I’ve said this a few times during the course of my tenure as the guy who seems to like Clone Wars more than everyone else that if this doesn’t change your mind about what this cartoon can be and how great it is, I just don’t know what to tell you.

This is the hard PG-13 stuff everyone seemed to want about Clone Wars.

Wow.

I have to say it looks like Cad Bane is going to earn his keep as a Star Wars Bounty Hunter.

The heroes of the Republic have repeatedly beaten back the assaults orchestrated by the evil Separatist forces, but an entirely new threat – lethal mercenary Cad Bane – will emerge from the shadows in “Hostage Crisis,” the thrilling conclusion to the first season of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, airing at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, March 20 on Cartoon Network.

Count Dooku seeks to spring a Separatist prisoner from Republic captivity, but his profile prevents him from getting close enough to set in motion his malevolent plan.

Enter Cad Bane, the galaxy’s most fearsome bounty hunter, as ruthless as he is deadly. He is quintessentially cold, cruel and calculating – and when the price is right, he can’t be stopped. Backed by Dooku and the Separatists, he’s bringing his unique skill set and impressive arsenal to bear against the very heart of the Republic. Bane brazenly brings the fight to the Senate’s doorstep, with a rogues gallery of galactic scum as his allies.

“This episode gave us the chance to do something totally different, to go in a new direction with the series,” says supervising director Dave Filoni. “We’ve seen the good guys and the bad guys, from the top of the food chain to the cannon fodder on the front lines. Now we get to look at some of the opportunists, at the mercenaries operating without a side. It’s a whole new dynamic we haven’t seen yet, and at the same time it’s very Star Wars.”

Patterned after the laconic gunslingers of spaghetti Westerns, Bane is lethally cool and relishes being a bad guy. He is unflappable in the face of danger, and even welcomes the opportunity to pit his formidable skills against the legendary prowess of the Jedi Knights. Filoni says the inspiration from the red-eyed bounty hunter came directly from George Lucas.

“He had a clear idea for this bad guy who plays by his own set of rules, whose moral code is dictated by his fee,” says Filoni. “And he had sketches and concepts dating back to the original films. If Boba Fett was sort of the Man With No Name of the Star Wars galaxy, then Cad Bane is his counterpoint – his Lee Van Cleef. So that’s how we built the character, with that in mind. It’s a cool parallel to our world, and a cool balance in theirs.”

Making his STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS debut in Friday’s season finale, Bane has already established a place as a fan-favorite – among the series’ creators and crew.

“The crew loves Cad Bane, and I really think the fans will, too,” says episode director Giancarlo Volpe. “He brings a serious bad-ass sensibility to Star Wars. He’s a lethal and ruthless bounty hunter, and you see that right away in the episode. Unlike Boba Fett, Cad doesn’t take prisoners.”

The Monitor Tapes for Monday, February 9^th, 2009

ADVENTURE COMICS #0

Ah, the smell of nostalgia, it never gets old! Or does it?

With the recent retcons and redux of old stories, it is a bit curious to see that DC would reprint Adventure Comics #247 (the first meeting of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes). Perhaps it’s due to the importance of the title, Adventure Comics as it would become the home to the LoSH as the book continued on with new popularity of the 30^st Century heroes (retconned to 31^st in current continuity, as the LoSH hail from 1,000 years from now).

The reprint story it’s self wastes no time introducing the three main characters from LoSH, Lightening Boy, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl. As they screw with Superman (or in this case Superboy) in the typical fashion of the time (I’m sure you’ve familiarized yourself with Superdickery.com, if not check it out to see what I’m talking about) they take Superboy into the future (their present) to show Clark what a huge impact he’ll have on the future. In that future, over the space of a couple pages, you see a retro future that remains clever in the predictions of the world of tomorrow even if it seems stale and yesteryear. The best part is that the school teacher teaching “Superboy” history dosent even blink or think anything out of the ordinary when the real Superboy pops in to replace the Superboy android when it breaks down. I’d imagine with how the DCU operates now, no one really thinks anything is that unusual with the multiple Crisis’ and disasters over the years.

Back to the story it’s self, the LoSH basically sets young Clark on a series of trials against the three Legionnaires. Superboy fails as each time another crisis pops up and he speeds of to correct them, losing the individual tasks. As the ending reveals however, the tasks Superboy completed were in fact the tasks he was being tested on as the LoSH clearly picked up Clark’s Superdickery as well, revealing the initiation as a bit of a hazing initiation (the Silver Age was chock full of these type of shenanigans). Clark also ends up showing up the new turks by mimicking their abilities to avert another disaster and winning the highest award possible from them (the final panel showing Clark’s dad not blinking at the medal is priceless, as I’m sure his dad has seen all sorts of weird things at this point).

The remaining six pages are devoted to an installment of the “Origins and Omens” back up feature running through DC’s comics this month. Lex Luthor and Brainiac are spotlighted as the Oan now known as Scar narrates events read from “the Black Book”, a new entry in the Green Lantern saga. Lex as of recently has been under thumb of General Lane, Lois’ father formerly dead, now with a mad on bent to destroy all Kryptonians. He’s been given the locked down Brainiac for study in the pursuit of taking his tech and reengineering it for his own purposes.

As Lex waxes poetic on his rise and fall, he uses Braniac as a wepon to escape the confines of the military lab. Unfortunately, Luthor soon learns he’s actually the puppet of Braniac and reveals they won’t be leaving and why they’ll be working together (the Great Brainiac Luthor team-up). The final page reveals to be that Luthor’s “Son” (Kon- El/ Connor Kent/ Superboy) will be under the dominion of the Black Lanterns as the prophetic line “The dead will save you, Lex Luthor. From Brainiac. From Superman. And from yourself.” is uttered by the one names Scar. Finally, the remaining solicitation for Adventure Comics #1 reveals these stories to continue in the solicitation image below.

Who are the blacked out figures, only DC comics knows!

News! Since I was on vacation over the weekend, it seems there was a lot of news via the New York Comic Con. From the Con and the Livejournal community scans_daily (originally scanned from the Con Programs), I present you with two previews of upcoming DC books this year.

Dectetive Comics #854

Greg Rucka (W) JH Williams III (A)

(Click images for larger versions)

Acording to Greg Rucka himself via his Livejournal Account- http://ruckawriter.livejournal.com/

“Which means finally – finally! – I can openly admit that yes, JH Williams III and I have been working on a Batwoman title for nearly two years.”

I can only hope that means they’ve got a good stockpile of material on hand. From the looks of it, the art seems to harken back to Rucka’s previous run on the title, something I loved from his time on it. Plus, I can only hope that Dini will in fact return to the Batman universe writing Bruce in one of the two new announced titles, either Batman (I’ve heard starting with a new #1) or Batman and Robin (if I had to take a guess, I’d bet on Batman and Robin featuring Morrison, and Dini on the self titled).

Flash: Rebirth #1

Geoff Johns (W) Ethan Van Shiver (A)

DC comics in stores 2/11/2009

ACTION COMICS #874

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN VOL. 2

BATMAN #686

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS SPECIAL

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #26

BATMAN: R.I.P. THE DELUXE EDITION

BOOSTER GOLD #17

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #17

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #33

NIGHTWING #153

R.E.B.E.L.S. #1

ROBIN #183

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: AQUAMAN VOL. 3

SIMON DARK #17

SUPERMAN #685

TITANS #10

TRINITY #37

VIGILANTE: CITY LIGHTS, PRAIRIE JUSTICE

VIXEN: RETURN OF THE LION #5 (OF 5)

WONDER WOMAN: WHO IS WONDER WOMAN?

As always,thanks for reading!

Official Press release:

The New Avengers reach their milestone 50^th issue—but the Dark Avengers may make it their last! Get your first look inside the extra-sized New Avengers #50 at Marvel.Com with a sneak peak at the just-announced variant cover by the legendary Adam Kubert (http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.6719) and stunning interior art by series artist Billy Tan (http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.6689). As the New Avengers continue to reel from the public debut of the Dark Avengers, the team makes a decision that will change their lives forever—and bring the full fury of Dark Reign upon them! Award winning scribe Brian Michael Bendis and superstar artist Billy Tan set the New Avengers on a collision course with their most explosive battle yet!

Lucasfilm has been kind enough to let us have an early look at this week’s Clone Wars.

Color me extremely excited. I’ve been told this is one of the best episodes.

I’m excited. I like Aayla Secura and Ahsoka is one of my favorites.

Jedi General Aayla Secura makes her series debut in “Jedi Crash,” an all-new episode of the animated hit STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS that premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday, Jan. 16, on Cartoon Network.

When Anakin is gravely injured in battle, General Secura must teach Ahsoka the Jedi philosophy of having no personal attachments, even as they brave an unfamiliar planet in search of medical help for their stricken leader.

A Twi’lek Jedi Knight, Aayla Secura first appeared in Dark Horse Comics’ “Star Wars: Republic” series, and most famously made brief but memorable appearances in both Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. But before this episode of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, she never had a speaking role.

“This was our opportunity to really find out what she was like,” says supervising director Dave Filoni. “When we were developing her, the original concept for her voice was street tough and recognizably American. Then we hit on the idea of giving her more of a French accent, and that really helped us define her personality. Jennifer Hale does a great job voicing Aayla, adding new dimensions to the character and making her into something like a tough, older sister to Ahsoka.”

He says Secura understands Ahsoka’s difficult position, but also wants Anakin’s Padawan to recognize the importance of the Jedi philosophy toward personal attachments. “She realizes Ahsoka cares for Anakin, but she takes an approach that’s almost like, ‘I don’t have time for these emotions, kid.’

“Jedi have a range of personalities and attitudes, and she’s very different from Kit Fisto and Anakin Skywalker. That’s such a huge aspect of this series,” Filoni says. “We are able to fully realize these characters as walking, talking individuals with great and different personalities, to show the entire galaxy of Jedi.”

Lucasfilm has been good enough to provide Big Shiny Robot! with an advanced look at this week’s episode of Clone Wars. Be sure to check Big Shiny Robot! every week for reviews of the latest episodes and clips from them.

In The Gungan General, Anakin and Obi-Wan are negotiating Count Dookus ransom when they are also taken prisoner and placed in holding with the Separatist leader. Their only choice: Work together to escape.

A clone contingent is dispatched to deliver a ransom in exchange for Dooku unaware that the Jedi are with him. But misfortune befalls their mission, and circumstance finds them with the unlikeliest of leaders: Jar Jar Binks.

All in all, this is another great looking episode I’m looking forward to.

(This first appeared on Huffington Post)

As promised in my revelation last week, the usual gang of idiots over at MAD Magazine have allowed me to exclusively unveil to Huffington Post readers (and the world) who the dumbest person of 2008 is. And for the magazine that employs someone as preposterously stupid as Alfred E. Neuman to say that someone is the dumbest person of the year, it means something.

But their choice really can’t come as any surprise. so, without further ado, here she is. The dumbest person of 2008:

(Obviously, you should click for a larger version, half the jokes are in the fine print…)

I doubt there are many who could conceivably argue with their choice. And if there’s one thing the guys at MAD are experts in, it’s dumb.

Lucasfilm has been once again generous enough to provide us with an early look at this week’s episode of Clone Wars.

In the episode, General Grievous must prove himself worthy of the Separatists after repeatedly being defeated by the Jedi. As a test for his cyborg subordinate, Count Dooku lures Jedi Master Kit Fisto and Fisto’s former Padawan, Nahdar Vebb, to Grievous’ enclave as deadly sport for the Separatist general.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to be one of the best episodes based solely on the trailer, which is here:

(This article first appeared on The Huffington Post)

In an effort to appeal to a crowd other than the snot-nosed, obnoxious thirteen year old market, the usual gang of idiots at MAD Magazine have been on the nose this election season with biting political commentary. (You can see the previous Huffington Post exclusives of that commentary here and here.) But now that the election is over and all of the other more reputable magazines are having a stab at their 10, 20, 50, 100 or 1000 best and worst of 2008 lists, MAD just had to follow suit. So they decided to come up with a list of the worst people, places, and things of 2008.

The difference between MAD and all the other magazines? MAD doesn’t play by rules of maturity. So it is without maturity that I am proud to unveil exclusively for Huffington Post readers item #6 on their worst of 2008 list: Hillary Clinton’s Campaign for the White House.

The issue with the full list is on stands December 16th, but be sure to check back next week. Those suckers at MAD told me that they’d let me unveil the absolute dumbest person, place or thing from 2008. I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with politics and will please the readers of Huffington Post greatly…

So, until then: What me worry?

STORY: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Billy Tan/Michael Gaydos

It’s another Secret Invasion side-story in New Avengers 47 this month, and the stars of this issue are the the Cage Family. Papa Luke, Mama Jessica, and baby Danielle. We start a couple months in the past with Jessica supportively talking Luke through changing a diaper and offering some other parenting tips. Luke starts telling baby Danielle the story of when he fell in love with Jessica. For this little story we shift pencillers, going from Tan to Gaydos, a nice change of style. Luke hired Jessica to find his father, who has looked down on Luke’s superhero ways and avoided contact for years. Jessica ends up in Atlanta and we gain a little insight on the relationship between Luke and his father. This moment of family tenderness is immediately contrasted by jumping to a current day setting towards the end of the Secret Invasion battle where Jessica is a mess after finding that evil Skrull Jarvis has absconded with baby Danielle. All I can say is the Skrulls better watch out, chances of Luke Cage doing some major alien ass-kicking have just gone through the roof.

I tend be torn with these “slice-of-life” stories that Bendis seems to prefer. At first it feels like there’s not much to the story, but the emotional and character nuggets we get here add up when reading the main story running in Secret Invasion. I tip my hat Mr. Bendis.

PRICE: 2.99
IN STORES: December 4, 2008