Some people think these are adorable. Others shudder at a moment’s glance. Whatever the reaction, these contacts are made for anyone that wants disproportionately large manga or anime eyes. Korean manufactureres G&G and Dueba seemed to have cornered the market.

The contact lenses are available in a large variety of colours and more importantly, have a larger diameter than normal contact lenses. The effect gives the wearer the appearance of gigantic irises for that alluring cartoony look. Both cosmetic and prescription lenses are available.

At $35-40 a pair online, big eyes are much more reasonably priced than a small nose and more readily available than the Astro Boy makeover.

Doed-eye wannabes can get these contacts through Shopping Times.

Found via Inventorspot.

I made my way down to Calgary this weekend for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. It’s much bigger this year as the con is now a two-day event, with extended programing and dozens of guests. Pretty good for a con that only started two years ago. I talked briefly with Events Coordinator Kandrix Foong.

“Going into our third year, we’re expecting a massive jump in attendance again this year. I believe our success is due to two main things. The first, is that there’s nothing like this event in Western Canada. The second, is our extensive guest list! We’ve got 75+ guests from all over coming into the event, and a few of them rarely make appearances,” said Foong.

“There’s a lot of new stuff this year at the Expo. For starters, we’re expanding to two-days, which will be an adventure in itself! We’ve got our 2008 exclusive artbook featuring contributions from 39 artists. There’s a charity auction, a photo-op session with our media guests, and expanded programming.”

I made the three hour trek from Edmonton last year to attend this con. I asked Kendrix about the convention’s attendance over the years. “In our first year, our out of town attendees was very limited. It was primarily driving distance, so Edmonton would pretty much be the furthest away. This year, I know that we’ve got a fan flying in all the way from Italy to meet Michael Rosenbaum!”

And I had to ask about CCEE’s gorgeous cowgirl logo.

“She was designed by artist Alberto Ruiz, we’ve named her ‘Alberta’, so it’s kinda like tribute to 2 things at the same time!”

I’ll be floating around the con over the next couple of days taking pictures making sure I get in on some Jo Chen (my idol!) and George Takai goodness. If you figure out who I am, make sure to say “hi!”

Mortal Kombat Online reported Midway Games has confirmed last fall’s rumor that a Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe video game is in the works.

Today, Midway Games confirmed what had been rumored for a while: the first next-generation Mortal Kombat title, up until now called “Mortal Kombat 8″ by the community, is officially titled Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. As the title suggests, it will be a crossover with the characters and setting of DC Comics.

Lots of unanswered questions remain, such as will the game have the signature fatality moves Mortal Kombat fans have grown to love. Details about its gameplay are still unknown, although a past interview with creator Ed Boon revealed that the next installment of Mortal Kombatwould be more serious.

It’s going to be a fighting game, definitely, but after that anything can go”, he added, talking about the fact that he’s starting from scratch for the new game.

The game will have more features, take advantage of motion-sensing controllers and “try to introduce as many new characters as possible”.

Initially, talk of a Mortal Kombat/DC Universe pairing had comic and gaming fans writing off the possibility as a far-fetch senseless idea but in light of the news from today, expect a new round of speculation of how good or bad it could be.

***UPDATE 3:20 pm***

Games Radar posted this trailer featuring Batman and Sub-Zero having a throwdown. The game will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Thanks James.

Art Spiegelman was featured on CBC News’ Sunday Night to talk about censorship from the perspective of a comic creator. He reflected on surviving 911, the Danish cartoon controversy and changing his artwork for Canada while sitting in a continuous stream of cigarette smoke.

You can watch the full report on CBC’s website.

The original oil painting used for the cover of Tintin in America sold for €764,200 (1.2 million USD) at an auction on Saturday March 29, obliterating the old record for an original comic book art. Last March, a drawing by artist Enki Bilal called Bleu Sang (Blue Blood) fetched €177,000 ($285,950 Cdn).

Held in Paris, Auction house Artcurial announced that the 1932 oil painting, by Tintin’s Belgian creator Hergé, was part of one-off sale of 650 comic originals.

Tintin Actor chosen

Tintin record-breaking sale of the original artwork happened only a day after the announcement that british actor Thomas Sangster will be playing Tintin in the upcoming Steven Spielberg movie. Sangster is best known for his roles in the films Love Actually and Nanny McPhee . Andy Serkis has been confirmed in the role of Captain Haddock.

Tintin was also in the news as recently as last week, publisher Raymond LeBlanc passed away.

Via CBC News.

Spider-Man water bottles sold exclusively at Sears in 2007 are being recalled due to a chocking hazard.

CBC News reported:

The screws under the water bottle’s lid can come loose and fall into the cup, posing a choking hazard to children. No injuries have been reported but the company has received three reports of the screws coming loose.

The company told CBC.ca the product was not sold in Canada.

Consumers should immediately take the recalled water bottles away from children and contact Fast Forward LLC at 1-877-244-4433 for instructions on returning the product for a full refund.

The recall is voluntary.

The official recall notice is available online at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

At Toyfair, not only was the new 2008 Barbie/DC Super-heroes line-up was shown off, but a gift set featuring Barbie’s little sister Kelly and her friend Tommy, cosplaying as Catwoman and Batman, was on display at the Mattel booth.

Pictures of the Barbie display can be found on the CarolynnW’s Picasa Web Album.

Inspired by the 1960s campy TV series, RedHotPhones, a website that sells nothing but red phones, made this little gem available for sale.

Heavy-duty traditional desk phone with dial replaced by blank plate, and bell disconnected if you prefer a silent signal.

Neon light flashes when call comes in. No external power or battery required.

Brand-new. Two-year warranty. Bright red phone with red color lens centered within chrome ring.

Normally used for answer-only, but can make calls if connected to a phone system with memory dialing, or a ring-down circuit.

At $112 USD each, it’s a bargain for any playboy millionaire vigilantes.

The only thing that would make this complete is your own prim and proper butler to let you know when the commissioner is calling.

So when will I finally get my Bat-Shark Repellent?

Via Engadget.

Game developer Electronic Arts confirmed that they and Marvel comics have decided to terminate their plans to develop a new Marvel fighting game.

“EA and Marvel have jointly agreed to discontinue development of the Marvel titles under the EA Games Label. This was a business decision based on EA’s portfolio strategy,” an Electronic Arts rep told GameTap today.

The deal with EA was similar to one Marvel had with Capcom. That deal pit classic Marvel superheroes against original characters from the game publisher and resulted in the 1999’s Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.

Only one game has been developed under the EA/Marvel licensing agreement since 2004: Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

Marvel briefly stated that they are other fish in the sea.

“(this) will not affect Marvel’s ongoing plans to release fighting games based on the Marvel properties in the future.”

Fans of the popular Marvel vs. Capcom fighting games rejoicing and hoping Marvel reunites with their former star-crossed lover, Capcom.

Beautiful handbags in the shape of Wonder Girl and Mary Marvel’s torsos made by graphic designer Luc Latulippe’s brother, Guy. In his blog post, Luc said:

My talented younger brother, Guy, made these several years ago. He used to sell them in various boutique shops in Toronto and Montreal, using hundreds of different patterns, but each in the same bustier shape. Handmade, kids.

And if you’re wondering, no, these fab bags are no longer for sale.

T-shirt design proposal by Jillian Nickell. To help get this shirt printed, vote for it on Threadless.com.

Ever think about building your very own giant mech?

At least $725 million for the parts and materials, according to an estimate published on the SciencePortal.jpSciencePortal website run by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The price tag for this giant humanoid, which would stand 18 meters (60 feet) tall and weigh 43.4 metric tons (nearly 100,000 lbs), does not include the cost of labor (this is where an extensive pool of robot slave labor comes in handy), nor does it include the cost of the infrastructure needed to support the machine once you are ready to climb aboard and take it for a walk.

More analysis kindly translated and posted at Pink Tentacle.

“So I have this great idea! If we take scenes from the classic anime, Space Battleship Yamato, then splice in some footage of a beautiful woman in full costume, we will entice people to play Pachinko!”

Found via TV in Japan.

Watch out for wild dynamic duos.

By Ben Templesmith found via Loris Z.com

When I saw this commercial for Kewpie cellphone charms, it really reminded me of the Joker. I almost want to say that Christopher Nolan was inspired by this ad. The charms themselves, which some look like tortured babies, rank as one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen come out of Japan, and I’ve seen a lot of strange things. The land of Hello Kitty isn’t always fluffy and cute.

Found ala Gizmodo

Forbes released their in-depth Forbes Fictional 15 with Scrooge McDuck taking top spot at a value of $28.8 billion. Bruce Wayne made 8th place valued at $7.0 billion with Tony Stark following closely behind at $6.0 billion giving him 10th place.

The link also lists the top 25 largest fictional companies. It’s pretty fun and worth reading individual entries if you have the time.

Mattel released the image of Speed Racer Barbie Gift Set, which features a very awesome retro looking Barbie as Trixie and Speed Racer that kind of reminds me of Tom Welling. Should be available spring 2008.

That Trixie is a real doll! Along with Speed, they make a great pair in this collectible Pink Label Collection Barbie Gift Set! Speed Racer and Trixie are exquisitely detailed Dolls featuring retro chic racing outfits and super slick accessories. Speed wears signature white and red helmet and jumpsuit. His girlfriend Trixie, who never shies from danger or away from Speed’s side is ready for action in a fashionable pink shift with matching binoculars. Villains beware with this irresistible pair!

Game Informer announced their December cover story will be about an upcoming sequel to the Ghostbusters movies, in video game form.

Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd are getting back together and revisiting their roles to make a sequel to Ghostbusters 1 and 2 – in video-game form, and we’ve got the first details. Both Aykroyd and Ramis are teaming up for scriptwriting duties and are going far beyond just the typical licensed add-your-voice-to-the-game-you-had-nothing-to-do-with formula. And no, this has nothing to do with the Ghostbusters Zootfly video demonstration that floated around the internet in January.

Since 1989, after the release of Ghostbusters 2, there has been almost non-stop talk about a third movie. Going to video game is an interesting move, and looks like a brilliant way to reunite the cast without limiting themselves to the effects of aging.

Sooooooo… what do you think?

I took in some of the going-ons of this year’s 24 Hour Comics Day, held at Happy Harbor comics in Edmonton, Canada.