The Bounce #1
Written by Joe Casey
Illustrated by David Messina
Colored by Giovanna Niro
Lettered by Rus Wooton
Image Comics
Release Date: May 22, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Producing originality in the superhero genre has seemed to be a difficult task for creators over the years. To pull off a new concept while granting unique abilities to characters requires a good deal of ingenuity that, quite simply, seems to be lacking these days; however, the creative team of Joe Casey and David Messina have managed such an accomplishment with The Bounce #1 from Image Comics.

Jasper Jenkins is a professional slacker and stoner””the perfect cover for his other occupation: a superhero. Dressed in a black and yellow spandex suit, he curls himself into a ball and bounces off walls. Through the momentum gained from the impact, Jasper can remain spinning in the air as long as he keeps bouncing; kind of like a bouncy ball. It seems he also has the capability to make a person’s insides bounce around in a very painful manner, as demonstrated while fighting a super strong villain who just murdered the police commissioner. He may have some exceptional aptitudes, but Jasper isn’t the only one. Super powered beings are showing up all over the city””good and evil””many with very unique skill sets; and if that isn’t enough, an underground organization is trying to break the barrier between realities using an ultimate, secret weapon.

What happens when you take Neil Gaiman‘s 2012 commencement speech and the Zen Pencils comic of a tiny bit of that speech? A video mashup happens, my friends. This is the internet after all. Drop below the cut to watch the video and read the tale of how I came to make it. It’s alright if you skim the tale and watch the video. I won’t judge.

Neil Gaiman is a prolific writer of fantasy, science fiction, poetry, and life. He became a beloved writer of mine *mumble mumble* years ago. Amazingly, it wasn’t love at first sight. I tried The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes and barely got past the first issue. What can I say. I was younger and still hung up on superhero comics. That’s not a bad place to start but it’s not a place one should stay forever, I think. After a year I gave Mr Gaiman a second try and jumped to The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists. The key to Hell segment of Morpheus’ five year journey in Vertigo comics. That was my key to Gaiman’s pantheon of works. I was hooked on fairy tales, ancient myths and, oddly enough, religion in a brand new way.

Mud
Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Michael Shannon, Sarah Paulson
Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions
Rated PG-13 | 130 Minutes
Released April 26, 2013 (Limited)

As we are about to begin the big summer movie season, I decided to head out to my local independent movie theater, and luckily for us folks in Milwaukee, we have two to choose from. I headed to the Downer and after hearing that they finally converted to digital projectors, I got my popcorn, frozen Junior Mints, and soda, then headed into the theater for Mud.

It seems there are a few movies coming out that deal with kids on their summer breaks or something along the lines of Stand By Me or Adventureland. And in Mud, which was written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, a movie worth checking out and I would suggest checking out the numerous episodes and discussions on the /Film podcast about it, after seeing it of course).

Of all the summer blockbuster films out there, Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger has to be the most interesting to see. Slapped with production delays, budget cuts, and screenplay rewrites, it seems like the odds were against this film. But four trailers in, and The Lone Ranger still looks like it has that sparkle that Pirates of the Caribbean had, thanks in part to Johnny Depp being cast as Tonto and the huge action sequences that will surely wow audiences.

This final trailer exemplifies exactly why Depp is basically the face of almost very Verbinski movie ever made. The director wasn’t afraid to shy away from admitting that the film will take a Sancho Panza storytelling angle. It also helps to know that Depp is a much more marketable name than Armie Hammer. But that really shouldn’t take away from the fun that is The Lone Ranger.

Check out the trailer below.

As part of the unveiling of the next generation Xbox console, Xbox One, an interesting announcement was made regarding Halo.

Halo being a part of a Microsoft event is no big surprise, and with a new trilogy in the game franchise currently being made by 343 Industries, you’d assume that the next game might show up today. But that was not the case.

Instead, 343 head Bonnie Ross was on hand to announce a brand new live-action Halo TV series, being made with none other than Steven Spielberg. Continue below to see a video of the announcement.