The tradition of the hero in fiction is long and complicated. The first type of “hero” we find in literature, the Classical Hero of old epics, weren’t good, exactly: they were just big. They did great deeds, but they were also fatally flawed, and sometimes monstrous. Only later, during the Middle Ages and the Romantic…

The X-Men have got to have a wild Easter. What with Nightcrawler hiding eggs in interdimensional hidey holes, Beast very excitedly explaining the Pagan origins of the holiday’s traditions, and Deadpool just throwing stuffed rabbits at everyone, it’s an eventful day.

Last year, Luc Besson released Valerian, a visually lush and imaginative scifi film via his film company, EuropaCorp. The movie, which was one of the most expensive independent films ever, did... okay. Not well enough to justify the incredible amount of money put into it, according to some sources, and ever since then…

Rob Liefeld, one of the most iconic comic artists of the 1990s, had, in his heyday, a very distinctive style. His self-consciously exaggerated work, which managed to compromise between communicating a sense of edginess and a sense of inescapable cartoon playfulness, was known for a few hallmarks. Big guns. Big scars.…

Superheroes are, at their core, a basically silly idea, pulled from old circus heroes and tasked with a permanent legacy of gimmicks, costumes, and other things that just wouldn’t happen in the real world. In a recent video, Studio C dials into all of that absurdity for a great video about Superman’s origins.

Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is now in theaters, and with it, a lot of things to talk about. Which we have, and will continue to do, but for now, let’s keep it fun.

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's weekly roundup of shiny toys and merch we desperately wish we had the money to waste on. This week is getting a bit life-sized, with a giant Star Wars trooper, a slightly less giant (but still life-sized) baby Groot, and a cool look at Thor’s new Infinity War weapon. Check it out!

Did you ever put on your Han Solo pants and think, “I wish this Corellian Bloodstripe went all the way down to the floor?” Well, now it can.

Everyone knows that when you make deals with demons, whether they be supernatural or simply devilish in their temperaments, there’s always, always a price to be paid in the end. And yet, people are always surprised when it’s time to settle up their debts—and then realize there’s a catch.

One of the odd quirks of growing up on the East Coast is that you really don’t see that many cartoons that are specifically about the unique experience of growing up in the mid-Atlantic. It may sound foreign to some, but for many of us, those memories of kicking around in the woods beyond our houses are unforgettable.

Star Wars toy collectors have been keeping a close eye on a special crowdfunding project over the past few weeks. It’s by none other than Hasbro and it’s for a giant (two feet long and over a foot high and wide) replica of Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge from Return of the Jedi. The hope was that 5,000 people would pledge…

This month brings a deluge of new books, including the latest from genre titan John Scalzi, as well as tales involving dark magic in post-apocalyptic America, a very high-stakes intergalactic talent competition, and ex-con construction workers trying to avoid getting murdered on Mars. Read on!

If you’ve ever tried to tackle the monumental task of learning Quenya or Sindarin, then rejoice: The man who created them agrees with you that they’re bloody hard to get your head around. Yes, The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien never expected people to be able to speak Elvish fluently.

Once upon a time, the western parts of the United States seemed as foreboding as other planets do now. Prospect is the latest in a long line of scifi movies and shows to connect the frontiers of Old West to those in deep space, but it does so in a way that feels… unhealthy.

The classic Bill & Ted teen time-travel comedies are beloved artifacts of late-1980s/early-1990s goofiness. The titular characters romp through time and existential states, and hijinks ensue. But one of the weirdest characters in the series had their origin in a late-night work accident.

After a few years away, Marvel Comics triumphantly announced that the complete and original Fantastic Four team—Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm—would be reunited in their own ongoing comic series. Confused about how Marvel’s First Family actually went away in the first place? Here’s what you need…