Contest Update!

So, as of about noon yesterday, the great "Promote the Random Acts of Geekery" contest with its prize pack has generated... hold on, let me count real quick... oh, yeah, exactly zero entries so far.

Now, one of three things is definitely happening here:

1) All of you are spending your free time in the theater watching The Avengers and you don't have time for this.

2) You just don't care about me or my blog, dammit!

or...

3) You want me to sweeten the pot.

I'll go with #3, because #2 can't possibly be true, no it can't! I refuse to believe it!

So, in addition to the swag I already promised the last time around... I'm adding the following goodies:

Spider-Man Widescreen Special Edition 2-disc DVD set (because I realized I have two of them, and I don't know why)
Disney's DuckTales #7
Centurians #1-4 (hey, it's the complete series!)
Blood of the Demon #6
Harley Quinn #22
X-Men Adventures #7
Star Wars Droids #2, 4 and 5
Richie Rich Bank Books #46
Green Arrow and Black Canary  Wedding Special #1
A bunch of Jolly Rancher candies in assorted flavors
A copy of Uncle John's Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader

So, that's enough goodies that I'm having to ship this in a flat-rate Priority Mail box to whoever the lucky winner is!

Character Collectible Spotlight: Aquaman, Part Two!

Continuing from last time...

Here's the Ideal Aquaman figure from the ultra-rare JLA playset they produced! As you can see, this one is missing something from his hands -- I think it was a trident!

CBT: Howdy Doody's Lucky Trip!

Rant-Itorial!

I'm going to get back into the discussion of digital comics vs. print comics again here, so if you had enough from my last post about it, you might want to just scroll on down, my friend!

As of the time I'm writing this post, I have yet to buy a single digital comic book. Oh, I've gone to Comixology and downloaded lots of freebies, that's for sure, but I haven't spent the money for anything yet.

And the reason is always going to be cost. I just can't see myself spending the same price for a digital comic book than I'd spend on the print comic. It doesn't add up to me! See, with a print comic book, I can read it, and then at some point in the future, I can decide to either give it away to someone, or try and sell it. It's a physical thing, and it has an inherent value to it (even if some day that value is only the quarter I could get for it in a bargain box).

A digital comic book? You pretty much need to either keep it on your device, or delete it some day. There doesn't even really seem to be a backup option, other than knowing you can always re-download a book again if you want to.

Maybe part of the problem is at Comixology. Don't get me wrong, they do a great job at distributing digital comics -- but they're not as good as, say iTunes is.

See, I've got an iMac, an iPhone, and an iPad. I used to just read digital comics on my iPhone, because it was portable. But the screen is very small, and I could only read a panel at a time. My iPad works much better for digital comics. But I had to redownload everything in order to read it on my iPad.

Now, if I buy something in iTunes -- whether it be a TV show, movie, music, or app -- it gets downloaded onto my iMac, and I can then copy it to my other two devices. I don't have to re-download it on each one (that's annoying).

Unfortunately, they're getting to be just as pricey to buy things on iTunes as on Comixology, comparatively speaking. I got a copy of the Abrams' Star Trek movie on DVD some time ago, and with it came a free digital download. Right now, you can buy on Amazon the two-disc version I have, with the free Digital Copy through iTunes, for $5.75. Or, you can go to iTunes and buy JUST the digital copy in HD format for $19.99, or in SD for $9.99. Does this make sense at all?

But I'm digressing.

Personally, my preferred format for reading comic books is print. That's how the vast majority of them are available, and I know that chances are, by next November's Portland Comic Book Show, any comic book out right now for $2.99 can probably be had there for a buck or less (unless something suddenly skyrockets in value).

Not that I really want to buy any of the new comics anyway, but that's kind of beside the point.

I've seen that DC and Marvel are working on digitizing their back catalogs, and that's a pretty good idea. But again, there's problems with their pricing scheme. Right now, I can see that Action Comics #553 through #556 are all available through the Comixology app for $0.99 each. Just one problem with this, though: I have copies of most of these issues already, and I didn't pay more than $0.50 for any of them.

Plus, when I read them, I can check out all the ads that were in them, plus the letters page and any other editorial stuff. Can't do that with the digital versions, because they're not included there.

And of course, there's stuff that's just not available for digital download right now -- such as the original Superboy series, or World's Finest (at least, they weren't available when I checked).

Over on the Marvel side, I see they have the entire Squadron Supreme miniseries for $1.99 each -- or about $23.88 for the entire series. Really, guys? The trade's selling on Amazon for $7.58 plus four dollars shipping. On eBay, someone's got the entire original miniseries for $12.50 plus $3.50 shipping.

Now, I'm guessing that the reason for the price points probably has to do with Comixology's needing to get a piece of the pie. Chances are, it's not worth their trouble to sell a digital comic for $0.50 or $0.25 -- and certainly, I wouldn't want to have to deal with that cheap a transaction through PayPal!

So I've got a solution to throw out: Offer up a Comixology Discount Club Card. Well, it wouldn't literally be a card, but it would be a discount that you'd apply for. You go and spend whatever amount you want on this, and that money is held in an account (like a gift card), except that when you buy stuff, so long as there's still a balance on your account in the positive, you get stuff for half price, minimum.

It puts money in Comixology's hands immediately, and you know what? You could even offer to sell actual Comixology gift cards (to be redeemed in the app or on their website) through comic book stores, and then they're not getting screwed out of things.

Now, if I could spend $20 and know that I'd be able to download 40 comic books for that kind of money, I wouldn't even worry about finding all 40 books right away... I might even pick and choose. Heck, even if it was $0.50 for back issues and $0.99 for new books under this plan, I might even try out one of these New 52 books DC has out.

Maybe. I'm still a bit leery, personally, about spending money on these digital comics at this point, and maybe because I'm showing my age a bit here... I like my comics in my hands, flipping through the pages, seeing what kind of things were advertised back then, checking out the letter columns to see if anyone got a letter published that's worked in comics since then.

I guess I'll probably stick with this, at least until DC or Marvel (or someone else) convinces me to do otherwise!

Dog of the Geek: Scooby Dee!

Breed: Great Dane

Original Appearances: The Scooby-Doo Show, season two, episode “The Chiller Diller Movie Thriller”

Other Appearances: Possibly a cameo in an episode of What's New, Scooby Doo?

Biography: Scooby Dee is Scooby Doo's movie star cousin. Scooby Doo, Scooby Dum and the gang had to escort her to Hollywood on a train while a ghost of a movie star was trying to kill her.

Powers: None

Group Affiliation: None

Miscellaneous: Another member of Scooby's family that treats Scooby like the family name, as opposed to relatives like Scrappy, who treat Doo as the family name. By the way, I've made the decision to not include any more of Scooby's relatives, because I'm really beginning to hate them, okay? Okay.

Goverment Comics!

This time around, I'm featuring "Andy Goes to the Parks," which features Andy Capp... and no, I haven't any idea why the US government thought this was a good idea! I mean... Andy Capp going camping? Camping at the pub, maybe, but at a park?

Cool Stuff!

Time for more cool stuff!

First up, a re-release poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey!

It's... CONTEST TIME!

Okay, since the last time I moaned and groaned about how my numbers here weren't so hot since coming back from hiatus, my hits have started to go up, slowly but surely.

But I can't wait for them to slowly get back to where they were, I want them there and beyond!

So it's time for a contest! And here's how it's going to work:

1) This contest is open only to US readers of the Random Acts of Geekery (sorry, non-US readers... you know I love ya, but you'll see why this is the case soon enough). Employees of Random Acts of Geekery or family members thereof are not eligible (which, of course, means that neither I nor my family members can win this).

2) In order to enter, you need to post somewhere on the internet a promotion for Random Acts of Geekery that includes a link back to this blog (i.e. http://randomactsofgeekery.blogspot.com). You will get one entry for having this blog on a linklist, and two entries if you actually write about the blog somewhere. This can be on your own blog, or it could be somewhere else. I'm not looking for anyone to start posting spam anywhere -- so don't go to other people's blogs and post in comments stuff like, "Hey, the world's greatest geek blog is over at Random Acts of Geekery," because that kind of stuff gets deleted. On the other hand, if someone's posted a blog entry about, say, the Crestwood House Movie Monsters books, and you post a response that I've been posting scans of these over here, that's perfectly fine. I just don't want other bloggers annoyed because of this, okay?

3) Sent me an email at waffyjon at comcast dot net with the URL of where you've posted this promotion, and let me know where it is so I don't spend too much time looking. I will keep tabs on how many entries each person submits.

4) Obviously, you can enter as many times as you'd like!

5) The contest ends on May 31, 2012 at midnight. I will announce the winner during the next day or two after that, after first contacting the winner via email for their mailing address.

6) The prize pack for this contest is as pictured below: Volume 1 and 2 of classic Fleischer Superman cartoons, with eight episodes on each one (purchased a while back at a dollar store, but still unopened); One Plastic Man action figure, which I believe was a McDonald's Happy Meal toy from a Batman: The Brave and the Bold set; A Beowulf promotional pin that was given out a few years ago, at least 2006 or 2007, promoting that movie; a Playmates Toys Klingon action figure, that was some kind of bagged promotional item (no, I don't know which Klingon it is, sorry... if it helps, it's probably a Next Generation character); a set of four Spider-Man pencils; a Spider-Man action figure from a Happy Meal toy of some kind with suction cups on his hands; and a classic Batman promotional pin that's probably at least 10 years old (not pictured below). If, by the time this contest concludes, I get hits of 1000 or more per day for, say, five days in a row, I will add to this with some comics from my own personal collection! And if I come across other stuff around here over this month, I'll throw that in, too!



So those are the rules and the prizes, now get to work on it, okay? And thanks in advance!

Fandom Library: The Comic Reader #88!

Cliffhanger! King of the Rocket Men, Chapter 3!

MST3K: Season One, Episode Two!

The movie in this episode is “The Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy,” and I've never seen either the movie by itself or this episode of MST3K before, so this is all new to me! The episode opens in Deep 13, where the Mads are talking about this year's Mad Scientist Convention, and Dr. Forrester's plans to take the top prize. They call the Satellite of Love, where Joel's already demonstrating his invention, an airbag helmet for motorcyclists. The Mads' invention looks like a record player with a hand – the Chalkman. You put a chalkboard record on it, place the hand over the record, and the nails scratch – to drive people away from your house when they stay too long. (They make references based on the old “Close and Play” record player from Kenner).

Puzzle Time!

As always, answers will be after the jump!

Toy Spotlight: Aurora Superheroes Models, Part 2!

Time for the Marvel characters, and here's Captain America!

Cover Redux!

About time I got around to Fury, eh? So we've got Sgt. Fury #24 on the left, and issue #126 on the right. This time around, when the image was reduced, it was added to on the right and bottom, instead of the usual top and left. Also note the coloring -- Fury and his boys are now in green instead of brown (save for Percy), and the coloring is more nighttime. Anyone else see any differences I missed?

The Monster Times #12!

The Indexible Hulk #21

Issue: Tales to Astonish #65

Title: “On the Rampage Against the Reds!”

Credits: Written by Stan Lee, Penciled by Steve Ditko, Inked by George Roussos (as George Bell), Lettered by Art Simek

Supporting Cast: Major Talbot

Villain: Leader, Humanoids

Hulk Intelligence: Brute, but still capable of using contractions, plus he doesn't always refer to himself in the third person... it's all “I'm the Hulk!” or “Nothing can stop the Hulk!” So he hasn't lost the article yet!

Guest-Stars: None

Plot: On Astra Island, the Hulk continues to battle the Leader's Humanoids even though the strain is beginning to revert him back to Bruce Banner, and also while a group of soldiers approach the scene! The soldiers attack with grenades, causing the ledge on which the battle is occurring to collapse, sending the Hulk and the Humanoids into the ocean. The Hulk, sensing the change is about to occur, swims away; the Humanoids merely walk away. On the island, the soldiers don't see any sign of the Hulk, so Major Talbot orders them to find Bruce. More than a mile away, the change finally hits and Bruce Banner breaks the surface of the water... yards away from a Soviet submarine! They bring him aboard and imprison him. Back on Astra Isle, Talbot is informed that a patrol saw Banner entering the sub, which makes Talbot even more sure than before that Banner is a traitor. At the Leader's lab, the Leader decides that if he captures Bruce Banner, he might find the key to the Hulk's secret. Sometime later, Bruce is brought to a Soviet encampment, where he's introduced to the leader of this camp (who goes unnamed, at least initially). They plan to starve Bruce to get him to work for them. While he's being brought through a weapons lab, Banner spots Professor Stromm, a geophysicist thought to be dead. Suddenly, another prisoner has had enough and starts to revolt against his captors, but he's soon brought down. Bruce is placed into a cell that looks to be about three feet by three feet by three feet. Bruce figures that at least if he dies a captive, the world will be safe from the Hulk, but suddenly realizes that if he became the Hulk, he could get free! Despite the stress he'd been under before, he hadn't changed – but now, he focuses on what he's seen, and begins to get angry, changing into the Hulk! The Hulk breaks free and smashes his way through the building, finding ways to shield himself from the weapons being tested, save for one hit on his shoulder by an evapo-ray blaster. Finally, the soldiers all flee from the Hulk, and the Hulk finally notices his wounded shoulder. The prisoner who had started to revolt earlier comes upon the Hulk and uses a salve of his creation to treat the wound before the two of them sit down to eat. Meanwhile, the leader of the base calls for backup – tanks, heavy artillery, and more – and then he straps a proton gun to his back to use agains the Hulk!

Invention Exchange: Russian weapons, including a high-intensity field cannon, an evapo-ray blaster, and a proton gun.

Reprinted In: Incredible Hulk Special #1, The Incredible Hulk (Simon & Schuster, 1978), Essential Hulk #1.

Notes: Adapted as episode 9 of the 1966 Hulk animated series. About that Soviet sub... a mile away from Astra Island, where a top-secret test was being held? Talbot still isn't doing a very good job of maintaining security, is he?