Today is May 4th, which of course, is Star Wars Day.

May the 4th be with you!

Of course, if you write your dates European style, with the day than the month, its 4th of May. I suspect Yoda would approve of this.

And tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, so excuses options for decorating and dressing up abound, or at the very least, a reason to nosh on some delicious Mexican food.

I had plans for today, Readers. It involved long, intelligent thoughts about Akira and George Takei. But that went out the window thanks to the epic storm last night.

One, the storms that have hit the Ohio valley in the past two nights have rendered my brain not very thinky at all, especially when we have what seems to me to be a rather new, particularly interesting alarm in the nearby area. The thing about these alarms is that they aren’t actually unpleasant to the ears, which is a nice change– your tornado warnings come with a bit of a pleasant chime, rather than a wailing, screeching thing– but also have this haunting, ethereal sound to them that made me think that it wasn’t so much a tornado as an alien invasion. It did not, however, sound like a Close Encounter of a Third Kind, and Cincinnati had no spaceships hovering above it this morning, just rain clouds, so I guess my epic alien adventure will have to wait.

Of course, for a less alarming (ugh, terrible pun there, but resistance was futile!) alien encounter, why not draw what would make that noise? What kinds of Extreme Worlds would those aliens come from?

In the meantime, live long and prosper.

P.S. This is what happens when I have lack of sleep: too many sci-fi references to television and movies to count.

Check out these awesome fan-made opening credits for the upcoming X-Men: First Class movie. Thanks to Collider.com for the tip!

X-Men: First Class Title Sequence from Joe D! on Vimeo.

Been wondering what Arnold Schwarzenegger has been up to since his “governating” days came to an end? (Yeah, we haven’t really either….) But, wait, they haven’t ended! Earlier this week Schwarzenegger announced in an Entertainment Weekly interview that he’s teaming up with Stan Lee to create a new animated TV series and comic book called The Governator. The story will feature Schwarzenegger as himself and a superhero alter-ego and is slated for release next year.

Aie, aie, aie….

Mary

For all of us who are still excited about the latest installment of the Harry Potter series in theaters, it’s about time for us to get into the kitchen and create some of the magic we love.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook is a new release from Adams Media, a fellow imprint of F+W Media (Impact Book’s brother, of sorts). We’re very excited for their success, as this book is one of the top-100 of Amazon.com!

For those of you with a sweet tooth, or just a craving for magical foods, this is a great buy!

Out of 150 recipes, here are a few:

• Treacle Tart—Harry’s favorite dessert
• Molly’s Meat Pies—Mrs. Weasley’s classic dish
• Kreacher’s French Onion Soup
• Pumpkin Pasties—a staple on the Hogwarts Express cart

This book is available for purchase at Amazon.com.

Some of us still can’t get past the image of Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson in Titanic, though he’s had such a diverse career full of characters, but it seems we’re going to have to move on and catch up with the times.

Not only has he acted a variety of characters, adapting to them flawlessly, he is also producing films now. (Don’t ask us exactly when that started.)

DiCaprio has set his sights high, as he is rumored to be working on two films right now, Akira and Ninja Scroll.

If you haven’t heard of either of these titles, you’re really missing out!

Akira is a classic. It’s a black-and-white manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo, published in Young Magazine from 1982-1990. Its six volumes are a collection of post-apocalyptic terror, excitement and adventure.

Ninja Scroll, as it’s most known, is an animated movie from 1993.

(Read/watch both. Please.)

Both DiCaprio productions are to be live-action (real people) films and undoubtedly action-packed.

Now this is what we’re really excited about: Morgan Freeman is rumored to be Akira’s Colonel Shikishima. We sure hope so!

(We’ve also heard that Zac Efron may have a role in Akira, but we’ve also heard that he doesn’t. It’s hard to keep the facts straight.)

Hey you! Yeah, you. Do you like drawing comics? Well, if you believe you’ve got some great ideas there’s a very empty spot on comic pages around the country. Since Cathy is no longer on the funnies page, a few papers  (most, really) have been looking for a replacement.

Maybe now would be a good time to submit some great ideas to a few papers. (Small publications may be more willing to work with a freelance artist than a large, well-known publication.)

If nothing else, help these guys pick their new replacement: The Greeley Tribune.

Perhaps your local paper is asking for the same advice. There’s nothing like having a say in what’s printed for your entertainment.

Also, if you love the Green Lantern and have cable television, you may find this of interest: THE GREEN LANTERN IS COMING TO CARTOON NETWORK! Right now the series is in production; it will be released for viewers in 2011.

If you weren’t already aware, Robert Kirkman’s Eisner-winning comic book series The Walking Dead is being turned into a television series on AMC (the Mad Men channel). AMC recently released the key poster art for the series, which fittingly premieres Halloween night.

The show is executive produced and written by three-time Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont, who also directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. It tells the story of the months and years that follow a zombie apocalypse. The story centers around small-town police officer Rick Grimes, who goes into a coma after being shot in the line of duty. When he wakes up in the hospital, something isn’t right. And that something is, surprise!, ZOMBIES! The story follows the characters as they try to survive, find other survivors and ultimately a cure for zombie-itis.

According to AMC, “The series stars Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually), Jon Bernthal (The Pacific), Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), Laurie Holden (The Mist), Jeffrey DeMunn (The Green Mile), Steven Yeun (The Big Bang Theory) and Emma Bell (The Bedford Diaries) as a group of survivors traveling in search of a safe and secure home.”

The show looks amazing and terrifying. And the makeup is incredible. Watch the official trailer, which debuted at Comic-Con, and videos about the makeup here.

And read part of the 77th installment of the comic book series here.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World opens nationwide on Friday.

Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels about slacker/gamer/guitarist/Canadian Scott Pilgrim, the storyline remains roughly the same. The less-than-buff Pilgrim, played by the always awkward (and Canadian) Michael Cera, has to fight the 7 evil exes of Ramona Flowers, the pixie-ish new girl in town with technicolor hair, to win her heart. Some people are worried that the film adaptation won’t do justice to the source material (when do movies ever, really?), but so far Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and some pretty decent reviews. Even mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post liked it, calling the film “a romantic comedy that’s based on a comic, but has the sensibility of a video game, the bass lines of an ambitious indie-rock band and the heart of a classic John Hughes teen movie.”

We think the trailer looks pretty darn good and director Edgar Wright, who also directed the hilarious and innovative zombie flick Shaun of the Dead, hasn’t disappointed us yet. Check out the international trailer and a clip from the film below. Do you think Wright will be able to capture O’Malley’s style?

And, if you’re bored, check out the Scott Pilgrim movie site to create your own avatar. And Bryan Lee O’Malley has some cool behind the scenes photos and other Scott Pilgrim stuff on his site radiomaru.com.

So, IMPACT just did Comic-Con. What’s next?

Well, we’re packing up and road-tripping it to lovely Indianapolis, Indiana for Gen Con from August 5-8!

Gen Con, “the best four days in gaming,” is the longest running gaming convention in the world. With more than 28,000 attendees last year, this year promises the same kind of exciting art exhibits, jaw-dropping costumes, opportunities to interact with gaming industry professionals, and sneak peeks of the latest in games and gaming technology. You’ll even have the opportunity to play your heart out with fellow gaming enthusiasts.

Events include an Anime Rooters Room, art shows, Asian film screenings, a Gen Con-wide costume contest, a Pajama Jammy Jam dance, an eGame arena, live music, belly dancers, film-making seminars, writer symposiums and more (including non-gamer activities for friends and spouses who get sucked into attending Gen Con against their will).

Guests of honor include artist Tom Baxa, author Elizabeth Vaughan (best-selling author of Chronicles of the Warlands series), a slew of professional game testers and designers, cast members of “The Guild,” and champion of Geek culture, Wil Wheaton.

Hope to see you there!