IDW Publishing announced this weekend at WonderCon 2011 the release of a new hardcover collecting 7 issues of Walt Simonson‘s classic run on Marvel’s The Mighty Thor. The collection will be called Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition and will be out this July. The collection will feature issues #337-340 and #360-362 of Simonson’s run. These issues feature the debut of fan favorite character Beta Ray Bill. The collection, which will debut at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, will be 176 oversized (12″ x 17″) pages and will run you $100.

“I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to be able to do a book like this. Each page is shot from Walter Simonson’s original art and printed same size—really just too cool. Thanks to Marvel Entertainment for being so enthusiastic about this project from the start!,” said Scott Dunbier, IDW Special Projects Editor, in a statement released by the publisher.

While at WonderCon this weekend, Geeks of Doom’s Tom Cheredar spoke with AnnaMarie White, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for IDW, regarding how IDW was able to obtain the rights to publish the run [...]

What’s in store for the good Doctor this season? Big changes — especially to the relationship between lovable red-head companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and The Doctor (Matt Smith), according to Doctor Who director Toby Haynes, who along with writer Neil Gaiman and actor Mark Sheppard participated in a panel this weekend at WonderCon 2011.

Haynes is the director of the Season 6 premiere episode “The Impossible Astronaut” as well as the second part “Day of the Moon,” but fans may recall his previous directorial credits, which include “The Pandorica Opens” and “A Christmas Carol.” [...]

Dying to get your eyes on HBO’s brand new fantasy series, Game of Thrones, but can’t wait until the show debuts on April 17th?

You’re not alone in your impatient suffering and HBO seems to know how twitchy everyone is to finally see the show. As an appetizer of sorts a special preview has been released online to help to hold you over for a couple more weeks, showing off the first 14 minutes of the pilot episode, which is titled “Winter is Coming.”

You can see the preview right now by continuing on over to the other side, but keep in mind this isn’t your average Lord of the Rings fantasy — things get pretty graphic in just the first few minutes and should be considered NSFW.

After you watch the preview, be sure to share your thoughts below. Especially those of you who have read the books; does everything look up to par or are still uncertain? [...]

After a long search, the male leads in the upcoming movie adaptation of The Hunger Games have been cast.

Lionsgate has officially announced that Josh Hutcherson, star of Zathura, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Kids Are All Right, will star in the movie as Peeta Mellark.

He accompanies the female lead, Katniss Everdeen (who has already been cast with Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence), to the Hunger Games, an annual event where a teenage boy and girl from each of twelve districts is forced to compete in fights to the death on live TV.

Also cast in the role of Gale Hawthorne is Liam Hemsworth, younger brother to the new Thor, Chris Hemsworth, who has starred in movies like The Last Song and Knowing. [...]

Sucker Punch
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Scott Glenn
Warner Brothers
Rated PG-13
Release date: March 25, 2011

Sucker Punch is the newest film from Zack Snyder, director of 300 and Watchmen, and it continues his string of visually arresting films. Snyder does not only direct adaptations of comic books (see Legend of the Guardians and Dawn of the Dead as the exceptions), but he is widely known for them, particularly with his involvement in the next Superman film. Sucker Punch is his first original screenplay though, so many were wondering what he would come up with himself. What he presents with Sucker Punch is a mix of unique genres that continues Snyder’s line of visually unique films, but has very little going on to make the viewer care about what’s happening.

Sucker Punch revolves around a young girl given the nickname of Baby Doll (Emily Browning). She is sent to an insane asylum by her stepfather in a plan to steal an inheritance that is rightfully hers. The stepfather plans to have Baby Doll lobotomized (by Jon Hamm who is becoming a master of big-screen cameos), but she plans to escape, with the help of some of the other inmates. Somehow, the plan involves the inmates taking a few necessary items, distracting the guards with some kind of dance that becomes a series of fantasy action sequences. And then Scott Glenn shows up as a wise old man relaying pointless platitudes. Trust me, explaining the plot makes my head hurt and exposes many of the movie’s flaws [...]

Dark Horse made several announcements related to Joss Whedon-created characters and stories at WonderCon 2011 over the weekend, including Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel.

If you felt like Dollhouse ended its run on television prematurely you’ll be happy to know that Jed Whedon and Andrew Chambliss will be penning a five-issue miniseries set in the near future, picking up where the TV episode “Epitaph” left off. Chambliss may be a familiar name to Vampire Diaries fans, as he also worked on that television series [...]

At their big DC Nation panel WonderCon 2011 this weekend, DC Comics announced an exciting new series called Retro-Active. This series of one-shots will pair some of comics’ greatest writers with some of DC’s greatest heroes to create stories set in classic eras in comics. The stories will all be set during the ’70s, ’80′s, and ’90s eras. The stories will be impacted only by things that have happened previous to the writing, not after. So there will be stories prior to Earth-shattering events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths. Each issue will feature 26 all new story pages and a 20-page reprinted classic story and will sell for $4.99.

See below for a superheroes, the eras the stories are set, and writers [...]

ComiXology is running a sale today on Eternals issues #1-7 by Neil Gaiman for only 99 cents each.

Note, the sale is only for today, Monday, April 4, 2011 and ends at 11pm EST in North America.

You can download the digital versions for the iPad or iPhone of issues #1-7 of the Marvel comic book series for only $.99 each at the ComiXology App [...]

Acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman revealed new details at WonderCon 2011 this weekend about his upcoming episode of Doctor Who and his feeling toward the experience working on it.

“Getting to write a Doctor Who episode — for me anyway — was probably the nearest to being God I have ever been or will ever get,” said Gaiman during a roundtable interview. “I remember a similar feeling of megalomaniac power for about 15 minutes in 1988 when I got to write my first Batman lines.

“But, making Batman talk does not actually compare to the feeling of glorious power you get the moment you type ‘INTERIOR TARDIS,’” he added.

Gaiman’s episode will be the fourth to air in Season 6 and is curiously titled “The Doctor’s Wife,” which the writer remained mum about when pressed for how accurate it might be.

Courtesy warning: SPOILERS ahead regarding footage shown from Gaiman’s episode for those who’d rather stay completely in the dark until the episode premieres on BBC America on May 7, 2011 [...]

Joe Quesada announced a bevy of new Marvel projects at his annual Cup O’ Joe panel at WonderCon 2011. Sure there’s tons of focus on the upcoming Captain America and Thor films, but at this panel there were plenty of tasty comic book announcements too. Perhaps the most notable of these announcements was that writer Warren Ellis and artist Jamie McKelvie will be teaming up to take over Secret Avengers in August. All that Quesada would say about Ellis’ run on the series is that the stories will be of the single-issue variety. So, sounds like no big story arc this time around [...]

Children of the ’80s will want to take note of the new ThunderCats animated series, which Cartoon Network promoted by debuting the show’s trailer at WonderCon 2011.

If you were too young to be smitten with talking kitties, you still may want to check the show out as it’s being produced by folks who’ve worked on Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Michael Jelenic) and The Last Airbender (Ethan Spaulding).

Larry Kenney, who voiced the original Lion-O in the 1980s version, returns to provide the voice of Claudus in the new series [...]

IDW has been taking advantage of the attention at WonderCon this year, as noted earlier with the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and much more comics news, so you know that we would be getting some news about the high profile Richard Stark’s Parker series of graphic novels adapted by Darwin Cooke, and we are. It’s not the news of a new Parker book is being released, but it’s still awesome.

In July of this year, IDW will be re-releasing Parker: The Hunter and Parker: The Outfit in a brand new, without a doubt beautiful collected slipcase edition entitled Parker: The Martini Edition. The Martini Edition will feature some brand new bonus content including an art gallery, and an 8-page Parker short story, written and drawn by Darwin Cooke that will be exclusive to this collection [...]

Fan favorite author Neil Gaiman revealed a peek from his upcoming guest appearance as an animated character on Fox’s The Simpsons.

The teaser image is a sketch from the upcoming animated episode shows Gaiman’s character getting a knife put to his throat by Springfield’s most famous bartender Moe Szyslak (Hank Azaria). See the photo here at right (click for larger, full view.) In the episode, titled “The Book Job,” which won’t air for another year, the British author plays a version of himself, and will do an American accent [...]

For those who aren’t aware, the legendary Steven Spielberg has two new TV shows on the way: one is called Terra Nova and involves dinosaurs, while the other is set after aliens have invaded our planet. The alien invasion show is called Falling Skies, and a panel was held during WonderCon 2011 to show off some clips and talk about what to expect.

The show works somewhat in the way that The Walking Dead does — taking place six months after the alien invasion, it follows humanity’s fight to survive and not the invasion itself. At the center of it all is a history professor in Boston named Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) who has extensive knowledge of military tactics, and must use this knowledge as a leader of the resistance after his wife is killed in the attacks and one of his sons taken by the extraterrestrials.

Continue on below now to check out some highlights from the Falling Skies panel. You can also head on over to TNT to read a web comic for the show and learn much more about it. [...]

At the BBC America panel today at WonderCon 2011, the network premiered a behind-the-scenes clip from the upcoming sixth season of Doctor Who.

The network has now released the 2-minute video online, so watch it right here below!

We’ll have news direct from the Doctor Who panel, as well as interviews with writer Neil Gaiman, who penned an episode for this upcoming season, as well as actor Mark Sheppard, so be on the lookout for that soon! [...]

The Foo Fighters new album Wasting Light will be released on April 12, 2011, but in the meantime, you can listen to the entire album streaming online right HERE right now for FREE!

Wasting Light has 11 songs, so go and listen now!

Also, the MP3 version of the band’s Greatest Hits is still on sale for only $3.99. This 17-song collection contains hits like “Everlong,” “Learn To Fly,” “My Hero,” “Monkey Wrench,” and “Breakout,” and features an exclusive track, a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar,” not sold anywhere else [...]

The Amory Wars – In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 #9 (of 12)
Created by Claudio Sanchez
Written by Claudio Sanchez and Peter David
Art by Aaron Kuder
Colors by Zac Atkinson
Letters by Johnny Lowe
Cover by Chris Burnham
Evil Ink Comics/BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 30, 2011

The Amory Wars – In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 starts to move into its last leg and you can tell. Claudio Sanchez and Peter David turn up the excitement in this issue, while beginning to wrap up the 12-issue miniseries in the best way possible.

The issue starts as all others have with the narration by main protagonist Claudio Kilgannon explaining the events of the book to Apollo, the dog of former girlfriend Newo Ikkin. But in this issue, you can tell there is something different. Something has changed within our hero. And that something is Claudio finally realizing and confronting his fear, and his necessary acceptance of his growth into the protector against the ultimate villain, The Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan. While the turning point for action was a couple of issues ago, issue #9 is the turning point for the characters [...]

Amazon is currently running a deal on an Xbox 360 12-Month Live Gold Card, available now for $39.99 (that’s 33% off the regular price of $59.99).

The price now is even lower than it was during the last sale. I’m not sure when this deal expires, so grab it now while you can.

Other video game deals today:

- Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete – Xbox 360 | PS3 $27.99
- Halo Reach – Xbox 360 $39.96
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Xbox 360 $29.96
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Xbox 360 $37.99
- Xbox 360 Wireless Controller – Glossy Black $29.99 [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Thriller: The Complete Series DVD box set for only $53.99 (that’s 64% off the list price of $149.98).

Note, this sale is only for today, Sunday, April 3, 2011, until midnight PST, while supplies last.

This 14-disc DVD box set contains all all 67 episodes of this horror series hosted by horror legend Boris Karloff, which aired on NBC from 1960 to 1962. The episodes are all uncut and remastered, and this set contains lots of bonus features, including new audio commentaries.

The series, which told tales of the macabre, had such guest stars as William Shatner, Leslie Nielson, Rip Torn, and Richard Chamberlain.

For those of you who love horror and suspense, Thriller is known as “as one of the most frightening programs ever broadcast on television” even today. Plus, Karloff — who is well known for his roles as iconic monsters Frankenstein and The Mummy, appears in five episodes of the series [...]

Marvel Television announced today the casting of two former Heroes actors for their two new anime series Iron Man and Wolverine.

Adrian Pasdar, who starred as Nathan Petrelli, a human with superhuman powers on the NBC drama Heroes, will voice the character Tony Stark in Iron Man, an all-new series which sees Stark travel to Japan and battle the evil Zodiac Organization.

Milo Ventimiglia, who played Pasdar’s super-powered on-screen brother on Heroes, will voice the title role in Wolverine, as Logan claws his way through Japan’s criminal underworld [...]