Lauren Davis, Author at Gizmodo

Meet the Justice League of Edo Japan

Artist Chet Phillips places Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman in a distant era in this Japanese woodblock-inspired illustration. But these three haven’t met an anachronism they didn’t like—especially when it comes to their probable foe, a certain radioactive monster stomping through the background. This print, titled “Sanctuary,” is available at Phillips’ Etsy store, where he…

io9 Lauren Davis

Two-dimensional rivals must fight a three-dimensional battle in this paper-bending animated short

It’s a bit disappointing that the two ink-based battlers in the animated short Paper War are fighting over a lady who functions as nothing more than a sex object, but the fight itself makes clever use of both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional nature of paper. Two men made of nothing but ink on paper must…

io9 Lauren Davis

Saturday Webcomic: Hemlock is the tale of a woodland witch and the monstrous husband she must routinely poison

When Tristan was a little boy, he saw a witch in the woods, an ancient, wild thing who lives in the shell of a giant snail an casts powerful spells from spit and blood. He forgets about the encounter until one day, as a grown man, he falls from his horse, cracking open his skull…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Heathers writer and Mean Girls director teaming up for the undead ass-kicking Vampire Academy movie

We’ve been excited about the big-screen adaptation of Richelle Mead’s fabulous and fun Vampire Academy series, about a half-vampire teen training to be a bodyguard for her noble vamp best friend, ever since Don Murphy and Michael Preger announced they would be producing the films, but we worried the movies might dumb down Mead’s sharp-edged…

Movies Lauren Davis

Pretending to be a superhero could make you more altruistic in real life

Can pretending to fly around like Superman inspire you to save the day? Does great power truly encourage great responsibility? A new study suggests that stepping into the role of a superhero in the virtual world could spark more helpful behavior in reality, at least briefly. The study, conducted at Stanford University and published this…

io9 Lauren Davis

Warm Bodies is Romeo and Juliet and Zombies, only better

What if Juliet was a post-apocalyptic scavenger, Romeo was a zombie who ate Paris’ brains, and Mercutio was a monosyllabic Rob Corddry? Zombie romcom Warm Bodies takes us to a post-apocalyptic future in which zombies stalk the Earth eating human brains—at least until one walking corpse, R, falls for Julie, one of the last living…

Movies Lauren Davis

Paintings of an Astronaut Exploring the Strangest Planet of Them All: Earth

The NASA astronaut who stars in Scott Listfield’s ever-growing series of paintings explores a world much like our own, but with a fantastical twist. It’s a planet Earth where crop circles appear in the streets, where Star Wars droids shill for Coca-Cola, where every pop culture apocalypse is happening at the same time. In his…

io9 Lauren Davis

Clone Wars once again proves that it’s the ideal venue for Darth Maul

One of the things that Clone Wars does especially well is to develop characters who were poorly developed in the prequel trilogy. And, after a lackluster performance in the season opener, Darth Maul has become an exciting character to watch as he and Savage continue their renegade Sith act. Last episode, Maul and his new…

Television Lauren Davis

The Webcomic Guide to the Apocalypse: Early Tales of Comets Destroying the World

In the Webcomic Guide to the Apocalypse, I’ve been drawing short comics about very early apocalyptic fiction. So far, I’ve covered stories about plagues and the dying Earth, and this week, we’re looking above, to some 19th-century tales in which comets threaten to destroy human civilization—and sometimes extinguish all life on the planet Earth. https://gizmodo.com/the-webcomic-guide-to-the-apocalypse-plague-5975498…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

The Doctor and the Ponds finally meet Inspector Spacetime

Even though we won’t be getting the wit and wisdom of Dan Harmon on the upcoming season of Community, hopefully we’ll be seeing more of its ersatz Doctor Who series, Inspector Spacetime. Artist Sarah, who operates on Tumblr as FantineValjean, created this darling bit of fan art imagining the Doctor and his companions coming TARDIS…

io9 Lauren Davis

Have your own Big Adventure with this Pee-wee Herman cycling suit

For lovers of both bicycles and Paul Reubens, Podium Cycling is offering this Skinsuit inspired by Pee-Wee Herman’s grey glen plaid suit, complete with printed red bowtie. The secret word is: Nostalgia. Pee-wee Herman Skinsuit [Podium Cycling via Boing Boing]

io9 Lauren Davis

This wordless, richly animated short fantasy adventure film is nine minutes of pure, unadulterated joy

Drop everything you’re doing and hit play on The Reward, a graduation film from Denmark’s The Animation Workshop. This fantasy film about a pair of wannabe adventurers who stumble upon a treasure map plays with a mishmash of animation styles (including a few shades of Adventure Time contrasted against rich light and shadow) and tropes…

io9 Lauren Davis

Motion test for Mama‘s ghostly creature is freaky all by itself

This test to develop Javier Botet’s movements as the lady ghost of Guillermo del Toro’s Mama is delightfully spooky, especially in black and white. Botet (whose especially thin physique is a result of Marfan syndrome) really knows how to maneuver his body to create something otherworldly and menacing. Mama Motion Test [JoBlo – h/t to…

io9 Lauren Davis

Animal-Shaped Armor for the Eternal Battle of Cats vs. Mice

Jeff de Boer’s elaborate suits of armor imagine a fanciful world in which cats and mice have learned to smith metal and construct for themselves often ornate suits of armor. Through the years, he’s expanded his visions of animal armor, creating armor inspired by Medieval times, Ancient Rome, the Renaissance Era, and Japan’s Edo period.…

io9 Lauren Davis

Sometimes all it takes is a cape to transform into someone’s superhero

Redditor resgestae spotted this pair in a hardware store and titled the resulting photo, “I know a good dad when I see one.” Here’s a guy who knows his kid is super and understands the power a symbolic article of clothing can lend to a hero—be they superpowered or just big-hearted. [reddit via Neatorama]

io9 Lauren Davis

Star Trek & The City looks for love where no sex columnist has gone before

Twitter novelty account Star Trek & The City connects two franchises once linked only by Kim Cattrall. It imagines Ensign Carrie Bradshaw and her Sex and the City compadres on their continuing mission to explore strange new bedchambers, to seek out new lays and new sexual positions, and boldly pun where so many have punned…

io9 Lauren Davis

Revel in the technical details and biomechanical weirdness of The Matrix concept art

After the Wachowskis saw his vision of dystopian Los Angeles in Frank Miller’s comic miniseries Hard Boiled, they approached Geof Darrow to work as a conceptual designer on their Matrix films. Darrow’s visual fingerprints are all over life outside the program, and he’s responsible for some of the most iconic images in the film, including…

Movies Lauren Davis

Deadpool ruins classic works of literature, one book cover at a time

The always excellent Mike Del Mundo is currently running a fun and rather brilliant series of illustrations featuring everyone’s favorite Merc with a Mouth. Deadpool Killustrated places Deadpool in a number of classic works of literature, where he promptly wrecks everything in sight. Head over to Del Mundo’s deviantART gallery to see the rest of…

io9 Lauren Davis

Script pages from The Shining reveal the ending Kubrick had destroyed

The original cut of The Shining contained a short scene after Jack Torrance found himself stuck in the snow featuring Wendy and Danny in the aftermath of their night of terror. But a week after the film’s release, director Stanley Kubrick ordered the scene to be cut from all prints of the film and sent…

Movies Lauren Davis

Bryan Singer is bringing three more X-Men trilogy actors to Days of Future Past

Bryan Singer has just announced three more cast members for X-Men: Days of Future Past, and they are three very familiar faces. More and more, it seems that Days of Future Past is going to link X-Men: The First Class with the previous X-Men trilogy and its actors. Singer tweeted this earlier today, announcing the…

io9 Lauren Davis

Lauren Davis

Meet the Justice League of Edo Japan

Two-dimensional rivals must fight a three-dimensional battle in this paper-bending animated short

Saturday Webcomic: Hemlock is the tale of a woodland witch and the monstrous husband she must routinely poison

Heathers writer and Mean Girls director teaming up for the undead ass-kicking Vampire Academy movie

Pretending to be a superhero could make you more altruistic in real life

Warm Bodies is Romeo and Juliet and Zombies, only better

Paintings of an Astronaut Exploring the Strangest Planet of Them All: Earth

Clone Wars once again proves that it’s the ideal venue for Darth Maul

The Webcomic Guide to the Apocalypse: Early Tales of Comets Destroying the World

The Doctor and the Ponds finally meet Inspector Spacetime

Have your own Big Adventure with this Pee-wee Herman cycling suit

This wordless, richly animated short fantasy adventure film is nine minutes of pure, unadulterated joy

Motion test for Mama‘s ghostly creature is freaky all by itself

Animal-Shaped Armor for the Eternal Battle of Cats vs. Mice

Sometimes all it takes is a cape to transform into someone’s superhero

Star Trek & The City looks for love where no sex columnist has gone before

Revel in the technical details and biomechanical weirdness of The Matrix concept art

Deadpool ruins classic works of literature, one book cover at a time

Script pages from The Shining reveal the ending Kubrick had destroyed

Bryan Singer is bringing three more X-Men trilogy actors to Days of Future Past

Tesla Goes Ahead and Admits Its Robotaxis Are Sometimes Fully Human-Controlled

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

‘Supergirl’ Will Feature David Corenswet’s Superman in a Sort of Big Brother Role

Report: FDA Set to Unban RFK Jr.’s Favorite Peptides

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset