Indie Squid Kid

©Marvel Comics

The original Marvel 1602 was a critically acclaimed eight issue mini-series from 2003 written by Neil Gaiman and penciled by Andy Kubert. It presents an alternate history (officially known as Earth-311) where characters recognizable from the modern Marvel Universe have appeared centuries earlier in the Elizabethan era. (Read a detailed synopsis here.) The success of 1602 spawned a number of sequel series: 1602: New World (2005), Marvel 1602: Fantastik Four (2006), and Spider-Man 1602 (2009-2010).

Peter Parquagh is the young apprentice of Sir Nicholas Fury, the royal spymaster of Queen Elizabeth I. He is sent to America to escort the young Virgina Dare to England, and he gets caught up in a series of intrigues involving the likes of Count Doom of Latveria and Carlos Javier and his school for “Whichbreed” (aka mutants). As you might have guessed, he eventually gets bitten by a strange arachnid, gains powers, and assumes a costumed identity as The Spider.

Spider-Man 1602 introduces Baron Victor Octavius, an Italian nobleman suffering from the plague. The Baron attempted to cure himself using octopus blood, and although this seemed to work, it also had the unforeseen side effect of changing him into a monstrous human/octopus hybrid.

Baron Octavius ©Marvel Comics

Attempting to reverse the transformation, Octavius has begun experimenting on both normal humans and Whichbreed, and he eventually sets his sights on The Spider. His plans are thwarted, however, by natrual philosopher Henri Le Pym, who was being blackmailed into helping the Baron research a cure for his mutated condition.

The fifith and final issue of Spider-Man 1602 came out this past February, and the collected story is due out in hardcover this June.

Here are two surreal Star Wars/octopus mashups that were posted recently at Distracted by Star Wars, one of my favorite Tumblr sites.

Star Wars and cephalopods, two great tastes that taste great together!

"The Disorder is Me" ©Rubens Cantuni

See more by this artist at TokyoCandies.com.

"Octotrooper" ©Aaron Jasinski

Visit this artist at deviantArt for Octo-Fett, Octo-Vader, and more!

“Give me your tentacled, your beaked
Your writhing masses yearning to break free,
The eldrich recluse at your teeming shore,
Send these, of head-foot, sucker-hook to me
I lift my lamp, you lift your photophore!”
(with apologies to Emma Lazarus)

This poem is dedicated to Gama-Go, the Official Clothier of the Coming Cepalopocalypse.

“Squid Liberty” is $28, and it is available in Navy and Army. (But not Coast Guard, for some reason…)

Buy it now from Gama-Go

Proving that not all squid attacks happen on the West Coast, here’s a brand new tentacular Tee from our friends at Gama-Go! Where’s Spider-Man when you need him?

$28 available in Olive and Black. Buy it now from Gama-Go

We had a marvelous Christmas here at ISK headquarters, and if you celebrate I hope you did too! This year was Kid Indie Squid Kid’s first Christmas, and even though he is a little too young to know what was going on, it was still very exciting. Family came to us, so we didn’t have to worry about traveling with the baby, and that turned out to be ideal, because I seem to have the virus and/or secondary bacterial infection that WILL NOT DIE.

It will come as little surprise that there were a number of cephalopods underneath our Christmas tree. Here’s a rundown of all the loot…

• Imaginext 3-Headed Sea Dragon Gift Set
• Imaginext Ocean Squid
• Arkham Horror: Innsmouth Horror Expansion (by Fantasy Flight Games)
• orange googly-eyed plush octopus
• Young Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks (by Xylocopa from ThinkGeek)
• polymer clay tentacle pendent/ornament (by bunny X productions)

Well, I think that’s it for now. I’ve been unplugged for a week so I got to ease back into things, you know?

Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like Hellboy draped in tentacles., originally uploaded by Cryptonaut.

The classic image of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy draped in giant tentacles, that we first saw in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #2 (1994), was finally rendered in Christmas ornament form in 2002. The ornament was sculpted by the now apparently defunct Big Chief Studios and released by Dark Horse Comics.

North 40 is a mini-series published by Wildstorm (an imprint of DC Comcis) and written by Aaron Williams with art by Fiona Staples. It debuted earlier this year, and the sixth and final issue hit the comic shop shelves last week. I’ll have to admit that I haven’t read this series yet, but I am in love with Fiona Staples’ covers. I definitely intend to pick up the trade paperback once it comes out. (Although at this time no publication date for this has been announced.)

Set in fictitious Conover County, somewhere in the American Midwest, North 40 brings Lovcraftian horror to the heartland. Given that I plan to read the series eventually, I have deliberately avoided reading very many details about the story, but what little I know intrigues me—mysterious characters, terrifying monsters, and, of course, tentacles.

Aaron Williams’ official website

Fiona Staples’ official website

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Once again we turn our sights on Etsy.com, the nexus of all things creative and crafty on the Internet. A search for “squid jewelry” (for example) currently returns over 400 results, but I’ve isolated three sellers that epitomize the kind of awesome cephalopod jewelry that abounds on Etsy.

Noadi’s Art (www.etsy.com/shop/noadi)

Sheryl Westleigh creates amazing polymer clay and mixed media jewelry and sculptures, and I think she loves cephalopods almost as much as do. (OK, probably more!) Her shop has tons of great items in multiple styles and color variations, so if any of these pieces have sold, I’m sure you will be able to find something every bit as good. Not every thing in Noadi’s shop is cephalopod-related—look for trilobites, horseshoe crabs, and even a festive holiday platypus!

www.noadi.net

Deep Purple Squid necklace ($30)

Brown Nautilus necklace ($30)

Brass Steampunk Octopus necklace ($35)

Cuttlefish Specimen Jar necklace ($30)

Industrial Fairytale (www.etsy.com/shop/industrialfairytale)

Sarah Dungan is an illustrator, animator, and creator of some fabulous steampunk jewelery.

http://industrialfairytale.com

http://sarahdungan.blogspot.com

http://industrialfairytale.blogspot.com

She is also one of the contributors to Cephalopod Tea Party!

A Victorian Octopus ($45)

Cinnabar Octopus and Jade ($35)

The Nautilus and the Deep Blue Sea earrings ($15)

Octopus Me (www.etsy.com/shop/OctopusMe)

If you are looking for something a little more high-end, how about sterling sliver (and sometimes gold) jewelry made from real octopus tentacles? Here are a couple of examples, but there are many, many more in the shop!

Free shipping on all items until Sunday, December 7th.

Size 4-7 Tentacle Ring ($160.00)

Unmatched Octopus Tentacle earrings ($85)

R13: Colossus! #1 (Cover B, front)

The year is 1939, and a Spanish fishing boat has made a strange catch—a metal man whose glass-domed head contains a floating human skull. The only identifying mark on it is the numeral 13 carved into its forehead. No sooner has this mysterious mechanoid been hauled out on the deck than the ship is attacked by a one-eyed, tentacled monster from the deep. Their new accidental passenger grabs a harpoon (and, later, an anchor) and leaps to the crew’s defense. I won’t reveal how this epic battle ends, but I will remind you that this comics isn’t called “One-Eyed Squid Monster 13.”

Who is Robot 13? Where does he come from? He doesn’t know, but he plans to find out.

page 8

R13: Colossus! is the first publication of Blacklist Studios. It is written by Thomas Hall with art by Daniel Bradford (who also did cover version B. Check out more of his work on deviantART!). Issue #1 hit the comic shelves this summer, and it looks like issue #2 just came out.

Look for it at your local comic book shop or order from www.blackliststudios.com.

(Cover B, back)