Category Archives: Cartoons
Holy Avocado Soldiers! There Might Be an Axe Cop Cartoon!
This may be the greatest news in ax-wielding law enforcement animation since the ring fell off Chief Wiggum’s pudding cap. Insane-in-all-the-best-ways web comic Axe Cop has been optioned for an animated cartoon on FOX’s new Animation Domination HD Saturday night block. According to Deadline Hollywood, FOX has ordered six 15-minute episodes of the brilliant web series about an ax-wielding cop and his partner, who is sometimes either a flute cop, a dinosaur cop, a dinosaur soldier or an avocado soldier. It varies. The series is set to debut early next year. But you can spend the time waiting by reading the Axe Cop comic!
Axe Cop and Dinosaur Soldier flying in a rock & roll police car to the Bad Guy Earth!
If you’ve never heard of Axe Cop, then shame on you. Click that link right now and go read this marvelously amazing series. It will rot your brain with its awesomeness and then rebuild your brain with even more awesomeness. I lack the literary skill to express in mere words the incredible brilliance of Axe Cop.
But here is a smidgen of its greatness as Axe Cop and Flute Cop fight dinosaurs in just the first strip!
Dinosaurs come up a lot - as does head-chopping
The genius of Axe Cop comes from the mind of 5-year-old Malachai Nicolle, or at least he was 5 when the comic started in 2010. Malachai’s 30-year-old brother Ethan was an artist, and he started drawing all the insane ideas that his brother could come up with. The comic is wildly out of control when it comes to ides. From the ever transmorphing sidekick to characters like the Unicorn Baby, the vampire/ninja/werewolf/wizard/shark/crab brother Moon Warriors to Sock-a-Rang!
Don't worry, he wasn't really evil. He was Dr. Stinky Head in disguise!
Seriously, if you’ve ever trusted me about anything, then take my word that this web comic has to be seen to be believed. You will not be disappointed. And if you are, then you and I have wildly conflicting senses of humor. Because I am in love with Axe Cop.
They also have a pet T-Rex with machine gun arms.
Because of course they do
New Brave Trailer Fills Me With a Little More Hope
I have not been blown away by the previews for the next Pixar film Brave. It looks a little too slapstick for my tastes, a little too zany. Plus all we’ve seen of the plot is the cliched story of a young girl in medieval times fighting against society’s expected role for her. But this trailer has a tiny bit more oomph to it, at least at the end. Nothing will win me over faster than a slow, melodic song filled with soul and destiny. But what do you guys think of Brave so far?
Beware the Batman Teaser
Because the universe will shrivel and die a cold death if there isn’t currently a Batman cartoon show on the air, here is our first teaser to Beware the Batman. It’s going to be a CGI show coming out sometime…who knows. I’m not very interested, because there’s no Robin, and Alfred is going to be packing heat. Me thinks the studio executives had a hand in creating this one. I suppose we’ll just add it to the pile of Batman: The Animated Series, The Batman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise, Part 1
Hey Aang Gangers, did you remember that Dark Horse Comics was going to publish a direct sequel comic book to Avatar: The Last Airbender? I had forgotten all about it, until I randomly saw it mentioned online about a week ago. Well the first chapter was released all the way back in January, and I’ve finally gotten my hands on a copy! We all know that Legend of Korra started this past weekend (I haven’t seen it, don’t spoil it for me!), but this comic book The Promise, is all about our favorite characters from the original series. It’s set one year after Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and it’s about the work that must be done to bring peace back to the land.
The Promise: Part 1
And so far, it’s fantastic! All the characters are back, and almost all of them are growing from where we last saw them at the end of the cartoon. This isn’t just the continuing adventures of Avatar Aang and his friends, this is real, in-continuity growth and exploration of their world. This is everything you could want in a direct Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
Written by Gene Yang, the titular ‘Promise’ is one that the new Fire Lord Zuko asks of Avatar Aang, and it drives this first graphic novel. As Fire Lord, Zuko is dealing with an incredible amount of pressure to try and end the machinations of the 100 Years War. Fighting a bad guy is easy, governing in his place once he’s gone is hard. So the comic has a lot of nice political issues to deal with, while giving Aang a challenge that can’t be fought physically. The cartoon series was all about preparing Aang for the showdown with Ozai. But now that the fight is over, Aang has to get to the real task of maintaining peace. That can be much harder, with far more complications.
So the story is quite fascinating, and it’s great to revisit the characters. Though one complaint I have is that some of them don’t seem to have grown or changed at all. I realize that it has only been one year since victory, but I would have liked a bit more depth in exploring these familiar characters. I suppose keeping them the same will make it easier for younger readers, but I wanted more.
Especially since Zuko seems to be regressing very very quickly.
A lot of the comic is definitely very light on plot and character development. This book is geared towards the younger set. But it’s still a good read. Click the jump to read a full synopsis of The Promise, in case you can’t get a copy for yourself! The next two parts are due out in May and September, and I’ll definitely be checking those out as well!
