Back in June, comic book publisher BOOM! Studios announced that they would be making their entire back catalog of comics available digitally. This was an impressive move. Despite the fact that the comic medium seems inevitably headed, as I have argued, in the direction of digital distribution (though how long that may take is still up for speculation), many companies have seemed frightened by the format, utilizing the format in only minor ways. BOOM!, on the other hand, recognized the importance of this new part of the market and jumped into it, recognizing that its probable benefits outweigh any potential drawbacks.

Now, a few months later, I catch up with BOOM!'s Marketing Director, Chip Mosher, to see how this still-young project is working out for the company and to talk with him about digital comics and the comic book industry in general.

When Avatar hit theaters last December, it went on to gross more at the box office than any other film in history (not counting inflation). Naturally, it managed to stay in theaters for quite a while, but as happens to all movies, it was eventually pushed out by the new stuff. It only makes sense then, that James Cameron and Fox would take the opportunity to put it back out there to soak up some more money when the chance arose. Now that chance has arisen. There’s no mammoth movie currently hitting its opening week in theaters, and Cameron’s had time to insert about nine minutes of deleted footage that we haven’t seen yet, so he adds the deleted scenes back in, the movie re-invades select theaters, and bam, everybody’s happy. But how good is this cut of the film, is it worth paying a 3D ticket price to go see it again, and what new stuff do we get to see? Here is my assessment of the Special Edition.

A couple weeks ago, we were surrounded by people dressed up in Star Wars attire at Star Wars Celebration V. Afterward, I picked out the five best costumes on the floor, and that got me thinking, What are the best Star Wars costumes actually in the movies?

We at The Sci-Fi Block have endeavored to answer that question, highlighting our ten favorite character costumes in the Star Wars films (including the Clone Wars movie). The only rules were that anything we picked had to be an outfit or uniform worn by a human character (so Chewbacca, for instance, would be ineligible), and makeup (like that of Darth Maul) doesn't count as part of the costume.

Here is what we came up with:

One week ago today, we were in the heat of Star Wars Celebration V. But alas, the convention has passed, and we're left to survive on our memories of the event for the next three years until Star Wars Celebration VI hits. In this podcast, I talk with an attendee who can offer a slightly different perspective on the convention, as a member of the 501st Legion -- Scooter Parmet, a.k.a. TB5918. Topics covered include SWCV, the 501st, Lucasfilm's promotion of The Clone Wars' third season, and even our thoughts on the reputation of the prequels.

I wasn’t able to make it to nearly as many digital comics panels as I would have liked during this year’s San Diego Comic Con, but the one I did attend was interesting. On the final day of the convention, I slipped into the “Digital Age of Comics” panel, featuring comic master Jeff Smith, artist J. Scott Campbell, IDW’s Jeff Webber, iVerse’s Michael Murphey, and Sony’s Adriana Eyzaguirre. While a few of the panelists were there mostly to hype some of the avenues through which digital comics are being made available and while some others were too keen on using digital comics to somehow enhance and preserve the status quo of comics distribution, one or two of them had some interesting things to say, and the audience members brought up some great questions and points concerning the digital format.

San Diego Comic Con 2010 has come and gone, like the summer breeze that makes you feel all cramped and tired but that also brings news for upcoming pop culture movies and sells you awesome collectibles (you know the breeze I'm talking about). This year's convention was a good one. It had its lows (e.g. the Hall H pen-to-eyeball stabbing), but with TRON: Legacy, Captain America, Thor, Green Lantern, and plenty of other cool movies showing up, it also had some great highs. Below are the ten best sci-fi related happenings that went down at the convention this year.

When we first learned that there was a reboot to the Predator franchise in the works, I was hedging my bets. Sure, the mere thought of the Predator carries some degree of inherent excitement, but a mediocre sequel to the first Predator, followed by two aesthetically failed Alien vs. Predator installments had hardened me. The one string of hope I held onto after that announcement was the fact that Robert Rodriguez, though not assuming the director's chair, was heading the project as producer. Gradually, over the months following the original announcement, I began to be won over by the details about the film and finally by the trailer and concept art released at the South by Southwest film festival.

There are a number of things that drew me into full excitement over Predators, and one of them has been simply the look and feel of the trailers and sneak peeks we've been shown. None of the franchise's installments since the original film have taken such a natural, realistic approach to the setting in which the story takes place. Despite the fact that this reboot (which really seems to be more of a quasi-reboot than a full reset) takes place on a distant planet, the setting is that of a jungle. I'm sure there will be occasional alien flare, and this jungle is guaranteed to be inhabited by creatures that are anything but Earth-like, but overall, these events are taking place in a jungle like any other. Few as they may be, there merits to be found in the city settings we see in lesser installments like Predator 2 and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, but for the dark and bloody movie that Predators is aiming to be, it helps immensely to have something that is grittier but that is also familiar. With this setup, the film can introduce the characters to as harrowing a situation as possible without distracting viewers with alien surroundings.

One of Predators' production designers, Steve Joyner, recently took a few minutes off of helping Robert Rodriguez with Machete to talk with The Sci-Fi Block about Predators' production design. In our conversation, Joyner delves into his goals for the design of the film, the influence that the first movie has had on the look of this one, and the possibility of a Predators sequel.