MetaFilter posts tagged with Animation and comics

"Where can that towel be hi-yi-yi-yi-yiding?"

timsteil — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:23:45 -0800

Long out of print, "A Doonesbury Special." That is all.

Danger Zone: On Archer's Underground Comix Roots

Room 641-A — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:40:54 -0800

Charles Bock examines how underground comics helped give rise to TV's Archer and reviews the series in a post-Sideshow Bob world. (First link contains NSWF embedded YT videos.)

Spielberg's adventures of Hergé

Artw — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 11:40:47 -0800

Everything you always wanted to know about The Adventures of Tintin

Hamish Steele!

overeducated_alligator — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:03:07 -0800

Hamish Steele! Be moved by his brief-yet-poignant award-winning animated film The Right Time. Be charmed by his commissioned portraits of couples and their pets. Be inspired by his loose and fresh superheroes (Batman, Phoenix, Hawkeye)! And it wouldn't be Tumblr without an appearance by Sherlock Holmes (not that one).

SUPERFRIENDS

The Whelk — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 06:46:18 -0800

Nolan's Dark Knight Batman has an unexpected run in with the Marvel Avengers (SLCollegehumorP)

arts & crafts blogging, subset: geek

flex — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 18:43:43 -0800

Geek Art Gallery features many different kinds of geek-related art in round-ups and posts: art installations, animation, comics, film shorts, paintings, photography, sculpture - even desserts. Specifically craft-focused geek blogs: Geek Crafts and Sprite Stitch (previously)

Super Golden Friends

OverlappingElvis — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:00:06 -0800

What happens when four superfriends retire and move to Miami to share a ranch style home? (SLYT)

Eulogy for a pretty swell guy

Rhaomi — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:41:39 -0800

Young Edd Gould always enjoyed drawing comics of himself and his friends. Growing up in the internet age, his doodles evolved into Flash animations of increasing complexity, and in time Edd and pals Tom Ridgewell and Matt Hargreaves teamed up to produce an "Eddsworld" series of online webtoons and comics. At first crude and halting, the group's "eddisodes" progressed from surreal shorts and one-shots into full-fledged productions that pushed the boundaries of amateur web animation, with expressive characters, full soundtracks, complex effects, and a fast-paced, off-kilter sense of humor: MovieMakers - Spares - WTFuture - Rock Bottom - Hammer & Fail (2). At its height, the college co-op was producing shorts for Mitchell & Webb and the UN Climate Change Conference, fielding offers from Paramount and Cartoon Network, and racking up millions of hits on YouTube. Work slowed, however, when Gould was diagnosed with leukemia -- a relatively survivable form, though, and Gould carried on working gamely through his hospital stays. So it came as a shock last week when Matt and Tom announced that Edd had passed away, prompting an outpouring of grief and gratitude from all the fans he'd entertained and inspired in his short 23 years.

TETSUUUOOOO!!!....'s creator returns

sendai sleep master — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:35:26 -0800

In 1982 the manga, Akira (previously) , began its run. It would ultimately spawn a film that would lead the way for the growth of the anime medium outside of Japan. An attempted Americanized remake (previouslyer) was in production before being ultimately canceled. The manga’s creator, Katsuhiro Otomo, in the meantime, had taken a 20 year break from long-form manga. It was recently announced that this break was coming to an end and that Otomo would be working on a new long-form shonen series.

Super Best Friends Forever

Artw — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:37:55 -0800

My Little Pony’s Lauren Faust on how Super Best Friends Forever will make you love Batgirl and Supergirl all over again. The short animations will be part of Cartoon Networks DC Nation block, alongside Beware The Batman, the replacement for the late lamented Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

"For you see Rubin, I am not furshlugginer ordinary Batboy!..."

JHarris — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:54:29 -0800

Here is the classic story "Batboy and Rubin" from Mad Magazine #8. (Another source.) And here is the story adapted to animation 57 years later on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Kim Deitch: My Life in Records

mediareport — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:44:02 -0800

"I decided I wanted to buy the Dorsey Brothers’ mambo record. However, I did not have the required 39 cents." Over at The Comics Journal, cartoonist Kim Deitch (previously), son of animator Gene Deitch (previously), has been posting a wonderful, rambling memoir about the music in his life.
Part 1: The Dorseys and Beyond "Watch for Russ Columbo playing some hot violin in this one."
Part 2: An Early Education - Jazz, folk and the ’40s - Alan Lomax, Jelly Roll Morton and jazz fandom
Part 3: Our hero stumbles on the birth of television, specifically, music on television
Part 4: Rock ‘n Roll - "For a lot of Americans it was like the whole damn African jungle had landed in the middle of Ed Sullivan’s stage"
Part 5: Rocking Forward Music/comics geeks might like the comments under each post, too.

Orange you glad you got your Nickelodeon?

Rhaomi — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:33:49 -0800

Two and a half years ago, we explored the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game. As a matter of fact, Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's truly venerable forerunner: Nickelodeon. Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire. Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is looking back with a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and All That. To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon. (warning: monster post inside) PART 1: The Early Years Nick started out as a young children's program called Pinwheel that mixed puppetry and live action with animated shorts from overseas. Only a few bootlegs survive from this era, making video hard to track down. As the nascent channel struggled to find an audience, it started rerunning episodes of the Canadian comedy show You Can't Do That On Television!, which proved to be a big hit and laid the groundwork for future variety shows like it once the network found its legs. The show also introduced the infamous green slime that would characterize the network's later game show programs. Semi-active fansite YCDTOTV.com provides official recipes, and is positively overflowing with other content about this era. PART 2: "From Worst to First" Fred Seibert arrived at Nickelodeon fresh from success at MTV, where he and colleague Alan Goodman had developed the iconic "Man on the Moon" sequence that launched the channel in 1981. The Fred/Alan team found Nickelodeon floundering, hemorrhaging millions of dollars and dead last in the ratings. Their solution: a complete re-branding, starting with the logo. Out went the clunky silver balloon, in came The Splat. Inspired by MTV's shifting psychedelic design, The Splat was an all-purpose wonder, an amorphous blob of bright orange gunk that could be anything and everything. Using fun style guides, producers applied the Nick name to bones, rocket ships, dinosaurs, and dozens of other forms across hundreds of products over the next few decades. The logo was so versatile, in fact, that it went through only one major revision (blog post; guide) before Viacom, in the way of all corporate giants, dispensed with The Splat in 2009 for a new unified brand -- one very similar, ironically enough, to the logo that saddled the network in its infancy. To introduce Nick's new brand, Seibert and Goodman contracted with dozens of artists to create a series of striking and innovative "bumpers" all showcasing the bright orange Splat. Perhaps the most fortuitous hire was a capella band The Jive Five. As Seibert explains in his article "The Doo-Wopping of Television":

Alan's former colleague, writer and producer Marty Pekar, had started Ambient Sound to capture contemporary recordings of classic doo-wop groups from the 50s and 60s. He introduced them to the leader of The Jive 5, Eugene Pitt, as "not only a great singer, but a smart man." They found Eugene to be, as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO Terry Stewart said, "the most underrated soul singer in America," and a wonderful collaborator. When the opportunity to work with Nickelodeon presented itself, Fred, Alan, and producer Tom Pomposello immediately knew the Jive 5 would be the perfect underpinning for defining the vocabulary of the network. Convincing Nickelodeon was another story. [...] Fred/Alan tried a lot of arguments to bring them around to a doo-wop sound, but they fell on deaf ears. "Doo-wop's 30 years old, no kid has ever heard of it." We won the day on two grounds. Fred played on the executives' liberal backgrounds. "We love all forms of African-American music, and using doo-wop will be a great way to educate American kids without anyone being the wiser." Alan's worked even better. He opened his mouth and, quoting The Marcels' arrangement of chestnut "Blue Moon," sang: "Bom-ma-bom, a-bom-bom-a-bom, ba-ba-bom-bom-a-bomp, b-dang-a-dang-dang, b-ding-a-dong-ding." "What kid isn’t going to relate to that right away?" Alan asked. Case closed.

The Jive Five proceeded to record a number of joyful and infectiously catchy doo-wop melodies for the artists to animate in a wide variety of styles, spots that went on to form the core of the channel's new identity (and the first of which became the its enduring theme song):

N-Nick Nick Nick N-Nick Nick Nick... Nickelodeon! (Main Theme) - Hon De Laud Hup Hivvel Up Nick (Calling Cades MasterMix) - Orange you glad you got your Nickelodeon? (Fruit variant) - Bulldog Crew (Jungle) - Tweedley Dum (Space Beans) - Shoo Be Doo (Worms) - It's Time, It's Time (Haircut) - Say Hey Say Hi Say Ho (Skating) - Better Off By Far (Space) - Waiting for You (Fish) - Dino Bop - Doo-Wop-a-Saurus - Your TV Network (Jive Five) - Top of the Hour - Easy Groove - Alligator and Frog - Dragon and Frog - Full Montage

The campaign was a tremendous, CLIO award-winning success -- within six months Nickelodeon had rocketed to the number one slot on the ratings chart. And the doo-wop was just the beginning -- that first batch inspired a wider range of spots in later years, from the cute to the bizarre:

Pinchface - Bone - Picnic Ants - Big Beast Quintet - Nicktoons Blob - Scissors Man - Opera - Reggae - Toothbrush Morph - Monkey Balloon - Dancing Dogs - Monster Disco - Banner - Around the World - Waiter - Laundry - Rock Dance - Teacup - What You Want claymation - Doug - Spelling - Barnyard - Comet - Flying Chair - Origami - Asian ID - Sea Monster - Box Face - Stage - Cave Paintings - Octopus - Tractor - Head on Chair - Windshield - Lockers - Rugrats - Gymnastics - Nick Takes Over Your School - Compilation (with lots more) - Shorts: Inside-Out Boy and Angela Anaconda

A Maine summer camp was even invited to submit student-created bumpers, which turned into a fun campaign of its own. PART 3: Nickelodeon Studios Years of sustained success led to the 1990 foundation of Nickelodeon Studios, a combination film studio, animation mecca, and theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando. The studio, with its colorful facade and infamous Slime Geyser, would become the nerve center of the company and a backdrop for many programs throughout the next decade, especially game shows like Double Dare, the notoriously difficult Legends of the Hidden Temple obstacle course (which you can attempt yourself!), and Global GUTS with its imposing Aggro Crag. The network also developed spin-offs and sister channels, such as Nick Jr. (full of colorful fare like Face and Gullah Gullah Island for the toddler set) and Nick at Nite, which featured reruns of popular sitcoms from decades past (which, if you think about it, is basically what this '90s programming block is doing right now -- oh noes!). Sadly, the studios closed its doors in 2005 in the face of flagging attendance, storm damage, and staff relocations to other offices. The building still stands, but all has been stripped away, including the Geyser and the studio time capsule (reburied at a company resort talked about previously). Gone, but not forgotten, though -- enjoy this thorough behind-the-scenes guided tour of the facility from before the closure by a former employee. PART 4: Live Action The Nick Studio was home to many live action programs, from sitcoms to horror to variety shows (and Stick Stickly!): Two early sitcoms, Hey Dude and Clarissa Explains it All, have been given full retrospectives by the AV Club, while fan favorite The Adventures of Pete & Pete is getting an episode-by-episode review. Speaking of which, don't miss the full version of "Hey Sandy," the great theme song by Polaris that carried some surprisingly dark undertones, or this original short uploaded by Fred Seibert. As for the cast, where are they now? Horror series Are You Afraid of the Dark? went through several incarnations, many episodes of which can be found online. Brave the list of scariest episodes (or TVTropes' High Octane Nightmare Fuel page for the show) ...if you dare. And of course there were the two big variety shows, both the work of Dan Schneider ("the Norman Lear of children’s television"). Each were modeled on the earlier YCDTOT -- the SNL-lite All That and spin-off Kenan & Kel (both of which helped propel star Kenan Thompson to actual SNL stardom). The nature of the shows makes video more scattered, but there's plenty to take in; this 100+ video playlist is a good start, as is the TVTropes page. (And lest we forget: Camp Anawanna, Alex Mack, Cousin Skee-- well, you can probably forget that one.) For the cynics out there: The Nostalgia Critic's skeptical 18-minute mocking of the above (except for Pete & Pete, which he loves unconditionally). PART 5: Nicktoons Of course, the most well-known Nick properties were their many original animated series, or Nicktoons. A ToonZone member explains their genesis:

Sometime in 1989, at the Montclair, New Jersey house of Nick president Geraldine Laybourne, Laybourne, her husband Kit, Herb Scannell, Fred Seibert, and others had a meeting where they watched TV shows currently running at the time and compared them to classic shorts such as the Looney Tunes. They came to the conclusion that then-current animation from studios such as DIC and Hanna-Barbera was formulaic and had no unique style. Geraldine Laybourne believed that the best characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Kermit the Frog, were those characters who were linked to their creator. Laybourne and the team decided that the creator should be the one who was the center of the production, just as it was in the old days. Also, having a library of animated shows that they owned would allow them to both prevent having to license other animation and make money for the network- and also eventually make back the high cost of producing original animation, since animation is costly to produce, but has a long shelf life. It was an expensive and laborious project- around $12 million in total ($1 to $2 million per pilot) to commission eight pilots, of which they hoped four would be able to air as an animated block with a target date of August 1991.

Only three of the eight made made it through to production: Doug, Rugrats, and the wonderfully edgy Ren & Stimpy. The success of these inspired others throughout the next decade, including:

Rocko's Modern Life, whose first season is on review at AV Club Hey Arnold!, whose main voice actress (for Helga) recently did an informative Q&A over at Reddit Kablam!, the comics-inspired variety animation show with one catchy theme song ("Two Tone Army" by The Toasters) The ongoing Spongebob Squarepants juggernaut, whose first few seasons could be pretty twisted Invader Zim (lots of episodes here), whose twistedness was a little more obvious And of course plenty of Mefites are familiar with the artistry and good storytelling of Avatar (no, not the 3D one)

One notable project was Seibert's Oh Yeah! Cartoons, an innovative series of one-off creator-driven shorts that would inspire later work on Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons series (which in turn led to programs like Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, discussed here). There's a full list of shorts to peruse on Wikipedia -- many are on YouTube, but far to many to post here. Seibert himself has put a lot of media from the show on the web, like multiple 100+ page books of art from his Frederator Studios, which helmed the project and now makes series like Adventure Time. Don't miss the ongoing 16-part history of the studio (full table of contents are only in that last post). Also interesting, if unrelated, is Seibert's collection of media from his time at Hanna-Barbera in the early '90s. If you want more (lots more), check out Jerry Beck's Not Just Toons: Nicktoons! or Heather Hendershot's more scholarly Nickelodeon Nation. (The Nostalgia Critic is slightly more tolerant of the 'toons) PART 6: Nickelodeon Magazine For years, Nick promoted subscriptions to Nickelodeon Magazine, its flagship print product with a peak circulation of more than seven million. Interestingly, while the magazine was largely concerned with pranks and jokes and celebrity interviews, it was also a haven for the underground comix scene, featuring work from cartooning luminaries like Kim Deitch and Craig Thompson, whose works were popular enough to justify periodic all-comic specials and support award programs and convention events. As cartoonist Rod McKie described his first read through an issue:

So, having heard good things about Nickelodeon Magazine (US), I decided to get a hold of the thing and go over it with a fine tooth-comb, and try to think my way into the thing. The thing was, I had no idea what to expect, it was a kids magazine after all. Well, I was astonished when I saw it, really astonished. I'm not kidding, I was really bowled over by the magazine, I had never seen a publication more visually literate, more cartoon and illustration friendly, it was a cartoonist's delight. [...] I found myself responding to it with the same levels of wonder and delight as a cartoonist, as a parent, and as a teacher. I had never seen anything like this, and I had never seen such a range of mainstream and indie cartoonists all gathered together in one publication.

Though the magazine unfortunately folded in 2009, information and art from its many features can still be found on the web: Fiona of the Felines by Terry LaBan - Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters by Jef Czekaj - Impy & Wormer by James Kochalka - Juanita and Clem by Craig Thompson - Mervin the Magnificent by Richard Sala - Patty-Cake by Scott Roberts - Sam Hill & Ray-9 by Mark Martin - Scene But Not Heard by Sam Henderson - Southern Fried Fugitives by Simon and Kim Deitch - Teeny Weeny, the Tiniest Hot Dog in the World by Mark Martin - The Uncredibly Confabulated Tales of Lucinda Ziggles by Andy Ristaino - Underpants-On-His-Head Man by Michael Kupperman - Yam by Corey Barba Lots more material in the unofficial Nickmag-Comics LiveJournal site, or browse an old issue at Archive.org. PART 7: Nick News In 1992, the channel hired respected journalist Linda Ellerbee to helm Nick News, a new educational program meant to air periodically in classrooms and in primetime. The show gained renown (and eventually won a Peabody and an Edward R. Murrow Award) for tackling difficult and complex issues like AIDS and global warming in a frank way, taking its young audience seriously and relying heavily on interviews with kids and teens to explore their problems and concerns. Politically aware, the program's regular "Kids Pick the President" mock election correctly called five of the last six winners (save Kerry in 2004). Perhaps the most notable episode of the show was the controversial 2002 special report "My Family is Different" (discussed previously), which dealt with same-sex parentage and attendant issues such as sexual harassment and hate crimes. In a time when homosexuality enjoyed far weaker public support in America, Ellerbee's earnest and nonjudgmental take on the subject provoked bitter outrage from conservative groups, who pledged to boycott Nickelodeon in retaliation. The episode, the show's highest-rated, went on to win a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Television Journalism. The show's still going strong, most recently covering the long-term consequences of the Haiti earthquake. PART 8: Nick Movies In its heyday, the company produced original live-action movies, such as Harriet the Spy (1996) and Good Burger (1997), in addition to adaptations of its animated stable. It later branched out into producing big screen versions of other works, from A Series of Unfortunate Events and Nacho Libre to Rango and the terrible M. Night Shyamalan version of beloved Nicktoon Avatar (The Last Airbender). PART 9: SPECIAL MUSICAL BONUS!! An official "Best of Nicktoons" CD featuring a random assortment of earwormy tunes from across the network; available for download here or with selected tracks on YouTube: Nick Nick Nick (Main Theme) - 3D Laughing Boy Open - Rugrats Theme - Nick Video Open - Kablam! Theme - Thunder Girl - Nick-o-Las Tell Underture - Ren & Stimpy Theme - Happy Happy Joy Joy - Log Commercial - Calling Cades - Aaahh!! Real Monsters Theme - Artman Open - Angry Beavers Theme - I Think I Like You - Hey Arnold! Theme - Haunted Train Blues - Darling You Left My Heart - Look Up! - Simple Things - Rocko's Modern Life Theme - Orange You Glad? - CatDog Theme And what musical bonus is complete without a little amateur a capella? PART 10: It all comes back For the foreseeable future, rotating blocks of the old shows are now set to air weeknights at midnight EST on sister network TeenNick, starting with All That, Kenan & Kel, Clarissa Explains It All, and Doug. If you're not a fan of those, changes will be made to the schedule in response to feedback online through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels. Also, regular marathons of the old animated shows run overnight on fellow sister network Nicktoons at the same time, offering some variety for anybody who wants it.

Greetings, True Believers!

zarq — Tue, 17 May 2011 08:56:02 -0800

Marvel.com now has many animated series (all episodes, in their entirety) available to view online at their website including The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Superheroes, X-Men, The Animated Series, X-Men Evolution, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, and Spider-Man (1967) (Full list inside)

Full List of Shows

The Avengers: United They Stand
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Superheroes (Also on Marvel's YouTube Channel and on Hulu.)
Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Superheroes (Three episodes are available on Marvel's YouTube Channel
The Incredible Hulk (1996)
Japanese Spiderman
Silver Surfer (1998)
Spider-Man (1967)
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Spiderman Unlimited
The Superhero Squad Show
X-Men, The Animated Series
X-Men Evolution (Also available on Hulu and Marvel's YouTube Channel)
Wolverine and the X-Men (Season 1)

Also on Hulu: Astonishing X-Men: Motion Comic (Episodes 1-6) / Episode 1 is available on Youtube. Also on YouTube: Episode 1 of the Spider-Woman Motion Comic

Galerie Ardulik

kagredon — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:52:34 -0800

"The first Gallery dedicated to artists lying behind cinema, comics, video games masterpieces… and who creat [sic], to entertain, the most significant icons of our time." The gallery has previously featured exhibitions from webcomic artist Scott Campbell, H.R. Giger, propaganda-style Futurama posters, Superman penciller Tim Sale, sketches from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and filmmaker Sylvain Chomet. More collections. Interviews.

Thus did Man become the Architect of his own demise...

Rhaomi — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:40:43 -0800

"Welcome to the Zion Archive. You have selected Historical File #12-1: The Second Renaissance." So begins the short film of the same name by Mahiro Maeda [Flash: 1 2 - QuickTime: 1 2] -- a devastating yet beautiful work of animation. Originally produced to explain the backstory behind the Matrix trilogy, Maeda's project ended up telling a story far darker and more affecting than any blockbuster. Using a blend of faux documentary footage and visual metaphor, his serene Instructor relates in biblical tones the saga of Man and Machine, how age-old cruelty and hatred birthed a horrifying, apocalyptic struggle that consumed the world. Packed with striking imagery and historical allusions galore, this dark allegory easily transcends the films it was made for. But while "The Second Renaissance" is arguably the best work to come from the Matrix franchise, it's hardly alone -- it's just one of the projects made for The Animatrix, a collection of nine superb anime films in a wide variety of styles designed to explore the universe and broaden its scope beyond the usual sci-fi action of the movies. Click inside for a guide to these films with links to where they can be watched online, along with a look at The Matrix Comics, a free series of comics, art, and short fiction created for the same purpose by some of the best talent in the business. THE ANIMATRIX [Viewing note: While all nine Animatrix films are available in high quality on the WB's official site, the videos are ad-heavy (especially at the beginning), sluggish to load, and may not be available outside the United States. Links to alternate versions are used below, including in a few cases decent quality QuickTime versions from the old official site. Also, note that the Clipmass.com videos aren't broken -- they just wait a few moments to start after pressing play, while leaving a big play button image to bait you into opening an ad. Resist!]

1+2 | The Second Renaissance (Parts I and II) (9:15 and 9:25) by Mahiro Maeda The story was discussed above, but there's also a lot of bonus material: a behind-the-scenes short, transcripts of Maeda's director's commentary, and Operation: A.R.C.H.I.V.E., a pitch-perfect parody of the film from the animated series Codename: Kids Next Door by Patrick Warburton, which replaces the man vs. machine narrative with one of children vs. adults. There are also four pieces from the soundtrack available: "Big Wednesday" by Free*Land, "Ren 2" by Photek, "Martenot Waves" by Meat Beat Manifesto, and "Supermoves" by Overseer. 3 | Kid's Story (9:28) by Shinichiro Watanabe A troubled high schooler has his world shattered when he begins to suspect not all is right with his life. (Behind the scenes; Soundtrack: "Who Am I?" by Peace Orchestra) 4 | Program (7:16) by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (QT version) A virtual sparring match turns deadly when one partner reveals his twisted plan. (Behind the scenes) 5 | World Record (8:36) by Takeshi Koike A scandalized athlete has an epiphany while pushing himself far beyond his limits. (Behind the scenes) 6 | Beyond (13:03) by Koji Morimoto A young woman looking for her cat runs into a group of kids exploring a "haunted house" full of bizarre glitches in the fabric of reality. (Soundtrack: "Hands Around My Throat" by Death in Vegas) 7 | A Detective Story (11:43) by Shinichiro Watanabe (QT version) Told in gritty black-and-white film noir style, an old-school gumshoe takes "a case to end all cases" dealing with forces he can't quite understand. (Behind the scenes; Soundtrack: "Blind Tiger" by Layo & Bushwacka! and "Under the Gun" by Supreme Beings of Leisure) 8 | Matriculated (16:18) by Peter Chung A trippy story about a group of rebels who attempt to reprogram a hostile AI from inside an abstract virtual environment. (Behind the scenes) 9 | Final Flight of the Osiris (11:27) by Andy Jones In this CGI-animated tale, the crew of the Osiris volunteer to undertake one last, desperate mission. (Behind the scenes; Soundtrack: "Conga Fury" by Juno Reactor and the orchestral score by Don Davis)

You can also see the entire series of films on Vimeo (runtime: 1:33:29), watch the making-of video, or read some interviews with the creators. If you found the format and style of The Animatrix appealing, you might also appreciate Batman: Gotham Knight (guide) and Halo Legends (guide), similar compilations of diverse anime shorts focused on the Batman and Halo universes, respectively. THE MATRIX COMICS The Matrix Comics were a series of 26 short comics released for free on the Matrix website. Though later removed, they live on in Archive.org's cache and in this .RAR file, which can be opened using a free program like WinRAR (for Windows) or UnRarX (for Mac). The Archive.org coverage can be a little spotty; if any given page turns up broken, just replace the long number string in the URL after "/web/" with an asterisk (*) and navigate to that URL. You'll see a list of other versions of that page in the Archive cache, most of which should work. There are way too many comics to summarize here, but if you want to know what a story is about before diving in, check out the story listings on the Matrix Wiki: Series 1 - Series 2 - Series 3. All the authors are listed, and almost every title links to its own article giving a brief overview of the plot.

"...a spiritually bankrupt soul whose confused mind is [animated] with the genitalia."

carsonb — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:38:58 -0800

Kaz's Underworld, animated. Here, check out some other animations from The Comic Book Factory.

An animated .gif of Wolverine snacking on a pizza, FOREVER.

Artw — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:14:53 -0800

Motion comics, why bother?

Jack Kirby’s Heroes in Waiting

Artw — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:35:15 -0800

During the 80s comics king Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the X-Men and Captain America, became disillusioned with the industry and left to work for animation company , sketching out dozens of characters, work that has been largely unseen... until now.

For Kids Who Want to Draw Anatomy Good And Wanna Learn To Draw Other Stuff Good Too

Artw — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:43:04 -0800

How to draw, by Rad Sechrist, storyboard artist at Dreamworks animation

"I Think It's Time"

Alvy Ampersand — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:21:07 -0800

Published in 1989, Richard McGuire's Here is a 6 page comic that spans billions of years and about 25 square feet: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Special Bonus Student Film Adaptation For The Comic-Phobic Specialer Bonus Material: A scene from the animated anthology Peur(s) du Noir directed by McGuire | Micro Loup, an animated short designed and directed by McGuire | And he also plays bass!

A Joker Mashup

Slap*Happy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:10:37 -0800

"Why so serious?" Synthesizing Mark Hamill's menacing hilarity and Heath Ledger's intelligent and dangerously unhinged aspects in their portrayals of DC Comic's "The Joker," aspiring voice actor "pgirts" recreates the famous scene from the recent Batman film in a chilling mashup of acting styles, and similarly brings the Joker's monolog from "The Killing Joke" to life. (MLYT)

stuff you think but don't talk about

tybeet — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:46:50 -0800

Tales of Mere Existence (previously 1 & 2) is "stuff you think but don't talk about": I Can't Sleep :: A Typical Conversation With My Mom :: My Darling? :: Subtext :: Conversation :: I Have To Get Ready :: Procrastination :: How To Cope With Depression :: ...Take Shoes Off? :: Boyfriends I Have Been (MLYT) So yeah, this has been posted twice, but it's been a good 4 years since the last time and there's some new stuff that's gone up and most of it's pretty funny and rings true to life... Even though it's been around for so long maybe some of you have never heard of it and aren't one of the 900,000 YouTube viewers... and if you are then maybe we should be friends oh did you know Lev can even do party tricks? Want more?

Singles

archagon — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:42:34 -0800

Singles, a wonderful animation by young artist Rebecca Sugar.

The Maxx: An Excuse to Draw a Circle and a Triangle and Add Some Arms

filthy light thief — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:34:43 -0800

Sam Kieth is an interesting guy, coming from an artistic family (including a cousin who created the animated series Cow and Chicken). His professional work has mostly been in the world of comics, though he did direct a movie for Roger Corman, entitled "Take it to the Limit" (2000), as a way "to recharge [his] batteries after the Maxx." The Maxx was a 35 issue comic (plus a few bonuses), and later animated and aired on Mtv's Oddities in the mid 1990s. (More videos inside) Only officially released in part on VHS, and now slowly re-appearing as fragments of the original episodes on MTV2 Legit, most of the 13 episodes can be found on YouTube. Unfortunately, the mix of the YouTube runtime limit and clips taken down due to copyright claims has lead to incomplete episodes, so this list includes redundancy for the sake of completeness. * Episode 1, part 2 * Episode 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 3 part 1 (pulled) part 2 (alternate link) * Episode 4 part 1 (part 2 was pulled) (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 5 part 1 (pulled), part 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 6, part 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 7, part 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 8, part 2 (alternate link) * Episode 9, part 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 10, part 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) * Episode 11, part 2, part 3, part 4 (alternate link pt. 1, pt. 2; alt pt 1 vers. 2, alt pt 2 vers. 2) * Episode 12, part 2 (alternate link) * Episode 13, part 2 (alternate link, alt vers. 2) More fun: A review of Mage in 2008, with very informative comments An incomplete summary of the 35 issues of The Maxx, plus Issue 1/2, and the 3 Friends of Maxx issues The Sam Kieth-ification of Ojo Kieth on Scratch A look at Kieth's newest comic, titled My Inner Bimbo, which was delayed from it's 2006/07 release