Check it out! My name is up on the guest list roster for the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival in Nova Scotia on Sunday August 17th, organized by the awesome folks at Strange Adventures. I'll be there along with much more talented folks like Nick Bradshaw, Faith Erin Hicks, Geof Isherwood and a whole bunch more. If you are in the neighbourhood, do drop by and say hi. I've heard nothing but excellent praise about this young convention, looking very forward to being a part of it.

Stan Sakai is one of the most respected comic book creators, and his creation Usagi Yojimbo one of the most beloved characters, in the history of the medium. In his and the characters honour,his long time publisher Dark Horse comics is releasing The Stan Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate Thirty Years of Usagi Yojimbo. The book will feature work from legends the like of Art Adams, Sergio Aragones, Richard Corben, Adam Hughes, Mike Mignola, and dozens more. On top of that, I'm excited that it also features work from guys I know like Nick Bradshaw, Tom Fowler and Dominic Bercier! All proceeds go to Stan and his wife Sharon, who is in need of ongoing medical assistance. The book is well worth picking up to celebrate Stan, and it is always worthwhile to chip in to help a person in need. This beautiful, Samurai Rabbit filled book is released on Wednesday July 23rd. Pick it up.

There's this great lil' community event every summer in Ottawa called the Centretown Movies Outdoor Film Festival that makes even I venture away from the glories of the Mayfair (though I went to the Mayfair earlier in the day to see The Immigrant, and am watching the other stuff we screened tonight later in the week). My girlfriend and our dog had a lovely evening under the stars in a park in central Ottawa and watched The Lego Movie. In a world of kids entertainment the like of Cars 2, Rio 2, Smurfs 2, and others of the like, The Lego Movie smashes all preconceived notions that it would just be a blatant commercial. Instead, thanks to a great creative team behind it, it inexplicably is instead maybe the most important life lesson of a movie that a kid could ever see. It sounds sappy, but the greatest compliment I can throw in The Lego Movie is that the world is a better place for its existence. Plus, it stars one of my most favourite Batman incarnations of all time. When The Lego Movie doesn't win the Best Picture award from the Oscars in 2015, it will be hard proof that awards for movies don't mean anything.

We are knee deep in the midst of a bunch of new music videos thanks to the release of a new album from the genius that is Weird Al Yankovic. One of the songs off of his album Mandatory Fun is titled Word Crimes, and it is not only super funny, but also high-brow levels of geeky intelligent. And in a round-about way it has brought some good to the world thanks to the sleazy offensiveness that is a Robin Thicke song.

A fun lil ad for the upcoming Batgirl creative tam take-over that happens in issue #35 that popped up on the (un)officialBatgirl tumbler. I hope the book lives up to the cool art that has popped up and the buzz that it has crated so far. I'm predicting lots of Batgirl cosplay-ing at upcoming con's.

Dear Facebook Trending,

F you, and the rest of the pop-culture and mainstream media, for feeling ok with spoiler-ing plot points and twists and endings right in the headlines of your articles. Case in point, as my eyes drifted over to the 'trending' portion of the Facebook page, the ending to Life with Archie #36 was ruined for me. I try my best to avoid such things, but there it was on my Facebook page. I wasn't even looking at a comic geek website or anything!

I don't understand the mindset in doing this in articles. Actually, that's not true. I kind of do get it. As guilty as the media is, the publishers shoulder a lot of the guilt too. They give out the press releases with said spoilers in them,in hopes to garner attention to their books and sell some more issues to non-geek normal folks. I think that there's still the mindset that buying a comic book and keeping it in mylar for 20 years will mean that you can sell it and put your future kids through college. This is of course not true. The issues that non-comic reader types thing will be worth a truck-load of monies are ones where someone dies. So, due to this I already know that Archie dies in Life with Archie #36, and now I know how he dies.

It's all very frustrating. Imagine if the trailers for Empire Strikes Back revealed that Darth Vader was Luke's dad. Imagine if articles about Usual Suspects before its release gave away the movies ending. At the original run of Romeo & Juliet did the patrons in attendance all get told that the two lads die in the end? I don't think so.

Pleas stop being jerks about this. I like being surprised.

The latest in a long line of Silver Surfer incarnations / reboots / new takes is up to the third issue, and it is great. It comes from the creative team of writer Dan Slott (who continues to do a fine job on Spidey) and art and colours from the always impressive creative couple Mike and Laura Allred.

Most importantly, Silver Surfer is a self contained series, which I lean towards more and more now-a-days. I hate giant multi-teared story-arc's where you are encouraged to buy dozens of accompanying issues to the main story. And without fail, the whole story arc now-a-days ends up being a cash-grab vs storytelling and most the issues with a cross-over's logo stamped on it don't really need to be read. Marvel is especially guilty of these forms of comic book publishing.

Luckily, at the same time Marvel manage to sneak out a few books like Hawkeye or She-Hulk, or Silver Surfer. Silver Surfer is lots of fun, filled with comic book worthy big-time outer space imagination, and looks very pretty with it's indie cred /mainstream mash-up Allred style. I always thought that Silver Surfer was the perfect weird goofiness / epic adventure that comic book medium excels at (a Silver guy on a surf board flying around outer space!?). So far, this young series is worthy to the classic Stan Lee / Jack Kirby legacy.

Batgirl is getting a costume change and tone-shift from writers Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher and artist Babs Tarr. I like it! I especially love the artwork of Babs Tarr, and it's meta-neat having an artist named Babs drawing the adventures of Babs / Batgirl. The jumping on point for the new creative team hits with issue #35 in October.

The good news is that They Came Together is hilariously brilliant. The bad news is that you might never be able to watch a nice harmless lil' New York City romantic comedy ever again. Seeing it is worth the sacrifice though, the trade off of how funny it is is worth the sacrifice.

They Came Together screens a bunch more times between today and Thursday July 17th at the Mayfair Theatre.

DC Comics leaked a batch of variant covers that'll be on their October issues in honour of Halloween. The cover to Batman & Robin # 35 by Chris Burnham is especially intriguing, it shows a mummified Batman & Robin. The wrapped up Robin has a mask the style of and is the size of Bruce Wayne's son Damian, who came to an untimely end over a year ago in the pages of Batman Inc. It might just be an unrelated drawing, not attached to the actual Batman plot within. I have my fingers crossed that this is a hint that Damian's resurrection is imminent.

On April 3rd of last year, I turned on my computer, and soon after it informed me that Roger Ebert had died. It was a sad day, and hit home even a bit more for myself, as I was only a chapter or so away from finishing his book Life Itself. It has become one of my favourite books, and I have a good feeling that the documentary inspired from it will find equal favour from me. For someone I never met, I think of Roger often, especially when I see a movie that I really hate or really love. My go to thought is to wonder what Roger would've thought of the picture. I get a bit sad and contemplative that I'll never get to know what Roger thought of Under the Skin or The Lego Movie or Bad Words. I will get to see Roger Ebert up on the big screen soon though, as we begin our Ottawa Premiere run of Life Itself starting on Friday July 11 at the Mayfair Theatre. I hope you don't mind seeing a grown man cry, because I predict tears.

I once had a lovely cat by the name of Ripley. I love the Alien movie franchise. I love them so much in fact, that I am even a fan of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. Many sci-fi fans seem to think that it's ok to argue about whether Alien or Aliens is the best film of the series, but no one is allowed to enjoy the latter two of the quadrilogy.

News broke that members of the original Alien film, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright and Ian Holm, will reunite for the video game Alien: Isolation. I used to play video games a lot, now-a-days I play video games very little, but news like this none-the-less quite exciting. Even with the hindering of not quite perfect, kinda creepy, just about perfect looking human animation, I still find pop culture geek news like this very cool. Not quite as good as Sigourney Weaver returning for another movie, but hearing her recite some new Ripley dialog is still more proof that nothing is impossible in this geek ruling of the entertainment world that we all live in.

On a day off in-between a marathon through the trenches of a music festival gig, I had my first day off in an age yesterday. So, of course,I spent that day off first catching up on some Mayfair Theatre related work. Then, I went to see a movie at the Mayfair.

Tracks is an inspiring human spirit drama based on the true story of a young women and her adventure trek through the wilds of Australia with only her dog and camels in tow. Like all brave adventures, it was a dangerous and rather insane undertaking that very likely could have killed her. The movie is a fascinating look at what on can accomplish, and it you don't get choked up at least a half dozen times, you are very likely dead inside.

Tracks screens at the Mayfair tonight (Tuesday July 8) at 6:30pm, then the next two days (Wednesday July 9 and Thursday July 10) at 4:30pm.

Any friend of Kermit the Frog is a friend of mine. Last night I got to point lights towards Lady Gaga during her immensely entertaining live show. Which I think puts me two degrees of separation away from my Muppet frog hero according to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon rules. If you don't like Lady Gaga's music, that is your own opinion and that is fine. If you think that she is untalented, you are greatly mistaken. I think once all is said and done, her career is going to stand shoulder to shoulder with David Bowie and Elton John and other pop icons who came before her. And, as previously stated...she's friends with Kermit.

Abe Sapien is character that I have been a fan of for over two decades now. Geek times certainly does fly by. In my never ending quest to catch up on comic book reading, I read the most recent issue of his solo series last night. The Hellboy-verse finds itself in an apocalyptic state filled with giant monsters and various states of evidence that the end is nigh.

Although set within a deep continuity of X-Files like fantastical horror, these comics are pretty easy to jump into without confusion. This issue is in fact what Dark Horse Comics is branding as a 'Starting Point For New Readers'. So, worry not if this being the 13th issue makes you think that you'll be 12 chapters behind the story. Fairly simply...Abe is a former human, current gill-man (kinda like the Creature from the Black Lagoon), the world is in turmoil, and Abe is wandering around doing good. The series is written by Hellboy-verse creator Mike Mignola and editor Scott Allie, and features beautiful art from Sebastian Fiumara, and colour from Dave Stewart. You can currently pick up a paper copy from the brick and mortar shops, or had over to Dark Horse Digital to download a futuristic virtual digital edition of the issue.

I work on the lighting crew for Blues Fest every summer in Ottawa. Not to be confused with an actual Blues Fest, but in reality a giant,near two week long music festival featuring all manner of music. Last night I pointed a follow-spot light towards 1980's icons Journey. Their only music that I recognized were the songs that were in classic 1980's movies such as Caddyshack, Heavy Metal, Tron, and Risky Business. Not the worst legacy for a band to have.

Happy 4th of July you patriotic flag waving folks to the South. You're the bestest crazy basement neighbours a country could ask for. Even though your country doesn't actually have a name, and a large percentage of your residents think that we all live in igloos and ride polar bears to work, we're glad to be pals. Any country that invented Hostess Fruit Pies and Slurpee's, had citizens the like of Jack Kirby, Jim Henson and Joey Ramone, and includes cities like New York and Boston, deserves to be celebrated despite its flaws. Hope y'all enjoy the fireworks and bbq!

I am terribly behind on my comic book reading responsibilities, I'm trying to catch up and at least read an issue before bed every night. Finally pulled Saga #19 from the pile. I feel as if I'm being repetitive for sure, but if you aren't reading Saga you are missing out. If you can for some read on only read one comic book a month, this is the one that you should be focusing your eyes towards. I'm fairly confident that in a world filled with a whole bunch of great comics being published, Saga is the best of the bunch. You can pick up Saga #19 right now from your favourite comic store, or download a digital copy from the Image Comics website.

Amongst other Canada Day festivities, we dropped by the Nature Museum to look at some dinosaurs. I never get tired of looking at dinosaurs. If I had three magic genie wishes, without question, one wish would be spent time travelling back to checkout some dinosaurs. And on top of that I'd probably wish for dinosaurs to be back on present day earth as well. I have clearly learned absolutely nothing from the warnings of Jurassic Park.

Snikt! Put on your favourite red t-shirt and have an Alpha Flight-tastic Canada Day everyone!

Awh, c'mon! I'm very disappointed in you worldwide movie ticket buying audience. All I ask is that a Michael Bay Transformers movie comes out that flops financially as much as it does with critics. Is that too much to ask? These movies keep making all the money in the world, in spite of everyone in the world seeming to hate them. There is a mass amount of illogic to these movies that I can't wrap my head around. This franchise should have halted a couple of movies ago, it should have been a disaster at the box office, and yet it keeps rolling along with all kinds of big profit numbers. This is a movie that has an all critics / top critics rating hovering around 17% /15%, and one that no one seems to admit being a super fan of. None the less there are four of these movies where blurs of poorly designed robots punch each other through confusing plot-lines for 150 minutes of motion picture madness.

Transformers: Age of Extinction made over $300 million dollars over it's opening weekend. Firmly securing that the Hollywood powers-that-be will offer up another pair of films to complete a second trilogy. I won't watch them, under the life is to short to waste my time train of thought, so it doesn't really effect my daily existence. I'm just sad that that maniacal bad movie making genius Michael Bay was right, "They love to hate, and I don't care; let them hate. They're still going to see the movie!".

I got bit by a ladybug today. If there's one thing that I've learned from a lifetime of reading comic books, I believe that getting bit by a ladybug means that ladybug super powers are imminent.

If you are looking to buy a book to get kids interested in comic books, you might want to check out Captain Action Cat from Dynamite Comics. It's a super fun cartoony funny animal story with a bizarre twist of being based on an obscure action figure line of toys from the 1960's. The 4 issue mini series comes from the mastermind creative team behind Tiny Titans and Itty Bitty Hellboy (both even more highly acclaimed and recomended by myself). It's got super-heroes, spies, and talking cats...what more could you possibly want from a comic book?

If I ask really nicely can no one go to see the latest Transformers movie this weekend? Please? No, eh? Didn't think so.

I did not like the first Transformers live action movie. I know hate is a strong word, but I really hated the second one. I refused to see the third one. It may be unfair for me to judge something I have not seen, but the film was by the same director and tam behind the first two offerings, so I think it's safe to say that this franchise is not for me. I've been told from various sources that it isn't even worth watching in a so bad it's good kind of way. That it was just painful. I think it's safe to say that the Transformers movies are the worst things that Steven Spielberg has ever attached his name to.

Despite critical trashing and seeming dislike from much of the fan-base, the Transformers movies have none-the-less made over $2.5 billion dollars. Hence, Hollywood will keep on making them,because making movies is a business and businesses like making a profit. The problem here seems to be the same thing that often happens with fans of comic books or teevee shows. Over the years I have often heard something along the lines of "I haven't liked Spider-man comics for years, but I keep on buying them because I've been reading Spider-man since I was five". Fans are guilty of supporting stuff either because they have a history with it, or just because it is there.

This weekend, in all likelihood, the fourth installment in the Michael Bay directed blurs of giant robots punching each other will make all the money. And that makes me feel many emotions...mostly frustration, sadness and various levels of anger. In a world of endless entertainment possibilities, the masses will shuffle into the lowest quality option and invest their hard earned money in in yet again. There are so many worth while movies out there right now, so much great teevee, endless amounts of reading options, or so much else one could do to fill their free time. Instead, millions of folks will shuffle into multiplexes, look at their options, shrug, and say "I dunno...one for Transformers I guess". Poor, sad, lemming like human beings. We have no one to blame but ourselves that there will be a Transformers 5, and that it will yet again be a horrible mess of a motion picture.

This Saturday night is another Roller Derby night in Ottawa. There's no better way to spend an evening in the presence of true athletic entertainment. All pertinent info can be found on the Rideau Valley Roller Girls website.

Now isn't that some pretty artwork? It's drawn by my talented pal Marco Rudy. Doesn't it make you want to rush out to a comic store today and purchase a copy of New Avengers Annual #1 featuring Doctor Strange? I think you should. The rest of the book is even better than this preview page.

My friend Marco drew New Avengers Annual #1, a new comic featuring Doctor Strange, the soon to be a movie star master of the mystic arts. Go to a comic store tomorrow and buy it!

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers were here in Ottawa last night as part of the outdoor Jazz Festival. The best part about such a festival is that you can enjoy the music even if you just happen to be walking by. They even have a big video wall set-up, which conveniently even lets outsiders have a look at the stage. I hope that the beloved entertainment legend forgives me for sneaking the listening of his music, I promise to continue to buy his albums. It was a beautiful night under the stars, the rain stayed away, and Steve Martin was a funny and talented host and banjo musician. In lieu of video of them from last night, enjoy an appearance that they made on The Late Show a few years back.

On a visit to Boston I once got to be in the presence of John Williams as he conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in their performance of a selection of his movie scores. That's pretty hard to top. None-the-less, the NAC Orchestra performing an evening of John Williams favourites was still pretty great.

I imagine that putting together the selections for such an event has similar frustrations to a rock band trying to put together a set list. You want to play the classics, but you want to mix things up a bit, maybe play some rarities. After thy performed the Superman theme, it was hard not to emulate Homer Simpson and yell "Play it again!". All in all, selections from Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones and Harry Potter and more, made it a very worthwhile night at the orchestra. I even forgave them for putting Hook into the program. I look forward to their next highbrow pop culture cross-over.

In the Donald Rumsfeld political documentary The Unknown Known, Oscar winning filmmaker does the nigh impossible for the movies subject matter. In a true testament to documentarian neutrality, he takes a person who is vilified by many, and showcases him as a human being. Don't take that to man that this is a fluff piece, it tells all the questionable acts and Washington trickery that Rumsfeld partook in. It also shows him getting choked up at the thought of an injured soldier,and telling cute self deprecating stories about his marriage.

Much like a comic book villain the like of Lex Luthor, a person who is perceived as a villain rarely sees themselves as one. I think that is the case here. Blinded with his mission and his agenda, he can't see through the forest of the trees of the problems that he helped to instigate.

The Unknown Known is a fascinating and informative documentary, we have it at the Mayfair tonight at 9:00pm (Saturday June 21), and Monday and Tuesday the 23rd and 24th at 4:15pm.

A new sleepy baby adventure in Kelly Tindall's The Adventurers!

Anyone who complains that there is nothing good being published in the DC Comics / New 52 line clearly isn't checking out the Bat stuff. Grant Morrison's epic Batman Inc was great, and the flagship Batman comic from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo is successfully defining the Dark Knight for a new generation. On the heels of Robin's death, Batman & Robin has managed to adapt itself into an excellent team-up book: Batman & Aquaman...& Wonder Woman...& Frankenstein. In the latest issue it's Batman & his greatest nemesis, the immortal tyrant Ra's Al Ghul. The issue is the conclusion of The Hunt for Robin (spoiler alert...the hunt for Robin doesn't seem to be over just as of yet).

My friend Kelly Tindall posted this drawing today for an upcoming secret comic book project. I just might be working on this project with him. I can't say much more, except for the fact that he and I sure do love comics and movies where giant monsters smash things. Stay tuned!

I just read the staggering news that Bill Finger will receive his first ever cover credit on a Batman comic, 75 years after he helped create the character. Bob Kane was an ok comic book creator, a brilliant businessman, and by all accounts a horrible human being. Bob Kane lied his way into being the sole mastermind creator of the biggest comic book character of all time. He took endless amount of credit for others work, and was wise enough to lock up sole creator credit with the powers that be at DC Comics of the time.

Bill Finger wrote the first Batman comic and was responsible for pretty much every important addition to the characters mythology. Bill Finger wrote the introductions of Robin, Joker, Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon, and The Penguin, along with the Batmobile, the Batcave,Gotham City, and Batman's origin. Most accounts lad to the fact that these were created by Finger with little or no input from Batman "creator" Bob Kane. Bob Kane's original Batman sketch was a guy in a red costume...no pointed ears, no cape,no Bat logo,no utility belt. Everything that we seem to identify with Batman today came from Bill Finger. Yet,his name isn't credited in comic books, animated series, video games or movies that feature Batman.

So, having Bill Finger's writing credit appearing on the special 75th anniversary (free!) Batman comic coming out in July is kind of a big deal. Maybe DC's next step is getting some smart lawyer to find a loop-hole and Bill can get his creator due for eternity.

I find there's a false sense of accomplishment when you finish watching a teevee series. I think we live such busy lives, and there is such an onslaught of entertainment distraction, we are impressed with ourselves in just the act of being able to puzzle in worthwhile teevee viewing into our hectic day.

The most recent show that I take pride in having watched is the Batman animated series The Brave and the Bold. This show has a little something for everyone, no matter your level of geek. It's completely kid friendly, it's bright and colourful and fun, it's filled action and adventure, and showcases some top notch writing.

It is also jam packed with DC Comics favourites and some characters who never in a million years did I think would make it to animation. Sure, there's Superman and Aquaman, but also B'Wana Beast, 'Mazing Man and the Creature Commandos!? At the same time the show managed to have something for kids and something for die hard nerdy grown-up's. Two previous Batmen made appearances (Kevin Conroy and Adam West), along with such talents as Mark Hamill, Neil Patrick Harris, Alan Tudyk, Ron Perlman, Paul Reubans, Henry Winkler and none other than Weird Al Yankovic...to name a few.

The final episode is a wonderfully bizarre meta episode in which the mischievous all powerful sprite Bat-Mite decides that the show has jumped the shark. He's bored with it, so sets out to destroy the show so he can have some dark and gritty Bat-tales again. The ending actually got me a lil choked up.

In my youth I was all about the dark and gritty Batman of the 1980's. Any other incarnation of Batman was wrong and offensive to my nerdy ways. Now, much like my favourite writer Grant Morrison, I embrace all the different imaginings of the character. Between my love for Brave and the Bold and my renewed appreciation of what is now known as Batman 66,its even made me question if I should give Joel Schumacher's pair of Bat films another chance.

It's sad that a show like this is only given three seasons. It seems like they could have kept on telling stories from this corner of the alternate Batman universe for many years to come.

A rock n roll vampire movie set mainly in Detroit, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston and John Hurt?! Count me in! We've got the highly indie acclaimed festival darling Only Lovers Left Alive for four more nights (Monday June 16 - Thursday June 19) at the Mayfair. I'll be there to check it out. We'll play some Ghost Dog soundtrack to war-up the crowd before the show.

I apologize for the blurry photographic quality in the above picture, but getting a shot of Cocoa Pebbles in Canada is the equivalent of getting a shot of Sasquatch of Nessie. Cocoa Pebbles are one of the fondest memories I have of visiting family in the States when I was a kid. Watching cartoons like Plastic Man that I couldn't watch at home, and eating American cereal breakfast delicacies unavailable at home turf Ottawa grocery stores. I'm storing enough boxes that it looks like someone hoarding for a cereal heavy post apocalyptic world. Hopefully sales go well and it opens up the flood-gates for more American cereal treasure rarities.

Hold onto your potatoes! The perfect Father's Day weekend movie magic event is almost upon us! Only one more sleep until the much requested and highly anticipated return of the greatest cinematic hero of all time to the Mayfair's screen! Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade all screening back to back to back! As an added bonus, on the first intermission you'll be able to get veggie burgers and hot dogs from our neighbours at Quinn's! If you live in Ottawa, or anywhere nearby, we'll see you when doors open at 11:00am. If you don't, at last you can watch along at home while you are jealous that you aren't watching these modern classics on 35mm with us on the big screen where they belong. I hope the giant boulder cosplay guy is in attendance again.

Julia Wertz is currently taking pre-orders for her new book, Museum of Mistakes: The Fart Party Collection. The omnibus is a 400 page collection of her autobiographical Fart Party comics, along with 150 pages of previously unpublished stuff. If you order right from Julia you can get all kinds of cool bonus stuff like keychains, necklaces, magnets,prints and original art. Plus, you get to directly support the artist. It will be cheaper on Amazon, but Julia won't make any monies from that. Plus,it's way cooler to have a book with some original art sketched inside the book. Go order Julia's new book, she produces some of my favourite comics going today.

I forgot to mention that the Strangebeard Kickstarter was a rousing success. 201 contributors pledged a total of $8,378 to go well over the initial $4,500 goal. Great job everybody. I look forward to having a copy of Strangebeard in my geeky hands in all of its comic book paper-y goodness.

I caught the free preview screening of How To Train Your Dragon 2 last weekend. It was great on every level. Dreamworks has had a great financial track record with Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung-Fu Panda, but I think these Dragon movies put all previous efforts to shame. I find that Dreamworks cartoons have overt levels of slapstick and topical references in hindrance to the actual story. In the future kids will watch Shrek and have no idea what to make of Matrix or American Idol references, whereas the Dragon films are timeless. Every department on the film, from animation to cinematography to story, excels and helps push along the movie into being what will without question end up being one of the best films of 2014.

At the tail end of the credits, criminally underused in modern times poster artist Drew Struzan got a special thanks. It caught my eye and I was curious what his involvement was. I asked that interwebs and found this beautiful poster. Another example of foolish Hollywood passing on a beautiful movie poster in trade for character head-shot simplicity. The director is at least going to be giving out copies of the poster in San Diego at Comic-Con. Still frustrating that it won't see light of day in poster boxes at movie theatres though. If anyone is at San Diego this summer, plase do feel free to pick one up for me.

I cannot wait for the Blu Ray release of the classic 1966 Batman teevee series that is finally happening this year in honour of Batman's 75th anniversary. In the meantime, DC's Batman '66 comics will tide me over. Especially the Batman '66 Meets The Green Hornet comics featuring amazing art by Ty Templeton. Once upon a time I pushed aside any Batman that wasn't of the Dark Knight variety, now I embrace the wide spectrum of various Bat incarnations. I will be throwing money at Warner Bros as soon as they announce the brilliantly campy tee vee series official release date.

Check out this splash-page comic my pal Kelly Tindall did for Tales Of The Brothers Three. I too would buy a dinosaur with my share of pirate treasure.

I cannot tell a lie, I don't read newspapers and don't currently follow any print comic strips. I mean no offense to its creator, but I had never even heard of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. Having long lost and much missed Calvin & Hobbes mastermind Bill Watterson collaborate with him on a trio of daily comic strips certainly does garner my attention and admiration though. You can read all three strips, featuring crocodiles, martian robots and scantily clad women, via the Pearls Before Swine blog. We can only hope that this is a baby step towards new original Bill Watterson comics on the horizon.

Can't talk...gotta drop everything and watch 13 episodes of Orange is the New Black.

There's still a whole bunch of horrible lazy photoshop style movie posters being produced by the Hollywood powers-that-be, but I am sensing a definite switch back to the good ole' days of when a movie poster was a beautiful piece of artwork that one would hang up on the wall of their home. This new Dawn of Planet of the Apes poster is the latest example of how to do posters right.

When you have a friend doing a Kickstarter campaign, you become incredibly invested in wanting to see the fundraising reach its goal. As I type this, my friend Kelly's hope of raising enough money to publish a book collecting his Strangebeard online comics is a success. With nine hours to go, he is at $7765, a mere $235 away from his bonus stretch goal reward level of $8000. I would very much like to see that happen. A whole bunch. You can be rewarded a digital or print version of this great comic, or get a hold of some awesome original art. So, please consider chipping in and click on over to the Strangebeard Kickstarter.

Here's the pin-up by comic artist living legend Tim Sale (Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman For All Seasons, Daredvil: Yellow, Spider-man: Blue) for Kelly Tindall's Strangebeard Kickstarter fundraiser.

At the time of typing this, there are 28 hours to go and the campaign is only $538 bucks away from reaching it's bonus level of $8000. I love that the internet is being used as a source of worthwhile positive endeavors such as this. If you have a couple bucks to spare and want to help out a worthy comic book cause, do go give the Kickstarter page a look.

My friend Kelly Tindall's Kickstarter campaign has turned the corner on it's final few days of fundraising. Thanks to the miracle crowd funding and the generosity of comic book geeks, he has already met his initial goal. I'd like to see him meet the stretch goal peak, which will expand the 128 page comic book spectacular by a whopping 12 pages.

On top of a great kid friendly comic on fancy glossy paper, the book will also include an introduction by comic industry legend Richard Starkings and feature a batch of pin-up's from artists such as Tom Fowler (Mad Magazine), Fiona Staples (Saga), and Nick Bradshaw (Guardians of the Galaxy).

You can get a digital comic for as little as a $1 donation. You can get a digital copy of Strangebeard for only $7, or an actual physical copy of the book for only $25! If you have a few more bucks to spend you can get some original art even! Click on over to the Strangebeard Kickstarter and chip in!

I've said it before and I will say it again...if you are a fan of Firefly /Serenity / Joss Whedon, and you are not reading the Serenity comics published by Dark Horse,you are missing out. The cries from die-hard fans of the show and movie (aka - Browncoats) for more sci-fi western adventures with their beloved characters have never stopped, even though it's been nearly nine years since the movie underperformed at the box office on the heels of the show being cancelled. As much as I would love more episodes or another movie, and we do live in an age of geek miracle and wonder, at this point I don't think it's in the cards. Joss Whedon is kinda busy playing in the Marvel universe at the moment, and I can understand it being hard for a studio to justify fronting the budget for a product that both flopped on television and in the movie box office.

Good news though! Dark Horse has so far published a pair of Serenity three issue mini-series, a one shot single issue, and a couple of graphic novels. All of the comics are executive produced or written buy mastermind creator Joss Whedon. Currently we are right in the midst of a six issue mini series titled Serenity: Firefly Class 03-K64: Laves on the Wind. The story arc is executive produced by Joss, drawn by Buffy comic alum Georges Jeanty, and written by Joss' brother Zack (who isn't just there 'cause of nepotism, he's written episodes of Deadwood and Fringe, and comics like The Terminator). If you loved the show and movie, I guarantee that you will love these comics. Click over to the Dark Horse site to get digital versions, or go visit your local comic store and they'll point you in the right direction. Issue five is currently available online or on the shelves at the comic shops.

If I can have one ranting old man tirade that I can rail against kids today, it's that they never had and can't appreciate the glory that was the Saturday Morning Cartoon. Sure, there is plenty of great animation being produced, but it is available anytime all the time. For years there have been animation centric channels like Cartoon Network or YTV or Teletoon, and now-a-days there is the technological wonder of DVR's, Netflix and streaming television shows vs waiting for appointment television. Hence, kids don't have to wait to watch episodes of Adventure Time or My Little Pony or Ultimate Spider-man or whatever they want.

When I was younger, the anticipation for new Saturday Morning Cartoons was probably secondary to only that feeling a greedy little kid has overwhelming them on Christmas Eve. I would wake up before sunrise, and sit in front of the teevee from 6am 'til noon. I would eat sugary cereal, I would watch the commercials for all the toys I wanted, and I would watch any cartoon that was being served up to me. The early morning hours was usually classic fare, the like of Top Cat or The Jetsons, interspersed with used car, guitar shop and butcher commercials from Buffalo, NY. In my era cartoons were mostly a mix-up of various commercials in disguise of a show, brainwashing us into wanting to go to the toy store to buy the latest G.I.Joe, Transformer, or He-Man action figure. I love cartoons so much, I would even watch a girl cartoon like Jem & the Holograms. I can still here the Jem theme song in my head when I think about it. I loved stuff ranging from Star Wars spin-off's Droids and Ewoks, bizarre seemingly Cthulhu inspired Inhumanoids, and I am just old enough to have caught the tail end of the DC Comics hero's in Super Friends / Super Powers. Then the morning would cap off with the glory that is Loony Tunes. It was a wonderful slothy time to be a kid.

On those times when I'm not working or busy or running errands on a Saturday, I try to take a break and watch a couple cartoons and eat some cereal on Saturday Mornings still. It doesn't happen every single week, my hectic schedule gets in the way of teevee watching, but lately I've watched some obscure 1970's, 80's and 90's stuff like Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, Fraggle Rock and Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures. For something new, I can't get enough of the Regular Show, featuring The strange adventures of a blue jay and a raccoon working at a nature park. It's old school animation, with all the wonderful weirdness of Spongebob Squarepants, and is a bit more grounded then the over-the-top hallucinatory world of Adventure Time (it's sister series on Cartoon Network). The highest compliment that I could give it is that if I were a kid I would love watching it on Saturday Mornings, and this show passes that test with flying bizarre 1980's themed sci-fi wacky misadventure colours.

I'm pretty sure that I like (or maybe even love) every single bit of filmmaking that Wes Anderson has ever directed. There are plenty of filmmakers who I admire and hero worship, but only Wes Anderson (and Edgar Wright and JJ Abrams in their still young careers) get a flawless pass from me as his resume stand so far. I am rather confident in the thought that Wes Anderson's latest star-studded indie epic will keep his success streak safely intact.


The Grand Budapest Hotel, begins it's Mayfair run starting tonight (Friday May 30th) at 6:30pm. It has been highly requested and much anticipated by the Mayfair faithful (we appreciate the patience). It has Bill Murray in it...it'll be worth the delay...it's gonna' be great.

I instantly became a fan of Scarlett Johansson after her performance in 2001's Ghost World. A fairly impressive and diverse track record of movies followed, including the like of Lost in Translation, Spongebob Squarepants, The Prestige, Match Point, Her, and of course the batch of Marvel movies that she is in the midst of.

We have one of her latest efforts, the sexy sci-fi thriller Under the Skin, screening at the Mayfair starting on Friday night. I posted this info onto the Mayfair Facebook page, and a person commented with more then a lil' bit of snark that the movie doesn't seem very original. Elsewhere, I heard negative remarks that the movie wasjust a rip-off of the movie Species.

What people seem to forget is that nothing is original. Just because a sci-fi evil alien movie has a female,it doesn't mean that it was ripped off from that other sci-fi evil alien movie with a female lead. And, even if something gets inspiration from something else, it doesn't mean that it's bad. Quentin Tarantino doesn't have an original bone in his body. Everything he's ever done takes large amounts of rip-off inspiration from his favourite things. He seems to be doing ok for him self though.

Under the Skin, from the director of the excellent Sexy Beast, has its Mayfair premiere on Friday May 30th at 8:45pm. Even though it isn't the first, and won't be the last spin on an alien invasion tale, I am very excited to check it out.

Marvel released a couple of preview pages from the upcoming New Avengers Annual #1. The book showcases a Doctor Strange adventure, illustrated by my terribly talented friend Marco Rudy. Rumour has it that the powers-that-be are trying to get the good doctor of the mystic arts front and centre in geeks sightlines with plans of having him star in an upcoming solo Marvel movie. The issue hits comic store shelves and the digital world on June 25th.