Free Lunch Comics Releases Sky Pirates of Valendor: Valendor Chronicles

Free Lunch Comics releases Sky Pirates of Valendor: Valendor Chronicles, a 56-page book, containing 4 illustrated short stories and 1 prose story. Two of the stories in the book are illustrated by series penciler Brian Brinlee, while the others from guest artists. The book features a reprint of the short story that started the Sky Pirates saga just 2 years ago this month, An Easy Prize. The other story illustrated by Brinlee, Letter of the Law, takes place in current time Valendor and involves some familiar faces.  The book is available at http://www.skypiratesofvalendor.com/.

John Carter Gets New Cast

The Hollywood Reporter announces that English actors Dominic West, Samantha Morton and Polly Walker have joined the Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe  in the cast of Disney's John Carter of Mars.  The movie is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs  and tells the story of a Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where he becomes embroiled with the planet's warring people.  The story was also the basis of a Sunday Comic, a Marvel Comics series and a Dark Horse book.

Dino to Remake Barberella

Dino DeLaurentiis has confirmed that a remake of Barbarella is his number one priority.  There is speculation as to who will play the part of Jane Fonda.  It has been reported that Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson and Evan Rachel Wood are interested.  Robert Rodriguez had previously announced his intention to remake the film with Rose McGowan as Barberella, but those plans were canceled.  Reuters has a summary here. 

If Fox Gets Its Way, You Will Never See X-Files Porn

WWW.WENN.COM and PR-Inside.com says Twentieth Century Fox have sent adult film studio New Sensations a cease and desist letter to prevent the release of The X-Files: A Dark XXX Parody, an X-rated DVD, which features a Gillian Anderson lookalike.  New Sensations has stated they are not infringing the rights of Fox, and will change the name of their parody to "The Sex Files: A Dark XXX Parody."

Speaking of the X-Files, Gillian Anderson recently said in an article that she is very interested in a third movie.  The details are at tvnz.

I'll Bet You Are A Fat, Lazy, Sad 35 Year Old Or A Pathological Gambler

Yesterday, I mentioned that the CDC released a study saying that gamers are fat, lazy and old.  Now, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Adelaide for the Journal of Gambling Studies has found that pathological teen gamblers have a higher frequency of involvement with many different types of video games.  ABC News has a summary.

Inception Trailer from Christopher Nolan

Here is the the trailer for Inception, the new movie from Christopher Nolan starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  The film is touted as is “a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.”

Really Quick Hits:

The Superman Homepage reports that Steph Song has been cast as Roulette for "Smallville"  Song was voted as the "#1 Sexiest Woman in the World 2006" by FHM readers in Asia.  

Bleeding Cool News has a great article by Garth Ennis about 2000AD. 
 
According to Reuters, a widow sold her husband's burial crypt directly on top of film legend Marilyn Monroe's final resting place on ebay and earned $4.6 million.  This isn't geeky, just creepy. 

Diamond Comic's has the new comic book releases for Wednesday  here.
 

I know this really isn't news, but if you are interested in seeing a sneak preview of the new Tinker Bell movie (Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure.)  Disney.com is featuring the first six minutes on its site.  Click here to see it.  I am sure my daughter is going to watch it billions of times.

If you plan on buying it.  The movie is available for pre-order on Amazon.com here.

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Tarrantino Tops Box Office
Inglorious Basterds came in as the number one movie for the weekend with a North American gross of 37.6.  This is Quentin Tarrinto's best opening, topping 2004's Kill Bill.  Once again this week, sci-fi and fantasy movies dominate the top ten.  With District 9 managing to hold on to the number 2 spot (18.9 M), GI Joe taking the number 3 spot ($12.5); the Time Traveler's Wife coming in at 4 ($10 M).  The Robert Rodriquez movie, Shorts, landed in 6th place had a disappointing opening only earning 6.6 million.  G Force and Harry Potter are still going strong in 7th ($4.2M) and 8th ($3.5) places, respectively.

Avatar has Sneak Preview

Scifiwire has a summary of the Avatar sneak preview.  It appears that James Cameron has just rereleased the exclusive material shown at the San Diego Comiccon.

Smallville has Promo

Speaking of things shown at SDCC, Supermanhomepage.com has the Smallville promo, which contains much of the footage shown at this years SDCC, including Clark in a costume.  

Oceanverse 101

A New Oceanverse Web Comic debuts today, Check it out at http://www.oceanverse.com/  It's free

CDC Slams Gamers As Sad Fat A**es

A new study by the Center for Disease Control says that the average gamer is 35, fat and depressed.  Here are the results of the study:

A total of 45.1% of respondents reported playing video games. Female video-game players reported greater depression (M=1.57) and poorer health status (M=3.90) than female nonplayers (depression, M=1.13; health status, M=3.57). Male video-game players reported higher BMI (M5.31) and more Internet use time (M=2.55) than male nonplayers (BMI, M=5.19; Internet use, M=2.36). The only determinant common to female and male video-game players was greater reliance on the Internet for social support.

A pdf of the report can be found here.Wired.com has a summary here.   Washington Post Joins on Comic Book Movie/Sale Band Wagon

WashingtonPost.com  has an article entitled America Saw the Movies But Missed the Books Comic Publishers Are Losing Out about the effect movies have on comics sales.  The article reaches the same conclusions as the previous articles discussed here.

So, I was watching Disney XD (nee Toon Disney) on television with my four-year old daughter and a commercial for the new Power Rangers R.P.M. came on. 

She asked, "Daddy, do you watch Power Rangers?"

I replied, "I did a long time ago, but those were different Power Rangers."

She asked, "What happened to them?"

I didn't know and was curious.  Thus, for any of you who grew up in Angel Grove with Mega Zords and the Annoying (Zark 7 channeling) Alpha and know what a Skull and Bulk are, here is what happened to the actors that played the original five Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:

The Pink Ranger — Kimberly (Amy Jo Johnson)

Without a doubt, the most successful thespian of the rangers is Amy Jo Johnson, who played the pink ranger.  This is a primarily because she went on to join the cast of JJ Abrams Felicity.  In addition to Felicity, Johnson has been a cast member of the ABC Family show Wildfire in its second season, played on ABC's What About Brian, and done some independent and made-for TV movies.  She currently appears in the CBS television series Flashpoint.  The former gymnast and pink ranger also sings and plays both guitar and piano; she was in a band called Valhalla, as well as a new group named "Amy Jo Johnson."  On a personal front, Johnson had a baby girl, Francesca Christine Giner, on December 1, 2008 with fiancée Olivier Giner.

The Blue Ranger—Billy (David Yost)

After Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ended and Power Rangers: Zeo began in the fourth season, Yost stayed on to continue his role as Billy Cranston. Instead of his previous role as a Power Ranger, he became a technical advisor to the others.  Allegedly as a result of a pay dispute due to his reduced role, Yost left the show in the end of the fourth season (in fact, his last episode used canned footage and another actor to play Billy).  Since leaving the show, the actor has had minor roles in a few movies (Ladykiller, After Diff'rent Strokes: When the Laughter Stopped).  Lately, he has focused on the production side of the business.  (The Mary Kay Letourneau, Alien Hunter and Temptation Island) He has worked as the director of production from the SciFi Channel's Sci-Fi Lab and as the manager of licensing for Pioneer Entertainment.

The Red Ranger — Jason (Austin St. John)

Who says you can never go home.  St. John's first major role in acting was in 1993 when he was cast as Jason Lee Scott, the Red Ranger. He left the series mid-season two due to a contract and pay dispute. However, he returned as the Gold Ranger in Power Rangers Zeo and as a guest star in the second Power Rangers movie.  He also appeared in tenth anniversary episode where he joined nine other Red Rangers in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red."  As a fellow writer, I should also note that Austin St. John is the author of the book Karate Warrior: A Beginner's Guide to Martial Arts. He is currently a paramedic in Washington DC.

The Black Ranger – Zack (Walter Jones)

Jones was written out of the series midway through the second season, apparently due to disagreements over wages and fee, and was replaced by Johnny Yong Bosch.  Jones  has since returned to Power Rangers (as the voice of " Hexuba's Nightmare Monster" in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy and the Forever Red episode of Power Rangers: Wild Force playing a villain named Gerrok).  Since Power Rangers, Jones has had guest appearances on a variety of shows, including Age of Love, Buffy, The Shield, CSI, Moesha, NYPD, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Family Matter and Step by Step.  Jones had major roles in the independent movies, The Dogwalker and Backyard Dogs, and the Nickelodeon series Space Cases.  WHNT news reports that, on Sunday, July 26th 2009, Jones was arrested for DUI in Huntsville Alabama.

The Yellow Ranger  –  Trini (Thuy Trang)

The research on this one did not end happy.  Trang was on the show for about one and a half seasons. She left the show along with Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jones, with whom she became very good friends, and was replaced by Karan Ashley. She went on to play Kali, one of the lead villains in the 1996 movie The Crow: City of Angels.  In 1997 it was incorrectly reported that she died in a car accident.  However, four years later, Trang die in a car accident.  On September 3, 2001, she and former actress/model Angela Rockwood-Nguyen (Dustin Nguyen's wife) were in an accident when the driver lost control.  Rockwood-Nguyen became a quadriplegic and Trang died. The episode "Circuit Unsure" of Power Rangers: Time Force was dedicated to her memory.

Trang's cremated remains are interred at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.  A tribute site can be found here.

Well, that certainly ended things on a somber note.  Hope the other information was at least interesting.

PS: For you Tommy fans.  Jason David Frank, who has been more ranger colors then Zorro the Gay Blade (He has been the green ranger, white ranger, red ranger, and black ranger in various series), has left the acting and currently owns and operates his own martial arts school in Los Angeles. He is the founder of the martial art "Toso Kune Do."

I thought I would take a slow news day to talk about a movie that may be below the radar.  I recently rented a copy of Wyvern, a recent movie made for the SciFi channel's Sci Fi Saturday's (I believe it was made pre-ScyFy) that has been released on DVD. 

Let me give a little background on the Sci Fi Saturday's movie series.  A couple of years back, the SciFi channel tried to lure sci fi and horror fans with a string of original movies.  (Most of them deal with monsters or disasters of some sort; there was one about Bats, Sharks, Earthquakes, and at least two movies about frankenfish).  Some were hits, some were misses (to be honest, most are misses).  Wyvern, from their "Man Eater series" is one of their best.

Wyvern tells the story of a Norse mythological dragon that is released from the ice by global warming and terrorizes a small Northern Alaskan town (Beaver Mills) on the day of the Summer Solstice.  The film is clearly a genre flick.  With formulaic precision, the dragon picks off the townspeople until the remaining survivors are trapped in a diner (the oddly named, "Beaver's Pelt"). The hero (a guilt-ridden big rig trucker who blames himself for the death of his brother) must find a way to save the day and rescue the town beauty (owner of aforementioned restaurant).  Although not as quirky in a lot of ways, Wyvern definitely has a Tremor's vibe to it.

What makes this movie different (and better) is the well-written script by Jason Borque (Shadow Company), who presents a town right out of Northern Exposure (in fact, the cast includes several of the same actors from Northern Exposure, who pay homage to their characters from the show).  Borque hits all the required beats for a monster movie, but also provides a deeper background to the characters (as well as a subtle commentary on global warning).  The CGI works well and is not as cheesy as other SciFi channel outings.   

The actors do a good job and are not distracting with Nick Chinlund (Ultraviolet) as the hero, and Erin Karpluk (Being Erica) as the female lead.  I should also add that Don Davis (Stargate) plays a quirky colonel and this is his last movie role before his unexpected death in 2008.  By the way, that's Tinsel Korey (Emily in Twilight New Moon) on the cover.  She plays a radio DJ in a supporting role.

Should you run out and by Wyvern?  Not really.  But, if you really want to see a "monster terrorizing a small town" genre flick, this is better than most.  And if you happen to see that ScyFy is playing it again (they tend to do that a lot), it's worth a sit through. 

 

If they are playing those Frankenfish or Snakehead movies, you are on your own.

 

 

Amazon announces the Comic Strip Superstar Contest.  But, you better hurry, the deadline to submit your comic strip is Saturday, September 12.

Here is a summary from the site:

Are you the next Comic Strip Superstar? There's only one way to find out--enter an international search for the next popular comic strip artist, sponsored by Andrews McMeel Publishing and hosted by Amazon.com. The winner will receive a publishing contract from Andrews McMeel Publishing, a $5,000 advance from Universal Uclick, and a monthly stipend for the development of 20 comic strips that will be considered for syndication.From the submissions, Universal Press Syndicate will narrow the entries down to 250 quarterfinalists. The quarterfinalists will then be narrowed down to 50 semifinalists by John Glynn and Lee Salem, seasoned Universal Press Syndicate editors. In the semifinal round, popular comic strip creators G.B. Trudeau (Doonesbury), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Scott Hilburn (The Argyle Sweater), and Mark Tatulli (Lió and Heart of the City) will choose 10 finalists and post feedback for each on Amazon.com. Amazon.com customers will then have the opportunity to view the finalists' submissions and vote for the grand prize winner.

Go here for more information.

How Tweet It Is--But not for Twitter

CNETNews.com reported that Twitter's application for the trademark "tweet" has been preliminarily rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with the reason given being that third-party Twitter services TweetMarks, Cotweet and Tweetphoto have already filed applications to trademark the word.

They report:

Twitter originally filed for the trademark on April 16. In the application, the company expressed its desire to use tweet "through the applicant's related company or licensee the mark in commerce on or in connection with the identified goods and/or services." It seemed like a standard application that, once reviewed, would make "tweet" one of Twitter's registered trademarks.

But after reviewing Twitter's application and sifting through its listing of pending applications, the Patent Office found that three companies had already applied for trademarks that contained "tweet" in their names. They were simply too close to the trademark Twitter wanted.

The Patent Office attached applications sent by those three companies--TweetMarks, Cotweet, and Tweetphoto--with Twitter's rejection notice. In that notice dated July 1, the Patent Office explained that each of those trademark applications were filed with its office before Twitter's application

In a Town Where I Was Born, Robert Zemeckis Had a Dream

Scifiwire.com is reporting that Disney and Robert Zemeckis are negotiating to remake The Beatles' Yellow Submarine.

They say:

The studio has been quietly brokering a complicated rights deal that would give Zemeckis access to 16 original Beatles songs for a movie he will direct in the performance-capture 3-D digital production format.

The film is expected to have a 2012 release date.

What if a New Superman Was Made Today

MTV Splashpagehas an interview with director James McTeigue (The Invasion and V For Vendetta), where he discusses what he would do with the Superman franchise if he could do a Superman movie. McTiegue is rumored to be one of the leading candidates to take the reigns on a Warner Bros.' Superman movie.  Of course, the recent decision in the superman suit, may but a movie on hold.

MTV States:

Earlier this month, McTeigue offered a vague, somewhat cryptic response when asked whether the rumors were true—so we couldn't help putting the question to him again when he dropped by Splash Page HQ today. Fresh off wrapping things up with the much-anticipated, action-packed "Ninja Assassin," McTeigue would "neither confirm nor deny" his attachment to a new "Superman" movie... but he did tell us where he'd like to go with DC's Man of Steel if—and that's a big if—he was in the director's chair.

Wolfman Joins New Moon and Avatar and releases a  Trailer

I already mentioned the Twilight New Moon and Avatar previews

Be sure to check out new trailers for The Wolfman starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving and directed  by Joe Johnston (Rocketeer, Hidalgo, Jurassic park III, and October Sky).

Warehouse 13 gets 13

I am happy to report that Syfy said Thursday it has renewed its hit U.S. series Warehouse 13 for a second season, ordering an additional 13 episodes of the science fiction show.  Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly play two Secret Service agents who collect fantastic artifacts and place them in Warehouse 13.

Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek and Allison Scagliotti will return next season.

The first-season finale airs at 9 p.m. on Sept. 22.  The entire press release can be found at TV by the Numbers. 

 Really Quick Hits

Is Bryan Singer going to remake Excalibur?  Scifirewire thinks so.

Comic Book Resources have the November Solicits for Image/Top Cow.  Domino 5 appears to still be on hiatus. 

G4 has Batman: Arkham Asylum Trailer: Learn The Dark Past Of Arkham Asylum This trailer has many elements from the Grant Morrison Arkham Asylum graphic novel.

Julian Lytle has a new Ants strip up.

Levar Burton talks about playing Black Lightning in Superman/Batman Public enemies over at Comics Continuum. The DVD and Blu Ray releases September 29.

Remember those fake trailers in Grindhouse.  They may not be fake much longer as as Robert Rodriguez is working on a full production of Machete, and now Eli Roth, who shot the trailer for Thanksgiving, confirms that he has plans to make a full feature film as well.  Scifiwire has the story.

Mike McMillian, who plays reverend Steve Newlin--head of the anti-vampire Fellowship of the Sun church on True Blood, joins the many stars that will give me competition as he launches a comic book series called Lucid (described as "Indiana Jones meets HG Wells and James Bond").  Newsarama broke the story, but I saw it here.

James Marsters (Buffy, Smallville) is joing the BSG spin off Caprica.  Here is the story.

New Oceanverse Webcomic Comes out Today

Written by Michael Schwartz , Oceanverse chronicles the adventures of Clayton Hemmings and his crew aboard the Red Herring, a submarine in search of the mysteries of the sea.  I met Michael at one of the CGS gatherings and he is a great guy.  You should check it out.  BTW, it's free and updates every Monday and Thursday.  If you like it, let him know and buy the first issue.  Check it out at  http://www.oceanverse.com/

Digital Comics Coming to your PSP—Marvel to provide content

This could solve the problem of taking your e-comics into the  . . .  well, that place where people sit and think.  The associated press reports that Sony will be adding a digital reader service to its the PlayStation Portable systems to download comics.

Marvel, who is already way ahead of the digital curve with its Digital Comics Unlimited service (And yes, Marvel's acronym is DCU), has signed up to provided Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four when the service starts in December.

Choose you Lantern Corps

DC has some of the coolest giveaways at conventions.  First, there were Flash rings and Legion flight rings.  Then there was a green Lantern Ring.  When Blackest Night 1 came out, the company supplied black lantern rings to the stores.  Now, DC is giving fans an opportunity to collect every ring in the emotional spectrum.  But, there is a catch.  You have to buy more books.

Bleeding Cool news describes the incentive as follows:

For every 25 copies of Doom Patrol #4, Booster Gold #26, R.E.B.E.L.S. #10, Outsiders ‘24 and your retailer orders, they can order a bag of fifty Sinestro rings, Agent Orange rings, Indigo Tribe rings and Star Sapphire rings respectively.

And for every 50 copies of Justice League of America#39, Blackest Night #5 and Adventure Comics #4 sees you with a bag of fifty Red Lantern rings, Green Lantern rings and Blue Lantern rings, also respectively.

Each ring will ship every two weeks, Yellow on November 4th, Orange on November 18th, Red on December 2nd, Green on December 16th, Blue on December 30th (well, December 23rd now, I guess, thanks to Comic Book-Free Day), Indigo on January 13th and Violet on January 27th.

Besides, you can already buy the shirts (as can be seen by Dan Didio's strip show at the last few cons).  Soon, everyone's FB profile will mimic the image on the left.

Do Comic Movies Impact Sales: Two Views

Remember that summer when Armageddon and Deep Impact both came out involving asteroids that were going to destroy the earth.  And then there was Troy vs. Helen of Troy and Two Poseidon Adventures.  Well, two different sources have decided to analyze whether Comic Sales are affected by movie sales.  First, By Lisa Schmeiser at the bigmoney.com wrote Batman's Comic Tragedy: Why don't big screen adaptations boost comic book sales?  This article concludes that it does not and cannot unless the comics marketing and distribution changes.  But commends companies like Dark Horse for their aggressive marketing.

Second, Wesley Smith at the Examiner wrote a three part story named Why do movie sales not translate into comic book sales? I don't want to give away his conclusion, but the last installment is entitled, Comic Book Movies do Impact Comic Book Sales.
 
My view (if you cared), is that I'm not sure that movies boosting sales would be a good thing. I love comic books. I love comic movies. But, they are not the same thing. The movies (for the most part) are watered down versions that, if we are lucky, capture the essence of the book.  If these movie fans all would start buying the comic books, my fear is that creative control would be taken away from the creator, writer, and artist. Instead it would lie in the hand of the focus group marketing guru. At the end of the day, the comics industry is a business. I kind of like that the comics industry is below the mainstream radar yet wealthy enough to support the big guys and (for the most part) a healthy independent market. I would hate for the model to go Hollywood.

Hit and Runs

• Nuke the Fridge says that he has learned from an inside source at Universal Studios that the company will be releasing both the Back to the Future trilogy and the Jurassic Park’ trilogy in October/November 2010.   Heavy.
  
• Newsarama is reporting that Geoff Johns has signed on as co-writer of the long developing SHAZAM movie.  Very exciting.  BTW, I also learned at SDCC that he is writing an episode of Smallville featuring the JSA.  (Last year he wrote the popular Legion storyline for the show.)
• The new Avatar trailer debuts today on http://www.apple.com/trailers/ at exactly 10:00 EST.
• The Superman Homepage has a new installment of Ask Matt, where Superman Comics Editor, Matt Idelson answers questions about the book submitted by readers.

Faction #0

I downloaded a pdf of this book from The Dimestore Distro (all perfectly legal, I assure you--perhap someday I will merit review copies :-).  It was a great read and featured strong storytelling by fellow CAG (Comic Book Artist Guild) and great art by Arnie Gordon, and Michael Nelson.  This book is faring well in the small press idol competition.  Here is the synopisis from the author:

The year is 2025. A burned, mutilated, shrapnel-filled, and left for dead Acker Kinney will awake in a hospital to find his life has changed forever. The war on terror, in which he’s fought since the age of 18 as a medic in the Marines, has left this 43 year old man scarred and short both an arm and career after a roadside bomb took out his unit in the “Badlands” of the Middle East… but this is just the beginning. Once, the concept of good and evil was as simple as which person was pointing the gun. When Acker is attacked by a demon’s minion in the hospital while recovering from his wounds, he is saved by a group of Knights from the Society of the Enlightened. Soon, he will find himself one of them, blessed with countless lifetimes of knowledge and rediscovered powers. The Society, in an eternal conflict with the forces of Den Malignity, an assembly of powerful demons and their minions, must react when the participants on the battlefield grow. Old factions, thought banished in the time of the dark ages, have risen again to claim their rightful place in the world. Which of these factions will side with the Society and which with the Den? The answer will play out across the entire planet and shape its destiny. The schemes of gods, the desires of demons, the powers of nature, myth, and supernatural – all are setting forth to change a world long believed to be the sole dominion of man. This is the world the Society of the Enlightened and her Knights must protect. This is Faction.

Blackest Night: Superman #1

The major DC event comes to Smallville and New Krypton in this miniseries.  It's no surprise that the Earth 2 Superman rises to wreak havoc on our Superman, Superboy and Krypto.  For the record, I called the Black Lantern that plagues Supergirl on New Krypton.  Written by Jimmie Robinson; Art and cover by Eddy Barrows and Ruy Jose; Variant cover by Shane Davis and Sandra Hope. 

Also releasing this week, Robinson writes Superman Annual # 14 (with Art by Javier Pina; Cover by Renato Guedes), which provides a glimpse into the history of Mon El's homeworld, Daxam.

For more Super goodness, this week also offers Supergirl 44, which contines the Code Name Patriot storyline in all its triangle number glory. 

Power Girl #4

And while Superman may be the last son of Krypton (not really given the events of New Krypton) Powergirl is the sole survivor of an entire Universe.  And while that may sound angstriddingly grim, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti take the opposite approach with this series.  Power Girl is good old fashioned super heroic fun as Power Girl tries to prove that she is more than just a team player.  Amanda Conner's art is beautiful.  This issue features  "the busty airborne lass" (read the book you'll understand) as she, and special guest star Terra, face off against Zoraida the Elf Queen.




And, speaking of busts: 

Bomb Queen:  Omnibust TP

I must confess I did not buy this one.  That is because I bought the individual issues in floppies.  Okay, I just wanted to say floppies.  Seriously, Jimmie Robinson presents a unique take on a super villainess named Bomb Queen with her own reality tv show in this Image/Shadowline series.  For over a decade New Port City - the city where crime and vice are not merely rampant, but encouraged - has been ruled by the super villain dictator, Bomb Queen! Proof positive that you get the government you deserve! Hilarious, sexy, and completely amoral, this book collects all four Bomb Queen mini-series plus extras are collected together for the first time in one huge volume. (price $39.99)  This book is not for the easily offended or intimidated.

Batgirl #1

DC is dominating this week's list.  Batgirl 1 features the appearance of the seventh  all new Batgirl (for you keeping track at home previous Batgirls have been 1) Betty Kane, 2) Barbara Gordon 3) Harley Quinn 4) Helena Bertinelli 5) Cassandra Caine 6) Charlotte "Charlie" Gage-Radcliffe  (Misfit) and 7) the star of this book--I am not going to spoil it.  (And no, I'm counting Clayface from the Supergirl issues))   The story was and art were great and give me hope for the future.  The best part is that you know who the new Batgirl is by page 7 and they are not going to drag out a guessing game for months.  And, since it appears that Barbara Gordon will play a major role, the book will at least co-star the original Batgirl.  I do hope they change the mask, I find those loose threads really annoying.  Written by Bryan Q. Miller; Pencils by Lee Garbett Inks by Trevor Scott Colors by Guy Major.

The list of the rest of the books shipping this week can be found here.