Category: News

Just in case your Darth Vader antenna topper, storm trooper air freshener, lightsaber gearshift, and Leia hairbun volume and tone knobs are lonely in your 1989 Plymouth Laser.. you can now download Yoda’s voice onto your Tom Tom GPS. As reported by ABC News, the company that helps you find your way around those terrestrial streets you have to use, now allows you to download the gentle rasp of that backwards talking sock puppet Jedi Master into your GPS Device. Far better than your ‘Burt Reynolds’ voice-prompts, the Yoda voice pack will turn your Tom Tom into that inner voice you wish you heard every time you get lost trying to find that new Italian place uptown.

Barking nearly-understandable prompts like “After 700 hundred yards hmm, keep to the right then take a sharp left. Control, control, if a Jedi you wish to be.”, the Yoda voice pack will no doubt help you find that inner peace, when that jerk in the Cutlass Supreme cuts you off before you attempt to merge onto the highway.

Yoda joins Darth Vader, C-3PO, and Han Solo in the GPS voice game. While Tom Tom assured us that “Users really want the Yoda voice”… we can’t help but ask where Ben Kenobi is in all of this. Frankly, we don’t trust Darth not to choke us if we miss a turn. C-3PO is a language droid, not a map droid. And Han Solo? He’s more likely to tell us to “punch it!” if we’re gonna be late… and that’s not safe driving. We trust Yoda will keep us on the Light Side… we’re just not sure we’ll understand what we means when he says “Fear is the path to your destination. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. And suffering is 300 yards to the left, then stay on your right.”

TomTom was even nice enough to provide video of the recording session:

So, this afternoon, we decided to check in at DC’s blog, the Source, and what would we find? Why a few Brightest Day solicits for November. Given how much we love spoilers, we couldn’t click fast enough. And what were we greeted with? Why a David Finch painting of what appears to White Lantern Batman. We couldn’t help ourselves kids, so… here’s a few fleeting thoughts:

• Gotham City’s criminal underbelly quivers with fear as Marvel’s Murdering Bat-Wannabe Moon Knight moves to town.
• Upon returning to the Bat-Cave, Alfred will quip “I’ll go fetch more bleach from the store, Master Bruce.”
• Well, Bruce has been a Green Lantern (for an Elseworlds tale, and like 3 panels in GL), a Yellow Lantern (for a panel), and a Black Lantern (for several panels!)… why not continue to try on another Lantern costumes for a minute or two?
• The utility belt will now contain Mint Mentos, Peppermint Tic-Tacs, and another incredibly large gas powered zip line launcher than can’t possibly fit on the belt.
• We’re pretty sure this is Bruce, cause last time we checked, Dick Grayson’s forearm veins weren’t thick enough to show through kevlar-lined gloves like Bruce’s do. Bruce uses shake weights.
• After seeing this costume change, all Robins breathe a sigh of relief, because finally they won’t be the easy one to spot in the shadows.
• In case you were wondering… White Lantern Batman can still beat Superman, if he so chooses.
• Upon seeing the White Lantern Batman, the Joker will become confused, and cause a real faux-pas by robbing the 2nd National Bank of Gotham in blackface.
• Given that we’re pretty good at deciphering solicit text now… it’s safe to assume White Lantern Batman will be seen in a single panel, and then we’ll have to move on to the next story in Brightest Day, which is subsequently also 1 panel. Hey, give DC a break, it’s not easy juggling 17 C-listers in a book that prints every other week.
• Mark Millar is already filing a lawsuit on behalf of “Nemesis”… but don’t worry, no one reads it.
• White Lantern Batman will have the power to make you forget most of the weird crap Grant Morrison has come up with for the character in the last few years.
• Subsequently, Grant Morrison will have a really cool way to ret-con the White Lantern Batman story in his 2017 run on Batman, tentatively titled “Batman Sorta Dies Again, because we need to sell more Bat-books this month.”

A long time, in a galaxy far far away… Or perhaps on Cartoon Network on the weekends or coming soon to your gaming PC… Star Wars hit the 2010 San Diego Comic Con in full force (get it?!). Those fans who dig on the cloney goodness of the computer animated series got some sneaky peaks of the new season and how the series is evolving the mythos at the Clone Wars panel. More than likely, those SAME fans who also enjoy a good nightly WoW raid party were privy to a sneaky peak as well at BioWare’s upcoming Star Wars themed MMO, ‘The Old Republic”. While the former takes place between some of the films in the series, the later actually predates EVERYTHING we’re familiar with (including BioWare’s genre-influencing RPG “Knights of the Old Republic” from a few years ago).  In case you’re amongst the fans who enjoy the “prequel” universe, but didn’t get a chance to enjoy the panels… we’ve got you covered. We’re like Yoda in your backpack, whisperin’ to you the secrets of the Force. Oh what’s that? Not familiar with Yoda when he was a just a tangible puppet, only when he was shiny and could do flippy flips? Look it up, kiddo. Look it up. But enjoy these videos first!

Warner Bros.’ Michigan J. Frog, the singing and dancing, top hat-wearing, cane-wielding amphibian, is a character that has been around since the 1950s. He made his debut in a 7 minute animated short titled One Froggy Evening, which is now one of the most renowned animated shorts in history. I remember watching this cartoon as a kid, and at that time I saw it as nothing more than an entertaining romp with a frog. It’s funny how you eventually learn to appreciate certain things you grow up with. In the case of One Froggy Evening, I still think it’s an entertaining romp with a frog, but now I know it’s “culturally significant”. At least, that’s what the Library of Congress said. If anything, the song “Hello My Baby” will be stuck in my head for a while.

Here’s a 3D remake of the first few minutes of the original One Froggy Evening:

And here’s the sequel, Another Froggy Evening, which shows how long Mr. Frog has been kicking it up in the history books:

I have no idea how a Superman trivia contest became a discussion over the much-beloved Marx Brothers, but yet it did.

Thanks to our friends at Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, we ran a contest to celebrate the release of Superman: Doomsday on iTunes with Extras.

The goal was to stump me, co-author of the forthcoming The Essential Superman Encyclopedia, with questions related to the Man of Steel. First up was Chuck Williams, who asked, “Clark Kent once asked Ma Kent to make him a second Superboy costume with a different color scheme. What color replaced blue as the primary color of this second costume, and why did it prove to be a mistake?”

A tricky one, but asking me questions of stories written by my pal Bob Rozakis will get you nowhere. Bob told a tale that had Ma make the costume red and yellow only to learn the yellow absorbed the solar radiation, weakening the Teen of Steel.

Mike Weber tried with, “What recent film features a visual reference/homage to the Fleischer animated version’s costume change sequences to introduce the hero?” Okay, Michael, you got me. Name the reference and if I’m convinced, you win the digital download of Superman: Doomsday with Extras.

Kyle Gnepper asked, “What is the mascot for the Smallville High football team?” I presume we’re talking about the television series and their mascot is the crow.

Miles Vorkosigan finally got us back on track with, “Since we’re Supermanning on these questions, I got one for ya, Bob. In the Crisis on Two Earths Justice League movie, what’s the last thing Supes says to Lex before they leave the police station?” My first inclination is to ask, who cares?  By being the second stumper, you get my highest regard or, if Mike’s answer doesn’t please me, you win.

Nebula and Hugo nominated author Michael A. Burstein inquired, “What did red kryptonite do to Superman in its very first appearance in the comic book? (I’m asking this question because I don’t know the answer and I’m curious.)” Well, Michael, the first appearance of Red K was in a Superboy story which saw the hero fall into a delirium,  dreaming that Jor-El, Lara, Ma Kent, and Pa Kent are all alive and well and are taken to a new world. Superboy then watched in horror as a moon crashed into the world, killing his natural and adoptive parents, along with Krypto. The shock woke him up.

With the debut of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World hitting theaters, and all you Pilgrimites having just polished off the final chapter of Brian Lee O’Malley’s Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour… we here at ComicMix thought we might pit the titular teenage hero against a foe with a heart just as big as his own. While Scott had to defeat the seven deadly exes in order to win the heart of his beloved Ramona, Mario has been saving the crap outta his beau, Princess Toadstool, for over 20 years. Furthermore, the pudgy plumber has gone so far to defeat children (children holding magic wands mind you…), conquer the third dimension, and then race to the death in go-karts for his girl. And come to think of it, has anyone ever seen Princess Toadstool give Mario more than a kiss and and P-Wing for his efforts? I mean, I’ve not seen the movie yet, but it seems like Ramona is willing to get Scott to at least second base for his troubles!

As we know, in the real world, Scott Pilgrim is best portrayed by Michael Cera. Once a frozen banana selling salesman on a show only 17 of us watched on Fox. Sure, later he went on to play a completely different totally similar group of sarcastic whining indie cred building everykids… but is that enough? Because, we, the oldest of the old school Gen-Xers shall never forget the classic abomination that was Super Mario Bros. And in that, ahem, film, our dearest Mario was played by none other than Bob Hoskins. And if Bob Hoskins reps ole’ Mario Mario… what chance does Cera have?

So, let’s put these two lovebirds in a cage match. Who’s the beau with the bigger heart? Who’s the dude with the softer soul? Which forlorn fighter will fend off his foe first? Will it be Scott Pilgrim, who’s fueled by teenage angst, wields a mighty 4-string bass attack, and is powered by today’s generation of hip cats? Or will Mario, Italian-by-way-of-Miyamoto, the mascot of a generation, pound poor Scott with his brick-breaking-white-gloved fists of fury? Will Scott’s Sex-Bob-Omb backup their bassman in battle, or will Mario’s cavalcade of cartoon cohorts overpower the Emo-Elite. Only you, the ComicMix nation can decide. Let us know who takes home the 1-Up in the comments below.

Ding Ding Ding!