The iconic legend Flash Gordon made his dynamic splash back into comics with Dynamite Entertainment with Flash Gordon – Zeitgeist! Spinning off from that series is the prequel comic book series, Merciless – The Rise of Ming #1, which is written by Scott Beatty and drawn by Ron Adrian, with an incredible cover from Alex Ross and is in stores April 2012! In issue #1, Prince Ming begins his rise to dominion over the entirety of Mongo! But who (or what) was Ming before he was ‘Merciless’? Find out here as the origin of one of science fiction’s preeminent villains is presented in all its diabolical details! Be sure to get Merciless – The Rise of Ming #1 in April 2012!  

The Devil Wears Prada sat down with us while the band was in NYC at the tail end of their recent tour. Check out what the band had to say…  

It seems Marvel continues to bombard us with these Avengers VS X-Men images from their upcoming event book. Take a look at The Thing, Daredevil and Spider Woman AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1 (JAN120625) Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, JASON AARON, MATT FRACTION, JONATHAN HICKMAN, ED BRUBAKER Art by JOHN ROMITA JR. Cover by JIM CHEUNG FOC – 2/27/12, ON SALE – 4/3/12  

The Hub Television network, a destination for kids and their families, has acquired the hit animated series “The Super Hero Squad Show” from Marvel Animation. The popular half-hour series, which features the world’s best-known Super Heroes including Iron Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America will join The Hub’s Monday through Friday lineup beginning Monday, January 30, at 4 p.m. ET (with encore presentations on the weekend).  

Animals as Leaders started as Tosin Abasi’s solo project.  He’s a Washington D.C. based guitar player who played guitar for Born of Osiris & Reflux. He now has a full instrumental band with Javier also playing guitar & Navene Koperweis from Animosity playing drums.  This is a mixture of electronic, ambient, progressive metal & jazz that I can just hear Tosin has spent years perfecting the sound of.  

From down south. No, further south. Guanajuato, Mexico. Ominous Crucifix is bringing some much needed Satanism back to death metal. They are from Mexico, but the songs are all sung in English.  It’s a  bit different from other Mexican death metal albums in that it doesn’t have much blasting, its more intricate & there’s melodies. More like Scandinavian death metal.  

The biggest superhero brawl in the history of the Marvel Universe begins this April in Avengers Vs. X-Men #1! Which team will reign supreme?  

Norwegian experimental black metal band, MESOPOTAMIA has recently signed to Abyss Records. The band is currently at work on their debut, which is set to be released later this year. In the meantime, MESOPOTAMIA has posted the track “The Cult of Ninurta”  

Following the success of their popular The Bionic Man ongoing series, Dynamite Entertainment is releasing The Bionic Woman #1. Written by Paul Tobin and drawn by Leno Carvalho, with an amazing cover by Paul Renaud, The Bionic Woman #1 hits stores in March 2012!  

USX guitarist/vocalist/wordsmith Nate Hall will release his first solo record this Spring via Neurot Recordings. Titled, A Great River, the ten-track opus offers up a lush landscape of sonic richness. Recorded in March 2011 by Travis Kammeyer at Fahrenheit Studio in Johnson City, Tennessee, A Great River features the pastoral artwork of Dark Castle’s Stevie Floyd, viewable below…  

Renowned shredder Stéphan Forté (Adagio) has set February 28th, 2012 as the North American release date for his highly anticipated instrumental solo debut, The Shadows Compendium. Proving that shred is far from dead, Forté demonstrates otherworldly skill and technique on this neo-classical metallic masterpiece. The album will be distributed in the United States by E1 Distribution. The Shadows Compendium features several guests such as Jeff Loomis, Mattias Eklundh, Glen Drover, Daniele Gottardo and Derek Taylor.  

Thunderous post-instrumental outfit PELICAN have announced the long awaited follow-up to their sprawling 2009 full length What We All Come To Need, a new four song EP Ataraxia/Taraxis to be released via Southern Lord on April 10. With members now residing in separate cities, the EP represents a new chapter in the band’s evolution with a reenergized focus on composition and the utilization of the recording studio as a creative tool in the songwriting process, yielding one of the most diverse efforts in the band’s prolific discography.