Back in May I headed to Book Expo America with my day job, and was fortunate enough to scoop up a ton of advance reading copies of awesome upcoming titles. Our booth was right next to Random House, and I regularly raided their tables, scoring copies of Robopocalypse, Icefall, the Scorpio Races, and Ernest Cline’s epic… Ready Player One.

Ready Player One finally hit stores last week, and I’m psyched to finally write about it. Cause you know, now you can go buy the book. And buy it you should.

In Ready Player One, we are introduced to a sad future where people live their lives in OASIS, a virtual reality landscape similar to that of today’s MMORPGs and Second (more…)

Fright Night is the latest offering this summer in Hollywood’s constant stream of remakes, reimagings and sequels. While I enjoyed the original, it never was the strongest film even when it was first released. I felt that if they didn’t either take the film in a totally new direction or fix some of the plot/pacing issues the original had, the film would not fare well with current audiences.

Fright Night is the story of Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) who finds out his next-door neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. No one believes him and he must rid the neighborhood of this scourge (which has an eye on his girlfriend and his mother) as people in his neighborhood continue to disappear at an alarming rate.

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This week in the Roundup we look at a pair of second issues in Avengelyne and Captain America and the latest chapter of the Dream Eater Saga in the Sinbad one-shot.

Avengelyne #2
By Mark Poulton and Owen Gieni

As almost everyone knows, one of the hardest things in comics to pull off is a good second issue. Putting out a decent first issue is pretty easy, since a lot of fans will buy it just because of the shiny #1 on the cover. But a good second issue is a challenge. You have to convince the readers they want to stick around and try to bring in people who might not have picked up issue #1. Luckily, Avengelyne succeeds on both counts. (more…)

This week in the Comic Roundup I review the latest issue of Marvel’s megaevent Fear Itself, the first issue of the new Spider Island tie-in miniseries Cloak & Dagger and the final issue of Booster Gold.

Fear Itself #5
By Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen

Since issue #1, Fear Itself has proven to be the highlight of my comic book reading summer. Each month the miniseries has gotten a bit better and a bit better, all leading to these last few issues and the big payoff. Issue #5 follows the trend, as it is filled with huge spectacle, heroes at the end of their rope and the best Hulk/Thor battle I’ve seen in years.

Fraction has been ratcheting up the tension for months (more…)

Final Destination 5 could very well be my favorite entry in the series since part 2, when David R. Ellis gave us one of the greatest car crash sequences ever committed to celluloid. Don’t get me wrong, this newest entry is definitely a return to tried and true formula of the franchise, but it does so while breathing some new life into a series that (thanks to the 3D of part 4) had cheated death itself.

The story follows the pattern of the others, this time with a group of employees that are on their way to a weekend company retreat. While passing over a bridge comes the centerpiece of all Final Destination films the gruesome look at the possible fates of the group as the bridge begins to collapse. But 8 of the co-workers cheat death and now must kill or be killed, to save their lives as death begins to hunts them down one by one.

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I had the wonderful opportunity to drive around in a brand new Jeep Patriot for a solid week. To get more specific, I was driving around a Patriot Latitude X 4X4 (Base MSRP $23,895) with the “Preferred Package.” This incredible set of additional options added on pretty much anything I’d want from a vehicle, from leather seats, a power sunroof to a beefed up sound system (9-piece Boston Acoustics with subwoofer) with Sirius Satellite Radio/CD/DVD/MP3 (via aux, USB and HDD storage) & Navigation.

Oh, if only I could summon it at will. The first thing I noticed about the vehicle was its TARDIS-like dimensions. This thing is small (dwarfed only by its cousin, the Jeep Compass), yet surprisingly roomy on the inside. Fellow Geekadelphian, Robby P. and I actually enjoyed an afternoon of bro-ing it up on a series of errands while with the vehicle.

We grabbed some cheesesteaks at my personal favorite, Dalessandro’s in Roxborough, we picked up an AC unit for Rob’s living room and even went American Pickers-style on a curb-abandoned piece of furniture I was going to use as a new coffee table (decided against it). For a split second, we almost stopped and got too absorbed in a [sidewalk] “lawn” sale. (more…)

The more I think about Rise of the Planet of the Apes the more I am torn about it. Planet of the Apes is one of my favorite sci-fi film series of all times (above the Star Wars: Special Editions, but not the originals mind you) and while it has been almost 11 years since Tim Burton’s failed attempt to revive this franchise, I still wondering why Hollywood can’t just leave those damn dirty apes alone.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Rise of the Planet of the Apes is very smart reboot. It has some great references to the original films. It pays an outstanding homage while it takes a totally insane premise like apes taking over the earth and makes it almost plausible. The film is an origin that explains the accelerated evolution of the apes and the eventual uprising with a drug developed to treat Alzheimer’s that stimulates new brain cell growth.

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For this week’s Comic Roundup, we book a trip to Spider Island in Amazing Spider-Man, look in on the fallout from the death of Ultimate Spider-Man and join Fathom as she launches her newest series.

Amazing Spider-Man #666
By Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli

When Marvel launched the new direction for Spider-Man with Slott as the only writer, I was really impressed how good the book quickly became. The fun factor had been restored to the Web Slinger and I felt like I was 12 years old again. But somewhere along the way, right around when he joined the FF, the book went off the rails for me and I dropped it. However, with issue #666 serving as the (more…)

To say Cowboys & Aliens is one of the manliest films of the summer is something of an understatement, when you have both Han Solo and James Bond on the warpath kicking extraterrestrial ass. However with that said, of all the films coming out this Summer, I think I was most apprehensive about this film originally.

Cowboys & Aliens is the story of Jake Lonergan (Craig), a cowboy who wakes up in the desert with no idea who he is, with a strange metal shackle attached to his wrist. After wandering into a small dying mining town under the thumb of a ruthless cattle rancher Woodrow Dolarhyde (Ford), the small settlement is almost immediately attacked by aliens, and many of the townspeople are kidnapped.

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Of all of Jim Henson’s myriad creations, I always felt that Fraggle Rock was the one that didn’t seem to be on most people’s radar. Ask any geek or child of the 80’s about The Dark Crystal or Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and you usually get a knowing nod of the head and a smile.

But mention Fraggle Rock and most times you just get a confused, blank expression. And that is a shame, because Fraggle Rock always was about a lot more than just Muppet fun. It always provided positive messages to its young audience about prejudice, tolerance and dealing with conflict.

Thankfully, Archaia is bringing the Fraggles back to the forefront of popular consciousness with their incredible Fraggle Rock comics. Fraggle Rock: Tails and Tales is the second collection of the anthology style series and include everything you remember about the Fraggles and their world. The “Fraggle Five” are there, as well as Uncle Traveling Matt, The Doozers and Marjory the Trash Heap. Done by a who’s who of talent, the stories all evoke that distinct Fraggle feeling and will no doubt put a smile on your face. (more…)

The summer season is at its halfway point and the same can be said of this year’s big crossover events from Marvel and DC Comics. Both Marvel’s Fear Itself and DC’s Flashpoint have reached their midway points and fans have been greedily reading both the main series’ and the many tie-in books. But has either miniseries been any good? Are the tie-ins worth the time and money? Let’s look over the first half stats and see.

Fear Itself

For Marvel’s big crossover, they went with a Thor/Captain America centric event that featured the lost Asgardian God of Fear known only as the Serpent and the return of Steve Rogers to the role of Captain America. On the creative side, Matt Fraction is writing the miniseries, which is a break from the Brian Michael Bendis/Mark Millar cycle of the last few years, with the artwork being handled by Stuart Immomen.

Honestly, Fear Itself has been a huge surprise for me. I went in not expecting much and instead got what could be one of my favorite Marvel miniseries of the last decade. Fraction is writing a tight, story driven series that is grand in scope yet also gives the small moments room to breathe. Immomen’s art has also been a revelation; I had no clue he was this talented. His Thor looks regal and massive while his Captain America seems like the everyman we know he is. I knew the man was good with a pencil but this is way beyond what I thought he was capable of. (more…)

It’s hard to believe in anything beyond this workaday world, trapped as we are in our fluorescent tombs–the places where imagination goes to die, its passing briefly noted in a spreadsheet of no particular use or function.

But look around you. Take a peek.

The middle-aged guy sitting to your left, who runs the office’s fantasy football league? He hunts Bigfoot on the weekends. And the blond hottie on your right? She’s into astrology. Not you though, right? Laugh it up; you’re too educated, too smart, to believe in any of that nonsense. Thing is, you’re the weirdo. Two out of three Americans hold some sort of belief in the paranormal. So maybe a little humility is in order. (more…)