Dante's Inferno

Youse tink just because we're pop culture aficionados, we ain't got no class?
Youse tink just because we're inta video games, that we're uncouth?
Hell, we got couth comin' out the wazoo, pal!
Youse want proof?
Look here!
We have whatcha call your classic Dante Alighieri image right outta da Middle Ages (like around 1900 or so)
And, it was originally cigar box label art, so you know it's classy! Not like a cigarette package! (Cartoon camels? Gimme a break...)

Now, Dante was one of the greatest writers of all time!
He wrote BOOKS, some of 'em witout pictures, even!
He wrote The Divine Comedy (I ain't sure why he called it dat, 'cause it sure ain't funny!), which described what Hell would be like (sorta like Staten Island witout da cute chicks you see on da ferry dat never talk to ya!)
And now it's being made into both a video game and an animated flick!
Dey don't do dat for just ANY book, youse know!

So pick up a t-shirt or mug wit Dante's mug on it!
Impress da ladies!

Design of the Week--the ORIGINAL Woodstock Poster!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...
40 years ago, the ULTIMATE folk / rock music festival almost wasn't held in a field in upstate New York!
Subtitled "The Aquarian Exposition", it featured a one-time ONLY lineup of most of the greatest solo performers & groups of the era, including (incomplete list):

Richie Havens
Ravi Shankar (father of Norah Jones)
Melanie
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
John Sebastian
Santana
Canned Heat
Grateful Dead
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sly & the Family Stone
Janis Joplin & the Kozmic Blues Band
The Who
Jefferson Airplane
Joe Cocker
Country Joe & the Fish
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Sha-Na-Na
Jimi Hendrix

Amazing, eh?
Besides various live celebration performances commemorating the event, there's a new film about how the festival came to be--Taking Woodstock!
Over the next few weeks, Design of the Week will be hosting various Woodstock-related designs, just in time for you to go "secret chic"!
Here's the ORIGINAL poster for the festival, listing the original location, Wallkill, New York!
When the permits process fell through, the party was moved to Bethel, but the original artist was unavailable to do a revised poster, so an entirely new one was quickly created! (That's the iconic bird-guitar-hand image you're seeing everywhere now!)
The original poster was forgotten by history...until now!
We scanned one of those hard-to-find original posters and digitally-remastered it for your nostalgic pleasure!
Enjoy!
Peace!
Love!

Fantastic Femmes--Alice Braga

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info
HERE!

MiddleMan...the FINAL Episode!

One of the highlights of the San Diego Comic Con was a "table reading" by the cast (including Natalie Morales) & crew of the script for the unproduced final episode of the TV series MiddleMan.
The ep, "The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse" was adapted into a graphic novel (on sale now), but the reading was from the tv show's script, which was slightly different.
(and, while seeing an illustrated Wendy Watson in a Slave Princess Leia costume was cool (see above). the fact we'll never see Natalie in that costume is a bit of a bummer)

BTW, the DVD of the 12 produced episodes goes on sale today! Rush out and buy it...NOW! PLUS...Check out The MiddleBlog by the creator of the comic and the tv series.

Return of the Green Hornet

Well, with Seth Rogan's appearance (with the new Black Beauty) at the San Diego Comic Con, it looks like The Green Hornet movie is finally moving ahead with a projected release next summer!
Rumors abounded that Nick Cage was negotiating to play the main villain and that Cameron Diaz has signed to play Lenore Case, Britt Reid's personal assistant / love interest who knows his dual identity.
Curiously, no word as to who will play Kato, the man who brings new meaning to "sidekick"! (Steven Chow was negotiating to do the role, but talks broke down.)

We're also moving ahead, preparing our line of retro-design Classic Green Hornet collectibles (including t-shirts, mugs, messenger bags, blank sketchbooks and a 12-month calendar) using the 1940s comic book cover and movie serial poster art scanned directly from the originals and digitally-restored and remastered!
(Above is the cover to The Green Hornet Comics #1 before digital restoration!)
Look for a blast from us around Labor Day, just in time for back-to-school!