Aidan Turner talks The Hobbit and Being Human

Being Human is the talk of the town lately. Not to mention the look of the town (there's posters for it all over NYC). New fans are discovering the vampire, werewolf, ghost-living together concept for the first time thanks to the new U.S. version, while others enjoyed the premiere of Season 3 on BBC America recently. The vampire heart-throb from the BBC, Aidan Turner is not only basking in the success of the hit show, he's gearing up for a role in one of the most highly-anticipated films coming out in the next few years - The Hobbit.

While I could easily invision a clean-shaven Turner as one of the Elves in the tale, he's actually taking on the role of one of the Dwarves. Kili to be exact. On set, he recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly (Be careful if you click over to read the entire piece on EW, there are spoilers for several episodes into Season 3.) about his particularly un-shaven appearance. "I’m growing out the beard. We’re giving it a chance," he said, "Famously in the books, the dwarves have really long beards, so we’re just trying stuff out and seeing what it looks like."

Turner mentioned he's currently in dwarf boot-camp to prepare for the role. "I can’t really give too much away," he said, "But it’s pretty much everything. It’s physical training and everything you can imagine, really. I guess just working as an actor helps you for these things. It’s more physical than anything else, but there’s dialect coaching and all those kind of things."

The actor said his Being Human co-stars are "thrilled" for him to be taking on Kili and that this is a busy season for Mitchell on the BBC show. "There is this whole host of things that he gets tied up with," he said. "He’s all over the place, feeling so guilty about so many other things."

In the first episode, Turner's character was told he's going to be killed by a "wolf-shaped bullet," i.e. a werewolf, sometime in the near future. Does he know who it will be? "I would pretty much have to know, wouldn’t I? [Laughs] Can I tell you? Probably not." He did, however, speak of a new werewolf in the gang's midst, McNair, played by Robson Green. "He’s fantastic, and his character is amazing. McNair isn’t aware that there are many other werewolves, and George isn’t either, and then they cross paths and open up the doors to this sordid underground torture ring where vampires get werewolves to fight each other."

With the prophetic revelation of his possible demise, fans are left to wonder whether Turner will be sticking around for Season 4, especially with a film career sure to rocket off soon. "I don’t think until the first movie comes out that anything is really going to change. I’m just going to keep working," he said, also saying he is willing to return to the show if schedules allow. "It’s a long shoot over here for The Hobbit. It’s two movies. We haven’t talked yet about dates for series four of Being Human. It’s so up in the air and it’s so far away that I can’t really commit to anything."

A new episode of the U.S. Being Human airs tonight on Syfy and you can catch Season 3 of the original on BBC America's Supernatural Saturdays.

Blog@ 2/21-2/25

In case you missed them, here are the stories I contributed to Blog@Newsarama last week! It was a BUSY week.

Could Nathan Fillion buy Firefly? - Would you chip in a few bucks to see new episodes of Firefly?

Etsy Made Me Do It: Scott Pilgrim - Finally finished the books, finally saw the movie. It's time to go shopping.

Lynda Carter gives her opinion on new Wonder Woman, Adrianne Palicki - We recently found out who would be playing Wonder Woman, now the actress who previously held the role speaks out!

Create your own comic using a Threadless character - Image Comics is sponsoring a fun contest with Threadless (you know, the t-shirt company that steals all your money with their awesome products).

Austin Mayor calls city the 'Green Lantern' - This guy is the coolest. (And you love my mad photoshop skillz)

Keep checking Blog@ for other great comic book/pop-culture stories and reviews from my co-workers and myself!

Superhero Half Marathon and Relay

It's not every day you see superheroes running around town. Now's your chance to make it happen. Join the Superhero Half Marathon and Relay in New Jersey!

On May 15, what's sure to be thousands of runners will take part in the second annual race to benefit the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for spinal cord injury research. According to the website, "Participants run a 13.1 mile USATF certified 500 point course through beautiful Morris County. With ample water and gatorade stations, along with being a spectator friendly course, everyone will be made to feel like the superhero that they are."

The organizers encourage runners to do the run in superhero costumes (though it's not mandatory) and will give prizes for the best ones. Last year Batgirl, Robin, Wonder Woman and Superman showed up among others. The course, which runs through Morris and Harding Townships and Loantaka Park, is mostly flat and therefore easy for beginners to take part in.

There is the option of doing the race as a 2-person relay if you don’t feel up to running it on your own and if you aren't into running at all, they could also use volunteers to help with registration, set up and food and water tables. If you have any questions you can call the Morristown Running Company at 973-401-1300 or, email superherohalf [at] gmail [dot] com.

Are you ready for sexy time with your Wii?

I realize Wii remotes vibrate but I never thought of using my game console as a sex toy. That is, until game developer Ubisoft told me to.

Titled We Dare, this new game from Ubisoft for the Wii and Playstation 3 is raising more than just eyebrows. Via the YouTube summary of the trailer, "We Dare is a sexy, quirky, party game that offers a large variety of hilarious, innovative and physical, sometimes kinky, challenges. The more friends you invite to party, the spicier the play!" Take a look for yourself and see what's in store when playing We Dare. I warn you now, this is incredibly awkward to watch.

I'm trying my best not to make this joke...oh, what the hell? Looks like Ubisoft is going to have to change it's name to Ubihard pretty soon. AMIRITE?

I mean...good lord. I never thought I'd see the day when we'd have sex video games but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, adult board games have been around for years. Key features of We Dare include:

• A wide and varied range of over 35 fun and flirtatious mini-games
• Select the mood of your party
• Dance along to your favourite tunes
• Challenge your mates to a racy strip-tease
• Act out saucy suggestions that you hear through the Wii-mote speakers
• Play with up to 4 friends on Wii and 2 on PS3 Move

Oh but wait, it gets better, "Use the Wii-mote and PS3 Move controller in unbelievable ways, as you’ve never imagined before…wave it around to the beat of your favourite tunes, old and new…put it in your pocket and act-out flirtatious actions...balance it to navigate precarious challenges...sometimes co-operative hugging helps, and it certainly doesn’t hurt."

Yeah, use the controllers in ways you've never imagined? Believe me, people HAVE imagined that and probably put it to the test already. "Put it in your pocket and act-out flirtatious actions?" Is that a Wiimote in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

As of right now, the game is set for a European only release on March 11, cuz us Americans are too uptight for this sort of thing. "This is an invitation to let yourself go, because life is short and what happens in this game... stays in the game!" You know, until the photos wind up on Facebook.

Hey, That's My Cape! - Appreciate Creators NOW

The news of Dwayne McDuffie’s death hit me pretty hard. I wasn’t friends with the writer, but we had corresponded a few times online and I had sat down with him just last week at the world premiere of All-Star Superman to talk about his work on the animated film. I had been a big fan of his starting with the Justice League television show and growing from there so I could hardly consider the interview work. McDuffie was one of the nicest creators I ever had the pleasure of interviewing. Like most of you out there, to say his passing was a shock is an understatement.

For my column this week I decided pretty quickly I wanted to highlight some of my favorite creators and show them I appreciate what they do on a daily basis. I started making a list and easily had 30 names on it before I stopped myself. I realized I could never cover them all appropriately in just one column. The last few years I’ve started some great friendships with comic creators; I’ve also come to admire so many more for their never-ending talent. So instead of attempting to do them all justice in one short space, I decided to pick a few of them at random and go from there.

Read all about it in this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama and join in the celebration of your favorite creators by using the hashtag #CreatorLove on Twitter.

Being A Kid Again: The Anatomy of a GEEK GIRLS Sleepover

A couple weeks ago I told you all I was going to be hosting a Geek Girl Sleepover during Toy Fair and that we'd be sleeping in those Tauntaun sleeping bags. Well, it happened, and it was epic.

All in all, I’d say my first official Geek Girl Sleepover was a huge success. I wish I could have made it even bigger because so many gals said they would have loved to attend. Maybe next time! Enormous thanks go out to ThinkGeek and Midtown Comics for making this geeky dream a reality.

Check out the full report, complete with pictures AND video at Newsarama!!

Christina Hendricks Brings Lois Life in ALL-STAR SUPERMAN

Last week you read my interview with Christina Hendricks about DC heroines and Joss Whedon's The Avengers, now find out what it was like taking on the iconic role of Lois Lane in All-Star Superman, in stores now.

“She is a perfect Lois Lane,” said Voice Director for the film, Andrea Romano. “She’s got power and yet she’s very feminine and that’s why I cast her in the first place because watching her work on Mad Men, she’s very feminine, my goodness, very feminine and yet she’s the head of that office, she runs that office.”

“She’s a little more rough around the edges, this Lois Lane than of course the character I play on Mad Men,” said Hendricks, “but they’re both very strong women and very independent and I don’t think they’re so different necessarily. But [this is] definitely more of an adventurous Lois.”

Read the full interview with Hendricks, Romano and writer of the film, Dwayne McDuffie, right now at Newsarama.

RIP Dwayne McDuffie

Comic book and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie has passed away.

The news came from Comic Book Resources earlier today. The cause of his death is due to complications from a surgical procedure performed Monday evening. McDuffie had just celebrated his 49th birthday on Sunday.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, a large portion of comic book fans know about DC superheroes because of McDuffie's work on the Justice League animated series. He also wrote a few episodes of Teen Titans and wrote and produced Ben 10: Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. McDuffie was also famous for writing the Static Shock animated series, a character he created as part of his Milestone universe. Milestone, created in 1992, was McDuffie's successful attempt at cultural and racial diversity inside and out of comics.

His comic worked spanned over twenty years and included books like Deathlok, Hardware, Icon, Static, Justice League of America and the Fantastic Four.

McDuffie also wrote the Justice League: Heroes video game and worked on the Warner Bros. animated films Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and All-Star Superman, which was just released today. I was at the premiere of that film just last week in New York City and got a chance to sit down with him for a few minutes to talk about it. He's always been such a nice person and never backed down when it came to things he felt passionately about. This is a terribly and tragic loss for the industry. My condolences go out to his wife and family.

Blog@ 2/14-2/18

In case you missed them, here are the stories I contributed to Blog@Newsarama last week! It was a BUSY week.

Your favorite characters as Facebook avatars - If you don’t feel like plastering your face across the internet, might I suggest instead going the less-generic, geek-centric route?

Etsy Made Me Do It: Dungeons & Dragons - Check out these crazy/awesome D&D related items I found on the craft website.

BREAKING: Adrianne Palicki to Play Wonder Woman on NBC! - It’s official. We have our live-action Wonder Woman. That's her pictured above.

Our new Superman on the cover of Entertainement Weekly - Check out Henry Cavill in a Superman t-shirt and see what he has to say about his casting.

This is the THOR trailer you've been waiting to see. - And oh yes, it is epic.

THOR director Kenneth Branagh speaks out post-trailer - See what Thor's director has to say about casting and making the film.

Keep checking Blog@ for other great comic book/pop-culture stories and reviews from my co-workers and myself!

Christina Hendricks Talks All Star Superman, DC Heroines, And Joss Whedon's Avengers

Although her husband is a big fan, Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks was mostly a stranger to the world of comic books when she was approached to play one of the most iconic characters of all time for Warner Bros. I’m talking, of course, about Superman’s main squeeze, Lois Lane, who Hendricks voices in the latest animated feature from DC, All-Star Superman.

However, the actress does have a connection to the Marvel Universe right now due to her friendship and past working relationship (on Firefly) with The Avengers director Joss Whedon.

At the recent world premiere of All-Star Superman in New York City’s Paley Center, I asked if she'd spoke to Whedon about a role in that film.

Head on over to MTV Splash Page to see her answer and find out more about her love of Lois Lane and her fans.

Willingham's Fables, Kirkman's The Walking Dead confirmed as video games!

Telltale Games was hinting recently they had a big comic book property in the works for their next video game. The assumption was The Walking Dead was getting the gamer treatment. Well, it turns out we were right but that's not the only comic franchise getting adapted, Bill Willingham's Fables is also being developed by Telltale!

Telltale kept most of their new projects under wraps, holding off until their big conference tonight, except for their big Jurassic Park game that I'm particularly excited about. According to All Things Digital though, "Today, Telltale Games is announcing an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to develop videogames for the comic-book series Fables, and an exclusive worldwide agreement to develop and publish a series of videogames based on the AMC cable network’s zombie hit The Walking Dead."

Telltale was already working with Universal Pictures on their Jurassic Park and Back to the Future games. All Things Digital says, "Telltale’s games are written as a narrative or a cinematic adventure and are divided into five separate episodes. Players download a new one every four weeks for a six-month period. A season pass for a game, including all episodes, costs roughly $35." It's likely the Fables and The Walking Dead games will follow this model and in fact, will probably lend themselves very well to it considering readers are used to getting their stories in issues.

Steve Allison, SVP of marketing for Telltale Games is excited about the new projects and the possibilities technology affords them. "With these new blockbuster titles coming soon, Allison said the goal is to produce a title that hits one million digital downloads, and thinks The Walking Dead could become a $20 million to 30 million franchise if all goes well," says All Things Digital.”

"'See the movie, play the game' doesn’t work anymore, Allison acknowledges, "but the way we make content, it does.” He also said his team is working closely with the filmmakers and screenwriters of the franchises. "We do want mass-market brands that have a lot of fans, but we want to pay homage to them."

Is this not the best news you've heard all day or what?

AWKWARD EMBRACES: Making Geek Dating Fun(ny)

Dating is hard. For everyone, equally. The act of asking out/getting asked out is uncomfortable enough let alone the anxiety you feel on the actual date. And sometimes they can go horribly, horribly wrong. Well if you’ve had at least one bad date in your life, and you probably have, you’ll be able to relate to the acclaimed web series, Awkward Embraces.

You may remember I reviewed the web series a few months ago, well now I've snagged myself an interview with its writer/star Jessica Mills! We discuss how much truth there really is behind these episodes, the struggles of making a successful web series in the vast universe that is the internet and what the “geek community” means to her.

Click over to Newsarama for the interview!

Hey, That's My Cape! – Marvel Killing Characters For Money?

In an unprecedented move over the weekend, Marvel Comics basically admitted to killing characters for sales. Now, let’s not delude ourselves into thinking we didn’t know this already but am I the only one surprised it was finally said so plainly? And publicly?

Well, I guess publicly is sort of relative here. The bold statement was made at the recent ComicsPro retailer summit in Texas. David Gabriel, Senior Vice President of Sales at Marvel said, “As a result of the Fantastic Four sales and media coverage, Marvel is going to kill a main character every quarter.” He then made sure to say, “This is not a joke.”

Alright then.

Read my thoughts on the statement in this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama.

9 Robots Who Probably Won't Take Over the World (But Could If They Wanted To)

I wrote a list about robots for Topless Robot. My life is complete.​

I had a dream I was living through a robot apocalypse the other night. It scared the crap out of me. Much like zombies, robots can be pretty frightening in mass quantities but unlike zombies, who will simply bite you and turn you into one of their own, robots will pretty much just rip your head clean off. Unless they're the Borg, they don't really have much use for humans.

Here are 9 robots no one would ever expect to rise up and destroy the human race, but easily could if they wanted to. Never, ever turn your back on these potential destroyers of humanity.

Read my list of 9 Robots Who Probably Won't Take Over the World (But Could If They Wanted To) at Topless Robot.

Blog@ 2/7-2/11

In case you missed them, here are the stories I contributed to Blog@Newsarama last week!

Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men Coming to a Theater Near You - Roger Hargreaves’ beloved children’s book series Mr. Men is being adapted into an animated feature by Fox.

Etsy Made Me Do It: Hats - It’s freaking cold here in New Jersey so this week I decided to think warm by searching for some epic nerd hats. And I think you’ll agree, they are epic.

GONZO: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson - You’ve seen the movie, you’ve read the magazine articles, now you’ve got the opportunity to see the life of Hunter S. Thompson in graphic novel form.

HIGHLANDER Reboot Taken Over By Twilight Scribe - Melissa Rosenberg, adapter of the Twilight Saga for the big screen, has taken over writing duties on the new Highlander reboot.

Producers not giving up on Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark - Creators are now searching for “focus groups” to improve the show.

Keep checking Blog@ for other great comic book/pop-culture stories and reviews from my co-workers and myself!

GEEK. GIRL. SLEEPOVER.

You heard me correctly. TheNerdyBird.com is hosting a Geek Girl Sleepover this weekend sponsored by ThinkGeek and Midtown Comics!

What's the occassion? Well, Toy Fair is this weekend in New York City and I felt like being a kid again. Actually, this whole thing started off as sort of a joke on Twitter (oh, that Twitter!). I suggested I have a Geek Girl Sleepover where we all slept in Tauntaun Sleeping bags from ThinkGeek. Well, ThinkGeek heard me and thought it was a great idea! Soon after, I got Midtown Comics involved and TADA! Geek Girl Sleepover in full effect.

Thanks to ThinkGeek, who generously donated their exclusive Tauntaun Sleeping Bags to the party, myself and four other geek girls will be sleeping in geek fashion this weekend. So who are these other fab geek gals? Well we've got GeekGirls herself, Kristin from the Geek Girls Network, Elizabeth-Amber from Amber Unmasked, WonderAli from the Invisible Jetcast and Bookishbelle, Midtown Comics own comics/culture correspondent Zoë A. Gulliksen.

What will we be doing during this sleepover? Wouldn't you like to know...

Actually, you will know! We'll be taking tons of pictures as well as appearing on Midtown Comics weekly podcast. Not only that, Midtown will be shooting video of the entire thing as well! Who knows what sort of Geek Girl craziness we'll get up to? Geek prank calls anyone? Make sure to follow along on Twitter Sunday night to read some behind-the-scenes accounts and then check out Newsarama next week where I'll be posting my full recap!

We'll also be hanging around Toy Fair on Sunday/Monday so if you see us come say hello. And no, we will not accept bribes for entrance into the Geek Girls Sleepover so don't even try. Unless it's something really good. ;)

Hey, That's My Cape! – Meeting Oni Press' IVY

I just read something that totally reminded me of being in high school. You’d think that’d be a terrible feeling but actually it gave me a different outlook on being an adult. In case you were wondering, I’m talking about the new hardcover graphic novel from Oni Press called Ivy.

Written and illustrated by Sarah Oleksyk, Ivy is not quite a coming-of-age story, more a “being-this-age” story. The main character, Ivy Stenova, is in her last year of high school and struggling with life. But then again, weren’t we all? Ivy’s lone beacon in her teenage life is her art and the hope of art school after she graduates. Unfortunately her single mother is totally against the idea. Her closest friends, Brad and Marisa, outsiders themselves, make fun of other outsiders to feel better. Ivy’s even surprised at her own behavior at times. She’d love to get away from it all but will that solve her problems?

Read my review in this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama.

Tricky, Tricky!

This optical illusion makes my brain very happy.

Two great things rolled into one!

Art by Olly Moss.

Help me with my MDA Muscle Walk!

Who says fundraising can't be fun? At last year's MDA Stride & Ride we raised $142,000 towards curing Muscular Dystrophy. Not only that, I got to meet Batman. I can only imagine what will happen this year.

In case you're new to my blog, here's a quick history of my involvement with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy, specifically Spinal Muscular Atrophy, when I was two and a half. My involvement with MDA came soon after that in the form of emotional support for my family as well as financial support for doctors visits and wheelchairs/braces. And in a way you can thank MDA for this blog even existing. It was my appearances on the MDA Jerry Lewis Telethon starting at age seven that got me interested in TV and journalism to begin with.

All that being said, it's time for the annual MDA Muscle Walk (previously called Stride & Ride) for the NY-NJ Metro area. On March 12 I'll be gathering up my team, "The Nerdy Birds," to walk around the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ along with countless other teams fighting for a cure. So what do I need from you? Anything you can spare.

Truly. What I need are donations to myself or to the team as a whole, which you can make securely online, so that we may raise (or hopefully exceed) the goal I have set for us to raise this year which is $2,500. I say this each year but honestly, whatever you can afford to give is a good amount, even if it's $1. If each person who visits this blog gave just $1 we'd be totally set. Of course, if you are fortunate enough to be able to donate more that is equally appreciated.

Besides financial contributions, anywhere you can spread the word about the MDA Muscle Walk would be awesome! Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email, wherever! Thank you so, so much to those of you who have helped out in the past, I hope you can do so again this year and encourage others to do the same.

Blog@ 1/31-2/4

In case you missed them, here are the stories I contributed to Blog@Newsarama last week!

New Marvel Comics at Taco Bell - Once again, the fast food chain is offering comic books with its kids meals.

Etsy Made Me Do It: Valentine's Day - I picked some items you could buy for your sweetheart or friend to celebrate the day. Trust me, these are much better than going the generic chocolate and flower route.

Mini Darth Vader Finds His Power, George Lucas Rides Star Tours - Haven't seen the awesome Superbowl commercial yet? Check it out and get an update on the new Disney Star Tours!

Fox's LOCKE & KEY pilot revealed! - The pilot script to the highly anticipated adaptation of Joe Hill’s Locke & Key for Fox has been seen by journalistic eyes and the verdict is…great!

DC Comics' Ame-Comi Halloween Costumes? - The popular line of manga-style superheroine statues have been transformed into Halloween costumes for the masses. Really? Yes, really.

Keep checking Blog@ for other great comic book/pop-culture stories and reviews from my co-workers and myself!

DC Super-Pets to the rescue!

I'm a big proponent of getting kids to read comics but their choices are slim when compared to what adults are offered in the medium. So when I heard Capstone Publishers was teaming with DC to put out DC Super-Pets I was ecstatic! Then I got to read them and was filled with joy usually reserved for 8-year-olds. Here's why...

The first six books in the series were released last month and are all drawn by Eisner Award-winning artist Art Baltazar. You're probably already familiar with his work on Tiny Titans. The guy is just plain awesome and he doesn't disappoint here. In fact, he ups the cuteness quotient by a lot. There's a whole menagerie of animals for Baltazar to choose from and one is cuter than the next.

I'll start off with the obvious book for me, Super Hero Splash Down starring B'dg the Green Lantern and Dex-Starr the angry Red Lantern. Written by Jane Mason, this was the first one I read because Dex is my favorite. The story follows the antics of the two at a water park, which is surprising considering cats don't like water. Well, of course that comes into play. There's a lot of horsing around but eventually a superhero team-up is called for when some Sinestro Dog Corps invade the park.

You'd think The Fastest Pet on Earth would star The Flash's companion but no, actually this book is all about Wonder Woman's trusty Kanga named Jumpa. Written by J.E. Bright, the story revolves around Jumpa having to protect a special Golden tortoise from Chauncey, Cheetah's cheetah on Paradise Island. Jumpa has just as much bravery and fight in her as Wonder Woman and uses not only her power but her wits to outsmart the villain.

Midway Monkey Madness is filled with familiar DC characters. Written by Sarah Hines Stephens, it stars Beppo the super-monkey, the Wonder Twins Jayna and Zan, Gleek and Gorilla Grodd. Grodd decides to cause some havoc at a local carnival and Beppo makes sure everyone gets to safety while he and the rest of the heroes figure out how to stop him.

Writer Bright also took on Aquaman's giant seahorse storm in Heroes of the High Seas. He stars along with Topo the octopus, Ark the sealion plus Black Manta and his pets Misty and Sneazers. I couldn't figure out what Misty and Sneezers were at first but turns out they're manta rays! This was one of my favorites out of the bunch because a lot of players got together and each had a very specific job to overcome their problem.

Pooches of Power features the two most famous super pets, Ace the Bat-Hound and Krypto the Super-Dog. Hines Stephens also writes this tale in which the dogs go up against the Penguins animal companions, the Bad News Birds. Ace and Krypto must put a stop to thievery taking place at the local sardine factory before the Penguin can escape his own justice. And Bruce Wayne/Batman makes a guest appearance to congratulate his pooch.

And last but not least, because it's actually my favorite, Royal Rodent Rescue by John Sazaklis stars not one but TWO felines. Streaky the super-cat and Rozz, the evil Siamese of Catwoman. This story almost puts the villain in the starring role as Rozz decides to head off to Metropolis on her own in search of thievery while Catwoman is stealing in Gotham. Streaky must intervene with the slinky cat kidnaps and royal hamster. Yup, you heard me, a royal hamster. And the fight is not an easy one as Rozz got her paws on some Kryptonite!

Each book (all around 50 pages long) includes a rundown of the characters appearing in the book, a stats page of the star, knock-knock jokes and a page with definitions of some of the tougher or more unfamiliar words that appear. The front and rear of each book also holds a mural of all the super pets we'll see in the series. And let me tell you, we've only hit the tip of the iceberg. I can't wait to see some of these other pets in action. Although the book is called DC Super-Pets, it's important to note that most, if not all of the "pets" view themselves as friends or companions of the heroes. It's a nice touch that puts them on equal footing with the usual stars. All-in-all a great addition to DC's kids line or your kids comics shelf.

For whom it may apply, Capstone is also currently holding a My Pet Is Super Contest for kids in grades 1-3. It runs through February 28 and is a great way to get kids writing and spread the word to their school about comics. You can enter online and read all the rules here.

Hey, That's My Cape! – Powell's Diversity Vid, Help or Hurt?

Fans and creators alike seem divided over The Goon creator Eric Powell’s video promoting new ideas and diversity of genres in comic books. Before I continue, if you haven’t already seen it, well you’re out of luck. The video has now been set to private on YouTube, a move I’m severely questioning as it shows, in my opinion, a lack of conviction in seeing your movement through. I’m going to summarize its contents as best I can for you while discussing the topic. I’d much rather let it speak for itself but well, them’s the breaks.

Powell has created The Creators Front For Diversity In Comics, now just The Front For Diversity In Comics apparently (there’s a Facebook page if you’d like to join). The video itself? It has shock value. It reminds me of the negative campaigning we see each time the elections role around. It works to a point, but is it the right way to get your message (which is an important one) across? Because something this crass can have the opposite effect and turn a lot of people off. Either way, Powell’s message is clear - publishers, creators and readers aren’t doing enough to ensure diversity of genres in comics.

If you haven't seen the video, read all about it and my thoughts about it's impact in this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama.