Oh Archie… If Archie Comics had announced a comic project where America’s Favorite Teens cross over with the undead a few years ago, my groans of derision would have been audible from Hackensack to Walla Walla. Given the press release Archie released though, I’m thinking this may be something worthwhile. The press release is below, I’ll have my thoughts and shed some light on Archie’s previous dabblings in zombie-lore.

Archie Comics, the leading mass market comic book publisher in the world and home to some of the most recognizable pop culture characters, is proud to announce a brand new ongoing series being added to Archie’s line-up entitled: AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE.

What if the zombie apocalypse began in Riverdale? This horror-infused comic answers that question when it kicks off in late 2013, spearheaded by one of Hollywood’s hottest writers, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who will be fresh off the high profile crossover, ARCHIE MEETS GLEE.

AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE will provide readers with zombie-filled mayhem like only Archie can, taking the Riverdale gang where they’ve never been before – to the grave and back.

In addition to his Archie credits, Aguirre-Sacasa has made a name for himself in the world of television (writer/producer on GLEE), Broadway musicals (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), and movies, penning the remake of Stephen King’s Carrie, which premieres this fall.

“Roberto’s a superstar writer,” said Archie Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. “Working with him on the upcoming AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE is the next step in the ever expanding Archie universe.”

“AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE combines two of my great passions: Archie comics and horror comics,” said Aguirre-Sacasa. “This series came out of conversations with Jon [Goldwater], asking questions like, ‘what if the Archie characters found themselves in a Stephen King novel like The Stand or a Sam Raimi movie like The Evil Dead?’ Could we pull that off, tonally? We’re really going for it. The first arc is called ‘Escape from Riverdale.’ The second arc is called, brace yourself, ‘Betty RIP.’ Of course, all the horror stuff will be balanced by elements that are quintessentially Archie.”

ABOUT ARCHIE COMICS:
Archie Comics is the leading mass market comic book publishers in the world and the home to a wide array of the most popular humor, action-adventure and superhero characters in entertainment, including Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, Reggie, Kevin Keller, Josie and the Pussycats, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the New Crusaders, Super Duck, Li’l Jinx and many more. Archie Comics have sold 2 billion comics worldwide and are published around the world in a number of languages. In addition to comics, Archie characters have been featured prominently in animation, television, film and music in various popular incarnations.

So yeah, I think this could actually be a compelling, and dare I say it, fresh take on the seriously over-saturated zombie market. Why do I say that? Three words. Life. With. Archie. The book that showcases the ongoing alternate-universe takes on the Archie-verse in which Archie is married to either Betty or Veronica. It illustrates that the folks at Archie Comics can write a compelling, slightly more adult-oriented story and still feel like an Archie book.  I’m not too familiar with Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing, but I’m sure he’ll do fine. What I’m really concerned about is the art. The teaser image repurposes art from the amazing variant cover to Life With Archie #23 by Francesco Francavilla (shown below) I hope he gets tapped to draw the ongoing, as the style he uses mixes equal parts wholesome and grotesque. If the art leans too far in either of those directions, the book could be ruined, so my fingers are crossed.  At any rate, I’m hoping for the best, and getting in on the ground floor. If nothing else, it’s going to be an interesting ride.

Now, I promised that I’d show some of the Archie gang’s previous dealing with the living dead, so here we go. Recently, the Riverdale crew were turned into a listless zombie-like state during the Archie Meets KISS storyline. They get better…

A little under two years before that, the Mad Dr. Doom (not the one you’re thinking of) turned most of the Riverdale population into zombie-like drones. They get better, again…

The last time Archie and the gang were on the airwaves, there was a zombie outbreak as well, even though this time it was only love zombies. And again, they get better…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W8WR9s2rfE

So yeah, I think I’m ready for a more serious take on how such down home, wholesome characters would react to a Romero-style zombie outbreak. Bring it on!

I saw this floating around on Facebook and clicked on the link to debunk the “confirmation” of this rumour. To be honest, it looks legit, but Carrie Fisher has been known to be flippant with the press.

Doing the press rounds for a speech called the “Old Bag’s Luncheon” which she had to cancel for her hospitalization for bipolar disorder. Before she backed out, she did an interview with the Palm Beach Illustrated who was covering the event and she dropped this bomb:

Q: Disney is going to continue the Star Wars saga, producing movies set to hit theaters starting in 2015. Can you confirm whether you’ll reprise the role of Princess Leia?

A: Yes.

That’s pretty cut and dry, but she goes on in the next question to say that Princess Leia’s future is in a nursing home:

What do you think Princess Leia is like today?

Elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home [laughs].

I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle.

While this isn’t “official” confirmation, it seems plausible. But, as with any rumour, until Lucasfilm or Disney announces it, nothing is official.

At this point I have watched the new Iron Man 3 trailer about 4 times, and each time I kept seeing something very perplexing:

At first I thought I was just seeing things, but looking at this screen grab from the :44 mark of the new trailer, I am 99% certain that is Captain America’s infamous shield tattooed on the back of The Mandarin’s neck. Also, there appears to be an ‘A’ in the middle of it as opposed to the traditional star . . .

So what could this possibly mean? Could this mean a potential tie-in somehow to the next Captain America movie? Does The Mandarin have some sort of issue or history with Steve Rogers? Or the Avengers as a whole if that is, in fact, an ‘A’ in the middle of the shield? Maybe it’s just simply an easter egg for fanboys paying attention – but usually easter eggs are referencing something.

Certainly an interesting little tidbit to speculate on until Iron Man 3 hits theaters on May 3!

Any of you readers out there have any speculation as to what, if anything, this could possibly be alluding to? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

You can follow Arse-bot and all the pointless thoughts he puts out into the interwebs on Twitter @Arse_bot

I would have had this article up about seven minutes ago, but I couldn’t stop watching the trailer over and over. More details about The Mandarin, the Iron Patriot suit, Pepper in danger… Explodey, loud, awesomeness…

Don’t tune out too early, because the last few seconds of this trailer easily make this my most anticipated Marvel film EVER.

Editor’s Note: Holy shit! -Arse-bot

So . . . This is pretty interesting.

Fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, such as myself, have been wondering when we would get a new TMNT game in light of the new kick-ass cartoon that is currently airing on Nickelodeon. Well, it looks like we will finally be getting one this summer as a downloadable game on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and PC – only, it doesn’t appear to be based on the cartoon at all.

From IGN:

Out of the Shadows is not based on Nickelodeon’s ongoing, excellent animated series, but exists in its own “hyper realistic 3D-style” world inspired by the show.

I have heard nothing but praise about Nickelodeon’s TMNT cartoon, and have been enjoying the hell out of it myself. I think it is pretty awesome to visit my local Toys ‘R’ Us and see nearly an entire aisle dedicated to the Heroes in a Half-Shell, introducing a whole new generation of kids to these awesome characters. So I find it a bit confusing why a new TMNT game wouldn’t capitalize on the success of the series by incorporating many of the same elements – it could certainly be it’s own stand-alone story, detached from the series, but why not use the same art style at least? I actually don’t mind the look of the turtles at all in this game, I actually think it all looks pretty cool, I just find it a bit odd they chose not to tie this in to the series.

It makes me wonder if this is perhaps what the turtles may somewhat look like in Michael Bay’s upcoming live-action TMNT film . . .

And now I just remembered that Michael Bay is doing the next live-action TMNT film. Guh.

In any case, I am personally very excited to get another TMNT brawler game and look forward to getting three of my friends together to kick some bad guy ass – just like the “old days”. Check out the short teaser below, and you can head on over to IGN to see photos of the rest of the turtles there!

What do you think of these “hyper-realistic” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Sound off in the comments below! 

You can follow Arse-bot and all the pointless thoughts he puts out into the interwebs on Twitter @Arse_bot

This first premiered on The Huffington Post.

The usual gang of idiots over at MAD Magazine know that the best way to get eyeballs on their work is to forcibly take over the space held by better, more popular books.

As a birthday present for Alfred E. Neuman (whose birthday is April Fool’s Day, go figure) they launched an all out offensive (emphasis on offensive) against the DC offices of Batman comics.

We’re unveiling to you exclusively the desecrated cover of Batman #19, written by Scott Snyder and with art by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope. The original cover to Batman #19 teases the idea that Bruce Wayne might be using a gun, which is antithetical to his moral code.

“Who would cause Bruce Wayne to use a gun?” the tease asks.

I know. Alfred E. Neuman.

The legendary, longtime “idiot” from MAD, Al Jaffee, is responsible for the fold-in style cover for Batman. I don’t want to make their heads too big by saying how much I like it, so I won’t say anything at all. If you’re on the fence about picking this issue up, though, I wouldn’t hesitate. Scott Snyder’s run on Batman has been fantastic and Andy Kubert is a phenomenal artist.

This issue hits newsstands on April 10, 2013, which is a bit late for Alfred’s birthday, but that’s par for the course for the “gents” at MAD.

Bryan Young is an author and the editor-in-chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot!

After last week’s snooze-fest that barely moved the story along, this week we have an incredibly dramatic and often poignant episode that cleans up some plot threads running all the way back to the pilot episode. And for the first episode in a long while, we spend no time in Woodbury or the prison as Rick, Carl, and Michonne head back to the Grimes’ hometown to find weapons to use against the Governor.

I can’t say much more without giving away major spoilers, and I don’t want to give away one of the best reveals of the episode as it sets up the entire rest of the episode. Just watch. And discuss.

The Good

Almost Everything.
Walker booby traps, including: (some favorites in invisotext) Rats on skateboards, barbed wire, and an ax connected to a tripwire.
Carl’s continuing  growth and an awesome Carl + Michonne Teamup.
“Why do you need the guns, Rick? … You will be torn apart by teeth or bullets.” <— This whole scene was some of the best writing and acting on the show in a long time. During Talking Dead, Andrew Lincoln reveals that this was shot on his 39th birthday, and calls it the greatest birthday present ever.
A nice moment between Rick and Michonne near the end about being a little crazy.
And what I will refer to as “the parable of backpacker hitchhiker.”

The Bad

The initial encounter with walkers we get to see a single one get dispatched, but not the rest of the herdlet. It all happens offscreen like some Greek tragedy.  Way to make zombie killing completely mundane. Although, in the overall context of the meaning of the episode, I wonder how much of that was completely purpsoseful. If so, well-played, Walking Dead.

The Ugly

Chris Hardwick’s tie on The Talking Dead was awful. And while Aisha Tyler was awesome, I feel like you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel with Scott Porter?

Zombie kill of the week: An over-the head backwards katana impaling. Always good to have Michonne around.

Overall, this was just a great episode. It was beautiful and self-contained, but it also moved the overall story forward. Having just rewatched the pilot “Days Gone By” a few weeks ago thanks to AMC’s Thursday black and white airings, it meant all the more.

3 1/2 stars

Go watch.

There has been lots of talk since the airing of the season finale of The Clone Wars. Most of it has been overwhelmingly positive.

For my part, I liked absolutely loved it. It had an emotional core that drew me in and turned me over to pour my tears into a bucket of sadness and loss. But it was a good thing. I love when I can be invested in a story so much that it can make me cry. Star Wars is one of the few things that does that to me, but it’s got to be the right story.

This arc of The Clone Wars was the right story.

For those of you looking for more insight and answers, I’d love to hear what questions you had about the episode. Did you think it was good or bad what they did to Barriss Offee? Do you think Ahsoka is going to survive now? Or will this make her death more tragic and borne more fully on the shoulders of Anakin?

Do you think this makes Anakin’s unraveling trust in the Jedi order makes more sense in Revenge of the Sith?

I want to hear more of your comments and questions below.

But I’d also like to invite you to listen to some of the answers and insight that Tha Mike Pilot and I put together for our latest episode of the Full of Sith podcast. Mike and I were at the finale screening of The Clone Wars and we recorded our thoughts there, but we also got some exclusive audio from the Q & A session after the screening, and we got the first public reactions of the episode from Supervising Director Dave Filoni, and Matt Lanter and Ahsley Eckstein, the voices of Anakin and Ahsoka, respectively.

Interspersed through all of this is the live analysis Mike and I brought to the screening.

It was a great experience and I think it made for a great podcast. You can listen to the episode directly by clicking this link to the Mp3, by heading over to the Full of Sith website, or by subscribing to the podcast on iTunes.

You can also read my spoiler-free review of the episode here.

With the 25th Anniversary of My Neighbor Totoro fast approaching (on April 16th, 1988), Viz Media will be celebrating the occasion this Fall with the release of a My Neighbor Totoro novel and a special edition of the My Neighbor Totoro Picture Book. Fans will be thrilled to know that the novel was written by children’s book author Tsugiko Kubo and includes original watercolor illustrations by Miyazaki himself. The novel is of course a retelling of the classic story of Satsuki, Mei and their journeys with Totoro, but it will be a great new way to experience the magical tale. The companion, full color picture book features artwork taken directly from the film. Totoro lovers everywhere can pick up the novel for $17.99 USD and the special edition My Neighbor Totoro Picture Book for $19.99 USD on October 1st.

If you somehow have been living in a cave for the past 25 years and have missed the beloved film that is My Neighbor Totoro, I highly suggest you crawl out of said cave and watch it immediately in both the original Japanese and the newer English dub that was released by Disney.  Unfortunately, there’s no official trailer for the movie on Youtube anymore, but here’s a great fan version that gives you the same TL;DR of the film:

From the press release: “In the charming animation classic MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, eleven-year-old Satsuki and her sassy little sister Mei have moved to the country to be closer to their ailing mother. While their father is working, the girls explore their sprawling old house and the forest and fields that surround it. Soon, Satsuki and Mei discover Totoro, a magical forest spirit who takes them on fantastic adventures through the trees and the clouds – and teaches them a lesson about trusting one another.

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO was created by famed director Hayao Miyazaki and released as a feature film in 1988 by his Studio Ghibli, which also produced SPIRITED AWAY, PRINCESS MONONOKE, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE and PONYO later on. TOTORO’s popularity soon became an international phenomenon and has spawned a vast array of adorable plush characters, toys, collectibles and other memorabilia.“

Anyone who reads these columns know that I am a big fan of the Flash. I previously showed the origin of Barry Allen as the Flash in the very first Secret Origins column, before the current format took shape. Even though his origin was recounted, I figured that Barry’s tale needed a revisit, because I didn’t tell the true story. You’ll need to take an aspirin to protect yourself from the barrage of facepalms you’re bound to give yourself in this, The Real Origin of the Flash!

Our tale starts innocuously enough, with Barry (Flash) Allen tracking down a bunch of jewel smugglers. Being just normal-type thugs, the Flash routes them easily, even toying with them. Just when he’s about to wrap things up though, the unexplained “aura” that protects Barry from friction-heat just goes away…Yeah, it’s not like being flung at escape velocity will harm him at all.

 Since Barry is conveniently fighting at the docks, he takes a dip to douse his spontaneous combustion. Before he can figure out a reasonable explanation for what’s happened, the answer is given to him as he emerges from the drink. A stout fellow in green robes and too-big spectacles explains it was he who removed the friction aura and furthermore he had to, as it is the first step in removing Barry’s super-speed entirely! The Flash, rightly so, asks who the heck this guy is and what right does he have to do take his gifts away!? Well, he’s Mopee, Initiate 10th Class of the Heavenly Help-Mates! A mere description doesn’t do the guy justice though…

Which is MUCH less likely than this, don’cha know?

Mopee is nonplussed. He even taunts Barry a little, saying “Do you really believe that’s what happened, a scientist like you? I deliberately brought that lightning down!” You know, much more scientific. Anyway, Mopee decides to start at the beginning. When he reached the 10th class initiate level, he was tasked with giving a human the gift of super speed. He picks Barry because he’s honest, brave, and sincere. While that’s all true, it seems good ol’ Mopee took a wrong turn on the way back from Earth. Because of this, he wasn’t able to report to his (much more competent) superiors for a few years, during which Barry because one of the more celebrated crime fighters on the planet. Normally, that’d be a “no harm, no foul” situation, but when he does make his report to his betters, we find Mopee made a pretty grievous error in bestowing powers on Barry.

I dunno. That seems like a pretty arbitrary rule for people with that kind of power.

Barry, nice guy that he is, believes this crazy story, mainly because he doesn’t have much of a choice. He muses that it might be nice to be powerless, no responsibility or anything. Also, he wouldn’t have to tell his new bride Iris his secret identity. Win-win, right? Barry quickly reconsiders though, because he wouldn’t be able to go adventuring anymore.  It doesn’t really matter though, because Mopee is all like, “Hey man, the law is the law, you’re losing your speed no matter what!” That is, until Barry convinces him to check his bylaws for a loophole. As it turns out, there is, and it’s just as ridiculous as the rest of this tale so far!

He’s probably going to make Barry literally jump though hoops next.

Just between us, I’m starting to think that the Heavenly Help-Mates are a celestial frat house who just like to torment humanity. At any rate, Barry, who has gone this far and just wants to keep being the Flash asks how much money he’ll need to buy said chemicals. Math (among other things) isn’t Mopee’s strong suit and tasks Barry with figuring it out himself. It turns out to be $94.36 which equates to about $660 in 2013 dollars. Since Barry is married, he can’t hire himself out as a gigolo, so he does the next best thing, take an ad out in the paper! Mopee think that Barry’s ad lacks panache, so he alters it a bit to sound more urgent.

“Yes, this trial will suffice. ‘The paddling of the swollen ass… with paddles“

Seriously though, the Flash is tasked with making high-speed deliveries cross-country. What follows is an Indiana Jones-esque series of stops on a map, until there is only one package left, back in Central City. As luck would have it, Mopee is being his old self and Flash loses his friction aura again, resulting in this…

Oh, that explains EVERYTHING! He’s just drunk!

Before we can find out what’s in the package, we’re given a flashback back to last night when Flash was fighting the jewel smugglers. In a case of being too smart for their own good, the hoods figure Flash isn’t following them so he can shadow them and find their boss. As far as criminals in comics go, that’s pretty astute. So of course, he’s dead wrong, what with Flash having lost his friction aura instead. Anyway, the crooks get the bright idea to put the Heart Diamonds they smuggled into a package in the warehouse they pass by. You can probably guess where this coincidence is going to take us, and sure enough, we find the Heart Diamonds in the burning package. Not knowing the crooks themselves are behind this, Barry assumes the fine gent who hired him is, so he doubles back to the shipping company. There, the bad guys just happen to be there to retrieve their diamonds. The Flash then unleashes some built up stress on them…

You’d think a force 12 times more powerful than a Tornado would kill a man. Thugs were made of sterner stuff then.

You’d think Flash has the upper hand, and you’re right. However, being pinned against a wall thanks to centrifugal force won’t stop these guys, as one somehow manages to pull a gun and fire! Again, you’d think with his fears expressed in the above panel, Barry would just move out of the way at super speed, but he instead opts to vibrate his body and let the bullet pass through him! A valid tactic, even though his body would be torn apart if his protective aura did in fact fail. Let’s watch, shall we?

Hooray for unnecessary suspense!

So, after that (literal and metaphorical) bullet was dodged, Flash proceeds to knock out the crooks with a series of super speed punches while they’re still stuck to the wall. Mopee offers to catch the falling baddies for Barry, seeing that he’s just been so wonderful about his hazing ordeal. Mopee recreates the accident that gave Barry his Flash powers. Barry has one last question for Mopee, but he has to return to his home planet.

” target=”_blank”>Note: Mopee died on the way back to his home planet.

And Mopee was never seen again. DC in fact pretty much disavowed this story almost immediately. This issue has never been reprinted, and Mopee has been relegated to an comic continuity joke. All joking aside though, I freaking love this issue. It’s so absurd, that you can’t help but love it. It’s also the very first Silver Age comic I ever bought for myself, based purely on the cover. That Julius Schwartz sure knew what he was doing to get kids to buy comics.

This story appeared in The Flash v1 #167, February 1967. As mentioned above, it’s never been reprinted.