When used correctly, the ever-expressive eyebrows can be a window into the soul …or at least into the opinion being formulated deep within. Those who are unfortunate sufferers of facial paralysis might never command the effective power of displaying worry through the furrowing of one’s brow or the curious inquiry hinted at by raising just one side. Fortunately, Tom Judd, a recent graduate of the masters in Animation program at the Royal College of Art, has come up with a solution for the unfortunate few with little control over their facial expressions. His Eyebrow Hat has harnessed the evocative power of one’s double fuzzies into a remote controlled device, capable of showing just what you might be feeling at any given time provided you haven’t run out of batteries.

When Mr. Judd isn’t busy helping those who can’t animate their own feelings, he’s busy putting together some kick ass cartoon work. His three and a half minute long masterpiece, Bruce, tells the tale of a boy who through the use of open source genetic programming, creates his very own pint-sized action hero . Sounds like something we’d like to have. Check it out here and be on the lookout for this rising illustrative talent.

The Gift: You like Spanish cartoon characters … we like Spanish cartoon characters. And now it’s time you owned a few from one of our much-hyped friends, Tolky Monky. The muy bien prize pack contains a T-shirt, sweatshirt, and small poster.

The Rules: Go and visit their website, take a look some of their characters, and report back here with a new, original story for guys like Undie the Raccoon or Beeboy to post in the COMMENTS section (although, you can choose any of them.) Only one entry per reader. Duplicate entries will be discarded.

The Deadline: Contest is open now through midnight on 12/10.

With summer blockbusters now an afterthought, and Christopher Nolan’s masterful $500 million plus Dark Knight film slowly fading from memory, it’s time to hit the refresher button on one of our favorite superheroes. Batman has existed in many incarnations, perhaps one of the most unsung is Batman:The Animated Series, which enjoyed a fruitful after school run in the early to mid-1990’s. The magic of this embodiment of the Caped Crusader was apparent to many a comic book and cartoon fan, including Philly-based MC, producer, and percussionist Blame The Kid. Blame (a.k.a our very own Abdullah Saeed) was recently so inspired by this version of Gotham city goings on that he decided to turn his childhood muse into some rather dope music. Pooling melodic samples and dialogue from the show and combining with his own talents for programming, beat culting, and playing, he’s concocted quite the musical mashup. A love letter, if you will, with Batman: The Animated Album. Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap buildings in a single bound…oh wait, that’s the other guy. Just download the album, take a listen and enjoy the ride.

A few Emmys later and it’s official — Mad Men is an outstanding drama series. The 60s throwback sets, costumes, and conundrums are inspired, but they’re also inspiring. New York designer / unofficial official house designer for UCB, Dyna Moe has illustrated scenes from the first and second season using a period-invoking cartoon style. Her stylized pics portray everything from Betsy and her steed, to the crew at Sterling Cooper enjoying their Christmas party (the piece that started all of this, commissioned by Rich Sommer aka Harry Crane in the series).

When I first saw the lineup of bunny characters on Youngest In Charge, I didn’t know what to think. The cartoon bunnies are a trip, and whoever created them was obviously influenced heavily by pop culture. Everything from a Bundiana Jones to a bunny version of Nigo (complete with “Billionaire Buns Club” t-shirt) make appearances, and after seeking out and corresponding with creator Vince Chan, I learned more about the inspiration behind his “Big Bun” characters. Vince hails from Vancouver and works as a graphic designer in the apparel industry; for a creative outlet he has been working on Youngest In Charge, a comic book project, and designing a new persona for Big Bun each week. Ultimately, Vince would love to produce a print show and possibly a vinyl toy version of some of his designs. You can contact him via email and see his portfolio of his various design work and Optical Weapons and on Coroflot. Good luck, Vince, and keep up the awesome work.

It’s tough to categorize Ray Fenwick, a young and hugely promising cartoonist, illustrator, typographer out of Canada. When forced to choose a definition for himself, he jokingly prefers to give something like, “One Who Draws on a Regular Basis, Whether For Purpose of Sharing or Merely For Self-Gratification.” Personally, I prefer to just leave words out of it and let my eyes sort out exactly what it is that Mr. Fenwick spends his time doing, because he’s pretty darn good at everything. His illustrations and musings are honest and sweetly sarcastic, and I’m super buzzed about his typography which is powerful, creative, AND fuctional (a trait sadly lacking in font design these days). While he’s spent a little over a year on his Hall of Best Knowledge comic strip (which ran exclusively in “The Coast,” Halifax’s weekly paper) he recently retired the strip to focus on his new job of managing a soon-to-be letterpress. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Ray is also incredibly funny; the online magazine LAB has a hilarious interview with him up right now. Check it out if you’re into that sort of thing.