Linko! XXIII

* So every nerd blogger in America and their sister put up links to photographer Win McNamee's pics of President Obama hashing shit out on the White House lawn with a lightsaber this week, but with rare exception, most didn't point out WHY the president had the more elegant weapon on hand. As the Huffington Post points out, the event was to promote Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics. Don't you know what this means, y'all? It means that Tokyo's stupid temporary Gundam can suck it! Our president's a fucking Jedi FOREVER!!! And while it will be the First Lady who will travel to Coppenhagen on October 2nd to convince the Trade Federation International Olympic Committee that Chi-Town is the place for the games, I'm hoping that the Commander-in-Chief will make an appearance via blue hologram.

* Hey, speaking of that Gundam...I spent like 6 hours last weekend looking up links about its rise and fall. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to post them this week as it's been crazy 'round here and Ben's been on an awesome run of truly sick CKT posts. Look for Gundam news on Sunday, but in the meantime check Ben's thoughts on The Suicide Squad, Exiles and the Teen Titans character named after his lady.

* Jeff Katz posted this link of Detroit baseball announcer and legend Ernie Harwell saying goodbye to the fans at Comerica Park after it was announced he has incurable cancer at 92. I couldn't help but cry watching the thing. Not only is Harwell's voice something that's permanently attached to my brain in the best way, always working its way through the static and delivering the play-by-play in a subtle, shaky baritone. I mostly listened to Tigers games from the back seat of my grandma's car, driving around Flint after most school days. Grandma lived with us from when I was about ten right up until we lost her last year to cancer at 92. I miss her every day.

* On a lighter note Link: Ryan Penagos pointed me towards the hidden Triforce in the one dollar bill. That reminds me, if you're even in Manhattan in Union Square, stand with your back to the Shoe Carnival and look skyward. It's wicked. Also: don't you think Nintendo would sue over this? (Via)


* Hey...did you guys watch "Community" last night? It was funny! And I didn't realize until hours before it went on that the show was created by former comics scribe and Rob Schrab associate Dan Harmon. Thanks to my buddy Zach Oat for interviewing both Harmon and star Joel McHale about the show and about comics.

If you never read my super nerdy interviews with Schrab from back in the Wizard days, you should know that the Scud: The Disposable Assassin books they put together were quite possibly THE favorite series of Middle School Kiel's existence. I'm super psyched to see them both doing so well, getting nominated for an Emmy for writing the Oscar ceremony this year and having some great shit on TV at long last (Schrab writes, produces and directs a big chunk of "The Sarah Silverman Program"). You should check out their work when you get a chance. They're funny, as evidenced by this photo Rob had on Twitter last week:

* Local Cartoonist Profile on Chris Onstad.

* Semi-political Link #1: this Ghost Fleet is fucked up. (Via everyone, but I think it started with Andy Diggle on Twitter)

* Semi-political Link #2: The Tea Partiers have no sense of humor. (Via Mark Waid)

* Hey, they're unleashing a Green Day musical next? Wow. It does star John Gallagher Jr., who I met once on a bus outside of New Orleans with Gob Bluth. He was a solid dude.

* Finally, I don't link to a lot of the stuff I find on Tumblr, particularly the really cool original superhero pinups the guy who runs the Comic Books! account finds on Deviant Art and reposts because there's just too many of them, but this week there were two I really liked. Namely:

This classic Cyclops piece by some dude called xShaunx. Even growing up with the '90s Jim Lee Cyclops, I still recognize that this costume design is still the best Scott Summers has ever had. And...

This bad to the bone Rocketeer by Robbi Rodriguez. I love the Rocketeer, but few people who've drawn him for fun have had as nice results as Robbi, who most people probably know from his Oni Press work on Maintenance, although the first time I remember seeing his work was on this Vertigo book called Codename: Knockout, which looked like a dumb ass titty book, but I got a few issues as a DC intern and thought it was pretty clever and fun. Does anyone else remember that?