Hellboy Invades NBC - New Hellboy II Television Promo Ads

Tonight at midnight marks the official release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army and I’m already scoping out movie times to try and avoid the crazy opening weekend crowds that come with every new movie that debuts over the summer. Universal, who is producing and distributing Hellboy II, has come up with some really creative television promotional advertisements for the movie and The Blot can’t get enough of them.

A few years ago NBC and Universal merged to create the aptly named NBC/Universal, so it should come as no surprise that Universal would utilize the NBC family of networks to promote their upcoming movies. First it was a promo ad involving Hellboy on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio (which you can see here), and then on Sunday I saw a USA Network “Characters Welcomed” ad that featured Hellboy. Now the internet is abuzz with new Hellboy II promo ads featuring two of NBC’s most popular freshmen shows, Chuck and American Gladiators.

I don’t know who came up with the idea to have Hellboy interact with other properties’ characters, but it really is ingenious. The first video below features Hellboy playing video games with Chuck’s Zachary Levi (a.k.a Chuck Bartowski) and the second shows Hellboy visiting the set of American Gladiators where he runs into Gladiator Wolf (played by Hollywood Yates). There’s also a great retro “The More You Know” public service announcement starring Hellboy. I’m hoping there are a few more crossovers out there, but in the mean time check out these three new NBC Hellboy II TV promo ads below:

Hellboy on Chuck


Hellboy on American Gladiators


The More You Know PSA with Hellboy

Showtime Greenlights The Exterminators From DC Comics/Vertigo

To be honest, I’ve never read an issue of DC Comics’ The Exterminators, which is published by DC imprint Vertigo. But I thought it was really cool when I read on The Hollywood Reporter yesterday that Showtime had agreed to produce a drama based on the Mature Readers title. (link) The Exterminators, written by Simon Oliver and art by Tony Moore, “follows the dysfunctional adventures of exterminator Henry James and his freakish supporting cast as they take on the cruel chaos of nature in the dirty corners of Los Angeles – only to stumble upon a secret that could well reverse the positions of exterminator and pest!” (link)

It was interesting to learn that Oliver’s original idea for the comic came from a failed TV pitch, so I guess it is more than a little ironic that the comic has now been picked up as a TV show. THR.com describes the Showtime version of The Exterminators as “Six Feet Under in the world of pest control,” with the show revolving “around the Bug-Be-Gone crew, an extended dysfunctional family of exterminators whose greatest enemies aren’t the insects and rodents they meet and kill on a daily basis but rather their own self doubts, vices and inner demons.” (link)

The Exterminators actually sounds pretty interesting, and while I always love to see how networks translate a comic into a flesh and blood television show, I’ll be waiting for this one to come out on DVD. I mean come on, who subscribes to Showtime anyway!?! I’m joking Dexter fans!

If you’re interested in reading Issue 1 of The Exterminators for free, you can download a PDF version of the comic from Vertigo/DC Comics here.

The Maxx Limited Edition SDCC Vinyl Mini Action Figure

At the height of the comic book craze of the early to mid 90’s, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx was one of the best comics published by the newly created Image Comics. The bizarre world of The Maxx grew when Kieth joined forces with MTV to create the now classic The Maxx cartoon in 1995. Shocker Toys, which recently started producing a line of indie comic book character action figures, has produced an all new limited edition San Diego Comic Con 2008 exclusive mini Maxx vinyl action figure with 4 points of articulation.


The limited edition SDCC ’08 mini Maxx vinyl action figure is limited to 500 pieces and can be purchased at Shocker Toys’ San Diego Comic Con booth #3948 for $30.00. If you can’t make it to California for the big convention, a limited amount of mini Maxx figures are available now at the Shocker Toys online store.