Month: December 2004

“Futurama: Voulme 2” – Review

andertoons

Buy my shiny metal ass!

I’m a huge Simpsons fan, so it’s only natural that I’m drawn to Groening’s Futurama as well, and the second set of DVDs is as good, if not better, than the first.

I think the writers, having gotten the first season under their collective belt, feel a little more comfortable in the show’s skin and really let loose with some outstanding laugh-out-loud stuff.

Episodes include:

“I Second that Emotion” (Bender and his ‘shiny metal ass’ learn, OK, are forced, to feel.)

“Brannigan Begin Again” (Oh how I wish Phil Hartman were around to voice the Shatneresque Brannigan!)

“A Head in the Polls” (Again with the Nixon bashing!)

“Xmas Story” (John Goodman stars as killer robot Claus.)

“Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?” (A look at the sci-fi “I must return to my planet to mate” staple.)

“The Lesser of Two Evils” (Bender’s evil twin sports a nifty goatee.)

“Put Your Head on My Shoulders” (Amy and Fry share Amy’s body in more ways than one.)

“Raging Bender” (Favorite line from Professional Robot Fighting League bad guy, The Foreigner – “I’m not from here! I have my own customs! Look at my crazy passport!”)

“A Bicyclops Built for Two” (Shape shifting romance in bloom!)

“A Clone of My Own” (The professor produces his clone Cubert.)

“How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back” (Love the naughty neat freak replacement for Hermes! “You dirty, DIRTY boy!”)

“The Deep South” (Fry falls for a mermaid. Kind of a weak episode.)

“Bender Gets Made” (Bender joins the mafia. It was only a matter of time.)

“Mother’s Day” (The professor’s only hope of saving mankind is getting it on with Mom.)

“The Problem with Popplers” (A great takeoff on Tribbles.)

“Anthology of Interest” (My favorite episode on the set! Brilliant stuff from beginning to end!)

“War Is the H-Word” (Brannigan – “You’ll be negotiating with the aliens’ mysterious leaders: The Brain Balls. They got a lot of brains and they got a lot of chutzpah.”)

“The Honking” (HONK HONK!)

“The Cryonic Woman” (Fry gets back with his old girlfriend and doesn’t “regret this. But I both rue and lament it.”)

Why Fox never gave this show a better slot (every week the damn NFL ran long) is beyond me. Anyway, if you’re looking for some really smart/naughty cartoon fun, give Futurama: Volume 2 a place in your Netflix queue.

Posted in TV

Looking For That Perfect Gift For Your Favorite Cartoonist?

andertoons2 Comments

Well, it’s that time of year, I and know what’s going through your mind – “Gee! What should I get my old buddy Mark at Andertoons for Christmas?!”

No, I’m not going to include a link to my Amazon wish list (although should you find it on your own…), but if you’d like to help out your favorite cartoon website there’s a few quick, easy, and best of all free things you could do!

1) Click the image below and vote for Andertoons at TopWebComics!

You can click once a day and it helps out my popularity there.

2) If you or your friends or family have a website, consider adding a link to Andertoons and spread the word!

Should you want to add a simple text link, here’s some code for you:

<a href=”http://blog.andertoons.com”>Andertoons Family & Business Cartoons</a>

Or add a graphics link and really spruce things up!

3) Comment on the blog.

I’m really enjoying writing it, and I hope you’re enjoying reading it. So, if something tickels your fancy, makes you angry, or, I dunno, just sort of leaves you feeling blah, then leave a comment. I love knowing that people are reading.

Of course the simple fact that you’re visiting the site at all is present enough for me, but if you really wanted to give me something extra special, there’s some suggestions.

“How’s the Squid?” by Jack Ziegler

andertoons

I'll have the Ziegler please

New Yorker regular Jack Ziegler’s new collection of food cartoons, How’s the Squid?, is some tasty ink indeed.

Like recent Cullum collections, Abrams publishes a lovely volume of 122 Ziegler offerings to satisfy any cartoon appetite.

Take the man running from an ice cream cone hailstorm with the caption “Who among us dares tempt the wrath of Ben & Jerry?”

Or the restaurant patron being eyed by an angry chef as he reads a ‘misfortune cookie’ reading “You’re next!”

But by far my favorite cartoon in the collection has to be on page thirty-two. A woman, man and child are looking at a toaster and its newly burnt toast. The top of the cartoon reads “Fatalism…” The woman says “It is God’s will.” The man remarks “Had the toast been destined to be edible, it would be so.” And the child says “B-b-but…” followed by another caption reading “and the seeds of doubt.”

To be honest, I’m not sure exactly why this is so funny, but I laughed out loud for approximately two minutes after reading it the first time. A really big loud laugh. My wife chortled and guffawed too, but neither of us can explain why it works.

I think that’s representative of a lot of Ziegler’s work. Somehow he defies cartoon convention and finds laughs where no one knew to look.

Cartoon and cooking fans alike would do well to add How’s the Squid? to their humor menu.

Stephanie Piro – Inside the Cartoonist’s Studio

andertoons4 Comments

Inside the Cartoonist's Studio

Welcome to yet another Inside the Cartoonist’s Studio! Today we welcome wonderfully funny cartoonist Stephanie Piro whose Six Chix and Fair Game cartoons appear in publications nation-wide!

What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?

1) If you were to cast a movie entirely with cartoon characters, what movie would it be and who would star in it?

I would do a movie version of “Sex in the City” with Betty and Veronica , Katie Keen, Aunt Fritzi Ritz and Brenda Starr (ok, so there’s 5 instead of 4. I had to get Brenda Starr in there). These hot babes would plow through some x-rated action and spicy dialogue with a variety of male comic super stars, including Archie, Lil’ Abner, Beetle Baily, Mark Trail, Superman and Basil St. John as Mr. Big. Cameos by Blondie and Lana Lang. How could this miss!

2) You’re a syndicate editor launching a new comic strip. What’s the worst possible title you can think of?

“Bangs” the story of a hairdresser and the customers who frequent her shop. Wait a minute, I submitted that idea once. Then I changed it to “Charmers”. It was still rejected. Maybe I should go back to “Bangs”??

3) A light bulb over a cartoon’s head signifies an idea, while a string of random characters denotes swearing. Invent a new cartooning icon and what it means.

A champagne glass makes a nice icon. It would appear over a character’s head whenever she decides to go to a bar or club. A lawnmower could appear over someone’s head who is hard at work. Actually, now I love these icons! I want to use them! Feel free to make them your own!

I have to admit, I’ve always had a thing for Brenda Starr, so this “Sex in the City” sounds great to me!

Thanks so much, Stephanie, for playing along and giving some really great answers!

Please check out Stepahnie’s site, Six Chix, Fair Game and Strip T’s! All are guaranteed to be Piro-rific!

(BTW, how ’bout that snazzy new ITCS graphic?)