Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2393

STAR WARS Convention Exclusive Figures Are a Pair of Bens

“Ben, the two of us need look no more/We’ll both be on a convention floor…”

The old Ben and the new, a smart Alec and a black Adam, are getting gussied up for the big summer cons in 6-inch Hasbro Black Series style. First, at Star Wars Celebration, the Murder Artist Formerly Known As Ben Solo (Kylo Ren, to you) will come in an exclusive unmasked version, complete with First Order banner and stand, Knights of Ren helmet, and melty Darth Vader mask.

Then, at Comic-Con in San Diego, the brash young apprentice’s namesake, Old Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi will be packed with a light-up table that features a Princess Leia hologram, along with two lightsabers to make him doubly elegant. As a bonus for fans up north, he will also be sold at Fan Expo Canada in September.

With all the bonus extras, they’ll cost a bit more than a standard figure: 34.99 for Kylo, and $44.99 for Obi-Wan. But those will be bargains compared to after-market prices; Black Series figures generally only go up in value. If you’re not attending any of these conventions, it’s time to start being really nice to your friends who are, as the lines for these can be an all-day proposition. Still, for any true collector, you might call it the First Order of business at any show.

Is the Force calling to you to pick these up? Will you let it in? On a standard ratings scale, do you give each Ben a 10? Take your first step into a larger comment section below with your take.

Images: Hasbro

Comics Relief: MIDNIGHTER AND APOLLO Reunite For New Series This Fall

Welcome to your holiday weekend edition of Comics Relief, fangirls and fanboys! We’ve got a lot of news to cover heading into the holiday, starting with the return of DC’s #1 LGBT power couple. Read on for all the details…

Gay Super-Power Couple Midnighter and Apollo Get New Series This Fall

Although his own ongoing solo series was cancelled before the big DC Rebirth, Midnighter is getting back together with his old love Apollo for a new six-part mini-series, appropriately titled Midnighter and Apollo. This new series is coming this fall from writer Steve Orlando, who wrote the most recent Midnighter series. The two characters were THE gay power couple of the Wildstorm universe—originally introduced in the late ’90s comic The Authority as gay analogues of Batman and Superman. The duo eventually married and adopted a child, but when the Wildstorm universe was folded into the DCU with the New 52, they were suddenly single again.

Now DC is putting the couple back together, and hopefully this mini-series leads to a new ongoing book down the road. Writer Steve Orlando, who is himself bisexual, has long had a special affinity for Midnighter, saying on his blog, “Getting to write a character that helped me when I was younger and boost the signal to a new generation has been an honor. This is the World’s Finest Couple — kicking back and making each other better than they are on their own.” The new Midnighter and Apollo series debuts in October from DC Comics. [New York Times]

New Marvel Video Series Catalogs Every Iron Man Armor Ever

Ever since he first debuted to the public in Tales to Astonish way back in 1963, Iron Man has had a lot of different variations on his armor. And I mean a lot. Now the folks at Marvel have decided to catalog each and every one of them in a new four-part video series, starting with the bulky gray armor, and culminating in the current red and gold version he wears in the present day Marvel Universe. You can watch the first part of the armor history videos down below: [Bleeding Cool]

Final “Divided We Stand” Marvel Teaser Image Released

After releasing a ton of teaser images for the last few weeks, Marvel Comics has released the full final image of their new “Divided We Stand” initiative. Joining the 16 characters from the previous teasers are 10 new characters: Daisy Johnson/Quake, Elektra, Gamora, Cable, Squirrel Girl, Moon Girl, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, and Amadeus Cho/Hulk.

So, just what is “Divided We Stand” all about? Well, according to Marvel’s Axel Alonso, “This is not an event. It’s the status quo of the Marvel Universe in the aftermath of the war. It’s a glimpse as to whom we can point to in the coming year, with just enough ‘What the heck’s going on there?’ spots to get people speculating.” You can check out the full Divided We Stand image above. [Fast Company]

New Star Trek 50th Anniversary Humble Bundle from IDW is a Stellar Deal

With the 50th anniversary of Star Trek nearly upon us, the folks at IDW have decided to make available a large assortment of their Trek comics for a massively discounted price, via the latest Humble Bundle. As with most Humble Bundles, it is a “pay what you want” deal, but if you pay $25, you get all the Trek books they are offering, plus a Humble exclusive print edition shipped to your house.

This is a $440 dollar value, and if you’re a Trek comics fan, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this one. The sale has already started, but you have until July 13th to get in on the action. You can check out the latest bundle by clicking here. [Bleeding Cool]

Donald Trump is a Super Villain in Spider-Gwen’s Universe, Too.

Spider-Gwen—the alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy who became a superhero—has become one of Marvel’s most popular characters. Now in this week’s Spider-Gwen Annual, writer Jason Latour has revealed one of Earth 65’s most vile villains… and it turns out it’s one of the worst bad guys from our Earth, too! That’s right: on Earth-65, MODOK is actually Donald Trump.

Actually, he goes by the name MODAAK instead in this world, which stands for  “Mental Organism Designed As America’s King,” and is described as “an orange-faced monstrosity with tiny hands and a plan to rule America with hate and fear.” Sounds familiar. This may rankle some readers who don’t want their comics to comment on politics, but I will remind those readers that the first issue of Captain America had him punching out Hitler on the cover. So, you know, there’s precedent. [Comics Alliance]

Cancelled Superman/Wonder Woman Issues Get Print in New Hardcover

With the advent of DC’s big Rebirth, many issues of the Superman/Wonder Woman series never got to see the light of day. Thankfully, fans of that series will get to read those stories as part of a new hardcover collection. Superman: Savage Dawn will now collect the cancelled Superman/Wonder Woman issues #30 and 31, as well as the rest of the “Savage Dawn” story that ran through the Superman titles. The hardcover is scheduled to hit stores on October the 5th. [Newsarama]

Just in Time for July 4th, Meet the U.S.Avengers

Get ready for another all-new Avengers team! Announced just in time for the 4th of July, this new patriotic superteam will be called the U.S.Avengers, and will debut this fall from Marvel Comics, with a new #1 issue. This version of the team will be comprised of Sunspot, Red Hulk, Cannonball, a new Iron Patriot, Pod, Squirrel Girl, and the Captain America from the future, who is Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ grown-up daughter, Danielle Cage. The new team will work for Sunspot’s A.I.M., which has been rebranded as American Intelligence Mechanics. You can read our full story on the subject, and to see character sketches, check out our gallery below! [Nerdist]

Images: Marvel Comics / DC Comics / IDW Comics

Cosplay Friday #172 – Black Widow, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and More

Let me be the one to give you a three week warning: San Diego Comic-Con is almost here. The biggest nerd party of the summer kicks off on July 21. That’s how many days you have left to finish up any cosplay projects you have in the works. Of course, if you follow the pattern of most cosplayers I know, you’ll probably put off everything until almost the last minute–I can’t judge, I’m a procrastinator, too.

If you need an extra boost to finish your project, just pretend Black Widow will kick your butt if you don’t finish:

Black Widow (Marvel Comics) | Source: Kimberly Moore, photo by Knightmare6

You can see additional examples of Knightmare6’s photography in the gallery, but you can also follow along on Instagram to see more cosplay shots.

And speaking of that gallery, don’t forget to keep scrolling to see a look based on Negasonic Teenage Warhead in Deadpool, Daenerys Targaryen (a.k.a. Queen of Everything) from Game of Thrones, Thorin Oakenshield, and more.

Are you a cosplayer or cosplay photographer? Let’s show off your work in an upcoming installment of Cosplay Friday. You can get your portfolio to me by dropping links in the comments, hitting me up on Twitter, or tagging or mentioning me on Instagram. You can even email me at alratcliffe at yahoo dot com. Whether you’re the cosplayer or the photographer, please include credits for everyone you can so I can share those too. No one likes being left out.

Featured Image: Courtesy of Knightmare6

Bandcamping: Listen To One Of Our Favorite Voices Ever

Pancakes are fantastic. When you wake up and smell them first thing in the morning, it’s hard to shoot out of bed any faster. But still, by the end of your stack that’s three or four flapjacks high, aren’t you kind of sick of them? Have you seen that episode of Review?

That’s sort of how we’ve come to feel about Bandcamping (but with less disdain than Forrest MacNeil). We love combing through obscure music and picking out what we think is the best of it for your (and our) benefit, but we’re starting to think that maybe doing this every week isn’t the most effective way to go about it. Our selections are already pretty exclusive, considering we listen to hundreds and hundreds of albums for each installment and emerge with only five, but still, we fear that our constant stream of music recommendations may be having a white noise effect.

So, this edition of Bandcamping will be the last weekly installment, but the column will continue in a monthly capacity from here on out. This means that on the last Friday of every month, you can expect an even more carefully considered selection of underground music that’s fit for your consumption… like perhaps just one or two pancakes, and you’ll still have room for eggs and bacon and hash browns and other key parts of a balanced breakfast!

That said, we’re ending our weekly publishing schedule with a banger of a lineup, which includes, among other things, one of the most intriguing voices we’ve heard all year, in this column or otherwise.

5. Creatures by Old bean

Creatures by Old bean

Genre: indie rock, pop-punk

If you like: Cage The Elephant, Cloud Nothings

This Irish group knows adrenaline, and they’ve brought it here, as well as a functional 90s pop-punk influence that’s effective but doesn’t overpower. It’s high-energy in a modern way, but still has some of the recklessness for which ’90s pop-punk as so loved.

4. Rooftops by THE IRON KEYS

The Man That Never Lived | Special Edition by David Moon

Genre: pop-punk, indie rock, punk rock

If you like: Blink-182, Against Me!

All kinds of modern bands try to recapture the uplifting and fun energy of ’90s pop-punk, but so few can pull it off without coming off as desperate and just late to the party. The German group THE IRON KEYS strikes a strong balance, and as one might expect, incorporate a classic German punk influence.

3. The Man That Never Lived by David Moon

The Man That Never Lived | Special Edition by David Moon

Genre: synth pop, indie pop

If you like: Hot Chip, Walk The Moon, 80s electropop

This German synth pop artist does nothing to distance himself from the artificial sounds of cheesy ’80s music, but it works in a modern context despite how unabashedly throwback it is. If Chromeo formed a full-on partnership with Com Truise, Moon is a close approximation of the result: It’s poppy in a vintage way, and it’s also nostalgically electronic.

2. Ugly Robot by Ugly Robot

Ugly Robot by Ugly Robot

Genre: alternative, indie, comedy

If you like: Randy Newman, Ben Folds, Father John Misty

Music isn’t goofy anymore, or if it is, it loses all ability to be somewhat serious, but Ugly Robot has struck an entertaining balance. The music is engaging, and the vocals are unrestrained and silly, but it also works in a way that 70s singer-songwriters used to achieve. It’s truly carefree, and sometimes it goes a bit off the rails, but there’s almost always at least one charming and redeeming quality that holds this chaotic and all-over-the-place album together.

1. June by Pat Hull

June by Pat Hull

Genre: singer-songwriter, folk, alternative country

If you like: Brett Dennen, Kacey Musgraves, Wayne Newton

Pat Hull has a voice that’s rare in today’s musical landscape, with a high-pitched androgyny that hearkens back to the days of classic pop stars like Wayne Newton for Frankie Valli, but he applies it so a warmer singer-songwriter sound in a way that’s absolutely captivating and frankly, unseen in contemporary music, or at least isn’t done this well. Hull should be dominating NPR and beyond, and since this album is a precursor to the 2017 LP Marrow, here’s to hoping this unrecognized talent gets his.

Honorable Mention

York St by leMeow

Genre: soul, indie

If you like: Cat Power, She & Him

That’s all for today, but until next month, let us know in the comments which of these albums were your favorites, what we missed, and what we should look forward to. If you missed out on last week’s post, check it out here (and the complete Bandcamping archives are here).

History of Thrones: Rhaenyra Targaryen, the First Woman to Sit on the Iron Throne

History of Thrones is our series examining important events and people from the complex and controversial past of Westeros, ones that might tell us something about the story going forward on Game of Thrones. However, if you aren’t caught up on the show, or think reading theories is equivalent to being eaten by a dragon, then you will probably consider this to be full of spoilers.

Part 1: The Tower of Joy and the Most Important Game of Thrones Theory

Part 2: The Long Night and Identifying Enemies and Heroes

Part 3: The Horn of Winter and Why It Could All Come Crashing Down

Part 4: Brynden Rivers, The Three-Eyed Raven of King’s Landing

Part 5: War of the Ninepenny Kings and How Enemies Become Allies

Part 6: The Gods and Religions of Westeros and Beyond

Part 7: Euron Greyjoy and the Iron Islands’ Kingsmoot

Part 8: Howland Reed, the Man Who Saved Ned Stark

Part 9: The Dosh Khaleen and the Stallion Who Mounts the World Prophecy

Part 10: The Children of the Forest and the White Walkers

Part 11: Valryian Steel and the Priceless Swords Forged in Magic

Part 12: Aerys II, The Mad King of Westeros

Part 13: Rhaegar Targaryen’s Short Life and Lasting Legacy

Part 14: Wildfire and the Alchemists’ Guild

RHAENYRA TARGARYEN, THE FIRST WOMAN TO SIT ON THE IRON THRONE

Season six ended with Cersei Lannister as queen of Westeros, a dream fulfilled—but only after innumerable tragedy and unspeakable acts of horror. She has the support of few friends, is beset by enemies on all sides, and if all that isn’t bad enough, she doesn’t have any dragons at her disposal, like the only other woman to sit on the Iron Throne before her.

Because while Cersei is the first official female queen of the Seven Kingdoms, she is not the first woman to sit in Aegon the Conqueror’s royal chair. That title belongs to the Half-Year Queen, Rhaenyra Targaryen, who briefly held King’s Landing as its ruler, during the infamous Targaryen Civil War known as the Dance of the Dragons.

“Fire and Blood” by Ludvik Skopalik

Before we get to the war of succession between Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon II—the war that got its name not only from its combatants but because it saw dragons fighting other dragons—we have to go back to her childhood.

Rhaenyra, born in 97 AC, was the only surviving child of King Viserys and his first wife, Aemma Arryn. Their first son died as an infant, and their second son passed away a day after Queen Aemma died giving birth to him.

Trying to ensure that his brother Daemon was not his heir, Viserys announced in 105 AC that Rhaenyra, already a dragonrider, would follow him on the throne, and made the Lords of Westeros swear fealty to his eight-year-old daughter as the lawful successor to the crown. She was named the Princess of Dragonstone, and was always by her father’s side, becoming known as the Realm’s Delight. Rhaenyra was beautiful, with classic, old Valyrian looks, and while a popular figure (early in life), she was also a proud woman with a temper.

“Rhaenyra” by anitalaloco

Viserys thought the matter of his succession was established for good in 105 AC (and it should be noted, he only came to the Iron Throne after a Great Council named him the new king when the previous king left no obvious heir, so succession was a matter very much on everyone’s mind), but a year later he took a second wife, Alicent Hightower, daughter of his Hand Otto Hightower, and the future civil war set in motion, even if the king didn’t know it. Because a year after they wed King Viserys and Queen Alicent had a son (107 AC), Aegon, followed by a daughter and two other sons.

You can probably see where this is going.

Sons, no matter their date of birth, always came before daughters in the line of succession, and with the king now having living boys it was thought he would name his eldest son the rightful heir. Viserys refused to change his mind though, saying he had already named his successor and that the lords of the realm had sworn to honor his wish and will.

Viserys’ Hand and father of the Queen, Otto Hightower, pushed the issue so often Viserys dismissed him from both his position and King’s Landing. The formerly warm relationship between queen and the princess grew cold, and two factions grew at court, the “Blacks” for Rhaenyra, and the “Greens” for the Queen (references to dresses they wore at a large tournament).

Arguably the two most important men in Rhaenyra’s life were her father’s brother Daemon and Ser Criston Cole. She was very fond of both of them, and them of her. Her history with both is complicated, but there are some things that might help explain future events.

Criston Cole named seven-year-old Rhaenyra the queen of love and beauty at a tourney, and then became her personal sworn shield, a request she had made of her father (eventually Ser Criston would be named to the Kingsguard, and then promoted to Lord Commander). However, there was a sordid and controversial story that she lost her virginity to her uncle at age 16. It’s unknown if that is true, but King Viserys did exile his brother shortly after. During all of this another story is told, of Cole professing his love to her and asking her to run away with him, only for her to question his loyalties if he was capable of breaking his sworn Kingsguard vow. Whatever really happened between the princess and her sworn shield we will never know, but he suddenly became a bitter enemy of hers, and a supporter of Queen Alicent and the Greens.

Criston Cole (Image: HBO)

Eventually she accepted/was forced into a marriage with Ser Laenor Velaryon, a man she said would have been more interested in the beds of her half-brothers, though she did have three sons with him (the overwhelming evidence is they were not his children, but another man’s).

After Ser Laenor died during a fight with a friend, Rhaenyra remarried, this time to her uncle Daemon—a union that was controversial and angered her father. Still, the king did not change his will or announce a different heir, and that’s where things stood when Viserys died in 129 AC and all dragon hell broke loose.

Rhaenyra was in Dragonstone at the time. Queen Alicent, after being told the news of her husband’s death, kept it hidden and called together the small council to determine succession. The council was almost entirely made up of Greens, save for Lord Lyman Beesbury, who argued Rhaenyra was the rightful heir. He had his throat slit by the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard–Ser Criston Cole, forever known as Criston the Kingmaker.

Queen Alicent and the Small Council Crown Aegon King (Image: HBO)

Aegon II reluctantly accepted the title of king, while Rhaenyra, furious upon hearing the news, had herself crowned on Dragonstone. Despite swearing to King Viserys to honor his wishes, many lords of the realm took up Aegon’s claim, for a myriad of reasons (Rhaenyra was a woman, she had children believed to be bastards that would be next in line to the throne, and it was possible crowning her would make her despised husband Daemon king). However, she had one major advantage, though: more dragons than Aegon and the Greens.

Any hopes for a peaceful resolution went out the window quickly, when King Aegon’s brother, Aemond—on his giant dragon Vhagar—killed Rhaenyra’s son Luce—riding his much smaller dragon Arrax—over Shipbreaker’s Bay off of Storm’s End.

Aemond Kills Luce (Image: HBO)

To tell the tale of the entire Dance of the Dragons would take five more parts (but my goodness it is amazing, with some epic moments and horrible sadness), but it saw the skies of Westeros filled with the flames and shadows of dragons battling one another, King Aegon II injured so badly he died shortly after winning the war, and the deaths of most of the dragons and thousands of people—including those of many Targaryens from both sides.

At no point was Rhaenyra ever close to winning: She never had enough support of the realm and she lost too many dragons (only to find new bastard Targaryens to ride dragons that had never been seated before, just to see them betray her), but she still sat on the Iron Throne.

While the Green forces were away, they foolishly left King’s Landing sparsely protected, and Rhaenyra and Daemon easily took the city, where she sat on the Iron Throne for half-a-year. The famous story is that when she first got up from the chair she was bleeding from so many cuts. To some it meant the throne had rejected her for not being worthy. (Though in fairness, how many people could avoid being cut by a chair of swords the first time they tried to get comfortable in it?)

Rhaenyra Bleeds on the Iron Throne (Image: HBO)

Her brief rule, which her brother Aegon would later declare to have been unofficial, was celebrated  in the city at first, but soon grew unpopular. She raised taxes, began executing green loyalists, and earned the crude moniker of “King Maegor with Teats,” in reference to the brutal and hated second Targaryen king.

Her time on the Iron Throne enraged citizens, believing dragons to be evil, so they stormed the Dragonpit and killed the four dragons there, as well as Rhaenyra’s own dragon Syrax shortly thereafter. Soon after, having lost her first three sons,Rhaenyra fled back to Dragonstone, where she was betrayed and brought back to King’s Landing to see her injured and delirious brother the king.

King Aegon II (Image: HBO)

She was burned and eaten by the king’s own dragon Sunfyre (one of only two left remaining from the 12 dragons the Targaryens had at the start of the war). Her young son (also named Aegon to screw with us) watched as she was devoured.

Rhaenyra’s son would actually succeed his uncle though, when he was murdered soon after without an heir, making Rhaenyra the mother of King Aegon III, a sad man who never recovered from seeing his mother’s horrible death. He is known as Aegon the Dragonsbane, because during his rule the last dragons died (until Daenerys almost 150 years later). Some suspect him of conspiring to eliminate them due to his personal hatred of them, though other theories say it was a plot conceived by the maesters of the Citadel.

(His brother, Rhaenyra’s other son Viserys, once thought lost forever, returned, and ended up sitting on the Iron Throne himself, meaning Rhaenyra ended up being the mother of two kings.)

“” by Ashley Rice

The Dance of the Dragons was really the swan song of the dragons, and House Targaryen was never as powerful without them as they were before. Rhaenyra had grown up believing she would rule Westeros, and when the time came it was stolen from her, and she answered with fire and blood, and was destroyed by them, too.

She may have been the first woman to sit on the Iron Throne, but she never ruled the Seven Kingdoms; even though the Half-Year Queen had lots of dragons, it didn’t matter without the support of the realm.

How long might a despised Queen Cersei last there herself, without dragons or friends, and with another silver-haired Targaryen queen on the back of her own dragon, sailing towards the Iron Throne that was once promised and denied to her ancestor?

Cersei might officially be the first Queen of Westeros, but she might not even be there longer than the first woman to sit on the Iron Throne.

What do you think? Was Rhaenyra the rightful heir, or did Aegon II deserve to follow his father? Tell us what you think below in the comments.

Featured Image: “Fire and Blood” by Ludvik Skopalik

America Rules! Here Is A Patriotic Playlist Your Dad Would Like

I think we can all agree that the most American thing in the United States is dads. I am talking the 55+, beer-gutted, baby booming, red-blooded dudes that taught you how to drive and had no shame about flatulence while they were watching The Deadliest Catch in the living room. Not only are dads a spitting image of who you will be in 35 years, but they are also a window into the past! They were born after a war was winding down and essentially shaped the tumultuous, formerly exceedingly prosperous period that many of us all saw as children. Their impact is tangible in many ways still, but on a personal level, I have my own dad to thank for getting me into music.  (Major shouts to all the moms, too, whose work is invaluable, but it’s way easier to make fun of dads who are smellier and hairier).

With this in mind, and to get in the spirit of Independence day, I made an entire playlist of patriotic classic rock songs that your baby boomer dad would be extremely stoked about. In fact, I am pretty sure that every artist on here–think Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, Billy Joel, Jimi Hendrix–was originally introduced to me by my dad. So as you celebrate the Fourth of July this weekend, think about all the people that came before you–dads, moms, and beyond–crack a disgusting watered down beer, and have yourself some fun.

What bands did your parents turn you onto when you were young? Let us know in the comments below.

Image: Columbia Records

ESPN 2 Will Televise STREET FIGHTER V World Championship

If your dream has been to see Street Fighter, one of the world’s most competitive esports, broadcast on national television, then you may want to go down to the ocean and palm strike a car in celebration. ESPN2 has announced that it will be televising the Street Fighter V World Championship from the Evolution Championship Series (Evo) in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 17. Live coverage will begin at 10PM ET and will be broadcast on both ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app. The hype, however, can begin right now.

via GIPHY

For those of you not in the know, Evo is basically the Super Bowl for fighting games. The annual, three-day event sees thousands of highly skilled competitors from across the world come together to compete in games like Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Kombat X, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and many more. This year’s competition will feature more than 14,000 competitors, shattering previous Evo records for total entrants. According to Evo co-founder Joey Cuellar, 5,065 people will be competing in the Street Fighter V competition. ESPN will only be broadcasting the final rounds, which makes sense from a business perspective since those will be the highest-profile and likely the most skilled of all the matches.

Here’s a promotional video for the Street Fighter V tournament which will soon be airing on television:

“The Street Fighter V World Championship will be one of the must-see competitions from the Evo finals,” ESPN Digital Media VP John Lasker said. “We are always exploring ways to serve the growing and passionate audience of competitive gaming, and we look forward to delivering this event to fans.”

“Evo is excited to bring the energy and excitement of our world finals to a wider audience,” said Evo CEO Joey Cuellar, Chief Executive Officer. “ESPN brings us an amazing opportunity to showcase the fighting game community competing at its highest level.”

In case you’re curious about how amped up these events can get, take a peek at this legendary clip of Daigo Umehara masterfully parrying Justin Wong’s attacks in the 2004 Evo seminfinals.

If we get anything close to that on national television, then this might be the breakthrough moment that esports needs with mainstream audiences. Or it’ll just confuse a lot of people and be really awesome to watch over and over again in hindsight. Either way, this year’s Street Fighter V championships are going to be straight (yoga) fire.

Will you be tuning in to the Evo finals? What do you want to see from ESPN’s broadcast? Let us know in the comments below!

Image: Capcom

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).

Advanced Review: PREDATOR VS. JUDGE DREDD VS. ALIENS #1 is Divine

Crossovers can be tricky. When they are done wrong, they are ham-fisted collages of characters and worlds that don’t tell a cohesive story. They can be a real mess. On the flip side, when they are done right they come out like Dark Horse Comics’ Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #1. If you’re a Judge Dredd fan, this first issue is utter perfection, delivering everything we love about the character. If you are here for the Aliens and Predators, there’s clearly some nasty stuff on the horizon. Either way, as far as first issues go, Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #1 is fantastic and delivers one hell of an awesome set up.

Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #1

John Layman plants the story of this epic meet-up in Dredd’s world. It works wonderfully because Xenomorphs and Predators aren’t really stranger than the sort of goons the Judge’s normally face off against. Layman also nails Dredd’s voice, wonderfully capturing the character and leaving us Dredd fans begging for more. Hell, let’s get a Judge Dredd ongoing series from Layman. Sure, the Aliens and Predators are cool and all, but Layman writes such a perfect Dredd. IDW just needs to launch a new Dredd series written by John Layman. Where’s the petition? I’ll sign it.

This issue is freaking beautiful, too. Chris Mooneyham’s art with Michael Atiyeh’s colors make for a visual feast that will fill your soul with mutants and mayhem. Mooneyham is unreal, just look at that first double-page spread. There’s so much grit and kinetic energy in every panel, it’s really stunning. Mooneyham’s storytelling is topnotch, too, the issue paced expertly and you are never bored, never left skimming panels. Everything in this comic book deserves your attention. Every panel is a winner.

Layman and Mooneyham clearly have a winner on their hands here. Not only is this a kick butt Judge Dredd issue, it’s a bench mark for how crossovers should be handled across all comics. They respect the properties while embracing the madness of the situation and having fun. Judge Dredd has had some truly epic crossovers in the past, but if this first issue is any indication, this might be his best to date. We need issue two right freaking now.

Images: Dark Horse Comics

AJJ Parodies OK GO Videos For Their Latest Tune ‘Goodbye, Oh Goodbye’

There wasn’t any doubt that the band OK Go has made a lasting impression on the world of music, but the recent video by folk/punk/rock/what-have-you band AJJ pushes them to a whole new level: extreme parody.

The Phoenix, Arizona band’s video for “Goodbye, Oh Goodbye” takes every opportunity to poke fun at the incredibly intricate videos we’ve come to know and love from OK Go. While the highly choreographed and (we’re sure) exorbitant videos of OK Go consistently wow us, AJJ went the exact opposite route and turned every one of those characteristics on their heads.

The parody aspects of the video, recently posted by Noisey, begin with the band members, adorned in tetrachromatic t-shirts, standing at the ready like most OK Go videos. The video then presents low-budget analogues of many of the OK Go tropes we’ve come to love but with the groggy poise of someone just waking up from a nap. And make no mistake, it’s absolutely perfect. The four members of AJJ march along in vague synchronization as the camera zooms in and out showcasing the purposely blasé actions of the band and various unimpressive use of props.

The real pay-off comes at the end of the video where the entire production celebrates after the “perfect take” and launch into making-of style testimonials about what went into the impressive video. Stating that months of preparation and training went into it, we see various “failed” attempts at the video and input from the video’s sponsor; Soylent. There’s even a final punch to the overarching joke when the band, in testimonial form, completes that in a “perfect take” causing the making-of crew to rejoice in the same way all over again.

Beyond the video parodying almost every single OK Go video in existence, “Goodbye, Oh Goodbye” is a solid song reminiscent of bands like The Mountain Goats albeit a bit more infused with a punk rock vibe. AJJ’s new album, The Bible 2, won’t be out till August of this year but we certainly cannot wait to hear it.

What are your thoughts on the video? Did AJJ miss any OK Go video tropes? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: AJJ

Man Eats 153-Year-Old Cracker From the American Civil War

Are you the type of person that keeps food in your fridge until it actually comes alive and just moves out on its own, or are you the member of your household that throws away the milk the nanosecond it hits its expiration date, for fear it might poison all of mankind? Because depending on your answer to that question you’re either going to find this video to be an amazing experiment or a mini-horror film, since it involves eating a 153-year-old cracker from the American Civil War.

This from the YouTube channel Steve1989 MREinfo, an account dedicated to eating any military rations, no matter how old they may be. Well they don’t get older than this piece of hardtack (a type of cracker made with flour, water, and occasionally salt) that “when properly stored will last for years.” This particular cracker, which based on the stories of Civil War soldiers at the time wasn’t very good even when it was new, was made in 1863 by the G.H. Bent Co in Milton, Massachusetts (still in business).

So, how did it taste?

He said it smelled and tasted like “old mothballs and library books” with just a “little bit of a bread-like, cracker deal.”

It didn’t seem as though the water really helped all that much, though the unpleasantness of the hardtack did help to make his cup of thirty-year-old instant coffee taste like the nectar of the gods.

Forget the unpleasant and boring taste, how could anyone be expected to win a war when they have to do that much chewing? Who has the time or the energy to face down the enemy when it takes so much effort to overcome a cracker?

Would you have eaten a cracker that old? Tell us why in the comments below.

Imagez: Steve1989 MREinfo; AMC