My Disenchantment fan kit for season three

We're all watching the newest season of Disenchantment on Netflix, right? I love this series and I think that the newly-released season three is really compelling, funny and exciting. For all of the obvious reasons, this show feels like an extension of Futurama, which is one of my all-time favorite programs.

For reasons unknown to me, a marketing company contacted me a few weeks back about sending me a press kit-like "watch party" box in anticipation of the new season. I, of course, hastily accepted, and just a few days ago, a package arrived with a box of Disenchantment-branded items. I thought I'd show them off, with many thanks to ChizComm Media and the folks at the show!

Any collector knows that the box is a big part of any presentation. This one was simple but I really love the logo sticker on the lid. This is why I will be keeping the box forever.

The stuff inside the box was also pretty exciting. Here's how it looked, packed with black and gold confetti.

First up! Here's a fleece throw featuring the demon Luci.

Next, here's a Funko Pop! figure of King Zøg, voiced by John DiMaggio, Futurama's Bender. Zøg goes through some really harrowing stuff this season, and DiMaggio does an absolutely incredible job with his voice, as he wrings every last drop of emotion from this character. He's also the voice of the talking horse!

Next up is a Luci plush figure. These were on sale at Comic-Con in 2019, and it's the only Disenchantment merchandise I didn't buy at the time. Since then, they've jumped quite a bit in value and have been hard to find in general, so getting one here, for free, was a huge treat. 

Next is also an item I saw - and bought - at Comic-Con 2019. It's the Disenchantment "Untold Tales" book. This oversized book is part comic, part activity magazine, and was the last thing put together by the old Bongo Comics team before they unfortunately shut down the imprint. Now I've got a second copy! I'll give it to one of my nephews when they're a little older.

Also in the box was a Disenchantment 2021 calendar!

Lastly, there's a cup - and this might be the only item that isn't available elsewhere. But look! There's something inside the cup:

It's a bag of carmel corn, with a Disenchantment sticker on the front. I'm kind of grateful that there was a small tear in the bag, because it means that I'll have to actually eat it, rather than agonizing about whether I should try and save a bag of popcorn for the rest of my life. I, uh, will keep the bag, but at least one decision was taken out of my hands.

I also...made a video of me taking these things out of the box, and I put it on Twitter! You can watch it here, if you'd like, I guess:

The fine folks at @Disenchantment HQ sent me a box of stuff in anticipation of tonight’s season 3 premiere on @Netflix! For your enjoyment, I unbox it before your very eyes: pic.twitter.com/sm74VoOPDd

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) January 14, 2021

I'm not entirely sure why the folks at the show decided to send me this box, but I'm extremely grateful for it. I would no doubt be watching this show in any case, but I guess it gets me to try and spread the word a little more than I otherwise would have. If you're not watching this show - and especially if you like Futurama - then you absolutely need to! Check it out on Netflix!

"Scoops Ahoy" Stranger Things costumes at Comic-Con

"Stranger Things" is one of those phenomenons that I can unabashedly get behind. Yes, it's a nostalgia-fest from beginning to end, but I love the characters and how well those behind the curtain seem to understand all of the tropes they're paying homage to. Plus, it allows us all to tell jokes like this:

Strange Things by the Duff Brothers

Stranger Things by the Duffer Brothers

Strangest Things by the Duffest Brothers

— Ciara Knight (@Ciara_Knight) October 30, 2017

When I went to Comic-Con in July, the third season of the show had only been available to watch on Netflix for a few weeks, so on Preview Night, I was excited to see some people dressed up in the "Scoops Ahoy" ice cream shop outfits that featured prominently in the season. This kind of snowballed and I ended up seeing dozens of different takes on these characters. I realize that the costume isn't the most difficult to duplicate and doesn't require, say, the extensive makeup that you might see for other Comic-Con-featured characters, but it was still really impressive to witness just a few weeks after the show aired. I think it speaks to the show's popularity with the young-adult-and-older crowd.

After seeing a whole bunch of these costumes, I decided to take a picture of whomever I saw wearing one. I didn't get them all, but I ended up with quite a few, so I thought I'd share them all here. This was, by far, the most popular costume that I saw at the show.

There were quite a few more where I just wasn't quick enough to snap a picture, and naturally, plenty of others that I never even saw in the vast expanse that is Comic-Con.

On Thursday of the show, I decided to share some of these pictures on Twitter:

By far the most popular costumes at #ComicCon on Thursday: #ScoopsAhoy #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/778FDdiawk

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) July 18, 2019

This has, curiously, become my most popular Tweet ever (praise me, Internet), probably because the official Stranger Things account responded thusly:

putting seven tally marks in the You Rule column because of these

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 20, 2019

That was pretty neat, right? You can, uh feel free to like the original Tweet and give me further Internet validation.

So. When's season four coming out?

The big Futurama post, filled with good news (everyone)

Hey there, meatbags, it's time to take a look at some Futurama-related items from the past few months. I will forever have the softest of soft spots in my heart for Futurama, the Fox-turned-Comedy Central sci-fi/comedy cartoon that has meant so much to me since it first launched back in 1999. I've had some fun and interesting moments surrounding the show both in and around Comic-Con, and well, I guess this is the place to talk about it.

I suppose I'll start off with the biggest item on the list. When I was at Comic-Con in July, I purchased some original animated art from the show, as seen above, from the episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television". I had hoped to get it signed by co-creator Matt Groening at his Bongo Comics booth appearance, but I wasn't able to get one of the randomly-distributed tickets when they were handed out.

As I was leaving the booth, I ran into Futurama writer and producer Patric Verrone, and we had a nice conversation. Quite unintentionally, I had bought some eBay items from Verrone a few weeks earlier, and it was an incredible coincidence that not only did I unknowingly make those purchases and exchange a few messages with him after seeing his name on the return address label, but we also just happened to be in a similar space at a convention with over 100,000 people.

I'm leaving some details out of the recollection, but the short of it is that Verrone took my animation art and not only got it signed by Groening, but also co-creator David X. Cohen and voice of Bender, John DiMaggio (Verrone signed it, too!). Needless to say, I was pretty stunned that this all happened, and I'm naturally pretty grateful to all involved, but mostly to Patric Verrone for the incredibly kind gesture. I love that the signatures are personalized, and oh my goodness, check out the original Matt Groening Bender doodle! How unbelievable is that?

After speaking with Verrone, I learned that he, Groening, Cohen, DiMaggio and many other Futurama alumni are creating a new cartoon for Netflix titled "Disenchantment", which will air in 2018. I can't wait to watch it, and I continue to hold out hope for a Futurama revival before too long.

Now let's look at some Futurama related pictures from Comic-Con!

Here's me with Patric Verrone after we met at the Bongo Comics booth. I keep pitching ideas to Bongo for their Simpsons-related comic book titles, but haven't had any luck so far. Maybe some day.

That's Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening in the yellow shirt, arriving at the Bongo booth for his signing.

Near the end of the day on Saturday, I got a picture with Phil LaMarr, voice of Hermes and a number of other characters on the show.

There were a few Futurama-themed costumes at the show, including this Leela...

...and this Bender.

In other news, I finally managed to find and buy some Futurama Comics original artwork! This series was published in print form by Bongo Comics until very recently. Like a few of their series, Futurama Comics moved to a digital-only platform in the past year.

This artwork is by Tone Rodriguez, who shares a last name with Bender - maybe they're related. I'm a big fan of Rodriguez's work...even his 'on model' stuff has his signature style. He's my favorite Bongo artist because he always brings a touch of Kirby to his work. 

I bought five pages in total - kind of. The art you see here is for a five-page short story, as per the description from the seller of the pages. Pages 1-2 and 3-4 are drawn side-by-side on the same pages, so these five pages are drawn on a total of...three pages. If that makes any sense.

Most Futurama Comics stories are contained to a single issue, and they're all drawn in the same basic style, so they tend to blend together after a while and 80+ issues. As such, I'm still trying to figure out exactly where this story saw print. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Check out that sound effect!

I've written a few more Futurama-themed recipes for the "Eats Like A Duck" food blog, including one for these Futurama sugar cookies! I made the above cookies recently and they turned out really well.

Lastly, Futurama kind-of-sort-of returned as a Nerdist podcast double episode with the entire cast and some of the writing staff in September. Have a listen! 

The Thing on Netflix's "Arrested Development"!

If I think too much about the current television lineup on any network, I tend to lose faith in much of humanity.  I try not to place too high a level of importance on what's playing on TV, which, since its inception, has been by and large a vast wasteland, but when shows like The Big Bang Theory draw in millions upon millions of viewers, it seems like the End Times might just be upon us.  Similarly, it seems that many of my favorite shows get the axe well before their time, which leads me to the only logical conclusion available: I am apparently a curse on the shows that I watch.  Perhaps I should start to watch shows that I hate, then, and take one for the team?  I shudder at the thought.

In any case, the show Arrested Development is a good example of this curse; in fact, I put such a powerful curse on it that it got cancelled before I even started watching it!  Luckily, though, Netflix was good enough to rescue it and new episodes of a much-delayed fourth season have just begun airing.  If you haven't watched this show yet, you should get to it!  Start at the beginning and work your way up.

I'm trying to pace myself with this season, and so far I've managed to limit myself to a respectable two episodes a day.  The fifth episode of the season focuses on the character of Tobias Fünke.  Without giving away too much of the plot, I can't hold back the fact that the Fantastic Four and the Thing specifically plays a big part in this episode.  Above you'll see the show's take on the Thing and the Invisible Girl.  You might also notice a nifty easter egg in the form of the background movie poster, advertising for "Gangie Face Lift 4".

The episode in question references a fictitious 1992 "Fantastic Four" movie.  This was either a big coincidence or a nod to Roger Corman's horrible 1994 unreleased FF flick, which was apparently filmed to fulfill some legal measure on Marvel's part.  The poster in the episode, which was probably thrown together at a moment's notice, looks cheesy but, ultimately, better than Corman's movie FF:

 Regardless of the intent, it was really fun to see the Thing referenced so heavily on the new season of Arrested Development.  This season has a different feel than the previous Fox series, but there are still plenty of laughs, some great uncomfortable moments, and a lot of great things to build off of.  I've got nine more episodes to go and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything is brought together.

That's a pretty good costume.  The more I think about it, the more I think that this would make a great outfit for Comic-Con.  Uh oh...

Birthday Swag, 2013

Am I still allowed to use the term "swag"?  I realize that it's taken on a life of its own in the past year or so, but still feel an affinity to it because of Bender's use of it in the Futurama episode "Godfellas".  So here it stays, I suppose.  Last month I celebrated my birthday driving to Washington DC to present at a conference, so I didn't have a party as much as I just sat around thinking about how great it was that I've managed to stave off the icy grip of death for a 32nd consecutive year.  That's pretty impressive!  I wonder if it's a record or something.

Anyway, this post isn't about the finite and fragile nature of humanity - it's about what cool stuff I got for my birthday.  So let's start with the above picture, an AWESOME gift of Luxury Lane soap in the shape of some Marvel characters...specifically...THE THING!

I hadn't heard of Luxury Lane before, but now I'm preparing everyone's Christmas presents with purchases from this site.  The person who makes the soap has molds for just about every pop culture property out there.  They're very high quality, as you can see here from this close up of a Kirby-designed Thing.  You can check out more of this great soap at http://www.luxurylanesoap.com!

Next up is this fancy looking USB Blue Yeti Podcast microphone.  Yes, that's a long title, and yes, it does actually have the name "Yeti" in it.  I'm going to use this on Franks and Beans for voiceovers and the like - I'll post more pictures of this over on the F&B homepage sometime soon.

Hodor is one of my favorite characters in the Game of Thrones universe, so I was pretty happy that I got this shirt from the HBO store!  Hodor Hodor Hodor!  It's not even the guy's name.  If you can break away from my stunning gaze, you'll also see my dog and cat hiding in this picture.

In anticipation of brand new episodes on Netflix, I got the complete set of Arrested Development DVDs!  I was trying to hold out for a complete collection set, but with a fourth season premiering in May (after, what, eight years off the air?) it was time to break down and I'm lucky to get them as a gift. I fully expect there to be a complete collection solicited within the next 45 days.

Look, it's the newest edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations!  Just as my copy of the 17th edition was getting old and stale!

And lastly, I picked up this copy of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, which is every bit as awesome as it sounds.  It's another treasury-sized book with oversized pages and some of Neil Adams's finest work, if I can say so.  This book is one of the most recognizable of the past 40 years and, along with Superman vs. Spider-Man, probably the most recognizable of any of the treasury books.  I got a great haul of things this year.  Thanks for looking!