Ancient Star Wars Greek Vase

This is just like my Classics classes with one crucial difference: nobody is naked. And for that I am eternally grateful. (Star Wars Greek Vase by Andre Asai, link via pacalin)

Previously on Popped Culture...

Odysseus And The Facebook Peril

The Odyssey of Chuck Norris

FMyLife: Greek Mythology

Odysseus And The Facebook Peril

Once in a while I like to pretend that I got some grand use for me having a classical studies degree, but mostly it's used to find mythology comics amusing. I wonder why I never get invited back to speak to my alma mater...

Above, two selections from Kate Beaton's disturbingly literate Hark, a vagrant. Below is Zach Weiner's Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris
Greek Mythology: Transformed
Birth Of A Golden Girl

Geek Menagerie: Toronto Comic Arts Festival

I had a great time at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival on Saturday and I can't believe that I hadn't been before. I came home with a bag full of stuff (more on that later) and met a few of my favourite pop artists like Brandon Bird whose Elysium is above.

I had a great chat with Scott Campbell (above, Picnic With The Draculas) and found out that he is going to be having a show at Gallery 1988 with Olly Moss, which came up because I was wearing Moss' Spoilt tee.

I also got to see the real life version of the Time Machine poster from Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics. There were plenty of others so if are in Toronto the show is on again today. Check it out.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Two Warriors Come Out Of The Sky
Great Movie Showdowns
Rise And Fall Of The Nazi Dinosaurs

Skeleton Warrior Waterpark

That is one killer waterslide! So is that Jason (of Argonauts fame) crashing the party or is attacking him part of the fun for the skeletons? (Skeleton Warrior Waterpark via Scott Campbell)

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris
Greek Mythology: Transformed
Great Movie Showdowns

Betty White as Slave Leia Wielding a Flaming Chainsaw While Riding a John Ritter Centaur

Really, there are no words — this is made of pure awesome!

From the Portland Mercury, who asked its online readership to help design a cover and then, to their credit, actually followed through with their crazy-ass ideas with an illustration by pop artist Andrew Zubko. Stunning. (The Zeray Gazette via Neatorama)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Birth Of A Golden Girl
The Bambie Hunter & Taxi Rider
Star Wars: The Pre-Teen Years

Greek Mythology: Transformed

Cerberus is a vicious three-headed dog who guarded the gates of the underworld. In Ryan Mauskopf's modern take, the underworld is a trailer park and Cerberus is a drooling hound dog. See his takes on Hermes, Medusa, Icarus and Polyphemus. (Link via Super Punch)

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris
FMyLife: Greek Mythology
You Got Lion In My Eagle!

Whorses Need Love Too

And now we know where unicorns, Pegasus (Pegasi?) and centaurs come from. Damn slutty horses. (via immejen)

Previously on Popped Culture...
You Got Lion In My Eagle!
Taxi Rider
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris

The Bambi Hunter & Taxi Rider

Ok, fine, he won't blow his brains out when he pulls that trigger, but I don;t Nick wants what's coming out of the back end of that deer. My favourite pop artist, Dave MacDowell has unveiled several new paintings, delving deep into 70s cinema with his take on The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver below, with the Travis Bickle centaur.

You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only part human, part horse here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?

Previously on Popped Culture...
Breakfast Hawks
Oompa LoomPacino
Dig If U Will The Picture...

Birth Of A Golden Girl

Bea Arthur as the goddess of love and beauty? Quick, Estelle, get that robe on her! Pop artist Sam Carter reinterprets Botticelli's The Birth of Venus into a tribute to The Golden Girls.

"Dorothy Zbornak is my favorite Golden Girl. The poor lady has been compared to a man her entire life and I felt it was time she got her time in the spotlight."

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Birth of Ginger
Sweet, Sweet Candy!
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris

You Got Lion In My Eagle!

Finally, something to put my classical studies degree to work on! From illustrator and designer Jim Unwin, a venn diagram of mythical creatures. I've always been a fan of griffins myself. Click on the image for the full-sized version. (Link via Boy Reporter)

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris
The Birth Of Ginger
FMyLife: Greek Mythology

FMyLife: Greek Mythology

I've been really busy. I solved the riddle of the Sphinx, gained entrance to the city of Thebes, killed the king and took his place, and then married his wife and had several kids. As it turns out, the guy that I killed to become king was my dad. And the chick that I married and had kids with was my mother. FML
— Oedipus

Today my father made wings out of feathers and wax so that we could escape the king's castle. But I flew too close to the sun and the wings melted. I then fell into the ocean below. I can't swim. FML
— Icarus

From McSweeney's FMyLife Moments in Greek Mythology (via The Daily What), based on the sad/disturbing revelations of FMyLife; The Oedipal Family Circus (via Edward Rueda)

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Odyssey of Chuck Norris
Reel Mythology
The Birth Of Ginger

The Birth of Ginger

I guess that settles the whole Ginger vs. Mary Ann debate. From pop artist Isabel Samaras, who has some wonderfully smutty takes on Robin and the Green Hornet, and Samantha and the Darrins. I love seeing high art subverted by pop culture. (Link via The Zeray Gazette, who is finding all sorts of great stuff)

Popped Culture...
Vincent Van Wolverine
Oompa LoomPacino
Cereal Killer, Qu'est-ce Que C'est?

The Odyssey of Chuck Norris

"In this pottery shard, we can clearly see Chuck Norris beheading Medusa with his famous round-house kick. Chuck Norris is so tough he could stare Medusa in the eye and not turn to stone."

Of course the whole legend of Hercules is just a bastardization of Chuck Norris' early life that is so fantastic that it had to be draped in myth so people could comprehend it without going insane. At least that's what I recall from my Greek Mythology class — I wasn't paying too close attention. That degree sure has come in handy!

This ancient discovery was unearthed at the Austin Sketch Squad, via pop culture archeologist Super Punch.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Reel Mythology
Pop Culture is Our Mythology
The A-List Mythology
World's Toughest T-Shirt

Ugly Yeti

Ugly Betty gets a Himalayan makeover in this spoof from Take180.com. Now I've only watched the show over the top of my laptop while Gill was engrossed in it, but I really can't tell the difference. I suppose Abominable Snowmen need love too and Bigfoot really is the new beautiful.

Previously on Popped Culture...
From Heroes to Zeroes
The Waldo Ultimatum
8 Kilomètres

Reel Mythology

Blood splashing across the screen like a Jackson Pollock painting; waves of soldiers falling upon razor-sharp blades, stoic musclemen staring their inevitable death in the face – 300 has style and bravado to spare.

The cinematic retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartan warriors held off a massive Persian army is a visual triumph. The source, being a graphic novel by comic book artist Frank Miller and not Herodotus The Histories or Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian Wars, emphasizes passion over historical accuracy. That being said, the film did capture how the Spartans molded their children through adversity to become the hardened fighting machines we see on screen and it highlighted their army’s prowess in battle. At least as far as I can recall – the memories of my lectures are fading quickly. Anyone looking for more detail can borrow my copies of those ancient texts.

But hey, who’d want to do that? This is a comic book come to spectacular life, with all the depth that implies. Multiple scenes appear to be frames pulled directly from pen and ink, much like the last adaptation of Miller’s work, Sin City. This was all clear in the trailer, so I have to question those who complain for getting exactly what was promised.

The film has been labelled racist for its portrayal of Persian (Iranians) as barbaric hordes. It’s been called both homophobic over the androgynous, fey King Xerxes and homoerotic due to the mostly naked, hard-bodied Spartans. Critics have said Xerxes and the Spartan King Leonidas both represent George W. Bush and they both can, depending on where you stand politically. Are the Spartans defenders of freedom, fighting off the forces of terror threatening to destroy a way of life? Or are they defending their nation, willing to die for their land in the face of a vast imperial army bent on conquering the world?

It is the simplicity of the film that critics have complained about that has allowed so many to overlay their own ideas and themes. So, if it’s so simple then why are so many up in arms about it? It’s a comic book where you get to fill in the voice bubbles.