Sometimes comic book covers are paintings created by guest artists, other times the covers feature finely detailed full color pen and ink panels, but they don't do nearly enough baloon sculpture covers.

Or I guess you would call it a "photo of a balloon sculpture cover", but at any rate these recreated covers by Phileas Flash made me smile.

His whimsical recreations of classic covers of issues like The Fantastic Four #1, Batman: The Killing Joke and Superman vs. Muhammad Ali are surprisingly detailed and very pop.

Here's more from Phileas on his "Balloon Heroes" project:

Over the last few months, I have been recreating classic comic book covers whenever I had time. These balloon sculptures are larger than life (fitting in a 10 foot by 10-foot space) and take many days to make. I even made had to make one in two sections (Superman vs Muhammed Ali) to allow me to visit New York in the middle of making it.

After I finished the main sculpture I use photoshop to add in the lettering (which are un-inflated balloons with wire inside). I'm just learning the program, so forgive any mistakes. I tried to keep digital manipulation to a minimum, so what you are seeing is mainly just latex and air (renewable resources). The balloons I use are all biodegradable and responsibly disposed of, so these sculptures were also super environmentally friendly.

See I Recreated Iconic Comic Book Covers Using Balloons here

It's virtually impossible to read any article about the Joel Schumacher film Batman & Robin without hearing mention of the nipples added to the costumes, which some have referred to as "nipplegate".

The choice to add this bit of anatomical correctness to the Dynamic Duo's costumes was seen as questionable by pretty much everyone, and for years people have been asking who thought that would be a good idea.

Well, in a recent interview with Vice Joel Schumacher finally explains how the Bat-Nipples made their way into Batman & Robin, after he apologizes profusely for the film:

[The costume] was made by Jose Fernandez, who was our brilliant lead sculpture. If you look at Batman and Batman Returns, it was the genius, Bob Ringwood that created those suits, so by the time we got to Batman Forever, the rubber and techniques had gotten so sophisticated. If you look at when Michael Keaton appears in the first suit, you’ll notice how large it is. It was brilliant but the best they could do at the time. By the time Batman Forever came around, rubber molding had become so much more advanced. So I said, let’s make it anatomical and gave photos of those Greek status and those incredible anatomical drawings you see in medical books. He did the nipples and when I looked at them, I thought, that’s cool.

Look, I apologize. I want to apologize to every fan that was disappointed because I think I owe them that.

Just imagine how the Bat-Nipples would have looked in 3D!

-Via io9

Mary Poppins is about as far from death metal as you can get, and her chipper disposition and cheery colored clothing are all the proof Mary needs that she's not a fan of the heavy metal sound.

And yet there's something so right about this mashup created by Andy Rehfeldt, which features totally brutal vocals by Sera Hatchett of Mercy Brown, because it's so absurd you won't want it to end!

(YouTube Link)

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

It's no surprise most movies made for geeks feature a nerdy relationship far too good to be true, since roping the audience into the storyline of a movie is a textbook tactic to make viewer's feel invested in the film.

But movies also reduce real life to black and white generalizations, so their portrayal of nerd culture makes us all seem like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, which is an insult to nerd diversity.

So illustrator JHALL created this cute comic strip to show all the ways the movies get nerd love wrong, from the epic Con adventures to the male chauvinist friends to the drama of moving in together.

-Via Dorkly

I doubt Adam West knew what an impact he would make on pop culture when he played Batman on the original TV show, but the outpouring of tributes after his death shows us his contribution to geek culture is timeless.

And here's the thing about Adam West's Batman- big name celebs were lining up to be on Batman even though the network wasn't sure if the show was even worth making, all because of Adam West.

The best place to spot celebs on the old Batman TV show was during the "Batclimb" segments, where random celebs would pop out of a window and react to Batman and Robin climbing up the wall.

And thanks to this old video by YouTuber A. Pennyworth you can see all the celeb Batclimb cameos in order of airing in one Bat-tacular compilation video!

(YouTube Link)

-Via Laughing Squid

Most people saw RadioShack as little more than a place to buy new batteries or a cheap RC car to give as a gift, but the Shack's main reason for being was as a store that sold supplies for electronics hobbyists.

And for a long time RadioShack was the only place to go if you were a CBer, computer user or basically did anything involving a soldering iron and a circuit board.

So it should come as no surprise the stuff they're selling in their corporate memorabilia auction is pretty darn niche, because only a diehard CBer would want a gold record for a trucker songs album called "Put the hammer down!".

Here's the album in its entirety, in case you're thinking about bidding:

(YouTube Link)

There are lots of vintage tech enthusiasts out there today, but it seems unlikely there will be a bidding war for the RadioShack DuoFone Microprocessor Controlled, a fancy name for an ancient answering machine:

And for the ultimate RadioShack nerds out there who have fond memories of shopping in the store and admiring their unique wall art there's this RS Logo In Hurricane framed print, so the memories can live on forever:

See 18 Fascinating Items From RadioShack's Corporate Memorabilia Auction at Consumerist

Kawaii characters are so cute we can't help but think of them in a positive way, and when we see an image of a kawaii character we picture them doing pleasant things and speaking with a syrupy sweet voice.

That's why one of my favorite stylistic mashups is the meeting of "kawaii cute" and "violently bloody" because it doesn't seem like a combo that would work but the two really do go well together.

Case in point- Bloody Bunny, a series that's so kawaii it will give you cavities yet so bloody it might give you nightmares, plus frenetic martial arts mayhem!

(YouTube Link)

(Image via David Shankbone)

It's hard to imagine anyone else besides Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman, but as it turns out, he wasn't actually Burton's first choice. Instead, John Lithgow was his first choice. Lithgow turned down the role (as did Jack Nicholson at first), but now he regrets it, saying he had no idea the role would be so big. I'm sure it also didn't hurt that thanks to a profit-sharing agreement, Nicholson earned an amazing $50 million from the film.

You can read what John Lithgow had to say about the whole thing on Vulture.

Some people cannot start their day without a cup of coffee, feeling like a zombie until they kick-start their brain by sipping on some warm java.

Coffee becomes an even more valuable commodity in an office full of employees who need that cuppa joe to stay awake all day, since their job is so boring they'd fall asleep at their desks without coffee.

But something tells me no coffee is needed to stay awake in an office where people are battling in the hallways all day long...

(YouTube Link)

Apocalatte was created by Luke Smith and a group of third year students at Sheridan College, and it'll make you appreciate how easy it is to get a cuppa joe in your office!

Surrealist art is harder than it looks to create because if the piece is too subtle viewers won't get those magical mystery feels, and if it's too strange viewers will dismiss it as incomprehensible.

So Wroclaw, Poland-based photographer Konrad Bąk has chosen to keep his surreal portraits simple and elegant, with just a hint of the bizarre.

Konrad's beautiful portraits bridge the gap between fashion photography and fine art, and each one tells a tale that's open for interpretation by the viewer:

“In my opinion, the camera lens should express feelings, tell stories,” he says. “In my photographs, I try to capture the fleeting beauty, the mood of the moment. In my images, I try to capture the sensuality of the female body, the uniqueness of feminine beauty, fluctuations in moods, The possibility of showing it all in a durable form is “that something” that drives me to arrange my photoshoots,” says Konrad.

See more Surream And Fine Art Portrait Photography By Konrad Bak here

Eclectic Method turned the 1997 movie The Fifth Element into a song! The French production, filmed in England with American and British actors, was a visual treat, and this remix highlight those spectacular visuals for three minutes of rhythmic weirdness.     

(YouTube link)

I still haven't seen The Fifth Element, but thanks to this, I now know where many of the gifs I've seen around the 'net are from. -via Digg

Saying It's easy to get pinched when you ride public transportation in the big city is a true statement no matter how you interpret the word, because there are just as many handsy creepers on the trains as there are thieves.

But in this instance we're talking about pinchers, aka the pickpockets who prey on their fellow riders by letting their sticky fingers loose on a train full of unsuspecting marks.

Those who pinch pretend they don't care about the crimes they commit or the sadness they cause the victims, but they inevitably steal from the wrong person which forces them to take a long, hard look at themselves. (NSFW language and material)

(YouTube Link)

Pinched was created by David Vandervoort and the legendary animation studio Titmouse, it's reminiscent of a Jamie Hewlett drawn Gorillaz video or the great adult animation created by Ralph Bakshi.

The people of the internet love fighting over stupid things that have no definitive answer, particularly things like if dogs wore pants, how would they wear them? Along the same lines, but even nerdier is the question of if xenomorphs wore hats, how would they wear them? Twitter user Ray :D offers some interesting options in the illustration above, but he does miss the double hat option provided by Nerd Approved:

What do you guys think is the most rational answer (and don't miss the really fancy version at Nerd Approved)?

Luigi is one half of a team of Super Bros who have made video game history time and time again, and yet everywhere he goes people say "Luigi who?" because Mario has stolen his time in the spotlight.

His permanent number two status has made Luigi feel like an unappreciated guest in Mario's games, and even though Luigi has starred in a few of his own games they didn't sell as well as any game with Mario in it.

So Luigi has become a violent and greedy sociopath, and he will stop at nothing to make Mario pay for overshadowing him.

(YouTube Link)

This video by Looper recounts Luigi's terrible actions and shows why he'll never be a hero like his bro Mario. Poor Luigi never stood a chance...

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

OMNI was a "science and science fiction" magazine consistently ahead of its time, and it featured great stories from Harlan Ellison, William S Burroughs, Joyce Carol Oates, George R. R. Martin and the mighty William Gibson, just to name a few.

And don't get me started on the amazing artwork found inside every issue, like this rare Dune art that reveals Frank Herbert's original vision:

(Image Link)

OMNI was recently available to download for free via archive.org but has since moved to Amazon, where high-resolution issues are sold individually and free to read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Check out all back issues at the OMNI Archive here, and if you have Kindle Unlimited enjoy your trip into sci-fi history! If not let's hope it surfaces for free again soon.

-Via Boing Boing