Iron Man is a popular fictional character that appears as a superhero in comic books and considering its popularity it was put on the silver screen in 2008 and Iron Man 2 is the sequel to the first part. The upcoming movie based on the character from the Marvel Comics is the second film in planned trilogy. The movie will see Robert Downey Jr. playing the role of Tony Stark who happens to be a billionaire and master engineer and also the superhero Iron Man.

The film is scheduled to come to the theatres in the first week of May next year. The plot of the movie is quite exciting. Tony Stark is the armoured superhero and he faces immense pressure from the government and the public to disclose his technology with the military. However, Tony is reluctant to let the cat out of the bag as he fears that information can be used wrongly. So, he forges an alliance with Pepper Potts which is played by Gwyneth Paltrow and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) to confront the new forces.

The 2009 San Diego Comic Con saw a five minute teaser promo of the movie. Business cards which had an invitation for a job at Stark Industries were handed out by actors who portrayed the Stark Industries recruiters. The first theatrical trailer of Iron Man 2 was confirmed to be premiered at Sherlock Homes and it was released online on December 17 this year. Some of the vital clues related to the plot of the movie has also been made available on the internet.

The Blackest Night: Batman Vol.2 lives up to the reputation of the entertaining miniseries written by the talented Peter Tomasi. The second issue of the series uses the same formula of “superheroes vs. zombie” which was present in the debut edition.

The comic book has all the action ingredients from Commissioner Gordon Shooting off the head of a zombie to Batman and Robin taking blowtorches to the army of their undead rouges. Tomasi has done a wonderful job with the pattern and development of the plot which would not have been possible with any other writer. However, the major drawback of the story is predictability. Tomasi has created a fun environment in the book by combining Batsman’s world with those of the zombies. This makes the readers overlook the predictability of the story.

The other drawback of the story is the artwork. Ardian Syaf has not been able to differentiate between the different Black Lantern characters. This has mainly to do with the fact that the Batman Rouges are all relatively vague. You can also hold Syaf responsible for it because he has played up with the traits of the zombie’s characters to the extent where it gets difficult to find out the person underneath. His artwork also lacks consistency through most of the story. His storytelling also does not meet the standard.

However, the Batman and Robin’s response to the crisis makes up for all the shortcomings of the story and will surely provide a pleasurable experience for the readers.

Finally, the second volume of Astonishing X-Men is out in stores on December 4^th, 2008. Written after the success of the previous volume, Astonishing X-Men Volume 2: DANGEROUS, as the name suggests is about X-Men spinning in a non-stop dangerous downward spiral. Watch out how the X-Men destroy the Breakworld in this comic.

Written by Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men Volume 2 has got T+ rating. The appealing cover of this new comic has been designed by none other than John Cassaday. The writers plan to launch the other two volumes; Astonishing X-Men Volume 3: TORN and Astonishing X-Men Volume 4: UNSTOBBALE soon.

Read about the tragic death that takes place at the Xavier Institute that reveals a powerful living among the X-Men in this new comic. Grab your copy of Astonishing X-Men Volume 2 in just $ 34.99 from any leading book store.