Did you know that the modern X-Men logo was originally designed by Jim Steranko and made its debut in X-Men 50 in November of 1968 (as seen in the above post banner)? In a surprisingly interesting series of articles, Todd Klein, who has done a wide variety of work as a letterer and designer, has assembled an exhaustive analysis of logos for the X-Men related books going as far back as issue 1 of X-Men from 1963. You can see his blog here and for the specific articles, see the direct links below.

Part 9 was particularly interesting because it shows the most recent iteration of the X-Men logo and many of the other designs that were submitted with it all mocked up on the same cover for issue 233 (I suspect this is just filler numbering and lettering because we are currently only on issue 203 at retail and Whedon and Cassaday have never been revealed as the creative team for X-Men that I am aware of. Not sure what the cover art is from or will be.) I kind of liked this one:

Throughout the series, Klein offers up glimpses of logo art samples that could have been. See below for an example of that for the X-Factor logo.

I should also note that Klein designed several X-Men related logos himself, including an X-Factor logo and an Excalibur logo. I found it interesting he noted in several places that when given a choice of logos, the editorial staff often chose the one closest resembling the original Steranko logo.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Update

Let us know what you think in the comments!

First I’ve heard of it!
Slashfilm reports

Next up is a teaser poster for Screen Gems’ big screen adaptation of the popular Namco video game Tekken. The story follows two childhood friends who enter a worldwide martial arts tournament and uncover a secret that lies within the mysterious Tekken Corp. Charles Stone will direct. Film is set to hit theaters in 2009.

No Boll, no Paul WS Anderson, it can’t be that bad, right? But Who is Charles Stone? He’s the man behind THIS.

King Of Iron Fist. True. True.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been cast to play Mandrake the Magician in the Chuck Russell directed Mandrake.

Whats that? Who’s Mandrake the Magician?

I’m glad you asked. Mandrake was a comic strip from the 30’s featuring a magician that fought the good fight. It generated plenty of spin-offs in other media formats including serials and books. In the 80’s the heroic magician starred in a cartoon alongside other classic comic strip heroes including The Phantom and Flash Gordon. You may remember this cartoon as Defenders of the Earth.

The new film, featuring Meyers, is set to shoot next year, both in the USA, and in China.

Source: Blogs@Newsarama

It’s that time of the year again folks! The scariest night of the year, October 31st is upon us once again, and in between the candy, costumes, and practical jokes, we got a dose of some of the scariest games that have ever graced a console. One of which is an unknown chapter of a well-known franchise, and the other is a modern-day update to one of the most prolific titles in gaming. So without further ado, turn down the lights, keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, and try not to wet yourself.
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Joshua Middleton gives us a look at his cover for JLA Classified 52 at several different stages of its development. From concept sketch to final coloring, Josh has explained the process behind the art in brief detail (is that an oxymoron?). You can see the article on his blog here.

I have posted things from Josh’s blog in the past. He is among my favorite artists and its nice to see him give background on stuff like this. You can check out his site here.

With Halloween quickly approaching, it’s commonplace to expect some big-news action being spewed out from Hollywood, and the past few weeks have been no exception. However, even with Saw IV having been released to theaters this past Friday, it looks as if the holiday season doesn’t have nearly as many horror-based films being shown as some might like. (with the exception of Nightmare Before Christmas 3D being re-released again this season, and “30 Days of Night”)

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TFW2005 points us to this auction. Up for auction is a pre-production mock up of Transformers Animated Prowl in packaging. A disclaimer on the package reads:

This is a pre-production sample package. This sample package is for illustration only. Size and design may vary slightly.

While keeping that in mind, the packaging looks remarkably similar to the same size and, for the most part, coloring of the packaging from Transformers Cybertron. The shape of the packaging more closely resembles the Transformers Classics packaging with the more box-like bubble containing the figure itself.

 

Here are samples from Cybertron (white) and Classics (red):

 

The other day we found out the final track list of Guitar Hero III, and its only fair we post the other major music simulator. I’ve compiled (at great time expense) videos for the track listing. The lead off track is “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones, at least chronologically. You might remember this song being in the Martin Scorsese films Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed, and as well as being the title to the historic documentary about the final show on the Stones final 1969 tour.
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