We are giving away a copy of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume 3 and 4!

This is a fantastic show and since the first two volumes are available to watch on Netflix, this is the perfect way to get ahead on episodes. Trust me, this is maybe the best animated series Marvel has been ambitious enough to do and it’s not afraid to take its time and develop one character at a time before bringing them all together.

And they’re fun as hell.

The contest will be open until Monday, November 21. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 22.

To enter, all you need to do is shoot us an email at editor (at) bigshinyrobot.com. Make the subject “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” For an extra chance to win, post on your Facebook wall asking all of your friends to like our Facebook page. Or you can ask your followers on twitter to follow us @BigShinyRobot. Or both.

Just be sure to mention in your email that you’ve done it.

If you can’t wait, you can get it on Amazon now for $14.99 per volume.

Good luck.

Clayton Crane is still doing an amazing job drawing these comics. I swear they just comic up with new Venom and Carnage stories to keep this guy busy. His art is perfect for the book. Marvel sent over this little press pack preview (including a kick-ass Ramos cover!), give it a look:

Your First Look At CARNAGE U.S.A. #1!

Prepare for a whole new brand of terror as the critically acclaimed creative team of Zeb Wells and Clayton Crain let Cletus Kasady loose on America’s heartland in Carnage U.S.A. #1! Leaving a wake of bloodshed, no one is safe from Carnage’s lunacy – even the Avengers! Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and more of Earth’s Mightiest must go on a brutal hunt to capture Cletus Kasady before the American heartland falls under his mass-murdering spell. Buckle in for the most mind-blowing cross country tour fans have ever taken in Carnage U.S.A. #1, this December!

CARNAGE U.S.A. #1 (OCT110632)
CARNAGE U.S.A. #1 RAMOS VARIANT (OCT110633)
Written by ZEB WELLS
Pencils and Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
Variant Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
FOC – 11/14/11, ON SALE – 12/7/11

It was an easy choice to pick this week’s Blu-ray when I discovered that Amazon was having a fantastic sale on The Incredible Hulk.

For $10, you can snag the Blu-ray of this underrated Marvel Studios picture and add it into your queue of movies to watch as you gear up for The Avengers next year.

Marvel has done a pretty incredible thing by stringing these movies together and this movie was no less fine than the others, but seemed to receive the least amount of attention.

It also had one of the best Stan Lee cameos in recent memory.

As Bruce Banner, I think Edward Norton worked really well in the part and I’m still confused about exactly why he wasn’t asked to come back for the Avengers. There were rumours that he was in the editing room on this film, working on it until the end. Some might find that annoying, but I think it’s a dedication to craft. The man is a wonderful actor. I’m not upset they replaced him with Mark Ruffalo, though. He is equally fantastic and I can’t wait to see what he does in the Avengers movie.

If you’re going to pick this film up, I would recommend revisiting Ang Lee’s Hulk as well. On Blu-ray it’s even cheaper, coming in at $7.99. I think this film is twice as underrated. It’s a long, slow burn to the action, but it’s such a compelling drama that I can’t help but just love it. It’s also one of the most comic-booky of the comic-book movies, both in editing, visuals and tone. I think with the proper distance people can do a better job of appreciating it. Between the fight sequence with the hulked out dogs and the desert fight, there should be more than enough action, too.

And to anyone who found the story stupid, I think if you’d read the EXACT same story in a comic book, you’d have been on board. For some reason it just didn’t seem palatable to a movie-going audience and I don’t get it.

In what seems a clear response to DC Comics going with Amazon Fire as the exclusive digital distributor for a hundred of their flagship graphic novels, Marvel and Barnes and Noble announced today an arrangement that will bring digital graphic novels to the Nook as soon as next week.

I think the brinksmanship between Marvel and DC on the digital front in the last year or two has been one of the best things for the business in a long, long time.

This is good news for those of us who make a part of our living on eReaders though. More options on eReaders means more people buying eReaders.

From the official press release:

Marvel Digital Graphic Novels Available on NOOK Tablet™
World’s Leading Comic Publisher Teams With Barnes & Noble To Offer
Digital Library of Acclaimed Graphic Novels

New York, NY—November 7, 2011—Marvel Entertainment announced today that the hotly-anticipated NOOK Tablet from Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) will offer readers access to the greatest graphic novels of all time. Featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Wolverine and more of the world’s most popular super heroes, NOOK Tablet launches with a digital library of your favorite Marvel graphic novels—and more of your favorite stories are on the way! NOOK Tablet utilizes the world’s most advanced VividView™ Touchscreen, offering readers a chance to experience the action-packed epics of Marvel graphic novels in Barnes & Noble’s fastest, lightest tablet with the best in HD entertainment.

“This is a huge opportunity for Marvel—and the entire comics medium—to reach a wider audience than ever before thanks to Barnes & Noble’s exciting new NOOK Tablet,” said Peter Phillips, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Marvel Digital Media Group. “Barnes & Noble is committed to offering customers a broad array of Marvel graphic novels, both digitally and through their massive in-store selection, which can only help bring fans into our exciting world of Super Heroes and unparalleled storytelling.”

Users can purchase digital copies of their favorite Marvel graphic novels through NOOK Bookstore™, with a selection including such hits as Civil War, Invincible Iron Man, Captain America, Thor by JMS, Astonishing X-Men, New Avengers, Marvels and more! These graphic novels will also be available on the highly-acclaimed NOOK Color™.

“We’re excited to bring NOOK customers the largest available digital collection of graphic novels from Marvel Entertainment,” said Theresa Horner, Barnes & Noble’s Vice President of Digital Content. “The high resolution of our VividView color touchscreen makes the action virtually jump off the page, and takes graphic novels to a whole new level of entertainment.”

Starting next week, the world’s greatest super heroes, their most acclaimed stories and most powerful graphic novels arrive on NOOK Tablet! Experience NOOK Tablet at any Barnes & Noble bookstore or at www.nook.com

I love me some Joe Madureira. I love everything about his art. Sometimes (*cough*Ultimatum*cough*) his sequentials aren’t the best, but his stuff is always damn fun to look at.

I’m really excited about checking out this book and Marvel has been kind enough to give us a preview of the second issue. A Red Hulk/Spider-Man team up? Sign me up.

The series everyone’s talking about kicks it up a gear in this first look at Avenging Spider-Man #2 With Free Digital Code! From the blockbuster creative team of Zeb Wells & Joe Madureira pit the team-up of Red Hulk & Spidey against an unstoppable army of Moloids! Don’t forget that every purchase of a polybagged issue of Avenging Spider-Man #2 comes with a special code to be redeemed for a free digital copy of the issue on the Marvel Comics app! With J. Jonah Jameson held hostage, can Spider-Man and Red Hulk fight back the hordes of underground dwellers to save the day? The high octane web-slinging action continues this December in Avenging Spider-Man #2 With Free Digital Code!

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #2 WITH FREE DIGITAL CODE (OCT110628)
AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #2 MCGUINNESS VARIANT WITH FREE DIGITAL CODE (OCT11029)
Written by ZEB WELLS
Art & Cover by JOE MADUREIRA
Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Rated T+…$3.99
FOC – 11/7/11, ON SALE – 12/7/11

A group of fans got together and put together this fantastic motion comic based on the death of Ultimate Peter Parker.

I am soooo far behind on my comics that I haven’t read this yet, but watching this gave me the chills. Marvel should hire these guys. They really knocked this out of the park.

It is odd, though, seeing how sometimes Bendis’ dialogue doesn’t exactly translate to being spoken. But that’s something minor. I hope we can see more motion comics from these guys, and I hope Marvel doesn’t sue them or make them take it down.

According to Deadline, Fox purchased a television version of The Punisher.

It’s not what you’re thinking though.

It’s not the Punisher we know and love. It’s much more a police procedural with Frank Castle as a New York Cop who moonlights as The Punisher. Purists will be angry.

From the Deadline article:

The Punisher is described as an hour-long procedural with a Marvel signature and a new take on one of the comic book giant’s iconic characters, Frank Castle, a rising star detective with the New York Police Department who moonlights as the vigilante Punisher, seeking justice for those the system has failed.

On some levels, I’m happy about this. I’ve been saying since the very first article on Big Shiny Robot! that marrying an incredibly popular police procedural with a superhero property would bring wider audiences into the fold. Having said that, I still think the Gotham PD works better for that goal. The Punisher isn’t completely unknown and in his many film iterations one of the biggest complaints made across the board was that they weren’t exactly true to the character.

It’s also interesting to note that this is the first time ABC has sold off rights to a Marvel property, even though they’re developing their own shows already. (Remember? Guillermo Del Toro is working on The Hulk.)

So, there isn’t anything shot yet, they’re looking for a pilot. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of this one way or the other.

In what could be one of the weirdest cross-overs ever, Prep & Landing from Walt Disney Animation Studios will be entering the world of Marvel’s Avengers in a new comic book adventure.

From the press release:

Certainly Santa doesn’t just visit the ordinary citizens of the world – even super heroes should have a shot at making it onto the “nice” list.  Join Wayne and Lanny, members of an elite unit of elves who prepare homes for Santa’s arrival on Christmas Eve, in their not-so-ordinary task of preparing the Avengers Headquarters for the “Big Guy’s” arrival.  The significance of readying the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for a visit from Santa is lost on his stealthiest elves – for them, it’s just another night on the greatest job ever.

Prep & Landing first aired on television in 2009 as a half hour special and won four Emmy awards.  The DVD is currently available for pre-order and will be released November 22.

John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, says, “I love Prep & Landing. I love the whole concept of Santa having these high-tech, stealth, elf squadrons that help him get each house prepared for Christmas,” He also adds, “It’s already so much fun combining this super secret spy world mixed in with the North Pole, and then to add the Avengers into the mix – spies, Christmas and comics – three of my favorite things!”

And here I was, thinking it was raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.  (Not that those are my favorite things, either.  Just seemed an appropriate place for a movie reference).

So, if you like your comic book superheroes with a holiday twist, the new Prep & Landing story will be available exclusively in the following November comics:

• Avengers #19
• Super-Heroes #20
• Spider-Man #20

Also, be sure to watch Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, a full-length special premiering on ABC this Christmas.  Wayne and Lenny must recover classified technology that has fallen into the hands of a computer hacker.

AVENGERS #19 (SEP110506)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by DANIEL ACUÑA
Rated T …$3.99
On-Sale—11/16/11

SUPER HEROES #20 (SEP110572)
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by MANUEL GARCIA
All Ages …$2.99
On-Sale—11/16/11

SPIDER-MAN #20 (SEP110571)
Written by PAUL TOBIN
Penciled by MATTEO LOLLI & ROB DiSALVO
Cover by ALE GARZA
All Ages …$2.99
On-Sale—11/23/11

Let’s be honest here. I can pretty much write whatever I want today because everyon’es playing Batman: Arkham City instead of getting their news fix from their favorite geek site. But I’m still going to do my best to get the other four of you up to date on all your gaming news bits:

Speaking of Batman: Arkham City, how excited are you to be play as Catwoman? Hopefully excited enough to buy the game new, or pay $10 for it. Instead of being the integral part of the game Rocksteady has been talking about for months, it appears Catwoman’s levels are not actually required for beating the game. Furthermore, the $10 online pass (that comes free with the game) will be the only way to play as Ms. Kyle in her story missions and Riddler’s Revenge challenges. I’m really not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, I completely understand the developers’ need for getting a piece of the reseller pie with an online pass. But if you’re renting the game (through Netflix, GameFly, Redbox, or one of the last two brick and mortar locations on earth) they’re still getting a royalty cut. Not as much as a purchase, but still a cut. Is it right to cut out one of the top talking points of the game for renters? If anything, developers should consider making a game with enough content for someone to buy it rather than rent it. The lack of replay value for Arkham Asylum, combined with a 12 hour campaign time means I had done everything I wanted in five days, playing only about three hours per day. If Rocksteady and WBIE want me to pay more than the $8 rental fee I paid at Blockbuster in 2009, they better give me the content to warrant it, especially now that I’m on GameFly. Catwoman is cool, but not $60 cool.

Street Fighter x Tekken gets two big announcements this week. First, the release date has been announced as March 6, 2012. The other big reveal is the special edition. What do you get for buying the fancy version? How about an arcade cabinet piggy bank (some assembly required), a prequel comic book (you mean this game has a story?), and 45 power up gems? Wait, what are power up gems? The “Gem System” allows you to modify your characters’ stats and abilities by equipping them with various powered gems. The special edition says it comes with nine exclusive gems, and 36 others that include all of the pre-order items. Which, in a roundabout way, also means they’ve announced the pre-order incentives as well.

Another major game coming from Capcom, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, also had an announcement regarding a DLC pack. The “Heroes vs. Heralds” add-on will use a new card-based mechanic in a battle against Galactus and his heralds. The card system will allow you to unlock moves and abilities, like super armor, invisibility, combo chains, and the like. Also, according to Seth Killian (Strategy Manager), Galactus will be playable in “his own little mode.” Not sure about the rest of it, but playing as Galactus in a fighting game has got to be pretty empowering. The full game releases November 15th.

If you’re a fan of collector’s editions and the WWE games, you’ll want to preorder your “People’s Edition” of WWE ’12 from the THQ store. This edition comes with a foil sleeve, The Rock in-game character, Topps’ The Rock foil trading card, photo of the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and a blu-ray (PS3) or DVD (360) of the “Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century.” The game releases, in regular or “People’s” editions, November 22, 2012.

As promised, Zen Studios announced the first of two “Virtue” tables for Marvel Pinball at NYCC over the weekend. It should come as no suprise that the X-Men, one of Marvel’s flagship franchises, is finally getting their own virtual pinball table. The player will be helping Professor Xavier to assemble the X-Men and train them to master their powers in order to take on Magneto and a cadre of other villains. The use of magnets in real pinball machines can create some interesting effects. I’m excited to see what they do with a character like Magento and a metal ball when they aren’t as strictly confined by the laws of physics. Colossus, Cyclops, Iceman (my favorite), Jean, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Storm, and Wolverine (who also has his own table) take on The Blob, Juggernaut, Mystique, and the Sentinels in events inspired by actual comics. Expect to see Magneto destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, the Dark Phoenix Saga, and more. It also appears you’ll be sending your ball directly into Cerebro, which looks awesome. The remaining “Vengeance” and “Virtue” tables will be announced soon. And I’m still sticking with my Punisher prediction for the second “Vengeance.”

Square Enix has announced the first piece of their plans for the PS Vita with Army Corps of Hell. Players will control an army of goblins to reclaim the King of Hell’s throne. Not exactly the lightest of subject matter. Looting corpses, building stronger weapons, and using the rear touch pad to make your goblins play instruments (wtf?) all seem to be integral parts of gameplay. This sort of seems like a cross between Overlord and Patapon, but it’s too early to really tell. It will also feature a four player (ad hoc) mode to take on tougher bosses and acquire rare items. The game is exclusive to Vita and is planned as a launch title, whenever that launch happens. Development is being handled by Entershpere, Inc.

While most of the crying and moaning over a dark-haired Dante in Ninja Theory’s upcoming reboot of Devil May Cry has died down, there are still plenty of fans of the classic series that want nothing more than to play the original trilogy (well, two of them at least) in high def. Enter the Devil May Cry HD Collection. Coming to PS3 and 360 in Spring 2012, this collection will include the original Devil May Cry, the much-maligned Devil May Cry 2, and the definitive Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening Special Edition. In addition to high def sound and visuals, expect some bonus content and the prerequisite addition of trophies/achievements. Not bad for $40.

Until I see something official come from either Ubisoft or Namco Bandai I’m generously filing this one under “wild rumor.” It probably ought to be filed under “pretty good fan created Photoshop.” Either way, it’s a cool idea and would be a perfect fit. Supposedly this is a screen shot from a beta version of Soul Calibur 5 featuring a special guest character. If you don’t recognize him immediately it’s time to sell off your consoles.

And, since that seems to be the last of the news, I’ll just leave things off with a short list of goodies to look for on XBLA and PSN this week. Obviously there will be more, but these are the highlights:

1. “The Missing Link” DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution
2. Need for Speed: The Run Demo
3. Okabu, Rocketbirds, and Payday on PSN
4. Dungeon Defenders on XBLA and PSN

I received this photograph from Marvel just moments ago, with no context whatsoever.

Is Phoenix coming back after all these years?

Does anyone care? I sort of liked having her dead. Some may disagree, but I think Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men has been the cream of the crop in the last decade and her death was incredible there.

But, I might be alone.

In any case, “It’s coming.”