The Weekend Warriors Wrap-Up!

Welcome to my little slice of Nerd News Heaven, where you'll find tidbits about whateverthehell I may find interesting, or have found interesting, about the past week. The order of News Items are random, as I can't be expected to remember that kind of thing...they're posted as my memory activates. So there.

• Seth Rogen's choice to suit-up as The Green Hornet continues to amaze me, but the guy got in friggin' shape for the part! Good on you, Seth! Anyway, pics of him and the Asian dude that's Not-Stephen-Chow can be seen Rightatthisverylink.

• For serial? Adrien Brody has been cast as the lead in Robert Rodriguez's "Predator(s)" movie-reboot. You know, I don't have so much a problem with this since the plot is apparently a spaceship full of random dudes, or possibly criminals or something, crash-lands on the Predators' home planet and they naturally become the easiest targets in Predator history; they don't even have to leave home. I'm guessing Brody will be "The Brains" of the outfit, considering the other guys cast seem to be a pack of bruisers reminiscent of the 1987 original. So long as someone's spine is dangling from a bloody, clawed hand before too long, I'll be happy...and it's NOT John Cena in the starring role, which has been rumored.

• One of my favorite lesser-known comic characters, Brother Voodoo, finally gets his (voo)due this week as the first issue of his ongoing series debuted. Having inherited the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme from Stephen Strange, the now-labeled Doctor Voodoo kicks the ass of Black Magic with his own mastery of the Dark Arts, something Strange never tried before. Outside the box, Steve. Check-out a great review of the issue, over at MajorSpoilers!

• Well...I just don't know what to think anymore. Marge Simpson has appeared "in the nude" on Playboy, or will come November. Now, cartoon porn has its place in this crazy, mixed-up world, because without it certain people would be robbed of their need to see demonic tentacles do rude things to unsuspecting, cheerful schoolgirls, and you DON'T want to see those kind of people repressed and frustrated. But...Marge? This is just a shade removed from seeing a best friend's Mother on the cover of Playboy, which is some cases may be OK depending on who we're talking about here, but in this case I just feel bad for Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Homer's probably not too thrilled about it, either. But Moe? Moe is the real winner here, folks. He finally gets to see Midge naked.
  

• After pulling-out of the fight due to a torn MCL, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman will be replaced by Forrest Griffen in the fight against Tito Ortiz at UFC 106. This of course will be Tito's first fight in a few years, since he hasn't competed since his loss to Lyoto Machida. Griffin will be stepping into the Octagon for the first time since he GOT THE SHIT BEAT OUT OF HIM by Anderson "The Spider" Silva a couple months back, and while I'd usually be rooting for Forrest, the guy has become a straight-up asshole since he ran away like a bitch after the fight. Ortiz isn't much of a better choice to go for in my mind, but I'd at least like to see him win and rub it in a bit more in Dana's face. But if Griffen wins, he may have to rethink his game-plan a bit before getting back in there again...

• Matt Serra versus Frank Trigg? I'm fucking THERE, man!

• WEC 43 was last night, and what an incredible show it was! Each fighter was there to bring it, all of them just going buck-wild and swinging for the fences. I was personally disappointed that Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone didn't pull it off and get his much-anticipated rematch against Jamie Varner, but Ben Henderson would certainly be the next guy I'm going to love seeing kick the shit out of ol' bitch-ass Jamie. I just read that Lorenzo Fertitta made the call to double the "Fight Of The Night" award for Cerrone & Henderson, which was a 5-round war, from $10,000 to $20,000 each. That's fucking awesome right there.

• Wanna see the craziest "Amalgam" of a Marvel and DC character? Head over here, and make Mike Sterling a regular part of your day while you're at it.
  

• HEY NOW!!! Hasn't even been a month, and already the first downloadable character for "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2" has been revealed: CARNAGE!!! While I originally thought to myself what a waste of space yet another symbiote was going to be in the game, I quickly changed my mind when I read about his in-game character. Hardly just a clone or skin of Spidey and Venom, Carnage is going to be an all-new character with unique moves and, well...fuck "Maximum Carnage" and all that, but I no longer care...he looks AWESOME.

• The Baltimore Comic-Con was this past weekend. The Mondo Marvel panel had the usual suspects of Bendis, Fraction, Aaron, and Claremont, thankfully no Loeb. Wanna know why thankfully? Because that allowed Bendis to take a few pot-shots at Rulk, and that NEVER gets old. Claremont spoke at length about future plans for "X-Men Forever", and the three people who give a shit squee'd with delight, I'm sure. After making the usual jokes about killing more characters people are in love with such as Luke Cage and Spider-Woman, Bendis didn't really say too much of note other than "The Siege", Marvel's upcoming mini-event that supposedly puts a stop to "Dark Reign", will shake-up The Avengers more than they've been shaken-up since "Disassembled" happened. And since they've more-or-less been fucked with constantly since then, that's a pretty bold statement. A portly, bearded fellow dressed as Thor chimed-in, soon followed by a kid dressed as Captain America and a confused teenager decked-out as Frank Castle. This all led to Bendis and Aaron getting ideas, so hopefully they all got really, really drunk that night and forgot about it.

• The quote/story of the week actually comes from the DC Nation panel at the BCC of all places, where a 56-year-old fan who had been reading Green Lantern since issue #4 closed the show with this heart-warming speech after explaining how he bought his first comic at a candy store for a dime: "Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you've been doing with Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps. There's never been a better time to be a fan of Green Lantern". Aaaawwww...You know when you've written a story about Zombie Superheroes-turned-evil ripping the hearts out of innocent people's chests, and it's beloved by a guy who's been with the book since the goddamn 60's, you have succeeded. Geoff Johns, I salute you.
  

"CAN YOU DIG IT?!"