In today’s “Boo-F&$%ing-Hoo News”, apparently some 63 people are upset because Thor points out that his brother Loki is adopted in the film, Marvel’s The Avengers.

Mark the date people, this is the date we are officially not allowed to joke about anything, ever, because it might just happen to rub 63 people the wrong way.

For the seven people out there who have yet to see this film, allow me to present you with the dialogue from The Avengers that has just upset 63 people to the point of not being able to function in their daily lives until Marvel/Disney issue an apology:

Steve Rogers: I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here.

Bruce Banner: I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.

Thor: Take care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.

Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.

Thor: He’s adopted.

Grab your pitchforks everyone! Thor just implied that all adopted people are destined to become mass-murderers! You know, or not.

Jamie Berke was so upset by this line from The Avengers she started a petition. Setting her sights reasonably low, she is looking for 100 signatures.

Marvel Comics – with one line that you carelessly failed to edit out of the script for the Avengers movie, you have insulted adopted children, adult adoptees, and adoptive parents!

In your new movie, The Avengers, the character Black Widow says “He (Loki) killed 80 people in 2 days.” Then the Thor character replies, “He’s adopted.”

Sooo..according to your scriptwriter, the fact he was adopted is the reason he is a bad guy!

Being adopted is NOT something to use for the butt of jokes! Marvel, immediately cease using adoption as the butt of jokes AND issue a public apology to the adoption community!

Miss Berke, the implication made here is not that the reason Loki is evil is because he is adopted, but that Thor is merely distancing himself from the atrocities his brother has committed by noting that he is not blood-related, and in my opinion, inferring that his evil tendencies have nothing to do with his upbringing by Odin (their father) – also it’s a joke and a factual plot point. Throughout the entire film Thor pleads with his brother (aside from this one instance not once does Thor refer to him as anything but just “brother”) to stop the madness he is bringing down on the world, even trying to appeal to fond childhood memories and the close bond they shared growing up. It is very clear that Thor thinks of Loki as nothing but family. Why am I even explaining this?!

All joking aside, adoption is an awesome thing. It brings children to families who perhaps cannot have children of their own (an issue very close to my own heart), and it brings families to those children who -for a multitude of reasons- don’t have one, I get why it can be a sensitive subject. But I find it incredibly hard to believe that the adoption community as a whole are so offended by an off-hand joke in a movie, nor were they ignorant enough to perceive that it in anyway implied that adopted people are evil.

If you are adopted or are a relative of an adopted family member, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave them in the comments below!

In the past couple hours news has been breaking all over the internet because Cougar Town, a comedy in it’s third season on ABC has been purchased by TBS. TBS not only purchased the rights to the show in order to make another season but they have also purchased all of the past episodes from the 3 seasons.

What is significant about all of this is the potential for cable channels to purchase dying shows from network television and keep them going for their audiences. I am a big fan of Cougar Town, have any of you watched it? What do you think of cable channels like TBS picking up Network shows for new seasons?

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates what would have been Howard Carter’s 138^th birthday.  I have to admit that I first learned about Howard Carter from the pilot episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Egypt, 1908). A very very young Indy and his parents visited Egypt, and the future fedora-wearing archaeologist met the man who would eventually become one of the most celebrated names in the field.  Carter later makes an appearance in Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye, in which an older young Indy (portrayed by Sean Patrick Flanery) encounters his old friend while traveling the globe in search of treasure.

Howard Carter’s greatest achievement was discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen (“Tut”).  He was born on May 9, 1874, and his first job was working for an archaeologist who needed someone to draw discovered artifacts.  He continued to work for variety of archaeologists throughout the years until a man named Lord Carnarvon hired him to lead the expedition to search for Tut’s tomb.

When a young boy found a stone step while digging in the desert, they knew they were on the verge of a remarkable discovery.  On November 6, 1922, Carter and Carnarvon entered the tomb, raising to immediate stardom the boy king.  It was the most well-preserved tomb of all that were excavated, and the interior was filled with a multitude of objects the king might need in the afterlife.  Among them were chariots, a throne, a treasure chest, jewelry, and the now-famous golden mask of the mummified king.

Visitors to Egypt can currently visit the tomb and see the remains of Tut, preserved under glass.  The number of tourists has been limited to just one thousand per day, since the trampling feet of eager would-be Egyptologists has taken its toll on the sacred site.  Plans are to close the site in the future and direct tourists to an exact replica, but Tut’s mummy will remain in its original resting place.

Howard Carter died in 1939 from lymphoma, but his discovery gave us new insights into the world of the pharaohs and changed the face of archaeology forever.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced that Avengers 2 is now officially a “go.” With opening weekend sales well above $200 million (and that’s only in the US!) we were pretty sure this announcement was on its way.

With the current lineup set for Iron Man 3, Captain America 2, and Thor 2 – most guesses put the tentative release of Avengers 2 for sometime in 2015.

If you still haven’t seen The Avengers (are you CRAZY?) then I really, honestly am telling you that you should get out there and see what is sure to be the most awesome movie of the year. It climbed my top movies list all the way to the top 5 along with Empire Strikes Back, Last Crusade, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I spent most of the film laughing, cheering and clapping along with everyone  around me in a completely packed Los Angeles theater. The whole night was one of the best real movie-going experiences I’ve had in a long time – one where I spent every second absolutely engrossed in the film. I was actually relatively shocked after it had ended that it had really been almost two and a half hours long. Usually, I’m not a huge fan of long movies, but I didn’t want The Avengers to end.

Also, since not many people have commented on this yet, I wanted to say that I was pretty happy with Colbie Smulder’s performance as Shield Agent Maria Hill. If you haven’t seen this awesome photo circulating around the internet yet please allow me to share its awesomeness with you:

Have I really not convinced you to go see The Avengers yet? Watch this and re-consider:

There is a shortage of tangible items from our favorite shows. How many times have you watched Battlestar Galactica and thought to yourself: I want a notebook like that, and those playing cards? Need.

Well, that’s where The Novo Geek comes in. They’re a new website dedicated to bringing us little bits of geek into every day life… From not-gaudy Star Trek neck ties to elegant BSG cuff links, they’re launching a whole host of products that we can actually use.

You can check out their website here. They are starting small, but it seems like every month they’ll be adding more and more cool stuff.

But! In the meantime! They’ve provided us with two new items from their catalogue that we can give away as a set to you, dear reader of Big Shiny Robot!

Remember that notebook and those same cards I mentioned earlier? We’re giving them away!

All you need to do is comment below and let us know what item from your favorite sci-fi show you’d like to see sold on a site like this.

The contest will close on Friday, May 11, 2012.

Operation: Montauk, which will make its official debut at Origins Game Fair at the end of the month, is now available for pre-order.

Operation: Montauk is a time-traveling science fiction novel patterned after the pulp-adventure stories of the 1920s and 1930s.

Lost in time after a failed attempt to kill Hitler before his rise to power, World War II soldier Cpl. Jack Mallory finds himself stranded, his whole team killed, nearly 100 Million years off course. Together with a group of other wayward time travelers, Mallory has to fight to survive in a hostile environment swarming with dinosaurs. Desperate to find a way home, the community of lost travelers searches for any solution that might send them all home and unlock the secret that shipwrecked them on the shores of time…

But the jungle holds a secret from Mallory’s future-past…

…and it’s out to kill them all!

I wrote the book with my son in mind, so it’s an all ages sci-fi adventure I hope you’ll all enjoy. It’s being published by “Silence in the Library”, a publisher dedicated to all-ages sci-fi and fantasy.

In addition to premiering the book at Origins, I’ll be appearing on writing panels and signing books.

To preorder, simply choose your method of shipping or pickup and your copy will be secure.

After Origins, I have book signings planned in Downtown Salt Lake and Father’s Day Weekend I’ll be at Denver Comic-Con in the artist alley, signing books.  If you’re going to be in any of these places, forgo the shipping costs and click the “pick up” option.

For those of you interested, the first chapter has been added as a bonus to the Amazon Kindle version of Lost at the Con.

UPDATE 05/07/12 2:35pm MT: The official numbers are in, and The Avengers actually pulled in a bit more than estimated! $207.4 million is the official domestic take for May 4-6!

Joss Whedon, Disney, and Marvel officially have a mega-hit on their hands with Marvel’s The Avengers!

Leading up to the US opening of the film last week, it was reported that pre-sale ticket sales were already huge, and that momentum carried on through the weekend. Starting with midnight screenings The Avengers brought in an impressive $18.7 million, totalling to $80.5 million for all day Friday, $69.7 million on Saturday, and a projected $50.1 million on Sunday – bringing the total to $200.3 million, handily breaking the opening-weekend record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169.1 million. Adding this domestic figure to the amount The Avengers has made internationally after 12 days of release brings the global total to $641.8 million (the film cost around $220 million to make)!

Both critics and audiences have been heaping praise on this movie, and I think these numbers just add to the hype fact that this is just a tremendous film. Of course, these figures bode well for the Marvel movie franchise as they move into what they are calling “Phase 2”, with sequels planned for Iron Man (which actually begins shooting next month), Captain America, Thor, and of course, a second Avengers film.

I, like so many of you, caught a midnight showing and plan to see it at least two more times. Seeing a film of this magnitude, bringing all of those other films together, and so well executed almost almost brought tears of joy to my eyes. I grew up reading the comics, playing with the action figures, watching the cartoons – and to see all of these elements brought together larger than life on the big screen it such a way was damn-near overwhelming. I believe a film such as this doesn’t set these types of records unless it is deserving of it, and I assure you, what Joss Whedon and company have done here is very deserving of the audience they brought in in one weekend.

I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration when I say a new bar has been set for superhero films, including The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man due for release later this year. While I have very high hopes for Nolan’s conclusion to his Batman trilogy (The Dark Knight Rises brought in a whopping $158.4 million on its opening weekend), I don’t know if it will be able to beat this new record set by The Avengers – but then again, no one predicted a $200 million plus weekend for this film, so anything is possible!

Welcome to the Summer movie season folks, it’s off to an amazing start!

Be sure to check out our reviews of Marvel’s The Avengers by CitizenBot and Swank-mo-tron, and come discuss the film in our Open Thread!

The final volume in the popular Wheel of Time series by late author Robert Jordan now has a cover, and the artist responsible for this long-awaited novel is Michael Whelan.  Much as Brandon Sanderson stepped in to take over the reigns after Jordan passed away, Whelan’s contribution comes in the wake of original artist Darrell K. Sweet’s death.

Whelan’s work is probably familiar to fans of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.  He has also illustrated the covers for many of Melanie Rawn’s earlier works, as well as novels by Anne McCaffrey, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, and many others.  I believe he was the perfect artist for the final Wheel of Time book, entitled Memory of Light.

According to Tor:

In keeping with the series’ covers, the scene gathers elements from a key scene in the book. Here, Rand stands with Callandor on the rocks of Shayol Ghul, heading down into its depths to confront the Dark One even as the sun itself vanishes from the world. Two Aes Sedai follow the Dragon Reborn into the mouth of darkness, two women who have been with Rand since the very beginning.

In the Tor article, Whelan details his process in creating what is sure to be an iconic image, from getting the right reference photos for the cave to finding just the right coat for Rand to wear.  And it’s certainly a Whelan piece.  Having been a fan of his for years, I can usually identify his work simply by looking at it.  There’s just something about the way he depicts people and his use of lighting.  There is strength in Rand’s stance.  And Whelan often includes many symbols and images important to the novel in his book covers.  He really pays attention to the source material.

I think it’s a stunning cover, but then, I’m a fan of the artist.  I think Whelan is absolutely brilliant, and it pained me when he moved away from doing book covers and focused more on gallery pieces.  One of my favorite Whelan works is entitled Yours Truly: Yoda, and it’s a wonderful image of my beloved diminutive Jedi Master.  He appears to be pondering as he prepares to write something on a scroll, quill in hand.  I suppose the instruments may seem archaic for the Star Wars universe, but he was stranded on a swamp planet, after all.  Maybe it’s all he had.

Memory of Light is scheduled for release January 8, 2013.

So, forgive my “mistake” yesterday regarding the original Black Widow being in Joss Whedon’s Avengers film. Of course I knew that was the case, and just used it as an excuse to showcase an otherwise obscure and offbeat character. Now, when it comes to the “real” Black Widow, her comic origin is actually pretty convoluted. The movies thankfully make it incredibly succinct. Essentially, she was a Russian spy, met Hawkeye, and had a change of loyalties. The comics had her on a nearly 8-year journey to end up on the side of the angels full-time. As such, it’s really difficult to pin down an origin issue for her, per se. Instead, We’ll be looking at the moment where Natasha Romanov emerges from her cocoon and because the Black Widow we know today. Enough mixed metaphors, let’s get on with the Secret Origin (kind of) of The Black Widow!

As our tale begins, Black Widow is observing Spider-Man swinging across the New York City skyline, as he likes to do. The Widow is apparently looking to re-invent herself as is looking to the wall-crawler for inspiration. I guess that makes sense. They’re both kind of spidery, after all. As such, she decides to learn the secret of Spidey’s powers so she can make them her own. Instead of actually going and you know doing that though, she swings into the apartment she apparently keeps for herself. It’s there where she laments on her convoluted past. This means we get a handy montage/flashback so I don’t have to explain it all to you guys!

Natasha continues to get her reminisce on, recounting her romance with Hawkeye, how Nick Fury recruited her on her first S.H.I.E.L.D. mission that ultimately resulted in the death of her husband… So um yeah, I’d probably be having a bit of an identity crisis myself. To wit: Natasha decides her jet-setting Madame Natasha persona isn’t getting her anywhere, so it’s time to focus on being the Black Widow. What better way to do that than an impromptu costume change!

And so, with an outfit from the Emma Peel catalog, Black Widow sets out to catch Spider-Man in her web. This is actually a bit odd to me. Her whole deal for hunting down Spidey is to find out his shtick, but she already seems to be aping it pretty well. In fact, she’s doing such a fine job imitating the web-head that a certain crotchety publisher makes a (chauvinistic) note about it…

Since this is a Marvel comic, and coincidence is the word of the day, it doesn’t take too long for the Widow to encounter Spidey. Not one for formal introductions, Natasha announces herself in a way only she can…

What follows is an interesting cat & mouse game between two spiders. Now, it should be noted that Spidey’s not exactly bringing his ‘A’ game here. Last issue the Kingpin knocked his keister around pretty good, and he’s having some performance issues due to grogginess. With the playing field relatively even, Spidey falls back on his other great tactic, talking. Once he finds out he’s up against the widow, he pretty much point-blank asks her why they’re fighting, seeing as she’s already teamed with the Avengers at this point. The Widow isn’t really one for giving up information like that though, so she kicks the webspinner around a bit more. Because of said grogginess, he doesn’t put up much of a fight so Black Widow ends up with one trussed up spider in no time flat.

Thinking she has the upper hand, she gloats about how the vaunted Spider-Man is such a pushover. At this moment, Spider-Man decides that maybe he shouldn’t let it get out that he’s in such a bad way, so he breaks out of the Widow’s snare and pours on the bravado. The Widow takes the bait, thinking Spider-Man has just been toying with her the whole time. Simultaneously, she realises that a hasty retreat is in order, because she’s not finding out what makes the wall-crawler tick today.

Returning to her loft, the Widow ruminates on the events of the day, and starts upon the path that makes her the prominent figure she is today…

After this, Natasha would join the Champions, eventually becoming their leader. Becoming more confident in herself and her abilities, she would be Daredevil’s partner/lover for a time. After that series of adventures, she became a full-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent & would of course come to join the Avengers on a more permanent basis, even becoming leader of that illustrious group for a time. All in all, from KGB spy to honored member of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, ‘Tasha has certainly come a long way.

This story originally appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #86 July, 1970. It has been reprinted in Essential Spider-Man Vol 4. and Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 9.

Recently we shared that Starz’ original series Spartacus would be adding two new roles to the third season of the hit show:  Marcus Crassus and Julius Caesar.  Now, a trio of lovely ladies has also been added to the growing cast.

Anna Hutchinson is quite possibly the most well-known of the three.  She recently appeared in Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods as well as portraying the Yellow Cheetah Ranger in Power Rangers Jungle Fury.  She also appeared in an episode in the short-lived series Legend of the Seeker based on the books by Terry Goodkind.

Hutchison will play Laeta, the privileged wife of a Roman dignitary who becomes entangled in the struggle against Spartacus. Her life and those of the ones she loves are forever changed by the conflict.

This could mean a couple of different things.  Perhaps she’ll be like poor Seppia, and everyone she knows will die as a result of political plots or in the battle against Spartacus.  Or, she’ll fall in love with the muscular hero, abandoning her comfortable life and joining the revolt.  The plots of the nobility on this show are just as entertaining to watch as the battle sequences at times.

Jenna Lind is a classically trained actress from Sydney, Australia.  I didn’t recognize the names of anything that she has appeared in, but she will play Kore, Marcus Crassus’ loyal slave.   Crassus steps into the void left by the unfortunate Glaber, and now it’s up to him to destroy Spartacus and his rebellion.

Gwendoline Taylor, from New Zealand, will play Sibyl, a beautiful young slave rescued from Roman cruelty. Now free, she will embark on a journey that will touch the lives of key leaders in the rebellion.

I may be so bold as to venture a guess that Sibyl may become Spartacus’ next love interest, if any of the women in his life since Sura can be called such.  As far as male protoganists go, he isn’t the best guy to have as a boyfriend.  Sure, he’s good-looking, and handy in battle, and strong, but . . . not only is his heart still devoted to his late wife, but most women in his life tend to suffer the same fate.

Time will tell what the writers have planned for this trio of beauties.  But we can easily predict that all of them will end up sans clothing at least once, and likely one or more will be dead by the end of the season.  Blood runs and flesh is bared in every episode, and season three is not likely to be any different.