Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2207

VIXEN Returns to the Justice League in a New REBIRTH Special (Exclusive Preview)

Next month, DC Comics is launching their new Justice League of America title; the first Justice League spin-off series from the publisher since the DC Rebirth era began last year. This new JLA is formed as a direct result of the events in the currently running Justice League vs Suicide Squad mini-series, with Batman leading a team consisting of members like Lobo, the Atom (Ryan Choi), Black Canary, the Ray, Killer Frost, and Vixen. Now the Vixen is getting her own special one-shot, Justice League of America: Vixen Rebirth, showcasing Mari McCabe’s backstory, in order to introduce her to readers who may not be familiar with her origins.

In the pre- New 52/Rebirth era, the animal powered Vixen was the first African-American member to join in the team’s history. Unfortunately, she joined in the highly mocked mid-’80s “Justice League Detroit,” which was compromised by second tier Leaguers like Elongated Man and Zatanna, and new characters like Vibe, Steel and Gypsy. Although this version of the League didn’t last long, and disliked new members like Vibe and Steel were killed off promptly, Vixen was the exception. She proved to be popular despite all the Justice League Detroit baggage, and became a mainstay of the DC Universe. Now she’s ready to join the all-new Justice League of America once again, some 30 years after the last time she was a member.

You can check out our exclusive preview of the first five pages of Justice League of America: Vixen Rebirth #1 in our gallery below.

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Jody Houser, Steve Orlando

Artist: Jamal Campbell

Cover Artists: Joe Prado, Ivan Reis

Here’s the official synopsis:

“SPINNING OUT OF THE PAGES OF JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD! She’s one of the country’s most successful businesswomen, an iconic fashion pioneer, a crusader for social justice and an incredibly powerful member of the Justice League of America. But Mari McCabe’s life wasn’t always this way. Follow her path to becoming the heroic Vixen in this crucial special!”

Justice League of America: Vixen Rebirth #1  is due to hit stores on Wednesday, January 11.

Excited about Vixen finally getting a second chance in the JLA? Let us know what you think down below in the comments.

Images: DC Comics

How we wish she were also in the Justice League Movie.

Scream at a Wall: KING WOMAN, CODE ORANGE, BATTLE RUINS, and More

Wipe the blood from your teeth and get in the pit: it’s time for a recap of this week’s best hardcore, metal, and punk rock. It’s a new year and the perfect time to get amped up on some new heavy tunes. Looking for some new death metal to bring into your life? Got you covered. Need some grindcore to get your wedding reception off on the right foot? Say no more. Strap in kiddies; it’s time to rock.

 

There are lots of great albums on the horizon, but the one we’re most excited for is King Woman’s debut full length, Created in the Image of Suffering. The band has recently released the track “Utopia” and it’s the beautiful stuff. Big, ambient, and hypnotic, King Woman make the soundtrack to a distorted nightmare. Their sound is natural and heavy on the reverb, but it conjures a vast sense of darkness. Fans of Neurosis and Cough should pay attention; King Woman have come for post-metal throne.

(Brooklyn Vegan)

 

We’ve heard a few tracks from Black Anvil’s forth coming As Was and they’re all pretty great. “Ultra,” which you can hear below, is the most melodic tune to date and probably the one with the most mainstream potential. It’s still ugly and it still sounds like Black Anvil, but there’s a tightrope walk between harmony and violence happening. It’s good stuff, for sure, and if you happen to love double bass you are in for a real treat, as there’s an insane amount on this song. Like, lots and lots. It’s relentless. As Was will be unleashed on January 13th and trust us when we say it’s a damn fine record. You can pre-order it over on the Relapse Records site, so go do that.

(Invisible Oranges)

 

How can you not love a band called Pissed On? That name alone is reason enough to throw money at these guys, but the fact that they play some blistering powerviolence really sweetens the deal. If you need to start the year off on an angry, aggressive note, look no further than Pissed On. Riffy and crushing, this band absolutely slays. You can’t listen to this stuff without starting a fierce pit; it’s just begging for some hardcore violence. The breakdown towards the end is killer, too. Pissed On are all-around awesome and they make us very, very pissed off (in a good way).

(Decibel)

 

The Drip just released a video for the song “Blackest Evocation,”and it’s brutal with a capital B. The actual footage in the video is nothing all that special; just a collection of live stuff and some weird, spliced in imagery. The song, on the other hand, is freaking rad. If you love bands that play fast and loud punk metal–bands like Trap Them–you are going to adore The Drip. “Blackest Evocation” is a fantastic example of what these guys do so well. It’s hard and heavy, fast and technical. Watch the video below and get hyped for The Drip’s album, which drops next week. It’s epic stuff and you’ll definitely want to snag a copy.

 

Battle Ruins remind us a little bit of Motorhead, which is one of the biggest compliments we have ever bestowed on a band. They’re a hard rock band with clear heavy metal influences and a dash of punk rock thrown in for good measure. This is sort of band you crank in your car and scream along to. It gets you fired up and ready to tackle your day. Maybe after listening to “Glorious Dead Lay under Waves” you’ll even be able to tell your boss what a dick he is. You deserved that promotion and they went and gave it to freaking Gary. Gary! Everyone knows that guy is worthless. So yeah, listen to Battle Ruins, get your blood pumping and rock the hell out.

(CLRVYNT)

 

Code Orange’s Forever is almost upon us and so far every song we’ve heard has been that punishing metalcore we love so much. “Bleeding the Blur” is not that. It’s a song that shows just how far Code Orange is willing to push things. This is a band that refuses to be defined and boxed in. They’re heavy, loud, melodic, violent, complex, and raw. “Bleeding the Blur” almost sounds like something that Dischord would’ve put out in the early ’90s, a catchy post-punk number that rocks hard. We’re even more fired up for this album now, because it’s clear that Forever is defying all expectations. You can’t lock down Code Orange. They won’t let you. They’ll make you bleed and you’ll love every second of it.

 

Okay, that’s it for us this week. Jump into the comments and let us know what punk, metal, or hardcore tunes you’re spinning. It’s a brand new year, people: let’s make it hard, loud, and heavy.

Image: Relapse Records/King Woman

Gif: Nickelodeon

Benjamin Bailey writes for the Nerdist and can be found on Twitter talking about Godzilla, comic books, and hardcore music.

150MPH Rocket-Knife Perfectly Bisects Food, Toy Truck, More

In his latest video, The Backyard Scientist–the madman who blows up fish tanks with molten salt and dips iPhones in molten aluminum for fun–decided to do what we’ve all been trained so thoroughly not to do: “Try this at home.” In this case, the Backyard Scientist duplicated one of the most gnarly experiments ever conducted on MythBusters, the rocket sled. Except he did it with a knife. And a toy car. And a turkey.

Despite the significantly smaller scale of the Backyard Scientist’s experiment, it’s still quite breathtaking to watch a dead 3.5-pound piece of poultry get ninja-sliced by a rocket-powered knife going 150mph. In real time, the turkey, as well everything else that gets rocket-knife sliced in the video, simply falls apart. But when the frame rate is increased, the depth of the demolition that the rocket-knife has brought upon its victims is revealed.

A chuck roast steak was also sliced with the rocket-knife, and that made for one spicy meatball.

In a slightly ironic nod to the “Don’t try this at home” concept, the Backyard Scientist does actually end up burning himself quite badly on his fingertips in the video (at around 5:28). So remember, if you’re going to try this at home, don’t heat blast your rocket-knife before firing it into a pile of firecrackers. You may burn yourself.

What do you think about this 150MPH rocket-knife? Do you like the idea of getting catapulted from 0-150MPH in .3 seconds, or playing superheated rocket-blade Fruit Ninja? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: The Backyard Scientist 

New THE HANDMAID’S TALE Trailer Hints at the Havoc to Come

Names come and go—America, Gilead, June, Offred—but female is forever. Despite the attempts of the Republic of Gilead to control the fertile women of the new America at the heart of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, resistance is always alive and well. And resist they will in Hulu’s TV adaptation of the novel about a dystopian future of this country that, well, feels pret-ty, pret-ty prescient ’round these parts nowadays.

Are we over-stating, calling out a totalitarian caste system run by a strident, fundamentalist, and (some may say) antiquated, literal take on the Bible’s belief system that returns us to a system where women are property of the state? A world where a woman’s fertility is her most valuable asset and women are demonized for having taken birth control in the old-world system? Where the rights of women have been completely eradicated and gender politics have been completely dismantled in the name of sexual servitude and (ultimately) hypocritical righteousness that forces one’s ideas on an entire populace? IDK who knows, right?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[image error]

Slated to premiere on April 26th on the streaming service, the show is chockablock with serious heavy-hitters—from stars Elisabeth Moss, Alexis Bledel, Samira Wiley, Yvonne Strahovski, Joseph Fiennes, Ann Dowd and more, to the creative team of Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, and Lemonade cinematographer Reed Morano (who serves as Executive Producer and director). It was, no bullshit, this particular editor’s favorite pilot of the 2017 season thus far so, y’know, it might be worth your time!

Are you looking forward to The Handmaid’s Tale? Let us know in the comments below!

Image/GIF Credit: Hulu

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of Nerdist, creator/co-host of Fangirling, and a regular user of famed website, Twitter dot com, covering this year’s Television Critics Association 2017 Winter Tour.

How Precision Instruments Beyond Imagination Detect Gravitational Waves

The detection of gravitational waves, which happened for the first time in February of last year, marked another critical win for Einstein’s theory of relativity, as well as the dawn of a new way of sensing the cosmos. But even though the detection may have been marked with lots of celebration–as well as plenty of top spots on 2016’s lists of biggest scientific breakthroughs–relatively few people realized what actually went into the making of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO).

To shed some light on how extraordinary LIGO is as a scientific instrument, science educator and YouTuber Derek Muller (Veritasium), who’s responsible for a bunch of stellar science videos including this one on pilot wave theory, visited with Caltech Professor of Physics, Rana Adhikari.

In the video, Adhikari, a leader on the LIGO project, walks Muller through what it was like for researchers to finally discover gravitational waves, and also clarifies how they were detected using a 1 megawatt laser that could “power a thousand homes” or “vaporize” your head. In some asides throughout the video, Muller highlights exactly how nuts LIGO is in terms of mind-bending specifications:

“So what was needed to detect gravitational waves? … A megawatt of laser power to minimize shock noise of exactly one wavelength, because we’re trying to measure just a trillionth of that wavelength continually inserted to replace older light that’s been stretched and squished in the world’s second largest vacuum chamber at just a trillionth of atmospheric pressure, hitting the smoothest mirrors ever created [which are] suspended by silica threads at two distant sites to eliminate noise, with four-kilometer-long arms to increase the magnitude of gravitational waves to just a thousandth of the width of a proton.”

And while the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO is doubtlessly an achievement that took place on the edge of human understanding, Adhikari believes this is only the beginning. “I think the next logical step is to go from two signals to detecting all the black holes in the universe all the time,” Adhikari says in the video. “We have to do a lot better than what we’re doing now, but I see it… within our grasp.”

What do you think about this “behind the scenes” look at LIGO? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Image: Veritasium

STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH Is Way Better with Nonsensical Bootleg Subtitles

Say what you will about the Star Wars prequels. Though usually spoken of with scorn, they are Star Wars movies, which means they each did go on to make hundreds of millions of dollars and earn Rotten Tomatoes scores no lower than 55 percent. Nevertheless, there are a good many fans of the franchise who haven’t been able to cope with these films. Even for these folks, though, there’s now a new way to enjoy the prequels, supposing they’re into bad translations.

Via Uproxx, Youtuber GratefulDeadpool found a Chinese bootleg DVD of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith that features some less-than-perfectly-translated English subtitles. Putting it more bluntly: the subs consistently miss the mark in hilarious ways. The structure of the Mandarin and English languages are very different from each other, so when a subtitles is subject to a direct word-for-word translation, there’s no way it’s going to come out sounding right.

Not content with just putting the translated subtitles atop the English language movie, GratefulDeadpool decided to redub the whole movie with these poor translations as the new script, re-titling the project Star War The Third Gathers: Backstroke of the West. Now fans can enjoy one of their least favorite Star Wars flicks as a bizarre, sometimes incoherent comedy. A film in which General Grievous tells his troops to “batter to death them,” or Count Dooku menaces Anakin Skywalker with threats like, “Even since you and I separate, I has been hating you. You are a sacrifice article that I cut up rough now.”

For more sick burns like that, check out some highlights above, or the entire re-done movie below (or here).

Featured image: Lucasfilm

Below, we discuss how Lucasfilm may be handling Leia’s Star Wars IX role

How to Forge a Post-Apocalyptic Sword from a Monkey Wrench

As of this writing, 2017 has yet to degenerate into a dystopian hellscape. Still, there’s a lot of year left, so it’s not a bad idea to stock up on emergency supplies and plentiful rations of food and water, and ready your weapon of choice for the end of the world. As the Boy Scouts say, “Be Prepared.” But if you don’t happen to have a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat or power armor at your disposal, you’re just going to have to make the best of whatever you can find laying around.

Enter: Miller Knives. This accomplished weaponsmith shares YouTube videos of his process of creating beautifully crafted knives and swords. Occasionally, he’ll create things like a knife from a horseshoe or a tomahawk from a railroad spike, but it was the forging of a monkey wrench into a gnarly looking sword that captured our attention this week.

Granted, a monkey wrench–or “adjustable auto wrench” in today’s parlance–is a mighty fine tool for fixing a leaky sink, tightening bolts, or clubbing a scavenging raider over the head, but it turns out that it also makes an imposing and deadly sword. We’ll assume that the monkey wrench in this video is made of tool steel, a variety of carbon and alloy steels known for their hardness, resistance to abrasion and deformation, and ability to hold an edge. Sounds like a decent starting sword material to us!

Though Miller Knives fast-forwards the forging process in this video, the steps are mostly there: The first 90 seconds or so feature the actual forging where the wrench is heated and hammered into shape, drawing out the shape of the blade. Next, the slow cooling process known as annealing softens the sword over the course of 24 hours or more and makes the blade easier to grind. And it’s the grind that takes up the next minute or so of the video as the monkey wrench sword really starts to take shape. At the three-minute mark comes the all-important quench, which hardens and then tempers the blade. The blade is then put through finishing touches–as well as an awesome display of its cutting ability–in preparation for the inevitable doomsday. It may not be the most practical melee weapon we’ve ever seen, but it certainly makes a statement!

Do you have any suggestions for other household objects that might make good post-apocalyptic weapons? Be sure to share your favorites in the comments below!

Image: Miller Knives

Fan Art Friday #100 – Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan, and More by Fernando de la Espriella

One guaranteed way to make someone smile: share your art. Creating any kind of art takes time and energy, and when you share it with others, you’re sharing a piece of yourself. That sounds like a TMI situation, but I promise, it’s positive. I know I enjoy receiving art and submissions in my inbox from readers for Fan Art Friday. Most recently, I was pleased to receive a message from one Fernando de la Espriella, eager to share his work.

A graphic designer and artist with over 10 years experience, Fernando illustrates his takes on a variety of characters from movies and comics. His style is strong and bold, and he absolutely nails poses. You can see what I mean in this Star Wars art depicting the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi:

Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope)

Hop on down to the gallery to see some more examples from Fernando’s portfolio. You’ll find Batman, a little Friday the 13th action, and Iron Patriot. If you’d like to fill your eyes with even more delicious fan art, visit Fernando’s projects on Behance and/or follow him on Facebook.

Do you create any sort of fan art? If so, I want to see it. Whether you focus on a specific fandom or pull inspiration from multiple stories and mediums, I’d like to highlight you in the weeks to come. I’ve heard it’s the best way to start 2017. If you’d like to be featured in a future edition of Fan Art Friday, get in touch with me at alratcliffe@yahoo.com with examples of your work.

Images: Fernando de la Espriella

Marvel Teases Captain America Centric Event SECRET EMPIRE

Welcome comics fans, to your weekend edition of Comics Relief! Although we are barely a week into the new year, the major publishers have plenty of news to get you all excited for 2017, starting with news of Marvel’s new Captain America centric event. Read on for all the details.

Marvel teases 2017 event comic Secret Empire

Civil War II is barely over, but Marvel Comics has already released a teaser for their next upcoming epic. The unspecified 2017 project will arrive with the title Secret Empire, and an accompanying phrase “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand” was sent out along with the image.

Ok, so that suggests that after beating each other up for much of 2016, the Marvel heroes will stand united against…someone. Could be anyone, but considering that Captain America’s new shield is center to this image, many believe this event will deal with various characters who are Hydra sleeper agents, much like Cap has been revealed to be recently. Kind of like Secret Invasion, but with less aliens. You can see the teaser image above. [Bleeding Cool]

Captain America, HYDRA Agent gets a trailer

And speaking of Cap…Marvel Comics has released a new trailer for the upcoming events in their Steve Rogers: Captain America title. You can watch the new trailer above.

Rob Liefeld announces return of his Extreme Studios characters

I’ve said it many times here in Comics Relief, and I’ll say it again — in the world of comics, the ’90s are most definitely back. This is most evidenced by the week’s news that ’90s poster child  Rob Liefeld, a day after announcing that his Extreme Studios characters had been optioned for movies, revealed that the characters of his Extreme Universe will be coming back to comics too. The Extreme characters will return an upcoming anthology book due for release later this year from Image Comics.

Characters to be featured in his upcoming anthology include Liefeld’s signature Extreme team, Youngblood, as well as the bounty hunter Bloodwulf. In an interview, Liefeld said “There is an Extreme Anthology book because, A, I love anthologies and I love these characters. We’ve got great stories for them and we figure that that’s a great place for people to familiarize themselves.” No word yet if Liefeld’s greatest creation, Supreme, will be among those returning characters, although an argument can be made that character was only great when Alan Moore was writing him. Maybe those Alan Moore Supreme comics can finally be collected? [Comic Book]

Comics legend George Perez illustrates cover for Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern crossover

In my humble opinion, illustrator George Perez is the greatest superhero comic book artist of all time. One just has to look at his resume of comics like New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Avengers, Infinity Gauntlet and JLA vs Avengers to know that no one draws multitudes of characters in giant cosmic battles better than Perez. Now the legendary artist is lending his skills to BOOM! Studios and DC Comics’ upcoming Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern crossover for the cover for issue #2, and man, even unfinished, that’s a beautiful cover. No one can draw that many Green Lanterns and that many angry apes all at once and make it look so effortless. You can check out the new cover above. [Comic Book]

Nick Fury Jr. gets his first ongoing series

Although his father has headlined a comic book several times over the years, his son Nick Fury Jr. has not (for those not as up on all things Marvel, Nick Fury Jr is the African American son of the original Fury, who looks a lot like Samuel L. Jackson). This is all about to change though, as Marvel Comics has announced that coming out this April will be a Nick Fury ongoing series by writer James Robinson and artist ACO, which will “bring back the psychedelic sensibility of his father’s solo adventures to the 21st Century.”

Also a main character in this new title will be Frankie Noble, Fury’s counterpart in Hydra. According to Marvel, “the pair will embark on cat and mouse adventures that take place over short arcs, channeling the style and energy of the elder Fury’s memorable adventures.” The new book will evoke the ’60s style of the original Fury adventures.

In an interview, Robinson said “I think ACO and I are both in love with the style of that time. The clothing, pop art, bold graphics, and the fact that this was a time when spy fiction was at it’s peak, no doubt tying in with the Cold War that was going on. It’s interesting that this book found its way at a time when Russia seems to be getting up to its old tricks, so maybe we’re tapping into the zeitgeist now too.” For more on this comic, click on our full story:  [Nerdist]

Valiant announces “X-O Manowar Wednesdays”

In a press release, Valiant Comics announced this week that beginning on March 22, with the release of the all-new X-O Manowar #1, the fourth Wednesday of every month will officially be “X-O Manowar Wednesday” – a consistent, monthly on-sale date that will include the latest issue of X-O Manowar alongside a brand-new launch title, jumping-on point, or key issue arriving from the publisher. Across each and every fourth Wednesday in 2017, Valiant will now be giving fans at least two reasons to visit their local comic shop – beginning with X-O Manowar #1, arriving in stores on March 22nd right next to Bloodshot Reborn #0.

To support this unprecedented move and to reiterate Valiant’s commitment to building X-O Manowar’s new beginning across 2017, Valiant is giving fans and retailers the tools they need to never miss an “X-O Manowar Wednesday” with the X-O Manowar 2017 Calendar – coming free to all participating retailers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. For more info on Valiant’s latest initiative, click on the following link: [Newsarama]

Bullseye creator returns to write the character

Decades ago, writer Marv Wolfman (Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths) created the character of deadly assassin Bullseye for Marvel Comics. Bullseye was created in March, 1976 by Wolfman together with John Romita Sr., and he first debuted in Daredevil #131. Years later, the character that would become integral to the Daredevil stories of Frank Miller.

Now Wolfman is returning to this character after a long absence,  as part of the new Bullseye 5 issue mini-series, which is coming from from creators Ed Brisson (Iron Fist) and Guillermo Sanna (Deadpool). As part of this new mini, Marv Wolfman returns for a Bullseye back-up story alongside artist Alec Morgan. The first issue of Bullseye debuts February 1. [CBR]

Images: Marvel Comics / DC Comics / BOOM! Studios / Valiant Comics

Razer’s Built a Three-Screen Laptop Because One is Simply Not Enough

It’s not uncommon to see a desktop computer with multiple monitors in the hands of a hardcore PC gamer or that guy in your IT department who finds it oppressive and archaic to have to open and close multiple windows rather than have them all open at once, spread across several monitors. It’s one of the serious benefits to using a desktop computer, because despite the developments in laptop technology for both daily use and gaming, users have always been limited to one measly monitor.

Until now!

Yes, no longer must you choose between sitting at your computer desk or using your laptop on the comfy couch, and no longer will it be a pain to move your computer. As Engadget reports, Razer announced Project Valerie at CES, an endeavor that would bring the world its first laptop with multiple screens — three, to be exact.

Each screen is 17.3 inches with 4K resolution, and unlike using a desktop, you don’t have to worry about organizing a bunch of cords. The wiring to give you that crisp, multi-screen laptop experience is all internal. And before you balk at how hard it must be to set the extra monitors in place, the two screens slide out from central chassis, under their own power, and position themselves. What a time to be alive, right?

The computer is fully compliant with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, and despite all of the extras, the computer is just under 12 pounds and is 1.5 inches thick. So while it’s understandably a bit chunkier than most gaming laptops, it’s still light enough to be portable. Razer hasn’t released pricing or specs on CPU, GPU, or memory just yet, but it’s pretty exciting to see this new evolution in laptops. You can take a closer look at Project Valerie in the gallery below.

What do you think of Razer’s Project Valerie? Are you interested in getting yourself one of these computers, or do you think multiple screens just won’t work on a laptop? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Image credits: Razer