With the news last month of a live-action Hulk television series in development over at ABC, many questions are swimming through the minds of fans.

Will it be in continuity with the Marvel films?

Will any of the film actors commit to a television series?

Who will play Banner?

For myself, the first question that sprung to mind was, “How are they going to do the Hulk effects?” I’ve made no secret of my long-standing love affair with the not-so-jolly green giant, and of all the creative hoops the studio and show-runner will eventually have to jump through, the one that weighs most heavily on my mind as a fan is what the beast will actually look like on the small screen.

It might surprise some to learn that the Hulk is one of the few characters to have been brought to life through almost every school of visual effects there is.

Behind the cut, we’ll take a look at those different incarnations and speculate on their potential for the new television series [...]

Superworld Comics is a store in Massachusetts that specializes in bronze, silver, and golden age comics and original comic art. On their YouTube channel, they have a feature called “Trash-A-Comic.” The title is pretty self-explanatory. Every episode, they destroy a comic book from their back-stock in what they insist are fun and creative ways for, one can only assume, the entertainment of their customers.

Because comic book fans — especially collectors of mint and slabbed comics — LOVE seeing those books destroyed.

In their first episode, they shot an issue of Classics Illustrated: Kidnapped to pieces with a paint gun.

In their second episode, they fed a near-mint issue of Dazzler to a couple of pigs before having it pecked by chickens.

In their third episode, they ripped an issue of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories in half, put it in a blender, turned it into a smoothie, and drank it while toasting, “Here’s to the end of another worthless comic.”

In their fourth episode, they rolled over a CGC slabbed issue of Shazam with a steam shovel and fed it into a wood chipper [...]

Geek shows have gotten more recognition in recent years than they ever did in the past. Once upon a time the height of genre television was the Star Trek franchise, which, while always intelligent and ambitious, was still shunted by society into that niche of fandom reserved for the obsessive and the dateless. Thankfully, with the success of shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and True Blood (and we’ll just ignore the unjust deaths of shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles for the moment), genre television seems to have entered into a new golden age, much like comic book movies did ten years ago.

Two of the most recent — and, it could be argued, most anticipated — such shows share a unique mission statement, despite their vastly differing subject matter. Both are adaptations of decidedly adult material, from mediums often given the short shrift in live-action television. Both will attempt to subvert genres that come heavily burdened with the preconceived notions of the common audience. And both feature a surprising pedigree of creators who are dedicated to their success. Those two upcoming shows are AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s A Game of Thrones [...]

Dusk Vol. 1
Written by David Doub
Pencils by Maki Naro, Jerry Gonzales, Franc Czuba
Inks by Chris Scott, Jerry Gonzales
Letters by Jaymes Reed
Independent

A newly turned vampire must resist his own unnatural urges in order to save his wife’s life. A chance encounter with a private investigator leads to a reunion between a vampire hunter and the husband she’d almost forgotten. A teen’s mystical dalliances place a curse on his school that few, if any, may survive.

These are the tales of Dusk, David Doub’s independently published Gothic horror comic. Collected in this trade paperback volume are the first four issues of the black & white series, created and written by Doub, illustrated by Maki Naro, Jerry Gonzales, Franc Czuba, and Chris Scott, and lettered by Jaymes Reed.

This was a difficult review for me to pin down. Typically, I have a prevailing feeling after finishing a given book that will guide me through the process of writing about it, but in this case, I was left very much in limbo. I have negative things to say, yet I can’t bring myself to give a wholly bad review. I have positive things to say, yet I’d be remiss if I just fluffed it and went on my way. So, I’m going to try something new [...]

This fun little story does our geeky hearts proud, and comes to us from Bizarre New World creator, Skipper Martin.

Towards the beginning of 2008, Skipper ran a contest on his website in conjunction with the release of a recent BNW story, Population Explosion. The winner of the contest would receive a custom-built light saber from Advanced Light Weaponry (a prize that made perfect sense in the context of the book).

The winner, Frank Wilson, was chosen, and the saber was shipped to him in Texas, with a request that he send back a picture of himself holding the saber to be posted on the website. It wasn’t until a year later that Skipper finally received the picture, along with an explanation of the delay [...]

Long-time GoD writer and San Diego Comic-Con ’08 correspondent Neverwanderer gives the play by play of his very first Comic-Con experience this July.

“The San Diego Convention Center is so huge that if you were to stand at one end of the exhibit hall and face the room, you couldn’t see the other end because of the curvature of the Earth.”
-William O’Neil, Co-Creator of Violent Messiahs

“NO! I’m not going to ‘sand eggo.’ I get twitchy just thinking about SDCC! I’ll be home watching the Sex & the City movie.”
-Brian Michael Bendis, Writer of Secret Invasion, among many, many others…

“Nerd Prom! NERD PROM!!!”
-Comic-Con Attendee

Friday, July 25 (In which we make the trip down to San Diego along freeways previously rumored to be backed up for miles…

“If you ever have an opportunity to see J.M. Straczynski speak live, do it.”

Seems like you can’t read a single article regarding the man’s work without having this piece of advice thrown your way. Indeed, the creator of hit sci-fi show Babylon 5 and prolific writer of such comic titles as Amazing Spider-Man, Supreme Power, and The Mighty Thor has built himself a reputation as not only a groundbreaking creative force, but an entertaining public speaker as well! 


This fact made my decision to attend his “Spotlight on…” panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con all the easier.

I’d sat through two panels before his (one of which — the Grant Morrison/Gerard Way affair — can be read about here), both of which had that sort of low-calorie rock concert feel to them. You know what I’m talking about… a room the size of a school auditorium… a small stage upon which sits a few long tables and a row of chairs… the lights go dim and the deep-throated announcer welcomes you to the show and introduces the guest(s) of honor… moderate applause fills the room as the speakers mount the stage, waving to the crowd… and then sit down and sip from their plastic cups of water. It’s the Diet Coke of venues.

Attention all sci-fi geeks and music freaks!

The LA Times geekblog, Hero Complex, broke the news early Wednesday morning that Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor is in talks with HBO to produce a two-season maxi-series based on the band’s concept album, Year Zero.

“It’s the most exciting thing on the horizon, it’s the thing that when I wake up in the morning it makes me say, ‘God it would be cool if that happened,” Reznor told me this week while sitting backstage before a Nails concert in Toronto. “This is my grand ambition. Will it happen? I don’t know. It was fun sitting and telling [the HBO] guys and watching them shake their head and having writers on board and producers that are in to it. It’s been a fun thing.”

Attending my first ever San Diego Comic-Con, one of the activities on my long (and, sadly, mostly checkless) list of Things To Do check list was attending a few panels (which, like going to Pismo Beach for the clams, are the reason one goes to Comic-Con). Since my only full day at the Con was Saturday, I decided this would have to be my panel day, and, not even considering weathering the soul-killing lines of the popular movie panels, I decided that the two most interesting programs on the schedule for me were Grant Morrison & Gerard Way: Born Under a Black Sun and the Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski.

As luck would have it, both panels would be held in Hall 6B, which meant I only had to brave one line (and an hour-long Xbox panel in between, which turned out to not be so bad).

NeverWanderer gives us insight into why he hates getting insight into upcoming movies, namely The Dark Knight.

Five years after its release, we take a look back at Ang Lee’s Hulk, which starred then relative newcomer Eric Bana as Dr. Banner, the meek scientist who turns into the angry, raging Hulk.

Geeks of Doom met with a lot of great, hardworking independent comic creators during this year’s New York Comic Con. Here is the second installment of our series of reviews for the nearly 20 lbs. of books we came away with after all the smoke cleared.

This month marks the grand finale of Red 5’s four-issue miniseries from Kevin Rubio and Lucas Marangon.

Free Lunch Comics’ Sky Pirates #1 is the sort of book that fantasy geeks and sci-fi nerds have been waiting for: something that is pure fun, with interesting, diverse characters, and a fantasy world that doesn’t fall into hokey stereotypes.

NeverWanderer gives us the inside scoop on Ape Entertainment’s Bizarre New World, a comic where Skipper Martin creates a vision of a world in which people flying through the air is as common as people walking… Bizarre!

Free Lunch Comics brings the spooky back in their new supernatural anthology series, written by Steve Kanaras and Andrew Pollock.

This graphic novel tells the story of Agent Swete, an (eventual) operative of the FBI’s “Food Crime Division” who has the inimitable distinction of being world’s only person comprised of living organic chocolate.

A giant sun flare washes half the Earth in fire in this post-apocalyptic horror action-adventure comic from Red 5.

In this second issue, having come face to face with his father’s arch-nemesis, the Arrow, Eric must stay alive while trying to convince the hero that he is not the real Abyss.

This Pilot Season offering gets a B grade and a pat on the back.