And there came a movie, a movie unlike any other, where Earth’s mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, “The Avengers” became the greatest comic book film ever created, and for pure unbridled and exciting entertainment value, this may be Earth’s greatest movie ever.

Ignite Phoenix #12 is one of the valley’s premier community themed events and is happening this Friday, May 4, 2012, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Virginia G. Piper Theater at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Out of over 90 submissions, 18 different speakers from the local creative, technical, and business communities were selected to give a 5-minute presentation (with a maximum 20 slides) on projects or topics that they are passionate about.
The show has sold-out, but you can follow Ignite Phoenix on FACEBOOK where announcements will be …

When multi-billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, inventor extraordinaire, dons his solar-charged, steel-mesh armor, he becomes a high-tech warrior — the world’s greatest human fighting machine! The Invincible Iron Man – Marvel Comics circa 1990s
In 1963, Stan Lee envisioned Iron Man as a commentary on the Cold War and the U.S. military industrial complex, and together with his brother, Larry Lieber, and artists Jack “King” Kirby and Don Heck, they created one of comics’ most compelling characters and one of the few self-made superheroes.
Industrialist Tony Stark (who is based on the real-life …

For those of you who missed it, here is a look back at LepreCon 38. It was loads of fun and we all had a great time.

Arizona native BIGCHRIS (aka Big Chris Wood) is an established professional artist & illustrator who has worked on projects as varied as the Halo and Left 4 Dead video games to providing artwork for bands like KoRn and System of a Down. He has also lent his unlimited and unique artistic skills to numerous national comics, magazine covers, TV commercials and Hollywood movies.
Since returning home to Mesa in 2010, BIGCHRIS has become hugely popular on the local pop culture art scene and has devoted his time towards uniting and supporting …

“When Dr. Donald Blake strikes his wooden walking-stick upon the ground, it becomes the mystic hammer MJOLNIR – and the lame physician is transformed into the Norse God of Thunder, Master of the Storm, Lord of the Living Lightning – and heir to the throne of eternal Asgard…The Mighty Thor!” – Marvel Comics circa 1970s
Thor’s only connection to the aforementioned Donald Blake in the 2011 movie by director Kenneth Branagh was as an inside joke when Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) gives the Thunder God some of her former boyfriend’s clothes …

If you have been to a comic convention west of the Mississippi in the past 5 years then you have probably seen Daniel and Dawna Davis of Steam Crow and Monster Commute fame. With Daniel’s trademark handlebar mustache, their brand-savvy Steam Crow booth set-up and their eccentrically adorable original art and steampunk-themed merchandise, this dynamic-duo stands out and is hard to miss.
Not only has the locally-based Steam Crow team created one of the coolest collections of art and effects that you are likely to see at a pop culture convention …

For this coming Christmas, Life of Pi will finally be coming to theaters – and now there is another very good reason to hope the world doesn’t end in a Mayan apocalypse on December 21, 2012. At the CinemaCon (the official convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners) this week, 20th Century Fox unveiled a 10-minute look at the upcoming 3D film about an eccentric Indian boy lost at sea on a lifeboat together with a very large and hungry Bengal tiger, and the buzz from the convention is …

AZ ASSIST, a Tempe-based nonprofit organization that helps teens and young adults with autism, will host a Gaming Day event this Saturday in connection with Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month. Among the attractions, Amazing Arizona Comics creator and Nerdvana contributor Russ Kazmierczak Jr. will be doing sketches from noon to 2 p.m. The first person to mention Nerdvana will get an exclusive, oversized Amazing Arizona Comics framed page!

In the United Kingdom the new stop-motion animated movie The Pirates! Band of Misfits is called “The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.” Apparently “science” doesn’t play well in North America, but that shouldn’t stop us “Yankees” from enjoying this very entertaining British film by the creators of Chicken Run and the Wallace & Gromit movies.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits is based on a series of British books, by author/screenwriter Gideon Defoe called, “The Pirates! In an Adventure with (various titles),” about a not-so-swashbuckley Captain conventionally called, “Pirate Captain.” The …