Nickelodeon's HARVEY BEAKS animated television show is featuring a steampunk themed two-part musical special that will debut on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24, 2016 at 5:30pm (ET/PT) on the cable channel. Harvey and his friends set out on a brand-new, imaginary and musical journey where they explore the cogs, gears, and fantasy of the world Steamburg.
In Part 1 which premieres on the evening of June 23rd, Harvey imagines he is in a steampunk world, and is blamed for breaking a floating city. Part 2 follows the next evening of Friday, June 24 where the songs and mystery continue when Harvey continues his quest to fix the floating city, but danger looms around every steamy corner. This special two-episode story arc will feature four original songs: "Steamburg," "(Here In Our Town Called) Reject Town," "I Can Tell We're Gonna Be Friends" and "Friendship Can Do Anything."
Created and executive produced by C.H. Greenblatt (Chowder), Harvey Beaks follows
the life of a big-hearted and big-headed kid and his impetuous two best
friends. Together with an odd
assortment of townsfolk in their magical forest, they get into all sorts
of adventures and trouble. But no matter how ridiculous things get,
they always find a way to stay true to themselves.
Visit the Harvey Beaks page on Nick.com or
the Nick App to learn more about the show and its characters, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the series. Episodes of Harvey Beaks are available on Nick.com
and the Nick App, along with digital download and streaming platforms that include iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, Vudu, Playstation, and Nick On Demand.
This Christmas a whole bunch of people in our family received coloring books for presents and none of them were children. My college-aged niece, wife, and mother-in-law all received coloring books during our family's gift exchange. Coloring books aren't just for kids anymore. Many adults are beginning to take coloring up as a hobby and books with intricate patterns and detailed drawings are beginning to skyrocket up the publishing industry's best seller lists.
Health professionals are encouraging this new trend noting that for adults taking some time out to color can reduce stress, spark creativity, maintain fine motor skills, help keep your mind sharp, and can be just plain fun to do. Several studies have shown that coloring can also have a therapeutic value in dealing with anxiety, cancer, depression, and post-traumatic disorders. We have a cupboard full of coloring books that my kids are always using but I can't recall the last time I spent some time doing some coloring. During my last routine doctor's visit, my physician warned me that my blood pressure was starting to become troubling so maybe I should take some time to relax a bit with one of these new adult focused coloring books.
This video shares some information about the benefits for adults when it comes to enjoying a coloring book:
While many of these adult focused coloring books are marketed to the ladies there are plenty of selections that will appeal to guys as well. Plus with the popularity, and profitability, of this new trend a bunch of new coloring books are on their way to retailers to join the existing ones that are already on store shelves. Here are a few suggestion that dads, and moms, who enjoy the geeky side of life will probably appreciate:
This coloring book is filled with pen-and-ink illustrations that portray exotic sci-fi landscapes, elaborate patterns inspired by the movies, and memorable characters from the Star Wars universe.
This coloring book is filled with fantastic imagery of these mythic beasts from John Howe, the concept artist for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.
Comic books aren't just for kids anymore and neither are coloring books. Marvel has published a coloring book aimed at adults who enjoyed last year's blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. Also coming out in 2016 will be Color Your Own Deadpool and Color Your Own Civil War based upon those two upcoming movies.
Ideal for any fan of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO's Game of Thrones, this coloring book contains forty-five exclusive illustrations of the characters and places in Westeros.
Wonderful pen and ink illustrations take you on an underwater adventure through coral reefs and barnacle-studded shipwrecks to discoverintricate shells and lost pirate treasure.The sea life and backgrounds are as colorful as you want to make them.
My grandma who was a librarian used to always give me a Highlights Magazine subscription for my birthday when I was a child. Now this iconic children's brand has a publication featuring a nostalgic collection of Hidden Picture puzzles meant for a grown up audience. Color the puzzles for a relaxing activity that will remind you of the fun you had as a kid doing the hidden picture puzzles in Highlights Magazine.
This book features 96 pages filled with some of the best quotes from the television series and out-of-this-world images featuring the escapades of Doctor Who that will delight any Whovian.
Discover the magical beings and extraordinary beasts from the world of Harry Potter in this 96 page coloring book. It also includes a selection of concept art and film stills from the making of the Harry Potter films to your coloring creativity.
There is even a Walking Dead coloring book based upon the AMC television show coming out in the Fall of 2016.
If you haven't colored in awhile with selections like the ones mentioned above you won't need to use your child's Care Bears, Paw Patrol, or Scooby Doo coloring book to have some fun....although there's nothing wrong with using a kiddie one if you want to. Hey its all about relaxing and having fun! So get out those crayons, markers or colored pencils and embrace your inner artist.
I've always enjoyed role playing and strategy games except for that they often take way too long to play out so I often pass on them because of time constraints. An exception to that complaint is a great board game by Fantasy Flight Games called MISSION: RED PLANET that allows players to engage in the planetary exploration of Mars in a Victorian Steampunk universe that takes approximately 45 - 90 minutes to play out. That's long enough to have plenty of fun but a short enough span that the game doesn't drag on too long.
In the game, you take control of mining corporations competing to occupy Mars and harvest its invaluable, newly discovered natural resources. Players launch their astronauts into space, station them in the most profitable zones of the planet. and mine for minerals and ice, all the while cunningly undermining their competition.
MISSION: RED PLANET was originally released in 2005, but Fantasy Flight has just announced that an updated, revised edition of the game is coming out this fall in collaboration with its original designers Bruno Faidutti and Bruno Cathala. The new edition allows astronauts to land in a new zone, the moon Phobos, and now the Soldier can can convey astronauts from Phobos to anywhere on Mars. Missions and Discoveries have been fine-tuned and new Action Cards join the Event deck. The game's Victorian Steampunk aesthetic has also been refreshed with an all new graphic design for a more contemporary look. If you don't get the gist of these changes it is probably because you haven't experienced the original game yet but once you give MISSION: RED PLANET a shot you'll quickly get a grasp on the game play. Trying to keep a family game night going once your kids have hit those teenage years? MISSION: RED PLANET is a great game for an evening of family fun!
MISSION: RED PLANET is suitable for ages 13 and older and can be played by two to six players. The updated version also will include special rules for a new two-player variant of the game. For more information, visit www.fantasyflightgames.com.
Dynamite Comics is taking the Battlestar Galactica franchise steampunk in an upcoming 4 issue mini-series that is starting in August. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction that has gained a tremendous amount of popularity over the last decade, this year's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event included a Star Wars steampunk edition in its offerings for example, which features steam-powered machinery in an alternative history where technology didn't advance beyond that of the 19th century British Victorian/American "Wild West" time period in stories. Other themes also include post-apocalyptic Earth where our technology has regressed back to steam power or fantasy alien worlds where steampunk is their current culture and technology level. The mini-series will be titled "Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880."
This Battlestar Galactica mini-series removes the space faring element from the story and retells it with similar characters and elements taking place in a fantasy steampunk world. Here's the new story:
After Professor Baltar's clockwork Cylonics destroy the Colonial Empire, Arch Duke Adama learns that his son Apollo is missing! It is up to Lady Athena to travel to the Sky Pirate world of the Rising Star and ask for help from the only hope she has - the disgraced Captain Starbuck and his humanoid / Daggit copilot Muffit.
Check out a sample of some of the artwork from Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880:
From the artwork and story description this looks to be a fun spinoff of the original Battlestar Galactica television show. It should be really interesting to see how all the costumes and tech are steampunked in this comic book. You can already see in the previews that they have giant and regular sized clock-work cylons and flying sailing ships battling it out. I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of the first issue when it comes out in a few weeks and seeing all of the imaginative steampunk twists they take off of this classic science fiction space drama.
Keep in eye
out this February for some interesting artwork coming from the folks at DC
COMICS. During the month of February
twenty of their most popular titles will have steampunk themed variant covers. What is steampunk? Steampunk is a fantasy genre that is somewhat
a combination of science fiction with the Wild West. Essentially it presents a futuristic world
where technology never advanced beyond the steam powered era of the 19th
Century British Victorian era or American Wild West. Steampunk features lots of retro-futuristic
images, in other words futuristic clothes, tools, machines and so on as the
people of that time period would have envisioned them using the capabilities of
that era.
The stories
themselves in these issues won’t be steampunk this promotion just involves providing
variant covers…so it is a gimmick to sell some extra comic books during the
month of February by the publisher. That
being said, if you appreciate cool, unique artwork these are some comic book
covers you absolutely should keep an eye out for.
Here are a
few samples of the upcoming steampunk variant covers:
Aquaman #28 variant by Richard Horle
Batman and Robin # 28 variant by Matteo Scalera
Batman/Superman # 8 variant by Tommy Lee Edwards
Earth 2 # 20 variant by Dan Panosian
Flash # 28 variant by Howard Chaykin with colors by Jesus Aburtov
Justice League #28 variant by Dan Panosian
Interested
in actually reading a steampunk inspired comic?
You may want to check out FREE COMIC BOOK DAY which will be providing a
sample of STEAM WARS, a Star Wars themed steampunk story.
A not so long ago, in a galaxy relatively close
by began an epic struggle on a world seized in the grip of an evil Victorian
empire. Only a ragged alliance of rebels oppose the emperor and his
black guard, but hope is fading. While fleeing from the steam-driven
war machines of her imperial pursuers, Duchess Imoen stumbles across the home
of the last Dragoon: the legendary storm foil warriors of ancient
lore! This new (but strangely familiar) steam-fantasy epic will give
thrills that haven't been felt since 1977!
FREE COMIC
BOOK DAY is on May 3, 2014. On the first
Saturday in May each year participating comic book retailers provide comic
books for FREE to anyone who visits their store. To find a participating location or for more
information about this event visit www.freecomicbookday.com
Nickelodeon's HARVEY BEAKS animated television show is featuring a steampunk themed two-part musical special that will debut on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24, 2016 at 5:30pm (ET/PT) on the cable channel. Harvey and his friends set out on a brand-new, imaginary and musical journey where they explore the cogs, gears, and fantasy of the world Steamburg.
