Tag Archives: 25th anniversary

Happy 25th Birthday To Pokemon (1996-2021)

February 27, 2021 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

If you’re one of the readers of the website who enjoys everything about the Pokemon franchise, let me be one of the first to wish you a “Happy Pokemon Day” as believe it or not, today is the 25th Anniversary of the property. Nintendo launched this game in February 1996 and since then its become an almost indelible part of the Pop Culture of Gaming. Now I must admit that gaming is not my strongest point but I am still quite the geek since I am all about the comic books, monster movies and assorted superhero anything. I am happy to find a property such as Pokemon reaching this milestone and think its pretty darned cool for anyone who enjoys its universe.

As I don’t have the expertise to overview the franchises background, I’ll direct you to the official Wikipedia entry for them so you can be properly schooled and also to their own website because there is a ton of stuff being lined out in celebration. There’s even a virtual concert with Post Malone happening later on today but since I am watching something from Japan tonight at 10PM, I need to use the time to get the other stuff on the website happening. Suffice it to say there is a ton of Pokemon stuff out there for the interested consumer. From cartoon adaptations to toys, to plush dolls to puzzles and even costumes. I’ve met my fair share of Pokemon characters at the New York Comic Con over the years for sure and I always enjoy seeing the work that has gone into the costumes. Are you fans of the game? Did you ever try to catch them all? Chime in down below in the comments section and I will see you next time.

Official: https://www.pokemon.com/us/
Official Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon

Features, Tours and Festivals

Artists Announced For 25th Anniversary Warped Tour Events

March 1, 2019 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

It was just over a month ago that we shared the news about some 25th Anniversary celebrations being done in order of the recently ended Vans Warped Tour festival (seen HERE if you missed that announcement). Now the news is here to bring you up to speed on who is performing where and its a massive press release to absorb so refresh that cup of coffee or anything else you prefer to start your morning with and read on down below. I’ll return at the close with some editorial thoughts.

festival posters, vans warped tour, vans warped tour posters

The Press Release:
The Vans Warped Tour, presented by Journey®, announces the lineups for its bi-costal 25th Anniversary events that celebrate the final showcase of the tour’s iconic culture. The unique music experience will stop in three locations including Cleveland, Ohio, Atlantic City, New Jersey and Mountain View, California and caps off 25 years of history of the Vans Warped Tour.

“The Vans Warped Tour holds a very special place in our hearts and in our history.” explains Steve Van Doren, vice president of global events and promotions at Vans. “It was through the annual tour that we were able to bring music and action sports to youth across the globe for over two decades. We are really excited to partner with Kevin and the Warped team to put on a once in a lifetime experience to celebrate the tour’s final year.”

The Vans Warped Tour anniversary lineups are packed with acts that represent decades of youth culture that has thrived in parking lots across the country. The tour is thrilled to welcome back fan favorites like Bad Religion, Circa Survive, Frank Iero, Less Than Jake, Save Ferris, Simple Plan, Sleeping With Sirens, The Offspring, The Starting Line, Thrice, We The Kings, and more!
Continue reading Artists Announced For 25th Anniversary Warped Tour Events →

Features, Tours and Festivals

Vans Warped Tour Announces 25th Anniversary Events For 2019

January 28, 2019 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

Happy Monday my Music Loving Friends, I hope you are ready to tackle the week with vim and vigor. I’m hear to share the recently received news that the Vans Warped Tour will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year and they have just announced some special events to make it even more awesome. Check it out.

festival posters, vans warped tour, vans warped tour posters

The Press Release:
Following the announcement that 2018 would be the last cross-country run, the Vans Warped Tour headed out for a final summer of music, philanthropy, and community.

Looking back on it now, Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman shares, “It was truly an honor to do a final cross-country run of Warped in 2018; to see fans from all eras of the tour come out for a day to celebrate an event that meant so much to them. I walked away from the final show with a true sense that the Vans Warped Tour became the community I had always hoped for.”

Fans can expect the heart of the Warped Tour experience to be intact, but on a much larger scale over 2 full days. 50+ bands across multiple stages, extreme sports ranging from skateboarding to motocross, and an exhibit of art that has come out of the tour’s history.

“With the [Vans Warped Tour] 25th Anniversary events, we want to bring the atmosphere of a classic Warped Tour show, but on a scale that our fans simply could not get with a national tour “ explains Lyman, “The bands, the special attractions, everything – we want to bring back elements that have made the Warped Tour, Warped Tour, over the past 25 years.”
Continue reading Vans Warped Tour Announces 25th Anniversary Events For 2019 →

Comics, Pop Culture

Image/Skybound Entertainment Reveals “The Walking Dead” Variants For October

September 14, 2017 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

As you diehard readers of the PiercingMetal website are well aware, we have been helping to laud the awesome 25th Anniversary of the fine folks at Image Comics a lot over the past year and we are continuing the process with this announcement about their latest batch of variant covers. Check it out.

The Press Release:
Image Comics is pleased to reveal the six of 30 variants planned for the final month of 25th anniversary variants—October covers in homage of iconic THE WALKING DEAD cover designs. This final month of variants will pay tribute to some of the hottest, most jaw-dropping moments from Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s long-running, and industry-changing series that went on to become a pop culture phenomenon.

Available in stores on Wednesday, October 4th:

ELSEWHERE #3 by Jay Faerber & Sumeyye Kesgin, cover by Kesgin & Riley

image comics, comic book covers — “Elsewhere” #3 (The Walking Dead Variant)

EXTREMITY #7 by Daniel Warren Johnson, cover by Johnson

Continue reading →

Comics, Pop Culture

Image Comics Reveals “Jonathan Hickman Designed” Variant Covers For August

July 7, 2017 Ken Pierce Leave a comment

Hey there my comic book loving readers. It’s time to showcase another batch of Image Comics variant cover editions as the company celebrates their 25th Anniversary. For August we are getting a batch of 10 different covers that are designed by artist Jonathan Hickman. Check out the press release and the few reveals below.

The Press Release:
Image Comics is pleased to reveal two of ten variants planned for August’s 25th anniversary theme—a month of Jonathan Hickman cover designs. The bestselling co-creator of EAST OF WEST and THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS, Hickman is also known for his high-concept cover design and will have full creative reign in interpreting a range of ongoing creator-owned series with these special variants. Each month of Image’s 25th year will boast a theme for special anniversary variants.

Available in stores on Wednesday, August 2nd:

EAST OF WEST #34 by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta
ELSEWHERE #1 by Jay Faerber & Sumeyye Kesgin

Available in stores on Wednesday, August 9th:

THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #30 by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie
Rob Liefeld’s YOUNGBLOOD #4 by Chad Bowers & Jim Towe

Available in stores on Wednesday, August 16th:

GENIUS: CARTEL #1 by Adam Freeman & Marc Bernardin
RAT QUEENS #5 by Kurtis J. Wiebe & Owen Gieni

Available in stores on Wednesday, August 23rd:

GENERATION GONE #2 by Aleš Kot & André Lima Araújo
THE HARD PLACE #1 by Doug Wagner & Nic Rummel

Available in stores on Wednesday, August 30th:

RINGSIDE #11 by Joe Keatinge & Nick Barber
SPAWN #277 by Todd McFarlane

PiercingMetal Thoughts: You’ll have to excuse me for a moment but I am really getting a little annoyed at these teaser emails with one or two images from a whole batch. Perhaps the completely comicbook focused websites love them and have the means to do four or five posts about a single item but here at at the Metal Command HQ I can only get to one of them per topic so I prefer having all that I need to show you in one big sweep. Sigh. Anyway, let me get back on track here. I don’t purchase the variant covers unless they really speak to me from the shelves at the local comic book shop and with the amount of new titles that keep coming out they REALLY have to speak to me to be added to the collection. So what do you readers think about the idea of this latest batch of variants? Are you a fan of Jonathan Hickman’s stuff? Will you be purchasing them? Let me know in the comments section below and I will see you soon with more stuffs. If the other images come in soon I will edit them into this posting as its going to be my only post about the topic.

Official Website: http://www.imagecomics.com