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Adventure Comics #5 Rating: ***1/2*

The has invaded the world of Earth Prime and Superboy Prime. After the events of Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, Superboy of Earth Prime has been living on the newly reborn Earth Prime reading about the comings and goings of the DC Universe. Black Lanterns of all the deceased characters that fell at his hands have invaded Earth Prime and are out for revenge. The second feature of the issue continues the story of Conner Kent, the Superboy of New Earth.

I liked the Conner story more than the Superboy Prime story, but I’ll get into that later. The Prime story is still a lot of fun though as Prime blames the writers of DC Comics for his current situation. Prime doesn’t think he’s going to survive this attack, so he decides to steer his fight with the Black Lanterns to the office of DC Comics. He figures if he’s going to die at the hands of the Black Lanterns, he’s going to take a few DC people with him! Very funny. To those of you who are not aware, Earth Prime in the DC Multiverse is supposed to be our Earth where there are no real superheroes and they only exist in comics. Superboy Prime crashes through DC Executive Editor Dan Dido’s office and proceeds to trash not just his office, but all of the DC offices. Various DC personal also make cameo appearances in this scene as well.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #5


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Mickey Rourke as Whiplash

First we got a glimpse of Iron Man 2‘s War Machine; now Paramount has released an image of Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko a.k.a. Whiplash.

Set against a backdrop of newspaper clippings centering on Tony Stark’s nontraditional superhero reveal that he was Iron Man, Rourke doesn’t don a mask as the Russian criminal (at least, we have yet to see an alternate costume change for this character) but does not look any less menacing and crazed.

Are you buying Rourke’s portrayal so far?

Read More | Splash Page

Paranormal Activity comic

For movie-goers who were still intrigued at the end of Paranormal Activity, IDW has offered up a comic book intended to provide some answers as to what happened after the film.

Titled Paranormal Activity: The Search For Katie, A Case Study by Dr. Johann Averys DMN, you won’t be able to get this comic at your local shop—IDW released the story exclusively for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This marks the first comic that IDW has published exclusively via digital means.

(Spoilers after the jump)

Click to continue reading IDW Releases Paranormal Activity Comic on iPhone

Read More | IDW via MTV


Charlie Brown ChristmasI know there are people out there who’d kill to have the image of Jesus appear to them on a potato chip. And there are those who get a thrill out of bumping into a celebrity - even a D-List one - at the local Costco. There’s also a group of people who’d love to live in a house that was once owned by a famous person.

As in: “I love this person so much that I want to live in his house after he’s dead.” It’s an odd fetish to have and thank goodness it’s not mine.

But if you love Charlie Brown, Peanuts and Snoopy and the Fantagraphics reprints can’t satisfy your love, there’s something that might. The Santa Rosa house on Montecito Avenue that creator Charles Schulz lived in back in the 1970s is up for sale. The two-story, 14-room house, originally built in 1949, has two master bedrooms (make of that what you will), five full baths and a powder room. There’s also a swimming pool, a cabana, a 1000 square-foot guest house (with two bedrooms and a full kitchen), and a chapel on the gated property.

Click to continue reading Charlie Brown For Sale!

Read More | San Francisco Chronicle

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #5Rating: ****

If you are a new reader of Brian Michael Bendis‘s run on Ultimate Comics Spider-Man and if you think that things are moving a bit slow, do not worry. Look at the pace that Bendis is presenting in his story as if it were a fine dining experience. When you are eating a fine meal, you don’t wolf down your food as if you’re at McDonald’s. Instead, you take your time to savor every moment of every bit of food. Bendis’s take on the Spider-Man character is so perfect, that you want more after every issue you’ve read. What’s the old saying? Leave with them wanting more. I guess that’s the best way to describe how I feel when I’m reading his Spider-Man - I want more.

Although the comic audience is mostly adult males, Brian Bendis writes Ultimate Comics Spider-Man as a comic geared more towards a tween/teenage audience. I can see a kid in that age range who has enjoyed Harry Potter and Twilight really enjoying this book more than an adult would. Spider-Man really acts like a teenager here. You don’t get the feeling of a writer trying to write dialogue that a teenager would say - particularly towards the end of the book with Peter and Gwen.

Our story continues the opening arc of this relaunched title with Spider-Man battling Mysterio. When we last left off, Spider-Man was at the mercy of Mysterio. It looks grim, but thanks to the arrival of the mysterious new cloaked hero that first appeared in issue one, Spider-Man makes it out alive. Thanks to this intervention, Spider-Man is able to recover and duke it out with Mysterio. The cloaked figure knocks out Mysterio’s technology and we see his face. As a result, an explosion happens, but all survive and Mysterio swears revenge.

Click to continue reading Marvel Comics Review: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #5


Stan LeeWhile it may not be shocking that Stan Lee is set to appear in the upcoming Thor film, it’s still fun to see him write about it on his Twitter.

Although Lee doesn’t discuss the details of his cameo appearance, he confirms meeting with director Kenneth Branagh to talk about the part.

“Hey, I got an email from the multu-talented director of Thor, Kenneth Branagh… Kenneth Branagh (of course I call him ‘Ken!’) said my cameo’s set for the upcoming Thor movie.—To him, it’s a cameo, to me—it’s a ROLE!”

Lee later goes on to joke about the extent of his character’s impact on the film:

“I went easy on Ken Branagh when we discussed my role in Thor. Told him I wouldn’t insist on my name above the title, I think he was grateful… Yeah, I mentioned Ken Banagh a few times, but I warned you I was a name dropper. Seriously tho’, with him directing, Thor‘s a sure winner… Of course, my previous tweet revealed the extent of my innate modesty. I really wanted to add ‘With me doing a cameo, Thor‘s a sure winner.’ Can’t tweet anymore. Due to Thor, I must start rehearsing my thee’s and thou’s. So, if thou objecteth not, I wish thee well! ‘Nuff saideth.”

Unfortunately, we’ve got quite a ways to go until we’ll see his stunning performance—the film is due out in theaters May 20, 2011.

(FYI - You can also follow Comix411 on Twitter.)

Read More | Stan Lee's Twitter

Victorian Undead #1Everyone who knows me knows that I love the comics that are out there on the fringes of the industry. You want to make everyone turn into apes or zombies or contestants on So You Think You Can Dance? and I’m right there, eager to throw my $2.99 in your direction.

So when I saw Tony Moore’s “iconic” cover on Victorian Undead #1 (Wildstorm) on the rack with a blurb that says “Sherlock Holmes Vs. Zombies,” my hand shot out faster than John H. Watson, M.D.’s revolver. And I wasn’t disappointed. Far from being as “out there” as its B-movie subject matter might suggest, it actually feels like a real Sherlock Holmes adventure but with, y’know zombies. And Automata (aka robots). Following a celestial event in the skies of London in 1854, there are rumors of the dead coming back to life and desecration of the bodies by beheading. By 1898, when two London workmen succumb to zombiness, leaving one in the custody of Inspector Lestrade, the call goes out for Sherlock Holmes who’s busy on a seemingly separate case trying to figure out who’s behind the robot that just tried to kill him. (I’ve read stories where Holmes has gone up against the aliens from War of the Worlds, and also Dracula, Jack The Ripper and The Invisible Man, so zombies and Victorian robots don’t feel out of place in my personal Holmes canon.)

Click to continue reading Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes Vs. Zombies!


Scorpion #1Lots of great stuff all over the internet this week, including a nice piece on Martin Goodman’s Atlas/Seaboard comics of the mid-1970s, a lost cartoon by Gene Deitch and a little piece of Jonny Quest/James Bond trivia. Let’s click:

Atlas/Seaboard: If you remember Howard Chaykin’s The Scorpion, Larry Hama’s Wulf The Barbarian or Steve Ditko’s Tarantula, then you’re old. And that means you remember the Atlas/Seaboard comics that Martin Goodman published after Cadence bought him out from Marvel back in the 1970s. What you may not know is that their comics were also published in Australia. Oh Danny Boy has a detailed and well-illustrated account of their adventure down under.

Gene Deitch: Over at Cartoon Brew, Jerry Beck posts a note from acclaimed animation director Gene Deitch about his first (and lost) animated cartoon. It starred Howdy Doody, and the cartoon so enraged Buffalo Bob Smith that he had it destroyed.

John Kricfalusi: Over at John K Stuff, the animator has a hilarious post about amateur artwork and some ideas about how not-yet-professionals can still find outlets for their art.

Tom Richmond: The great MAD Magazine artist and caricaturist recently remodeled his studio and put up before and after pictures. We should all work in such a great environment. Warning: safe-for-work shelf porn ahead.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Atlas/Seaboard, Gene Deitch and Jonny Quest


BlackestNightFlash#1Rating: ****
If you were a fan of the run Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins did on The Flash, this book is for you. I wasn’t a fan of Kolins’ work on The Flash at first, but the artwork grew on me and the stories that Geoff was pumping out were classic. This issue picks up during the Blackest Night event and after the Flash: Rebirth series.

I was a bit confused by the story in this issue at first because we see that Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom the Reverse Flash appears as a Black Lantern, which got me wondering how could he be a Black Lantern if he’s been resurrected? Then I remembered that when Zoom returned in the Flash: Rebirth series, he stated that he was from the future after he was resurrected by a friend of Barry’s. This is what happens when series get delayed. Flash: Rebirth has yet to end so we don’t know what has happens to Zoom at the conclusion to the series. One can assume that he’s still alive at the end. Who is the “friend” that resurrects Zoom? My guess is it’s Hal Jordan as it seems he will get possessed by Paralax once again in Green Lantern #50.

This series will also focus on the Rogues as they battle the Black Lantern Rogues. Geoff has done a great job in developing the Rogues characters. He really writes them as characters who walk the line between good and evil - especially Captain Cold, my favorite of the Rogues. The current Captain Boomerang Owen Mercer makes an appearance at his father’s grave here. I’m sure his father the original Captain Boomerang will be resurrected and we’ll be seeing father and son battling it out sometime during this series. Boomerang is buried at the special Rogues cemetery and it is here that a Black Lantern ring find the grave of Zoom and resurrects him as a Black Lantern.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: The Flash #1




Remember that HP Envy 13 we showed off a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, the one that was even featured in Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance music video? Well, thanks to HP, we’ve got one to give away to one of our readers. All you need to tell is is what you want the HP Envy to do for you. Need some ideas? Check out the video above. There are a few guidelines:

  • Videos may be SD or HD, live-action, or animation, and must be under 100 MBs in size.
  • Videos must clearly answer the question “What do you want the new HP Envy to do for you?”
  • Videos must be posted to YouTube, and announced on Twitter with a link to the YouTube video. Start your tweet with “Hey @gearlive” and include the hashtag #HPEnvy.
  • All content must be owned by entrant.
  • Anything depicting violence, bodily harm (including cigarette smoking), profanity, nudity or explicit sexual content, or unlawful activity, including underage drinking, binge drinking, or gambling is not permitted in any video submission.

So, why is the HP Envy 13 cool? There are a bunch of reasons you should be interested. Aside from being slim and stylish, it weighs just 3.74 pounds and is less than 1-inch thin. It rocks a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo that lets you play movies or edit video without lag, and there’s even an optional ultra-high capacity battery that’ll last up to 18 hours. Lastly, the 400 nit display is gorgeous, twice as bright as other similar notebook displays.

Wanna win? You’ve got all the details - get to work on submitting those videos! You have until December 18th at 11:59 PM PST to get them in.


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