Elric: The Balance Lost #2
Elric created by Michael Moorcock
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Francesco Biagini
BOOM! Studios
$3.99
Release date: August 3, 2011

I love this series. Yes, I know it’s only had two full issues, but the set up is awesome. It looks like Chris Roberson has narrowed the current theme to include three well-known incarnations of the Eternal Champion: Elric of Melnibone, Dorian Hawkmoon, and Corum Jhaelen Irsei. The twist is that he has introduced a new character, Eric Beck, who is just starting to realize that he is another of these champions. The writing is superb, I sincerely hope Michael Moorcock is as satisfied as I am with it. The quick changes between the layers of the multiverse, the phrasing, the whole atmosphere of the comic just embodies everything we know and love about the Eternal Champion [...]

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at TeeFury today is the Supernatural-themed shirt called “Winchester Bros Racing” by artist heartjack.

The sale began at Teefury today, Wednesday, August 10, 2011, at midnight EST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore [...]

The first G.I. Joe movie, The Rise of Cobra, was pretty awful. A lot of people seemed to like it for some inexplicable reason, but a guilty pleasure is a guilty pleasure, and that one is getting a sequel.

Interestingly enough, it appears that pretty much everyone who was in Rise of Cobra, won’t be in G.I. Joe 2, which is titled G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The only returning stars will be Channing Tatum, who plays Duke, the fan–favorite, Snake Eyes (played by Ray Park), and Byung-hun Lee, who plays Storm Shadow.

But, if all goes to plan, a massive Hollywood star will be one of the newcomers cast to try and help it survive the loss of talents like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid, and Rachel Nichols. It’s being reported that none other than Bruce Willis is in talks for a role, and it’s a fairly significant one at that. [...]

Over the years, the Lando Calrissian character has become a favorite amongst strong>Star Wars fans, but he didn’t start out that way. When Lando first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, we learned he was an old friend of Han Solo’s — a scoundrel, a gambler, and a player, much like Han himself — and that the duo didn’t part ways on the best of terms. When the old friends reunite in Cloud City, it seems like bygones are bygones, that is, until Lando gives up Han and his companions to Darth Vader, who had invaded the city with his imperial troops.

Now, everyone loves Han Solo, so you can imagine the discontent amongst fans when Lando betrayed Han, and you might also be able to imagine what actor Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando in the film, had to deal with in real life during fan encounters. Yeah, people were pissed.

In a recent video interview with Wired magazine, Williams recounts how people would point their fingers and scold him, stating, “You betrayed Han!” But, as we now know, Lando didn’t have a choice and, c’mon, he was only trying to help! Check out the video interview here below where Williams explains how the situation was out of his hands. He had to turn over Han to Vader (though, giving Han to that bounty hunter was not part of the deal!) [...]

There’s nothing like a good mash–up, and today brings with it a special one to behold.

Artist and cartoonist Charles Forsman has taken one of the most simple and innocent bits of nostalgia in Charles Shultz‘s famed comic strip, Peanuts, with Charlie Brown, and fused it together with the relentless oceanic terror that is Steven Spielberg‘s classic, JAWS.

The mash–up was so popular that the limited amount of 11″ by 17″ prints that Forsman had available were gone in the blink of an eye, which is rather depressing for those of us who see the genius and want to own a piece. But never fear—Forsman is pondering a second print run if it gets enough attention, so let him know how badly you want it on the Twitter…or at least ask him to send me one!

You can see the full Peanuts/Jaws mash–up below now. [...]

In a press release sent out by the company, Bethesda Softworks has unveiled their Collector’s Edition of the highly anticipated upcoming new chapter in the Elder Scrolls series, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The special limited edition package—which will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in North America, Europe, and Australia—offers special added bonuses you can’t get anywhere else, and can be pre–ordered now through the platform links in this paragraph.

Continue reading to find out exactly what the Collector’s Edition of Skyrim comes with.

Here’s the rundown of what the game comes with:

Alduin Statue: Created in conjunction with the IP Factory, this collector’s only statue stands 12” tall and is made of high quality PVC. Modeled from actual in-game 3D digital files, it showcases Alduin, the World Eater. He stands perched atop one the game’s many dragon walls that teach the player the lethal language of dragons. [...]

“Growing up in California, I was enchanted by two things…race cars and Flash Gordon. The first love I put to use in American Graffiti, the second eventually turned into Star Wars.” –George Lucas

London-based publishing company Titan Books, which specializes in books about films and television shows from 24: The Official Companion to the essential The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, has announced plans to publish a series of hardcover books entitled The Complete Flash Gordon Library. You can check out the cover art for the first volume, entitled On the Planet Mongo, at the end this article [...]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (read my review HERE ) took the top spot at the weekend box office, pulling in $54 million in just its first three days of release. This is good news for 20th Century Fox and the filmmakers, who had a continuing film franchise in mind when creating the latest movie. Rise director Rupert Wyatt has a few interesting ideas of his own regarding a possible sequel.

In an interview with Bleeding Cool, Wyatt said he has a wide range of ideas for a sequel, one of which would be “Full Metal Jacket with apes.” (Continue reading for Wyatt’s ideas and note, if you haven’t seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes, some of the content could be considered Spoilers.) [...]

American: The Bill Hicks Story
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas
Starring Kevin Booth, John Farneti, Bill Hicks, Lynn Hicks, Mary Hicks
BBC Warner
Release Date: June 7, 2011

Welcome America, welcome to Bill Hicks. You may have heard of this guy. We have.

And by that I mean we, English.

Not to get on my high-horse about this, but I feel somewhat proud that Bill Hicks adopted the UK as his second home, a place where his comedy seems to fit. His popularity in 1991 was evident at the peak of his career whilst filming for the iconic stand-up tour Revelations at the Dominion Theatre in London. His cynical approach and opinion on current matters and affairs that informed his comedy, cloaked in a riding coat and hat, he grieved that the death of the American Dream became too uncompromising and conflicting for the U.S. He grieved to the English people, the outsiders to the Americans.

And so, after his passing in 1994, his star could have waned. Extinguished and forgotten. He was on the verge of wider success, with interest from British TV in the works, when he fell ill with terminal cancer. But he didn’t, thanks to his effortless comedy stylings and timeless subject matter that still resonates today especially when you tie together the political climate of the late 1980s, early 1990s, and the scary similarity with ol’ Dubya… which has made it’s way online to YouTube… where it has faced new and greater audiences and will continue to do so. I would love to say more on the guy – but I implore you to discover for yourself, his words say enough, and you’ll find out more below…

Continue reading after the jump for an interview with Bill’s brother Steve Hicks. [...]

Deadline is reporting that Kenny Ortega has been tapped by Lionsgate to direct a remake of the 1987 hit, Dirty Dancing.

Ortega actually choreographed all of the dancing seen in the original movie, so it’s somewhat fitting that he return to direct the remake. He went on to direct music–heavy titles like all three High School Musical movies and Michael Jackson’s This Is It, as well as episodes of various TV shows including Chicago Hope, Grounded for Life, Ally McBeal, and Gilmore Girls.

The original Dirty Dancing only cost $6 million to make, and brought back almost $214 million in box office revenue.

A sequel of sorts was made in 2004 titled Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, though it failed to deliver, costing $25 million to produce and only making $27.6 million worldwide. [...]

Syfy doesn’t seem to be making any friends lately. After the network decided to cancel shows like the Battlestar Galactica spinoff/prequel, Caprica, and Stargate Universe, while adding mind–boggling non–science fiction fare like World Wrestling Entertainment’s Smackdown, former fans aren’t too intent on sticking around.

Now Syfy is adding to the growing number of unhappy fans with news that they will be canceling Eureka after the show’s fifth season ends.

The only good thing for those who watch, is that Eureka isn’t being killed on the spot like so many other shows have been. Production on season 5 is happening right now, and, after a holiday special in December, the 12–episode finale season will run in 2012. So you still have time to enjoy a whole new season before it’s gone forever (and a chance to try and get as many people to watch as possible in hopes of Syfy changing their mind). [...]

There’s been tons of photos and videos coming out recently from the outdoor Pittsburgh, PA, set for Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises, most of which are coming courtesy of the likes of TMZ and Just Jared stalking the area. I don’t know about you, but at this point, I feel like I don’t even need to go see TDKR, since I’m getting to watch it being filmed!

Some of said filming is being done with IMAX cameras, same as was done on its predecessor, 2008′s The Dark Knight. Today, TMZ has posted video from the set of Catwoman’s stunt double crashing into a cameraman, reportedly damaging the IMAX camera he was using to film her.

The video was taken on the set on Friday, the same day Warner Bros. released the first official photo of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman riding the Bat-Pod. The video shows the stuntwoman driving down the steps of what’s supposed to be Gotham City Hall during a huge prison break turned riot out [you can see Batman and Bane battling it out on the steps here.]. When she gets to the bottom, she runs into the cameraman [...]

Walt Disney has locked in two release dates for what are said to be upcoming Marvel Studios projects, but at the moment, no one knows exactly what the movies will be.

The dates set are May 16, 2014 and June 27, 2014, so already we know that there’s a good chance the dates will shift around as the projects gets closer. But the question remains: just what exactly are these two Marvel movies?

Some seem to think one will be the expected sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, while others assume the Doctor Strange adaptation whose script was just recently completed could be involved. Another possibility is the long–discussed Ant–Man movie that Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright just finished writing.

Also worth mentioning is the planned reboots of Daredevil and Fantastic Four, as well as the long–rumored Deadpool movie starring Ryan Reynolds (or perhaps someone else?). Maybe even a new Incredible Hulk with Mark Ruffalo?

OR it could be something else entirely. [...]

With Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 still showing in theaters, now’s a great time to watch the first part at a super-discount before seeing the final movie, since the digital rental deal of the day over at Amazon today is Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 reduced to a mere $.99.

This deal is valid only for today, Tuesday, August 9, 2011, until midnight PST. Once you activate the rental through Amazon’s Instant Demand service, you’ll have access to the movie for 48 hours. If you’re interested in purchasing the digital version, the cost is $13.99.

Also, if you’d like to own a physical copy of the movie, the Blu-ray Combo Pack is available for $23.99 while the DVD is $12.49. Both editions are part of Amazon’s “Buy This DVD and Watch it Instantly” program — you get the film as a FREE digital rental you can watch immediately when your purchase the physical copy [...]

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at TeeFury today is a mash-up of Harry Potter and Doctor Who called “Whodiwasi” by artist jkilpatrick.

The sale began at Teefury today, Tuesday, August 9, 2011, at midnight EST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore [...]

HBO has been busy casting various roles for season 2 of their hit fantasy series, Game of Thrones.

First came word that Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, and Melisandre had all been cast, and now a few more new faces have come to surface for the season 2 team.

The most notable of them all is the casting of Roy Dotrice, who has joined the cast and will be playing Pyromancer Hallyne, chief of the Guild of Alchemists. Dotrice was actually originally cast in the role of Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover), but had to withdraw for health reasons.

Dotrice is already a well–known talent in the world of author George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire book series—the actor provided a voice to most of the audio book recordings that were produced, excluding A Feast for Crows.

It doesn’t end there, however, as quite a few other roles have been filled recently. [...]

The adaptation of the first film in Suzanne Collins’ bestselling Hunger Games trilogy is still in production, which we previously announced here and won’t be released until March of next year, but Lionsgate is already making plans for the next book in the series, Catching Fire, and even has a locked-in release date: November 22, 2013. No further information on the film sequel was released.

I wasn’t familiar with the Hunger Games series until production on the first film was announced, but the basic plot line of the original sounds like a teen-targeted retread of movies like The Running Man, Death Race 2000, The Condemned, and of course Battle Royale (an American remake of which has been talked about for years) [...]

While Torchwood: Miracle Day gives Whovians a breath of fresh air during the break from Doctor Who Series 6, BBC America is already gearing up for the return of Matt Smith‘s Eleventh Doctor with several Doctor Whotelevision shows to air during August.

It was announced during San Diego Comic-Con last month that the second half of Series 6 will resume on Saturday, August 27, 2011. In the lead-up to the return of this season, BBC America has scheduled three specials. The network has also released a short sneak peak teaser of the specials, in which guests discuss their favorite aspects of the long-running series. You can view a list of the specials with date and times, along with the preview video here [...]

Canceled halfway through its first season after being given a lousy time slot and having its episode order shuffled like a blind man running a street corner three-card monte, Joss Whedon’s sci-fi/western hybrid Firefly has become the prolific writer and director’s most enduring creation. The show gained a massive cult following after the release of its sole truncated season on DVD in late 2003 resulting in Serenity, a big-screen continuation of the Firefly story that brought back the show’s principal cast and marked the feature directorial debut of Whedon, currently behind the camera on next summer’s The Avengers. But Serenity turned out to be a box office disappointment and plans for further sequels were scuttled, despite the movie’s strong DVD sales and renewed interest in the original Firefly series. Since the release of Serenity, Whedon’s creation has endured mostly in the printed form but fans have long pushed for the show’s return to television or the big screen. None of their efforts have been successful, until now [...]

Recorded August 7, 2011.

Our August Doom Of The Month is Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly! If you want to read along with us, head on over to Instocktrades.com or DCBService.com to pick up the hardcover edition of Local for a super price! Read up and be sure to check out our special review episode!

Check out Episode 84 of Comics of Doom, the official comics podcast of Geeks of Doom. Click HERE to open the podcast player in a new window.

Podcast player is here below, along with an Episode Guide.

Listen now! [...]