An overview of the BOOM Studios/Stan Lee universe (video)!

Welcome Thought Corner readers to a short video of me flipping through the pages of the new BOOM Studios comic book line by Stan Lee and various creators, I basically just wanted to post a video to showcase the quality that these books possess and to give a little outline of what I have thought of these comics so far. As many of you who follow me on Twitter know, I have been passionate about this line of books from the beginning and I've really jumped into this project head first and I haven't looked back since, this line of comics has been a real delight for me and I would recommend them to anyone who loves superheroes and/or a good old fashioned story about heroes & villains. These comics may not be geared toward everybody's interests but it's most certainly for those who love superheroes, if you grew up on Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and Captain America then these comics are most certainly for you, if you're more into gothic style comics or book with a more NC-17 feel to them then I would probably avoid, but still, the stories that have been told so far have been phenomenal and the artwork has been stellar. But Marvel/DC/Image fans, take it from me, give these books a chance and I'm more than certain that you will be happy you did, it's time for some fresh faces on the stands and the road to comic book recovery is going through BOOM Studios as we speak.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Nostalgia versus Reality by Stelfo64

(NOTE: Today we have a treat, this is a guest post by a good friend of mine known as Stelfo64, it mainly covers his view of old versus new mentallity and The Thought Corner would like to thank him for his contribution.)



While surfing the web the other day I came across IGN's top 100 Animated Series and it reminded me of a problem I have when trying to choose my #1 of anything. The dilemma I always have when trying to choose my #1 is how do I compare an animated series, video game, tv show, or anything else of today to others from years past. The fact is that despite what our grandparents say most things are made “better” now than they were then. Technology has advanced, more content is available, and in the case of most everything mentioned more mature themes are represented. When asked for your favorite from the categories mentioned above most of us will often look to our younger days and pick something from the past.

I ask myself is this really the case, is Zelda really a better game than God of War or should Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles really be ranked higher than a series like FMA that is obviously much more entertaining as an adult. One way of going about it is that each of these things is often geared towards a certain age group and should be compared to things geared towards the same demographic now. The problem with that logic is that I do not watch shows or play games today made for 8 year olds because they don’t have anything for me. Another way to look at it is to only compare things of one time period to things from that same time period. This is a system often used in sports when inducting people into the hall of fame; they compare that person’s numbers to that of others during his or her era. Seems logical, however I am always going to ask myself what is my favorite of all time regardless of the time period?!?! So what wins out is it nostalgia or is it what is more entertaining to me now? It is always a tough choice because I am penalizing each one for different reasons.



I penalize the new stuff for not having as big of an impact on me or for having spent less time with it. The problem there is that I had more time to watch these shows, and play these games at a younger age and most everything has a more profound impact when you are younger. On the other side I penalize the things of yesterday for not holding up today or just being too childish in comparison to the more mature themes of today’s entertainment. So in this journey for #1 what is it that wins out for me? At the end of it all when things get close and I ask myself which is better it always comes down to what would I rather watch or play now. I know this is biased because no one watches shows that were made for 8 year olds in the 80’s now and enjoys them the way they did then. This is just my way of doing things, and as is the case with any list it is all subjective.

One thing that I like to mention to those who choose nostalgia is to remember our choices were slim back then. I was born in 1981 and up until I was about 10 years old didn’t have cable. This meant that there was maybe a maximum of 10-12 channels for me to watch and often times some channels would show the same content (where I grew up channel 7 & 10 were the same and 5 & 12 were as well). The same thing applies for video games and movies, things were just much less accessible and there were far less of them so were they really that great or were they just the best of what was available at the time. That being said there are games like Zelda, and shows like Cowboy Bebop that hold up like an old friend, you’ve enjoyed them in the past and you get just as much enjoyment seeing them today as you did then. There are also the show’s like He-Man and games like Dragon Warrior that are like Ex-Girlfriends, sure I enjoyed the time I had with them but if it were up to me I never want to see them again. I have found that there are a lot more Ex-Girlfriends that I’d rather not see than old friends that I still enjoy being around.

~ Stelfo64

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Manga4life's "Eden of the East" review.

Well, it’s a new year here at The Thought Corner and it’s time to kick things off right here in 2011, so to start the year off with a bang I’m going to review an anime series called Eden of the East. Do enjoy.

When I first saw the trailer for Eden of the East for the first time last summer I didn’t think that this was going to be a very good anime, it looked boring and it didn’t appear as if it offered much in the way of action, which is something I enjoy when I watch anime. I half heartedly watched the series in October and didn’t think much of it because I honestly wasn’t paying too much attention to the story and all that was going on, all I got from it is that there was a guy with a special cell phone and he was trying to make the world a better place. Great, not my cup of tea. Then, last month I was searching for something to watch after having finished off another anime series and I couldn’t make up my mind as to what I wanted to dedicate myself to, so after thinking about it I decided to give Eden of the East another viewing since it was a short series (11 episodes), I then decided to plunk down and watch it again for the lack of anything better to do. Boy am I glad I did. This time I paid full attention to the story and went into the show not expecting to be a part of something action packed and thrilling, because of this I found myself to be drawn in by the two main characters (Akira and Saki) and the way they melded with each other which captured me into really getting into their friendship and the way they interacted with each other within the story. Speaking of the story, it’s actually quite good! Without giving away too much, the plot basically revolves around Akira, the main character, who is unknowingly and unwillingly entered into a contest with 11 other people who’s main goal is to make the world a better place by using their cell phones to spend a large sum of money on their efforts, these people are called Selecao.

As the story unfolds we learn that Akira has previously erased his memory for some unknown reason and during the series he tries hard to gain back anything that he has forgotten. As he pieces everything together along with trying to cope with being a Selecao he’s helped out by a girl named Saki, who is a 21 year old college student who he meets while she is visiting Washington DC, during the course of the show they grow to be close friends and both have a general caring for each other, she and her friends try their hardest to help Akira along with his goals as the plot progresses. Later on in the series things begin to get serious, Akira runs into a couple of his fellow Selecao who have devised a plan to unleash a flurry of bombs upon Japan and it’s up to him, and him alone, to use his cell phone and allowed yen wisely to try to stop what could become a deadly situation for thousands of citizens.



As with all of my reviews, I'd like to take a look at the production side of things for a moment, mainly the music in the series along with the animation and the overall quality of how the behind the scenes crew crafted this anime. Let's start with the sound and music of Eden of the East, not that it was a huge feather in the cap of this series or anything, but it was pretty enjoyable and I felt the English dub was done really well, nothing from the music side of things really stuck out though and sometimes this series suffered due to the lack of appropriate music to set the mood for certain scenes. Overall I would say that the audio strengths in Eden of the East would reside with the voice overs and the sound effects used, again, nothing really screamed out at me or anything but all in all I would say that it was done fairly well not to complain a whole lot about it. Visual wise, it's kind of on the same boat with the audio, this series featured good animation that helped to portray the story but nothing really grabbed me and made me want to bow down and sacrifice myself to the animation gods, it mainly did what it needed to do and that is all you can really ask these days. Don't get me wrong, it isn't like the animation in Eden of the East was bad or anything, it was quite good, but it wasn't anything that you haven't seen already if you catch my drift.

People are probably wondering if Eden of the East is a fun series to watch, people want to know if they should go out and spend their hard earned money on a series that has under 20 episodes even though the price is right around that of a 26 episode boxed set. You want to know my answer? Yes. It's a fun series that's full of fun characters mixed with a little of what you already know and love about anime, depending on what kind of story you enjoy when picking out and watching anime you could end up liking this series a lot more than I did or you may think that this show was an epic failure, it's hard to judge based upon what kind of program this ended up being. I enjoyed it, I'd recommend it to those looking for a fun drama anime, but if Shonen is your thing or if you need constant action then this is definately not for you, it's riviting at times, but not action packed by any means. Eden of the East is a "Enter at your own risk" scenario if you ask me, but remember, sometimes the world of the unkown can be an exciting trip and something to remember. Stay real and do enjoy!

Art & Animation - 8.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 7.5/10
Story & Writing - 7.75/10
Fun - 8.0/10
Overall - 7.75/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

"The Tale" - Chapter 1 ©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

{Limited Release Post}

This was a limited release post containing the first chapter of Jason Withstead's epic novel, "The Tale", it was only up for about 10 hours and available for a limited view time only as a special attraction for readers of this blog. To keep interest high, we will be releasing the next two chapters over the course of the next few weeks which will lead into the book being available for sale this summer from your friends at Cozy Cabin Publishing, so make sure to keep checking back here on The Thought Corner for more updates.

Thank you for your interest,
Manga4life
*Owner of Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC and The Thought Corner

Official Press Release: The Thought Corner introduces "Cozy Cabin Publishing".

Hello one, hello all, this is Manga4life and today I bring some pretty exciting news to friends & readers of The Thought Corner. Last month I sat down and mapped out plans to create my own publishing company, mainly because I love to write but also because I love to read the writings of others and I wanted to involve myself by finding writers who wanted to submit stories that would find readers through both my blog and through print. The first thing I did was write down a few different names that would be a perfect fit for my new company, the problem was that none of the names felt right and I didn't want the company to have a generic name that held no meaning, so I then tried to think about a place where I would feel comfortable to sit down and write for hours on end. I pictured in my head a deep wooded area with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, nestled within those woods I thought of a classic style log cabin and how cozy it would be to sit down at a small desk and write something to the sound of fire crackling and nothing else. Then shortly after that I pictured a nice spring day in the same wooded setting, within the same cabin I saw myself sitting down at the same desk but this time there was no fire, instead I could hear the sound of a baseball game being called by an elderly man coming through the speaker of an old transitor radio, meanwhile I focused on my piece of writing the window wide open and the sound of birds being heard outdoors. It all clicked and soon after that "Cozy Cabin Publishing" was born.

I've submitted a patent claim to the United States patent office for Cozy Cabin Publishing and I've put aside some capitol for print and other supplies, things have really come to fruition quickly and a Facebook page, Twitter account and official website will be coming in the upcoming months for promotion purposes. Yep, my publishing company is now alive and on top of it all I've found my first piece of talent. Who you ask? Well, a young man named Jason Withstead (Withstead85@yahoo.com) who noticed my previous Twitter posts regarding Cozy Cabin Publishing felt compelled to contact me regarding doing some light publishing, I was delighted and we've spoke on numerous occassions and came up with a few ideas and before you know it he was on board. Jason has sent me a rough draft of a story he has been working on for over 2 years that he is in the process of finishing the final draft, the title of his project is "The Tale", and starting in March some of the book will be published on The Thought Corner blog with the full story being printed and available for sale sometime in July 2011.

Well, that's it for now ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you guys are all as excited as I am about this new venture and I hope you all take the time to check out the blog as well as my twitter every now and again for updates regarding new material and new releases from Cozy Cabin Publishing. Until then, stay on top of your game and enjoy life.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Happy Holidays from The Thought Corner!

Well, It’s that special time of year again and The Thought Corner just wanted to take this time to wish all of our readers and friends a very Happy Holidays, hopefully Santa brings you everything you’ve wanted this year and hopefully you will get to spend some much deserved time with friends and family. Personally, I love this time of year, everything from the madness at the malls, the holiday specials airing on television, the smells, the music, the atmosphere and the memories of holidays that have long past, it’s all so much fun for me and I hope that you all let Christmas time be a fun and exciting time for you as well.

With that said, there will be no more blog updates until the beginning of the year, I plan to come back refocused in 2011 and I’ll be bringing you more reviews, opinions, insight and other wacky ramblings from a dark corner of my inner self that I like to call “The Thought Corner”, so please don’t hesitate to keep visiting and as always, do enjoy.

Happy Holidays everybody!

Manga4life's "Casshern Sins" review!

Hello one, hello all, my name is Manga4life and today I am writing a review of an anime that has struck something of a morbid chord with it’s viewers, this anime has desolate written all over it due to it’s lack of life and it’s feeling of empty space. Today I am going to review Casshern Sins, so strap yourself in Thought Corner readers and enjoy.

Casshern Sins is a series that I have heard about through multiple forums on the web that are dedicated to anime, but since it wasn’t dubbed at the time I really had no interest of checking it out even though I felt the plot behind it was kind of neat, plus when I first saw the trailer for the show I thought it wasn’t going to be my cup of tea due to the limited animation and the design of the main character (Casshern). Boy was I wrong. Once I began watching Casshern Sins it didn’t take long until I was dragged in by just how deep the story was, basically, Casshern is roaming a world that has been struck by the “ruin” and everything is either dead, dying or falling apart, as he makes his way through he runs into multiple robots who are looking to eat him because they feel it’s the only way to stop the ruin from affecting them, but of course once they engage Casshern in battle they are easily destroyed because of his skills as a fighting machine. There is a lot of fighting in this series but I felt it does not take away from the storyline whatsoever, in fact, the fighting often leads to situations where the plot thickens and new characters are introduced while everything begins to take a left turn when the blinker in signaling right. It’s really quite intense at times.

One thing I loved about this series was the supporting cast and how they interacted with the main character and the roles that they took on for themselves, especially Ringo and Ohji, a little robotic girl and her caretaker who follow Casshern throughout his travels and build quite a bond with him along the way, but my favorite supporting character in the series was a female named Sophita, the “Angel of Ruin“. Sophita loved to fight, she loved to fight so much that she couldn’t be happy unless she was engaged in endless battle, in fact, she even tried to kill Casshern because she felt she loved him so much that the only way to express her love for him was to end his life through an avenue that would make her feel happy inside. It was actually quite genius to see unfold before your eyes and the episode she appeared in was really touching, when you get around to watching this series I would recommend keeping an eye out for her as I felt it was one of the best episodes in the entire series. As Casshern makes his way through the world he runs into countless robots that he ends up killing, multiple sad characters that you just want to reach out to and offer a lending hand to, and even a human who kind of puts things into perspective for Casshern to ready him for what could (and would) become quite a journey. If there is any strength to this series at all it would definitely be within the interactions and the relationships built between Casshern and the characters he meets along the way.



Now it's time to discuss the production side of Casshern Sins and whether or not the technical aspects of the series hit a crushing home run like the creative side of it did, first off I think we will discuss the animation within the series and if it stands beside some of the current anime on the market that it's up against. The answer to that would be no. Okay, Casshern Sins is nicely animated and the fight scenes are pretty fluid, but the overall look of the series kind of makes me think that it was animated in the mid to late 90's or something, either that or the animators were trying to make some kind of an artistic statement, either way it's not up to par with other achievements in anime animation that have come out over the past couple of years. With that said, the animation was pretty good and it was probably drawn in a way to make the characters seem as desolate as the world they inhabit, I actually quite liked it regardless of it's limitations and whatnot, I did feel that the character designs were done really good as well. One huge strength that this series has going for it is in it's music, from start to finish the OST in Casshern Sins was absolutely brilliant and the theme used to help bring the story too a close at the end most of the episodes still haunt me and I find myself whistling it from time to time, this anime has one of the best musical scores of any piece of animation I've ever seen (and that's saying a lot). Look up a song called "A Path" from this show and you will see what I'm talking about.

Anyhow, it's just about time to bring this review to an end and to list my usual rating system below, but before I go I just want to say how fun it was to sit down and watch this series, it's really left a long lasting impression on me and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to become engrossed inside of a special anime that will most likely leave you with the same impression that it left me. It's an extremely fun, if not immensely sad series that really deserves to be seen by those who are looking for a wildly touching, yet satisfying anime to sink their teeth into, give it a shot and you may just feel the same way that I do about Casshern Sins.

Art & Animation - 7.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 9.0/10
Story & Writing - 9.0/10
Fun - 9.0/10
Overall - 9.0/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***