Read Days 1 -4 by clicking HERE. Now, onto day FIVE:

“On the Fifth Day of Christmas my geek friend gave to me…FIVE TELLTALE GAMES!”

2011 saw game developer Telltale Games create two of my favorite PC adventures in the “Back To The Future“ game and the newly-released “Jurassic Park“.  Much more than just ”button mashing” endeavors,  these games require players to solve puzzles and guide the character through scenarios that allow them to use both their wits and quick-moving digits to succeed in each task and advance the story.

To date I’ve only completed the first chapters of both BTTF and JP, but I’ve got to say that these games are addictive and would be fun for non-gamers too! The Back to the Future game is sure to be a hit with fans of the classic trilogy since it pretty much functions as yet another installment to the series. Bob Gale – writer of the original films – consulted on the game and Christopher Lloyd provides the voice of “Doc” Brown. As an extra bonus, Michael J. Fox himself provides his voice for the 5th chapter of the story.

The Jurassic Park game has players returning to Isla Nublar to retrieve the lost Barbasol shaving cream container that Dennis Nedry dropped in the first movie. Knowing that JP Director Steven Spielberg originally wanted to use that element in the sequel, but later discarded the idea, gives the game a chance to take advantage of a missed opportunity. Taking place right after the first film, you have to dodge dinosaurs and deal with other scheming characters to survive. The feel of the game is very ‘Spielberg-esque’, with the camera angles and animations evoking the same atmosphere of the blockbuster film.

The Back to the Future Game has five chapters while Jurassic Park contains four, so you could always throw in a chapter of BTTF to make the requisite 5 games to fulfill this verse of the song. BTTF has also been released for the PS3 and Wii gaming systems and is affordably priced.

“On the Sixth Day of Christmas my geek friend gave to me…Six ‘Guildy’ Sodas!”

Continuing on the gaming track of holiday gifts, fans of “The Guild“ will get a kick out of the Limited Edition Jones Soda Six-Pack with labels featuring Felicia Day and the rest of the cast. Whether you’re a fan of gaming or just love quirky comedies, you’ll enjoy quenching your thirst with flavors like “Codex Strawberry Lime” and “Zaboo Blue Bubblegum”.

(Since many of Felicia Day‘s fans discovered her in Joss Whedon’s “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”, “Whedonites” can also indulge their inner vampire slayer with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Motion Comic Limited Edition 6-pack.)

“On the Seventh Day of Christmas my geek friend gave to me…Seven Sith a’sewing!”

Of course, quite often the best gifts that you can give are the ones you make yourself. And if you’re especially geeky and love Star Wars, you will want to grab a copy of the Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton* which is chock-full of ideas.

The crafts are designed with folks of all different skill levels in mind, some requiring very little crafting experience to make. Make your friends a set of Cantina Character Finger Puppets with pieces of felt – or your significant other a “Admiral Sackbar“puppet (my personal fave) from a paper bag. There’s something fun and geeky for everyone.

And if you just can’t find the time to make one of these crafts, give them the book as a gift and have them make one for you!

*Read my interview with Bonnie Burton HERE.

“On the Eighth Day of Christmas my geek friend gave to me…Eight Gigs of Storage!”

These days, flash drives that can be used to store data come plentiful, but none are as stylish and appeal to the fanboy (and fangirl) in all of us like the ones made by Mimoco.

With a variety of character designs to choose from, Mimobots allow you to store and carry data in USB flash drives that look like characters from Star Wars, superheroes from DC Comics, or even Emily the Strange.

(I own several Mimobots myself, having recently purchased the Han Solo in Carbonite Edition at the Mimoco booth during San Diego Comic Convention this past summer.)

The drives go from 4 GB of storage up to 16 GB depending on the model you choose, and can be purchased at Best Buy or from the Mimoco webstore.

Coming up next: Days 9 – 12!

The streets are going to be filled with superheroes, slasher movie villains, hobbits, jedi knights and ghostbusters.  I’ll be in costume myself when I attend the Halloween Spooktacular at Challengers Comics + Conversation Saturday night.  I’m still waffling between going as WWE Superstar – and local legend - C.M. Punk, or as one of the Reservoir Dogs. I guess the decision will be made if I can’t find a cheap black suit at the local Amvets. Anyhoo…

As a way to celebrate the unholy holiday and the love many of us have for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, I will be giving away 2 complete collections of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on DVD! To qualify, all you need to do is share a photo of yourself, or your child, dressed as one of the members of Marvel Comics‘ super-team supreme. You can either post a link to the photo in the comment section, or tweet me a link on Twitter.

I will be giving away 2 sets, one for Child Costume and one for Adult Costume. Everyone who enters will be put into a random drawing for a set of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (Vol. 1-4).  Separate drawings will be held for each category.

Deadline to enter is 5pm CST on Monday, November 7, 2011.  You MUST BE dressed as one of the Avengers. It is not restricted solely to the ones in the cartoons or movie. I will accept any character that served as an Avenger in the comics.  Sorry, DC Comics characters cannot qualify, so no Justice League costumes please.

By submitting photos you consent to allow them to be used in a photo gallery on Geek To Me. Winners to be notified via account they use to comment on blog post or via Twitter DM.  One entry per person please. DVD sets to be sent directly to winners by Click Communications.

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Vol. 1, 2, 3 & 4 are each available separately on DVD.

Release Format:           Single Disc DVD
Suggested Retail Price:    $19.99 (US only)
Feature Run Time:             Approx. run time 132 minutes
Rated:                               TV-Y7-FV
Aspect Ratio:                    1.78:1 Widescreen (Enhanced for 16X9 televisions)
Sound:                               Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound
Languages:                       English and Spanish

All the elements appear to be in place: Top-tier superheroes? Check. Director and screenwriter that is beloved by comic book geeks everywhere in Joss Whedon? Check.  Series of films that have helped establish the Marvel Universe as a coherent, shared ‘reality’ within the films? Check.

Just take my money already.

What do YOU think?

So here it is for your enjoyment! Mouse over the widget and see how you can download it for FREE.

Webslinger

[Verse 1]
You never would expect this from me, now I know its right.
and everything that used to hold me down’s the reason why I even try.
Its not the kind,
of life I planned out in my mind.
But now’s the time.
to save whats yours and mine.

[Chorus]
And I’ll hand over everything.
Just please remember this of me.
and just let go, of all we’ve known.
I’ll take this one you’ll make it out on your own.

[Verse 2]
I wish I could explain whats going down, when I’m away.
Your better off when I am not around, please know its useless if I stay.
Its not the kind,
of life I planned out in my mind.
But now’s the time.
to save whats yours and mine.

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
(and I’ll hand over everything.)
Never would expect this from me now.
Your better off when I am not around.

[Chorus]

So, what do you think? Fun or fail? If you have any geeky stuff you’d like to share with Geek To Me readers, drop me a line or hit me up on Twitter!

"What? No NFL SuperPro?" "No. Just...no."

THE MARVEL COMICS ROSTER – DEFENSIVE TEAM

Defensive Coordinator – Frank Castle aka The Punisher: If there’s is anyone who can create a blueprint for combat on the football field, it’s Castle. His take-no-prisoners approach to fighting crime and military background make him the ideal candidate to scheme the heroes’ 4-3 “search and destroy” defense.

Defensive End – Luke Cage aka Power Man: Sweet Christmas! The New Avengers and Thunderbolts leader has the strength, speed and ferocity to take on most any offensive lineman.

Defensive Tackle – Hercules: The Son of Zeus and Prince of Power compliments Power Man on the line, drawing double-teams and talking his opponent’s ear off.

Defensive Tackle – Ares: The God of War would revel in the hand-to-hand nature of combat in the “trenches” of football.

Defensive End – Namor The Sub-Mariner: The Scion of Atlantis can withstand the deep pressures of the ocean, so plowing his way through an offensive line should be a piece of cake. Plus those little wings on his ankles will help him get around running backs and tight ends. Imperious Rex!

Middle Linebacker - Thor: The God of Thunder and Son of Zeus would be the centerpiece of the “Sons of Thunder” line backing corps. He would be joined by…

Outside Linebacker - Beta Ray Bill: With all the same powers as Thor, Bill would man the weak side with…

Outside Linebacker - Thunderstrike: The young Kevin Masterson, inheritor of the “Thunderstrike” uru hammer created by Odin, would round out the “Sons of Thunder” corps.

Strong Safety - Ms. Marvel: The cosmic powered Carol Danvers brings a powerful punch and strong leadership skills to the field. Anyone who gets past he would have to deal with…

Free Safety – Rogue: One of the most powerful X-Men, not only can she take down most any running back or wide receiver, she could sap their strength!

Cornerback – Iron Man: It wouldn’t be enough for Tony Stark to watch the team from the sidelines. His drive to compete – and to win – would have him on the field using his tech to back his Avengers teammates, along with…

Cornerback – War Machine: James Rhodes – the former Iron Man and current War Machine armor wearer – would round out the defensive backfield for the very first Geek To Me Superhero Fantasy Football Team!

So…what do you think? Who would YOU add to the roster? Let me know in the comment section or on Twitter!

Image via http://smaroon.deviantart.com

With the new NFL season kicking off this Thursday, fantasy football leagues have been furiously holding fantasy drafts so that sports geeks across the country can get their fix. I’ve been part of a league with a few guys from RedEye and each year I get to deal with the trash talking from the likes of Phil Thompson and Leo Ebersol. If only I could draft my own ‘dream team’, namely one made up of the top superheroes in comic books. Now, the idea of a ‘superhero /super-villain’ fantasy football team isn’t exactly new; just Google ‘superhero fantasy football‘ and you’ll find the rosters of other bloggers; heck, just last week, Laurence Holmes of The Score 670 AM discussed putting one together. So it got me to thinking, why not put together a superhero fantasy football team of my own? After discussing it with RedEye Neighborhoods blogger – and Chicago Comic Vault owner – Matt Sardo, we decided that characters with cosmic powers would be disqualified. Oh, and teleporting would also be off limits. Sorry Nightcrawler fans!

So now I present to you, the Geek To Me Superhero Fantasy Football Team 2011:

THE MARVEL COMICS ROSTER – OFFENSIVE TEAM

Head Coach - Captain America: He’s the Living Legend of World War 2 and the one hero who would command the respect of every hero in the locker room. He’s also a master tactician who has never lost a battle, making him the best candidate for Head Coach of the Marvel Superhero Fantasy Football Team.

Offensive Coordinator - Reed Richards AKA Mr. Fantastic: As the leader of the Fantastic Four, Richards is a brilliant scientist and the creator of such incredible innovations like “unstable molecules,” a fabric that adjusts to the unique powers of each member of the FF. It only stands to reason that he could be equally innovative with designing offensive formations that could defeat just about any defense.

Quarterback – Spider-Man: Peter Parker’s alter-ego would be ideal to lead the offensive squad, with his lightning-quick reflexes, the proportionate strength of a spider, and a “spider sense” that would help him avoid a blitz on his blind side.

Running Back – Wolverine: The stocky mutant’s healing factor would help him take the punishment that opposing defensive lines will dish out as he slashes through.

Full Back - Colossus: The X-Man is not only made of living metal, but has recently been imbued with the power of The Juggernaut! Joined with Logan, the duo would give new meaning to the term ‘fastball special.’

Tight End – The Thing: As a former football player, FF member Ben Grimm would be comfortable teaming up with Spidey on crossing routes. And for all his bulk, his rocky hide doesn’t hamper his agility while still enabling him to take a hit going across the middle.

Wide Receiver – Quicksilver: The mutant speedster can break the sound barrier on foot, stretching opposing defenses with his deep threat ability.

Wide Receiver - Speedball: The former New Warriors member’s power to absorb and redirect kinetic energy would make him an excellent short-yardage receiver, as he could make opposing defensive backs bounce off him as he snags a pass.

Center – Sasquatch: The Alpha Flight member has the brain as well as the brawn to call coverages and take command of the offensive line.

Right Guard – Wonder Man: As one of the more powerful Avengers, Simon Williams has the brawn needed to withstand opposing defensive tackles.

Left Guard – Hulkling: The Young Avenger, Teddy Altman, lends his considerable strength to help on the left side of the offensive line…next to…

Left Tackle – The Hulk: Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, would get past the Green Goliath!

Right Tackle – Doc Samson: The gamma powered psychiatrist would hold the line on the right.

NEXT UP: THE DEFENSE…MARVEL COMICS STYLE!

No reason why YOU can’t join in on the fun! Let me know what heroes/villains would be on YOUR comic-book fantasy football team in the comment section, or hit me up on Twitter.

Every once in a while I like to check out the latest offerings at the Toys R’ Us, especially when there’s a geeky movie or television show premiering. With the recent release of Captain America: The First Avenger, there’s been a whole line of action figures and accessories, but this remote control motorcycle takes the cake!

Produced by Silverlit Toys, this highly-detailed remote control vehicle recreates the motorcycle that the Star-Spangled Avenger used to outrun Hydra agents in the movie. While it doesn’t have machine guns mounted on the front, or a flame thrower in the back, it does have two modes of traveling – “high-speed running” and “super-spinning” – and can pop wheelies.

(It’s great to race around the living room and harass the cats, I’ll tell you that.)

Geek Factor Rating: 3 (out of 4) Cosmic Cubes

The Captain America R/C Motorcycle retails for $34.99 and can be found at your local Toy’s R’ Us.

And guess what? I will have one to give away at my Chicago Geek Tweet-Up to be held at Challengers Comics + Conversation on Friday, August 19th @ 7pm.  Check out the event page for details and to RSVP. Not only will I have this cool toy available for attendees to win, but also some other cool gadgets, books and DVDs.

Click HERE to RSVP.

But this week Marvel Comics revealed that they would be changing the status quo of Spider-Man in the “Ultimate Spider-Man” title by re-casting Peter Parker as half-black/half-Hispanic teenager Miles Morales.

And boy did the proverbial s**t hit the fan.

First off, Marvel Comics Editor Stephen Wacker tweeted this: Just got angry letter from a guy mad about our new, “gay” Spider-man. I love this week.

See, since morons can’t read, the guy who wrote in to Mr. Wacker thought that the new Spidey was going to be gay – all because Ultimate Spider-Man artist Sara Pichelli made a comment to the effect of – and I’m paraphrasing here – “one day it won’t be a big deal if a superhero is black – or gay – or both.”

And because you don’t need opposable thumbs to be able to share a comment on a message board, all the screeching IHOP monkeys – thank you for that term Liz Lemon – made sure to share their opinions on the internet. My “Keep Your Pants On” co-writer Kate Kotler wrote a nice dissertation on the – ahem – dialogue that took place on the internet after the announcement. One of my standouts was “he gets his powers from a radioactive welfare check.”

No matter that this is in the ‘alternate universe’ of the Ultimate line. In the main Marvel U – the “616″ as they call it – Peter Parker is still very much alive and web-slinging. That still didn’t stop yahoos like Glenn Beck from claiming that Michelle Obama ordered that Spider-Man be turned into a black person. I swear that Beck can’t be a carbon-based life form.

To do my part to combat the inanity of it all, I went ahead and wrote the folks at Marvel Comics a letter of my own:

From: Elliott R. Serrano
Sent: Wed 8/3/2011 11:43 AM
To: Wacker, Stephen; Alonso, Axel; Quesada, Joe
Subject: Make mine Marvel

Gentlemen,

Just wanted to let you know that I am in full support of the current changes going on with the Ultimate Spider-Man title. To tell you the truth, I actually stopped reading the book some time ago, but these changes that you’ve undertaken have drawn me back in.

As a young Hispanic male who grew up reading comics, I always related to Peter Parker the most, despite the idea that he was a white kid from Queens, New York. But I always imagined a day when I could be the kid under the mask. And now, today’s generation of young readers will get to live in a world where ANYONE can be Spider-Man.This is when the “House of Ideas” really does live up to its name.

Thank you for that and all that you do.

Sincerely,

Elliott Ruben Serrano

Marvel‘s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada was kind enough to reply:

Elliot, thanks for the kind words and welcome back to USM.  We’re very proud and excited with where the book and Miles will be taking us, we have some great stories planned.  Give us a holler after we have a few issues out there and let us know what you think.

Best,
JQ

And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.

Eff the haters.

What did you think?

"Erik, are you okay?" "DAMMIT! I THINK MY FLY IS OPEN!"

I just got home from an advanced screening of X-Men: First Class and I’m not sure if I’m still buzzing on the Seattle’s Best coffee I bought at the River East 21 theater or the movie itself. So many folks, both film reviewers and comic-book geeks like myself have already written articulate, well thought-out dissertations on the film, so I’m just going to offer some of my impressions. Mind you, I’m still buzzing…

First, there was one hell of a line for this screening, and what really surprised me was the number of women who were present to see the film. The row I was sitting in was populated almost entirely with gals – save for the group of guys I went to see the film with – and there was even a cute gal sitting next to me who I bought an ‘Icee’ for. (Hey, I asked everyone if they wanted something from the concession stand and when all my buds declined she yelled ‘get me an Icee!’ So I obliged. No, I never got her phone number. But I digress…) So yeah, there were quite a few fangirls in attendance to get their X-Men fix, which should not have come as a surprise to me as the X-Books do rather well with female readers.

Second, you can really feel Bryan Singer’s influence on this installment of the franchise. The tone of the film is very close to the first two X-flicks and even opens with footage that I swear was lifted from Singer’s original X-Men film. I’d rank this one as good as Singer’s two films and waaaaaaay better than Brett Ratner’s X-3:The Last Stand or even X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Third, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are the bomb. Their performances are the heart and soul of the film and will impress movie goers who are not necessarily comic book fans. Yeah, the kids who make up the ‘first class’ have their moments – and Kevin Bacon is eerily effective as arch-enemy Sabastian Shaw – but you’ll miss Charles Xavier and Magneto when they’re not on screen.

Fourth, the movie does get a little long and loses a bit of momentum near the end- the final ‘twist’ did seem a bit contrived – but it wasn’t enough to derail it overall.

Fifth, I can’t believe I walked by that entire row of women with my fly open. God, talk about embarrassing.

Sixth, while it is rumored that this film is actually a ‘reboot’ of the X-Men movie franchise, there were a couple nods to the preceding films that are sure to please fans.

Seventh, you will leave the theater looking forward to more X-Men movies. This film was the equivalent of putting a defibrillator to a series that was in cardiac arrest.

Eighth, seriously, I’m not joking…I walked by AN ENTIRE ROW OF WOMEN WITH MY FLY OPEN. I’m such a dork, jeez.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’m gonna try to gear down from this massive caffeine buzz and try to get some sleep. We’ll see if this ‘review’ makes any sense to me when I look at it again in the morning.

Now, I really want to hear what YOU think of the movie once you see it! Was it as good as you had hoped? Do you now think they’ve got the X-Men movies back on the right track? Or was it more of the same? Please tell me in the comment section! Or give me a shout on Twitter.

Now I gotta go see a guy about a zipper.