What happens when you take Neil Gaiman‘s 2012 commencement speech and the Zen Pencils comic of a tiny bit of that speech? A video mashup happens, my friends. This is the internet after all. Drop below the cut to watch the video and read the tale of how I came to make it. It’s alright if you skim the tale and watch the video. I won’t judge.

Neil Gaiman is a prolific writer of fantasy, science fiction, poetry, and life. He became a beloved writer of mine *mumble mumble* years ago. Amazingly, it wasn’t love at first sight. I tried The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes and barely got past the first issue. What can I say. I was younger and still hung up on superhero comics. That’s not a bad place to start but it’s not a place one should stay forever, I think. After a year I gave Mr Gaiman a second try and jumped to The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists. The key to Hell segment of Morpheus’ five year journey in Vertigo comics. That was my key to Gaiman’s pantheon of works. I was hooked on fairy tales, ancient myths and, oddly enough, religion in a brand new way.

Mud
Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Michael Shannon, Sarah Paulson
Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions
Rated PG-13 | 130 Minutes
Released April 26, 2013 (Limited)

As we are about to begin the big summer movie season, I decided to head out to my local independent movie theater, and luckily for us folks in Milwaukee, we have two to choose from. I headed to the Downer and after hearing that they finally converted to digital projectors, I got my popcorn, frozen Junior Mints, and soda, then headed into the theater for Mud.

It seems there are a few movies coming out that deal with kids on their summer breaks or something along the lines of Stand By Me or Adventureland. And in Mud, which was written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, a movie worth checking out and I would suggest checking out the numerous episodes and discussions on the /Film podcast about it, after seeing it of course).

Of all the summer blockbuster films out there, Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger has to be the most interesting to see. Slapped with production delays, budget cuts, and screenplay rewrites, it seems like the odds were against this film. But four trailers in, and The Lone Ranger still looks like it has that sparkle that Pirates of the Caribbean had, thanks in part to Johnny Depp being cast as Tonto and the huge action sequences that will surely wow audiences.

This final trailer exemplifies exactly why Depp is basically the face of almost very Verbinski movie ever made. The director wasn’t afraid to shy away from admitting that the film will take a Sancho Panza storytelling angle. It also helps to know that Depp is a much more marketable name than Armie Hammer. But that really shouldn’t take away from the fun that is The Lone Ranger.

Check out the trailer below.

As part of the unveiling of the next generation Xbox console, Xbox One, an interesting announcement was made regarding Halo.

Halo being a part of a Microsoft event is no big surprise, and with a new trilogy in the game franchise currently being made by 343 Industries, you’d assume that the next game might show up today. But that was not the case.

Instead, 343 head Bonnie Ross was on hand to announce a brand new live-action Halo TV series, being made with none other than Steven Spielberg. Continue below to see a video of the announcement.

Half Past Danger #1
Written by Stephen Mooney
Illustrated by Stephen Mooney
Edited by Chris Ryall
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 22, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

IDW has released a new World War II era comic series with Half Past Danger #1. Created by Stephen Mooney, this adventure story has everything you’d want from an alternate history wartime epic: mystery, barroom brawls, Indiana Jones-esque heroes, femme fatales and dinosaurs!

It’s 1943 and Staff Sergeant Thomas Michael Flynn is on a routine mission with his squad on a Japanese island in the South Pacific. When they begin to notice peculiar occurrences such as Nazi campsites and dinosaurs running amok, everything Flynn thought he knew about the war collapses. Two months later, Flynn is back in the United States. Sitting alone at a bar in New York, Flynn is approached by a massive, blonde haired British soldier named Captain John Noble and a striking, enigmatic woman addressing herself as Agent Huntington-Moss of British Intelligence, but he drunkenly brushes them off. What happens next will be the start of Flynn’s journey into the unknown.

Twentieth Century Fox has released a new trailer for James Mangold‘s The Wolverine, which is pretty much retreading what we’ve seen in the first trailer and the second Cinema Con trailer. The only major difference in this new trailer is the fact that there is the opening that confirms the presence of a familiar character.

You can watch the trailer below.

G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files #2
Written by Mike Costa
Pencils by Antonio Fuso
Inks by Emilio Lecce
Colors by Arianna Florean
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Consulting Editor: John Barber
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Covers by Michael Lark, Antonio Fuso and Dan Matutina
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 22, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files #2 is all around a great comic. It’s heavy on the talking, a little light on the action, but all in all, it serves it’s purpose by being both interesting AND entertaining.

Mike Costa writes an issue here, that’s a LOT of set up, and you can tell that, when it hits, the payoff is going to be HUGE. He does some really great character work here. You’ve got the Chameleon, Flint, Lady Jaye and others trying to figure out what the first Cobra Commander’s son, Billy, does and doesn’t know about the Cobra organization. One thing that I wasn’t quite clear on, is just WHY they think Billy is such a threat to national security. But, I’m guessing that that will come out in a future issue. Overall, it’s a very interesting issue.

Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?

OK, we’ll start with the good news. The two biggest issues gamers got themselves worked up over based on internet rumors, were next-gen gaming consoles blocking used games and being required to be always be online in order to use your system. We already found out that the next Xbox, the Xbox One, will not require you to always be online to play unless using an online feature, and now comes word that the system will in fact support used games as well.

Unfortunately there’s a little bad news as well, as it’s been revealed that the Xbox One will not be backwards compatible, meaning it will not play your Xbox 360 games.

Hatter M, Volume 4
Zen of Wonder
Written by Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier
Illustrated by Sami Makkonen
Lettered by Tom B. Long
Cover by Vincent Proce
Automatic Pictures Publishing
Release Date: May 21, 2013
Cover Price: $14.95

Hatter M, Volume 4: Zen of Wonder is the latest book in the Hatter M series from Automatic Pictures Publishing. Continuing the saga of Hatter Madigan in his journey through our world in the 19th Century, Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier and Sami Makkonen manage a feat with this new installment that I had not thought possible: they made me enjoy Madigan’s tale.

It is 1870 and Hatter Madigan has been in our world searching for the lost Alyss—the rightful heir to the throne of Wonderland—for over ten years. Distraught over the fact that he has been unable to find the girl he was sworn to protect, Madigan’s luck is finally about to change. When he meets a mysterious young girl named Nekko who begins to teach him the art of Zen—being content and gaining enlightened understanding—Madigan is led on an expedition that begins with a quest to acquire a Samurai sword with sentimental meaning. This new voyage takes them from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands and finally to Japan where Nekko continues her guidance of Madigan. A notion that could be the key to helping him find Alyss becomes increasingly clear to him: “when you seek, you cannot find.” But it won’t all come easily, as Hatter Madigan must fight samurais, best fire breathing chicken demons and elude ghosts from his past if he is ever to reach a Zen-like state.

In case you missed it, Microsoft showed off their Xbox 360 follow-up, the Xbox One, earlier today. As promised, video games weren’t a very big part of the presentation as this particular event was dedicated to showing the console and talking about the company’s vision for the future. The games will be on full display when E3 arrives next month.

There were, however, a couple of video game-related topics covered, the biggest of which was the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: Ghosts, which is Infinity Ward’s follow-up to Modern Warfare 3. The game smartly looks to up the story—with the help of Oscar-winning Traffic screenwriter and Syriana writer-director Stephen Gaghan—instead of just the action, and will hopefully keep the series fresh and fun.

A look at the game’s next-gen tech and new features was offered first, followed by the reveal trailer. Continue below now to check them out.

A trio of new Man of Steel character posters have been released by Warner Brothers, and can be seen below.

The posters show off star Henry Cavill as Superman, which we’ve seen plenty of; Michael Shannon as General Zod, which we’ve seen some of; and a nice close look at Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Superman’s father, who we haven’t seen much of…including his massive Kryptonian boomstick.

Click on over to the other side to check out the new posters for Man of Steel.

The day has arrived, ladies and gentlemen, and Microsoft has unveiled their next generation Xbox console. Presenting … the XBOX ONE.

Yes, we’re not sure why that’s the title they went with, either, considering this is now the third Xbox console. We knew the Xbox 720 was unlikely, but still.

That said, it’s only a title. Instead of taking the PlayStation 4 route and not showing the console during the console reveal, Microsoft did show what the new system will look like right off the bat. They also went into great detail about what you can expect from the new system.

Continue reading to see what the Xbox One looks like, what kind of power it has, and what kind of new features it offers, complete with videos.

Casting for director Michael Bay‘s upcoming Transformers 4 continues, with the announcement of actress Li Bingbing.

Bingbing is a Chinese actress who has appeared in a number of titles over the years, including The Forbidden Kingdom, 1911, and her recent jump to Hollywood for Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil: Retribution, where she played Ada Wong.

Last September we found out that Guillermo del Toro and LOST showrunner Carlton Cuse were teaming up to turn The Strain—a trilogy of vampire novels written by del Toro and Chuck Hogan—into a TV series at FX. Now the cast for the show is starting to take shape.

It’s being reported that Mia Maestro has joined the cast of the show as the female lead, joining the already cast Corey Stoll as the male lead.

A new writer has been hired to pen Angry Birds, the animated 3D movie version of the hit Rovio mobile game phenomenon that involves agitated avians dropping aerial attacks on a group of rival pigs.

Sony Pictures Animation has brought in Jon Vitti to write the script for Angry Birds, which is still years away from its scheduled July 1, 2016 release date.