Chris Sims
Ask Chris #329: The Official Handbook Of Extremely Obscure Batman Villains
Q: Hey, so in The Lego Batman Movie, there's a character called The Mime. What's the deal with that? — @comicsfan4life
A: That signal, shining in the sky --- someone needs me to explain an extremely obscure Batman villain to them! I have been training for this day my entire life.
It might come as a surprise, but I actually haven't seen The Lego Batman Movie yet --- although I definitely want to. As I understand it, though, the Mime is only one of several c- to z-list Batman foes who show up and somehow also manage to get toys out of the deal. So my question is, why stop with the Mime?
The Definitive Power Ranking Of Every Single ‘LEGO Batman Movie’ Minifigure
The Lego Batman toy line has been going strong for over a decade now, but with this week's release of the Lego Batman Movie, we've seen a truly unprecedented explosion of merchandise based around the Caped Crusader's blockiest incarnation. And with that many figures, going from the Dark Knight himself all the way down to super obscure deep cuts like the Mime and March Harriet, our course here at ComicsAlliance is clear.
We need to rank them.
So today, we've dug through every single Lego Batman Movie minifig (and eliminated simple variations like "Batman with a slightly different face") to rank them all, worst to best.
Ask Chris #324: Strong As Iron, Homely As Sin
Q: I've always felt like Metamorpho could be a much bigger star, but he's just too ugly. And not like The Thing, who's ugly in universe; Metamorpho is a truly awful design. Are there characters who you think could be better if they didn't look horrendous? — @EvilKeaton
A: Whoa whoa whoa, my dude. It's all well and good to ask a question about good ideas for characters that were held back by bad designs, but you can't just roll up in here and disrespect Rex Mason like this! It's certainly true that he's never quite caught on the way he probably should've for how good his original appearances were, and there are plenty of reasons for that, but to chalk it up to a "truly awful design?" I have to disagree.
It might not be the best design to ever hit the comics page, but that affable ugliness is only part of what makes it work --- not just for the character, but as a visual signifier of one of the most interesting eras in comics.
Geof Darrow Announces The Return Of ‘Shaolin Cowboy’
I like to think that my tastes fall into pretty broad categories like "superhero" or "adventure stories," but if you get right down to it, my favorite genre of comics has to be "a comic where someone fights a shark with multiple chainsaws." The ambiguous clause there is intentional, I'm equally interested if it's the person or the shark who has the chainsaws.
Either way, that extremely narrow, extremely awesome genre is exemplified by Geof Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy, a book that's light on plot and heavy on atmosphere, style, and highly detailed and extremely over the top fight sequences. And now, after a few years absent, it's finally making its return with a new series: Shaolin Cowboy: Who'll Stop The Reign?
Chris Onstad Walks Away From ‘Achewood’
Last year, Chris Onstad's Achewood returned from a 20-month hiatus on Christmas Eve, and it looked like there would once again be light and hope in this fallen world. Now, though, after a year of weekly updates, Onstad has announced that he's stepping away from Achewood again.
Ask Chris #320: The Justice League’s Holiday Mixtape
Q: What would be each member of the Justice League's favorite Holiday song? ---- @XavierFiles
A: I've been asked a ton of questions that follow the pattern of asking about what the Justice League does at the holidays, and answered many of them, but asking about their favorite holiday songs raises a lot of really interesting questions that can't just be answered by posting Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" seven times.
Meet The Misfits, Their Songs Are… Oh, You Know This By Now
If you've been keeping an eye on IDW's Twitter account, you've probably seen the teaser images released in advance of today's release of Kelly Thompson and Jenn St-Onge's Jem and the Misfits. The title is set to give the Holograms' eternal rivals a stage of their own, and each of the teaser images has revealed a single member of the cast, along with a full profile of each character.
But now, with the book hitting shelves and the Misfits ready to make some mischief and take their places as the Queens of Rock 'n' Roll, we're pleased to present the full image by St-Onge, along with some commentary on the series and its direction from Thompson.
An Extremely Thorough Review Of The WWE/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mashup Action Figures
There are several times in my life where I have tried to stop buying action figures, for all the reasons that you'd expect. They're expensive, they take up space, and while I'm not above making Storm Shadow drop a Stone Cold Stunner on Batman while I'm on the phone and need something to do with my hands, it's not like I actually spend enough time playing with them to keep them form just sitting on my desk gathering dust.
But every time I try to get out, something brings me back in, and nothing has ever gotten me as hard as the new line of Ninja Superstars figures from Playmates, in which WWE Superstars are combined with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And they are amazing.
‘One Piece Film: Gold’ Is Coming To American Theaters In January
I am woefully behind on my attempt to catch up with all 81 volumes of Eichiro Oda's One Piece, but I always understood this to be a series about, you know, pirates. Like, people who sail around on boats doing boat stuff and occasionally docking to have ridiculously weird super-powered pirate fights, many of which would also involve boats.
But I guess you eventually have to stop being on a boat sometime, at least for a little while, and in One Piece Film: Gold, they're heading to the city-sized casino that is Gran Tesoro for an all-new anime adventure --- and it's coming to theaters in America from January 10 to 17.
Say Goodbye To Productivity: Nintendo Just Put 30 Classic NES Game Instruction Manuals Online
The NES instruction manuals weren't just simple how-to-play diagrams. They were also tasked with telling the story of the game, describing the enemies, and even providing maps to players who could get lost wandering around Hyrule. And today, Nintendo has put 30 classic NES manuals online, including classic titles like the Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda, Mega Man 2, Castlevania, and more.