My friends and I went to WonderCon this year, and wandering through the Artists’ Alley, I happened upon this nifty little piece:
I love the chubby, little monkey, his eyes and his gleeful expression, and the banana-picking robot who’s visibly annoyed by all of this.
Well, I finally got around to checking out the website URL scribbled on the back of the artwork. It turns out it’s the cover art for a comic book called F.I.S.H. by P. Jeep Naarkom and illustrated by Paeng Thitaya:
Apparently, F.I.S.H. stands for Furtive Intelligent System of Havoc and tells the story of a robot lost in the jungle with no clue as to its purpose or identity.
If you want to learn more, check out their website at Maimalai Studios (http://www.maimalai.com/).
I never played the original game, which debuted twenty years ago for the Nintendo Entertainment System (although I do remember reading about it in Nintendo Power),or its sequel, a Gameboy game which I hadn’t even known existed until today.
(A Boy And His Blob: Trouble On Blobolonia for the NES)
(And the sequel, The Rescue Of Princess Blobette, for the Gameboy)
Still, I’m looking forward to this year’s release of a brand new A Boy And His Blob for the Nintendo Wii for three reasons: the first being nostalgia; after all, the 80s are back in a big way these days.
Secondly, I love the premise - a boy sets off on a quest to save the land with the help of his little blob buddy who can transform into different shapes (ladders, umbrellas, balloons, and the like) depending on the flavor of jelly bean fed to him.
Lastly, the main reason I’m excited – the adorable redesign of the characters and the amazingly gorgeous backgrounds and environments.
See for yourself:
(Look familiar? Compare this screenshot with the one taken from the original NES game above.)
Here’s the trailer for the upcoming G. I. Joe film in theaters August 7th:
If it weren’t for the new “accelerator suits” the Joes are sporting and Cobra Commander’s radically different appearance, I’d probably be pretty satisfied with the results.
(And don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything; Cobra Commander isn’t shown in the newest trailer. You can check out the new look of the Joe team’s archnemesis in my previous post).
It seems as though Stephen Sommers and company aren’t taking things too, too seriously, and I love the insanely over-the-top plot to destroy the world’s greatest landmarks - a classic Cobra scheme that could have come straight from the old 80s cartoon.
I’m still undecided about seeing this one in theaters. What do you folks think?
In February, I posted pics of a kiddie-fied Cobra Commander from this summer’s upcoming G. I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - our first look at the villain’s live-action counterpart. (Click here for the original post.)
Now, pics of the new Cobra Commander movie tie-in action figure have shown up online providing confirmation that what we saw earlier is in fact the real deal:
I can’t say that I’m particularly fond of Cobra Commander’s new look. What do you think?
