The Darkness: Levels TPB
Written by Paul Jenkins, David Wohl
Pencils by Eric Basaldua, Tyler Kirkham,
Patrick Blaine, & Mike Choi
Art by Mattias Snygg, Stjepan Sejic,
Rick Basaldua, Sal Regla, Eric Basaldua,
Jay Leisten, Joe Weems, & Sean Parsons
Colors by Rob Schwager, Studio F, Blond,
& Sonia Oback
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $14.99; On-sale now

When I heard that Top Cow was coming out with a comic book based on a video game based on a comic book, I was, to say the least, skeptical. I was never a big fan of The Darkness comics in the first place, but I am a fan of the video game (see my review here), so I figured it was worth a try. With input from the game’s development studio, Starbreeze, Top Cow has come out with a comic that is a bit of a departure for this long-running series, and one that I can easily recommend.

The Darkness: Levels is a compilation of the six-issue miniseries based on the game. Although each issue ties-in to a level of the game, it is not simply a retelling of the game’s story. In fact, the stories are self-contained enough that they are accessible to anyone, even if you have never read The Darkness or played the video game. However, if you have played the game, Levels explains some of the back story and fleshes out the relationships between the various characters.

The whole series is written by Paul Jenkins, who also wrote the script for the game. Issue #0 is drawn by Mattias Snygg, a concept artist at Starbreeze. His artwork looks painted, although it was most likely created digitally. The style works quite well for the first issue, which tells the story of how the Darkness came to curse the Estacado family. It takes place during a hellish battle in World War I, and Snygg’s artwork evokes the horror and disorientation of war.

Yahoo! Movies has the trailer for Simon Pegg‘s upcoming comedy, Run, Fat Boy, Run.

Five years ago Dennis (Simon Pegg) was at the altar about to marry Libby (Thandie Newton), his pregnant fiancée. He got cold feet and ran for the hills and he’s been going in circles ever since. When Dennis discovers Libby’s hooked up with high-flying go-getter Whit (Hank Azaria), he realizes it’s now or never. He enters a marathon to show he’s more than a quitter but then finds out just how much sweat, strain and tears it takes to run for 26 miles. Nobody gives him a chance but Dennis knows this is his only hope to more than a running joke.

Run, Fat Boy, Run hit theaters on October 26, 2007.

MySpace TV has the exclusive trailer for Season 2 of NBC’s superhero drama Heroes, which premieres on NBC on Monday, September 24, 2007.

Watch the trailer here after the jump. There’s also behind-the-scenes footage with the Production Designer Ruth Ammon.

In our interview with series creator Tim Kring and star Masi Oka, Oka revealed that his character Hiro will find himself in feudal Japan (actually filmed in Ventura County, just north of Los Angeles) interacting with Heroes newcomers David Anders and Eriko Tamura. Anders will play Kensei, the legendary samurai idolized by Hiro and whose sword was an important part of Hiro’s quest last season, while Tamura will play a new love interest for Hiro.

Also joining the ensemble cast for Season 2 is Kristen Bell as Elle, a character Variety reports will be a sexy, mysterious young lady who has ties to the supposed death of Peter, H.R.G.’s past, and the future of Claire. The Veronica Mars star will be in a key multiepisode arc this October, which kicks off with Elle committing a serious crime, though it’s unclear whether she’s good or bad.

Are the Sci Fi Channel and its parent company NBC-Universal trying to drive me insane with its lack of logic? It cuts off Battlestar Galactica, moves it around on the schedule, and basically does anything to ruin the only good show on the Sci Fi schedule. They fill the schedule with mostly crap (have you seen the new Flash Gordon without rolling your eyes?) Then, NBC goes and poaches the concept (harsh new take on an 80’s classic) along with a few of the actors from BSG, and does a fairly mediocre new show in the form of the revisioned Bionic Woman. And of course, we sci-fi genre fans eat it up because, what else is there? This is not to say that the new show is patently bad, it has several good points and several bad points. It’s just another mediocre show, at least from the pilot, and I was hoping for something better.

Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan) is having a tough time of things, but she’s making it work for her. She has to deal with her bratty little sister (Lucy Hale), a crappy job, and not much of a future, but she has a nice guy in Dr. Will Anthros (Chris Bowers), a noted professor who works in prosthetics and reconstructive surgery. Things take a turn for the worse when Jaime and Will are in a terrible accident. Will is fine, but Jaime has massive injuries, and ends up losing her legs, right arm, right ear, and right eye. That’s when the boyfriend goes to work, and gives her new body parts. Of course as happened to Steve Summers in the Venture Brothers, the government expects her to pay for her new limbs. Do you know how long it takes to pay back 50 million dollars on a government salary? But seriously, she escapes from the hospital only to run into another bionic woman (Katee Sackhoff) and becomes embroiled in a variety of mysteries. Who is her new boss (Miguel Ferrer)? What is the other bionic woman’s agenda? What do some of these other scenes mean?

As I’m sure you’re already aware, we Geeks of Doom are huge lovers of comic books. We all have our favorite superheroes, graphic novels, writers, artists, and publishing companies.

Around my way Marvel vs. DC vs various independents is as heated a discussion as the Yankees vs. the Red Sox vs. the Mets. We’re also gigantic lovers of movies, great and small — live-action, animated, sci-fi, fantasy, noir, etc…

Who here hasn’t read a great comic book series and wondered to themselves, “Why hasn’t anyone done [insert your comic title here] yet? This would make a great film — live action or animated.”

We’d like to here from you on this one, so please let us know the following:

1. What is your favorite comic book?
2. Which comic book series would you like to see adapted to film?
3. Would your choice of comic book movie work better as a live-action or animated film, or both?
4. Which comic book should have NEVER BEEN or NEVER SHOULD BE made into a movie?

This can apply to any comic book from any country around the world.