Here's a first glimpse at the streaming online comic version of Unfabulous Five (formerly known as Luchadores Five) on the iPad. The streaming comics application is currently in the final testing stages for both the computer and iPad. Humanoids will be offering streaming access to the latest comic book issues of Unfabulous Five, free of charge, to both your computer and/or iPad once testing is completed. Humanoids will later offer a downloadable version of the comic for an undetermined fee.

Humanoids Publisher, Fabrice Giger, let Jerry and me play around with both applications. The iPad application is particularly impressive. The comics look gorgeous on the iPad screen. With a few taps or turns you can get a full page view, view equal to the width of the page, or  a 2 page simultaneous view. It's easy, intuitive and beautiful! Below are photos take of the comic as it looks on the iPad. As soon as more official information regarding the online comics are available, we'll be sure to share it with you at Muttpop.com.

I had the fortune of being in Chicago this past weekend. A family friend (who I've known for so long and so well that I can call him my little bro) graduated from Northwestern's Undergraduate school of Engineering. It was a great excuse to visit Chicago, celebrate, and bum it with my old college roomie who lives in the heart of Downtown Chicago.

The verdict? Chicago is the prettiest and most exciting city in all of the USA... if you can get past the schizophrenic weather. When it was sunny, it was as awesome as a city can get: tons of people and a magical sense of energy. But within the span of an hour it would go from bright beautiful sunshine to heavy rain and thunderstorms. At 3:30pm we were enjoying an uncomfortably hot, humid, and sunny Chicago-summer day. An hour later, at 4:30pm, we were being pelted by huge droplets of rain as lightning and thunder roared. When you factor in the bone-numbingly cold winters, there's a lot of Elements to battle in Chi-town. But when the weathers nice, it's awesome!

The streetlamps used in the city give nights a mystic and ominous hue of golden brown (just like those recent Batman films!). When the weather's good, it feels like one big party. Everybody is out and about and happy to enjoy the great weather. The positive vibe is addictive and endearing.

What I also found shocking was how distinct nearby parts of the city were. My former college roommate has a nice place in Lakeshore, right by Lake Michigan. A five minute walk from his place takes you to either an immense towering landscape of high-rise buildings, a Family-friendly Pier with gargantuan ferris wheel, or beaches crowded with youngsters enjoying the sun and playing volleyball.

Food was good but very heavy on the stomach. Restaurants tend to be more traditional American and Italian in cuisine. Portions are HUGE and typically smothered in butter, sauce and/or fried. I sense a couple of years in this town would have me 50 pounds heavier.

All in all, good times and an enthusiastic thumbs up to Chicago and Chicagoans. I'm just glad the Weather Gods gave me (mostly) clear weather and sunshine.

After Game 5, I gave up on the Lakers. I'm a lifelong Laker fan. I'm the kind of guy that firmly believes in cheering for your city's team. I was there for the Lakers during the lackluster seasons of Van Exel and Sedale Threatt. But, first and foremost, I am a fan of the game of Basketball. And what the Lakers were playing for a couple of games was an awful example of the game. So much so, that I was starting to feel that the Celtics deserved the Championship more than the Lakers did.

Going into Game 6, I was expecting the worst. I was in shock when the Lakers ended the first half up by 20 points. I was even hesitant to think the game was over until there were 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter and it was 100% clear that we would be having a Game 7.

It was great to see the Lakers second unit play with determination and focus. It was great to see Pau Gasol fighting in the post. It was great to see Artest playing competitively (even if some of his choices were questionable). It was great to see Bynum give it his all on an injured knee. Pesky defense. Lots of hustle plays. We were seeing a Laker team that wanted to win. And they won.

Let's hope that Game 7 brings out the best in both teams. More than a Laker Championship, I want to see a great game of Basketball!

Whatever your feelings may be about NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII, it proved to Publishers is that there is still money to be made in 2D gaming. After 10+ years of 3D over-the-character's shoulder games, we are now starting to see a plethora of high quality 2D games. I couldn't be happier. Three of the games that caught my eye from 2010 E3: SCOTT PILGRIM (an amazing 2D River City Ransom style brawler to be released in conjunction with the film), DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS (by the Metroid Prime game developers at Texas-based Retro Studios) and KIRBY EPIC YARN (by Kirby-creator Sakurai's new game studio). So far, Scott Pilgrim has just been announced as a PS3 and Xbox360 downloadable game. If there are no plans for a Wii release, I may have to conspire and find a way to finally own a PS3! It HURTS to think that I may not be able to play Scott Pilgrim when its released... :-(

NOTE: I forgot one more upcoming 2D gem: RAYMAN ORIGINS. Great looking game with a 2D animation style that reminds me of ODIN SPHERE. Thanks to Frédéric Smyczynski for the reminder!

SCOTT PILGRIM:

DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS:

KIRBY EPIC YARN:

RAYMAN ORIGINS:

It seems like forever that I've listened to any songs or music albums. Most of my listening time (which is, essentially, my time driving) has been taken up with various Podcasts I've been following. Initially, I was listening to John Siuntres WORD BALLOON for wonderful in depth interviews with some of my favorite mainstream Marvel and DC comic authors. Once I caught up on that, I got into Adam Carolla for both his tangent rants and more pedestrian interviews with Hollywood-types. These days I've been really enjoying the Expanding Mind talk show on Progressive Radio.

For me a good interview is an interesting conversation that reveals as much about the interviewer as the interviewee. All three shows do that in spades.

Some of my favorite WORD BALLOON episodes are ones in which Comic Book authors discuss the craft of writing. It's very fascinating hearing Brian Bendis' approach and compare it to Jeph Loeb's. Their respective intents are vastly different... and yet they both have very rational reasons for them. Some great interviews also led me to discovering new talents like Jonathan Hickman.

Adam Carolla is a guy you either love or hate. I tend to like the guy. Yeah, he often rambles and dominates interviews... and he comes across as slightly racist (particularly towards the Jewish and Latino community)... but I respect the guy for being honest and openly talking about uncomfortable topics. His overbearing style sometimes makes it impossible to get to know the shier interviewees. But it's always entertaining and, with the right guest, is a downright riot.

Expanding Minds was something I discovered completely by accident. As a fan of Grant Morrison and Alan Moore's comic book work I became interested in their dabbling with the occult. The little that I have learned about Magick showed me a framework of philosophy that is closely associated with all religions, spirituality, music and language. As such, I'm always keeping my eye open for any interesting discussions surrounding the topic. Recently, Kiyoshi Nakazawa (artist, creator of the Drunken Master zine, and all around awesome guy) mentioned that his wife Maja D'Aoust, the self-proclaimed "White Witch of Los Angeles", was considered one of LA's most interesting people by LA Weekly. Knowing that Kiyoshi was a cool dude, I assumed his wife had to be pretty cool too. I discovered she co-hosted Expanding Minds and gave the show a listen. 2 podcasts in and I give it my wholehearted recommendation.

The last Expanding Mind episode I listened to was a nice interview with Anna Biller, director of VIVA and the forthcoming LOVE WITCH. Anna's thoughts regarding the lack of genuine female sexuality in film was fascinating and has me looking forward to watching her film, VIVA, and the other films she recommended. I can't say much about the film, as I haven't seen it... but I've included the trailer for you below.

All in all, podcasts are great because it gives you the opportunity to discover new things from people whose taste and perspective you trust and respect. Now I need to find some more time to listen to some music!

I'm really looking forward to this year's NBA Finals. You can't go wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Celtics from a historical standpoint. It'll also be very nice to have the Lakers redeem themselves after the Finals meltdown in 2008. As a Los Angeleno, I'm a Laker fan through-and-through. But I have a feeling that the Celtics are going to be a tough team to beat.

The older Celtics team know this may be the last opportunity for them to win another championship... and I think we're going to see them play with a sense of urgency and toughness that'll be a huge challenge. With the exception of that horrible Game 3 vs. the Cleveland Cavs, the Celtics have been playing some consistently solid basketball. They also match up reasonably to the Lakers.

What's so great about having a Lakers Vs. Celtics Finals is it brings with it the several years of Finals rivalries between the two clubs.This is now the 12th time the 2 teams are meeting in the Finals. Of the 11 previous times, the Celtics have beaten the Lakers in 9 of them. Beyond being one of the all-time great point guards, that was something HUGE that Magic Johnson contributed to Los Angeles: 2 Finals defeats against the Celtics! Go Lakers!