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Ever since Disney announced they’re moving forward with new Star Wars movies, several of my friends have been debating whether or not the House of Mouse will use the Expanded Universe that’s been built up over the past two decades of Dark Horse Comics, novels, video games and other media. Will one of the new movies adapt the legendary Timothy Zahn trilogy? Who will play Mara Jade? Will they pick up the new series when Han and Leia’s twins are already adults or try to tell tales of their childhood? I don’t mean to break any hearts, but I’m pretty certain I can answer all of these questions in one fell swoop:
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Although I still don’t foresee a time where I’d go 100 percent digital with my comic book collection, the last year has changed my opinion of the format immensely. Ease of organization, availability, and a storage space that could literally place every comic ever published in my pocket (there’s a reason I got a phone case that looks like a TARDIS) have slowly started to win me over and make me much more receptive to digital comics than I would have imagined just last January.
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Marvel and DC Comics (you may have heard of them) have enormous libraries of characters… so many, in fact, that they can’t really be contained to one universe. Over the years, both companies have explored worlds beyond their “regular” universes – Marvel in their What If? series, in Squadron Supreme, in Exiles, and many others. The DNA of the DC Universe, one could argue, is almost built on this concept, with the Multiverse concept being integral to all of their biggest world-shaping events (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis and Flashpoint). And even though they are concentrating on their core New 52 universe at the moment, at least four of the 52 currently deal with other dimensions to one degree or another (Earth 2, Worlds’ Finest, Dial H, and Sword of Sorcery).
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Christmas brings many things every year - busy schedules, joy, gifts, family, and many other positive things. This holiday season had me starting to prepare for a bunch of new challenges in life. Naturally some horrible events occurred during that time frame not just in my hometown (in my case, the volunteer firefighters) but in other spots in the country. Once again gun violence reared its head, and, once again, video games came under attack. Once again I have to see time and time again that people are still pointing their fingers at the wrong people. The way I see it, there is only one group of people who have it right, and I do not think you are thinking about the group I am thinking about. I think.

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DC Comics quietly confirmed this week the new Scott Snyder/Jim Lee Superman title is going to be called Man of Steel, which is what most of us assumed all along... so why all the secrecy about it? Blake ponders, then hits you with a pick of the week, Keith Giffen's Threshold #1. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
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We’re about a year and a half into DC’s New 52 initiative, but things still haven’t settled down for the publisher just yet. Earlier this week they announced the cancellations of two more of the original batch of 52 titles, I, Vampire and DC Universe Presents, neither of which comes as a huge surprise. Of course, with the intention being to maintain 52 regular ongoing series, that means two more titles will have to be introduced to replace them. I actually rather like the business model DC has created here – they’ve set up a system where they clean out a few titles a few times a year, replacing them with new books. While it always sucks to see a beloved title end, this approach has been effective at frequently bringing in fresh blood to the publisher and giving comics like Sword of Sorcery (featuring Amethyst) a shot. Marvel, on the other hand, is much sooner into its Marvel Now! project, with more new titles still being announced even this week, such as Brian Wood’s all-female X-Men comic that’s coming out later this year. Marvel hasn’t got a fixed number like DC does, but we all know it’s only a matter of time before the first of their relaunched books, Red She-Hulk, is inevitably cancelled. When that happens, they’ll need some new comics to usher in as well.

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It's finally here, friends... the Showcase crew goes through everything interesting in the world of comics and pop culture for the past 12 months! This mammoth podcast touches on Marvel Now!, the New 52, The Walking Dead, hit movies, not-so-hit movies, LEGO, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, the Avengers, the X-Men, Hello Kitty and virtually everything else. And as always, the crew closes it out with their picks of the year. Go to the bathroom first, because this episode is a giant. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
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I don’t know about you guys, but so far 2013 has been a bit of a bust. I haven’t won any lotteries, Hollywood continually fails to pound down my door to purchase the film rights to my zombie masterpiece Opening Night of the Dead (available via Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords.com or in your iPad bookstore), and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting increasingly skeptical that I’m going to have a flying car in two years. But the lowest blow of all came earlier today when it was announced that the Comics Buyer’s Guide, the longest-running magazine in the world about comic books, is going to cease publication in a couple of months with issue #1699. For those of you who are younger, allow me to explain: a “magazine” is what it’s called when you print out a bunch of pages from the internet, staple them together, and then mail them to people who are afraid of dropping their iPads in the toilet. And Comics Buyer’s Guide is probably the greatest such magazine about comic books I ever read.
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Merry Christmas Eve, my friends. The Yuletide season is upon us again, and this will be your final Everything But Imaginary for 2012, because on Thursday I’m hopping a plane to ring in the New Year with my sweet fiancé Erin and her friends and family in Pittsburgh. But before I go, going through the Christmas comics I read each year with you has become something of a tradition for me, and I’m not about to end that now. But this year, I’ve got a pretty substantial pile. You see, friends, this is the year I discovered digital comics. And both Comixology and the Amazon Kindle store offer a lot of comics for free, many of them Christmas-themed… and, y’know, free… it’s hard to not download a combination of free and legal. Plus, there were not one, but two Wizard World New Orleans conventions in 2013, and whenever I go to a con I spend time digging through the back issue bins, and if I can find a Christmas comic for a 25 or 50 cents, it’s going in my buy pile. Plus there was just the usual assortment of Christmas comics I get every year. So I’ve got plenty to go through. Sit back, relax your eyes, and let’s look at the Christmas Comics Season of 2012.
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It's time for your next 2-in-1 Shot! Now that Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm is final, what does that mean for Dark Horse's Star Wars comics? And how is Fantagraphics still doing such beautiful Disney comics right now? Also, after Gail Simone was fired from Batgirl, DC has announced her replacement... Gail Simone! Blake also hits you with a special Yuletide pick, Hawkeye #6. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
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So... 2012. Crazy, huh?

And never more so crazy than it’s been the last few days. Ever since a lunatic in Connecticut took over the 24-hour news cycle last week, it seems we’ve been smothered by copycats and wannabes and psychopaths who bought up plenty of ammo and want to try to use it before the Mayan Apocalypse. And it’s not like it just started on Friday, either – I certainly don’t need to remind you of the Colorado shooting on the opening night of The Dark Knight Rises (and I’m sorry I just did). In fact, it seems like everything this year – from the real world to the world of entertainment – has gone completely topsy-turvy.
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