Battlefield 3 • Comixology • Neutrinos

For the last weekly podcast the crew talk about Battlefield 3, Comixology hitting the top sales charts, and CERN redoing their faster than light experiment

Justice League #2 • Batman Arkham City • DARPA Recycling

The crew comes back from break refreshed and ready to rock. Pete reviews Justice League #2 and talks about the big developments from New York Comic Con: Robot Chicken will do a special DC episode, and Marvel will be bringing back the Phoenix. Craig reviews Batman: Arkham City, and talks about the possibilities with Microsoft’s next gen game console, the Xbox 720. The Space Race comes to New Guienea, and DARPA is recycling Satellites. All in one episode!

Flashpoint #5 • iPhone 4S • Tech & Love • Remembering Steve Jobs

The gang gathers for a somber podcast this week. It was an end to several eras, and losses in the world of fandom. First the crew pay tribute to Betty Luster (Mr. B Natural), and try and figure out how they will survive life without the Simpsons. Then they cheer up with the news of the iPhone 4S, and new iOS5 features available this week. Randis demonstrates how romance and relationships have been impacted by personal technology, and the crew remembers a titan with the passing of Steve Jobs. Stay Tuned after the podcast for Tech editor Doug and Craig as they remember Apple’s most influential force.

Flash #1 • iPhone 5 • Battlefield 3 Beta • Aphrodisiacs

A quick episode or betas and sneak peeks. Pete reveals set photos from the anticipated mega-movie, the Avengers. Craig talks about the Battlefield 3 demo. The crew discusses the fast processor on the upcoming iPhone 5, Pete reviews the new Flash #1 by Francis Manapul, and Randis covers all you need to know about aphrodisiacs.

Pete gets back into comics and reviews  the first trade paperback collection for Stephen King’s American Vampire. Netflix launches Quickster, while Dish network relaunches a damn good version of Blockbuster. Craig and Pete review the new Gears of War 3, and give you the info you need to know about it. The iPod may be dead, asteroids didn’t kill the dinosaurs, and the CDC has an anti-zombie plan. But the biggest scientific discovery was CERN breaking the light speed barrier. All in this week’s episode.

Doug rejoins the crew for an epic 77^th podcast. The crew chews over their hatred for 3D movies when hearing the news that Top Gun and Ghostbusters are coming to theaters in a new dimension. Craig tells us how to replace a high end Samsung TV, Doug tells us NASA has found Tatooine, and then Randis tells us about break up rituals on Dating Advice for Geeks.

The crew covers the favorite stories in fandom this week starting with movie related shoes. The special Nikes from Back to the Future 2 and Kermit Edition Addidas. Then Craig tells us about the record sales numbers for EA’s Madden NFL, and prepares us for Gears 3. Then they review the deleted scenes on the upcoming Star Wars BluRays, and review the BluRay for X-Men: First Class. The Randis reminds us that we cannot share our future with someone without knowing our past. Pete reviews all the superman news including Action Comics #1, and the theft of Mike Myer’s Superman collection. Then the crew remembers where they were on 9/11.

We try on a new format for Labor Day. First we talk about the professional tournament for Modern Warfare players and then shift to George Lucas “enhancing” his Star Wars movies yet again. After we spit fire at the newer special edition blu-rays, we try and figure out how to tell a friend that you want more, and when to try and make that move. Then Pete reviews the blockbuster inaugural issue of DC Comics New 52, Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.

• Thor
• Priest
• Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides
• Hangover 2
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• X-Men: First Class
• Super 8
• Green Lantern
• Cars 2
• Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Captain America
• Smurfs
• Cowboys and Aliens
• Rise of Planet of the Apes
• Conan

We crown the winners and losers in the fun special.

Ultimate Fallout #6 • Gamescom • IBM’s Brain Chips • Dream Interpretations

In this episode Pete review Ultimate Comics Fallout #6 to mourn the loss of Ultimate Spider-Man. The gang passes judgment on potential movies Rambo 5, and a Blade Runner Sequel. Craig Talks about the developments at Gamescom including news That Playstation’s new handheld is more powerful than their PS3, and Diablo 3 could come to game consoles. HP does away with it’s mobile OS, Kindle skirts Apple, and IBM creates chip that mimic the human brain. Randis then interprets our dreams, and what they mean.

Here it is folks! To celebrate Dune Awareness Month, we encourage you to participate in our Caption Contest. Simply comment on this post with your caption, and you could win a gift certificate to the iTunes Store, XboxLive Points, or a Month of Netflix. This week’s contest closes August 28^th at noon, and the winner will be announce on our weekly Podcast. You can leave as many comments as you can create, so caption early and often!

Written and Illustrated by Michael Walton

Published by Zuda Comics

Available on Comixology

Issue six is the last of Michael Walton’s Dual. A highly imaginative tale about a man and his imaginary friend in a world with magical instances. We have followed Bill and Yasu for five issues and watched Bill grow up and deal with the idea and power of having an imaginary friend that grants him extraordinary powers once bill…well….ingests him. After meeting witches, and monsters, Bill crosses paths with a dragon, who is now marrying Bill’s true love, Carina. This whole issue is one big throw down, as Bill squares off with Dave the dragon.

This issue is exactly what I loved about this series, only more action packed. It has great mysticism mixed with wit and sobering reality that made Dual such a great series. Michael Walton, like many of his Zuda Comics cohorts, never strayed from the story and always stayed true to the vision of his story. There are tough choices he had to make as a writer, and he certainly picked a difficult project to illustrate by trying to marry a sober reality with fantastic elements. Btu the hard choices paid off, and made for a great series.

One of my favorite elements of Michael Walton’s style is a drop in color as Yasu and Bill meld as one. The ending of the book is poignant as it feels as though the cameras have been changed out, and the viewpoint changes. The prophecy that mystics have been telling Bill begins to come to fruition, and the world changes. What I especially loved, and hated about this book was that it was the end.  Walton leaves the ending wide open, as if the tale had only just begun, but unfortunately with Zuda Comics’ demise, so went a fantastic web series that is thankfully collected at Comixology. If you haven’t already, pick up Dual. Not only is it a great tale you can reread several times, but it is also a great digital comic to show off on you iPhone, iPad, or whatever device you are using. A true collectible.

Don’t forget to comment on the Summer Movie Wrap Up Show. You could win your favorite movie just by commenting on what you saw this summer. It doesn’t even have to be favorable. Comment by the end of Saturday for your chance to win.

You could also win a gift certificate to iTunes, Xbox Live, or Netflix by being clever, and posting a caption on the Dune Awareness Caption Contest page. What do you have to lose? Five minutes?

So head on over and unleash your fury!

Email your favorite movie for the show, for

A chance to win a copy of the BluRay of that movie on its release.

(When it comes out, we will have a copy show up to your residence that day. Pretty cool eh?)

Email all your comments about this year’s movies to podcast@giggaheim.com, or comment below!

Contest Ends Midnight Sunday August 21th

Here are the candidates:

Dual #6 • Xbox Points Credited • Ninjas with iPads • Dating Obsessive Hobbyists

It’s a week filled with news of the weird. Pete reviews the last issue of Michael Walton’s Dual from Zuda Comics. Thor is replaced, Batman Dark Knight Rises gets a new ride, and Austin Powers rides again? Craig tells us about Microsoft giving people too many Xbox Live Points, and reviews Fruit Ninja for the Xbox Kinect. Nintendo contemplates making games for the iPhone while Ninjas smuggle iPads into Hong Kong. There’s a new World’s Tallest Skyscraper, DARPA loses a plane, and NASA thinks we’re all aliens.  Randis answers listener mail about dating people with obsessive hobbies, and also gives dating do’s and don’ts.

To celebrate Dune Awareness Month, we encourage you to participate in our Caption contest. Simply comment on this post with your caption, and you could win a gift certificate to the iTunes Store, XboxLive Points, or a Month of Netflix. This week’s contest closes August 19^th at 5pm, and the winner will be announce Friday night and on our weekly Podcast. You can leave as many comments as you can create, so caption early and often! Don’t let the Harkonins win!

A brilliant trailer has hit the web, and you should know all about it. Red Tails, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, looks as brilliant as their story. The first African-American air corps story has always been exemplary, and the Giggaheim cannot wait for this film that is written and produced by George Lucas to hit screens in 2012.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozw1IF1pDcI

Don Moore, a writer who lives near the Giggaheim, has a fantastic article on his site DonMooresWarTales.com about Lt. Charles Bailey, Sr.. So head on over to Don Moore’s War Tales to get a real life account about the Tuskegee Airmen.

Here is a great bit of awesome from the creative mind of Charles Foreman. I love every panel of this mashup. What if Charles Shultz illustrated Steven Spielberg’s classic JAWS? Head on over to snakeoilcomics.blogspot.com and check out all of the strips!

Shai-Hulud (Shaihuludata gigantica) would like to remind you that today is the last day to give your captions for this week’s Dune Awareness Month Caption Contest. Entries are closed at5pm EST. So trample on over and make some worm-sign to the Caption Contest Page.

here is what I found:

I’m a Netflix guy. Despite previous articles, after playing around in Hulu, I like Netflix better. Hulu has some great TV shows updated and ready to watch at a moments notice without the hassle of getting a TiVo. Anything FOX is accessible from all devices. Family Guy and Wilfred have weird air times for me, so I can catch up on them at lunch or during work. Pretty convenient.

But there isn’t a whole lot else available to me that makes me want to pay for Hulu. BBC is all on the computer, and there aren’t many shows. That doesn’t help me when I want to watch something on my phone or iPad. Every show I was remotely interested in on other networks was only available on the computer, what a bummer. Where’s my mobile streaming ability? Why did I pay of unlimited data, when the content providers are limited themselves?

And then there’s the matter of commercials.

Really? Commercials Hulu? I know you have to pay for your service, but frankly, I wouldn’t give you guys more than an dollar a month. Back in my day (when the Earth was cooling) My “crazy” neighbors bought cable and HBO. A wacky idea to pay for television. But the shows and movies HBO had were full of cussing and boobies, and didn’t have one commercial interruption. Holy smokes! What a deal. A few extra bucks and I don’t have to worry about making the donuts, or having to spell relief. Hulu, on the other hand has inserted commercials in their TV programs, and frankly, I’m not sure why I would pay for that “privlage”. I can get many of the same shows on Netflix, and on my mobile devices, without one damn commercial.

Then there is a matter of quality. This can vary where you are, but in the swamps of Florida, I get some good streaming on all my devices, and I rarely get an interruption. Hulu threw me for a curve. I’ll watch something on my phone, and it will quit. Then it will resume, but be a radio show with the image frozen in place. Then I have to pause, and fast forward or rewind in order to queue up my last spot before I was interrupted. And this happens constantly. Constantly. But, since I am bitching that TV and movies streamed from distant lands can’t go to mobile device, I will say that I understand when this happens. However, the difference is Hulu crashes more often, and doesn’t give a rat’s ass. Netflix will know when something is crappy, and send an email asking me how the quality was.

Now, both have a pretty hit and miss collection of titles. Netflix has almost everything BBC, while Hulu has almost everything Fox. Netflix does get the edge with me on two accounts though. One is the ability to put something in your queue from a mobile device (haven’t figured out how to do this yet in Hulu), and they have their recommendations. Granted, I get some weird ones, but at least Netflix seems to care what I watch, and matches some things pretty close to what I enjoyed and hated. Hulu just barfs their titles at you, and you have to know exactly what you are after in order to view it. Kinda kills the pleasure of surfing through like-titles.

So overall…

I’ll let this 7-day trial with Hulu lapse. Why pay for something I get on Cable? And why pay for something that’s better on Netflix? If you want to ditch your TV, I’d say get both. These faults from Hulu won’t last long. They are an up and coming company. But it’s a long road ahead for them. And frankly, I don’t feel like bank rolling it. But, if you want one entertainment streaming outlet, I’d go for the Netflix, and wait for Hulu to grow up a little.

DC Comics Costumes • Twisted Metal • AT&T Tethering • Stressing Out Your Libido

Reunited with the lost Doug, the crew tackles the big issues of the week. Pete reviews Road by Eddie Sharam, and the crew decides whether they like the new look for DC Comics movie costumes for Catwoman, Bane, and Superman. Then they tackle the issue of racism in comics as they discuss the half-black, half-hispanic Spider-man, and how he caused a stir in comics. Craig talks about Twisted Metal’s release date, the latest Rockband releases, news on Borderlands 2, and the last Call of Duty Black Ops DLC is coming soon and it’s filled with zombies. Doug dissects AT&T’s tethering program, Skype on the iPad, and the Internet turns 20. And of course, Randis brings the house down with a look at how stress impacts your libido, and the average penis sizes. This is a can’t miss episode.

Here it is folks! To celebrate Dune Awareness Month, we encourage you to participate in our Caption contest. Simply comment on this post with your caption, and you could win a gift certificate to the iTunes Store, XboxLive Points, or a Month of Netflix. This week’s contest closes August 12^th at 5pm, and the winner will be announce Friday night and on our weekly Podcast. You can leave as many comments as you can create, so caption early and often!

For the 70^th episode Pete reviews Nancy in Hell #1 from Image Comics. Batman Fights Bane in the streets of Pittsburgh, and John Lasseter explains the Pixar sequels. Craig tells of Nintendo slashing its prices on the handheld gaming system, the DS 3D, and Rockband hits a milestone with their 3,000^th song. In tech news Netflix and Hulu battle for digital streaming attention while Apple has more cash on hand than the US Government. Then Randis gives us advice about going on vacation with a loved one, and going on vacation with their family.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming Dune Awareness Month! Our inaugural Krull Awareness Month was such a success, that we’ve decided to continue the tradition with Victor Herbert’s DUNE (the 1984 version directed by David Lynch). Stay tuned for more caption contests, trivia, and other cool things we are brewing.

In our 69^th episode we hit a new low and earn our explicit rating in style. Pete reviews the fallout of the death of Spider-man in Ultimate Fallout #1. Superman goes through a lot of changes in a reboot, and Batman Dark Knight excites theaters. Craig tells us that Soundgarden and Incubus are coming to Rockband 3, Modern Warfare 3 uses crowd sourcing, and Sony goes exclusive with HDMI cables. Netflix raises its prices, and then the boys review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. For the main event, Randis explains origins of socially unacceptable terms, the true meaning of the Kama Sutra, and ten fantastic sexual positions.

Flashpoint 3 vs Fear Itself 4 • PlayStation Network Passcodes • Space Shuttle Atlantis • Speed Dating

The Giggaheim podcast is packed this week. Pete reviews summer event comic books Flashpoint#3 and Fear Itself #4. Then answers listener mail by differentiating between Marvel Comics’ Mockingbird, and DC Comics’ Black Canary. After the news of sexually harassing Archie Comics, and Rockstar Games moving on to movies, the crew takes apart video game movies. Craig fills us in on the new PlayStation Network Passcodes, the lack-luster Burnout:Crash, and Modern Warfare 3’s Color Blind Assist mode. In Tech news Pokemon makes its own mobile app, Google and Microsoft bid for Hulu, and this week marked the last launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Craig melts everyone’s head with math, and Randis gives us all tips for Speed Dating.

Craig and Pete put down the bar-b-que and give a small podcast for the Independence Day holiday. Pete reviews his new iPhone 4, and gives a comparison to the iPad. Brief comics and movie news is covered, and the two review the latest summer blockbuster: Transformers 3. Craig gives the news on new DLC for Rockband and a leaked version of Gears of Wars 3. Then Pete and Craig compile a list of third movie sequels that were better than the second ones before them.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 • Mobile Gaming Future • Lulz Disbands • Flirting Guide

It’s a solemn end to an era as Pete reviews Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160. Craig updates us on the latest Rockband DLC and the future of gaming on the mobile frontier. In tech news Pottermore brings up the issue of DRM, Tesla Motors stops making the ultra-fast electric roadster, Lulz apparently disbands, and we find out it is illegal to sell pieces of the moon. Then Randis gives us a guide on flirting, and poses the question: Do you have an office buddy you flirt with?

Congratulations!!

Runners Up were:

A study was done in March 2011 reporting regret in Americans and the different subjects that feel the regret. Compared with a similar study done in 2005 – much came back the same % of regret.  Education and Family where the two areas that had the largest change between the 2 studies; Education in 2005 going from 32% down to 14% and Family in 2005 going from 2% to 14%.

Relationships being the most common regretful situation reported from Americans whom answered the question for the study increased from 15% in 2005 to 19% in 2011.  This regret for people focused mainly on lost chances for potential romances, and relationship that did not live up to their potential.  General at first, people tend to feel regret more with things they have done instead of the opportunities they past up.  However, after some time people tend to regret more the opportunities they past up.

So with this information – what would be the best way to look at walking up to that person and asking them out?  If they say yes, you have a date and build up your confidence!  If they say no, it would be safe to say that the regret of being turned down would be easy to handle the shoulda, woulda, coulda of not taking the chance.

So get out there and take some chances! You only have one life to live…do not live it in fear or regret.

Microsoft announced a new advertising platform called NUads, that will allow users of Xbox 360’s latest gadget, the Kinect, to interact with advertising on their gaming console. Ads will be embedded on the dashboard and embedded in gameplay and video content. Motion controls and verbal commands are programmed into the Kinect to interact with the ads:

“Xbox More” – Will naturally allow for a user to learn more about whatever they just saw that may interest them.

“Xbox Schedule” – Will send a text message to remind the user’s cell phone.

“Xbox Near Me” – Will map out the nearest retailer of a product that is advertised

Finally, a user can interface with the advertising by waving their hand. Users can vote on styles, brands, and even toppings for pizzas.

These features won’t be annoying you anytime soon, since they are only being revealed at today’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and are set to launch in Spring of 2012.

Episode sixty five is a big one, and packed full of geeky fandom. Pete reviews the macho first issue of Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker, and the crew reviews two summer blockbusters: Green Lantern and Super 8. Craig gives a hand-on review of Xbox’s latest add-on peripheral, the Kinect. The space explorer Voyager reaches the end of the known Solar System, and Randis helps you get over those regrets you may have in your relationships.

Congrats to Eric. Close runner up was by Candy:

Thanks for the great captions, and tune in on Monday morning for the next caption contest!!!

I love the Muppets, and their marketing department has been making some smart parodies. in honor of Green Lantern, here is the Muppet version.

4pm is the deadline for the Krull Awareness weekly caption contest. You could win a month of Netflix movies just by being a snarky smart ass. So show your wit, and throw a caption in the comments section.

• Introduction 

• Fear Itself #3  

• Flashpoint #2  

And that is usually a kiss of death.

Remember Congo? The movie about the sign-language speaking gorilla based on the Michael Crichton novel? Remember the ads for that thing? It was everywhere! I remember the Taco Bell promotions, but I don’t remember much about the movie. It was horrible.

Here’s another example of commercials and marketing promotions being a kiss of death: The Phantom Menace. Yeah, you remember that don’t you? I downloaded the trailer to the first Star Wars movie in 20 years, studied every frame, and had a countdown clock for the release date on my first website for that film. Now, remember the promotions? Holy cow! Lucasfilm left no stone unturned. There was an “interstellar” map, that you had to collect pogs (remember Pogs?) from 5 different fast food chains. The first one to collect them all got cars, trips, and sums of cash. And how was Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace? That’s right…wasn’t too good a movie was it?

And that’s why I am scared about Green Lantern. I think Ryan Reynolds will make an excellent Hal Jordan (I’d love to see him as Wally West, but oh well), and the entire cast of Green Lantern Corps members looks amazing. The voice actors sound exactly the way I read them. The ring constructs look exactly like I imaged they would once I saw what CGI could do, and I think there will be some great action sequences.

But, I’m scared that this movie will miss marks, have giant plot holes, and be a disaster. All because I see different Green Lantern drinks, Green Lantern meals at Subway, jerks zooming through space in Green Lantern constructs trying to sell me cell phones, and endless ads in my comics (I can forgive that, since comic readers are the prime target market) and on TV.

When I do a basic Google search for “Green Lantern movie promotions”, I get 9,210,000 results. Eleven major cities will be illuminated in green in honor of the movie. Doritos is having a Green Lantern promotion, Reeses is having a promotion…the list is endless.

Will I see the movie? Hells to the yes. I have been a Green Lantern reader for years. I can’t wait to see this imaginative book come to life on screen. It should be epic, and it should be everything I daydreamed about as a kid. I just hope that it can break the cursed cycle, and the marketing bonanza hasn’t given this movie the kiss of death. So like a true Green Lantern, I will over come fear, and using my will power, I will sit in the dark, and watch DC Comics’ latest superhero movie.

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that Voyager 1 has reached the end of the solar system. Solar winds from our sun have stopped blowing, and the exploratory space craft is now at the edge of interstellar space. Apparently, the lack of solar wind is unexpected, so Voyager will have to wear an albatross around its neck in order to find its way back on course.

Now here is the really interesting part of this whole thing: The edge of the solar system also experiences interference where the sun’s magnetic field “devolves”. The magnetic fields turn into “bubbles” (that are 100 million miles across) and resemble the top of a root beer. All of which are new to scientists in charge of the Voyager program. Fascinating discoveries from the edge of the unknown.

But I digress.

Technology, like the truth, can also set you free. And in this case the United States Government has created a “Shadow Internet” to set rebel groups in oppressed countries free. Remember those internet outages in Egypt? Well, with the Shadow Internet, you can still log online, and spread your message of freedom.

The Shadow Internet is basically a stealth communications network that utilizes cell-phone accessibility to access free, or unmonitored networks. According to the New York Times, the Obama Administration is trying to spread the word of democracy through the use of censor-free internet.

Simply put, Mesmo Delivery is about two men who are en route to deliver the content of a tractor and trailer. When they stop in a local greasy spoon diner, a fight breaks out. Any more details, and it would spoil the book. The story is a simple one, but takes some twists and turns. The driver is a boxer. He’s a huge, stocky man who obviously is more brawn than brains. Next to him is a lanky grease-ball who loves Elvis. Not too much to get attached to, but when the driver is assaulted, the book spins out of control, and it is a fantastic ride.

Rafael Grampa’s art is fantastic, and I didn’t want to spend the entire review throwing around terms like “kinetic”, “frantic”, “clean”, “earthy”, or “wild”. The art within the pages is all those things, but I didn’t want to sling the same terms at you, otherwise, why read this?

His art is a mixture of cartooning, illustration, woodcut printing, and industrial tattooing. It’s as if Steamboat Willie-era Mickey Mouse walked out on a pregnant Minnie Mouse, got a job loading trucks, and tattooed a pulsing, infected body part on his arm. That’s what it “feels” like to me. It’s similar to a raw twist on an art-form, but it certainly has the energy, detail and exaggerated features that lend itself to this violent story. Besides the style, Grampa also chooses layouts and angles to tell the story in a way that lures your eyes, and guides you through the book. After a few pages, you can taste cigarette smoke, feel hot dusts settle on the back of your sweaty neck, and your heart will race for the next crazy moment to happen. Rafael lures you in, and never lets go until the last page says: The End.

Grover’s one-minute version of the musical demonstrates the strengths of Sesame Street. Everyone learns what they need to about this ill-fated musical in under a minute, it’s funny, light hearted, and makes for engaging television.

Czechposition.com has a lovely article on their website with Star Wars producer Rick McCallum about the Star Wars TV show we keep hearing about (we covered this on Podcast 61). Why Czechposition.com? Why not StarWars.com? Well the Czech Republic will be where they film(ed) the TV series. McCallum then talks about why the Star Wars TV series is on hold:

“The TV series is on hold, but that has nothing to do with the Czech Republic; it has to do with the episodes being so ambitious. We have 50 hours of third-draft scripts, but the problem we have is there is a lot of digital animation; we don’t have the technology yet to be able to do them at a price that is safe for television. Since we would be financing them, it would be suicide for us to do this now. So we are going to wait three or four years.”

 

McCallum then Adds:

“Network television and cable television as we know it are completely imploding, so we’re not really sure that in five years’ time we can release a dramatic one-hour episode because it is all reality TV now”

 

So what would a Star Wars TV series be about?

“Basically, it is like ‘The Godfather’; it’s the Empire slowly building up its power base around the galaxy, what happens in Coruscant, which is the major capital, and it’s [about] a group of underground bosses who live there and control drugs, prostitution.”

So there you have it. To sum up the essential facts about the Star Wars TV Series:

• It’s going to cost a load of money for effects
• It’s 5 years away
• They do have 50 hours of script
• They will most likely film in the Czech Republic
• They aren’t sure if there will be a place for this show in the future
• If they do have a show, it will be about crime and power

So is this the Star Wars TV series you wanted to watch? Comment below, or on our Facebook wall.

Don’t forget to follow our Tweet Feed, and the KRULL Awareness Month Facebook page for updates and entries! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

Second, McFarlane Toys has been hard at work on these awesome toys. Although he isn’t a character in the comics, the Dixon figure looks outstanding!

So there you have it my undead fans. You are officially hip, and ready for the next season of The Walking Dead in October.

Weight loss – The Average human can loss 26 calories just from kissing for one minute.  From vigorous sex for 30 minutes, someone can burn 150 calories. So if you have sex 7-8 times a month, you can lose 3 pounds a year!

Side Note – Kissing is healthy! When you kiss it produces extra saliva which helps clean you mouth out.

Headaches – Sex causes your body to release endorphins which reduces pain natural from a headache.

A new kind of facial – Sperm has protein in it which has a tightening effect for skin.  When sperm is on the skin and evaporates it leaves protein which can help reduce wrinkles.

Side Note – a man will ejaculate approximately 18 quarts which contains half a trillion sperm in his life time

Blow Job Origin – In Victorian times, the slang term for a prostitute was “blowsy” and the slang term for ejaculation was “blow” – Then in the 1930’s blow and job were combined then associated with well..you know.

Side Note – In ancient Greece, the common slang for blow jobs was “playing the flute”

Love thy self – A study has shown that men whom watch males in porn, 2 guys  1 girl rather then all girls, produce more sperm.  They speculate it is due to men’s completive nature.

So hairy – A man’s beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex.

FUCK! – This acronym was created back in England when war, plague, and fire ravaged the country which depleted the population.  So the king issued an official order to fornicate Under Command of the King, to replenish the population.

Ithyphallophobia – the morbid fear of seeing, thinking about or having an erect penis

Formicophilia – the fetish for having small insects crawl on your genitals (I did not make this one up)

Sony revealed their new touch-screen PSP at the E3 conference today. Two versions will be coming to retailers: WiFi only, and  WiFi/3G models priced at $249 and $299 respectively. The New Playstation Vita will begin to incorporate the touchscreen gaming that have become popular with mobile a tablet device gamers. An app called “near” will alert you to other users who will be able to game with you over the network and what they are playing. There is only one cellular carrier available: AT&T.

The crew adopts Masta-Don into the fold for their sixty third adventure. Pete updates and reviews all the events that are transpiring in the War of the Green Lanterns by reviewing Green Lantern #66, Green Lantern Corps #60, and Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #10. Then Pete gives the low-down on DC Comics complete line re-launch. All news number ones, continuity, and how they are going to leave some stories in continuity. The crew reviews X-Men First Class, and then Craig gives us the Gaming News. PlayStation Network reboots, and  Xbox ramps up for E3 announcements including the new Diamond Membership. Randis covers the boy who sold his Kidney for an iPad 2, and Pete gives the news of another Sony hack, Car Apps that will kill you, and why the world needs an 8-foot wide 3D HDTV. Randis then gives us some sexually stimulating facts you may not know, and the crew answers your mail and questions.

Don’t forget to follow our Tweet Feed, and the KRULL Awareness Month Facebook page for updates and entries! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

July 14, 1861

Camp Clark, Washington DC

Dear Sarah:

The Indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days – perhaps tomorrow. And lest I should not be able to write you again I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I am no more.

I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter.  I know how American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owt to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing- perfectly willing – to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless; it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break: and yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield.  The memory of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you that I have enjoyed them for so long.  And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes and future years, when, god willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and see our boys grown up to honorable manhood around us.

If I do not return, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you, not that when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name…

Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you.  How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been!

But, O Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you, in the brightest day and in the darkest night….

Always always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath, or the cool air your throbbing temple, it shall be y spirit passing by.

Sara do not mourn me dead: think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again.

Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the 1^st Battle of Bull Run.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Krull/111920722153897?ref=ts&sk=info

And apparently out of the whole world, there are 9,981 fans of that page, which has a Wikipedia entry, and some photos. So, for shits and giggles, Giggaheim put together it’s own Facebook page for Krull Awareness you can “like” and be part of here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_175307965859304

If that link doesn’t work, feel free to bitch at us: podcast@gigaheim.com, and we will give you an invite to the open group. Make it what you will my friends!

1)    52 titles will be rebooted in September. Roughly, all of them. All. Of. Them. All new  number one issues. Collectors, Start your Engines…

2)    Jim Lee and Geoff Johns took great pains to bring dead titles (Deadman, Aquaman, Hawkman) back to life, and redesign them to match modern design esthetics (Flash, Wonder Woman) so they will be new books.

3)    Day & Date digital releases. This got me going. I’ve wanted this since I got my grubby hands on an iPad. Why go down to the comic store when I can be ANYWHERE and read? Why take up room in the house you will fight with your loved ones over, when everything lives in the cloud? And for the collectors? Holy crap, windfall. These number ones could actually be worth something since so many of us are migrating to a digital frontier, much less the treasures we have in our long boxes?

4)    Retailers are going to be nervous. Very nervous. With the digital frontier calling loudly, the local comic book store is now panicked. They were facing this crisis down for the past couple of years, but now they have to face the same problem records stores faced at the turn of the century. What game stores will face soon.

So we’re looking at new continuity? I honestly don’t think so. Look at the new cover for Justice League International. That would not have happened unless the past 52 weeks of comics happened. All of these teaser comics we got today are related to Brightest Day. Except JLA…

Does DC need a company wide reboot?

Eh, hard to tell. It would be silly to dynamite all the new Green Lantern Mythology that has been introduced over the past decade. Batman is gathering a family, and Barry Allen is back (sort of). But, Superman is walking the Earth as if he was inspired by Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction. JLA, what should be the company’s flagship title, is a goddamn disaster. Most of DC Comics’ top title haven’t been winning more market share, or keeping fans. Superman is a great example.

Would they really reboot it all?

Well, they’ve painted themselves in a corner, and a time-travel induced wipe-out would be a tidy way to do it. In this case, they have to reboot it all, despite Zatanna pulling in good numbers for a magic book, and Batman coming back from the dead, and other comics doing really, really well. This isn’t a situation to compromise. They have before, like the end of Crisis, but it eventually caused a lot of problems. But, would DC really pull the trigger?Well, JMS gave a lovely sound bite about how Earth-1 Superman helped them off the ledge into this new chasm. Would they really wipe out a good thing for some other books. As Spock says: The needs of the many….

So What do I do in September?

Read comics. If you love them, read them? If you hate the idea of watching rerun comics, and having to pull another 12 issue of Hal Jordan’s “Secret Origin”, don’t pull them. The beauty of this market is that it is saturated with great stories and art. So now is the time to experiment with other things. Try an indie title, or a title from another publisher that always intrigued you. This is your moment to be brave.

Me? I’m going to watch the summer go by, and then decide on this. Digital has me all jazzed, but if I wind up pulling the beginning of the Flash one more time, I will be off to more creative pastures. I’m glad DC has the stones to try something this big, but I also have a feeling a lot of it is going to be an alternate Earth rug-pull. So, if I were you, sit back, and watch DC’s marketing department got to work this summer. It should be beautiful.

Corning created a fantastic video called A Day Made of Glass, and it makes me hopeful. The world could be a gorgeous place of glass and bright horzons. And also filled with Glass cleaner, germ wipes, and a sharp raise in people with Mysophobia. Anyways, this is the future it feels like I have been promised all those years.

October 19^th 1805

HMS Victory

Cadiz ESE, 16 Leagues

My dearest beloved Emma, the dear friend of my bosom, the signal has been made that the enemy’s combined fleet are coming out of port.  We have very little wind, so that I have no hopes of seeing them before tomorrow. May the God of battles crown my endeavors with success, at all events, I will take care that my name shall be ever most dear to you and Horatia, both of whom I love as much as my own life.  And as my least writing before the battle will be to you, so I hope in god that I shall live to finish my letter after the battle.  May heaven bless you, prays your nelson and Bronte.

October 20^th

In the morning we are close to the mouth of the stairs, but the wind had not come far enough t6o the westward to allow the combined fleets to weather the shoals off Trafalgar; but they were counted as far as forty sail of ships of War, which I suppose to by thirty-four of the line and six Frigates.  A group of them was seen off the lighthouse of Cadiz this morning but it blows so very fresh and thick weather that I rather believe they will go into the harbor before night.  May god almighty give us success over these fellows, and enable us to get a Peace.

But what is the point of these options to communicate if you do not take full advantage.  Back in the turn of the century and Victorian, Queen Elizabeth era; love letters were the ONLY way of communication.  Men would send letters declaring their love of another.  People would be bribed to send these letters sometimes risking their lives to make sure the person received these declarations of love.

What am I saying?  Send a love letter! When was the last time you received a handwritten note from someone? So, how do you write a love letter?  Here is a guideline for creating a love letter.

There is no wrong way, per say, of writing a love letter, they are suppose to take in all your emotions and thoughts on someone and put into words. However, if you have a problem getting started there is a guideline you can always go with and get your thoughts clear.

-        Why do you love your other half or person?

-        What emotion besides love are you trying to convey – humor, sentimental, super sappy?

-        What physical characteristics do you love about the person – do not get perverted, this is about love not boning.

-        What do they do for you?  They bring out the best in you, they support your crazy ideas.

-        Using your special nicknames if you have any for the person ie. hunny, bunny, sugar tits, etc

-        What is your general message for the letter?

I do suggest if you do this to handwrite it and mail it.  Email and text are there and of course it is the thought that counts, but you get more of the emotion from someone when you handwrite something.

The best part of declaring your love for someone on paper – what better way for them to have something they can read over and over again, especially when there is a fight later on (cause lets be honest, you will eventually fight) and what is better then to have something you put so much work into on your side during that time.

Wanna win one? We are having caption contests, twitter follower contests, and there will be a special Grand Prize at the last podcast for June. So, listen to the podcast, and have fun this month with one of our favorite movies: Krull.

Chortle

I think one more series to really say goodbye to the characters and the fans,’ he told Chortle. ‘I’m not rushing into it because I don’t want it to be a zombie series where the show is dead but its body is still moving around.

Oh farewell IT Crowd. You were a jewel, and Thank you for not stretching out a show for the sake of more seasons.

Craig, Randis and Pete gather for a Memorial Day podcast. Pete reviews Joe Kubert’s Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965 to get into the mood of the holiday. After comics news about ComicCon International’s Office, and speculating on the baddie for the Avengers movie, Craig gives us a sneak peek at E3: Gears of War 3, Modern Warfare 3, and the new Nintendo console. Pete and Craig review Portal 2, and then, inspired by letters from the front, Randis tells us how and why to write a love letter. And then the gang pulls together an official War Movie List.

It looks….samey. The release date is now December 13, 2013. Lucky!!

Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965

Our mission at the Giggaheim is to always keep you hip, and if you do not know who Joe Kubert is, or have heard of The Kubert School, feel free to investigate those links first. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Reason I send you across the net to Wikipedia, is that I could spend all day writing about the works of Joe Kubert, and his vast catalog of comics work. But, the great professor recently assembled a fantastic book, and schooled everyone on the graphic novel form of story telling.

I bought this book after listening to other podcasters drone on and on about how great it was. I won’t lie, Vietnam isn’t really a war I am in to. World War II, the American Civil War, and the War of 1812 are probably conflicts that I could read about until my eyes fall out. Vietnam has never held my interest due to the plethora of gritty movies, and over-the-top media that seemed to sensationalize the conflict and how it changed America.

Dong Xoai, is a story I was immersed in. I captivated me from all angles of my interest. The commonality of the soldiers stories, the careful accounting of the true tales of the Dong Xoai Battle, and the masterful crafting of the story and illustrations. Joe Kubert presents an account of these American soldiers as they try and complete a mission they were tasked with. Frankly, I’m not going to write down the plot points, it would ruin the experience for you. This truly is an experience, and any more pontification here would only rob you of it.

I will, however, laud the panels and illustrations by Joe Kubert here. The book doesn’t read or flow, as you would traditionally expect. The loose pencils give the reader a genuine feeling that an illustrator had been assigned to the unit to chronicle the events within the book, and the journal was only now just published. It’s intimate, gritty, and inspiring. Everything the movies fail to achieve. If you enjoy the graphic novel medium, and you want to dive into a war-themed book, Dong Xoai is a book that will grip you by the collar and deliver an experience short of enlisting.

Civil War Adventure

I recently reviewed this title for Free Comic Book Day on Podcast 61, and thought it was a brilliant collection of short stories, much like Weird War Tales. However, this isn’t a trippy, strange tales collection. Chuck Dixon (G.I.Joe, Batman, Green Lantern) has assembled a fantastic historical fiction over at History Graphics Press.

Like I mentioned on the podcast, these books remind me of Marvel’s Illustrated Classics comics. Books that were meant for ages 10 and up, and had some fascinating stories, and factoids that kept young readers memorized and interested in history. The Free Comic Book Day edition is a fantastic taste of what is accomplished in every issue. You get 2 gritty tales from the war between the states, and a guide to amputation in the back. Everything a growing boy needs to fuel his imagination.

Now, I am a Civil War buff. I grew up in Virginia, and US 1 is named Jeff Davis Highway. You can spit into the wind and hit a Civil War battlefield. I was surrounded by history, and the more you dig into the American Civil War, the stranger it gets. Tales of men writing home on hard tack crackers, the amount of unbridled slaughter, the technological advances, and the fact that one of the war’s largest battles was fought over shoes makes the war that united the states a fascinating subject.

Chuck Dixon and the team at History Graphics Press have a bottomless well to draw from, and I certainly hope that this book has an extraordinary shelf life. It is a fascinating read for all ages bringing entertainment and education in 22 illustrated pages.

Weird War Tales

Published by DC Comics in 1971, the book ran 124 issues until 1983. Weird War Tales featured stories from the battlefield that had “strange” overtones of supernatural suspense and mystery. Think The Twilight Zone, but with a concurrent military theme. This book wasn’t a throw-away experiment to see if they could publish a suspense-horror book though, and the amount of talent on the book is an all-star line-up that makes the Dream Team look like a gaggle of pedestrians trying to order coffee at Starbucks. Here’s a just a few alumn:

J. M. DeMatteis

Arnold Drake

Steve Englehart

Garth Ennis

Joe Kubert

Alfredo Alcala

Reed Crandall

Frank Miller

Alex Niño

Walt Simonson

Alex Toth

The books are always a collage of Done–In-One tales, and have always been an enjoyable read. Better still, for you collectors out there, the books are a collection of first appearances, and are relatively inexpensive to track down.

Recently, Weird War Tales had a revamp from DC Comics with another all-star line-up:

Darwyn Cooke

Dave Stewart

Gabriel Hartman

Nic Klien

Steve Pugh

This particular volume came out in November, 2010, and you can probably find it in the dollar bin of your local comic book retailer, and I reviewed it on Podcast 28. So if you want a war-related comic that is more sci-fi short story, than historical fiction, pick up any copy of Weird War Tales.

There’s one shuttle mission left, and it’s in July (Atlantis-11:40 a.m. (EST) July 8^th , 2011 to be precise). But the exploration of space won’t end there. (Just launching humans from Florida, a vehicle that you can use over and over again, and looks freaking bad-ass.)

To give us dreams of the stars again, NASA has unveiled the MPCV, which stands for Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. Lockheed Martin will be building a 4-person craft that can explore space for 21 days, dock with the International Space Station, and “Is 10 times safer upon re-entry of Earth” according to NASA. Pretty Bad-ass eh? Loos like NASA will let the private sector have local space for uber-rich tourists, and get down to the business of exploring he rest of the infinite cosmos.

So, fans of space and the Giggaheim we ask you this: Just how far into space will 10.5 days get you in this thing?

So a group called Lutz Security targeted Sony Music Japan, and worked their way in via an SQL injection and published the details online. No personal data was touched, but could be accessed. Lutz made their point to attack the company, and not the users, and reinforced their idea with this quote:

“This isn’t a 1337 h4x0r, we just want to embarrass Sony some more.”

What do your parents do for a living? This opens the door to discuss their parents and also get insight on their past.  It will also show you what kind of relationship they have with their parents.  And as you heard on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, parents play a huge role in someone’s attraction in the opposite sex.

What kind of music do you like? A very simple question indeed but it will show someone’s creativity and music compatibility will definitely help the odds in the relationship working out.  This is also a very easy first date question that can create much conversation.

If you could wake up with a super power, what would it be? This is a silly question, I suggest gauging how the date is going before using this question, if you guys are having a fun good time, have at it – if there is awkwardness going on, I suggest holding off on this question.  However if you think it is good to ask, it would be fun to know what they would chose and why.  Your date would have the ability to control weather like storm? Why? This question would be fun and again create a good sized amount of conversation with getting to know the person’s why of thinking.

What is your favorite book/what are you reading right now? Let’s face it, if you are listening to this podcast you most likely in to reading and gather information.  This question is to make sure the person is on your same level without seeming full of yourself.

What do you do for work? This question should be obvious.  But I’ll spell it out; you want to know someone can take care of themselves.  Due to the economy, this answer could go different ways, if they are unemployed why?  Please note when asking this question, be sympathetic! They have a job, do they like it?  They do not have a job, why? Are they looking?  If they spend all day playing videogames and NOT looking for work if unemployed, they are not a winner.

Are you a dog or cat person? This question opens the door for a fun banter back and forth because people do have strong opinions on this but the majority of people will not consider this a deal-breaker if they do not agree.

What is you favorite electronic right now? From listening to Giggaheim podcast you know how many different electronics are there right now and how quickly they change.  Discuss someone’s electronics and you will probably see their excitement while explaining them.  They just got an IPad and love it, why?  They FINALLY were able to update their playstation – what do they think? This subject could definitely take up some talking time!

Have you ever tried an online dating site? Of course this will only work if you DID NOT met on a dating site, however, asking them what brought them to a dating site will substitute if you did.  This question will give you an idea of how serious they are in the dating aspect.  How hard are they trying to date someone?

What do you like to do on your free time? This is a generic question, but something that is expected to be asked.  I personally always have a hard time answering as I am a very laid back person and things I do just happen at the moment.  However, this is a good gauge on if you and that person will get along well – some people opposites attract, but you do need to start off with things in common.  If you love rollercoaster and go every weekend, but the person you are out with only likes to stay in and play video games then that will make things hard at first!

What annoys you about people? I think this question is interesting and FUN.  People with big brains – like The Craig – tend to get annoyed with “normal” brained people, so asking on your date will create a fun conversation, plus it will give you hints on things to try and not do if you really like the person.  When someone is able to bitch about a subject to someone it will break down the guard someone puts up, especially on the first date.  It is like when you have a fight with someone and then make up it, strengths your relationship – same concept.

Try out some of these questions on your first date and write into Giggaheim and tell me how they went! Podcast@giggaheim.com

Pete reviews Free Comic Book Day selections Bongo Comics Free for All, Captain America Thor: The Mighty Fighting Avengers, Young Justice Batman The Brave and the Bold Super Sampler, and Civil War Adventure. After comics news about Amazon Kindle selling more eBooks than books, and Schwartzenegger’s cancelled comics Governator. Dark Knight Rises’ Bane is revealed, Star Tours Reopens, and Craig reviews Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides. Craig then updates us on the return of the Playstation Network and Paypal updates for XboxLive. Without Doug, Pete fills in at the Tech News desk with the Foxconn Explosion at the iPad plant, the first computer to run Google’s Chrome OS, and EA is already developing for the new Xbox. Randis tells us about the best questions to start conversation on a first date, and we answer your questions from our Facebook Page.

Truth is this production is based in Manchester, England (Home of the Manchester United, Duh) and will be touring the world July 19^th. Batman Live will feature Dick Grayson putting on the Robin suite and fighting Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, and other Batman villains Don’t fret, Batman shows up here and there. Look for Batman Live coming to your town in the near future.

Muddycolors.com has a brilliant collection of here work you can view here.

No, it isn’t some crazy comics villain. It’s this crazy video.

Straight from the WHAT THE @#$% DID I JUST WATCH files comes this guy who lost a bet. Nyan Cat Man, you are the Giggaheim’s WTF??? of the Week.

We also feel like this merits a caption contest.So comment below for a winning caption!

The Giggaheim is saddened to hear the Randy “The Macho Man” Savage died today in Tampa, Florida. TMZ is reporting the famed wrestler suffered from a heart-attack and crashed his car headlong into a tree.

The Macho Man (and Elizabeth) was probably one of my favorite wrestlers of all times, and his time in both the WWF (Screw the new WWE name. Suck it pandas.) and his time in the WCW made it a golden era. His flying elbow was an artistic form that no other wrestler has been able to mimic, a truly singular entity. You will be missed Macho Man.

Oooooooooohhhh Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!

An idea launched on TheDarkKnightRises.WarnerBrothers.com that a muffled audio loop would repeated a message that internet sleuths uncovered: #thefirerises.

On to twitter. If you followed or retweeted #thefirerises, small bits of the Bane picture would appear. When the magic number of retweets and followers was reached, the teaser image was revealed.

Viola!

http://www.thedarkknightrises.com/image.html

Kudos for a great campaign WB, looking forward to more!

Spinoff Online confirms that despite the two weeks of shooting in India, Warner Brothers announced that Christopher Nolan as begun “Principle Photography” on the last installment of his Batman Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.

Warner Brothers was also good enough to publish a press release with official casting and confirming that the IMAX cameras are back in action:

Principal photography has begun on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ “The Dark Knight Rises,” the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar® winner Christian Bale (“The Fighter”) again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar® winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake.

Returning to the main cast, Oscar® winner Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules”) plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) reprises the role of Lucius Fox.

In helming “The Dark Knight Rises,” Christopher Nolan is utilizing IMAX® cameras even more extensively than he did on “The Dark Knight,” which had marked the first time ever that a major feature film was partially shot with IMAX® cameras. The results were so spectacular that the director wanted to expand the use of the large-format cameras for this film.

The screenplay for “The Dark Knight Rises” is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is being produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on “Batman Begins” and the record-breaking blockbuster “The Dark Knight.” The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. “The Dark Knight” is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

Behind the scenes, “The Dark Knight Rises” reunites the director with several of his longtime collaborators, all of whom worked together on the “The Dark Knight.” The creative team includes director of photography Wally Pfister, who recently won an Oscar® for his work on Nolan’s “Inception”; production designer Nathan Crowley; editor Lee Smith; and Oscar®-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (“Topsy-Turvy”). In addition, Paul Franklin and Chris Corbould, who both won Oscars® for the effects in “Inception,” will supervise the visual and special effects, respectively. The music will be composed by Oscar® winner Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King”).

The locations for “The Dark Knight Rises” span three continents and include the American cities of Pittsburgh, New York and Los Angeles, as well as sites in India, England and Scotland.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures. Slated for release on July 20, 2012, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

 

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by ANDY KUBERT
Variant cover by ANDY KUBERT
Variant cover by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PÉREZ

Well, that went fast (Wokka Wokka, I’ll be here all night).

But seriously folks, The Flash #12 was finally on stands, and just in time to bridge to DC Comics’ cross-over event book of 2011, Flashpoint. Actually, you could skip Flash #12, it doesn’t really illuminate anything on Flashpoint, other than Reverse Flash has figured out a pant-load more powers from the Speedforce than we traditionally know. I just hope Geoff Johns wrote a Thank-you note to Mark Waid.

So, what happened? It’s hard to review this bad boy without spoilers, so sorry kids. Click the plus sign to get the full low-down.

 
So how did I like Flashpoint #1? Well, I’m a bit 50/50 on it to tell the truth. You all know from the podcast that I love, love, love alternate DC Universes and Elseworlds Tales. But this seemed hurried and strange. I don’t have any problems with quality, but I’m indifferent to Flashpoint #2. I’m not anticipating it. I’m a fan of the Flash, but the current series was a great book to snuggle to before bed. Nothing really challenged me or made me want to keep reading. So what’s my problem?

The artwork by Andy Kubert is fantastic. No doubt his pencils are what I was missing with The Flash series. Kolins and Manapul are good artists, but their style doesn’t do anything for me. Back on Flashpoint, Kubert does a fantastic job of illustrating deep panels full of detail that illuminate everything that is going on. What would take another artists to setup in three panels is accomplished in one. And the layouts remind me of one of my favorite “Event Books”, Identity Crisis. Intimate panels of Barry hugging his mother, and high-energy panels of Batman swinging over Gotham are just brilliant. What the real achievement here is the unnerved feeling the reader experiences. I was out of my skin when exploring this strange new world. I wasn’t sure what was happening, much like Barry Allen.

The writing accomplished the same amount of bewilderment. Really Geoff? A cold start in a time-altered story? Well….mission accomplished. I was experiencing this story with cynicism until we reached the part with Batman. Then I realized Johns was playing me, and playing me like a 2-bit fiddle. Crapola. He hit all the right beats. He made a strange world that would make you guess if it came from Morrison, but it was more grounded, and explained it’s nature to you. He crafted an intriguing story that has potential to go the whole distance.

So why don’t I care about issue #2? I think I am actually afraid of issue #2. Hear me out. Johns and Kubert have altered my comfortable world of comics. All those years of reading Teen Titans, The Flash, JLA feel like they were flushed away, and they could very well be altered. There could be a real consequence here. This isn’t the same old bullshit of Batman is dead, Batman is lost in Time, and 9 months later Batman is back.  Hell, DC Comics announced that there is only one title in August, Flashpoint. I think DC Comics grew a pair of chrome-plated balls, and they are committing to this thing. This isn’t the great fake out that Final Crisis was. This could really fuck things up.

Would I recommend this to everyone? I think you have to be a fan of DC Comics. I think you have to pull more than two titles to really enjoy this book. It’s not for the buy who just likes Batman, it’s for the comic reader who enjoys the DCU. And hell, I’ve written more in this review than I have for two issues of Fear Itself.

For some Elfquest was a weird fantasy comic, but this indie comic by Wendy and Richard Pini joins a special group of  followed artwork. The group of fans who love Babylon 5, Dr. Who, and Firefly. Small groups of vehement fans for whom Elfquest hit all the right buttons. Well, now you can read all 65,000 pages of Elfquest online at Elfquest.com. Donations are welcome, but if you want to sample the series, it is free online.

Attention Florida Residents and vacationers! This weekend kicks off the Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s MGM Studios. Here is the official schedule of events:

May 20 to 22
Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
Daniel Logan (Episode II Boba Fett)
Special Guest: Dave Filoni (Supervising Director, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

May 27 to 29
Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
Bruce Spence (Tion Medon)
Voice Talent Guest: Dee Bradley Baker (Captain Rex, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

June 3 to 5
Ray Park (Darth Maul)
Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett)
Voice Talent Guest: Matt Lanter (Anakin, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

June 10 to 12
Ray Park (Darth Maul)
Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca)
Voice Talent Guest: Tom Kane (Yoda, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Thursday we posted the TV Spots that are running for the return of Star Tours, and sure enough the ride will be relaunched May 20^th. The ride is a simulated 3D experience, so grab your fast pass, your lightsaber (For crowd control), head to Orlando, and May the Force Be With You.

E3 is the world’s largest gaming show, but Valve won’t be there. In an email to bloggers, reporters and other new hounds, Valve stated the following:

“[We] are not showing any titles at this year’s show, so no appointment is needed.”

This comes a disappointing news for fans of Valve’s Games. Anticipation had grown for its upcoming titles DotA 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Updates on Portal 2, and any other Valve games are now delayed.

Word from Middle Earth is that two BIG celebrities have joined the cast for Peter Jackson’s: The Hobbit. Straight from the annals of geekdom comes Stephen Fry. If you have to google/IMDB his name SHAME ON YOU. But if you must have some sort of resume/CV, he was in V for Vendetta, the narrator of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and star of Fry and Laurie (Brittan’s version of Terrance and Philip) (not really). Fry will be playing the Master of Laketown.

Secondly is a star big in stature: Conan Stevens. The Giggaheim would like to know if all children named Conan are destined to be tall. At 7-feet, Conan Stevens is currently known as Ser Gregor Clegane on Game of Thrones. In The Hobbit, he will be Azog the Orc.

If you want Giggaheim to spoon-feed you the news, we’ll let you, but if you want to eat at the big kid’s table of Fandom, follow Peter Jackson’s Facebook page for the latest updates.

Ty Templeton’s Website is a cornucopia of fantastic pencils and imagination. His art of Batman from the comic series Batman & Robin Adventures, the incredible gallery of cover art, and his Templetoons offer a fun look underneath the hood of the well-oiled comic book publishing machine. Below is a recent entry of Bun Toons that feature the currently popular Norse God of Marvel Comics, Thor. An ingenious breakdown of Thor that cannot go unnoticed.

Thanks, Ty!

The crew come together for podcast 60 to keep you hip. Pete has a dichotomy of comics when he reviews Fear Itself #2 and Irredeemable #25. Then Pete covers the news of a real life Batman, Spider-man Turn Off the Dark, Wonder Woman’s TV rejection, and cheaper BluRays. Craig tells us about a rerelease of Mortal Kombat Classics, answers listener questions about the Playstation Network, and gives us a sneak peek at this year’s largest gaming conference: E3. Pete tries to fill in for Doug on tech with a load of Google Android updates, Netflix’s stance on TV, Hulu’s deals with TV, and Apple’s hardware lockdown. Then Randis tells us about the importance of appearances and the crew answers more of your questions from Twitter and Facebook.

Don’t forget to download the Giggaheim.com mobile iPhone app available now for free on the Apple App Store. Stream eveypodcast straight to your mobile device and stay hip with the latest news and reviews for comic books, video games, technology and dating advice for geeks.

How does the Giggaheim know this? Hell it’s been all over he news, but the City of Petosky released this press release to that effect:

Apparently a man who would be the Caped-Crusader, Mark Williams, got arrested for it. The 31-year old man apparently was going to be vengeance in the night, but didn’t have a permit for it, and wound up going to jail. According to some social media profiles of his, he likes batman, and his interests are comics and action figures. Hope you listen to the show Mark, and we’d love to have you on for an interview.

Smile, it’s Friday! And hey, if life has you down, just remember that things can always be worse. For your viewing pleasure, straight from YouTube, here is the TV spot for the newly revamped Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark. The musical has had a $5,000,000 overhaul and 3 weeks to prepare for its premiere. I certainly hope there won’t be any further news items that we will report on the podcast.

Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn’t always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn’t stand each other. Monsters University unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.

An there it is. Not a lot, eh?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6CQp-gdUzA

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Seriously. This TV spot has converted me. And what better way to get into X-Men? It’s probably one of the most prolific and convoluted storylines in comics, and in the movies it could get even weirder with sequels a prequels screwing up our perception of Marvel’s mutants. But, this looks like it is in the true spirit of First Class. A young team, and a wide-eyed world that has to accept the ideas of mutants among them.

I’m in.

NBC has turned down David E. Kelly’s Wonder Woman pilot. Test screenings had earned “mixed reviews”, and NBC didn’t see fit to buy it. I guess we will have to wait a while longer to see a live action Wonder Woman again.

Jackson commented:

“The Hobbit is being filmed in 3D. Even wizards have to wear the glasses. Snapped by Peter Jackson in Wellington, 2011.”

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKv3b9Oi4xA

CORUSCANT — Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mastermind of some of the most devastating attacks on the Galactic Empire and the most hunted man in the galaxy, was killed in a firefight with Imperial forces near Alderaan, Darth Vader announced on Sunday.

If you haven’t been reading the Times, and you are a Star Wars fan then shame on you and your house. But, since we at the Giggaheim like to keep you hip, We were glad to share this fun news with you. Check out the Galactic Empire Times regularly. It’s a treat!

~Peter

In the teaser we see:

Abin Sur as a violent Green Lantern

Looks like a crazy Batman is giving Barry Allen the business

Gorilla Grodd looking angry as always

Wonder Woman being militant

A Tidal Wave wiping out Paris

The Seven Soldiers charging into battle

A baby?

X-ray people

Some sort of sorcerer (Comment below)

And the flash in lightning, and with spears pointed at him.

So what do you think? Gonna be good, or a money-sucking vampire event that will leave your wallet empty as your hopes for good comics?

Throw down some comments, and we will read them on the next podcast!

It’s Mother’s Day 2011 and the crew get together to talk Comics, Video Games, Technology, and Dating Advice to Geeks. Pete Reviews Avengers issue 12.1, and reviews the top 10 worst and top 10 best mothers in comics. After the crew reviews the first Summer blockbuster, Thor, Craig reveals that the PlayStation Network has missed its relaunch window. He also tells us which video game artwork made it to the Smithsonian, and Xbox Live made it easier for people in the armed forces to sign on. Doug Tells us people are jumping ship from T-Mobile, and you can buy a trip to the Moon. The Randis encourages us all to go outside, and interact with people.

CNet is reporting that the same group that attacked and successfully took down the Sony Playstation Network will attack it yet again today. Disappointing news for PS3 players since today was the day that the Playstation Network was supposed to be testing to be up again. So I guess we will see if the Sony admins have shored things up, or if they are still venerable. Perhaps we can get TWO whole months of network service, and another mask to go with our free Batman mask for our avatars?

The podcast gets back on schedule after being thrown off by the impending shuttle launch. Pete reviews the end of DC Comics’ Brightest Day series with Brightest Day #24 and Justice League Generation Lost #24. He also reviews Suicide Girls #1 before heading into comics and movies news. Apparently Superman isn’t an American and the Avengers’ script was stolen. Craig updates us on Sony’s Playstation identity theft debacle, EA delays Mass Effect 3, and new maps have been release for Call of Duty Black Ops. Doug gives us tips to prevent identity theft, updates us on Apple’s big brother policies, and gives us news on Nvida’s loss in the chip markets. Then Randis explores the notion of chivalry when courting.

“What I thought was wouldn’t it be funny if I came up with an idea that was like brilliant – and had all these other ideas, kind of, embedded in it…. Hey this is the 21st century people want to expand everything into multiple platforms, into games and all sorts of things, so what if I embraced that, what if I came up with a concept that could spin out into all sorts of things that I believe, in the way that I wanted to… That would be quite diabolical, couldn’t it?

So yeah, I have been along the lines of al sorts of the stuff the you were mentioning.

All part of some kind of mega project which you really will have to wait to hear the rest of. But yeah, there’s possibly going to be some surprising stuff happening in the next twelve months.

But that’s as much as I can say. You didn’t hear it from me.

If you can make it through the thick cockney, and microphone quality you may get some insights here. Good Luck though….

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWedGKFAQs

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_TppOw4M3E

Press release
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 4, 2011) – Bring home the adventure and share Star Wars™ with your whole family – when STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment! To be released beginning on September 12 internationally and on September 16 in North America, the nine-disc collection brings the wonder of the entire Saga direct to your living room, where you can revisit all of your favorite Star Wars moments – in gorgeous high definition and with pristine, 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Dive deeper into the universe with an unprecedented 40+ hours of special features, highlighted by never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm archives.

The comprehensive collection also features numerous deleted, extended and alternate scenes, new documentaries and a cross-section of the countless Star Wars spoofs that have appeared in pop culture over the past three decades. Marking the first time ever that the full Saga is available in one complete collection, STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY also features a coveted peek into the making of the Saga with vintage documentaries, audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, prop and costume turnarounds, retrospectives and more.

Episodes I-III and IV-VI will also be available as distinct Blu-ray Trilogy collections.

Fans will get an exclusive first look at some of the collection´s extensive special features at this year´s San Diego Comic-Con International – which marks Lucasfilm´s 35th anniversary as a Comic-Con presence. In 1976, the fledgling film company was looking for innovative, grass-roots ways to promote its underdog release, a film no one expected to succeed – a space opera known (at the time) only as Star Wars. One of the first film companies to reach out directly to core audiences by way of fan conventions, Lucasfilm will return to the venue to showcase the full evolution of the epic story with a special first look at STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY.

Special Features:

STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY is presented in widescreen with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Special features include:

• DISC ONE – STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
  • Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
  • Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
• DISC TWO – STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES
  • Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
  • Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
• DISC THREE – STAR WARS: EPISODE IIIREVENGE OF THE SITH
  • Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
  • Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
• DISC FOUR – STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE
  • Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
  • Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
• DISC FIVE – STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
  • Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
  • Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
• DISC SIX – STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI
  • Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
  • Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
• DISC SEVEN – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III
  • Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more
• DISC EIGHT – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI
  • Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more
• DISC NINE – THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES
  • NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
  • NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
  • NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don´t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic´s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
  • The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
  • The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas´ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
  • Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.
  • Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
  • Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.

Hopefully it won’t have the anti-climactic ending that the original did.

In the wake of their lack fo service and compromised accounts Sony decided now was the best time to announce 2 tablets that would work as both a tablet PC, and a portable gaming system. The S1 and S2 (sexy names) are PlayStation tablets will run Android 3.0 Honeycomb, be WiFi enabled, and have 3G/4G connections. Of course they will connect to the Sony Reader Store, and the new (and annoying) Qriocity music service (has anyone had this thing work?). The S1 (sexy name) tablets will also sport a 9.4″ display, while the S2 (oooh sexy name) model will have folding 5.5″ screens. No news yet on what PlayStation titles will be available, but the estimated time of release is end of 2011.

Alright, with that out of the way Call of Duty Black-Ops has released an awesome video for a new map in their Escalation map pack that has some great bonus material for horror fans. The maps is based on work by the Godfather of Zombies himself, George Romero. And it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Danny Trejo (Machete), Robert Englund (The ONLY Freddy), and Michael Rooker (Walking Dead). Romero even has a cameo in Call of the Dead.

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman had a great decade. Writing such books as Captain America, Jubilee, and the Incredible Ant-man for Marvel comics would make anyone happy. But Robert was also conscious of an industry that needed more creators. Leading the way for creative-owned storytelling Robert Kirkman created two influential works in his bibliography that would put his name to the top of the list of comic writers, and eventually a partner at Image Comics.

Anyone who listens to the podcast may know that I don’t think much of Superman. He’s a great figure for DC comics, he’s an icon of hope, and all that’s good, but frankly, the stories bore me due to lack of suspense. Invincible is a story of Superboy, told in modern times, and with consequential storytelling that will surprise the reader with its high quality, bold direction, easy accessibility. The story of Mark Grayson quickly became a double-dip title for me, and one that I could easily evangelize as a breath of fresh air into a tired trope. Although Kirkman had the advantage of telling an origin, he quickly proved the idea of the superman had a lot more story to tell.

On the heels of breathing new life into a capes book, Kirkman shared a darker world with a horror zombie book: the Walking Dead. The book follows Rick Grimes in a 28-Days Later scenario, and puts the reader through a journey that grabs a hold of you, and never lets go. The Walking Dead is a zombie book, but it is the human drama that drives the story, and keeps readers interested in the characters as they survive a landscaped willed with reanimated corpses. The relationships, violence, and instincts are all laid bare, and with a realistic world of horror presented with brutal honesty and without gimmicks, Robert Kirkman revitalized a floundering horror genre. The books did so well that they even merited their own TV series on TV.

The crew, hopped up on Easter candy, has a wild episode. Pete reviews Jesus Hates Zombies, updates us on comics news, and a load of movie casting news. Craig Gives us the update on the PS3 network going down, The Gears of War 3 beta, and reviews the new Mortal Kombat for Xbox 360. Doug rejoins the podcast and gives us an update on all the Apple Rumors, celebrates the life of a prominent Sony executive, and gives us the update on current space exploration events. It’s a short one, but packed with lots of fun.

Azure Issues 5 & 6

Written and Illustrated by Daniel Govar

One of the first digital comics I ever bought was Daniel Govar’s Azure issue one. Ever since I have had a high alert with Comixology so I don’t miss one issue, and every issue never fails to give me a deep sea adventure filled with action and intrigue. Issues five and six bring us to the end of our mariner’s adventure and it was a hell of a ride.

Issue five’s jumps right in to Azure’s quest for a mysterious lab, and the noose tightens around the last bastion of civilization, Avalon. Like all Zuda comics, 3-issue season race through the story, and Govar uses the pacing in issue five to tighten a noose around the reader, and compels you to keep reading. As the various factions are made known, Govar stretches the scenery and move from the cold oceans to warm Asian rice patties, to dark secret labs.

The direction within his panels tightens as we get a more and more claustrophobic feeling as the tensions continue to mount. Issue five is brilliant, and while the story pulls you through the pages at a frantic pace, I couldn’t stop capturing screens of panels that I loved. The exterior land shots, the deep sea espionage, are all brilliant. My favorite is probably Azure in her quarters painting her new dog, Sandor. The amount of details and what could probably be easter eggs make for fun rereading.

In issue six we really get to the conflict, and with the aforementioned pace, Govar races through an battle that is both epic in scope and satisfying for both the story and the eye.

Alright, so I loved everything. To be fair, the only critique I have (and I mentioned this on Podcast 55) is that the ending didn’t feel…final. It’s probably the last issue we will get for a long while, but I didn’t get a sense that this was “over”. It felt as though the story was ready to strike in favor of the good guys, but instead, it has to close. I only wish my alerts on Comixology will chime in again, but in the meantime, I will continue to read all 6 issues, an relive the sunken glory of Azure again.

So, We decided a good present for our Christian listeners with a happy holiday drinking game in the spirit of Easter: It’s confusing, involves a bunny, and after felling like you were killed by a bus because you drank too much, you are resurrected anew. We hope you love Tiki Bar TV as much as we do.

Consume.

Axe Cop #2 – Bad Guy Earth

Story by Malachai Nicholle

Drawn by: Ethan Nicholle

Published by: Dark Horse Comics

The world is often changed by good ideas, and the good ones are the ones that are so simple that they are overlooked. So here is an idea in comic form. The tag line for this comic has: Written by a six-year-old, and drawn by his thirty-year-old brother. What could be a simpler, or better idea?

Axe Cop is a story about a cop with an axe, who fights crime with a dinosaur with gatling gun arms, ands Sockarang (a superhero with sock arms) against the bad guys. There it is. And while I could take a lot of time typing out what I liked about this book, I would be typing out the ENTIRE book’s plot. Instead you just need to know this:

This book is massively creative

This book is a lot of fun

This book is a brilliant combination of listening to a story from a six-year-old, and modern day comic creation. All the story telling devices for comic books are use is expert fashion to keep pace with this massive and fast paced imagination at work. I enjoy several aspects of this book, because they hit me in my wheelhouse. I like random comedy, fast pacing, simple logic, and fearless storytelling. This book has it in boatloads. The best part about all this? It’s real comics. Not pretentious storytelling, or a last-ditch effort to get something published. It’s everything that embodies the spirit of Stan and Jack. Heroes, villains, fun, action, danger, comedy, and anyone can read it young or old. If you haven’t yet, pick this up, download it from Dark Horse’s digital library, and share it with everyone you know.

Dual Issues 4 &5

Written and Illustrated by Michael Walton

I love digital comics, and I have great respect from many of the Zuda comics creators. Among the velvet rope list of creators is Michael Walton and his mystical, modern-day Calvin and Hobbes adventure known as Dual. Issues four and five came out in succession, which is thankful due to Walton’s panache for cliffhangers. As always both issues are beautifully illustrated, and filled with the same details we have come to expect from a comic like Dual.

As I had said in my review in Podcast 50, Issue four felt much like a second installment of a greater trilogy. An “Empire” if you will. Immediately, Michael jumps into season 2 by demolishing the comforts he established for the reader in season 1. We get about 2 pages of the comfort before Bill implodes and demolishes his comfortable life.

The amount of detail in issue four is comforting when I look back and see all the panels Walton illustrates are filled with details. Some favorites are a fight with a numerous amount of imps, and a scene in a gothic cathedral. I love Zuda comics because guys like Walton give fans something worth rereading. You can spend a while letting your eye linger on the page and soak in all the details he puts in.

In issue five Bill continues to learn more about himself thanks to his immortal (he’s a dragon) companion David. He learns that there is a prophecy, but most importantly….

Again, Walton puts in the details and coloring that make this a unique comic, with a look that is its own signature. We are left yet again waiting for the sixth issue, but with Walton’s speed through this story and jarring changes in plot and fantastic artwork, I cannot wait for the next issue, and the conclusion to season two.

Brian Michael Bendis

Brian Michael Bendis is synonymous with Marvel Comics. His bibliography includes Avengers, Daredevil, Spider-Woman, and Ultimate Spider-Man to name only a few titles. The 1990s were not kind to Marvel comics. Several of their top talents defected to their own publishing house, and their books had become a twisted mess of continuity, and gimmickry. Brian Michael Bendis was hired to write Ultimate Spider-man in Marvel new universe to cleanly relaunch their books in a separate universe. Bendis continues to write the title to this day, and the story of a teen-aged Peter Parker in a grown world of super powered villains and other heroes became a staple of the Marvel reader’s pull list.

While he was writing one of the longest runs on Marvels iconic wall-crawler, Bendis then took the reins of Daredevil, continuing to make a seminal run that would be a jewel in comic collectors shelves in both issue and trades. If handling Marvels icons wasn’t enough, Bendis then relaunched a new super heroic age in Marvel by relaunching the ailing Avengers title by bringing back a core group of heroes, and building a mutli-year long storyline to bring the Marvel heroes out of a darker, introspective age, and back into a heroic light.

Herc #1

Written by Grek Pak & Fred van Lente

Art by Niel Edwards

Published by Marvel Comics

I never read Hercules, or Incredible Hercules much. I would check in on it from time to time, but from the most part, despite Thor, I don’t like the Gods in the Marvel universe. They always seem out of place, and never feel like the immortal icons that they spring from. But Hercules is no god, he is  a man from the gods, and this comic is far from the weak portrayals of mythology that I so seldom read.

What made this book stick out was the integration of mythology and modern day. The opening of the book is fantastic. Herc is on a subway and saves a woman from being mugged by a group of thugs called the Warhawks. As Herc defends himself, his immortal weapons are revealed, and explained in cool panels at the bottom of the page.  He then coincidentally meet a Greek family (in Harlem?) and then the warrior will help the family surrounded by the Warhawks. A familiar story to be sure, but the integration of mythology, and apparently the new twist of having offerings and followers makes this a bit more intriguing than your standard number one mythology issue.

Brightest Day #23

Written by Geoff Johns and Peter J Tomasi

Art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado

Published by DC Comics

This sere is winding down, and hot damn is it getting big. This actually feels like a large cross over event as the white lantern is gathering all its prophetic parts to the forest to fight the impending doom. The doom? The dark minion, the big bad guy?

Wait…what?

Yeah, apparently Black Lantern Swamp Thing (Action figures coming soon!) is the evil that will destroy the white lantern ect, ect. And as the demolished heroes we followed in the series come back to life, they become the chosen elemental avatars of the white latern to fight Evil Swamp Thing. The Hawks become Air, Aquaman becomes Water, Firestorm becomes…..fire, and Martian Manhunter becomes dirt (Earth?) (Action figure will be available in stores).

And finally the true White Lantern is revealed:

In Swamp Thing #1 (October–November 1972) Wein and Wrightson updated the time frame to the 1970s and featured a new version character: Alec Holland, a scientist working in the Louisiana swamps on a secret bio-restorative formula “that can make forests out of deserts”. Holland is killed by a bomb planted by agents of the mysterious Mr. E (Nathan Ellery), who wants the formula. Splashed with burning chemicals in the massive fire, Holland runs from the lab and falls into the muck-filled swamp, after which a creature resembling a humanoid plant appears some time later.

This should have an interesting conclusion.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #3

Written by Haden Blackman

Art by: Rick Leonardi

Published by: Dark Horse Comics

This has been an interesting series. Not awesome, but certainly interesting. Star Wars comics are hard to pull off. Either the sabers look like they are on fire, or the characters from the movies look really bad, or Princess Leah is whoring around. But that isn’t in this so try. This is about Vader rescuing Tarkin Jr. from some wacky tar planet.

In this installment, Vader’s experience in the Clone Wars comes through as he directs ground forces to take out a floating citadel. Mainly the gems of the book are watching Vader’s cruelty, and discovery of his betrayal. speaking of, how many Vader-gets-betrayed books are there? But the art in this book isn’t the nightmare most comics fans expect. The lightsaber effects are solid, and the colorist took great pains to get the lighting to give the panels dimension. I’m still in for this entire series, and I’m really hoping Vader gets a great dark side moment soon.

DOUBLE SHOT!

Who is Jake Ellis #2 & #3

Written by Nathan Edmondson

Art by Tonci Zonjic

Published by Image Comics

Warning: Loaded with Spoilers!

This series continues to expertly engage my attention, and scratch the itch for a good suspense comic. Everything I loved about issue #1 comes right back in both issues as Jake struggles with the fact that the shadowy agent that helps him may be a projection of his subconscious self. In issue two Jake escapes jail, we see more of his back story and he tries to come to terms with his split mind. In issue three, Jake makes peace with the situation, and his plan to find the personas responsible for all this will soon be revealed and confronted.

It’s all fantastic and very creative. Most spy stories are all about the betrayal, the life on the run, and the shadowy evil that haunts our hero’s nightmares. You can see all of this will come to pass, but Edmonson seems to have found a way to make a fresh perspective of it, and infuse some creativity so that comics readers won’t be bored to tears while the author tries to build relationships and situations. (God forbid) Both issue are fantastic, and this book will be great in both issue format, and in trade. Pick it up!

Drift#1

Written by Jamie Iracleanos

Among the great comics and creators I came across at Megacon 2011 in Orlando, Florida I came across Jamie Iracleanos and his book: Drift#1. We met at a panel for aspiring comic book creators, and he was kind enough to give me a copy. After the dust settled from Megacon, I was able to crack the cover, and have a peek of the future.

I reviewed this book for Podcast #55, but here’s the skinny: The human race has about 250 years left on the planet due to environmental abuse, and therefore needs to send a expedition into space to find a planet we can all escape to. We meet a varied crew, and learn the mission will take years to fulfill and with secrets being withheld from them, the Earth may not be the same when they get back.

The plot was great, and the speeches between officers and crew, and husband and wife all read with easy flowing dialogue, never once felt too “wordy” or attempting to cram too much information down our throats. Iracleanos did have a hell of a task establishing a rich world filled with technology and history, and readers could feel a bit overwhelmed by the technology they are being caught up on, but the pacing easily overcomes and obstacles and soon you are taken off planet with the crew to try and explore space to find a home for future generations.

The art in the book is a discolored black and white that most indie books use. Hey, color is expensive. But the art direction and character designs are top notch. Panels take dimensional angles, and the use of the camera with close ups, blur effects, and framing all ease the reader from a jarring idie book, into a fully conceived world. Iracleanos has issue 2 in the works, and issue 3 mapped out, and I certainly look forward to them.

Oh, and sorry for butchering your name on the podcast Jamie.

You can grab this comic at Indy Planet

Fear Itself #1

Written by Matt Fraction

Illustrated by Stuart Immonen

Published by Marvel Comics

I’ll be honest, I am exhausted with Marvel Comics, and Marvel events. The “we’re going to kill one character a quarter” mentality coupled with the upcoming summer blockbuster event books doesn’t thrill me. Sure, I’m looking forward to the Distinguished Competition’s event, and that’s probably the main problem. Despite the teasers, and all the marketing leading up to this event, I just…don’t care. Naturally, Fraction and Immonen had to wow to keep everyone onboard after the first issue.

At least it was double-sized.

Here’s the skinny, and sorry for this, but there are spoilers….

Okay, everybody got that? Shit, I don’t. (kidding) A lot happened in this book, but nothing BIG happened. Here we are with 40+ pages, and the one big thing that happened was the Gods go back home. Apparently the sky opens up with hammers like Mjoner and an assortment of Marvel characters get to duke it out in coming issues.

So was it enjoyable? For the most part. Fraction takes  a frantic pace through 40+ pages to try and give us an “event” worthy book. Its admirable considering it took Wagner a whole opera to build Valhalla (Asgard to you comics folk). So how was the art?

It was good. One thing I am thankful for is Immonen getting a spotlight. The feel of this book is pretty damn good because it is a mixture of the Walter Simonson era Thor and modern techniques we are used to seeing in today’s comics. The reconstruction of the Bifrost Bridge is probably my favorite panel, but what worries me is after flipping through a few times, I find that it really is the only panel that displays what I feel Immonen is capable of. The other pages feel empty on backgrounds, and it feels as though the inker might have gone too heavy and blocked out the details on characters. Immonen is displaying the characters emotions well in the eyes, but broad layouts on the pages don’t give me that “event” feeling. It just feels like every other bok I picked up that week.

So the verdict? Well, you could have probably skipped this issue. Marvel’s strength is the catch-up blurbs they put in the front of every issue, and you could save your $4 for next month’s issue. I’m sure there is a large story here, and knowing Fraction, it will be great, unfortunately I don’t get the excitement for this yet that I thought I would feel after 40 pages.

Pete goes Ape for Axe Cop #2, the comic book written by a six-year-old, and drawn by a thirty-year-old. After a lot of movie news, Craig tells us about the Gears of War 3 beta, the new Xbox 360 Dashboard beta, the integration of Hulu Plus, and new features on Netflix. Then the group gets sidetracked as they discuss the NFL lockout, and then get back on track discovering where all the space shuttles are going. Without Doug, there is no tech news, so Randis steps in to tell us when the best times to flirt are, and when not to flirt.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVtt6RFwRr8

I have some catch up mini reviews for you guys. Sorry I’ve been delayed on them:

Knight and Squire #6

Written by Paul Cornell

Art by Jimmy Broxton

Published by DC Comics

Issue six concludes a great run on a traipse through England’s meta community in the DC Comics universe. Previously, we have been guided through a strange community of super heroes and villains in the U.K.. Knight and Squire are England’s version of Batman and Robin, and while they have some “wacky” adventures, Gotham’s Joker shows up to spoil the good time. England’s version, Jarvis Poker, was an admirer of the Joker, but had been diagnosed with a terminal condition. While attempting to go out with a bang, the Joker shows up, worried for his own reputation, and decides to teach them all what super villainy can be. In issue six Jarvis Poker teaches him what super heroism is about.

This book has been a smart adventure from cover to cover. It’s akin to turning on BBC to watch reruns of Coupling instead of reruns of Friends. Cornell and Broxton create a who new world for us to explore and enjoy, and then shatter it with the reality of another culture we are so familiar with. In the end, the British amalgam we fell in love with and its spirit triumph, and even though it could be considered a forgone conclusion, it was a great to spend some time across the pond and share an adventure.

Jennifer Blood #2

Written by Garth Ennis

Art by Adriano Batista

Published by Dynamite Comics

Soccer mom meets assassin. Oh wait, Hyper violent and unbridled sexuality meets soccer mom. Or maybe….nah I think that nailed it. Jennifer Blood continues her charade of mother and housewife and assassin. She has been targeting uncles who are crime lords, and we learn in issue two that she has a checkered past that she is trying to erase. Like any Garth Ennis book, this is for mature audiences due to graphic content, which is something as a mature radre I really enjoy. And honestly, this subject matter isn’t for kids. Ennis tells a good tale with some ironic twist that intrigue. Although the artwork isn’t quite what I enjoy, it does illustrate the tale and bring the story to life enough to enjoy it.

Kick-Ass 2 #2

Written by Mark Millar

Art by John Romita Jr

Published by Icon

Well the dust continues to settle, and in this issue we see a growing superhero community who tries to clean up the streets. More importantly, Millar starts to bring the psychology of masked avengers to a realistic light. The question of : Who would do this? that Alan Moore posed to us in Watchmen is continually updated in Kick-Ass, and this book has a more fantastic appeal due to the narrative by its title character. Only a young man would have the naiveté and the passion to pursue something that he feels is heroic, but would lead to even darker paths.

Issue two introduces one of Dave’s friends, Marty, and also a growing faction of bad guys lead by Red Mist. Near the end pf the issue we see just how far the “good guys” are willing go, and are left with more questions that will take a few months for us to answer. JR JR’s artwork continues to service the book and bring a unique signature that every reader recognizes as Kick-Ass.

The Avengers #11

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Art by John Romita Jr

Published by Marvel Comics

The Infinity Gauntlet storyline continues as all the powerful Avengers attack the Red Hood while Xavier attempts to get at his Infinity Gem, unfortunately Xavier is bested, and the Red Hood only needs one more Gem, which apparently Thanos has. This story is exactly what I like about Avengers stories. It’s too big for any one hero, it has all sorts of technology and mythology, and it has a great cast of characters. Jr Jr’s work has never been my favorite, but I have become acclimated to it and I have always enjoyed the angles and camera work he does. Avengers continues to be a flagship title for Marvel comics.

Thor #621

Written by Matt Fraction

Art by Pasqual Ferry & Salvador Larroca

Published by Marvel Comics

Thor’s latest storyline comes to an end, and Fraction brings the saga of the World Eaters to a close. Frankly, it was a bit trippy, but all things divine and mystical usually are, and should never be within explanation. However a lot of damage was done in this last storyline, and I have a feeling that much of it will lay out in the pages of Fear Itself. Fraction is doing a great job of creating a mystical side of Thor and of course bringing back Odin. I must say the split art duties are noticeable, and during the large fight between Gods you can see the sketch lines and the renderings of these mystical elements are a bit basic. For beginning story makers, it would be a treat to look through these pages like it would be to peek backstage. For me it drew me out of the story. I hope the next storyline for Thor is a bit more engaging, and less alienating.

Ultimate Spider-man #156

Written by Michael Brian Bendis

Art by Mark Bagley

Published by Marvel Comics

DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN!!!!! Well not in this issue anyways, but Marvel is keen to remind us at every turn. Regardless of any opinions of Marvel’s marketing machine, Bendis has set the stage for a tragic end. Peter Parker has everything he has wanted. His job is good, and his boss treats him well. He’s got Mary Jane back, and the Ultimates are training him how to be a better hero. Life is good for Pete, and unfortunately we Spider-man readers know that this could never stay this way. In this particular issue, we see the Sinister Six escape, and Captain America has taken to calling Peter out on his reckless ways. Naturally, with all Bendis books, there are massive quantities of dialogue but its all fantastic reading. I feel sorry for Peter, but excited for the story to continue.

For Podcast 55, we asked you the listening audience for the top Movie Douches of all time. Your answers echoed throughout the halls of the Giggaheim, and we finally got off our collective fannies to put a list together of the results. Many people nominated actors, others nominated characters, so here it all is in no particular order:

Johnny Lawrence – Karate Kid

This blonde-haired douche instigated and bullied his way under our skins. He was everything you were annoyed at, and a parent’s worst fear; a smart assed kid who knew karate.

Principle Richard Vernon – Breakfast Club

The power-mad jackass who imprisoned the Brat Pack, and typecast kids in a way that would echo throughout the halls of every high school in America. He was the douche that everyone hated, and the douche that everyone wanted to avoid.

Deputy Police Chief Dwayne T. Robinson – Die Hard

Same Actor, different douche. This police chief bungled, blamed, and supposed his way through a situation that went from bad to worse, and mad elife that much more miserable for a hero without shoes.

Dolores Umbridge – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Sorry Barbie, Douche comes in pink. And in this case, it’s a 5-foot tall, freedom impounding, giggling figure of terror. She imposed a slow stranglehold on everyone’s favorite magical institute publicly firing professors, imposing laws, and spreading misery.

Percy Wetmore – Green Mile

Stephen King is a master of horror, but he is also a master of writing guys we want to see tortured to death. Percy was a dark smear on the kindly staff of the Green Mile. He threatened prisoners, embarrassed them, and even killed someone horribly to watch them die.

Carter Burke – Aliens

Who embodies the idea of junk bonds in your mind? My avatar of greedy corporate shills is Carter Burke. This asshole represented the company, and their desire to have an alien to play with, and always though about the profit margins and bottom lines. He’s also selfish coward among heroic marines.

David Drumlin –Contact

Self-serving political assholes are characters that all Americans despise. Ellie tries to find artificial life Drumlin cuts its funding. Ellie makes a discovery, Drumlin takes it. This show boat couldn’t die fast enough.

Philip Stucky – Pretty woman

Speaking of Douche bags, this one was the guy you don’t invite anywhere because he is hell bent on spoiling everything. A needling meddler is always a bag of douche, and Jason Alexander played the part so well that it took years to accept him in any other role.

Eric Gordon – Billy Madison

Another turd in the punchbowl is Eric Gordon. Part corporate ladder-climber, part jerk-off, he wrecks all the fun time that Billy Madison has, and applies the pressure whenever possible.

Colonel Miles Quarith – Avatar

This over-the-top military commander is a nightmare of American expansionism reborn. His motivations are to bring pain and destruction, and to inflict damage and pain. He ranked near the top of our list due to the amount of people who nominated him, and we believe you all have good taste by naming this douche.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-wGbCEaCmE

Randis returns and gives us all casual sex. Wait…First Pete reviews the end of the hit web comic series Azure with issue number six, and a new book from Orlando, Florida Drift #1. Craig tells us about the new Commodore 64, a free MMO coming to Xbox Live, the Fleetwood Mac DLC coming to Rockband 3, and some news on the next Mortal Kombat. Then Pete and Craig try to fill in for Doug again with sad news from Japan, and from NASA. The Randis cheers us up with information on casual sex and hooking up. Then we took all your suggestions and created a definitive list of movie character douche bags.

Geeky Sex Tape

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5-e5IaB1EM

Real Life Angry Birds

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBmfUlT0NBc

George Takai Spider-man Audition Tape

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sUrQWsUjTA

Digital Comics

Over the past decade I’ve watched one of my favorite webcomics flourish. A small strip I found on theforce.net, PVP, went from a fun comic strip to a daily stop on my surfing. The digital medium isn’t on the horizon, its in mid-day. All my CDs are packed in the attic, and all my music is collected on my computer. I have several devices and streaming services to listen to. My movies went from tape, to disc, to high definition, to digital download. All entertainment is moving to a digital medium, and in 2009, with the advent of digital readers with color screens, comic books were dragged into the digital age kicking and screaming.

It is an exciting time to live as we cross over a barrier between having our comics printed on paper that is delivered to singular locations and comics that can be delivered straight to your computer, or phone, or tablet. We have a choice between going down to the old LCs and meeting up with people we know, or downloading a story we were always curious about while we wait for the bus. The comics companies are going to struggle to figure out how to comics available, but for the most part, we will eventually have more accessibility to the comics we love.

Problem is, our marketing department sucks, and can’t think of anything cool. so we are asking you all:

What would be a good contest?

All you have to do is comment on our facebook page, comment below this article, send us a message on twitter, or send a telegram, and we will make a contest based on your suggestions. We have plenty of stuff to gve away, so there will definitely be more than one contest. so give us some suggestions, and get some cool stuff!

Click the bunny if your really must know

My opinion will be made known on Podcast Ep.55.

Time Lincoln #1 ~ New Xbox Dashboard Beta ~ NASA Dismantles ~ Worst Movie Characters of All time

Through the lightning and storms the Giggaheim.com podcast crew tries to pull together an episode to keep you hip. Pete raves about Time Lincoln #1, and talks abut the news form Megacon and Wondercon. Then Doug become a casualty as the lightning takes out his volcanic lair. Craig talks about the new Xbox Dashboard beta, and fills in for Doug by telling us about the dismantling of Shuttle Discovery (boo!) and the Langley Wind Tunnel (boo!). Then with the help of the Giggaheim Facebook page the crew tries to figure out who were the Worst Movie Characters of All Time.

Mark Millar

Another name that is synonymous with this decade is Mark Millar.

The Scottish writer cut his teeth in the 1990s with Judge Dredd, and wrote several runs of The Flash and JLA for DC Comics, but his decade would be 2000-2010. Leading the charge for Marvel Ulti

mate Comics, Mark Millar applied the raw emotional power and modern sensibility to Ultimate comics by writing The Ultimates, a retelling of the Avengers. Illustrated by Bryan Hitch, both volumes have become icons of the past decade, and cornerstones for the Ultimate Comics Universe, and the budding Marvel Entertainment movies. While relaunching Marvel Comics’ superteam, Millar also gathered years of continuity and launched Ultimate X-men, creating a new-reader friendly version of the mutants of the Marvel universe. Not an easy task.

After an event-book that pitted the heros against one another, Civil War, Mark Millar focused on creator owned works by launching the Millarworld comics brand. Mark Millar is now famous for being able to sell a comic to a movie with Kick-Ass, a book that took a real-world approach to caped crusaders. Before the 4^th issue hit shelves, it was being produced into a movie. Two other creative owned works, Superior, and Nemesis, have been optioned to movies before they finish their first story arch. If Geoff johns is synonymous for fixing broken continuity, Mark Millar is known for high action books that translate to the silver screen.

Weinsteins Planning Musical Versions Of Peter Pan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Why? What could you possibly gain from either adaptation? Isn’t there already a Peter Pan musical? And what…why….how do you plan on doing Crouching Tiger? Is the “disastrous musical” a new business model for the Great White Way?

Disney Pixar Confirm Monsters University

Poor Pixar. We loved you. We loved you with all our hearts (and wallets). But you seem to be in a rut. Or someone has clouded your ability to make original movies. I gotta say between this and other sequels to Cars and Toy Story, I think you need help man. Prequels to your better movies aren’t the answer. This is your rock bottom. This is you drinking mouthwash to get drunk. We love you, but we can’t see you in pain like this anymore. Will you please write something original? You can go to a lovely facility outside of Oakland, California and take all the time you need to get better. We’re here for you guys.

Green Lantern Parallax looks…..Awful

Mattell released a drawing of the famous yellow entity for the upcoming Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds. Parallax has been blamed for ruining Green Lantern for the 1990s, and this version looks bloody awful. Below this pile is the version from Ethan Van Sciver for Rebirth. Notice a difference? Yeah, it’s like a 1970’s CGI version vs.  Kreacher. Man, I wanted this movie to be good…..

One of These sucks. Can you guess which?

And that’s just a bit of what is out there. We’ll keep you hip, so stay tuned to our Facebook page for more on the fly updates.

Planetary

Certain books have offered much to the comics community as well, and their influence in artwork, storytelling, and breakthrough ideas can be felt. This comic book offers a variety of different types of storytelling, and when a reader is introduced to Warren Ellis’ Planetary, they are quickly taken from familiar ground, into a world of intriguing fantasy. Through the eyes of a man in a white suite with a grumpy disposition, we are given the wonders of the world, and uncover a sadistic plot to undermine the human race.

Leaning on his expertise in telling a grounded story with unshakably solid science behind it, Warren Ellis crafted a large over arching story while illuminating monstrous islands of Japan, spacecraft that circumnavigated the world in the 19^th century, and stretching wonders of science into the future. Every issue was a self-contained story of pulp-wonder, yet building to a finale readers patiently read over 11 years.

Pete, Craig, and Doug summarize Megacon 2011. In a scant 45 minutes you can get the summaries on two days worth of panels on digital comic books, self publishing comic books, big-house comic books,  Stan Lee QnA sessions, and the latest news from William Shatner.

Ultimates from Marvel Comics

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Marvel captured several facets of what makes something noteworthy:

• It’s a vast collection of materials.
• It was accessible to the planet.
• And when you hold an Ultimate Comic in your hands, you think of the era of 2000-2010.

Though wildly disputed, Ultimate Comics was a positive direction for one of the largest publishers of comic books. By retelling their storied past with updated timelines, clear continuity, and modern art techniques, Marvel Comics gave scores of drop out comic readers and new readers a way to familiarize themselves with the Marvel universe. Marvel broke their chaotic mold of continuity by having one continuous run of X-Men, and a world where all superheroes exist in the same world with consequential storylines.

With top writers like Brian Michael Bendis, and Mark Millar coupled with industry renowned artists like Mark Bagley and Brian Hitch, Marvel put their best foot forward, and relaunched their classic library into an easily accessible world of continuity, and brilliant storytelling that would be synonymous with the decade. The Marvel Ultimate Comics you can collect mean as much to the naughts as Spawn #1 embodies the 1990’s.

at would be synonymous with the decade.

In the meantime, here is a gorgeous photo of the lovely Star Sapphire. Share the love.

The Giggaheim will be at the 2011 Megacon convention in Orlando, Florida this weekend. Randis, Doug, Craig, Tank and Pete will be roaming the halls of the Orange County Convention center to meet and greet you, cover the panels, and gather up cool swag to give away. (Be careful, the Polish Ninja has been known to stalk the halls as well).

We will be covering the following panels on our live blog feed this Saturday:

Green Lantern: Past Present and Future

with Ethan van Sciver, Ron Marz and Mike McKone

Words and Pictures: The Art of Storytelling in Comics

QnA with Stan Lee

A Spotlight on DC Comics

with Dan DiDio, Steve Scott, Rob Hunter and Ethan van Sciver

Marvel Comics Spotlight

With Mike McKone, Mike Perkins, Brandon Peterson, Clay Mann, Khoi Pham and Paolo Rivera

Robot Chicken

With Matthew Senrich and Zeb Wells

The one and only Randis will be attending the speed dating held at the con to help you all out (and maybe even pull some numbers). So be sure to look for the crew in black t-shirts and say hi!

Sunday schedule is yet to be determined

 

Runaways

As far as rare occurrences go, Runaways jumped to the top of my conscious. How often do writers bring a project to marvel that can live without being part of something that Stan, Jack and Steve didn’t do first? In 2003, Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona accomplished that with 6 teenagers. Years before in the 1990s, Marvel comics had introduced a bevy of characters, mostly mutants, who were swept into background shots after 4 issues.

Vaughn created an intriguing story in which readers were swept quickly into a desperate situation of children having to defeat their parents. Within mere issues readers cared about every character, and without coddling the audience with familiar tropes, Brian K Vaughn challenged his characters with difficult situations, and consequences for their actions. The story quickly won a frenzied audience, and the Runaways are now among the pantheon of characters that include Spider-man and the Incredible Hulk.

Runaways seemed to usher in a new era of comics, and it also helped grow a new audience of readers. Not only did Brian K. Vaughn have the story to grab audiences, but Adrian Alphona’s character designs helped new readers identify with the kids in the book, and his wardrobe designs brought in the elusive female readership.

With a blend of Brian K. Vaughn’s ability to write new characters that would bend the familiar tropes, and never deliver an elementary story line coupled with Adrian Alphona’s artwork Runaways is a gem that emerged from the past decade of comics.

Geoff Johns

Among the decade-influencing stars of comics, Geoff Johns’ name is synonymous with breathing new life into DC Comics. Picking up from disastrous ashes of the 1990s, Geoff Johns has been the go to guy to fix “broken” continuity by writing solid storylines that give homage to decades of previous tales, and weaving them into one congruent tale.

DC Comics had been on a mission the past decade to bring the legacy of their characters back into the fore-ground. With his ability to homage the past, and build an open storyline for the future, Johns took over the reigns of the Justice Society, and turned a book about venerable aging superheroes into a society of heroes who mentor the future. He attempted to retconn the several lives of Hawkman’s convoluted history into a love-story tragedy. After his event-comic Infinite Crisis, Johns then broke new ground by contributing to a weekly comic, 52, with other seminal writers Greg Rucka, Grant Morrison, and Mark Waid.

No other accomplishment embodies his ability to breath new life into “broken characters” as much as the Green LanternTrilogy (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night). A victim of earlier short-term story jolts and editorial Whims, Hal Jordan had gone from the man without fear, to the man who single handedly destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, and DC’s Villian #1. By introducing a new element to qualify Hal Jordan’s fall from grace, Johns was able to restore Hal Jordan to hero, and introduce a new pantheon of mythology with different lantern corps.

Johns also breathed new life into a series that had been floundering, The Flash. The world’s fastest man in DC Comics bad become a title encumbered by a bad relaunch, and storylines that didn’t appeal to mass audiences. Geoff Johns and Ethan van Sciver then applied their winning formula of “rebirth” and applied it to Barry Allen. After the event comics “Blackest night” Johns was able to resurrect several characters in the DC universe that had suffered mal-treatment in the 1990s and restored a friendlier vibe to the comics.

But what constitutes a mixed signal?  What defines a mixed signal and what are some classic mixed signals everyone deals with? It is the cliché notion that men are notorious for giving mixed signals.  But we are not bias here – both sexes send out mixed signals equally and both parties send out mixed signals maliciously.

A mixed signal by definition is an unclear message, two contradicting messages.  Someone says one thing and does another – the polar opposite.

A report was done in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Martie G Haselton PHD and David M Buss PHD at the University of Taxes.  They asked over 500 college students to picture themselves on a date.  They used imagined acts to rate their companion’s and their own social interest and level of commitment.  What was found was that men overestimated women’s sexual interest and woman underestimated men’s willingness to commit.

You would ask yourself why men and woman misjudge only certain cross-sex signals.  It would be judged from the theory of natural selection; males way back in the day were more concerned and would loss out greatly if they missed a reproduction opportunity.  So they did not really care if they had to face rejection.  However, females after consenting sex whom were abandoned where left rejected and usually pregnant which taught woman that it was more costly for them to be deceived by men.  So it would be safe to say that we are predetermined to assume that what the opposite sex is doing is a mixed signal and that some of our “natural” acts are just that, a natural reaction to evolution.

Some classic mixed signals –

They say  “I am not ready for a relationship”

They do – Invite you to family gatherings, contact you every day, talk about future plans with you or that you are involved in

They Say  “Yes we are together”

They do – Do not introduce you to their friends as their significant other.  They do not introduce you to their family at all.

They Say “Can I have your number?”

They do – Never call!

They Say “can I take you out on a date again?”  This would be the 10^th date

They do – nothing – they never try to kiss you or make move

The main solution for mixed signals from anyone is fairly simple.  Actions speak louder than words!  What are their actions doing? Are their actions matching what they are telling you?  People can talk until they are blue in the face however, if the actions do not back up what they are saying….believe the actions.  Do not let yourself get blindsided by the words and talk – as it is very easy to do.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr-yTbWuhWE

And secondly, a look at NASA’s impressive recycling program:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbtulv0mnlU

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr-yTbWuhWE

People always ask me what happens to those booster rockets, and I always say they land on children who don’t eat their vegetables.