Nicol Bolas, the main planeswalker (interdimensional mage), in Magic: The Gathering has been revealed as a card in the new expansion, Conflux, which comes out in three weeks, according to MTGSalvation.com.

Nicol Bolas 4UBBR

Planeswalker - Bolas

+3: Destroy target noncreature permanent.
-2: Gain control of target creature.
-9: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker deals 7 damage to target player. That player discards seven cards, then sacrifices seven permanents.

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The new year approaches, as does the next Magic: The Gathering expansion, Conflux, the second set in the Shards of Alara block. The spoiler is up at MTGSalvation.com, one of the largest and most accurate Magic fansites on the net.

Unlike most sets of Magic, which focus on the five colors of Magic cards (which correspond to the different requirements to use the cards) acting solo, or on two color combinations, Alara so far has focused on tri-color combos, each configuration representing a unique location in the Magic universe.

So far of what’s posted, 27 cards as of right now, there are some reprints as well as some fantastic new rares. Cards like Giltspire Avenger and Noble Hierarch are cards that I’m already going to add to my “You Bant Always Get What You Want” deck. This set will hopefully get players psyched for this set, as there is a lot of negative net and store chatter about Shards in comparison with the previously released blocks.

You’ve probably already seen this, but I think this is a great song. It’s festive, funny and these guys are really talented.

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days of Christmas

I apologize for this post’s brevity, but I’m on the road for the holidays.

Magic has announced the theme for their next Duel Deck: Divine vs. Demonic. Focusing on a presumably white and black colored deck, featuring Angels and Demons respectively, each deck will focus on those tribes. So far none of the cards have been released, but some contend that the card Akroma, Angel of Wrath will be in the deck due to some promo art that featured a purple-haired angel.

These decks will hopefully be as good as the past two special decks, and after seeing the fantastic new symbol for the set, I can’t wait to see these cards. I’m almost more excited for this set than for the second set in Shards of Alara, Conflux.

image courtesy Wizards of the Coast

Andy Richter, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris and Scrubs‘ Sarah Chalke are a few of the stars that appear in the online exclusive musical, Prop 8, a tongue and cheek parody of the debate over gay marriage in California.

Written by Marc Shaiman of Hairspray fame and debuting on the comedy website Funny or Die, Prop 8 has already gathered a smattering of media attention due to its star studded cast and hilarious delivery, like Jack Black playing Jesus or Neil Patrick Harris appearing just because he’s Neil Patrick Harris.

Now of course this musical is biased towards one side of the debate, and arguably skews religious argument for their own agenda (like omitting New Testament examples), but the purpose of satire is to poke fun and laugh, which this short does. Check it out!

The new trailer for 2009’s Star Trek is online, appeasing angry fans who were appalled at the film’s continuing backpedaled release date. The film will explore the early years of the original Star Trek’s cast, focusing mainly on Captain James T. Kirk and the emotionless Vulcan, Spock.

While the movie may not appeal to non Trekkies, this film is designed to appeal to a wider audience, hopefully revitalizing the franchise in ways the recent and canceled TV show Enterprise could not. To do this, mainstream flavor of the month actors were cast in the lead roles, Heroes‘ Zachary Quinto as Spock, Hot Fuzz’s Simon Pegg and Harold and Kumar’s John Cho as Sulu.

I already have an opinion about the film, as you can probably tell. I’ll hold off from bashing until the movie rears it’s ugly head, but until then form your own opinion after watching a young Kirk jump out of a car and slide to the edge of a cliff…

I Am A Thousand Of Them

I’ve always been a fan of the Magic: The Gathering worlds - even when I stopped playing the game I continued to read the novels based on each expansion. The Magic worlds are influenced by mythology and modern concepts, and the stories that take place in them are always good reads.

Magic.com has posted the first of three webcomics focusing on the planeswalker Garruk Wildspeaker. Written by Flavor Text Editor and recent Eventide development head Doug Beyer, this is a great short story that helps to expand the Magic mythology.

For those of us wanting a quick refresher course on Deadpool before his new series begins in September, Marvel has set up the Deadpool Saga online, a quick comic designed to explore Deadpool’s history in the Marvel Universe. Take a look if you are interested.

p.s. I’m heading off to San Diego Comic Con, so I’ll be sure to update as the week unfolds.

courtesy Warner Bros.

Those of you who went to see The Dark Knight this weekend saw the trailer for the highly-anticipated movie adaptation to Alan Moore’s Watchmen, the first comic book ever collected in trade paperback.

The trailer looks awesome, and I’m looking forward to this movie, even though Alan Moore doesn’t approve. The comic is about an allegorical set of super heroes now in retirement. It’s the 1980s and the height of the Cold War. The comic is a tome, 12 issues, but well worth the read. The storyline is brilliant, but filled with all sorts of homage and allusions to comics. In fact, the world of Watchmen is a reflection of DC’s history, and acts as a massive love letter to comics fans. The movie will most likely remove a lot of these nuances to make the film more appealing to a wider audience.

All in all, this will most likely be a box office hit. Comic fans have known about Watchmen for years, and hopefully hype up to the film’s release will send people to bookstores to see what it’s about.

BOOM! Studios is putting out a four part miniseries featuring writer Gary Phillips sharing his background and knowledge of Los Angeles, the foundation of his new series High Rollers.

This series has been an unexpected hit for BOOM!, and Phillips continues his comic writing career, which focuses on crime and the underworld. This is a good bonus for the many fans of this book, and also a good look at a writer’s process. Check the video out below, and look for future installments on YouTube.