Batman Blue Swirls Wallpaper

I made the following Batman blue swirls picture the other day by combining two pictures and is now my current desktop wallpaper:

I like the figure in the center because I have my icons divided into each of the corners. I like it so I thought I would share.

Upgraded Template

I upgraded the template here at Moongem Comics. The post area is now wider since I noticed that the Comic Con Watchman video that I posted the other day did not seem to fit right. You will notice an improvement on the sidebar to the left especially the section for labels and how many posts that I have done for each (DC Comics is in the lead with 37 posts so far and collectibles is in a far second with 14 posts). You will also notice at the bottom of this page is a link to older posts. You can also check out the archives in the sidebar.

Blog Alert: Being Carter Hall

Being Carter Hall is one man's journey...into hawk fandom. The blog is dedicated to the Winged Wonder from DC Comics and is just getting started.

Comic Con Create Your Hero Video

Fans of Heroes were buzzing about the Create Your Hero contest at the San Diego 2008 Comic Con and the fun was captured all on video:

Even Orion from DC Comics voted:

Be sure to vote for Santiago or Audrey by September 29, 2008 at the Create Your Hero contest.

Heroes #3 Comic Con Promo

Heroes #3 was exclusive to San Diego Comic Con 2008 and has a cover by Michael Turner featuring Echo (right), Mohinder Suresh (middle) and Takezo Kensei (left). The cover characters are featured in three stories. "Blackout" is a two-part story that has Suresh finding a man that absorbs electricty in a hospital. My favorite story of the comic book by far is "The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei" that has the character reflecting on all of his wives while he's buried in the coffin that Hiro teleported him into. The ending has a nice twist that I will not give away. Finally, "Going Postal" is about Echo De Mille, the main character of the new Heroes webisode series. I find his nemesis to be more interesting than he was but the story was still pretty good.

The cover of Heroes #3 Comic Con Promo

Blog Spotlight: Speed Force

Fans of the Flash will be interesting in checking out Speed Force. The blog is devoted to every generation of speedsters from the pages of DC Comics including Jay Garrick, Barry Allen (my personal favorite since I grew up reading about his adventures), Wally West and Bart Allen.

I just discovered Speed Force tonight and I have a lot of reading to do.

The Knight Returns Coloring Book

Here are some pictures from the Batman coloring book titled The Knight Returns that I picked up a few weeks ago from the local Dollar General:

Front cover of The Knight Returns coloring book

Full figure Batman page from The Knight Returns coloring book

Full figure Joker page from The Knight Returns coloring book

Puzzle page featuring the Scarecrow from The Knight Returns coloring book

Back cover of The Knight Returns coloring book
The purple tint is due to my scanner. I really need to get a new one some day.

Thrift Store Finds: Hulk Figure And Iron Man Regener8'rs Vechicle

I found two cool toys today at a local thrift store. They are a Hulk figure and an Iron Man Regener8'rs vehicle.

The Hulk figure has a feature that you can push his upper torso up and down thus giving having him go from six-pack abs to a four-pack. His arms and head does. 1996 is printed on the bottom of the Hulk's left foot.

The Iron Man Regener8'rs is a pretty cool vehicle that can be transformed into eight different vehicles. Not only does the three-part body twists and turns but the tires move 360 degrees. I can turn the Iron Man Regener8'rs into more than eight vehicles even if some of them will not roll properly.

Here are some pictures of the Hulk figure and Iron Man Regener8'rs vehicle:

Front of the Hulk figure and the top of Iron Man Regener8'rs vehicle

Back of the Hulk figure and the bottom of Iron Man Regener8'rs vehicle

Update: The Hulk figure is a rare McDonald's premium that came with Happy Meals in 1996.

Vote On Create Your Hero

Heroes and Sprint teamed up last year for people to Create Your Hero. Over a million people joined to create two unique heroes. Now you can vote here to have Santiago or Audrey be the winner and star in their own online live-action series.

Superman Bulletin Board

I decided to finally clean up my Superman bulletin board this afternoon. The copyright states the year as 1979. I used to have a Aquaman bulletin board from the same year but it was trashed several years ago. I have been using this for almost thirty years. I have a Supergirl stamp pinned to the Superman bulletin board.


My Superman bulletin board full of recipts and other items.

My Superman bulletin board without any items pinned to it.

My Superman bulletin board after I cleaned it up.

The Warlord Returns

According to SDCC '08 - Mike Grell: The Return of Warlord, an ongoing series from DC Comics will start in 2009. Next year marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the fantasy character. I enjoyed the original series but did not care much for the revival by Bart Sears and Bruce Jones in 2006. The new series will be done by the Warlord's creator, Mike Grell.

Black Panther Trailer

Black Panther trailer for animated series coming to BET.

Batman Goodies

I went out of town to do some clothing shopping today since I needed some dress clothes. I will be attending a cousin's wedding in a few months. While I did not buy any comic books, I did manage to pick up the following Batman goodies:


Another bag of Batman Reese's Pieces promoting The Dark Knight movie


I found all four of the Batman Pez that includes the Riddler, the Joker, Batman and Two-Face


The Dark Knight novel by Dennis O'Neil


Bonus picture: My copy of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight novels by Dennis O'Neil side by side (the first book was $4.88 while the second was $7.99).

The Dark Knight

I went to see The Dark Knight this evening at the local theater. Heath Ledger was good as the Joker and Christian Bale was good as Bruce Wayne aka Batman again. Maggie Gyllenhaal was a much better choice for Rachel.

What made The Dark Knight for me was Gary Oldman as James Gordon and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Having Gordon receive his promotion from a Lieutenant to the Commisioner was great to see. I liked how we got to see both sides of Dent. Kudos to the make up crew that worked on Two-Face.

My biggest problem with the movie was the sound. Sure, the explosions and music were loud but the voices seemed really low. The sound problem was evident especially in the first half of the movie. Even my sister noticed it so it was not just me.

Overall, I give The Dark Knight an A+.

Goodnight Michael Turner

Michael Turner, co-creator of Witchblade, died on Friday, June 28, 2008 at the age of 37 from cancer according to Newsarama.

Dial B For Blog's Hawk And Dove Secret Origins

Dial B For Blog is doing a five part secret origins of Hawk and Dove that all comic fans should check out.

Hulk Movie Books

I was shopping for my sister's birthday present yesterday when I picked up The Incredible Hulk movie adaptation by Peter David. I still have the first movie book on my to read pile. Here are a few blurry pictures of them:


Hulk movie books (I like the cover to the first one better)

Hulk movie books with action figure standing on them
I found the Hulk action figure a few years ago at a local thrift store but I bought both of the books when they first came out.

I picked up The Jungle Book 2 DVD for my sister's birthday present.

Justice League Plus Spider-Man

Here are my ten inch Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter and Green Latern action figures from Justice League line plus a slighter larger Spider-Man (they are standing on and surrounding my stack of cassette cases next to my stereo). All were found at the local thrift stores in the past few years. I'm hoping to find the large Aquaman, Atom, Green Arrow and Wonder Woman action figures one of these days.



Justice League plus Spider-Man Action Figures


In the upper left-hand corner, you can see part of my Batman Superman two pack that I actually found at the local Wal-Mart's a few years ago. I might get around to taking a picture and posting it here soon.

Movie Candy Wrappers

Apologies in advance for having pictures of movie candy wrappers instead of actual scans. My scanner seems to be having hardware problems. If I ever get a big chunk of money again, a new scanner is at the top of my need to get list.

The first movie candy wrapper is the Snickers Adventure Bar to promote the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie:


Snickers Adventure Bar promoting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie

The candy wrapper promises a new flavor kick and the taste is either cinnamon or nutmeg. The cool factor is not the candy bar but the Indiana Jones Arti-Facts found on the back of the wrappers. There are eight different wrappers with each having a different Arti-Fact. I got one, seven and eight.

Next up are candy wrappers promoting The Dark Knight movie. Each candy wrapper has a trivia question on the back.


Batman Kit Kat promoting The Dark Knight

My favorites was the Batman Kit Kat since the crisp wafers covered in milk chocolate are my favorites. The candy wrapper was the easiest to open. The Kit Kat itself had two bars combine into one thick bar so the large bat-symbol could fit on it.


Batman Reese's Pieces promoting The Dark Knight movie

Next is the candy wrapper for the Batman Reese's Pieces promoting The Dark Knight movie. The color of the hard candy shells were blue and dark gray. As you can tell by the picture, the candy wrapper was not the easiest to open. The trivia question on the back was the hardest to read.


Batman Reese's PB Bat promoting The Dark Knight movie

Finally, there is the Batman Reese's PB Bat. The bat-shaped bar has a peanut butter interior and a milk chocolate exterior. It was pretty tasty but seemed a little bit on the small size.

I ate all the candy before I could take a picture of them. Each of them were found at the local Dollar General for fifty cents each. I didn't eat them in all one setting either since I'm supposed to be watching my diet. However, I couldn't pass up on getting these.

Blog Spotlight: Ratchet's Hulk Collection

Ratchet's Hulk Collection is a blog totally devoted to the green goliath. He posts about his growing comic book collection, action figures and other miscellaneous items. If you enjoy any incarnation of the character from Marvel Comics, then you need to check out his blog. Many of his recent posts have been about items based on The Incredible Hulk movie that is set to be released June 13, 2008.

I make sure that I visit Ratchet's Hulk Collection at least once a day since you never know what exactly he is going to post next. I will be adding a link to my favorite blogs in the sidebar.