Pablo Hidalgo, a longtime Lucasfilm employee and ardent Star Wars fan, has just released the most exhaustive guide to the Expanded Universe ever published. The Essential Reader’s Companion clocks in at almost 500 pages and is just shy of three pounds. It concisely recaps every essential story in the Star Wars expanded universe, provides new illustrations for key moments, and behind the scenes trivia throughout. It’s one of the most thoughtful and well-put together tomes I’ve ever had on my shelf, and, for a Star Wars fan, it’s certainly one of the most invaluable.

The book is out now, but we spoke to Pablo about his experience putting the book together.

Big Shiny Robot!: This guide is exhaustive. How many hours of work do you estimate you put into it and was it all worth it? How much did it interfere with your daily job?

Pablo Hidalgo: I can’t even begin to estimate it – and am a bit frightened to do so. I began formal work on it in January of 2010, and submitted the last piece in August of 2012. Not a day went by in that span that I didn’t do some sort of Star Wars reading, and that time included a brief stint in the hospital (long story), my shift from one department of Lucasfilm to another (longer story), and the writing of a whole ‘nother book in between (160-page-long story: The Transformers Vault). However, I’ve been doing groundwork on this book for over 30 years. The Companion has some summary material from the ‘90s novels that I had actually written in the ‘90s, when those novels originally came out, so it makes it very hard to estimate how much time was put into it.

The writing of these books is done in addition to my day job – I try to be honest in separating work so my freelance doesn’t interfere with my day job. In many cases – the Essential Reader’s Companion being one of them – they’re quite complementary.

BSR!: What possessed you to begin this epic undertaking in the first place?

PH: It felt like a challenge. Conceptually, when it was just known by the vague title The Essential Guide to Ficiton, it felt like a book I’d like to read, so I wanted to be involved in shaping it, since I knew there’d be a lot of definition work early on establishing just what is and isn’t in the book.

BSR!: What was the most surprising thing you read or re-read in the EU while researching this book?

PH: The Galaxy of Fear book Clones is just crazy. I like John Whitman’s Galaxy of Fear series a lot – they’re really fun to read – but that one is really out there. There’s a clone of Darth Vader. Think about that. Someone took a cell sample of Vader, grew a full grown Anakin Skywalker, and then presumably maimed and burned him and put him in a life support suit.

BSR!: Since you’ve literally had to read it all, can you pick a favorite book from the EU?

PH: Easily it’s Han Solo at Stars’ End. I think it is pitch-perfect. No one writes Han Solo as perfectly as Daley did. And it’s a 180-page novel, which they just don’t make anymore. I find that’s the perfect length of a Star Wars novel, because then the story ends up reading very much like a movie with an extremely tight pace.

BSR!: What is it you hope people will get out of this book? Personally, it’ll give me a chance to find out what happened during the Vong invasion, since I skipped all of it.

PH: I hope it’s a resource that will help people keep up or catch up. That it saves some wear-and-tear on older books because you can look up the events by checking a single book. I hope newer readers are intrigued by summaries or illustrations to pick up something they hadn’t considered reading before.

BSR!: It sounds like it was the original intention to include the comics, are there any plans to do a separate tome for them?

PH: There is one from 2006 already out there, The Star Wars Comics Companion. I’d love to see that get updated to work in conjunction with the Reader’s Companion.

BSR!: How did you go about deciding which scenes should be painted?

PH: I took some notes about scenes that I responded to by imagining them “cinematically” – usually action sequences. I passed those along to my editor Erich Schoeneweiss, who was able to take larger view of the book and pare down or supplement that selection so that the book would have the strongest variety of scenes and artists showcased. In some cases, they weren’t scenes – for example, the aforementioned Daley books, I wanted instead the equivalent of a “publicity photo” that would have been taken by the unit photographer had these books actually been movies. A few of the books get that treatment – the Last of the Jedi series, and Young Jedi Knights books for example.

BSR!: Are you worried that this book might fall into the wrong hands and continuity wonks will use this to further bedevil the days of Clone Wars writers?

PH: Nah, not at all. If anything, the book goes out of the way to remind people that The Clone Wars is an extension of George Lucas’s canonical cinematic universe, on its own tier apart from the Expanded Universe of publishing.

BSR!: When will we get an index for the expanded Indiana Jones universe? You seem like the right man for that job. And there are far fewer books…

PH: Not a bad idea. That might all fit into a single tome – novels, comics, TV and videogames. I’ve actually been doing some research into unproduced scripts from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. There’s a lot of fascinating information in there – but I don’t know of an outlet for that info yet. Keep suggesting that idea to publishers!

Don’t forget to pick up the book, it’s out now!

This first appeared on The Huffington Post.

Today, on the first day of the New York Comic-Con, DC Comics made one of the biggest announcements since the relaunch of their entire line. The world’s bestselling comic book artist and DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee is teaming up with literary comics favorite Scott Snyder will be teaming up to launch a brand new, ongoing Superman title in 2013.

Next year is Superman’s 75th anniversary and sees the release of a blockbuster film in a new franchise, it only makes sense for DC to be launching a new series with two of their most talented employees.

Snyder, currently writing some of the best Batman comics I’ve ever read, tells me that this Superman story is “the story I’d write if I only got one chance to do the character. I’ve been developing this story, it’s epic in scale, and I’ll be setting Superman through challenges that will shake him to his core. Jim [Lee]is great at capturing those absolute moments of a character and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working on this.”

It’s not hard to imagine how difficult Scott will make things for Superman, and we love our characters more when they’re forced through the most strenuous situations so we can see what they’re made of. His work on Batman is currently proving that Bruce’s adopted, masked family is admirable, but a significant vulnerability. Superman loves more purely and deeply, giving him many more raw nerves for these two to manipulate.

For his part, Lee tells me, “In recent years, I’ve tried to work with the best writers in the business. I’ve been watching Scott’s career and loved what he did on Batman.”

The story they’ll be bringing to the table is one that Scott pitched at San Diego Comic-Con. The pair sat down at a breakfast meeting and Scott explained his story and his enthusiasm grew when Jim began describing how he saw the key moments and how he’d draw them. Listening to their enthusiasm as they spoke of their artistic partnership and this piece in particular was infectious.

Though they gave little indication as to what the story was going to be about, listening to them talk made me feel like we’re going to be in for something special.

Scott did explain his approach to the story, saying, “I tried to take all of Superman’s greatest strengths and turned them into weaknesses, turning them on their head to challenge him. There’s new things and they will surprise you, it has all the iconic moments you’d want, but it’s still classic Superman even though it’s fresh and different.”

What few elements of the story he did tease were the characters we’d be seeing. All of our favorites, “You’ll see Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Perry White, even Bruce [Wayne] makes an appearance.

Jim Lee finished by saying the ending of this story would give Superman fans something to talk about for years to come.

As they unveiled their plans for a new Superman book, they also released an image for the series which they’ve graciously provided for us to gawk at below.

The book hits shelves in 2013.

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

Is it just me or has Axel Braun basically just found a way to make fan films with sex for a living?

Superman Vs. Spider-Man XXX barely makes sense, but when you’re not respecting the property holders and making “parodies” you can make anything work.

Here’s the press release:

The safe-for-work teaser for what is surely the porn parody event of the year shows tantalizing glimpses of Ryan Driller and Xander Corvus reprising their award-winning roles as the Man of Steel and Spidey, along with Eric Masterson and James Bartholet as arch-villains Lex Luthor and Doc Ock, and of course a slew of female superstars such as Capri Anderson, Andy San Dimas, Alexis Texas, Lily LaBeau, Kagney Linn Karter, Jenna Presley, and Jazy Berlin in a star-making turn as Black Cat.

“Back in 1976 this was the first DC/Marvel crossover event,” says Braun, an avid comic book collector. “It was a pretty epic moment in my childhood, and I’ve always had a strong emotional attachment to it, so I just couldn’t resist putting my own XXX parody spin on it…and I had plenty of fun doing it.”

“Axel somehow keeps topping himself,” says Steven Hirsch, Vivid’s CEO and co-founder. “His attention to detail is unparalleled, and the passion he puts in all his projects resonates very loudly with the fans. I have to say this is one of the best adult superhero parodies we’ve ever released.”

Braun recently earned his fourth consecutive 5-A critical rating from AVN.com within the year for The Dark Knight XXX: A Porn Parody. His earlier films with Vivid to receive the highest rating were Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody; Avengers XXX: A Porn Parody and Spider-Man XXX: A Porn Parody, which won 2012 AVN Awards in the Best Parody-Drama, and Best Cinematography categories. Braun also won the Director of the Year-Body of Work award for the second year in a row.

DISCLAIMER: “Superman VS Spider-Man XXX: an Axel Braun parody” IS A PARODY MOVIE. This movie is not sponsored, endorsed by, or affiliated with any entity owning the rights to the characters parodied therein or the work being parodied.

I have a dirty little secret: I hate most horror movies. There, I said it. I find myself laughing at pretty much any horror movie that is released; I’m not sure why, maybe I am just genetically incapable of enjoy all that others love about the genre. Of course, there are exceptions, older classics that defined the genre – many of which will get a review during our month of horror movie reviews – but really anything recent is just ridiculous to me; The Ring, laughable. The Exorcism of Emily Rose, puh-lease. The Grudge, no.

But I digress.

A while back I saw a preview for a film called Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, and immediately wanted to see it. A “horror” movie you’re actually supposed to laugh at?! Count me in. Luckily, it hit Netflix Instant pretty quickly and I was not disappointed. Fortunately for you, it is still on Netflix Instant for your viewing pleasure and you should definitely check it out during this month of ghosts and goblins and all that jazz.

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, written and directed by Eli Graig, follows the story of two hapless rednecks, Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine). Tucker has just purchased a dilapidated cabin out in the woods and the two venture out to begin fixing it up. Unfortunately for them, a group of dimwitted college students have set up camp not too far away, and after an accident during a night of skinny-dipping and Tucker and Dale’s good intentions in trying to help, a series of unfortunate events leads to the death of just about every one of the college students – painting Tucker and Dale as your classic “murderous rednecks in the woods” characters.

The great thing about this film is we get to see things play out from two different points of view: Tucker and Dale’s, and the college students who have seen one too many horror movies. Tucker wants nothing more than to fix up his cabin in which he has dumped his life savings in, and Dale is his friend who has a heart the size of Venus (not sure why I picked that planet…). I really love the angle that the two villains are nothing more than well-meaning guys trying to fix up a cabin, and the college students overreact to the situation and convince themselves that things are playing out like a horror movie. From Dale trying to let the kids know that their injured friend is with them and is okay with a note carved into wood that reads “WE GOT YOUR FRIEND”, to a death involving one of the kids inadvertently throwing himself headlong into a wood-chipper and the others witnessing Tucker trying to pull him out, this film is full of gory laughs that doesn’t so much make fun of the horror genre as offer up a different, goofy perspective.

The comedic timing is really good, and the characters of Tucker and Dale are well done. Craig could have gone a different path with this film and make the two beloved hillbillies completely unaware of how things are playing out around them, but instead Tucker and Dale quickly become aware of how events appear to have happened and do everything they can to right the situation – at least in their well-meaning ways – and I think this adds far more comedic value to these characters. The college kids are one-dimensional characters that serve a single purpose: to die. No need to flesh these characters out, but they do nail the horror movie stereotypes (i.e. the black kid is concerned about dying quickly because he’s black and “that’s what happens” in horror films) for a lot of good laughs.

I really can’t recommend this movie enough, and with this being the month of October, what better time to watch it? Horror movie fans will appreciate what writer/director Eli Craig has done with this comedic homage to the genre, and folks looking for a good comedy will find themselves laughing throughout the tight 89-minute run-time. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil is available now on Netflix Instant, so add it to your queue and give it a watch before the end of the month!

Check out our other horror movie revues we’ve done this month thus far:

•  A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
• Cape Fear (1991)
• Psycho
• The Shining

The next episode of the Onderon arc is coming and it looks like it’s going to be action packed with infiltration. It feels very much like a city version of the rebels in Return of the Jedi infiltrating the bunker.

Here’s the official breakdown and trivia:

Supervised by Ahsoka, the Onderon rebels infiltrate the capital and carry out a series of strikes on targets throughout the city. As the Separatist-aligned king comes under increasing pressure to deal with the growing rebellion, the rebels choose a new leader in “Front Runners,” airing this Saturday, October 13th at 9:30am ET/PT on Cartoon Network.

Episode Trivia:
· As is evident in this episode, the design of Iziz draws heavily from ancient Rome. King Sanjay Rash’s design heavily features Roman influences, included a headband that suggest gilded laurel leaves at his temples.

The look of the Onderon rebels are very much inspired by the look of the commandos in Return of the Jedi.

The droid watchtower seen in Iziz resembles a similar platform used by Rebel sentries on Yavin 4 in Star Wars, except these are elevated by repulsorlift technology as opposed to mounted on a physical stalk.

We’re now four issues into one of Marvel’s more controversial titles, the newly costumed and gendered Captain Marvel. Some readers are up in arms over what they perceive as Marvel’s lack of respect for Mar-Vell’s legacy, some feel that Carol Danvers and her own legacy and title are receiving a disservice – but it seems most are upset over the mere concept of the book and not the content.

After Carol accepted her new mantle, she set out to beat an altitude record previously set by her hero, Helen Cobb. This did not go as planned, and Captain Marvel ended up on a mysterious island off the coast of Peru . . . circa 1943. She joined a group of female fighters called the Banshees, taught the enemies a lesson, and is about to discover clues as to her time traveling purpose.

The art in this book is gorgeous. Dexter Soy’s Marvel premiere is wide and brushy, the colors muted with pops of costume color. I don’t think Carol’s face has ever had this much character, and her new “do” is tough and classic. Most of the comic readers I know haven’t picked up the book because they found the art not to their liking after a cursory glance. The art is very stylized, but never crosses a line for me. The panel on page ten of a frightened Japanese soldier is one of my favorites in the series so far. The new costume’s palette is a little tired, but, you know, Kree colors. What are you going to do.

Kelly Sue DeConnick’s script is easy and uncontrived. Her dialogue never sounds like it’s trying to be feminine but comes across as distinctly female. I don’t think this story in any way entices women while excluding men. However, many readers do complain about the use of time travel as a plot device. “It’s a crutch,” they say. “When you can’t think of anything else, throw her back in time,” they say. I take no issue with time travel, as long as it legitimately furthers a plot or character arch (and is done in a way that my wildly unscientific mind considers “right”), and with only four issues in that certainly remains to be determined.

Historically I don’t buy books based on creator alone, but these two have made a mark and I will certainly be open to issues of just about anything they would produce – individually or as a team. Emma Rios will be taking on the art from here on out, and while I’m sad to see Soy off the project I remain quite excited to see the endgame.

This was originally written for The Huffington Post. (Link to be added when it goes live)

Reading Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s brand new issue of Batman, you’d think they’ve been doing this for the whole of their lives. They’ve created a look and feel for Batman that seems iconic and old, but all at once their own. From the opening pages of Batman #13, you get the feeling that something isn’t right, it has that unsettling gravitas that only one force in Gotham can conjure: The Joker.

Absent as a central villain in DC’s New 52, Batman #13 propels Joker into the spotlight once again. And it’s lethal, scary, and unsettling.

And it’s supposed to be.

This Joker is one so uniquely Scott that it’s not fair to compare it to others. It has the whimsy of Mark Hamill’s Joker (though Scott tells me it’s his secret fanboy dream to shake Mark Hamill’s hand, not just because of the fact that he’s Luke Skywalker, but because he created one of the best Jokers in Batman’s history.) Scott’s Joker has the calculated chaos of Heath Ledger’s Joker, and even some of the cool confidence of Jack Nicholson’s.

This Joker is incredibly fun to read, but nerve-wracking at the same time. What horror is going to befall my beloved heroes?

In an interview last week, Scott explained to me about how be became interested in the family Batman has accumulated and how, “as a sort of father, he’s vulnerable and frightened for their safety. And I thought to myself who would be the most frightening in that situation. That’s Joker. Joker is about that thing that looks at you and knows what you’re afraid of and knows how to exploit it.”

The last time I interviewed Scott about Joker, he told me something about his take on the Joker that I think still resonates: “I think Joker works best as a demon on Bruce’s shoulder. He’s bringing horrifying things to life for Bruce…”

And reading this issue, it’s true. Knowing that Snyder and his team seem to have carte blanche in the Bat universe, I’m starting to become very afraid for some of my favorite ancillary characters in the Bat-universe. I’m most terrified for Tim Drake, former Robin, current Red Robin, who isn’t headlining his own book. Reading this first issue, it feels clear that no one is safe, and Joker has a habit of taking out Robins. In fact, the title Death of the Family hearkens back to my favorite Batman story, Batman: Death in the Family, which is about the time Joker beat Jason Todd, the second Robin, to death with a crow bar and blew him up.

Bad things are going to happen and I’m not sure I can handle it. Even just thinking about it as I write this piece I’m getting uneasy.

But that’s really a testament to the team working on the book. Scott brings a tremendous literary quality to the writing, showing us what Batman is made of by doing the most horrible of things to him. Greg Capullo is giving us some of the best pencils in his career, and FCO Plascencia is doing the most atmospheric colors of his life. Speaking of the rest of his crew, Scott told me that he’s “honored to be working with this art team. Batman has never been as richly imagined.”

I agree with him.

This is a book you need to read. Whether you’re a fan of comics or not. If you’re a fan of good storytelling and can buy into the conceit that a man dressed as a bat can make a difference in the world, then there’s no better book for you than this one.

Batman #13 hits comic book stores on Wednesday.

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

And then, Androidika, a fellow Big Shiny Robot!, offers his impressions of the issue:

The following review does touch upon a couple of story points which could be considered minor spoilers, but I don’t reveal anything major. You have been warned.

It isn’t often that you finish reading a comic and you immediately say to yourself “This is something special.” Well that was the case as soon as I finished reading Batman #13. Scott Snyder started writing in the bat-verse in Detective Comics (Pre New-52) with the much acclaimed story, The Black Mirror. He moved on to work with Greg Capullo on the highly praised Court of Owls story in Batman. Now we come to Batman #13, the first part in the “Death of the Family” story arc that sees the return of the Joker. The Joker’s return is something that has been anticipated since he cut off his face and disappeared.

This first issue sets the tone for the rest of the story. The Joker has some master plan for Batman and his family of characters. The Joker thinks that the bat-family is slowing down Batman. So he’s going to remove them from the equation. I can’t help but think of Zoom from the Flash comics and how he did horrible things to Wally West to “Make him a better hero.” We don’t know how the Joker will enact his plan yet, but what he does have planned is so horrible that it even frightens Harley Quinn, who is having mixed feelings because the Joker isn’t acting like her “Mr J” anymore. I would go so far as to say as readers this isn’t our “Mr J” anymore either. This is the most frightening version of the Joker I have read. He is more calculating and unpredictable than he’s ever been, and that is a scary thing! “Death of the Family” not only pays homage to, but seems like Snyder and Capullos love letter to “A Death in the Family” and “The Killing Joke.” This whole issue was suspenseful and thrilling all the way through, and has a last page cliffhanger that is just jaw dropping!

Now it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t bring up how beautiful the art is on this book! Until this point Greg Capullo had been doing the work of his life on this book, and this issue takes it to a whole new level! The dark tone of the city is just breathtaking and the way the Joker is drawn is flat out scary. From the pencils to the inks to the colors and even the lettering, this art team has hit their groove and is working like a well-oiled machine to put out some fantastic pages!

Most creative teams that are on a book for a fair amount of time have that one story that defines or solidifies their run as something people will remember forever. This very well could be that story for Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.

This issue hits stores this Wednesday, October 10th and will feature a special die cut cover. I would highly recommend adding it to your pull list or getting to your comic shop when it opens because this issue will definitely sell out! And for those of you looking for more “Death of the Family” story Batgirl #13 is also out this week, will also feature a die cut cover, and is labeled as a “prelude” to this story.

A good gaming headset can go a long way in adding to the enjoyment of any game you’re playing, not to mention prevent forcing others around you to listen to you playing the game (aside from you yelling obscenities into the microphone). I upgraded from the standard microphone “headset” that comes with the Xbox 360 to a pair of Turtle Beach x11’s and quite enjoyed them all the way up until they just flat out broke about 2 months ago. I treat my gadgets with a lot of care, so I was quite shocked after a night of gaming when I took my headset off and one of the ear cups just plain snapped. Not wanting to go drop more cash on another headset right away, I patched them up with duck tape and continued to use them. This worked okay, but of course now they didn’t fit right and frankly I was shocked that they had just broken like they did.

Luckily, Skullcandy just released their first product from their line of gaming headsets, the “SLYR”. Now, an audiophile I am not, but I own a pair of Skullcandy Aviators that I use to listen to music, podcast etc., and the sound quality sounds great to me – so I wasn’t the least bit hesitant to jump on another product from them. Being that the only other gaming headset I have owned were the Turtle Beach x11’s, there will be some comparisons and I’ll break down why these SLYR’s are a fine product.

First off, I want to note that the SLYR’s are wired headsets, which I don’t mind. I game a lot, but not enough to drop a few hundred dollars on a decent pair of wireless headsets. The cables don’t bother me at all. That said, the Skullcandy SLYR’s plug directly into the audio out channels of your television set, into the USB port of the Xbox 360 for power, run through their GMX In-Mixer to your controller and headset. Yes, it sounds like a lot of cable, but for anyone out there who has owned a non-wireless headset before this should all be pretty standard. The SLYR’s have plenty of cable length so you don’t feel so tethered and they are arranged in such away that your cables aren’t getting tangled up all the time.

The GMX In-Mixer is easy to use, and lit up by a blue light. Toggle up and down for master volume, left and right to adjust game audio and voice balance, press to mute which will turn the light from blue to red to indicate you are muted and it’s safe to talk to your significant other in your “cutesy voice” without being ridiculed by your teammates. Located on the side of the mixer are three presets for music, movies and games. My only gripe about the mixer is the position of it. It’s a bit far “down” on the cable and I found myself more than once having to reach down to grab it for a quick mute or volume adjustment. It’s a small gripe remedied by just pulling a little slack on the cable so it will rest next to me.

The stereo sound quality is great. With great sound and a rich bass the quality is much better than my old x11’s. My game of choice for my first run with the SLYR’s was Battlefield 3 and the game just sounded fantastic – explosions were jarring, directional sound allowed for me to pinpoint where gunfire was coming from and the entire hectic feel of the battlefield translated perfectly through the audio. Chatting with my teammate for the evening, Kill-Tacular-Tron, sounded much better as well, and after a few small adjustments on the mixer I had the game audio and voice mix exactly where I like it. The audio over all is superior quality, the only downside is that with my previous headset my own voice could be heard through the headset at a lower level to prevent talking too loud into the mic. With the SLYR’s, I couldn’t hear myself and found I had to watch the volume of my voice, but this is something I grew accustomed to quickly. As far as my microphone goes, Kill-Tacular-Tron noted that I sounded much clearer to him when talking and it lacked the slightly muffled effect experienced with the x11’s.

As far as design goes, the SLYR’s were far and away more comfortable than the x11’s. The ear cups fit of my ears that felt both snug and comfortable. With my previous headset I found myself having to adjust them a few times during extended game play, but with the SLYR’s I didn’t need to adjust them a single time once they were on my head. The boom mic position is great; it sits far enough from your face not to be a distraction, but close enough to pick up your voice very well. An added bonus is that you can fold the mic up into the headset (“EZ Stash”), so if you are watching a movie or decide to unhook the line from your Xbox to take these out for use with you MP3 player of choice you don’t have a microphone hovering by your cheek. It sounds silly, but I really found this to be a great feature as I took them for a movie-watching test drive later that evening. The design is very sturdy with limited moving parts and hinges, so I feel less likely to break these or wearing out any unnecessary joints from consistent use.

I am extremely pleased with the Skullcandy SLYR’s, and for those of you looking for a quality gaming headset in the less-than-a-hundred-dollar price range I don’t hesitate in recommending these. Even after trying out a pair of Turtle Beach x12’s (the usurper to the x11’s) prior to purchasing the Skullcandy SLYR’s, I can say the SLYR’s are the superior gaming headset in this price range. With superior sound, comfort and design I would say the SLYR’s don’t just rival other gaming headsets out there, but set the standard. If you’re in the market for a new gaming headset and are looking to spend less than $100, you should definitely pick up a pair of SLYR’s.

Summary: The Skullcandy SLYR’s offer fantastic stereo sound with rich bass along with superior comfort. The GMX In-Mixer is easy to use and allows for easy game audio and voice balance adjustments and the addition of the EZ Stash mic allows for this headset to be used for more than just gaming, offering more bang for your buck making it extremely easy to recommend this product for anyone in the market for a new gaming headset.

PROS:

• Fantastic stereo sound
• Superior comfort, especially over extended game play sessions
• EZ Stash mic that allows for other uses without having a mic visible
• GMX In-Mixer is user friendly
• Sturdy design

CONS:

• The mic does not allow you to hear your own voice at a lower level through the headset, a feature found on a few other products in this price range
• The GMX In-Mixer position could stand to be moved up that cable a bit for easier access

You can pick up a pair of the SLYR’s over at skullcandy.com, as well as check out the other two gaming headsets that are coming soon, the PLYR1 and PLYR2!

Tomorrow night, the CW will be airing a pilot for a brand new show based on The Green Arrow mythos. For the show’s title, they’ve dropped the “Green” so it’s just called “Arrow” which is kind of lame, but they must have had some reason or another for it.

Though it has some major departures in the existing DC Comics Green Arrow story, it sticks pretty closely to it where it should. Oliver Queen (played by Stephen Amell) is still a fabulously wealthy fellow, stranded on a desert island where he learns to become the Green Arrow and comes back to fight against injustice and corporate malevolence and greed.

When I saw the pilot, I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting anything. I assumed it would be a cheesy retread of how they did Smallville or a defecation on the characters (like Birds of Prey). Though Smallville was never my thing, it had a devoted audience who loved how they handled the comics material, so I assumed the CW would stick to their winning formula. For the sake of myself and comic fans everywhere, I’m glad they didn’t.

Arrow is relatively straightforward and puts Ollie in the costume right in the first episode. His origin is only barely hinted at in between very strong and well filmed action sequences. It also had some really surprising moments, particularly of scenes between Ollie and his father.

I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Perhaps it was because I was expecting so little that I really enjoyed what I saw.

Does it have problems? Yes. It does have some cheesy CW acting moments. Amell’s Ollie is played seriously and almost bored at this point. It has some incredibly hard to swallow leaps in logic as far as the story goes… like a bank-account hacking arrow no one seems to notice… But I digress.

The point is that I really enjoyed it despite its flaws and feel like it’ll grow as the show gets its sea legs. It has potential. If the writers and producers of the show keep at it and work on the quality and work on the kinks from their pilot, they’ve got a really good show on their hands that’ll be pleasing to both a regular CW audience and a comics fan like me.

And speaking of comics fans, there’s plenty of classic Green Arrow references to put a smile on your face, namely Speedy’s drug use. If they tackle that at some point and build toward it (as opposed to it just being a throwaway wink and nod), then I’ll be watching this show every week.

Seriously. I’m just as surprised as anyone.

Now I just need to figure out how to get CW shows after they air since I don’t have a DVR.

Arrow’s premiere is tomorrow, Wednesday, October 10, from 8-9pm. (Check your local listings though).

I’m terribly excited for this film and I’m glad to see their embracing some of the 8-bit, 80s roots with the marketing campaign. This is totally the sort of commercial you’d see for an arcade in the 80s. It’s even better than the commercials for Noah’s Arcade in Wayne’s World.

Wreck-it Ralph hits theatres in less than a month.