The recent news of Newsarama’s sale to TopTenReviews.com has kind of faded into the woodwork — the site seems to have just kept on going, the only change a new list of sister sites at the bottom of each page.

The change was probably for the best. It’s no secret that Newsarama’s previous owners, Imaginova, weren’t the best fit for a pop culture site. They specialize in science and space mostly, with sites like Space.com and LiveScience.com, which were also sold off. The latter is a kind of general clearinghouse for soft science stories that we long had bookmarked in our RSS feeds.

But perhaps LiveScience.com is a better stable mate for Newsarama than you might guess. Newsarama has long been known for its contentious message boards, and a random news story on Live Science we happened to read shows that animal aficianados can be just as cranky.
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Hairless corpse believed to be a strange new mutant creature. The mysterious beast crawled feebly from a cave in Panama, so alarming local youths that they were forced to beat it to death. Because that’s what kids with sticks do, by God.

Now, we suspect that this thing was not crawling anywhere. It really does look, as Cryptomundo suggests, more like a sloth that somehow lost its hair and was in the water a while.

Or else…something funny is going on. And we’d better go check it out.

Oh yeah, baby it’s on! Angered after being left out of the WATCHMEN Director’s Cut, jumbo squid are swarming the oceans near San Diego because it’s PAYBACK TIME.

Wow, it’s not only a jumbo squid attack, it’s a HENTAI jumbo squid attack!

Known as giant flying squid, the beasts do not actually fly — but they do possess parrot-like beaks that could easily rip out a chunk of flesh, experts say.

Scientists also claim that the squid are only found in deep waters and so pose no threat to regular swimmers, but we pooh pooh these naysayers and predict that the seemingly placid waters of San Diego Bay are about to become the scene of a savage battle between humans and beasts. Humans — who normally subdue squid using a light, seasoned breading and a few slices of lemon — will this time need squads of Elite Security personnel, armed with harpoon guns.

The attacks are also reminiscent of a 2002 assault, when hundreds of dead squid washed up on San Diego beaches just before con, leading to what was described by many as “a bad smell.”

They’ll keep fighting…and they’ll win!

UPDATED to include tasty Kaluta squid art. More here.

Consider this a plug! Evan Dorkin delivers his pitch for BEASTS OF BURDEN, a four-issue miniseries written by him and painted by Jill Thompson:

I do know what the deal on the comic is: It’s $2.99 for 23 pages of story and art (the first issue is 23 pages, the others are 22), wonderfully painted by the talented and popular Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother, Magic Trixie, Sandman et al). Dogs and cats versus the supernatural. Come on, that sounds okay, doesn’t it? It’s at least half as good as a kid bitten by a spider who gets superpowers and can’t make money even though he invents all this great stuff and sews a costume all in one night. Don’t you think? Well, okay, maybe not, but it’s still okay in my book. And it’s only three bucks! Three lousy bucks. Cripes, you people, really, don’t tell me about the economy, I don’t want to hear that jive talk. Just take it out of your mom’s bag, or your dad’s wallet. Bring some beer bottles in for redemption. Roll the town drunk. Busk. Do something. Hell, my daughter has three bucks, and she’s only four. Don’t give me any excuses this September. Please. I beg of you.

We beg of you too! Is there any reason in the world not to buy this gorgeous comics about KITTIES AND PUPPIES? Who fight the supernatural? It’s got “awesome’ written all over it in big felt tip marker.

This is so not comics, except for the fact that it has captured the imagination of Twitterers over the last week or so! Today at 5 EDT on the National Geographic channel, perhaps the most riveting TV show of all times is airing: The Whale that Exploded . The story is so Apollonian in its purity and wonder that scarcely more than a bare, expository sentence is needed to hint at its marvels:

In January 2004, the carcass of a 50-ton sperm whale explodes in a Taiwanese city center. NGC examines the physics and the biology of this 100,000-pound animal whose body was destroyed by its own internal forces.

Our first guess was that the whale stopped to eat at Waffle House prior to the incident, but apparently that was not the cause of these internal forces. Or, as the caption to the above photo puts it:

Car with whale innards splashed on it post-explosion. On the way to Tainan University for research, the whale exploded due to volatile gas build up in the abdomen.

Look, how often do you see the terms “Sperm whale,” “innards” and “volatile gas build up” in ONE SINGLE STORY????? You owe it to yourself to watch. You’ve earned it.

Writer Thomas Hall dropped us a note to promote the debut of ROBOT 13 by himself and artist Daniel Bradford at MoCCA, describing it thusly:

On the surface, the Robot 13 is about a skull headed robot who fights giant monsters from Greek Mythology. From a storytelling standpoint, however, it’s somewhat a reworking of Frankenstein meeting Homer’s Odyssey- it’s the story of a thing created by Science who goes on a Hero’s journey of sorts to find out who he really is…

We took a peek at the first issue, and it’s a very stylish steampunk fantasy; very much in a Mignolan vein, to be sure, but continuing our fascination with giant octopii, we’re posting the preview pages here.

More information here and here.

All pages above ©2009 Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford

We had a chance the other day to do something not particularly comics related and attend the press preview of the new Extreme Mammals exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Being as fascinated by the wonderful world of weird mammals as the average geek, this was a great pleasure — the show includes models of the largest land mammal that ever lived (Indricotherium — you could walk right under it with feet to spare) and the smallest (Batodonoides, which weighed the same as a dollar bill and resembled nothing so much as the world’s cutest living pencil topper.) Lots of teeth and bones and a stuffed Thylacine!

There was even a critter we’d never seen before — the springhare. WHY DIDN”T ANYONE TELL US THERE ARE LIVING, BREATHING CUTE LITTLE CAT-RABBITS IN SOUTH AFRICA??? Does Grant Morrison know about them???

After looking at the exhibit, we got to go “behind the scenes” and listen to three scientists talk about their work. These were the kind of folks who go to Mongolia to dig up dinosaur bones and wander around South America talking about long-lost tribes. So smart. Just walking around the innards of the Museum was as cool as we’ve always heard…mysterious rooms full of things in jars, and the skeleton of a bear just sitting there in a glass case…and rows and rows of specimens in intriguing cabinets.

Definitely something to fire the imagination, and I don’t mean a Ben Stiller movie. Thanks to AMNH’s Michael Walker for the invite.

Oh and here’s a comics tie-in just to make things kosher. One of the scientists we listened to was Dr. Nancy Simmons, who is one of the world’s foremost experts in…bats. Her office was filled with them in all sorts of states of preservation. It’s pretty safe to say she’s the real life Batwoman, and we managed to find this quote:

What do you think of superheroes like Batman and Batwoman?

I have a picture of Batwoman on my wall. One of my students gave it to me. I think they’re fun, but they don’t have much to do with bats.

Also, when will Batman face a foe named…White Nose?

Pretty much what it says.

Personally, we feel it is unnecessary to actually make this movie…the trailer is a fine short film that says it all about the human condition.

Over on her blog, Molly Crabapple has posted her poster for this year’s MoCCA Festival, held June 6-7. Not only does the art feature an octopus — always a favorite here — but it’s the first hint we’ve seen of this year’s guests — David Mazzucchelli, Seth, Adrian Tomine, Al Jaffee, Arnold Roth, and many other fine folks like the Comics Bakery crew.

UDPATE: Please note, this is now a corrected version of the poster.

Let’s relax a little today with another page from BEASTS OF BURDEN, the Evan Dorkin/Jill Thompson miniseries coming later this year.

And the cover to issue #2 of LOCKJAW AND THE PET AVENGERS by Karl Kerschl.

Don’t you feel better?

The scary thing is…this really EXISTS!

Flog poses this question: Do YOU know this beast? as we imagine a world where this image is posted on every telephone pole in the neighborhood.

Anders Nilsen posts art by Paxton Chadwick from British Reptiles and Amphibia (1949).

Some weekend distraction: It was born in Ohio.

Via the comments: RIP two-faced kitten. We will always love you.

UPDATE: After googling “Two faced kitten” images, we think this was the cutest two-faced kitten ever born.

As long as it’s summer and we’re reporting on ephemera, we totally saw He-Man walking back from Morton-Williams last night! He was wearing a shirt, however.

The mystery of the strange dead beast that washed ashore on Long Island has continued to capture the imaginations of Web surfers everywhere.

Even Fox News got into the act with a photo from another angle and expert testimony that the creature is the decomposing corpse of a raccoon.

That theory would seem to match up with those of many other debunkers. For those those of you who continue to believe in either a) the sublime power of the mysterious or b) the wonders of viral marketing, there’s been a new sighting, this time on a miracle piece of toast now available on eBay. Bidding is up to a mere $1.85, so be the first to own a piece of history!

Viral marketing suspected.

We think you will want to read this Kare Kare comic by Andrew Drilon at The Chemistry Set. Let’s just say it updates the “Incredible Journey” story for cryptozoologists.

Once in a while we get one of those wonky press releases about people announcing their very important comic book which they hope to turn into a very important movie, but this one is really pretty funny. Basically it’s a PR Wire story about a marketing company called “Team Hollywood” getting an artist for a comic book. So far so good. Here’s the concept for the comic as found on a job post board:
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Uno is the first beagle ever to win the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Snoopy and Underdog are cheering.

“He’s a people’s dog, a merry little hound,” Wilkerson said.

Photo © New York Times

“Sleepy kitty, making biscuits.”

Thanks, Zena.

The story of researcher’s attempts to get monkeys to move robotic arms was one of the very first things we ever blogged here on the Beat V 1.1, in a post now long lost, and they are still at it! Last a week a monkey in South Carolina made a robot in Japan (where else) walk using only its brain waves. Scientists hailed the experiment as a breakthrough.

Another expert, Nicho Hatsopoulos, a professor at the University of Chicago, said that the experiment was “an exciting development. And the use of an exoskeleton could be quite fruitful.”

A brain machine interface is any system that allows people or animals to use their brain activity to control an external device. But until ways are found to safely implant electrodes into human brains, most research will remain focused on animals.

There are a couple of ways we see this playing out.

#1: Helper monkeys are trained to operate their master’s exo-skeletons with their little monkey brainwaves.

#2: Monkeys become resentful, use brain waves to control army of murderous robots which rampage across Japan, resulting in amazing mecha- battle. Love robots come to the rescue, order restored.

Now which outcome do YOU prefer?

An octopus in a Cornish aquarium has become very attached to his toy Mr. Potato Head. Louis, a 6-foot long Giant Pacific Octopus, loves playing with the plastic spud, and can even find treats such as crab meat that his keepers hide within Mr. Potato Head’s secret compartments.

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Fear them!

Let’s face it, no one wants to work this week, and that even includes us. So we’re still loafing as we gradually get back up to speed.

In the meantime, check out this exclusive footage we found of Chip and Dale* planning how to take out someone named Donald. Fascinating.

* Yes, Chip ‘n’ Dale were chipmunks and these are grey squirrels. Who cares! They are so cute chittering back and forth to each other. And oh! their cunning little hands!