Geek of Oz

The battle begins in March with our first look at Marvel's latest event, Avengers VS X-Men. Who will reign supreme? Who will be left licking their wounds? X-Men may be a scrappy bunch but I've got my money on The Avengers.  Check out the official press release and some beautiful art by Frank Cho and the return of the Scarlet Witch.

There's no denying that I am a dirty little pop culture whore. Whenever films, comic books, novels, animation or music call I come-a-runnin'. I've actually been like this for the majority of my life. I have photos at the age of 4 wearing my best Masters of the Universe sloppy joe, I was dressed up as Spider-Man for my 5th birthday and I attended my first concert at the age of 6, Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet. This fact continues to this day. As I write this I'm wearing a Starfleet t-shirt and sporting my Captain America and Autobot tattoos... no, really.

Icon's recently released "A Few Best Men" has taken off to a cracking start, proving what we all already knew... we're a funny lot. Coming in as the highest grossing Australian comedy in over 10 years is no mean feat and I do believe that a toast is in order! Check out the official press release after the jump!

No this isn't some crappy gag or bootlegged clip. What we have here is a fantastic piece of worldwide viral advertising the likes of which we have never seen. Scour YouTube and you'll find similar clips from Japan, Mexico and Russia but arguably none more iconic than that of our fair Sydney Opera House. The Amazing Spider-Man is set for an Australian release on the 4th of July 2012 and stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as Dr Connors/The Lizard and Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben. Being directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer), I can only hope that he exhibits an equally deft touch in the realm of my favourite comic character, our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Check out the clip after the jump!

As far as themed variant covers go, this has to be up there with the best. It's great to see artists flexing their skills and showing us that they're not a just a bunch of funny book doodlers but a group of extremely talented artists and undoubtedly just as much art geeks as comic geeks. Without a doubt my favourite is Alex Maleev's take on Egon Schiele.

Whilst looking back over the films of 2011 nostalgia was the theme that was constantly focused upon. This ranged from directors being accused of attempting to recreate the films of the their youth as was the case with JJ Abrams’s Super 8 to Terrence Malick who brought us into a deeply personal recreation of his troubled childhood in the years’ best film The Tree Of Life. The best film relating to nostalgia was Woody Allen’s fantastically magical Midnight in Paris which explored the perils of looking back in time in the hope of keeping memories alive or longing for another time. Hugo the latest film by master film maker Martin Scorsese is the adaption of the novel “ The Invention of Hugo Cabret ” by Brian Selznick which tells the story of a young orphan, Hugo Cabret ( Asa Butterfield ) who lives in the walls of a train station in 1930’s Paris. Hugo is responsible for making sure the clocks of the train station are kept in working order. From the crevices of the train station...

If you haven't read the Night Angel series yet, you've no doubt seen the covers. Upon release and for a long while after these three novels were on shelves EVERYWHERE! From Borders (RIP) and Dymocks to Target and K-Mart if you looked on a book shelf, it was there. His latest series is the Lightbringer trilogy and it tells a story that is almost impossible to put into words. Thankfully, Mr Weeks manages to do so. The universe of Chromeria, colour magic, Blackguards and Prisms takes us to a world that is fresh and exciting while still managing to give everything a well established, lived in feeling. Book One, The Black Prism, is the most absorbing book that I have read in the last few years and will soon be followed up by Book Two, The Blinding Knife. Mr. Weeks was kind enough to spare some time and have a chat to us here at The Geek of Oz.