Finished work for the holidays, time for my christmas greeting to one and all

 

Pssst...also available on a t-shirt

My ultimate Christmas geek themed wish list...

So it’s the time of year where people are asking me what I want for Christmas. This is a really hard question, there are many things I want none of which I ever feel comfortable asking for. May be it’s because I am too polite, maybe it’s because without some kind of price guides I feel cheeky no matter what the cost may be. This year, too make things a little easier, I decided to create an Amazon wish list and found myself filling it with graphic novels. Not that this is a bad thing, they are reasonably priced and I would never tire of receiving them, but my lovely husband said I should be a bit more adventurous.  So I started browsing and OMG there is so much stuff I want, unfortunately it mostly falls into the ‘need to be some kind of millionaire to justify paying that’ category.  

So instead of moping around angry at the world because despite us both working full time I can’t afford the things I want, I thought I'd disperse my frustration by sharing my hearts desire with you guys. That way should a kind hearted generous millionaire wish to surprise me with my ideal gift they know exactly what I want.

Just to clarify these pick are related to the theme of geek, that’s what would make me happiest , though a new house with say, 4 bedrooms, indoor pool, home theatre and custom built gaming room wouldn’t go amiss.

So lets kick off with a simple and most know fact about me - I love Wonder Woman since being a small child spinning around to the full grown adult comic collector I am today.  So here are just a couple of my picks for a Wonder Woman fan.

The DC Online Wonder Woman Statue

This particular statue I favour because I believe it to be one of the most beautiful renderings I have seen. At a cool £99.85 from Amazon it is certainly out of my reach whilst my children are young. Unfortunately clothing and feeding children is a statutory requirement so most of my funds are focused there. This piece would, indeed, have pride of place on my mantelpiece and I’m pretty sure seeing it everyday would instill me with a sense of confidence only an amazon can invoke.

  

Ed Benes Original Comics Art - Wonder Woman

This piece of original comic art by Ed Benes is a dream purchase for a fan like me available for £599.99 from Reedcomics.com. Though its origin isn't clear, the website suggests it may be from a Justice League collectible card, I would still snap it up in an instant and hang it proudly in my (as yet non-existent) comic art gallery. Here is a link should any of you wish to steal it away from. Not that I can ever picture having that kind of money, but I'll keep buying the lottery tickets cos you never know.

Marvel Minimates - First Appearance X-Men 4 Pack

Okay so this one may not be completely out of my reach (£16.99) and I am sure one generous relative may one day buy this, but I've just come across them and realised I can't actually get them in the UK without paying an extortionate delivery charge. Which is something that annoys me why can't we get the same merchandise as is available in the USA. I pay my money for my comics, I go to the pictures to watch my heroes on the silver screen, so why can't have have the same merchandise to waste my hard earned pennies on!

Anyway, breath, classic X-Men what's not to love? good ol' Jean, Beast before he turned blue, Cyclops before he turned into a huge douche (once again, still a little bitter 'bout the whole Emma Frost affair) and Iceman before...well Iceman. 

 Next up Tenth Doctor Coat. 

There are not many people I know who are not aware of my deep and ever lasting love for the 10th Doctor, David Tennant did it for me so perfectly. Whilst I am still a massive fan I find it hard to believe that I will ever enjoy a regeneration of the Doctor as much I did 10. This would also look awesome along side the life size cutout my lovely hubby got for me. 

£203ish is a lot for a coat that I am pretty sure would look ridiculous on me due to my short stature. Still there would be nothing to stop me running around the house sonicing everything as I go. All I would want next is a Rose Tyler jacket and me the the other half can roleplay to our hearts content. Just to point out I would be wearing the Rose Tyler jacket and him the Doctors, we don't gender reverse roleplay or anything.

And now for a piece of classic geek memorbilia.

Spock's badass tunes  or, more accurately, Star Trek Original Series Vulcan Lute Prop Replica. At a whooping $2,009.99 its some serious collectors item and most definately a talking point. Just imagine some hipster dude you are ashamed to  know, stops by and whips out his acoustic guitar and starts jamming, you confidently produce your alien lute and blow his hipster mind. Of course you would have to learn to play it first, but it would be so worth it. Plus how hard can it be? 

  A few options from Firebox, who, I have recently discovered, have a large range of expensive geek related items in their WTF?! department. 

1. Replica Dalek - £3,496 Again a classic piece of sci fi history first appearing in 1963 and something my son is terrified of so this would come in very handy during the months of the year that the threat of Father Christmas watching doesn't work.

  

2. Fuck yeah a Batmobile! - £120,000 is probably a steal considering the amount Batman must have paid to build his. Granted this probably doesn't come with any of the awesome offensive and defensive tech Batmans has, but there is nothing to stop you having ago at fitting a drawing pin trap on the back or may be a makeshift ejector seat. Please note: I do not accept any liability should some unqualified dumbass try and do this and get themselves maimed or killed. 

 3. Freaking awesome Bat Mirror to match your batmobile. I think this is a classy piece. Not obvious or in your face, wouldn't look out of place above your mantle piece yet sends a message to your visitors about you. Mainly you're a mega geek who would spend £399.99 on mirror with the Batman logo. 

Evil cat not included

There are many many more items on Firebox which I believe are the ultimate geek must haves, including Class M-3 Model B9 General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot  of Lost in Space fame. Not sure where one would keep it but I guess if you can afford to buy it at £25,500 you can afford to buy the mansion required to store all this stuff. Also what lair would be complete without one of these babies, a good old fashioned Bond style Villains Chair for £4,500. You'd have to get your own white pussycat and sharks with fricking laserbeams and don't ask Seaworld, they don't approve.

At the last minute I found this and couldn't let it go without a mention 'cos you know he wouldn't.  A must have for any comic lover to have as pride of place on their desk. The Deadpool 6 Inch Pencil Cup Desk Accessory currently priced at £97.99 from Forbidden Planet. I believe the anti-hero himself would approve of this handy yet cool pencil holder.

So there it is my first few picks of stuff I can't afford but desperately want. I guess not all the options will be completely out of my reach forever, one day the kids will grow (fingers crossed) leave to start their own geekdom (fingers crossed), may be then just may be I might get my hands on a Batmobile. Up until that point lottery tickets it is, it's good to have a dream and many of these items fufill those dreams, you may call me materialistic but if I'm happy with love, family and friends what else do I dream of? Things! lots and lots of things!

Avengers vs X-Men...so very excited

Yep this announcement made me squeal a little. Nothing I like more than hero on hero action. I thoroughly enjoyed Civil War and am hoping for more of the same. However I approach with caution and I'll tell you why. I have recently invested my hard earned pennies in two of the Marvel events.

Not entirely satisfying?

I bought Fear Itself, an event that involved a lot of the Avengers and opted to stick with just the 7 issue main title, not the all the tie-in titles and not because I didn't want to but because my husband didn't want to have to remortgage the house. Past big events like this I had only read in graphic novel form, but as my comic collecting has stepped up a gear I decided to allow myself the pleasure of eagerly waiting for the next issue to drop through my letterbox. The downside of this was a gutting feeling that I missed an awful lot of the story by not buying, lets say, Ironman's point of view.  This was disheartening, yeah what I read was good, don't ever think I have ever truly hated a comic, but I just knew more awesome feats and battles were happening elsewhere. It niggled at me all the way through and when it reached its conclusion I felt as though I had merely read a wiki entry synopsis for the event. Yes I can go to the wiki and read all about what happened to everyone else, but the question is should I have to?

On the other hand X-Men:Schism I thoroughly enjoyed. It reminded me of a similar scenario my rpg group and I played in our superhero universe and so I was instantly enthralled and excited by it. My assumption from the brief I read, was that I would side with Cyclops. Of the two I am a bigger fan of  Scott, why? purely girl reasons I'm afraid, great love stories, betrayal and angst. Wolverine as great as he is seems to be a very male orientated character. Now don't think for one minute I don't like Wolverine, that would be sacrilege, I have read many stories with him and enjoyed them, I'm just saying if I had to pick it would be Cyclops.

Nothing like a little action within the team

However I was wrong in terms of Schism. I actually shocked myself and definitely sided with Wolverine. It won my approval  and I felt the story delivered was satisfying and complete. I was happy that I knew everything to make my choice without feeling the need to rush out in my slippers and buy the Schism:Generation Hope. This, I believe, is a compliment to the writers. I often feel that Marvel take advantage of the fans and try to produce as many titles tied to one event as possible, spread across the entire universe. This is unfair to the average earner like me who has to put feeding and clothing children ahead of my intense desire submerge myself in every comic I can get my get my hands on. So this takes me back to Avengers vs X-Men

May be I am just a bigger fan of X-Men then any of the others. But, to be honest, I have now read many comics and have found I am capable of enjoying many of the superheroes both Marvel, DC and others have to offer. My point is Avengers vs X-Men will hopefully involve some of the biggest heroes from each team and so the stakes are higher and I am expecting a lot.

What do I want? well I'll tell you, I want a full and completely gripping story. I want to be told personal tales where a readers loyalty is tested and torn right until the end and I don't want to have to buy 30 comics just to get a satisfying story. 

Please, please, please let it be as good as this picture suggests.

Either way I will be adding it to my pull list just as soon as they let me. It would be foolish for me not to. However, I do so with fingers crossed and a simple wish that Marvel will make me happy.

Tee's for comic fangirls

I often browse the net looking for comic themed clothes. Nothing like coming home after a long day working and slipping into by batman PJ bottoms and Marvel Heroes hoodie. But I find most of these are located in the men's department of the particular store I am perusing. Why is this? The other day a work colleague showed me some Marvel slippers in the Avon catalogue (she knows me so well) great I thought I'll have some, but no, they only do men's sizes 8 and up (UK) WHY? Anyway because of the lack of consideration on the part of retailers for the needs of the geek and nerd fangirls I have trawled the Internet and found some of my favourite tee's for the girl comic fan.

How cute is this? I love it, ickkle Storm. Available to buy here from Think Geek. Though Storm isn't my first choice of female superhero I think she looks fab here and I will add this to my christmas list.

This is a design by TheRandomFactor who has a lot of geek themed designs, but I choose this one because good ol' Jean Grey is one of my favourite heroines. I think that's mainly because I'm a romantic softy, and no I don't think I will ever forgive Cyclops. This is available to buy here.

I love this one featuring Wonder Woman, shame its only in pink, I'm not a huge fan of pink (apart for work clothes) but I think the design of this would persuade me on this occasion, to wear pink in my own time. Available here.

I like this because of the colour and it features some of the superheroes I like to read. Except of course for Green Lantern, I'm just not a huge fan, tried to read some comics but they didn't really really grip me, still simply for being in the Justice League he retains some cool factor. Available here.

One for the Scott Pilgrim fans. I put my hands up, I haven't yet read the comics just seen the film, but I enjoyed that enough to want to read the comics so I'll be adding it to my christmas list. Available here

Ahh Wolverine and Jean, what more can I say, Love the look and colour of this one and of course classic x-men storyline. Available here

Feeling a little evil? Don't always want to be the hero? Pop on this tee dedicated to the DC female super villains. Available here

Finally a simple design featuring Tony Starks very own Stark Industries logo. Love the colour plus the bonus of free delivery. Available here

 On occasion you may be lucky enough to find a tee in the mainstream shops. For instance I bought two awesome Wonder Woman tee's from Primark this summer. I sometimes buy from the men's department but find the fit a bit iffy and always feel strangled by the collars. Anyway, keep an eye out you don't know where they may pop up next, plus with the influx of superheroes movies bringing these long loved heroes into the mainstream, fingers crossed, we may get more designs for the girls. So there it is, some tee's for the girls. Stand up and show the world you are comic fan and proud!