Lucid #2-4
Written and Created by: Michael McMillan
Illustrated by: Anna Wieszcyk
Lettered by: Shawn DePasquale
Archaia Comics

A black president getting assassinated? Looks a little close to home”¦

The world of Lucid is a world of magic: a modern world where a secret cabal of sorcerers who work for the United States government. A member of the Ambrosian Order, Matthew works to protect the government, including the president from other magical forces seek to assassinate him.

While pursuing assassins, battling demons, and neutralizing magical threats, Matthew and the rest of the Order are investigating an organization known as Artemis Megacorp and its connection to the Pendragon Prophecy, a foretelling of an age when everyone on the planet has magical power.

Feeding Ground #1-4
Written by Swifty Lang
Art & Letters by Michael Lapinski
Story by Swifty Lang, Michael Lapinski, and Chris Mangun
Edited by: Paul Morrissey
Archaia Comics
Release date: February 23, 2011 (Issue #4)

Feeding Ground is a comic about the blurring of borders: borders between man and animal, good and evil, childhood and adulthood, even borders between countries. The Feeding Ground of the comics namesake is the term given to this nowhere space the characters find themselves in, trapped and hunted by monsters of all stripes.

Swifty Lang and Michael Lapinski have created a fascinating comic in Feeding Ground, one that marries the topical politics of the day with supernatural horror and traditional Mexican folklore. It follows the story of Diego and his family, living on the edge of the Mexican/American border. Surrounded by Mexican gangsters, Diego works as a snakehead, safely transporting illegal immigrants across the Mexican/U.S. border. His daughter, while playing along the edge of a farm owned by local land baron, Backwell, is bitten by something she couldn’t see, and begins a horrifying transformation right as her brother kills a local pimp and hustler in order to defend his mother.

Hobo With A Shotgun
Directed By: Jason Eisener
Written By: John Davies
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Rob Wells
Release date: March 25, 2011 (Canada)

Once in a lifetime, you come across a movie that rips the scales from your eyes and forces you to see the world as it really is. A movie that reaches into your very soul; tapping into the existential yearning that is the yolk which connects us all to our basic humanity. It’s a movie that one single viewing of can change your life forever.

For me, that movie is Hobo With A Shotgun.

For those of you who don’t already know the story, Hobo With A Shotgun was the brainchild of Canadian filmmaker Jason Eisener. Winner of the SXSW Grindhouse Trailer contest, Jason Eisener’s fake trailer for Hobo With A Shotgun was attached to the blockbuster Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse double-bill of Planet Terror and Death Proof for its Canadian run. The trailer became such a hit that soon shooting of a feature-length film began in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

It was on like Donkey Kong on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 as Scott Pilgrim made his triumphant return to the streets of Toronto! The midnight release of Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour held at the Beguiling at Markham and Bloor jammed a city block full of Ramona Flowers, Young Neils, The Evil Ex-Boyfriends, and of course, Scott Pilgrim himself!

With a dash of a book signing, a smattering of street festival, and a generous handful of comic book convention, the Midnight Release Party (organized totally over Facebook) for Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour was attended by well over 300 people and featured costume contests, prizes, and the man of the hour himself, Bryan Lee O’Malley, signing the sixth and final edition of his wildly popular Toronto-based comic book.

Check out images I took from the event here below.

A cult phenomenon since its launch in 2004, the graphic novel series combines hipster pop culture references, manga-influenced art, and the feel of a classic video game to tell the story of Scott Pilgrim, a 20-something bassist in Toronto, ON who must battle the Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends to win the love of indie-nerd beauty queen Ramona Flowers.

It’s been 20 years since the third and final Back To The Future movie was released and since then there’s been a major void in the franchise. Sure there was a short-lived animated series, and yeah, Universal Studios theme parks had a BTTF ride, but not everyone got to experience that; plus, it was closed down back in 2007, so now the fans have nothing.

With the 25th anniversary this Saturday of the release of the first movie, it’s no surprise that some Hollywood types would be clamoring to get a BTTF: Part IV into development asap. Below is a transcript of secretly-taped conversation between two producers discussing their grand plans for a new sequel, Back to the Future IV: Bif’s Neanderthal Revenge. [Hey, at least it’s not plans for a remake!]