The most important casting in the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen‘s new adaptation of Charles Portis’s 1968 novel, True Grit, is the role of main character Mattie Ross. After an intense audition process that saw the likes of 15,000 or so teenage girls, the part was given to 13-year-old relative unknown Hailee Steinfeld.

The Jim Henson Company is responsible for the greatest puppet creations of all time, and they’re still going very strong. When word came that they would be heavily involved in the massive return of the Muppets as well as other puppet-related titles like a Dark Crystal sequel and a Fraggle Rock movie, we the children of the ’80s were elated.

While the various Muppet/puppet movies are still in development, other forms of entertainment are on the way to re-ignite an interest and an excitement in these worlds and the characters within them. One example of this is the brand new Fraggle Rock comic book by Jeffrey Brown that’s currently set for release in April. Fans will also have the chance to grab some Fraggle action when an issue is available during the beloved Free Comic Day.

Those of you who can’t wait will be happy to discover that MTV was able to get their hands on some goodies from the new series, including a look at the first cover and a sample of the Free Comic Book Day offering. Click the image above to see the cover of the first issue, and head over to the other side to check out the sample excerpt!

Remember a few years ago when Todd McFarlane created his Twisted Land of Oz toyline, which gave the classic Wizard of Oz characters a new risque look and quite the alternate storyline?

Well, artist Tom Kyzivat has done some twisting of his own lately with some of the most beloved 1980’s toys in his Post-Apocalyptic 80s Toy Storyline series.

The artist has posted five drawings on his Deviant Art page that depict Strawberry Shortcake as the leader of a rebellion against Brainy Smurf, known here as The Brain, with Rainbow Brite on her side as a Tank Girl-like demolitions expert.

While I love what Kyzivat has done with the ladies, my favorite re-imagined character is The Necromancer. See that image here at top right. I don’t want to tell you who it is, because Kyzivat wants you to guess (if you look at the comments on the image on his site, you’ll see him confirming this character’s identity).

Lastly, there’s a bear named The Pessimist (easily recognizable) and another Mystery character for you to guess (again, the answer is in the author’s comments section).

Check out all the images and descriptions collected here below.

The work on Fable III is already well under-way, and with promises of a Holiday season 2010 release date, the folks at Lionhead Studios have a lot on their plate these days. None-the-less, things seem to be going well, and after some big announcements made recently, the studio has released a new video diary to warm up your excitement levels for the third adventure.

Lionhead top dog Peter Molyneaux recently spoke at the X10 convention, and arrived with promises of the announcements of major changes to the Fable franchise that would likely leave many angered. As it turns out, all of the big changes actually sound pretty exciting, and, depending on how well the concepts translate to gameplay, they could make for a very cool, very unique Fable III experience.

Among the many changes being reported out of the convention, it looks as if Lionhead is ready to take our hand (literally) and guide us away from the games that we’re familiar with today, including Fable II. For example: there will be no more health bars or orbs of experience or any of that. Everything will depend solely on who you are and what you do with your Fable III life.

Click on over to read more about Fable III and watch this first sneak peak into our next adventure!

Irredeemable #11
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Peter Krause and Diego Barreto
Cover Art by Paul Azaceta (Cover A); Dan Panosian (Cover B); Jeffrey Spokes (Cover C)
BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99; Release date: February 24, 2010

What if the world’s greatest superhero became the world’s greatest supervillain?

Previously in Irredeemable“¦

The Plutonian, Earth’s most powerful and beloved hero, has gone rogue. In the past few weeks, tens of millions of innocents have died at his hands as he has rampaged across the planet. His former teammates, the Paradigm, have been searching far and wide for some way to stop him. For now their best defense is Survivor, one of their own, who has absorbed his dead twin’s powers and has forced the Plutonian into retreat — and, unwittingly, into the hands of Modeus, Plutonian’s former arch-enemy, who now secretly inhabits the body of Plutonian’s young sidekick.

Meanwhile, Bette Noir and her husband, Gilgamos, have been abducted by the alien hunter Orian, and to bargain for Gilgamos’s life, Bette has promised to reveal some of her secrets….