DC COLLECTIBLES GETS ARTSY, HEADS TO DESIGNERCON 2018

Rob Leave a Comment

DC COLLECTIBLES GETS ARTSY, HEADS TO DESIGNERCON 2018

Exclusive DC Artists Alley Figure from HaiNaNu “Nooligan” Saulque, Custom Prints and More Surprises in Store at DC Collectibles Booth (#1500)

DC Collectibles, DC’s in-house line of high-end collectibles, will make its DesignerCondebut, showcasing some of the company’s most cutting-edge collectibles at this year’s convention from November 16-18, 2018, in Anaheim, CA.

Taking center stage at the show is DC Collectibles’ artist-focused designer vinyl line, DC Artists Alley. DC Artists Alley is inspired by the popular “Artist Alley” convention experience and allows innovative artists to put their eccentric spin on DC’s most iconic characters. At DesignerCon, DC Collectibles will debut a DC Artists Alley convention exclusive variant of HaiNaNu “Nooligan” Saulque’s Nightwing figure. The design embodies Nooligan’s signature offbeat art style and features a “streetwear” makeover of Dick Grayson, complete with casual sneakers and a custom Nightwing varsity jacket. The standard version hits stores in December 2018, but a special-edition black-and-gold Eclipse variant will be available to purchase exclusively at the convention. The con exclusive is limited to 200 pieces and includes an original sketch of a Batman family character, hand-drawn by Nooligan.

DC Collectibles will also give fans an up-close look at upcoming DC Artists Alley figures from artists Joe Ledbetter and Chrissie Zullo. Ledbetter’s anthropomorphicspin on Batman, the Penguin, Catwoman and Robin will be on display in the DC Collectibles booth alongside Zullo’s whimsical transformations of Batgirl, Hawkgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Both sets of figures will hit stores in 2019, but fans attending the show can purchase custom art prints from each artist…and that’s not all. DC Collectibles will also debut additional DC Artists Alley figures from a surprise artist to be announced at the show…stay tuned!

Here is the complete list of items available to purchase at the DC Collectibles booth (#1500):

  • DesignerCon Exclusive: DC Artists Alley Nightwing Eclipse Variant Designer Vinyl 6.75″ figure (MSRP: $100.00) – Limited to 200 pieces
  • Clutter Double Cast Batman 7″ figure (MSRP: $195.00) – Only 30 pieces will be sold at the show; Features glow-in the-dark skeleton
  • Limited-Edition Art Prints designed by Chrissie Zullo and Joe Ledbetter (MSRP: $40.00 each) – Limited to 50 prints per design
  • Limited-Edition Enamel Pins (MSRP: $10.00 each) – Limited to 50 pins per design

Rainbow Rangers review

Rob Leave a Comment

Rainbow Rangers

Rainbow Rangers is a brand-new CG-animated preschool series that follows the thrilling rescue-based adventures of “Earth’s First Responders” seven 9-year-old girls with distinctive personalities and superpowers, who protect people, animals, resources, and the natural beauty of the world. With the help of their mentor Kalia and pet prismacorn, Floof, the Rainbow Rangers, who live on the other side of the rainbow in the magical land of Kaleidoscopia, band together to save the day whenever there’s trouble for the people or animals of Earth.

Speaking about the team, let’s introduce the characters.

Rosie Redd (Red) is a bold, focused, and determined leader whose power is super strength. Her signature gadget is the Rainbow Tiara-Visor, which lets her see into or through any object.

Mandarin “Mandy” Orange (Orange) is the optimistic, all-inclusive cheerleader who is always happy, silly, and sunny. Her power is super hearing, so she can hear trouble or help from miles away. Her signature gadget is the Hypno-Flute, which hypnotizes a living creature into obeying a single command.

Bonnie “B.B.” Blueberry (Blue) is the scientific logician whose power is super vision – she can see what’s right and wrong, count the molecules in a blade of grass or see inside a crater on Mars. Her signature gadget is the Rainbow Construct-O-Max, an incredible 3D printer that lets her build things instantly.

Indigo “Indy” Allfruit (Indigo) is a small but scrappy, fearless and quick Ranger, who is fiercely protective of her fellow friends. Her special power is super speed and she moves even faster with her signature gadget, Super Sonic Rainbow Sneakers.

Anna Banana (Yellow) is naïve, sweet and kind and sees the best in every living creature. She is able to communicate with animals both on Earth and in Kaleidoscopia. Her signature gadget is a small stuffed animal called a Super Stuffie Wuffie, which makes anyone who hugs it incapable of doing anything beyond sitting and cuddling.

Pepper Mintz (Green) is a knowledgeable yet introverted Ranger and her special power is camouflage. To accomplish her camouflage, she uses the Shimmer Shawl, an amazing blanket that folds up so small and thin it can fit into the tiniest pocket yet can unfold to cover Pepper’s entire body and cling to her so she’s invisible.

Lavender LaViolette (Violet) is super-dramatic with a love for flowers and frills. Lavender’s signature gadget is the Flitter Flower, a bloom she wears in her hair that can shrink her down to the size of a butterfly. Her special power of flying comes out when she shrinks.

Since the show is geared to the preschool age and no one here at AlternativeMindz is even close to preschool, we enlisted our daughter Rebecca who is just a bit older than the target demographic (she is 7).

The first quality that stood out was the theme song. Rebecca, even though this was her first time hearing it, was singing along gleefully, which hooked her to the show instantly.

Rebecca found that the first montage of the characters was nice but is actually a bit too long in the first chapter of the episode. The shorter version was leaps and bounds better because there are 8 characters to introduce, making it hard to keep her undivided attention during that period.

Kalia was Rebecca’s favorite because she liked how she was dressed and how she would point at the mirror to show their mission. Another character Rebecca liked was Floof because he was the comic relief. Her least favorite character was Bonnie “B.B.” Blueberry because her voice was a bit too sharp.

Overall, the stories were perfectly structured and helped the kids learn about the characters and Rebecca loved how they rescued the animals. Very reminiscent to the style of Paw Patrol due to how the characters are introduced when going on a mission. She loved that show.

Our honest opinion, Anna Banana was just too scared all the time for our taste. I think she really overdid the feeling of being scared. We understand why her character is there, but it was better when she started to have a bit stronger presence in the second half.

It’s important to remember what the target age group is for the show, but also that these super heroes are all the same age. They are all supposed to be 9-year-old girls but some act older and a few seem younger.

Also, the pacing was a little slow from the issue that happens to the mission. This was especially noticeable in the first chapter when the cub is in trouble, then the job is sent to Kaleidoscopia, then they’re having Floof create bubbles. The bubbles part was a bit longer than it should have before Kalia summons them.

Our final thoughts are we like it and if your preschooler or child loves shows like Paw Patrol, they will most certainly like this!

Check it out on Nick Jr. starting today!

https://www.facebook.com/RainbowRangersOfficial/

https://www.instagram.com/rainbowrangersofficial/

The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 5 “What Comes After” Review

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Last week, Rick got injured by falling of his horse which leads him to getting impaled on a metal rebar as he loses conscious as the episode ends. This week, not only we are shown the final moments of Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead, but we also see new characters at the end of the episode along with a good twist from the comic series. Time to deep in “What Comes After” which is also the same name as volume 18 of the comic series (the material of volume 18 however, was also most of the first half of Season 7 of the TV series).

Rick gets his way out of the scary situation by pulling himself up with the belt he had on as the double herds of walkers were approaching him. He then gets on the horse to lead the herd away as he is bleeding out on his way. During this along with the beginning of the episode, Rick has hallucinations from previous scenes of his journey starting with the hospital along with the characters that are no longer here such as Hershel at the barn, Shane at the scene of the pilot episode before he was shot, and Sasha. The scenes with Hershel were heart warming as Rick apologizes for what happened to him and his family. It is also important to note that this scene is the very last scene Sott Wilson has ever been filmed as he passed away during the weekend of New York Comic Con. Rick’s scenes with Shane however, were not that very heart warming as Shane makes it known that he himself was a pain in the butt. He also asks Rick about his daughter as well.

Another hallucination during this episode is when Rick is standing over a large amount of characters that are dead (or yet to be dead) and that mirrors the issue 100 variant cover of the same scene.

Maggie finally arrives at Alexandria as her and Michonne are talking about Negan. I love that Michonne mentioned that if Glenn would have wanted her to do what she wanted to do. Michonne lets her see Negan and this scene mirrored the one on Issue 174 which was released last December. Negan wants Maggie to kill him so he can be with his wife but Maggie refused as she would rather let him live and suffer. If Lauren Cohan was not leaving the show this year, I bet this scene would have happened on the next season but I understood why it had to happen.

Jadis is also seen driving the van that used to belong to Heath who went missing back in Season 7 and my theory about what happened to him seems to be coming to light. But more about her later.

Rick leads the herd to the camp as the bridge that we thought was going to break, did not. But as the others are coming to his aid, he thinks that they are part of the hallucination he has seen earlier. He then shoots his gun at the dynamite that he noticed as the bridge explodes. Everyone looks shocked as they (including myself) thinks that Rick has died. But we find out that the helicopter Jadis has been in contact with has been called after she found him by the river as Jadis also tells them that they have a B. I still do not know the meaning of A and B, but I am still curious. The helicopter takes Rick Grimes away as his status after this is missing.

We are then shown another time skip of about 5-6 years as we are finally introduced to Magna and her group as they were trying to get away from a herd until a 10 year old Judith Grimes saved them. She also wields a shotgun and is wearing Carl Grimes’ hat as the episode ends.

In the Comic Series, Magna and her group were introduced almost the same way at issue #127. The few differences is that on the comic series, they were introduced two years after All Out War ended and that it was Jesus and Heath that saved her and her group.

I love this episode. I know that the way Rick’s exit was handled will be up for debate in the coming days and even months since AMC promoted that this will be his last episode. Leaving his exit opened ended means that he might come back in the future. We also know that Lauren Cohan will come back soon as well, but we do not know exactly when. Putting those two moments aside, the callbacks to previous seasons gave me memories of why I love the show in the first place. I just wish that Carl, Lori, Andrea and a few others were shown. Maggie’s interaction with Negan felt like a closure of their story as Negan was not up to his usual mind tricks at all. He was broken and he knew that his time was running thin once he seen Maggie. More questions are also in the way as i think of will we find out more about the helicopter, how will the group move on from Rick not being there, how will Magna’s group react to the communities and much more. This episode is an emotional roller coaster.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @julianexcalibur

The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 4 “The Obliged” Review

Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

There’s no denying The Walking Dead is enjoying a resurgence this season. The Obliged was another fantastic episode.

Michonne was heavily featured tonight as we see her life in Alexandria running everything in Rick’s absence. Michonne is doing a little of everything from settling gardening disputes, playing with Judith, and tending to the sick. And when she’s suffering from some sleepless nights, it’s time to go kill some walkers.

That led to an interesting scene as Michonne spots a black walker hanging from a tree. Now Michonne has a new problem — Negan won’t eat. He’s on a hunger strike as he wants a conversation. He chats Michonne up about his wife dying from cancer, their desire to have a child like Carl and ultimately how her death helped to not make him weak.

Humble Negan is a far more interesting character this season. Season 8 Negan never had to resort to mind games like this strike to learn Lucille’s location. Negan tried to find some common ground with his dead wife and Michonne’s dead children, but Michonne wasn’t biting. Still, Michonne’s growing unease whenever she sees a bat is telling.

There really wasn’t enough time to spend on Gabriel and Anne this week and their subplot felt very under served. Anne seemed to consider giving Gabriel the old tie ’em down and let a walker devour them trick she pulled on Negan, but had a change of heart. She knocked him out just long enough to roll out. Gabriel broke down presumably at the thought of no more sweet, sweet junker loving.

While last week made it appear as if Maggie and Daryl were heading to kill Negan immediately, she went back to Hilltop to get supplies while Daryl returned to the camp. But now it’s payback time.

Jesus seems torn on his loyalty. He accuses Rick of making a bad call in keeping Negan alive, yet sends a warning to Rick that Maggie is headed to Alexandria. Pick a side dude!

Rick’s got enough problems as Eugene tells him the bridge is a wash. A new storm is coming to basically wipe it out. I’m wondering if the plan is to give Rick a death like Madison from Fear the Walking Dead where he gets washed away, but with no body there’s some chance he’s still alive. That would give Judith a reason to stay with everyone at least.

The only problem with Rick’s pending departure is it’s placing the burden of his focal storyline — that the Saviors can be redeemed — onto other characters. Carol basically told Rick she wasn’t interested in being the Saviors’ keeper any longer and they were going to have to fend for themselves. These conversations are really starting to feel like goodbyes for Rick. He left both Carol and Eugene with a comforting pep talk and encouragement.

Upon learning the news of Maggie’s march, Rick sets out for Alexandria, but Daryl offers him a ride. Rick quickly realizes something is up when Daryl misses the turn. They get into a tussle and fall into a conveniently placed cliff. Hard not to agree with Rick and wonder if Daryl set it up.

One huge improvement this season has been the writing and this pit conversation was a highlight of the night. Daryl called Rick out for not avenging Glenn, but saying he wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him. Rick countered reminding Daryl that he spared Dwight, but Daryl dropped the Oceanside bombshell.

Rick explains that if Negan dies, he becomes a martyr and all those people will have died for nothing. Daryl says Rick doesn’t have enough faith in their crew and that he’s chasing something for Carl that isn’t meant to be. Daryl has a point. The strength of the writing is that neither guy comes off like an idiot and they both have viable points. However, we got the first live F-bomb on The Walking Dead and it came out of nowhere!

They don’t fully hash things out before another fracas breaks out at the camp. Jed and the Saviors have somehow figured out Oceanside killed their crew. That’s some impressive powers of deduction. Carol’s Kingdom troops get ready for a brawl and enough shots ring out to attract one of the two nearby walker hordes. This is not good news.

But for those of us who love creative walker death traps, The Obliged delivered again. Rick and Daryl trying to climb out of the pit while walkers slide down was pretty ingenious. The walkers always come off so much more dangerous when they’re a menacing obstacle capable of wrecking any great plan with their overwhelming numbers. Rick pulls Daryl up after telling his ‘brother’ to take his hand. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m going to miss the Rick and Daryl brotherhood immensely the rest of the series.

With the horde closing in, Rick spots a horse and uses it to lead the horde away from the camp. Daryl thinks now is the time to blow up the bridge, but Rick isn’t having it. Daryl seems to understand Rick’s grand purpose for the bridge, which is still escaping me.

In a nice callback to the first episode, Rick’s horse gets spooked by the walkers and he gets thrown off onto a cement block. Maybe he avoided a broken neck, but he’s impaled. As both hordes slowly converge, this definitely looks like the last stand for Rick Grimes.

The Obliged set up a strong Michonne/Negan conflict, let Rick and Daryl reaffirm their brotherhood and set the final steps in motion for Rick’s death/departure resulting in another strong episode.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @julianexcalibur