Nick Davis's Blog, page 52

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Toy Review – Missed Modular Action Figure kits? Then check out the ModiBot #rule32

Do you remember Stikfas? If you are a fan of the modular action figure kits you would have heard of them and maybe own a few – sadly Stikfas died an inglorious death and nothing has filled the void up since… But maybe… Just maybe the Modibot will.

Last week I talked about the Modibot brainchild of Ex-Xervoz Designers Wayne Losey and Tucker Johnson, well now I’ve got my hands on one.  The Modibot (Mo) modular action figure kit that you have to assemble and has a pop-lock joint assemble that gives it an amazing 14 points of articulation and a lot of flexibility.

Larry Stikfas and Super Yellow Assemble a Modibot












The Review

I found the Modibot (Mo) easy to snap together and it has a nice sturdy feel to it, it is significantly larger than other modular toys of its type, standing  good two inches taller than a Stikfas.

Super Yellow Modibot Hug

The plastic is good quality, and there is no visible stress marks on the joints which is hallmark of these type of action figures. The whole build feels nice and sturdy, the only thing I didn’t like is the skeleton feel of the figure and doesn’t have that classic figure feel of other types.

Along with the Mo I got the basic venture accessory kit of boot soles, knife, baseball cap, backpack, headphones and gun. All the accessories are made of the same plastic and slot into the convenient holes on the body – all the accessories have their unique scale so any plans to swap out with say… Stikfas bitz just don’t fit (and vice-a-versa) .

The Modibot (Mo) Struts Out

In all this is  good satisfying modular action figure kit, all the basics are there, it is solid, it poses and balances well. Other body types are available such as female and boy, and with its open-ended 3D print kit plan you can customize it as you see fit. It is a designer toy with endless possibilities and I give it.

Four Thumbs Up Out of Five

Go check them out, this action figure has huge potential. To learn more about the Modibots visit their website.

The Modibot takes a seat.

So this is what the Micheal Bay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will look like?

Did you know Toy Fair is just around the corner? And when Toy Fair appears you get insights into upcoming toy lines linked to movies, and in this case we get a look at what the Ninja Turtles (Teenage and Mutant seem to dropped from the title.) After the jump is a banner illustration discovered during Toy Fair set up.

I am a great believer if you capture the spirit of the story from printed work in movie form then different looks will never matter. I actually don’t mind the Turtles movie looks, although I wish it was more Ninja and less Samurai. Given it is a Michael Bay influenced movie the camera will never focus on them enough for us to see them clearly.

Ninja Turtle Leonardo and the Shredder

As you all know I am a huge fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (TMNT) and loved the books, played the RPG and got more than a few TMNT action figures , and I actually tried my hand at some TMNT fan art, which you can view below – TURTLE POWER!!!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Nick Davis

Creator Spotlight – The Mysterious Maryland Indie Creator Dan Nokes from 21st Century Sandshark Studios

The Creator Spotlight shines the light over Dan Nokes of 21st Century Sandshark Studios of Paranormals, Pistoleers and Love Triangle in the Zombie Apocalypse fame. 

Greeting, salutations and hello to all!  This is writer/artist/publisher/founder of the Southern Maryland DIY indie comic movement: Dan Nokes! Who am I and what do I do?  Well those are some long, sordid, and elaborate questions. So let me try to sum it up as briefly and succinctly as possible.

I am a small press indie comics creator who has been popping about the biz since 2002.  I broke onto the scene that year with a 67 page graphic novel one shot entitled: THE REPTILE AND MISTER AMAZING.  I had been working on it, off and on since 1996, and decided to have a go at self-publishing. So I hand printed out about 50 copies and set out for Baltimore Comicon to see what would happen.

Suffice it to say I didn’t land that cushy job at one of the big two, but I was successful enough to where I thought I could make it an entertaining and fulfilling side project.  So I continued with my day jobs while at the same time, putting out various projects such as THE PARANORMALS (2003-2008) THE PISTOLEERS (2008-2010), and ADAM AND EVE: BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE IN THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (2010-2012).

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Then in September of 2011 I got let go from my last day job.  At first the thought of going through the mental calisthenics and hurdle jumping of securing another steady source of employment filled me with dread and interpretation.  So as I contemplated that, another idea of making my part-time gig into a full-time career.

Needless to be said I chose the latter option, and decided to make comics my stock in trade.  It hasn’t been easy, but fortunately I have had some great friends and people who have believed in my talent and dedication.  People like Nick Davis, who gave me a shot at adding CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATOR to my list of credits with THE TEDDY BEAR TALES SAGA (2011-Present), Brett Carreras and Guy Rose, who allowed me to be part of the Virginia Comicon as their small press organizer, and Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker and the guys at FUBAR who gave me a coveted spot on American History Z.  Not to mention all the amazing fans and folks who supported my crowdfunding campaigns, showed up at cons, and commissioned me for projects.

Well that brings me up to WHAT AM I DOING RIGHT NOW?  Well, first off,  I am working on the last few chapter remasters of aforementioned PARANORMALS for a 10th anniversary omnibus.  Which, Cthulu help me, will be out sometime in February!

After that I plan on getting back to working on my current online webcomic: IMPOSSIBLE SPACE TALES OF THE LAST PIT STOP. Its basically a 12 part series that asks the question: WHAT IF AREA 51 WERE IN FACT-A CONVENIENCE STORE FOR ALIENS?… It for me is an attempt to try to eliminate the daring starfighter pilot, chosen jedi knight,  rebel princess,  swaggering rogue, starship captains, and other heroic sci-fi character stereotypes from the narrative and try to focus on the rest of the Universe, that most likely occupy crappy day-jobs, and have almost normal problems like the rest of us.  I tell people that its much like giving HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY and giving it to HARVEY PEKAR for a rewrite.

What happens after Space Tales ends?  Well, I will for the third time try to keep a promise to take a break from making comics for a year or two.  But so far that has been an unsuccessful venture.  Too many ideas too little time!  So that’s me as well as I could summarize?  Did I make Proust summary levels?  YOU DECIDE?!

Oh and to find out more by visiting http://www.21sandshark.com  for 21st Century Sandshark Studios goodies, inside dope, social network info,  Space Tales installments, and MUCH MUCH MORE!!!

The Official BBC Unveiling of Peter Capalidi Doctor Who Costume

In the UK, somewhere in Bristol on a BBC sound stage they are busy filming the next Doctor Who series with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor 2.0 (regeneration number unknown). The BBC have released an official image of the Peter in the new Doctor Who outfit – which you view after the jump.

Yep, I know quite underwhelming really; it is not too far removed from the Matt Smith Doctor’s outfit just take off the bow tie. I was personally hoping he was going to go the dandy route, instead of the already over used Edwardian styles. Maybe over time we will see it evolve into a more unique look.

Creator Spotlight – Maryland Indie Comic Publisher PLB Comics

The Creator Spotlight proudly welcomes PLB Comics, an Indie Comic Publisher from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. So, in their own words let’s take a look at what PLB Comics is all about.

First of all I’d like to thank Nick Davis for the opportunity for me to talk about PLB Comics with all of you. I’m James Dufendach, Editor/Letterer/PR & Marketing/Grunt labor, and am one-third of the core PLB creative team. We are an independent publisher located on the Eastern Shore of MD, and we specialize in grittier titles, think cable TV after 9pm.

Our current main line titles include The Fall: Vengeance & Justice of which we just published the fifth issue, and Gideon and Sebastian: Predators & Prey whose third issue is currently in development. PLB also does a yearly Halloween special which features anthology style tales of terror.

Preview Page from the Fall

The Fall, which is our main title, is a shoot ‘em up masked vigilante title on it’s face, but the physiological, and symbolic undertones are something we really hope strike a chord with our readers. We try to use the character of The Fall to expose the humanity of the supporting characters, and show that even in the jaded and broken world we paint, there is still hope and goodness, though it may come in surprising forms.

Preview Page from Gideon and Sebastian

Gideon and Sebastian is our action, buddy cop, comedy, vampire slayer book. Doesn’t exactly fit on a marquee does it? But that is exactly what it is. We like to say it’s sort of like Lethal Weapon with vampires. Gideon and Sebastian are brought in together by the Vatican to hunt down the vampire menace, and they are very different personalities.

This of course gets you that odd couple comedy that makes this book so much fun. Though we really enjoy the comedic element in this book, there is a dark side of it as well. In Gideon and Sebastian the vampires are not cute and sparkly, they are monsters, they don’t want to be your pal, they want to eat you. And Gideon and Sebastian want to destroy them in the most gore-tastic ways possible.

Second Full-Time Job

So first off let me just say that we all have day jobs at PLB. Artist, writer and co-founder Josh Shockley works in the grants dept at UMES, Artist, writer and co-founder Mathew Shockley is a high school art teacher and I am a sound and telecom tech. PLB really is our second full-time job… with no paycheck. But that’s okay, we love doing this, we love creating the books we would like to see out there, and we have a growing and dedicated base of readers that very much inspire us to keep going.

We are so lucky to be able to continue to publish work, it can be hard, even daunting at times, but the payoff is worth it ten times over. When we put out a new book and people are excited, and just can’t wait to get a hold of it, that feeling is astounding.

Collaborative Work

PLB is a very collaborative place. We do just about everything in the team model, with everyone having input on all aspects from the original script, to the artwork, right down to the lettering. We are also very fortunate to have lots of contributing creators at PLB from all over the world. With their immense talents we are able to publish much more often than we could otherwise. Not only that, as I said we are very collaborative, and every time someone gets a hold of one of our characters and makes them their own, the PLB universe grows.

What is coming?

We have a few things on the horizon. Of course we will continue publishing The Fall and Gideon and Sebastian, as well as our annual, which is our Halloween special. The Fall in particular is about to go into a long-term story arc entitled Streets of Fire, which will see his war on crime gain some new soldiers and introduce new faces to the PLB universe.

We are also co-hosting a comic book, anime, video game, and all things geeky convention at UMES on April 5th. This will be our third year putting this together with UMES student group A.C.T.I.O.N Anime, and we are really looking forward to it. Last year we saw attendance swell to over 700, which is a little amazing for a genre con in our very small population area. And on top of all of this, we are considering bringing in some more science fiction elements, and tying some of that with the Gideon and Sebastian story line with a one-shot or two, but that is early in development yet. We like to stay busy.

As for upcoming events, we have a few of those as well. We’ll be at the Collector’s Corner Bel Air Grand Opening on Feb. 1st, First State Comic Con on June 29th, Baltimore Comic Con of course, and you can find us set up every third Friday of the month at Salisbury 3rd Fridays.

You can learn more about PLB Comics at http://plbcomics.com

And about their Annual Convention – Eastern Shore Fan Con at http://easternshorefancon.com

If you are an Indie Creator and want to be featured in the Creator Spotlight please Contact Me and I can send you details about this feature.

Creator Spotlight – Maryland Indie Comic Publisher PLB Comics

The Creator Spotlight proudly welcomes PLB Comics, an Indie Comic Publisher from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. So, in their own words let’s take a look at what PLB Comics is all about.

First of all I’d like to thank Nick Davis for the opportunity for me to talk about PLB Comics with all of you. I’m James Dufendach, Editor/Letterer/PR & Marketing/Grunt labor, and am one-third of the core PLB creative team. We are an independent publisher located on the Eastern Shore of MD, and we specialize in grittier titles, think cable TV after 9pm.

Our current main line titles include The Fall: Vengeance & Justice of which we just published the fifth issue, and Gideon and Sebastian: Predators & Prey whose third issue is currently in development. PLB also does a yearly Halloween special which features anthology style tales of terror.

Preview Page from the Fall

The Fall, which is our main title, is a shoot ‘em up masked vigilante title on it’s face, but the physiological, and symbolic undertones are something we really hope strike a chord with our readers. We try to use the character of The Fall to expose the humanity of the supporting characters, and show that even in the jaded and broken world we paint, there is still hope and goodness, though it may come in surprising forms.

Preview Page from Gideon and Sebastian

Gideon and Sebastian is our action, buddy cop, comedy, vampire slayer book. Doesn’t exactly fit on a marquee does it? But that is exactly what it is. We like to say it’s sort of like Lethal Weapon with vampires. Gideon and Sebastian are brought in together by the Vatican to hunt down the vampire menace, and they are very different personalities.

This of course gets you that odd couple comedy that makes this book so much fun. Though we really enjoy the comedic element in this book, there is a dark side of it as well. In Gideon and Sebastian the vampires are not cute and sparkly, they are monsters, they don’t want to be your pal, they want to eat you. And Gideon and Sebastian want to destroy them in the most gore-tastic ways possible.

Second Full-Time Job

So first off let me just say that we all have day jobs at PLB. Artist, writer and co-founder Josh Shockley works in the grants dept at UMES, Artist, writer and co-founder Mathew Shockley is a high school art teacher and I am a sound and telecom tech. PLB really is our second full-time job… with no paycheck. But that’s okay, we love doing this, we love creating the books we would like to see out there, and we have a growing and dedicated base of readers that very much inspire us to keep going.

We are so lucky to be able to continue to publish work, it can be hard, even daunting at times, but the payoff is worth it ten times over. When we put out a new book and people are excited, and just can’t wait to get a hold of it, that feeling is astounding.

Collaborative Work

PLB is a very collaborative place. We do just about everything in the team model, with everyone having input on all aspects from the original script, to the artwork, right down to the lettering. We are also very fortunate to have lots of contributing creators at PLB from all over the world. With their immense talents we are able to publish much more often than we could otherwise. Not only that, as I said we are very collaborative, and every time someone gets a hold of one of our characters and makes them their own, the PLB universe grows.

What is coming?

We have a few things on the horizon. Of course we will continue publishing The Fall and Gideon and Sebastian, as well as our annual, which is our Halloween special. The Fall in particular is about to go into a long-term story arc entitled Streets of Fire, which will see his war on crime gain some new soldiers and introduce new faces to the PLB universe.

We are also co-hosting a comic book, anime, video game, and all things geeky convention at UMES on April 5th. This will be our third year putting this together with UMES student group A.C.T.I.O.N Anime, and we are really looking forward to it. Last year we saw attendance swell to over 700, which is a little amazing for a genre con in our very small population area. And on top of all of this, we are considering bringing in some more science fiction elements, and tying some of that with the Gideon and Sebastian story line with a one-shot or two, but that is early in development yet. We like to stay busy.

As for upcoming events, we have a few of those as well. We’ll be at the Collector’s Corner Bel Air Grand Opening on Feb. 1st, First State Comic Con on June 29th, Baltimore Comic Con of course, and you can find us set up every third Friday of the month at Salisbury 3rd Fridays.

You can learn more about PLB Comics at http://plbcomics.com

And about their Annual Convention – Eastern Shore Fan Con at http://easternshorefancon.com

If you are an Indie Creator and want to be featured in the Creator Spotlight please Contact Me and I can send you details about this feature.

Little Green Army Men – a story concept pencil for Tristan the Teddy Bear and the Cuddly Defenders.

Little Green Army Men Concept by Nick Davis

Little Green Army Men is a concept pencil for the next set of stories that will be appearing in the second volume of Tristan and the Cuddly Defenders. Concept illustrations are touch stones that capture a point of the story, the essence of it, for reference and inspiration.

Little Green Army Men – a story concept for pencil for Tristan the Teddy Bear and the Cuddly Defenders.

Little Green Army Men Concept by Nick Davis

Little Green Army Men is a concept pencil for the next set of stories that will be appearing in the second volume of Tristan and the Cuddly Defenders. Concept illustrations are touch stones that capture a point of the story, the essence of it, for reference and inspiration.

Toy Review – Captain America Marvel Superhero Masher Modular Action Figure

Hasbro have released a rather cool looking range of modular toys called Marvel Superhero Mashers; these chunky action figures are based loosely on Sigma 6 toy tech and are for Ages four upwards. The idea being you can swap any body part between each figure making your own unique Superhero.

I picked up the Captain America Superhero Masher Action Figure and it looked so good I picked up a pair (one to box, one to play with), the review continues after the jump.

Upon opening my first impressions it is a chunky well made toy, with a nice stylized look to the action figure. The modular-pieces slot in nicely and give a nice reassuring click when they lock. Now I am used to modular action figures having a large degree of articulation up 15 points plus, in this case you are limited to 10 points and the joints (especially elbow) are really stiff and a young child will struggle posing the figure, and they may be potential snapping points.

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Given this is a toy intended for preteens I thought the face sculpt was unnecessary mean looking and a little cross-eyed , this is minor compliant. In all this is a very nice little toy, it has a good feel to it and looks pretty durable. I am sure pieces will get lost as this is a nature of a modular toy made for preteens. I am very happy with it and this Cap has joined my collection. If you see your favorite Marvel Character in this Superhero Masher range I do suggest you pick it up, you wont be disappointed.

Four Thumbs Up out of Five

Captain America Superhero Masher Action Figure joins the collection.