As online distribution continues to evolve with minisodes and blogs (like this one!), Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy and Firefly, plans to bring to the internet Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Set to be released in three segments for free viewing, the show stars Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Slither) and Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother).

A musical, the plot will focus around the villainous Dr. Horrible (Harris) fighting his nemesis Captain Hammer. The movie airs online July 15th and will eventually make it’s way to DVD with rumored bonus footage.

image courtesy www.drhorrible.com

credit: Image

Amory Wars, Vol. 1: The Second Stage Turbine Blade TPB (Image) - Hey Coheed & Cambria fans! Be one among the fence and get this book, which reworks the already existing Coheed comics and completes the storyline (which is incomplete without the other albums’ series). Did I mention all of C&C’s albums are about an epic space saga that the band plans to release in comic form? No? I’m sure I did. Read the rest of this entry »

Ludo Down

Ludo is one of those popular unknown bands. You can find hardcore, really intense fans all across campus, but outside of this close-knit cult, few know of this pop-punk emo band. They have come to the Canopy Club several times in the past year.

With the release of their sophomore (technically) album, “You’re Awful, I Love You”, today that may soon change. Read the rest of this entry »

The song can be heard on
the upcoming album,
And Other Distractions,
set for release Feb. 12

I heard this song on the radio awhile back and was instantly drawn in. The song is “Hail to The Geek” by dEAf PEdESTRIANS and it describes rather accurately to the lives of us geeks. This replaced “The Geeks Get The Girls” by American Hi-Fi as my nerd anthem. I think it was the part about “I’ve got a Spider-man t-shirt” that hooked me as I have two.

I asked the members of the band a few questions about the song and why it is eerily accurate. A special thanks to drummer Russ Dignam for arranging this interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Marvelous. Simply Marvelous. There is a lot out this week on the Marvel side of things. A long awaited comic series by Image concludes this week and Deadpool appears in not just one, but two titles! Read the rest of this entry »

From Rags To Riches, From Riches To Rags

One of the exciting things about the comic book industry boom of late is the ability publishers are having to tread new waters. Ideas and concepts that wouldn’t have been marketable in the medium years ago are now given the shot to reach a wide audience.

Comic books are not just for comic book nerds anymore.

I am not a listener of Rap or Hip-Hop. Given the choice I’d rather listen to suburban white kids screaming in the background of complaints about how their parents aren’t “fair” - but that’s just me. When I came across Sentences: The Life of M.F. Grimm I was skeptical. How could I enjoy a book about a subculture I knew nothing about? Read the rest of this entry »

Cut It Out

I’m a comic book guy, so why am I giving my two bits about a movie? Well, many people know that Sweeney Todd the movie is based on the Stephen Sondheim Sweeny Todd musical from the late 70s and 80s. What fewer know is the musical was based on an obscure 1840 penny dreadful titled The String of Pearls.

Wikipedia attributes the creation of Sweeney Todd to Thomas Peckett Prest, a hack writer that plagiarized the works of Charles Dickens among writing other penny dreadfuls. The original String of Pearls was published by Edward Lloyd, a man constantly on the run for plagiarism and other illegal enterprises. When Lloyd published a book, according to Dick Collins in his introduction to the Wordsworth Edition, he would buy a story cheap from the original writer and then have his hacks, Prest and J.M. Rymer (supposed creator of Varney the Vampire) creatively edit the work so they could pass it off as their work. Read the rest of this entry »

Spidey Swings Into Broadway… And Into Our Hearts

Credit: Marvel

According to Playbill, Bono of U2 will be contributing music to an upcoming Spider-man musical. What story from Spidey’s life - origin, death of Gwen Stacy, etc - will be the focus of the musical is not yet known. Oddly, the Spider-man musical is not the only super hero musical in production.

David Bowie is also rumored to be developing a rock opera based on Alan Moore’s classic Watchmen series.

With musicals reemerging in the collective consciousness, on film and on stage, it makes sense that this corner of popular culture would be ransacked. Hopefully the musicals will strike a chord with new and old fans alike.

Media Credit:
Photo Courtesy of
idwpublishing.com

“Well personally, I want to slay the dragon.”

Angel the vampire returns after a brief hiatus, Victorian era Batman meets the Challengers of the Unknown, Marvel’s space epic concludes, My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way’s steam punk series continues, and “Speedball” fights Wolverine. Read the rest of this entry »