Super news

The new Superman.

New Wonder Woman TV show

So Ally McBeal's writer David E. Kelley ("the guy who killed feminism") is tackling Diana Prince for the small screen. Fingers crossed that he doesn't mess Diana's story up too much.

Mocca building proposal

Proposal by Reid Nystrom+Alessandro Ortiz for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York. The new facility will be "dedicated to the education and preservation of the graphic and literary medium."

Scary picture of the day

Only in Brazil

Images of the destruction that took place last week in the hill towns of Rio de Janeiro.

Even the house where Tom Jobim composed "Waters of March" (which this year came in February) was destroyed...

Phoenix Jones

Speaking of superheroes, I'm a big fan of Seattle's new vigilante, Phoenix Jones (yes, he's even got a secret identity!) Unfortunately, he's probably going to get killed or injured again, but that comes with of the territory of keeping the city safe. Meanwhile it's pretty cool to watch the news and realize it could have come straight from a comic book or movie.

The "real life superhero" genre has already yielded a couple really good stories, such as Mark Millar's foulmouthed Kick-Ass and the incredibly grounded Defendor.

But of course, the original DIY superhero, the one who made good on the possibility of an ordinary citizen becoming something extraordinary, the one who proved that with an unlimited income source and proper training anyone could kick ass, is Bruce Wayne.

Yes, Batman comes from a tradition of masked, non-superpowered vigilantes, such as the Green Hornet, Zorro and The Shadow (Batman's truest inspiration), but the Dark Knight embodies and distills the best of them all.

Batman's popularity is a complex phenomenon, and the news from Seattle confirms its ingrained appeal. A regular man who decides that he doesn't have to see bad things and do nothing. Good luck to Phoenix Jones. He's gonna need it. Even though he's in good company...

Batmobile

Parts of a pretty cool infographic of the evolution of the Batmobile done by a car insurance company.

My new favorite image

Banksy

Happy New Year!

Super Christmas

By Curt Swan.

Hope in Edmonton

An injured white German shepherd called Esperanza nurses her five pups plus an opportunistic cat.

PSB xmas

Neil and Chris wish their fans a Merry Christmas with an exclusive track, the ballad "Night Song" (from the children's play My Dad's a Birdman, for which they wrote the songs too).

The Pet Shop Boys Christmas card, featuring their cosmic profiles, arrived along with the announcement of the first run of performances of "The Most Incredible Thing," the ballet/modern dance piece for which they composed the music. They talk about that and Chris' non-loyalty to Lady Gaga here.

Tron Legacy

Tron's sequel, brought to you 28 years after the original, hasn't improved much on the plot, but the visuals are dazzling enough to be worth the price of admission. The 3D adds a nice, sleek touch, and every crash is an explosion of plastic, light and ink splotches. The rest remain the same: people get sucked up into a video game where they have to fight the little people who live inside the digital world.

The soundtrack by Daft Punk is mildly disappointing in the lack of inventiveness we came to expect from the French robot duo. The idea seemed great: who better to craft the music for an electronic world than the guys making "the sound of the future"? But instead of pulsating electronic landscapes, we get average semi-orchestral pieces, which for the most part work for the screen, but leaves us pining for a proper Daft Punk album.

My new favorite image

Batman goes to Paris. Cover of Batman: Europa # 3, by Diego Latorre.

Still speaking of Batman and company, jewelry maker nOir released a jewelry collection inspired by DC Comics superheroines. Now you can get your own amazon gold bracelet or carry Gotham City in a ring. (?)

Only in Brazil (and in the Vatican)

While the Pope gets hunky guys to strip for him in the Vatican, Lula is called "the Santa Claus of the gays" by activists. He reaches the end of his administration with record approval ratings.

The hungry dog bank

Thor trailer

And speaking of Hulk, the Thor trailer came out. And it's looking like more of the same, despite Natalie Portman's presence. I hope Ken Branagh doesn't disappoint like Ang Lee did.

Green puppy

A green puppy was born close to São Paulo. The lab pup was exposed to biliverdin, a green substance in the placenta that dyed the little guy green. His owner named him Hulk.

Gisele and The Green Team

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen became a cartoon! The animated web series is sort of a mix between Jem and Captain Planet of the fashion world. When not walking the runway, Gisele and her girlfriends moonlight as eco-superheroines stopping logging in British Columbia and illicit arsenic dumping in Papua New Guinea. The animation is rudimetary and Gisele does not do her own voice, but the show's got a catchy theme song -- and her hair is animated separately.

My new favorite image

In Spain, a health campaign for World AIDS Day featured the image of a condom in the place of the Catholic host. The title of the campaign? "Behold the condom, which taketh away AIDS from this world."