IDW's Weekly World News wraps up its first story arc, "The Irredemption of Ed Anger" with Part 4 this month. When we left Ed Anger in issue 3, he had successfully brought about the end of the world in the form of an angry cloud, due mostly because of Ed's anti-freak campaign. Would Ed be able to put aside his prejudices long enough to save the world? Would this be a story that readers actually want to read past the captions on the cover? 
The answer to the first question, I'm not telling. The answer to the second? Absolutely. Alan Robinson, through all four issues, has written a story that is captivating and filled with pop culture goodies, not to mention tongue-in-cheek humor and freaks. Ed Anger's prejudices and grumpiness are a funny version of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino if the neighbors were the likes of Manigator, Ph.D. Ape, and the ever-popular Bat Boy. The story is ridiculous in all the right ways and filled with smart, witty dialogue.
Alan Robinson's art is just the right combination of cartoonish and realistic, making all of the characters fit perfectly in this little world. And the colors are fantastic. If Weekly World News is junk food for the brain, Tom Smith's colors are the icing squiggles on the chocolate cupcake. These guys make a giant French-speaking cloud pop off the page. Cover duties were shared by Alan Robinson and Jon Reed. Robinson's cover is the standard tabloid-style cover (complete with my favorite caption of the week "Mint Condition! (Until you touch it!)"). I love Robinson's color work on the cover, especially the sparkle in Bat Boy's eyes. Reed's cover (colored by Tom Smith) is a portrait of everyone's favorite redneck freak, Manigator.
The bottom line on this book: read it for the cool story, read it for the freaks, read it for the pop culture Easter eggs. Whatever reason you choose to read this book, read it.
Stacey Rader
Review Editor
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The Clone Wars episode from last Friday combined two of my favorite things: Star Wars and Japanese kaiju movies. Kaiju movies are a genre featuring giant monsters, usually let loose in urban areas where they fight and destroy buildings, with Godzilla and Gamera being the most famous of the bunch. The Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni is reportedly a huge Godzilla fan and "The Zillo Beast" is a loving homage to Godzilla and other kaiju movies.
"The Zillo Beast" takes us to the planet Malastare, and features the Dugs who were first introduced with Sebulba in The Phantom Menace. The Dugs were one of the coolest and most alien races introduced in the prequels and I'm happy to see them reintroduced in The Clone Wars. They have some very memorable scenes where they ride mounts and fight droids using electrostaffs.
It turns out that Malastare and its fuel supplies are crucial the the Republic war efforts and the Republic is fairly desperate to sign a treaty with the Dugs, which will give them access to the needed fuel. I really like that The Clone Wars has dug pretty deep into Star Wars and given us a situation that is complex and believable with parallels to our own geopolitical situation.
To thwart the massive Confederation force that has invaded the planet, the Republic unveils a new weapon, an Electro-Proton bomb, designed to take out the droids with little or no effect on organics. Mace Windu and Anakin look on skeptically as the bomb is deployed and takes out the droids but also creates a huge sinkhole on the planets surface and ultimately releases the Zillo beast, which is huge, combines features of a reptile and a segmented worm, and is imperious to almost all weapons (including lightsabers). The beast has a sort of awkward, spindly design and even sports a third arm from its back.
Like Godzilla, the Zillo beast is awakened by the use of a "doomsday" weapon and unleashed upon the land. The Dugs are dead set on destroying the creature but Windu insists on capturing this monster, the last of its kind, and taking it to a remote world where it is allowed to run free. We get some great scenes that showcase how out of sync the Jedi are with the more worldly and military forces. Their role as preservers of life is not always comfortable when they are also generals with military and diplomatic responsibilities. We see some nice foreshadowing of conflict between Windu and Palpatine as the Chancellor will not allow the Jedi to ruin the chances of having the treaty signed which will allow access to Malastare's resources.
The Zillo beast eventually escapes from its pit and is knocked out by the Jedi using some vehicles that are clearly inspired by the ubiquitous Maser tanks featured in the Godzilla movies. As they are preparing to beast to be taken off world, Windu receives a message from Palpatine that the creature will be taken to Coruscant for study, setting up next week's no-doubt kaiju-tastic second part. Palpatine has taken an interest in the monster and its nearly impenetrable armor. Obviously, he has never seen King Kong or any other monster movie to know that creatures and big urban areas do not mix well.
"The Zillo Beast" is a really fun and surprising episode that plays to what is the absolute strength of The Clone Wars: the ability to present a wide variety of stories that span wildly different tones and genres all set in the Star Wars universe. Never in a million years did I think I would see a Star Wars kaiju story, so I was sold just on the premise. Again, the opening scenario for the episode-putting a pair of Jedi in the middle of a war for resources-feels very contemporary and real and hints at things going on in the background of the Star Wars stories that we don't really ever think about. After all, those Star Destroyers don't fuel themselves. This enriches the "used universe" concept of Star Wars that has been present since the very first film in 1977.
Patrick Garone
Creative Director
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Experience Iron Man in a whole new way - IRON MAN: EXTREMIS Motion Comic.
From the story by Warren Ellis & Adi Granov, this incredible epic blends seamless motion, dynamic voice acting, and stunning special effects, bringing to life the story that redefined Iron Man for the 21st Century. Now you can get an exclusive sneak peek at this breathtaking visual breakthrough in motion comics with a brand new behind the scenes video! The first episode of IRON MAN EXTRMIS goes on-sale Friday, April 16th!
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RED FRAGGLE™ MAKES LIVE APPEARANCE ON FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
TO CELEBRATE RELEASE OF ARCHAIA’S
‘MOUSE GUARD/FRAGGLE ROCK’ FLIP BOOK
WRITER SAM HUMPHRIES AND ARTIST JEREMY LOVE ALSO ON HAND TO SIGN COPIES FOR FANS
To celebrate the release of its widely anticipated Free Comic Book Day flip book featuring fan-favorite properties Mouse Guard and Fraggle Rock™, Archaia is excited to announce RED FRAGGLE will make a live appearance on Free Comic Book Day (May 1, 2010) at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, Calif. to lead a short sing-along of favorite Fraggle Classics, take pictures with fans and sign comic books. Red and world-renowned puppeteer, KAREN PRELL, appear courtesy of The Jim Henson Company, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Archaia Entertainment and Meltdown Comics.
“This is such a nice treat for fans, and we couldn’t be happier to be able to work with the great folks at The Jim Henson Company, Lionsgate and Meltdown to make this possible,” said Archaia Marketing Manager Mel Caylo. “Karen and Red’s appearance at San Diego Comic-Con was highly anticipated and well attended, so we’re excited for them to come to Los Angeles and share their special magic in celebration of the release of our Free Comic Book Day issue.”
Archaia’s Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock Free Comic Book Day flip book will feature a brand-new Fraggle Rock story by written by SAM HUMPHRIES (CBGB: The Comic Book) and drawn by Eisner Award-nominated artist JEREMY LOVE (Bayou). Humphries and Love will be on hand at Meltdown Comics with RED FRAGGLE to sign copies of the free comic for fans.
The pair join an already star-studded lineup between the covers of Archaia’s Free Comic Book Day flip book, which also features an original Mouse Guard story by David Petersen, and another never-before-seen Fraggle Rock story written by Nichol Ashworth and drawn by Jake Myler (Undertown).
In addition, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will display a collection of Fraggle Rock DVDs from the original series that started it all, including FRAGGLE ROCK: THE COMPLETE SERIES COLLECTION, which includes the entire award-winning series with over 47 hours of content on 20 discs, as well as FRAGGLE ROCK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, now available for the first time on DVD.
Free Comic Book Day is a single day—the first Saturday in May each year—when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores. Fans at the Meltdown event will be able to sample some of the best talents and stories in the industry, free of charge!
Red Fraggle is one of the five main characters of the “Fraggle Rock” TV show, an award-winning television series launched by The Jim Henson Company in 1983 about an imaginary, colorful and fun world comprised of creatures called Fraggles, Doozers and Gorgs. The show ran for four seasons and became an international sensation. This global fan-favorite brand is as popular today as it was when it premiered more than 25 years ago with a robust consumer products plan featuring apparel, plush toys and even designer jewelry.
The fun starts at 11 a.m. local time on May 1, 2010 at Meltdown Comics (7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90046, 323-851-7223, www.meltcomics.com). Red Fraggle, Karen Prell, Sam Humphries and Jeremy Love will be ready to greet fans and sign autographs. As an added bonus, the fan-favorite Grilled Cheese Truck, a mobile kitchen that creates gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, will set up outside of Meltdown Comics to sell its wares to fans during the Free Comic Book Day event!
In a few weeks, Archaia will announce additional Free Comic Book Day signings taking place all over the country. For more information on Free Comic Book Day, visit http://www.freecomicbookday.com.
About The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy®-nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train,” “Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.”
With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment.
The Company’s Henson Alternative brand recently launched the New York run of “Stuffed and Unstrung,” a live puppet improvisational show at the Union Square Theatre. www.henson.com
About Archaia
Archaia has built an unparalleled reputation for producing meaningful content that perpetually transforms minds. With a slate including the popular Eisner Award-winning title Mouse Guard, as well as Awakening, The Killer, Gunnerkrigg Court, Robotika, Killing Pickman, Artesia and the Publisher’s latest additions of Titanium Rain; The God Machine; Roddenberry Productions’ Days Missing; The Jim Henson Company library; and Mr. Murder Is Dead and Lucid with Before the Door Pictures, Archaia has become synonymous with quality content.
For more information on Archaia or any Archaia titles please visit www.Archaia.com. Archaia can also be found on Facebook (facebook.com/archaiacomics), MySpace (myspace.com/archaiacomics) and Twitter (twitter.com/archaiacomics).
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Following the well-received collectibles of Mark I, II and III from the first Iron Man movie, guess which is coming next?
After the launch of War Machine and Whiplash collectibles, here comes another powerful Iron Man from the sequel!
The long-anticipated Mark IV character is coming in his 1/6th scale collectible figurine!
Ready for preview? Teaser is available now! More photos are coming. Stay tuned!
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