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.

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.