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Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@cxpulp.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Rated: PG-13 - Violence aplenty, a couple of bad words.

A mysterious terrorist targets Starfleet, and only the Enterprise crew can stop him.

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, Noel Clarke
Written By: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, & Damon Lindelof
Created By: Gene Rodenberry
Directed By: J.J. Abrams
Released By: Paramount Pictures


I’m not going to spoil any major plot points, I’ll put them in spoiler tags if I must bring them up, but this may make me the only person on the internet to not spoil. You may think you know what this movie is about, and you may be right. I quickly figured out where this story was going, even though I kept spoiler free. And you know what? I don’t care. I loved the hell out of this film, as flawed as it is.

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As regular readers know, I have slowly started to come around to reading comic books digitally. Although I was initially nervous that the rise of the digital format would be the demise of the comic book store and the death of the print edition, that hasn’t happened at all. In fact, it seems to be the opposite – while comic stores and print sales are actually up over where they were a few years ago, digital comics seem to be grabbing new and lapsed readers and leading some of them into the comic book stores. Now I’m not foolish enough to think this will be the case forever. I still have some severe ongoing trepidation about going to my favorite shop one day only to find all of the customers have abandoned it and the owner is sitting in the middle of an empty room, sobbing into a tattered copy of Youngblood #1 (because he has plenty of those lying around), but I’m hoping that doesn’t happen for a long time.
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The theme of Game of Thrones this week is about relationships, the kinds that exist between friends, enemies, lovers and family. And they vary in intensity and scope as the characters themselves.
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In this week's 2 in 1 Shot, Blake takes a look at this week's announcements from TV land! S.H.I.E.L.D. officially picked up as a series! Community gets season five! And he reads an e-mail about the demise of Young Justice, offering a little commentary about the state of animation. In the picks, it's G-Man: Coming Home. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
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Traditionally, comic book fans think of the summer as being “convention season.” That’s when the biggest cons are held, that’s the time the biggest announcements are made, that’s when all the exclusive covers and toys and collectibles all come out. And for a long time, that was okay. But I think if we look hard at the current state of comics – and comic fans – we’ll see that we’ve reached a point where the summer-only model isn’t good for anybody.
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Review: Waylon Wernette
Quick Rating: Fighting Fans - Buy It Now!
Rating: T for Teen

Official Site

Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U
Reviewed on: PS3
Developer: NetherRealms Studios
Publisher: WB Games
Genre: Fighting Game
# of Players: 1-2 offline, 1-7 online King of the Hill
US Release Date: April 16, 2013
MSRP: $59.99

NetherRealms Studios (2011's ...

This episode is all about deal making. Everyone is hell bent on improving their position. Some succeed. Others fail. And many more are disappointed, as their situation becomes even worse than before.
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Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@cxpulp.com
Quick Rating: Good
Rating: PG-13. Mainly violence, and maybe a bad word, although I missed it.

A terrorist named The Mandarin pisses off Iron Man. Probably not a good move.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, William Sadler, Ty Simpkins
Screenplay By: Drew Pearce & Shane Black
Director: Shane Black
Distributed By: Marvel Studios/ Paramount Pictures



The summer movie season creeps ever closer to spring as this is the first blockbuster out of the gate. (Far from the last, especially not from Marvel, which has Wolverine and Thor movies coming out this year as well. I bet you’ll see the trailers before this film.) So how does this one rate? Well, it’s better than Iron Man 2 … but what isn’t? I really need to add a rim shot sound effect to this review, so you can get the full effect.

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I've discovered a pattern in Game of Thrones. While there are many different story lines going on there is a primary pairing that garner the lion's share of the screen time and which is the most dramatic and profound. In the second season it was the interaction of Arya Stark and Tywin Lannister. This season I feel the most complex and intriguing scenes are between Jamie Lannister and Brienne of Tarth.
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Reviewer: Terry Verticchio
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Black Swans

The Illuminati interrogate their prisoner. Does she hold the key to saving the Earth? Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Pencils: Steve Epting
Inks: Rick Magar with Steve Epting
Colours: Frank D'Amata
Letters: VC's Joe Caramagna
Cover: Jock
Editor: Tom Brevoort & Lauren Sankovitch
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The world's most brilliant men are at their wits end. They could only watch as the Galactus of another Universe consume the earth and thereby prevent another incursion and save their world from destruction. But the incursions still continue. It's only a matter of time. So they're forced to interrogate their prisoner Black Swan in hopes she will afford them the means to stop the destruction. But do they dare trust her?

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Reviewer: Terry Verticchio
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: My Brother earned his medals at My Lai in Vietnam

What is Fury to do when America becomes the bad guy?

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Goran Parlov
Colours: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Rob Steen
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel MAX

Nick Fury is a man who knows when he's being played. It's almost insulting when it happens. But for Barracuda and his crew in Nicaragua there is too much at stake to have a man like Fury hanging around. So they manufacture a clean and cut way to get rid of him. But Nick isn't stupid and guesses correctly that his initial misgivings were right. But as he seeks out proof he sees that for the first time he may just be in over his head.
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