WEEKLY ROUNDUP: 6/12-6/18 | Martian Zoo by William Timlin (via Monster Brains).
Green Lantern wants to be Star Wars, but it's more like the Star Wars prequels
Ryan Reynolds keeps comparing Green Lantern, out today, to the original Star Wars. As if it's the same kind of fun thrill-ride, with the same relatable heroic arc, swashbuckling and Han Solo-esque swagger. But actually, Green Lantern is more like the Star Wars prequels. More »
Why Falling Skies breaks the mold of alien invasion shows
We've had a lot of unscrupulous aliens coming to our planet on television lately, but Falling Skies isn't just another mystery-alien show along the lines of V or The Event. More »
io9 Offers $2000 Bounty For Authentic Photos Of Cryptids
This summer, io9 is going cryptozoological. We're offering a $2000 bounty to the person who sends us the best authentic photo or video of a "cryptid," or mystery animal. More »
What your favorite Alien movie says about you
With Ridley Scott's suspected Alien prequel, Prometheus, in production, it's time to look back and ask: What does your favorite Alien movie say about you? More »
A beginner's guide to Green Lantern
Green Lantern is quite possibly the most fiendishly complicated of all the superheroes, surrounded by cosmic mythology, strange aliens, and convoluted backstory. More »
Catgirl Vs. Ninja: the Cutest Confrontation You'll See Today
What if the internet meme nyan cat fought crime? It'd be called The Nine Lives Of Chloe King. The show about the teen girl with cat powers debuted last night, and watching it was like blowing rails of pixie sticks. More »
Life-sized Transformers statues are scrap metal in disguise
Thai sculptor Yumi Modal builds life-sized (and less than life-sized) Transformers statues that look ready to spring to life. Appropriately, each statue is made from discarded car parts and other scraps of machinery and metal. More »
Why is DC Comics canceling and restarting all its superhero lines?
You may have noticed that DC Comics is audaciously canceling their entire superhero line and restarting it with 52 first issues come September. Details about this relaunch are still fairly murky, but here's a primer on what we do know. More »
Meet the Gömböc, one of the strangest shapes in the world
Invented by Hungarian mathematicians, the Gömböc can't ever be kept down. It's the world's only artificial, self-righting shape. There are plenty of things that come back up after being knocked down. More »
The art of a Manhattan Project engineer whose nightmares led him to quit atomic research
If you played a small part in the Manhattan Project and had a nightmare about the world destroying itself, what would you do? You're looking at a detail from a painting called Ex. More »
Scientific "proof" that abstract art is only 4% better than what a kid could do
There's no quicker way to whip up a pointless debate than to discuss abstract art. Does it defy and profoundly challenge our preconceived notions of what art can be...or is it just some crap any second grader could during playtime? More »
What is the most scientifically plausible superpower?
We all know that superheroes like Superman or Thor are completely impossible. But just for the sake of argument, are there any superpowers that could actually exist in the real world? More »
The most wonderfully asinine superhero origin stories
Superheroic origins don't always involve exploding planets, cosmic rings, or bites from radioactive fauna. No, sometimes heroes just happen to slug back bottles of experimental mutagens because they're total dumbasses. More »
New Star Wars TV series promises space hookers!
Who's ready to explore the dark seedy underworld of George Lucas' Coruscant? New details about the mysterious, live-action Star Wars TV show have surfaced, comparing it to the The Godfather. More »
10 Ways of Looking at The Dark Knight
Widely recognized as one of the best superhero movies of the past decade, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is also much more than an action movie. More »