Comics

• The Complete Marvel Reading Order is a website representing one man’s attempt to figure out what order a picky reader should follow if attempting to reading the entirety of Marvel Comics’ in-continuity canon. You can check the entire list, commencing with “Fantastic Four #1″ from 1961, or filter on particular titles, characters, or story arcs. The site is highly customizable and also includes an active blog and links to two different site podcasts.

Cross-Media

• Doctrinal issues contributing to Imperial military failures at the Battle of Hoth.

Film

• Interview: Film Threat interviews Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof about “Nothing”
• Interview: Joss talks briefly to CraveOnline about Wonder Woman and Avengers.
• Interview: Zack Snyder comments on ‘Man of Steel’ DC Universe references
• Reviews: The Lone Ranger is now in movie theaters. Currently rated an amazingly low 23% at Rotten Tomatoes, this film is a train wreck. Even the horse is lousy. It could be worse.
• Reviews: Much Ado is one of the ten best movies so far this year.
• The creators of the sweded version of the Pacific Rim trailer impressed Guillermo del Toro enough with their cardboard skills that he not only wanted to get a picture with them, but invited them to the Hollywood premier.
• Halfway Through: The Best and Worst Movies of 2013 So Far
• A History of Plagiarism Claims Against James Cameron
• Making Shakespeare sound modern.
• Red Letter Media Breaks Down References in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’
• Watch 11 minutes of Star Wars Dubbed into Navajo, a rather beautiful language.
• We’re half way through the year and Gotham news counts down the Top 10 Movies of the Year and the Top Five New TV Series

Internet

• Google’s new algorithm predicts box office success with 94% accuracy.
• Hey Google, My Town’s in the Lake

Literature

• News: J.K. Rowling reveals she published a new crime novel in April titled ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ under pseudonym
• The Book Was Better is a podcast reviewing novelizations of films.
• Do We Philosophically, Emotionally Need Bookstores?
• The Long Now Foundation has announced that author Neil Gaiman donated a gift of $25,000 to the Long Now Salon project.  (Donations are accepted here.)  Gaiman was quoted as remarking, “I really believe in Long Now’s mission, and I am excited about this project which puts such focus on knowledge and conversation and books. I can’t wait to see it open and I look forward to visiting.”

Science

• News: 60 billion planets in our galaxy could support alien life
• Surgical Neurology International features a paper detailing how advances in cell engineering mean a head transplant onto a donor body could now be technically possible. The procedure is called “HEAVEN.” Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up outside a P.K. Dick novel.

Technology

• How will our future cities look?
• Japanese astronaut will be bringing a small talking robot into space. Don’t let it operate the pod bay doors.
• Meet Atlas, a humanoid robot that can run, climb stairs, and walk through rubble.

Television

• 9 Ways “Game Of Thrones” Is Actually Feminist. Way more than the books.
• George R.R. Martin Addresses Race in the Game of Thrones Universe
• Visualizing Buffy uses data visualization to explore the time each character spends on screen and the deaths of characters in each episode.

Video Games

• Interview: Female gamers spend as much time on consoles as men
• The 100 Greatest Secrets in Video Games
• The creators of the Virtuix Omni multidirectional gaming treadmill demonstrate what it’s like to play multiplayer Minecraft using the Omni and the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset in this video.
• Do Video Games Need Boss Fights?
• The Last of Us, Bioshock: Infinite and why all video game dystopias work the same way: Video games tell us interesting things about damaged and bizarre societies – but most seem to come to the same conclusion: it’s all about men and violence
• Why Google Shouldn’t Get Into Video Game Consoles

Writing

• How Is Self-Publishing GOOD for Traditionally Published Writers?
• Setting as a Character
• Should you self publish your first book?