Examining Rainbowbrite's horrifying Origin Story...

Rainbow Brite -- Incarnated Evil, Child Abandonment, Murder Via Rainbow

If you were around in the '80s, you remember the enormously popular Rainbow Brite doll. Here's a video of that kid from Poltergeist trying to sell one to you:

For the most part, the Rainbow Brite cartoon series could not have been more innocuous -- even the "villains" Murky and Lurky were really just a couple of inept caricatures. Really the only objectionable thing about the series was the fact that it seemed to be produced by a bunch of grown-up hippies. But then we have the two-part special, "The Beginning of Rainbowland." That's where we get Rainbow Brite's terrifying origin story.

It turns out Rainbow Brite started out as Wisp, a human toddler who was transported to an unnamed planet and given a quest to save it. Wisp must discover a way to bring color to the desolate landscape. To do this, she must find the Sphere of Light, which is held captive in a castle by a being known as the Evil One. It turns out that Murky and Lurky were just the henchmen for the Evil One, who is determined to keep the land in darkness. There are frequent lightning strikes, rivers of lava and evil creatures who are constantly trying to capture or kill little Wisp.

These guys, for instance.

As she travels, Wisp encounters a field full of statues, which on further inspection turn out to be the frozen corpses of others who've tried to reach the castle. Wisp continues on, gathering new friends with her, until she comes to ...

...a river full of flesh-eating piranha.

Wisp then discovers an abandoned baby lying on the rocks and crying. Despite her friends' annoyed protests, Wisp decides that she must help the baby.

Seriously, how the fuck did it get there?

The bad guys decide they need to capture Wisp to steal the source of her rainbow powers. They accomplish this by kidnapping the baby as a way to lure Wisp into a trap. Wisp confronts the Evil One, who brandishes the baby in one huge fist and demands Wisp's Rainbow Belt.

The Evil One, about to beat a toddler to death with an infant.

Now it's time for Wisp to embrace her destiny as the One and bend reality to her will. A beam of rainbow shoots out from her stomach ...

... and wraps around the Evil One like a goddamned boa constrictor ...

... and crushes him until nothing but his empty cloak remains.

Wisp takes her place as Rainbow Brite and restores color to Rainbowland, where she hopefully receives treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. You may think this episode was some kind of an intentionally edgy, gritty reboot of the character maybe meant for girls in their early teens ... then you realize that "The Beginning of Rainbowland" is recommended for kids as young as 3 years old.

The Death of Spider Man (?)

We knew it was going to happen... only now, its happened/ing(?) WITH SPOILERS!

Death of Spider-Man

Posted on Jun 21, 2011 in articles by Josh Flanagan | ShareThis 129 2

Like Johnny Storm before him, tomorrow looks like it could be the day for Ultimate Peter Parker to snuff it. The final part of the Death of Spider-Man series ends tomorrow with Ultimate Spider-Man #160, and USA Today is all over it.

Except they're sort of not.

There's an image of what looks like Mary Jane holding the body of Peter Parker while Aunt May screams, "Please no!" But that doesn't necessarily look all that dead. In fact, Bendis said about the panel, "I am completely leaving that up to interpretation," and "there's a lot of finality to the issue, so I'm going to leave that one open."

So, he might be dead, or he might not be. Following this issue, Bendis and Mark Bagley will release Ultimate Comics Fallout, a mini-series dealing with his death, and an eventual new Spider-Man.

Personally, I'm torn. I've been enjoying this title thoroughly for a decade. It never dipped. It was always entertaining, and it sure felt like there were plenty of Peter stories to tell, so I'll be upset if we don't get to continue on his journey. It feels like a bit of a waste. On the other hand, in traditional superhero comics, things just go on forever, without consequence, so I have to respect breaking that mold, and if you're going to do it, you should do it when it has maximum impact, and when you least expect it, and I would say that it's very likely that is now. Still, the current status quo was so interesting and felt largely unexplored. Peter was living with Iceman and Human Torch, and getting trained by S.H.I.E.L.D., and it has been a ton of fun. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens along with everyone else.

UPDATE! Marvel just sent along this image, which is a Joe Quesada variant cover. Ouch.

MORE UPDATED! The New York Post pretty much runs the whole thing down, and had this page:

And he was never heard from again! Or maybe he was. We don't know yet.

In Which Mithy Wants a Teeny Tiny Cottage in the Middle of Nowhere...

I think this has to be #1 on my list of dream houses. I'm not sure if I could live without a kitchen and a bathroom, but give me a deep clawfooted tub and some vanilla bubble bath and i'm set.... Here's the re-blog:

Tiny Victorian Cottage

Tiny Victorian Cottage [via The New York Times "Home&Garden"]

The most adorable little victorian cottage ever. Sandra Foster turned a Catskills hunting cabin into the romantic Victorian cottage she had always wanted, using vintage columns, flooring and wavy glass windows, and doing the carpentry herself. This cottage is only accessible via a stone crossing over a stream.

This article in The New York Times features how Sandra Foster and her husband made the cottage from a dream into a reality. Although the cottage lacks a kitchen and a bathroom, I would say that Ms. Foster has managed to make the cottage a perfect little "woman cave" of her own.

The Great Sacramento Steampunk Exhibition

.... well, not "great" exactly. And by that I mean it was quite small. But here it is....

The Second Saturday Steampunk Art Stroll

For those of you who know me and those of you who don't, I have been wanting, very badly for the last few years or so, to don my steampunk garb and go to a society meetup. But alas work and other obligations have prevented me. Yesterday though, after planning for months, I have achieved my goal of fluffing my bustle and making my man put suspenders on. Thus, none-too-shabbily, we strolled down the boulevard. Here is a design of my costume and the costume itself, put into action...

Costumes...

For Curtis, I managed to find a tweed vest and suspenders at a garage sale. He wore his khaki pants and ordinary work shoes plus a belt. The hat is a thrift store fedora and the glasses are vintage raybans I had in the house. Thats really all it took for him.


Mine was a little more difficult. The most money I spent was for the corset, which I purchased for $50 on import from canal boat in England. Everything else was second hand, or pieces I already had. The Comb in my hair is a 1930's original piece, the fan and parasol are both vintage and the boots, as you can see in the above full length picture, are vintage Justin brand 1970's cowboy boots. The Bodice I found years ago at the thrift store, the skirt was a regular tiered maxi skirt, and the 3 buckle belt is forever 21. The brass octopus, I bought at a consignment shop. A very simple costume with much of the desired effect I wished for.




The Story...
Just for kicks, I thought I should extrapolate a fiction for us.

A strange couple, we two, a soiled dove caught up in her wonton ways and, what appeared to be an upright school teacher in his tweed vest and tinted glasses. He, presumably, arrived in california to seek his fortune, and when the rush for gold faded, found his profession teaching modern mathematics to the youth of the area proved far more profitable than the bracers down in Coloma. Sacramento is a quiet town, and thusly, he settled down quite nicely. She was aloof, and congenial, but the spark was there. How could it possibly come to fruition?



But... then again... he's dashing, and she, charming. And so they take each other's company despite held differences. Isn't that how it goes? From opposites breed attraction?

I thought it was a nice story for a little role playing. Cheesy, but aren't we all? Here's the two of us, living happily ever after:

The Contest...

Lastly, I wanted to follow up on Gail Carriger's Heartless contest. I've been bidden to take a picture of myself with one of her books in an effort to hopefully win a signed copy of any one of them. Wish me luck... and hail the victorious parasol!