Superman’s Father Jonathan Kent Killed Again by DC Comics

I don’t know what is more surprising, that Pa Kent was killed off by DC Comics again or that the news of his demise was posted on the front page of CNN.com’s entertainment section. (link) Hasn’t the mass media learned by now that no one in the world of comic books stays dead forever? If you don’t believe me just ask Barry Allen and Gwen Stacy.

In Action Comics #870, which hits newsstands today, Superman’s Earth father Jonathan Kent dies from a fatal heart attack. Sadly, this is the second time Pa Kent has died. In the original mythos of Superman his Earth parents Martha and Jonathan Kent died shortly after high school. Both characters were retconned back to life in 1986 by John Byrne’s reboot of Superman after the fabled Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series.


Besides being killed off in comic books, Pa Kent also has a history of being killed off on television and on the silver screen. The CW’s Smallville killed off the character played by John Schneider in 2006 and in “the 1978 Superman movie that starred Christopher Reeve, Jonathan Kent, played by Glenn Ford, also died of a heart attack.” (link) The character will be greatly missed, but then again I expect to see him back among the living a few years down the road.

If you’re interested in a quick, brief rundown of all of Jonathan “Pa” Kent’s deaths through the years then check out this great article from Newsarama.com.

New Superman T-Shirt by Threadless

Microwaves Are Just Too Slow by David Creighton-Pester

Last week Threadless.com released a new red t-shirt that features someone who looks remarkably like the last son of Krypton. Microwaves Are Just Too Slow depicts Superman sitting on a broken microwave while heating up a frozen TV dinner with his heat vision. It’s pretty creative, but I’m not so sure it’s worth full price ($18). Besides, it’s not even the best super hero t-shirt made by Threadless. I still prefer the Batman themed t-shirt The Beginning.

Barneyism of the Week - The Fist Bump

I am not lowering this until someone gives me the respect of another person’s knuckles tapping against mine in a light, but decisive manner.

Pretty, pretty? Pretty, pretty? Pretty, pretty, pretty?

Then know this. Until it gets what it wants, neigh deserves, this fist will not yield.

IT WILL NOT YIELD!

- Barney Stinson

"I Heart NJ"

How I Met Your Mother

Last night’s episode of HIMYM, while not a classic, did a great job of moving some key storylines along and definitely set the stage for many episodes to come. The best part, in my opinion, was Barney’s absolute dedication to the completion of a dap, or as it is commonly known, the fist bump. Barney’s love of the fist bump is so strong he even wrote a post on his blog last night dedicated solely to the “only acceptable form of bro-to-bro contact.” (link) You can read Barney’s latest blog post here or below in its entirety:

The fist bump. One bro's way of telling another bro: "clever joke" or "thanks for taking the heffer so I could get the hottie" or "don't worry, I won't tell your girlfriend/wife." It's essentially the only acceptable form of bro-to-bro contact with the obvious exception of the high five. While the fist bump has gained much notoriety in the past few years, its origins date back to the dawn of bro-kind. But one thing has withstood the test of time - don't ever put your fist down until it's been most properly bumped.

Can you match these momentous fist bumps over the course of history with their place on the timeline?

1. Eli Whitney fist bumps cotton
2. God fist bumps Adam
3. Rocky vs. Drago fist bump before their fight in Rocky IV
4. Martin Luther fist bumps his 95 theses onto the door of the church
5. Tommie Smith and John Carlos fist bump atop the Olympic podium
6. Barack Obama fist bumps his wife, Michelle
7. Hieroglyphics in Egypt depict a Pharaoh fist bumping a cat
8. China builds the great wall to prevent the Mongolians from fist bumping them into oblivion
9. Chuck Yeager breaks the sound/fist bump barrier (Other guy's arm falls off - never done again)
10. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin make the first space fist bump
11. The first ever alien/Homo sapien fist bump

Kissaki Wicked Colorway by Erick Scarecrow

You may remember how excited I was last summer about Erick Scarecrow’s SDCC exclusive Kissaki Sandstorm colorway. Well, the founder of ESC Toy has done it again with an all new, limited edition colorway of his "point of the blade" figure.


Just in time for Halloween comes the Kissaki Wicked colorway, paying tribute to everyone’s favorite Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba. I’m not sure if this really is a tribute to the Wizard of Oz or the book/musical Wicked, but either way I love the idea and the new color scheme for Scarecrow’s designer vinyl figure Kissaki.


The moment I first saw the Kissaki vinyl figure, the New York Comic-Con exclusive Avenger colorway, I knew I had to own one. And with each subsequent colorway I’ve grown fonder of the platform, catapulting Kissaki to one of my all time favorite vinyl pieces. The Kissaki Wicked colorway is limited to just 288 pieces and retails for $69.99.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Video Game Box Art and Final Roster

There have been a couple of exciting announcements the past few weeks concerning Midway’s Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe fighting game. First up is the unveiling of the video game’s official box art, which you can see below:


The second exciting news is that the full roster of playable characters was finally released. (link) We now know officially that MK vs. DCU has 22 playable characters, 11 from the Mortal Kombat universe and 11 from the DC Comics universe. The final four characters announced should make some fans really happy, especially those of you who love playing as villains since the newest characters are some of the baddest men in their respective universes.

The final two Mortal Kombat playable characters are Shao Khan and Baraka, while the final two DC Comics characters are Lex Luthor and Darkseid. I will post some pictures of the MK vs. DCU version of these characters when they become available, in the mean time check out this screen shot of Baraka battling the Flash:

Johnny Cupcakes - New Fall and Halloween Themed T-Shirts

The Blot has been waiting for Johnny Cupcakes to release (and re-release) some new t-shirts, and it finally happened this past weekend. Not only that, but Johnny Cupcakes also unveiled an all new website which you can see here.



I’m a big fan of fall colors and the limited edition Halloween t-shirts are very cool, especially the Coffin Cupcake shirt. I’ve been holding out for just the right Cupcake & Crossbones colorway to come out and I think this Orange on Army Green might be the one I finally order. Check out some of the other new releases below:




All of the Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts and hoodies come in both mens and womens, and can be purchased directly from Johnny Cupcakes at its online store. All of the t-shirts are $35.99 and the zip-up hoodies are $65.99.

New Star Wars Clothing Line By Marc Ecko

This week Marc Ecko released his all new Star Wars Collection clothing line, which features two very cool, limited edition hoodies. The Blot is a huge Star Wars fan and these character hoodies are sick, especially the Boba Fett one (which I think I’m going to have to purchase immediately).



I am never quite sure what to expect when it’s announced that a popular property like Star Wars is teaming up with a designer clothing company, but Ecko really hit it out of the park with his Star Wars Collection. Many of the t-shirts in this line are very stylish and I really love the Star Wars Exploding Storm Trooper t-shirt. My only question is why so much of the clothing line is centered around the Empire’s generic Stormtroopers?


It sounds like this is just the beginning of Ecko’s Star Wars clothing line so expect more updates on this exciting release as they become available. In the meantime, check out these cool samples from the Ecko Star Wars Collection and click here to checkout the entire clothing line.

Portland State University and Dark Horse Comics Open First Comic Book Archive

This week has turned out to be a pretty cool news week in the world of comic books. The Portland Monthly Magazine is reporting that Portland State University’s Branford P. Millar Library will house the country’s very first comic book archive. Dark Horse Comics, home to Star Wars, Hellboy and Sin City, has “so far donated over 3,000 volumes to the library’s shelves (that’s three copies of every title the company has ever produced), making PSU the first university in the country to keep such an archive.” (link) I think this is wonderful news and it is about time that the comic book industry is given the respect it deserves as both works of literature and art.


For those of you wondering how such a collection ended up at Portland State University, it turns out that Dark Horse, the third largest U.S. publisher of comic books after Marvel and DC, was founded in 1986 by two PSU alumni, Mike Richardson and Neil Hankerson. In the article, librarian Helen H. Spalding is quoted as saying the Dark Horse Comics archive “is an important international research collection, it holds an interest for those studying American pop culture, gender studies, violence in literature—almost anything. We wanted to make the university a hub of comic-book studies.” (link)

If you’re in the Portland area then I highly recommend stopping by the PSU Millar Library and checking out the new Dark Horse section! I’d love to hear what it’s like and will one day hopefully get to see for myself. You can expect to see comics such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Concrete, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Barb Wire, The Goon, Grendel, Groo, The Mask, Usagi Yojimbo, and Aliens in the newly created comic book archive.

Robin the Boy Wonder and Superman to Team Up on The CW

Now this announcement has The Blot all kinds of excited. According to a Variety report, “the CW is prepping a series based on Batman sidekick Robin’s pre-Caped Crusader days” entitled The Graysons. (link) In the same vein as The CW’s Smallville, The Graysons will be a live action television show based loosely on the DC Comics.


According to reports, “just as Smallville focused on Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman, The Graysons will follow the world of Dick "DJ" Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman.” (link) While I’ve never been too interested in watching Smallville (except for the Justice League episodes), Robin (Richard “Dick” Grayson) has always been one of my favorite super heroes, even after he left Batman’s side to grow up and become Nightwing. It also makes me happy to see Warner Bros. finally create a project featuring one of DC Comics’ super heroes that isn’t named Superman or Batman.

Evidently The Graysons will be a one-hour show, “which will be set in modern times, young DJ will face challenges involving first loves, young rivals and his family as he grows up.” (link) I can’t even explain what great news this is. Even if the show totally screws with Dick’s official back story, at least Warner Bros. is making an attempt to utilize the huge stable of characters at their disposal, something Marvel Comics has been doing exceptionally well these past few years.

Expect more details to come as they become available!

Barneyism of the Week

I want…to take this burger out to dinner, and maybe a movie.

Then, take it back to my place, put on a little Terence Trent D’Arby and then I will just…

Fool around a little bit.

Nothing serious, just take it slow ya know?

- Barney Stinson

"The Best Burger
In New York"

How I Met Your Mother

I think The Blot secretly writes for How I Met Your Mother, how else do you explain the fact that they incorporate all of my favorite things into each and every episode? Last week we had an episode spouting the greatness that is Star Wars, and now this week HIMYM gives us an entire episode devoted to my favorite food of all time, hamburgers! Oh why do you mock me with your greatness How I Met Your Mother?!? The next thing you know the show will star one of the most awesome actors in the universe, Neil Patrick Harris. Oh wait, it’s already doing that too!