On the slopes of the volcano Fremrinamur in a remote and ashy part of Iceland where only mad scientists thumb through the real estate section of the local paper, the Space Patrol has established its camp around the well defended tower of mad Doctor Rognvald. Here we’re very near the beginning of Part Two of The Toaster With TWO BRAINS… although in a total refusal to conform I’m actually about a quarter of the way done with that story’s illustrations.

You can click the picture above to initiate an explosive form of embiggification which, although terrifying, is Entirely Safe When Used as Directed.

This is the second illustration in the story. I still haven’t managed the first one: I guess I can’t take the pressure. But anyhow I’m nearing the end of this weeks-long excursion into TWO BRAINS so soon I’ll reset my own brain, and get back to The Lair of the Clockwork Book.

Come to think of it, during those last anxious weeks of the Clockwork Book I never realized that I’d passed the halfway mark. Over half those illustrations are done now… when I include a bunch that you haven’t seen yet, but I have.

There is a web project that I really need to make some progress on, and I’ve been asked to do an illustration for something else, too. So once I’ve finished two more of the TWO BRAINS pictures I’ll probably try to race through those two things before the big reset.

Today’s the debut of The Mercury Men, that long-awaited retro science fiction web serial that’s found its home at syfy (sic).

Synopsis: Edward Borman becomes trapped when deadly creatures from the planet Mercury overrun his office building, killing anyone in their path.

That happened to me once, too, except that they turned out to be FBI agents.

It looks like the next episode is slated for tomorrow; so, viewers, don’t change that channel!

Here’s a compilation video from Manuel Velasco featuring more (uncredited) depictions of Thor’s Hammer, in just about every possible medium, than you can shake a goat-drawn chariot at. My version shows up at 7:10, followed by someone’s rather crude copy of it. At 4:41 you can also see some brave fellow’s back where my Mjolnir has become a very large tattoo.

At least Velasco’s blog post links back to me; but feel for all those artists and craftspeople whose work is there to be enjoyed, but not known.

Through July 25 you can save up to $7.80 per shirt on any t-shirt order at all from The Retropolis Transit Authority, Saga Shirts, and Hot Wax Tees: just enter the coupon code FantasticNewColors during checkout, with no minimum order.

The discount varies from one type of shirt to another; but, for example, it’s $7.80 off the price of a dark long-sleeved T-Shirt; $6.60 off the price of a dark short sleeved T-Shirt; $6.30 off the price of a ladies’ baseball jersey; on so on down the line.

You may know that arithmetic and your humble correspondent aren’t on speaking terms, but even I can tell that those are some pretty sweet discounts. Just in time for OhMyGodWe’reAllGoingToMelt week, here at the Secret Laboratory.

The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9 is Jake Armstrong‘s thesis film from 2009: it’s a darkly humorous science fiction misadventure. There are just so many things I could say about it, but I shouldn’t say any of them till you’ve seen it. And I can’t tell whether you’ve seen it; therefore, I say nothing at all.

Armstrong is a cartoonist and animator based in New York whose name makes it pretty much inevitable that he’ll draw spacemen. I mean, Jake Armstrong? What else could he do?

Oh, well, plenty. But you know what I mean.

via TOR.com.