While you're on the verge of getting nailed up by the one-two holiday punch of Christmas and New Years, stop and enjoy a hearty "Season's Greetings" from the staff at Boyd's Minimate Customs. And check out the latest in holiday-themed customs - Holiday Joker. He's the same killer clown and Batman villain that you know, but he's wearing a nifty new Christmas sweater. And somehow, that sweater will make it better when he puts acid in your eggnog. Please enjoy the custom and the season.

CustomCon 21 was back in October, which means I'm way overdue to add my entry to the site. This year I did a bunch of customs from Jack Kirby's Cadmus Project. It was Jack's first work when he came to DC Comics, and it's full of action, hippie bikers, monsters, a top-secret genetics and cloning facility, more monsters, Superman and a bunch of cloned newsboys. It's fun comics.

And so, from the Cadmus Project, I present Dubblex, the Four-Armed Terror, the Guardian, Mokkari, Jimmy Olsen, giant evil clone Jimmy Olsen and Simyan. Check out the whole Kirby-inspired group.

As we near the end of the month, we have to finish our month-long look at characters that have "Captain" or "Marvel" in their names. Characters like C. Marvel Finke, who, according to Google, was a banker who lived in Ohio in 1918. Sadly,Google did not say what the C. stood for, but let's pretend it stood for Captain.

This week, however, we won't be looking at Mr. Finke. We'll wrap up with another look at the Genis-Vell Captain Marvel, this time visiting the crazy Genis-Vell. Crazy Genis came from an attempt to increase sales on his comic - in a new storyline they made him crazy, and gave him a spiffy new uniform designed by Alex Ross. While the story was interesting and sales did spike, interest dropped away and Genis was eventually cancelled. But his spiffy uniform will live on always.

Time for another entry in the month-long look at characters that have "Captain" or "Marvel" in their names. Characters like Mabel Captain, who married into the Captain family in 1968 and baby-sat for me when I was growing up.

This week, however, we won't be looking at Mabel (Sorry, Mabel). We will take a look at the woman inspired by Captain Marvel - Ms. Marvel, in her classic 70's costume. Technically, this isn't her first costume - that one had the belly panel cut out, showing off her abs and belly button. And while that worked in a comic book, it doesn't look that good on the block torso of a Minimate.

Time for another entry in the month-long look at characters that have "Captain" or "Marvel" in their names. Characters like Lewis "the Marvel" Finch, a baseball pitcher from the 1920's who was known for his left-handed 80 mph speed balls. Tragically, he died in a freak lightning strike on his way to the major leagues.

This week, however, we won't be looking at "the Marvel". This week we'll follow up on last week's entry, Captain Marvel, by showcasing his son, the Genis-Vell Captain Marvel. Genis was born after his father had died, thanks to advanced cloning techniques, and tried very hard to properly use the powers and name he had inherited. And he's sorry for the time he destroyed the universe. So go check him out.

As promised, this month we kick off a long look at characters that have "Captain" or "Marvel" in their names. Sometimes they will have both, like Captain Abraham Marvel, the steamship captain who sailed the Mississippi River in the 1840's.

This week, however, we won't be looking at Captain Abe. Instead we will be looking at Marvel's first Captain Marvel, the Kree soldier who defended the Earth, became Protector of the Universe and hung out with professional sidekick Rick Jones for many years. Go check him out!

It's true. And every few years a church group would try to start a petition to change the mascot to something less Satanic, and would be promptly ignored.

What does this have to do with custom Minimates? Well, to finish our run of spooky supernatural customs for Halloween, I present one of Jack Kirby's neatest creations - the Demon, who's an actual demon from Hell that fights for good. Sometimes. Go check him out, and have a Happy Halloween!

And be sure to be here next month for a month-long look at characters who either have "Captain" or "Marvel" in their name. Sometimes they use both.

With Halloween less than a week away, let's continue our look at scary supernatural characters. And for super scares, scan the Silver Banshee, the supernatural Superman super-villain who's shocking shrieks stuns and slays? Seek her and see the shocking she-demon straightaway!

Halloween is coming! It's time to carve some pumpkins, get sick on candy and scare each other silly. So let's take a look at some of the scary, supernatural characters, like the Spectre, the ghostly figure that takes horrific vengeance on murderers and evil-doers. But let's talk about a recent version of the Spectre - the Hal Jordan Spectre. See, Hal Jordan was the greatest Green Lantern ever, but then he went bad. And then he went good and died. And then became the Spectre. It's confusing, but all explained in the entry - go and read it, already.

Lots of new stuff going on with the site today. First off, you might have noticed that the site has changed appearance (hit "Refresh" if you're still seeing a tan background). To celebrate the site's anniversary, I like to update it a little, and make it feel hip and young.

And as part of that updating, I'm also posting some new customs! Today I'm adding two members of the mighty Avengers. The first is a former Soviet spy who turned good and then turned Avenger - the Black Widow. The second is the oh-so-charming alien from Saturn's moon, Titan - Starfox.

And finally, the annual the annual online festival of custom action figures called CustomCon started today. The event is always a must-see if you enjoy what customizers can do to action figures.

I bring up CustomCon because my entry went live this morning. It's a theme entry dealing with one of my favorite Jack Kirby creations - the Cadmus Project.

So why are you still reading this? Go check out the new stuff.

Everyone has parents. But sometimes those parents are spies and get killed in action, leaving their child Peter an orphan. Then Peter's aunt and uncle have to raise him, feed him wheat cakes and teach him important life lessons that will serve him well when he becomes a super-hero.

Today's customs celebrate the family in Spider-Man's life - his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. And as a special bonus, I present a custom devoted to the time when Aunt May was the cosmic-powered herald of Galactus known as Golden Oldie. Check them out, won't you?

A little while ago I got an e-mail from a concerned fan:

"Where the hell have the updates for the customs been? You have me interested in looking up Starman."

Thanks for writing in, concerned fan! The updates have been on hold for a little while first because of my trip to San Diego, and then because of the custom project I've been working on for CustomCon 21 (coming up in October! Stay tuned!). But with that all out of the way, I can finally get back to posting customs for fans (concerned or not) to enjoy.

Speaking of San Diego, a bunch of nifty exclusives were first released there, including a box set of Marvel's World War II super team, the Invaders. And it's a really neat box set, with a stunning translucent Human Torch. But what if you want a Human Torch Minimate that's not on fire? After all, the Torch wasn't on fire all the time - how would he eat or sleep or sit down without setting the couch on fire? That's why I present a new custom - the Jim Hammond Human Torch, wearing his casual bright red fireproof jumpsuit.

Please enjoy. And go look up "Starman".

We wrap up our month of customs inspired by James Robinson's "Starman" with another custom for the first Starman, and one for his classic arch-enemy.

The Ted Knight Starman custom is from when Ted has retired from being a hero, and was happy to let his son Jack carry on as Starman. But that doesn't mean Ted doesn't play hero again...

And finally, the villain for Starman - The Mist, who threatened three generations of Knights with his evil, cloudy ways. So go check them out, and read "Starman", dammit.

One of the big themes that runs through "Starman" is the idea of legacy - Jack Knight may have taken up his father's super-hero name, but there were a bunch of other people who used the name as well. In "Starman", the writer James Robinson brought back every person who used the name Starman, from the obscure blue skinned alien from the 70's to the Will Payton version from the 90's. And each one was given their moment to shine, and show what they contributed to the name "Starman". It's from this big pool of Starmen that this week's customs come swimming out of.

First up is the newest Starman - the Danny Blane Starman, current member of the Justice Society of America, and possessor of one of the coolest costumes in comics.

The second custom is an obscure character (but not if you've read "Starman") - the Starman of 1951. Check them out now. Or later if you want, but that seems kinda silly since you're here now.

So why do I like James Robinson's "Starman"? Let me list the ways:

It's About Jack - "Starman" is the story of Jack Knight, the son of a super hero who reluctantly takes over his father's role as Starman. It's a character-driven story, as we watch Jack develop not as a hero, but as a person.

The Supporting Cast - There's a large supporting cast in "Starman", including Jack's father Ted, the O'Dare family and the dark and mysterious Shade. And each member of the cast gets a chance to grow and shine during Jack's story. Even Jack's city - Opal City - is explored and practically becomes a character.

History - "Starman" is a comic that celebrates the history of its characters. We get stories about Ted as the Golden Age Starman. We get stories about the Shade and early Opal City. Every character that used the name Starman eventually shows up and meets Jack. The exploration of history helps reinforce the sense of legacy that's a big part of "Starman".

It's Complete - We get Jack's entire story over 80 issues and assorted specials. There's a definite beginning, middle and end. It's a refreshing change from comics with stories and events that drag on and on for sales when the story was over long ago.

"Starman" is not a story for everyone. It doesn't have brutal action or angsty characters. It does have rambling dialogue about Sondheim musicals or 1950's collectibles, conversation with dead brothers and man-eating mystic posters. But if you think any of this sounds interesting, it's well worth checking out.

Oh yeah - this week's custom. It's the Jack Knight Starman, the "star" of the "Starman" series. Look, I made a little joke there.

I really like the James Robinson's "Starman" comic. Enjoyed the heck out of it. And I'm still annoyed that DC Direct decided to stop making DC Minimates before I could get a Jack Knight Starman Minimate. So I present Starman Month - a way to celebrate Starman and get the Starman Minimates that DC has decided I don't need (yeah, I'm not bitter).

So join us each week this month as I post new customs of my favorite characters from Starman, and occasionally babble about what I enjoy about Starman. And probably encourage you to give Starman a chance if you haven't read it already.

The first custom for Starman Month has to be the Golden Age Starman. He was the first to use the name "Starman", and would create a heroic legacy that would span generations. So go check him out.