Wonder if you can make a difference?

DC COMICS had decided that it’s charitable focus for the company will be through an ongoing campaign called WE CAN BE HEROES which utilizes their Super Heroes to raise money to assist with Hunger Relief efforts in the Horn of Africa.  Throughout the year, DC is holding periodic campaigns which allows fans to donate money to the campaign, receive some unique and interesting swag for their contribution, and get a tax deduction too!  Donations to WE CAN BE HEROES will be used to assist three non-profits: SAVE THE CHILDREN, MERCYCORPS, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE.

Earlier this year DC hosted campaigns themed around BATMAN and SUPERMAN, and is currently hosting a 6-week fundraiser based upon THE JUSTICE LEAGUE.  Starting September 14, 2013  through the end of October there will be unique items revolving around the members of the Justice League that you can purchase to assist the campaign:

September 24 – Wonder Woman

October 1^st – Green Lantern & Green Arrow

October 8^th – Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg

October 15^th – Batman & Superman

October 22^nd – The Justice League

This week’s theme is Wonder Woman - check out these swag items you can pick up as part of the WE CAN BE HEROES campaign:

$10 – 5 digital comics (Wonder Woman Issues 0 – 5)

$25 – A print edition Superman/Wonder Woman comic with a special WE CAN BE HEROES variant collectable cover.

$30 – A one year print subscription to your choice of either Aquaman, Batman/Superman, Green Lantern, Justice League or Wonder Woman comics

$45 – An exclusive  Superman/Wonder Woman T-shirt

$50- The Wonder Woman Encyclopedia signed by creative talent Phil Jimenez

$150 – A signed lithograph by artist Adam Hughes. Plus you get a $66 dollar tax deduction!!!

$200 – Wonder Woman's famous wrist cuffs, plus they throw in an autographed Adam Hughes lithograph and one of the Wonder Woman/Superman t-shirts

$550 – plated gold Wonder Woman jewelry set – they also throw in the Adam Hughes autographed lithograph and one of the Wonder Woman/Superman t-shirts .  Add in a $180 dollar tax deduction too!

And for the GRAND PRIZE – Meet the original Wonder Woman for a donation of $10,000.

DC COMICS will fly you to New York to meet Linda Carter and throws in everything mentioned above. 

Remember the perks will change each week so if you see something you like don’t wait too long to purchase it and keep looking back for new collectables and interesting superhero items.

To participate in the WE CAN BE HEROES CAMPAIGN, visit:   http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dc-entertainment-we-can-be-heroes-justice-league-edition

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Do you have what it takes to be a professional comic book artist?

OK, I have to say up front that I don’t have any artistic talent, but if I did one of my dream jobs would be drawing comic books.  So if you have any artistic ability or know someone who would love the chance to work on comic book layouts for a living, you will definitely want to know about the Open Talent Searchbeing held by DC COMICS.

They are asking for anybody with an interest to submit a 4 panel page based upon a script they provide for an upcoming Harley Quinn comic book.  Harley Quinn is the side-kick and girl friend to DC Comics infamous villain The Joker.  The contest kicked off with a little infamy itself with complaints from some public interest groups that the script promoted or glamorized suicide.  DC has issued an apology and said the script portrays a fantastic dream sequence and does not depict a real suicide. They have maintained the script as is for the contest with the questionable scene being that depicted in Panel 4 remaining in place.  Harley Quinn is a violent lunatic so suicide isn't that tough to believe for the character and doesn't seem that far off beat for a comic script involving the character though it may have been a little too edgy to include in a public contest like this. 

The winning entry will be included within the published on page 15 of the first edition of a new Harley Quinn series that begins in November with issue #0.  Best case scenario is this could open doors to a paying gig by winning this contest and worst case is you get a great portfolio piece or souvenir for yourself.

Check out all the contest and submission rules on the contest website:  www.dccomics.com/node/305151. Than provide them your original artistic interpretation of what the four panels should look like from the provided script below on a single page:

PANEL 1
Harley is on top of a building, holding a large DETACHED cellphone tower in her hands as lightning is striking just about everywhere except her tower. She is looking at us like she cannot believe what she is doing. Beside herself. Not happy.

PANEL 2
Harley is sitting in an alligator pond, on a little island with a suit of raw chicken on, rolling her eyes like once again, she cannot believe where she has found herself. We see the alligators ignoring her.

PANEL 3
Harley is sitting in an open whale mouth, tickling the inside of the whale’s mouth with a feather. She is ecstatic and happy, like this is the most fun ever.

PANEL 4
Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of “oh well, guess that’s it for me” and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen.

The contest ends on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 10 am PDT so get those entries in.  If you win let us know too!  Good luck!!!

DC COMICS: Open Talent Search

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Fun Toys Making October a Happy Time To Visit McDonalds

UPDATED (9/21/2013):  The BATMAN toys have come out in late September rather than early October.  We found the first round of toys at McDonalds on Saturday, Sept 21st, but they didn't have any Wizard of Oz toys  yet.  We picked up a batmobile and batman figurine for the kids but  they didn't have the "bat mask" which is what the kids really wanted.

McDonald's has received some bashing over the years about their Happy Meals not being healthy and marketing to kids through the promotion of toys - my response to that is grow up and be a parent.  Don't let your kids dictate to your family's meal time decisions.  McDonald's should be a "treat" and not a regular part of your kid's diet so if you are eating there enough that you are concerned that the restaurant is luring you in through toys and marketing aimed at kids you have bigger problems than just what your kids are eating.

I find it enjoyable to go to McDonald's when there is a fun toy promotion going on as something out of the ordinary to do.  We don't go all the time and my kids relate our trips there to a special treat or reward.  In fact I'm more likely to take them if there is a cool toy in the Happy Meals - and sorry McDonalds but more often than not your toys aren't that great - but my children don't expect to go to McDonalds all the time to eat or for a toy. I don't care if the food isn't that healthy because most things you eat as a "treat" aren't, like  movie popcorn or sundaes at an ice cream parlor.  I love to take my kids to grab a slurpee from 7-Eleven and that sure isn't healthy but we do it once a month or so as a fun side trip with Dad.  As parents though, my wife and I focus on making all the other meal times healthy and teaching our kids about living that promotes exercise, eating responsibly and leading a lifestyle that avoids using alcohol and drugs for enjoyment or entertainment.

Kids are being forced to go to school earlier and longer with more pressure and competition to excel than ever before.  My kids are doing two years of preschool and now the school districts require 5 day a week full day daycare.  More and more kids are forced into daycare because their parents are working full time jobs.  The violence and terrorism reported on the news most be scary for children, I know as an adult I find it horrific. If a Happy Meal with a toy can help my kids enjoy being a kid and enjoy a special moment of childhood - god bless you McDonalds!

While my wife and I have been to McDonalds frequently this year, we've only been to McDonalds four times with our kids...when they had the Despicable Me and Smurf toys out (which are kids still frequently play with so they were pretty good toys).  I have to admit those toys were a factor in making a visit to McDonalds because since we take the children there a limited amount we wanted to make the visits really count. So I guess the toy marketing does work for them ... but hey they are a business looking to make money! I'm tempted to make a stop in October with the kids too because it looks like they are going to have some fun toys that month in their Happy Meal boxes:  BATMAN & THE WIZARD OF OZ

The BATMAN toys will feature a caped crusader mask, toy motorcycle and batmobile, and some action figures.

THE WIZARD OF OZ toys will feature figurines of all the main characters from the original classic movie.  

Now don't get me wrong, childhood obesity is a horrible problem in this country, but instead of focusing on something that is providing some "fun" in life people need to address the larger issues contributing to the problem.  Parents need to set the standards and limits for their kids.  Our society also needs to establish more of a priority in respecting education, exercise, and healthy living as standards for everyone to strive to achieve.  And if McDonald's wants their food to be more than a specials "treat" for my children they need to create a healthier menu.  But in the end, my wife and I are setting the example and setting the rules, rather than allowing a restaurant to take that responsibility over for us.  I don't mind my kids enjoying a Happy Meal every once in awhile as long as they also get the understanding that isn't the way you eat a healthy every day diet...and that is where parenting comes in.

Here are some links that can provide some advice and help if obesity is a problem for your family:

HELPGUIDE: Nutrition for Children & Teens 

Academy for Nutrition & Dietetics 

Choose My Plate.Gov

Nobody wants to deal with a screaming or whining child, but sometimes the best thing you can ever do for your child is just say NO so they understand that there aren't rewards for bad behavior and you can't always get everything you want.  

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BOOK REVIEW: KENOBI

Have you ever wondered what happened between Star Wars Episode III and Episode IV during the period in which the Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi lived on the far off planet of Tatooine keeping a watchful eye over " the new hope" as the crazy hermit Ben Kenobi?  Not much has been addressed over the years about that time period in the Star Wars mythos where this key character transitions in life from middle age warrior to elderly wizard. That is the focus though of a new novel by John Jackson Miller titled: STAR WARS: KENOBI.

In Miller's book, a few weeks have passed since Obi Wan battled Anakin on the lava planet of Mustafar.  Kenobi believes Anakin to be dead, not knowing of Darth Vader, and has taken Luke to live with Anakin's step-brother, Lars Owen, on the desert planet of Tatooine.  Obi Wan plans on laying low and keeping a quiet watchful protective eye over Luke but the locals don't make that as easy as that might seem as Kenobi is entangled in a series of adventures despite his best efforts to avoid them.

The story is an entertaining bed time or vacation read that doesn't take a lot of time to devote to finishing. I  read the whole book over the Labor Day weekend.  It takes an interesting angle by portraying the story with a Western theme, with a few gangsters thrown into the mix because you can't be on Tatooine without including Jabba the Hutt's gang.  The focus of the story is on the battle between the settlers of an oasis near where Kenobi sets up his hermit camp, and the Tusken Raiders (Sand People) who don't want humans encroaching on their territory.  The characters fit into the theme of cowboys from the American Western movies and the Native Americans they battled within that genre.  It was an interesting approach to tell a tale from this famous space opera as a Western and the author did an admirable job of replicating a Wild West theme on a distant planet from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.  Miller develops interesting characters on both sides of the conflict and Kenobi essentially becomes a secondary character until the last few chapters of the book.  You don't mind that Kenobi is essentially a second-tier character in a book with his title on the cover though because the author does a nice job of developing the primary characters and plots of the book to hook you in so you want to know their stories and outcomes. I believe that not having the book entirely focus on Kenobi was actually a nice approach for the novel to take and gives readers a look at the Star Wars Universe from a different perspective which gave the novel a refreshing viewpoint to fans who already know a lot about the central characters from the movies.  Yet the words in print still portrayed to the reader a feeling as if you were watching one of the Star Wars films.

For the most part I enjoyed reading KENOBI, but there were some things I found disappointing.  The biggest disappointment in the book was that a mystery so many die hard Star Wars fans have, how does Kenobi learn to vaporize himself during the Death Star duel with Darth Vader and subsequently communicate with Luke from the dead, isn't answered. Kenobi meditates throughout the book in lengthy passages trying to communicate with his dead Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin, from Episode I, and the reader is waiting for an eventual response.  We never get one it essentially is Kenobi just rambling to himself throughout the book. He is caught doing this by the settlers and gets the name "Crazy Ben" for talking to himself.  We know from the movies and also this story that Kenobi doesn't have these skills at this point in his life that he has later on in the original trilogy movies. So the question remains unanswered.

Also I always pictured the Sand People as might warriors from the first time I was startled as a kid as they ambushed Luke Skywalker and made me jump out of my seat in surprise, they are portrayed that way in all the movies, but Miller takes the approach of presenting them as a dying race in a similar scenario as unfortunately the American Indians faced in our United States history.  While that is an accurate historical portrayal of how unfortunately things were for native Americans in the Wild West it really diminishes the image of Tusken Raiders for fans.  I can understand why the author did this to develop the story and character for the Sand People's leader but he could have had just that one tribe be down and out rather than the whole race of beings on the verge of extinction.

Additionally the whole story only involves the first few months of Kenobi being a "hermit" on Tatooine and his dealings with a select group of settlers and Tusken Raiders.  It would have been nice to have had a broader story detailing more about Kenobi's more than a decade watching over Luke Skywalker as the child grows up.  I guess though writing it this way open up more possibilities for sequel books for the author.  Plus you probably don't want to read a war and peace length novel on this topic so breaking this time period into short stories is most likely the best approach.  I have to say though I had such high hopes and looked really forward to reading this book and afterward it just seemed to be lacking.  The story was just a little too simplistic for me in the end.

That being said, I did enjoy reading the book overall.  It was a nice distraction from the stress of everyday life taking me away to a fantasy world for a few hours during my Labor Day weekend.  If you are looking for a book that you can just sit back and  just enjoy the adventure, I would recommend picking up STAR WARS: KENOBI.  This book will keep your attention and amuse you during a long plane ride or while sitting by a pool and when it comes to a paperback that is my primary objective for picking out a fantasy novel...will it take me away ... and KENOBI does complete that mission.

Check out this book profile from the publisher for more info about this new Star Wars story:

The Republic has fallen.
Sith Lords rule the galaxy.
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has lost everything . . . 
Everything but hope.
 
Tatooine—a harsh desert world where farmers toil in the heat of two suns while trying to protect themselves and their loved ones from the marauding Tusken Raiders. A backwater planet on the edge of civilized space. And an unlikely place to find a Jedi Master in hiding, or an orphaned infant boy on whose tiny shoulders rests the future of a galaxy.
 
Known to locals only as “Ben,” the bearded and robed offworlder is an enigmatic stranger who keeps to himself, shares nothing of his past, and goes to great pains to remain an outsider. But as tensions escalate between the farmers and a tribe of Sand People led by a ruthless war chief, Ben finds himself drawn into the fight, endangering the very mission that brought him to Tatooine.
 
Ben—Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, hero of the Clone Wars, traitor to the Empire, and protector of the galaxy’s last hope—can no more turn his back on evil than he can reject his Jedi training. And when blood is unjustly spilled, innocent lives threatened, and a ruthless opponent unmasked, Ben has no choice but to call on the wisdom of the Jedi—and the formidable power of the Force—in his never-ending fight for justice.

DISCLAIMER:  I received an advance reviewer digital pdf copy of Kenobi from the publisher.  The thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.

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