Books & Comics

These Phil Noto Marvel Covers Look Like Beautiful Retro Snapshots

Next month, Marvel’s comic books will have a set of 20 variant covers drawn by Phil Noto – and each brilliant cover is done in the style of retro photos from the sixties and seventies, like candid windows into the lives of the superheroic. Announced at NYCC last year, the covers have been revealed in…

This Fantastic Batman Armour Is Entirely 3D-Printed

I mean, sure, emailing a wrench into space is pretty awesome, but so is using the wonderful technology of home 3D-printing to make yourself a badass Batsuit, right? Stevie Dee of Crimson Coscrafts knows what’s up. https://gizmodo.com/nasa-just-emailed-a-wrench-into-space-1673194211 Working with Tundra Designs and Gauntlet FX, Dee’s suit – based on the ‘Dark Knight’ skin from the…

The Best Science Books of 2014

There’s no better way to learn about science than by reading a book that makes it relevant to your everyday life. That’s why 2014’s best science books show us how science and culture are interconnected, two threads in the same story, braided together in ways that can be funny, engrossing, and often deeply moving. Here…

How Long Can A Superhero Live For?

Comic Books are home to immortal titans and vulnerable people alike (and, being comic books, they pop their clogs all the time anyway) – but while their fictional stories will last forever, how long would their actual lifespan be? This handy infographic covers how long a few of our favourite heroes would live for. Heroes…

The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books Of 2014

This was a crazy good year for books. There was mind-expanding science fiction —including William Gibson’s return to the future! — along with thrilling fantasy, and a number of brilliant category-defying books. Here are the 22 best science fiction and fantasy books of 2014. Top image: Grimm Tales: Thousandfurs, by Shaun Tan, from Spectrum 21,…

Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet And Gorilla Grodd, In One Glorious Lego Set

Lego’s DC Comics Superheroes line has been home to some fantastic sets, but this might just be the best:A Lego Invisible Jet! Gorilla Grodd! The Flash! A Bat-Mech! And even better – it’s out this week! Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas – OF COURSE IT’S CALLED THAT TAKE MY MONEY YES PLEASE THANK YOU – doesn’t…

The Ninth Doctor, Rose And Captain Jack Return In New Doctor Who Comic

Chris Eccleston’s reign as the Ninth Doctor only lasted a season, but Doctor Who fans looking for more adventures of the leather jacket-wearing Time Lord need look no further than Titan’s newest Who comic, which pairs him not just with Rose, but the dashing, omnisexual Jack Harkness as well. Titan will release a five-issue Ninth…

These Toys Make Batman and Superman’s New 52 Suits Actually Look Good

When the New 52 revamped the DC comics universe in 2011, one sticking point with fans was some of the new looks for the companies most popular characters, especially the overdesigned suits. But Medicom might have actually made Batman and Superman look pretty great with these new figures! Medicom’s 12-inch Real Action Heroes line has…

Why Wonder Woman Has Trouble Understanding Mortal Holidays

Religious celebrations on Themyscira must be a lot more interesting. The always delightful Texts from Superheroes has brought us another round of holiday goofiness as superheroes deal with their culture and personality clashes. Head over to Texts from Superheroes to find out what Superman gave his fellow Justice League members and relive some of the…

This Comic Will Make You Say “How Sweet” And “Ew, Gross” All At Once

Cartoonist Laura Park delivers a short comic about the spirit of giving that is both incredibly poignant and disturbing. The horrific sweetness is making us shudder. [via Super Punch]

Surprise, A Potted Groot That’s Not Based On The GOTG Movie

It’s a rarity after the months-long explosion of Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise since the movie came out in August, but look – a Groot statue based on on the comics instead of the movie, and he looks glorious! Just as he did in the movie’s climax, the Comic book Groot has a penchant for…

Genderqueer Fisher Accidentally Steals A Selkie’s Skin In This Webcomic

If you’ve been looking for a webcomic that features gender nonbinary characters and relationships outside of the heteronormative while telling a rich fantasy story, look no further than Sfé R. Monster’s Eth’s Skin, set in a world of floating townships, pesky fairies, and selkies with magical skin. In a magical version of British Columbia, Eth…

How Much Money Would an Earth-Like Exoplanet Really Be Worth to Us?

The prospect of finding another planet like Earth is exciting from the perspective of exploration — and our future as a species. But let’s consider the bottom line. What would such a discovery really be worth for us in terms of money? Astronomy journalist Lee Billings breaks it down for you. Illustration by Ron Miller…

The beauty must flow. This beautiful new cover forthe Folio Society’s edition of Frank Herbert’s Dune, by artist Sam Weber, out Spring 2015, is just a revelation. And apparently there are interior illustrations by Weber as well! [via SFSignal]

The Best New Webcomics Of 2014

Each year, we are stunned by the remarkable and diverse comics that appear on the Internet, and 2014 has been no exception. From gorgeously illustrated epics to spooky short stories to comics that made us cry, here are the best new webcomics that we read this year. Top image from Stand Still. Stay Silent by…

Master Of Horror Webcomics Emily Carroll Just Posted A Creepy New Story

Emily Carroll has won our black, horror-loving hearts with the short and spooky comics she posts on her website and with her recent book, Through the Woods. Now she has a new comic online, just in time to make holiday parties terrifying. https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-horror-story-from-the-absolutely-chilling-thr-1606732634 Go and read Carroll’s latest, “All Along the Wall,” on her website.…

Some Fascinating Things I Learned From This Profile Of Iain M. Banks

Iain M. Banks is one of my favorite science fiction writers, and we’ve done a guide to his Culture novels, but I still learned some new stuff from this in-depth profile of him in Kirkus Reviews by io9 contributor Andrew Liptak. Among other things, I knew that at least one of Banks’ famous novels about…

Are We Entering The Age Of The Practical Superhero Costume?

This year two big Superheroines have gone through major redesigns – Batgirl and, this week, Spider-Woman. Both designs shared a similar mantra: ditch the spandex, and get practical. But are they first steps in revitalising superhero designs into something more feasible in the 21st Century? https://gizmodo.com/batgirls-new-uniform-may-be-the-best-damn-superheroine-1603247249 https://gizmodo.com/spider-woman-is-getting-a-new-costume-for-the-first-tim-1672772959 The ethos behind Batgirl and Spider-Woman’s designs are…

This Batman Cowl Replica Comes With A Light Up Bruce Wayne Head

Screw the Cowl replica. I want this because it’s a 1:1 copy of Bruce Wayne’s head THAT LIGHTS UP. That’s like, the best/worst idea for a lamp in the world. The replica, by Triforce, is full-scale 35lb hunk of shiny replica goodness, and based on the cowl design seen in the video game Batman: Arkham…

Whosoever Holds This Mug, If He Be Worthy, Shall Possess A Warm Drink

There’s a lot of weird knick-knacks out there that the moment you see them, you think ‘How has someone not done that before!?’. I’m not entirely sure a mug in the shape of Thor’s legendary hammer Mjolnir is one of those things. No worthiness is necessarily required to lift this mug so Asgardian saints and…