while a bit unsettling--this one doesn't disturb me...






...as much as this one.




hope you're getting in the holiday spirit!
smell ya later!
todd

christmas treasures

okay...

while not, technically, a christmas card, my pal, ellie, found this drawing she did (way back when she was 4) while looking through her christmas stuff to send something to share. i love it and love that she decided to share it with us!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

also in the sharing mood was our pal, mike estelle, when he sent me this tale of a christmas yet to come (well...it'll be here in 6 days...). here's the back-story to a quirky present he picked up for his mom a month or so ago...


So the story goes like this,

Around the time that SkyLab was hurtling towards the Earth in a fiery mass of metal and electrical components, I was about 4 and my brother was just born January of that year. My mom being 'mildly' neurotic had it in her head that it was going to land on us in a little town called Laurence Harbor here in New Jersey. Figuring it was going to be our demises, and that my parents hadn't gotten around to having us baptized yet, she immediately ran off to have it done, so that when we had all that metal come crashing on our heads in a blazing inferno, we'd not end up in that other blazing inferno. So when it landed WAY the frick over in Australia, we were safe and continued on to this day, with small jokes and laughs at family get-togethers over how crazy that was.

Fast-forward to November of this year when Karen and I were in Upstate NY for our anniversary weekend. At your (Todd's, that is) suggestion, we went to the little town of Red Hook to go do some shopping. In one of the few antique shops we were browsing the glass cases when I saw what looked like a big piece of amber with a piece of paper or something in it. Upon further inspection it had an actual card in it that said that that piece of 'paper' was in fact a piece of SkyLab. I asked how much it was and while it was a little pricey I thought it would make for a really funny Christmas gift for mom. Karen said I HAD to get it and, that when my mom opened it, that if SkyLab didn't land on our heads then I was definitely going to get hit in the head after she realized what it was. And so after some internal debating, and telling the people that worked at the store the story of it, I got it. And we will be getting mom's reaction on video so that I can remember what happened after the concussion.

thanks, mike!~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i couldn't find anymore really funny christmas cards--and i'm hoping that some of you are keeping your eye out to forward some on to me--but here are a couple images i grabbed off the net. what is it about these absolutely anti-christmas, rebellious and delinquent, juvenile holiday gestures that just crack me up?! i dunno--but i love 'em!












and for any of you who might have been slightly offended by that...
here's a cute little palette-cleanser that i stole from my niece's facebook page! thanks, j.!



happy holidays~!
smell ya later!
todd

the spirit of christmas~

okay...

here are a couple of christmas cards from my collection. this first one is from sharon from our first christmas together as she tried to warn me about kayla's penchant for climbing the tree and ambushing you from it. i didn't believe, at first, that she loved the tree as much as sharon said, but each year when we'd bring the box down from the attic, kayla would get excited and dance on it until we put it up. or just sit on it and glare at us until we did.





and this is one of my all-time favorite cards from last year, from matt and suzanne. speaks for itself.

the inside says, "Hope your Christmas doesn't stink."





in response to my request, rich woodall sent me this christmas card he and matt talbot did for their fans while doing their much-loved, yet highly overlooked book, johnny raygun! awesome card! awesome homage! can you name the classic cover this is taken from?

( by the way, you can still order any of the johnny raygun series from
http://jetpackpress.com/store.html )



a note and a video that you HAVE to check out from our pal, ernie cooper...
merry christmas, ernie!

Hiya, Todd!

So it's not a comic cover...But a friend posted this, and after I got done giggling maniacally, I thought of the perhapablog and all of the Calvin and Hobbes goodness that you frequently post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq8iyhMFLYE&feature=share

Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas! May your days be merry and bright, and may strange cryptids infest your Christmas tree come Christmas morn! *grin*

-Ernie


and here is your secret christmas present from our pal, roger ash...

http://youtu.be/DAtZBE5XXFo


thanks, roger!
thumpity-thump-thump!

and thanks to everyone who've sent me fun stuff for the holidays!
keep 'em comin', gang!
smell ya later!
todd

some more christmas covers~

okay...

in response to my request for more christmas images--and my posting of a couple of my favorite christmas comics covers--my friend ellie egleton sent me her picks for favorites...


action comics no. 105 from 1947...



...and the chris giarrusso cover to FIRST CLASS COMIC REVIEW from just last year (although ellie did say that she may be a bit biased on this one since that is her magazine... : )




as we discussed this, ellie threw this one into her picks as well; supergirl and batgirl exchanging their christmas gifts to one another...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


looking for a clean jpg of the action comics cover, i found these two classic christmas covers featuring supes and st. nick too!









and what about another festive treasury cover from my good pal, nick cardy, circa 1974...? ho ho ho!




what've you got?
smell ya later~!
todd

christmas~

okay...

are ya gettin' into the holiday spirit?

i am.
sorta.

with the fair weather we've been experiencing here in the northeast this winter, our extended autumn made it very easy for the holidays to sneak up on us. i've been caught off guard and am now going into full-on shopping mode, frantic to get out and get the right gift for the right person, while trying to dodge all of the commercialistic aspects of it. a tough job any year, but this year it seems more about the economy than about the actual season of joy and love.

add to that a rather...quietness...in our house since losing sharon's cat, kayla, back in september. we're just not feeling christmas this year and trying not to miss her too much...

so, i'm going to try to lift my--and YOUR--spirits with some fun christmas junk here on the blog!
let's get each other into the spirit and post some fun, funny, or warm and touching pictures and photos and letters and what-have-you! didja get a funny christmas card that you can share with us? a funny holiday email to pass along? do you have some old family photos from your own christmases past? anything...?

to kick things off, here are a couple of my favorite christmas covers--both instant classics and ones that warm my heart!










whadda you got?
send anything you'd like to sharer to me at
todd@perhapanauts.com or brokentuba@yahoo.com

let's make the season bright!
smell ya later!
todd

chito and pocho

okay...

from my friend, jared ather--who will always be kojee to me from our long-gone, but much-loved tellos message boards--this crazy cold-blooded but warm-hearted tale of a boy and his crocodile in the land down under...



Fearless Cairns fisherman Chito prefers to playfully
wrestle in the water with his best pal Pocho - a deadly 17ft crocodile.






The 52-year-old daredevil draws gasps of amazement from onlookers by wading chest-deep into the water, then whistling for his 980 lb buddy - and giving him an affectionate hug.





Chito made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Barron River Cairns Australia 30 years ago.
He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death.
But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat.
He says: "When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house
"He was very skinny, weighing only around 150 lb. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover.
"I stayed by Pocho's side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad.

"It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals – especially ones that have suffered."

It took years before Chito felt that Pocho had bonded with him enough to get closer to the animal.





He says: "After a decade I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more.

"Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me."

At one point during his recovery, Chito left the croc in a lake near his house.. But as he turned to walk away, to his amazement Pocho got out of the water and began to follow him home.

Chito recalls:
"That convinced me the crocodile could be tame." But when he first
Fearlessly waded into the water with the giant reptile his family was so
Horrified they couldn't bear to watch. So instead, he took to splashing
Around with Pocho when they were asleep..

Four years ago Chito showed some of his tricks to friends, including getting the animal to close
His eyes on command, and they convinced him to go public with a show.






Now he swims and plays with Pocho as well as feeding him at the lake near his home in the Lakeland
River north west of cairns Queensland .




The odd couple have now become a major tourist attraction, with several tour operators, including Crocodile
Adventures, taking visitors on touring cruises to see the pair.





On the Crocodile
Adventures website it describes the spectacle as: "One of the most amazing things that no tourist will want to miss, the adventure show between the man and the crocodile."



ONLY IN QUEENSLAND ………AMAZING!!!


that's it!
smell ya later!
todd

look closely...

okay...

so a couple of things happened that derailed my plans last week to get the blog rolling regularly again. good things, but still...it slowed things down here.
anyway, here's a new post. hope you like it.

oh, before i get into that, how ya doin"? are you getting into the holiday spirit? i am trying but have to admit that the rather mild autumn/winter weather we're enjoying up here in the northeast is making it hard to imagine that christmas is just around the corner. it is! get goin'!


some cool images that have gathered on my desktop;
this first one is from our good pal christian--an awesome batman mural that you'll need to zoom in on and study! and i guarantee, you'll find yourself smiling the whole time!
it's dastardly, devilish fun by les mclaine!






you can find les and his awesome webcomic, jonny crossbones, over at

www.evilspacerobot.com



speaking of robots...
also eager to make you get out your magnifying glass is this mesmerizing piece by richard sargent entitled "where's wall-e?"



i find five or six more that i recognize each time i go back and look...




here's a great facebook update from october 31st that makes me laugh every time i read it...






and, because there is nothing funnier than cranky kids in the magic kingdom...







and just because i haven't seen it in a while, here's a great classic from ebay that always makes me laugh...and cringe...





have a great day~!
smell ya later!
todd

first class comic review no.7~!

okay~!

while i was out (of it...), my two good friends over in the UK, ellie and lily egleton, produced and published the seventh issue of their increasingly popular FIRST CLASS COMIC REVIEW--this issue featuring a cover and interview with the talented terry beatty! the magazine, as i have said before, is the girls' love letter to everything they love about comics! other interviews include david hine, adi granov, j.h.williams--and for some reason i cannot fathom, another one with jeff parker! what are you paying these girls, parker...?!
most enchanting and exciting to me--frustrated and jaded by today's comics as i am--was ellie's wonderful celebration of one of her passions in her article, x-men: the early days! made me tear up a little bit, taking that walk down fandom lane...



you can order this issue or any of the back issues at

www.firstclasscomicreview.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

also on the 'i-don't-know-how-this-slipped-by' list--

a few months back i received a fun and fascinating dvd in the mail entitled the aswang phenomenon from the film's writer/director/producer, jordan clark. i was lucky enough to be on the comp list for this soon-to-be-released film since craig and i gave jordan permission to use images of the aswang--our aswang--in his documentary which investigates the legend of this filipino vampire and tracks the mythology centuries back to it's roots.
jordan used not only images of the aswang drawn by craig, but several shots done by our good pal jason copland from the back-up story in perhapanauts 5.




you can learn more about this film and find out how to get your own copy at;

www.aswangmovie.com






that's all for now~!
see ya friday with more cool stuff to see!
smell ya later!
todd

the lost 2 weeks

okay...

woo-boy~
as the subject line reads, it has been a crazy 2 weeks.
i have, in the past two weeks:
gone to a great little comics show in portland, maine
made my pilgrimage to my own personal promised land the international cryptozoology museum
got to meet and hang out with one of my all time heroes, the renowned cryptozoologist, loren coleman
hung out with my friend, james, craig, trish and the kids, rich (woodall), melissa and their kids
agreed to jump in (at the last minute) to do a small part in my mentor/friend steve press' production of kiss me kate
got a miserable, miserable cold (that threatened to stop me from getting on stage)
made it anyway
had lunch and spent a nice afternoon with mike estelle and his lovely wife karen who just happened to be in the area
painted the bathroom
rode with my brother up to geneva ny to pick up my niece at college for thanksgiving break
ate 2--count 'em, TWO--complete thanksgiving dinners as sharon and i split the day with her family and then mine
wrote two short stories and lettered the first two and a half issues of the upcoming perhapanauts miniseries
stacked a cord and a half of firewood
restored greece's failing economy

oaky, maybe i didn't do that last one...
but it sure felt like i did a lot.
on screen here it doesn't actually look like much, but really that cold knocked me out--i mean spend the day in bed--for two and a half day--it was a monster!

anyway, i'm back.
with photos.
which i know are all you really care about anyway...

so here we go...



the first few are from the cryptozoology museum where, as craig posted, i was as excited as a schoolgirl.



loren let us in early for an exclusive tour of the facility. the gang included craig, trish, and the kids, rich woodall, james best, and myself. loren gave us the dollar-fifty tour and paid such wonderful attention to the kids and all their inquisitive questions. mine included. thank you, loren! here's craig and i with loren--and the tallest exhibit in the building--bigfoot!







loren pointing out some of the very unique elements that prove that the 1967 patterson film is authentic.



the museum is full of displays and artifacts from all over the world! i might be extremely biased here, but if you ever find yourself in the portland area, i cannot recommend a visit to the museum enough.


and don't hesitate to visit the museum's website at:

www.cryptozoologymuseum.com

the museum is a non-profit and so both your visit and your donations are a huge help...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as for the convention, it was big fun and it was great to get a chance to meet and chat with so many new readers! everyone was very happy/friendly and i was thrilled to see so many people come in costume!

here are a few of the ones i had a chance to snap...

a super-cute zombie chick!



the red mist and kick-ass!



a star trek andorian...and a tribble...



an adorable death~!



a feisty steam-punk girl!



a stunning white queen! (...and new perhapanauts fan. hi, nicole~!)




so, sorry for the long wait between posts,
but i have a whole bunch of cool things to show you so check back soon~!
smell ya later~!
todd