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Internet Marketing Optimization Internet Marketing has become the central focus for all online businesses seeking to increase sales and revenue. It is not enough to build a great looking website and still expect success. You need to be found. This translates to page 1 results of Google and all other major search engines. Star Wars Games Here on Earth we use games of both the card and video variety to distract ourselves from the misery of our daily existence. Logically, who wants to be an unemployed barber when you can be an attractive 60th level elf woman who rides a tiger? A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, however, life was different. Manga Drought 2010 Jeez, I cannot believe this month. Last week all we get was one manga, and this week? Nothing. Well, okay there is one single item coming at us from TokyoPop, but I’m not sure if it can even be considered manga. And not for the usual reasons I don’t count half the stuff coming from TokyoPop as manga, this is going to be TokyoPop’s first legitimate single-issue comic book. Is There A Porco Rosso Sequel? Life, if done right, is long. It is also full of unfair twists. We start it off as mindless eating machines that get to take naps, everybody loves and wants to hold, and we get all our meals through breastfeeding. Six Flags! We end our tenure on Earth as interesting, battle scarred individuals that no one wants to talk to and who are routinely ignored for the new and unusual. Two flags. Repairable Diesel Trucks Companies that are obliged to work within a budget appreciate the importance of being able to buy repairable diesel trucks at a low price via online auto auctions. Gone are the days when everyone was obliged to agree to whatever greedy dealers were prepared to offer on a deal. As dealers were the only people who could get a license to bid at auction, they had the monopoly on price. Grading Comic Books Despite all evidence to the contrary let’s say you actually believe that comic book collecting is a profitable, enjoyable and easy way to make money. God help you. Now let’s take this absurdly preposterous scenario even a step further and say you found someone JUST AS delusional as yourself to buy your boxes upon heavy boxes of smelly, worthless comic books and finally get them out of your parent’s basement once and for all. New Manga Release Yeeeah this week’s title is pretty self-explanatory. That’s right, there is a book coming out. I can only stand to guess that this is because that very last week of July was a huge release week, immediately followed by the first week of August’s ginormous release schedule. On a completely unrelated note, according to the computer not underlining the word “ginormous” with a red dotted line, I believe it has been confirmed as an official real word. Thank you Miriam Webster. Who are the X-Men? Stan Lee had many astonishing insights as to what would sell comic books, not the least of which was to pander to his audience. Reboot Movie Fail Hollywood movie producers would steal the liver out of a newborn baby if they thought it could turn a profit. If the taste of the day was mutants punching people’s grandmothers in the face they’d release a 12 disk DVD box set. Heck, for two cents they’d throw you and everybody you know into a giant blender just to get extra footage for “Saw 7.” AMS-110 Geara Doga After what seems like forever here at the FPNYC blog, we actually have a new Gunpla to discuss! We’ll be looking at the 1/144th scale AMS-110 Gear Doga Neo Zeon Mass Productive Mobile Suit, which aside from a long-ass name, is actually a pretty nifty kit. I’ll also be trying a new review format, so let me here what you think of it in the comment section. Birds and Gods Bird Superheroes Superheroes are thinly veiled caricatures of our own hopes and insecurities. Finding the right balance between subtly recognizing these deep psychological urges and making the character cool is the entire trick to creating interesting and compelling characters. Think of it like making your first mixed drink: You want enough booze in there to knock your socks off, but put too much in and it will taste like liquorices flavored Scope. Comics to read after San Diego Comic Con The Week AFTER San Diego Comic Con is notoriously absent of whiz-bang-pow. The publishers limp out a few regular titles and hold their collective heads as the faint cobwebs of hangovers and sun-stroke fade into the routine of a regular work week. Mad Dash In August: New Manga Releases Mad dash? Why yes. Remember last week, when I mentioned how there were a ton of books coming out and I wasn’t sure if it was August coming early, or just a lucky week for the end of July? Well, as it turns out, July was just a very lucky month. And I mean that in the sense that just one week later, the first official release week of August, is another ton of books, both new and long awaited, that I know you are all going to be anxious to read. History of Gundam part 4: The Double 0’s The History of Gunpla comes to a conclusion in the modern era, when Bandai placed most of their money in the HGUC and MG lines, with lines just for the two Alternate Universe series occupying most other slots. The History of Gundam in America part 2 Welcome back readers! I’m going to continue with the article in a minute, but I wanted to do shamelessly plug something first. Always the trendsetters, both FPNYC and I are on twitter and if you wish to follow us, you can add @FPNYC and @ Anarchris to your follower list! Warning: I curse like a sailor. Anyway let us continue! Thyroid and Back Pain Back pain is a common ailment among many people, and because back pain is often a symptom of a separate diagnosis or illness, doctors will often try to figure out and treat that separate ailment rather than the back pain itself. One problem commonly overlooked over more frequent problems such as strains and sprains, slipped and herniated disks, and several types of chronic pain disorders (such as fibromyalgia, osteoporosis or osteoarthritis) is a problem with the thyroid The History of Gundam and America Part 1 Welcome back readers! I’m going to continue with the article in a minute, but I wanted to do shamelessly plug something first. Always the trendsetters, both FPNYC and I are on twitter and if you wish to follow us, you can add @FPNYC and @ Anarchris to your follower list! Warning: I curse like a sailor. Anyway let us continue! New Manga Releases Enter The Fray Well, as I’m sure everyone in the city has experienced this week, it has been Satan’s armpit in New York City, hot and humid as all hell. Fortunately, as a small consolation, there is a few bits of awesome coming out. And what is most odd about this week, it isn’t dominated by any one publisher for once. It usually seems like they give each other space and a chance once a month to put out as much as they can, but relatively speaking, everyone is entering the fray. Build Log Part 2, Well now, this project has been proving to be a bit more complex than I figured. Well, actually, just as complex as I figured. After finishing up the head and waist parts, I figured it was time to dive right into the part needing the most plastic removal-the cannon. Let’s just say I should’ve been a bit more prepared for that. Because of how messy that proved to be, I’m thinking of not using this for BAKUC, and trying something else, which I’ll show at the end of this entry. So for now, this GM The History of Gundam and America Happy belated 4th of July everyone! I assure you while you were off celebrating your independence this weekend; I was off suffering through “The Last Airbender”, which was truly terrible. How Much are My Comic Books Worth? Collecting comic books is a fabulous hobby! It combines some of the nicer aspects of Asperger’s syndrome with the never-ending sights and smells of rotting, musty paper. Shun humanity while you’re constantly reminded that matter decays! See you in the grave! Build log GM Canon This time around, in lieu of a kit review, I’m going to do something different-a build log! More specifically, a kitbash one. For… well, as many weeks as this takes me, I’m going to be working on an HGUC MSV kitbash of a GM Cannon. I’m hoping to get this guy done to enter in the BAKUC preliminaries at Otakon this year, but that might not be completely likely. Today was my first day of building, and I can already tell that this isn’t going to be nearly as easy as the GM Sniper Custom was. New Comics 7-14-2010, Aspen comics have managed to publish a comic book WITHOUT a half-naked lady on the cover! This is an impressive feat for them, one sure to turn over some long standing bets with bookies keeping tabs on such things. Marvel Super Hero Squad vs The Super Friends Andy Rooney, Ed Anger, W.C. Fields, Rodney Dangerfield. Each one of these gentlemen is an established pioneer of their chosen artistic fields, though each one will always be remembered as bitter, crusty, cranky old sour-puss! Wonder Woman’s Rebooted Makeover J.M. Straczynski has revamped Wonder Woman and, along with the considerable help of Jim Lee, redesigned her costume. This sort of thing happens. The History of the Gunpla part 1: The 80s While I take a small break from GM Cannon articles to get some painting done, I figured I should go over another important topic-the many lines kits come from. Gunpla has evolved considerably over the past thirty years, grades and scales aside. So let’s take a look: There’s Always Something To See: New Manga Releases One might expect a little more excitement from a week in the middle of the summer, but all is not lost, there are still quite a few interesting things, some old friends as well as brand new faces. Okay, enough with the personifying of manga, here’s the beef: Inu Yasha Volume 50 shows up this week, and aside from being proud that they finally picked up the pace of it’s production, we must celebrate that it finally made it to this milestone. And by celebrate, I mean buy. Review: The HGUC GM Every good science fiction or mecha series needs a good-guy cannonfodder of some sort, and of course, Gundam was no exception-heck, it pretty much gave it to the genre. The GM is pretty much the epitome of the “redshirt” mecha, and no, that’s not a reference to the design-these guys get torn through pretty easily in just about every series and incarnation you see them in. The World Cup of Gundam Soccer mania has swept the planet as the World Cup, which started several weeks ago , and in a surprising turn of events, America actually cared this time around. This probably had to do with the fact that we didn’t get destroyed in the first round, which is a pleasant change, especially for the 5 Americans who actually follow the sport on a regular basis. HGUC Guntank Review oor Guntank. This guy has to be one of the most neglected designs in Gundam’s fiction. While it had a pretty prominent role in the original TV series, it was replaced by a second Guncannon in the third movie, and was completely absent from the novels. Now, sure, the idea of using a tank in space is downright silly, but hey, it worked on the surface of Luna II, so maybe they could’ve had it sit on top of the White Base? Gundam Double OH YEAH: The Meisters: Conclusion Better later than never right? After a few weeks of delays, I’m ready to complete my look at the OO Meister’s line for the time being with the 4th and final meister- Alleujah Haptism and his Gundam from Season 1 of Gundam OO the Arios! Iron Man 2 In Iron Man 2 Robert Downey Jr. plays a booze swilling, millionaire at the forefront of civil defense who battles foreigners in order to secure his father’s legacy. It’s like the George W. Bush story, only Tony Stark fights his own battles! ZING! Weapons of the One Year War part 1-Earth Welcome to part one of two of a special on what I think is one of the most important parts of any mobile suit: the weapons. Some suits are known for their distinctive weapons, but if you play through any Gundam video game, specifically games like Zeonic Front or Operation Troy, you’ll find that some mecha don’t always stick to their assigned weapons. Comic Con Exclusives 2010 Arg! T’is time again for the San Diego Comic Con, the biggest and most expensive trip most nerds will take outside of their parents basements this year. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet then take heart, because you can’t anymore. I’m sure the dang thing will be totally sold out by the time we go to press. Did I say “heart?” I meant “valium.” Don’t worry, you can always pre-order for next year….OH WAIT, sorry, pre-order for next year has probably sold out now, too. Review: 1/100th Scale HGGW Epyon For today’s article I’m gonna do something special. Originally I was going to do a two-parter but I haven’t had much drive or energy to put the other kit together. Anyway, a few months ago I did an article commemorating Gundam Wing’s tenth anniversary in the United States. While not Gundam’s first appearance in the US by any stretch of the imagination, it was a first a lot of us. HGUC Guncannon Review When they HGUC line got started in the summer of 1999, it began with stuff people didn’t really expect. The 08th MS Team line gave fans a chance to get designs from the Universal Century in nice decent quality at 1/144 scale, but they were mostly new designs. Serenity Float Out Comic Review Patton Oswald is a funny man who tells funny jokes. He was great as a talking rat in Pixar’s Ratatouille, though even funnier in Comedians of Comedy, in which Patton takes his career in hand and launches a comedy tour with now legends Zach Galifianakis and Brian Posehn. Brian and Patton stop at ever comic book shop they can find along the way, and many of the funny off the cuff lines between these two are about superheroes. Over The Counter Scar Treatment Even though scars are nature’s badge of honor of a healing job well done, they’re not necessarily something you want to share with the rest of the world. A scar on your face or hands can cause you embarrassment, and rightly or wrongly, people do notice them. There are many options for treating them, some of these including surgical intervention. Medical attention might come in the form of plastic surgery to remove the scar, collagen fillers, grafts or dermabrasion, laser resurfacing or steroid. Frank Frazetta: Legend As the internet pushes the frontiers of fantasy and concept art to greater heights it becomes increasingly more difficult to remember a world without conceptart.com, imaginefx magazine, Spectrum and deviantart.com. The fantasy artist, likewise, has evolved into smaller, faster and more stylized professionals than ever before. If one would follow the evolution comparison we could argue that contemporary fantasy artists are a bunch of chickens! Classic Gelgoog Double Feature The time has come for the last part of Gelgoog week, and we’re finishing it off with the last type of Gelgoog released in the HGUC line-the classic MS-14 from the original TV series. Like the Dom before it, the original Gelgoog was the last to come out. Kind of sad that the original design came out after all the designs that were made later, no? Regardless, sometimes time can be a good thing, and this led to each of these suits being the best of their respective trios. Gelgoog Week Part 2: Gelgoog Jaeger Time for part 2 of 3 of Gelgoog week! This time, we’re going to take a look at the HGUC incarnation of the Gelgoog Jaeger from Gundam 0080. This kit got hardly any screentime in the OVA, appearing for just seconds in one of the space battles. If anything, some of the Federation suits that got more time on the screen deserved kits much more than this one, but well, Japan loves their pseudo-German space revolutionaries, so they get all the kits, I guess. What is Supernatural Supernatural is a television show on the CW television network which regularly airs on Thursday nights at 9:00 pm. Supernatural is about a pair of monster hunting brothers trying to stave off the apocalypse by drinking beer, playing classic rock and kicking a little monster ass. Pirates, Robots In case you guys out there have not been keeping up with the new releases on our website, you have to know that there is a lot going on this week. It is the first week of the first month of summer, and that means all the good stuff is pouring out. Megatron vs Skeletor vs Cobra Commander Nearly a third of Marvel’s comic book characters have roots in a neighborhood of New York City known as Hell’s Kitchen. Nick Fury grew up there, as did the yarmulke sporting rock monster known as the Thing. Daredevil calls Hell’s Kitchen his home, as did Stiltman, Vermin and Ms. Lion. Guide to Scales and Grades I’m taking a little break from my two-review weeks and talking about a much more general subject-scale and grades. I’m sure a lot of first-time buyers look at the kits they want online and wonder, “How big is it? How hard is this to build? How nice will the finished product be?” Well, I’m hoping this guide here will help you decide what you want and what to expect. New Comics Continue EVERY comic book is a horror comic book from the perspective of a tree. Imagine if a plant handed you a book, with brightly colored versions of super-powered plants. Not so creepy… but what if the book was printed on MULCHED UP HUMAN SKIN?! Warcraft With A Vengeance There’s not a tremendous amount of stuff coming out this week, but there are some good ones, and almost all of it seems to be TokyoPop as they try to take back the reigns at the end of the month. First in their arsenal this week, (I’m not sure why first exactly, it’s not alphabetical or anything), is World Of Warcraft: Shadow Wing “The Dragons Of Outland“, written by Richard A. Knaak and illustrated by Jae-Hwan Kim. Custom Zakus Since the first part of this series examined one of the “newer” Custom Zakus, it’s only fair that the “Then” portion examines the O.G. of Custom Zakus-The MS-06S “Zakue II”:Principality of Zeon Char’s Customize Mobile Suit from the Original Mobile Suit Gundam series. Of course we won’t be looking at the first release of this kit, but we’ll be dealing with 1/144th scale HGUC “remake” released back in 2002. HGUC Rick Dom Continuing my semi unexpected “break” from the review “weeks”, I’m gonna be covering another kit from the HGUC 0080 series. In addition to the few new kits made for the HGUC line, all of the kits from the original line were redone. Comic Book Cooking Nearly a third of Marvel’s comic book characters have roots in a neighborhood of New York City known as Hell’s Kitchen. Nick Fury grew up there, as did the yarmulke sporting rock monster known as the Thing. Daredevil calls Hell’s Kitchen his home, as did Stiltman, Vermin and Ms. Lion. Saturn Provocateur So this week is a small release week in quantity, barely even ten things are coming out, but the good news is, this week belongs t Dark Horse who is releasing a few choice titles for you guys. First on the list is the amazingly belated Hellsing Volume 10 by Kohta Hirano. The Heroic Routine – Super Heroes in New Comics FIRST OFF, Galacta: Daughter of Galactus one shot is out this week by Empowered creator Adam Warren. I expect you all to buy a copy. Two copies if you can. Adam is one of the brightest talents in the biz. HGUC Mass Production Guncannon Review When the original Gundam 0080 model kit line came out in 1989, it really changed things for Gunpla. While they may seem really outdated by today’s standards, they were the first fully-snap together Gundam kits, not needing any glue like the Sentinel kits, or screws like the Char’s Counterattack kits. Gundam Double-OH YEAH!: The 4 meisters Gundam review part 3 Welcome back to Part 3 of my look at the Gundam 00 Mesiter Gundams. Head’s up for the two of you who care; we’re currently out of stock of any of pilot Allelujah Haptism’s Gundams on the 1/144th scale, so they will probably be a delay of some sort between parts 3 and 4. He-Man and the Way of the Comic Book The countdown begins! At the time of this writing there are only SEVEN days until mattycollector.com, the online store of toy mega-giant Mattel that caters to fans and collectors puts its latest and greatest Masters of the Universe rescuplt figure on sale! Gundam Double part 2 Running a little late, what with the Iron Man 2 release and Mother’s Day (don’t even ask me about my progress in Final Fantasy 13) , but here’s the 2nd installment of the 00 Gunpla series, which I know all 5 of you still reading this are excited about. HGUC Rick Dias Review When the HGUC line first started back in the summer of 1999, it kept things rather simple. Instead of covering all the main character units, fancy new OVAs, and stuff outside of the Universal Century, it focused mainly on support mecha and enemy units-stuff that usually gets neglected in kit form. Gundam Astray Review When Gundam SEED came out in 2002, one hell of a merchandising push came with it. Several new model kit lines were introduced like the new and unposeable take on the No Grade kits and the short lived Quick Model series. The Legend Continues Welcome to another exciting issue of your favorite manga updater. I know some of you are wondering what legend, and why is it continuing? A) I like Kung Fu, the old show, and the second series they made where Caine had a son who was a cop. And B) there seems to be only one series premier out of the whole lot. Kitbashing the GM Sniper Custom Ever since Bandai started making new kits of some of their class mecha back in the nineties, builders have been looking for ways to add some of the MSV designs to the ranks. Bandai loves giving some of these designs the Master Grade treatment, but they go largely neglected on High Grades. So what do we do? Well, we kitbash, of course! Arche Gundam Finale When last we left off, we had tinted the Arche’s various clear bits and assembled the drive core and most of the lower legs, so this time around we’ll start there. The shin-plates come next. The kneepads get sprayed Vallejo GC Skull White, same as the other white parts, and the big red bits Gore Red as per the rest of the red parts, then assembled as per instructions. Full Armor Gundam Boy, Bandai sure loves our money, don’t they? In the past few years, mostly through video games, Bandai has been having totally-awesome mecha designer Hajime Katoki redesign some of Kunio Ookawara’s M-MSV designs. And for the most part, they’ve been pretty awesome-like the Gundam G04 and G05 from the manga “From Place Beyond the Blaze” (quite the Engrish title there) and the video game “Encounters in Space” were based on Ookawara’s RX-78-4 and RX-78-5 designs Publisher IDW Takes the Lead How did they do it? There’s no magical secret, they did the exact same thing Dark Horse and Image did in the first place. Aggressively seeking out comic book properties people WANT to read and publishing engaging new material. That wasn’t so hard, was it? New Magic the Gathering Release:Eldrazi To Invade Zendikar! Despite (in my opinion) a weak 2nd Season (also see Code Geass R2). One of the things I liked about Gundam 00 was how unique the mecha design was for the series. In Season 1, most of the Meister’s (fancy way of referring to the main pilots of 00) were pretty thin for Gundams. Gunplay Review: Cherudim Gundam Despite (in my opinion) a weak 2nd Season (also see Code Geass R2). One of the things I liked about Gundam 00 was how unique the mecha design was for the series. In Season 1, most of the Meister’s (fancy way of referring to the main pilots of 00) were pretty thin for Gundams. The Strike Series Variants part 2 And welcome to part 2. We only have 2 kits to look at this time, so let’s cut to the chase right? This is the MBF-02 Strike Rogue, which appeared in Gundam SEED towards the end of the series. It’s piloted by Cagallai Yula Athha for the most part, although Kira does so for several minutes in Destiny, before he acquires the Strike Freedom. New Comic Releases 1 Comic Issues There’s two businesses to Comic Books. In one, artists and writers try (And mind you I did say TRY) to draw, write and create the most amazing, spectacular sequential story they possibly can. On a monthly title, surpassing past successes can be a daunting challenge. Gooey Centers And Juicy Goodness Well then, now that the initial flood weeks have gone by we are left with a much shorter release list, but we will not let you down! First off, Viz is releasing a couple new Japanese novels, those special kind with the anime flavor without actually being related to any one series. Slum Online by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (the writer of All You Need Is Kill) is about about boy named Etsuro who is a college freshman whose life sucks Gunpla Ramba If you’ve been building kits for as long as I have, chances are you have a bunch that you worked on a long time ago, and look back at them now and say, “Wow, I really screwed that up!”. Or maybe you have kits that you broke and didn’t know how to fix. Or heck, maybe you just don’t have any new kits and are looking for a little project to keep yourself busy. The Strike series When Gundam SEED debuted on Japanese TV in 2002 (Cartoon Network would later air it in 2004 as part of the new Saturday night Toonami programming block), it was a huge hit in the homeland, which printed money for Sunrise and Bandai. Part of that profit came from model kits, including series protagonist Kira Yamato’s Gundam, the Strike, who launched initially with 3 variants from the get go, only to be upgraded, redesigned or recolored several times. Salvage Motorcycles for Sale However, the burning question is where to find salvage motorcycles for sale—at a decent price—and then how to outfit them without busting one’s pocketbook. There are actually a number of ways to do this, and most of them are as simple as finding the right lists of parts, and looking at the right online auction sites with the best databases. I Went To PAX East So You Didn’t Have To: Video Game Expo If the fine cartoonists at penny-arcade.com were going to all the trouble to have their record-breaking video game convention here on the East Coast, it would only be polite to attend, right? Forbidden Planet spared NO EXPENSE in flying me out to Boston last weekend to cover the con for the Weekly Planet. The End Of Pluto: New Manga Releases from Osamu Tezuka I know it’s a gloomy week so far, and no one really wants to go out in this weather, but if there was ever an excuse to get your feet damp and squishy I believe good books are it, and this week we have some good books. Let’s start with the 8th and final volume of Pluto, the Urasawa X Tezuka collaboration event. When we last left off in Volume 7 Photon just got obliterated, and his hands survived just long enough to protect the child Wassily and the guard-bot from the explosive force. Black Blizzards Beat Gundam So its a reeeeally small week this week, about 10 books. Three of those books are Mobile Suit Gundam related. First up is the 9th (and I believe final) volume of Gundam: Ecole Du Ciel. In case you were curious, Ecole Du Ciel first started coming out in the states in 2005. That’s five years to put out 9 books. The only excuse for that kind of fan-teasing is some horrible debilitating disease that left the artist minus both their hands for a couple years. Board Games Make It To Comics Movie nerds are well aware of the upcoming deluge of summer blockbusters based on board games. To the rest of you I can only say “Yes, seriously, board games. ” Ridley Scott has an alternate reality flick based around Monopoly in the works. Films have been optioned off of Battleship, Risk and Kerplunk. Uh-huh. HG30th Gundam versus HGUC Gundam review Over the years, the original RX-78 Gundam has seen a lot of changes, be it in animation, video game, toy, or model form. It’s a staple of anime and science fiction history, and should be a mainstay of almost any Gundam or general robot collector’s collection.

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