Iron Man vs. Batman

I know many others out there have already caught the eerie similarities between Iron Man and Batman. Alright, maybe not so eerie, however it is oddly coincidental for the top two grossing superhero movies this summer. Let me assure you, Batman: The Dark Knight WILL be a top grossing film this year. Sadly Hulk will have nothing on these two.

I mean let’s go over the facts, here.

Iron Man is a billionaire. Batman is a billionaire.

Iron Man is a playboy socialite. So is Batman.

Iron Man has Jarvis, his butler (though in the film they basically gave Pepper his role and made Jarvis into the AI in his suit and lab). Batman has Alfred, his butler.

Both don’t actually have superpowers. They merely… use their money and go traipsing around flaunting the fact they could become heroes because they were rich and had some time on their hands.

Iron Man lost his parents. Batman lost his parents.

Iron Man has his sidekick, War Machine. Batman has his sidekick, Robin. War Machine > Robin.

Iron Man has the Avengers. Batman has the Justice League.

The only thing Batman has that Iron Man does not is an extra 30 years and 4 more movies.

In total, Iron Man did 100.8 million dollars not including international sales. Indiana Jones nabbed 126.1 million dollars. How will the Batman sequel do in the box office? You can bet it will land somewhere in between. I doubt it will beat out the almost 3 decade’s worth of hype and anticipation of Indiana Jones, however it does have a lot of free advertising surrounding the death of Heath Ledger. My money down on 119 million, give or take 2 or 3 +/-.

A friend of mine showed this little clip to me a little while back. It’s basically everything I just talked about in the form of a PC vs. Mac commercial. Enjoy!

The Triumphant Return of Earthworm Jim

You may have already heard this, but the magnificent Earthworm Jim looks to be suiting up once again. Interplay Entertainment Corporation has announced a partnership with MR. Doug TenAppel. Doug TenAppel created the popular character for a video game in 1994, and it went on to become a massive success with 3 video games and a fun-filled animated series with 23 episodes in 1995 and 1996.

The story revolves around an earthworm who, unexpectedly, has a super suit fall on him one day. The suit enabled him to become the inter-galactical crime-fighter (kinda) feared by villains everywhere. With such memorable baddies as Evil the Cat and Professor Monkey-For-A-Head, Jim had his work cut out for him.

I personally remember drawing Earthworm Jim portraits on half the papers in my binder in elementary school. You can bet I'm pretty excited for what's to come from Jim's galaxy. Look to the future to bring a new animated television series, a new video game and even a feature film!

Season 2 of The Boondocks

For those of you unfamiliar with 'The Boondocks', it is a widely popular animated television series created for the Adult Swim block on the Cartoon Network. Created by Aaron McGruder, and based off his successful web-comic of the same name, this satirical cartoon has definitely reached a certain level of fame.

The show bases itself off the Freeman family, including Huey, Riley and Robert - the first two being 10 years and 8 years respectively, and the third being their ultra-active grandfather - a black family in an upper-class white neighborhood. Hilarity ensues!

The show itself has come under fire numerous times from it's liberal use of a certain 'N' word in all it's forms, however despite the criticism the show has earned numerous positive reviews from critics!

Personally I think Uncle Ruckus - a black white-supremacist - to be absolutely priceless in terms of comedic value. Look for the second season of this show to be out on shelves on June 10th this year! Also keep an eye out, cause in this DVD set, you will also get 2 never-before-aired episodes!

It's on my list - what about yours?

Sam & Max

I just purchased a copy of "Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway" (Limited Edition Harcover).

Let me introduce you all to a brief history of Sam & Max.

Picture a 1960's black and white DeSoto Adventurer cruising down the street at break-neck speed, a 'hyperkinetic rabbity thing' hanging out the driver window wielding a Luger, and a 6-foot-tall dog-detective clutching his hat on the passenger side - all the while engaging in an extremely witty dialogue. You have now met the loveable duo of Sam & Max - the former being Max and the latter being Sam!

Created by Stever Purcell in the late 80's, the two characters are thrown into the oddest of situations, with only sheer wit and somewhat nihilistic humor as their allies. Also guns.

Kids of the 90's may even remember the television series based off of Steve's works (which was dimmed down a bit for child audiences) airing on Fox Kids for a 24 episode run. Or even more may remember the successful video game in 1993: Sam & Max Hit the Road. Although I was a child when these premiered, even I could understand the potential of underlaying adult comedy of incredible quality.

Telltale Games, a veritable Sam & Max oasis in the dessert that is the internets, was kind enough to keep the legend of these two characters alive over the past decade, selling merchandise, posting a (particularly) delightful mini-series web comic (which sadly seems to have finished its run long ago), and even creating it's own new material - Sam & Max episodic games (with the help of Mr. Purcell).

Don't just stand there, go and check out the site. The wit is always sharp, and the art is always fantastic in my humble opinion. I can't wait for my copy of the revamped "Surfin' the Highway" (with new content), to arrive!

A review on it to come!

Lucid Dreams

Lucid TV is a new-ish web comic by David Rothlein and Roth Hutchinson Armstrong. Dark, often sadistic humor, and certainly not for the faint of heart. This medical marvel is a staple of my weekly reading. Prepare to throw political correctness out the window.