Wizard World’s Philadelphia Comic Con 2012 kicks off this evening with a special preview night and runs though Sunday, June 3rd at the Philadelphia Convention Center. While the show still is still heavy on celebrity appearances ranging from science fiction television and professional wrestling superstars to Deal or No Deal suitcase models, the organizers continue to raise the bar for comic book creators in attendance. The biggest comics name for 2012 is easily Stan Lee who will joins the likes of Marvel Studios’ Thor, Chris Hemsworth, WWE Champion C.M. Punk and Star Trek’s “Five Captains” in Philadelphia this weekend.

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Snow White and the Huntsman is the latest live action retelling of the Snow White fairy tale to come out in the last year following Julia Roberts’ Mirror Mirror and ABC’s Once Upon a Time. From all of the promotional materials I had seen leading up to the film’s release, I was expecting it to be a grounded, Batman Begins-esque take on the fable with Snow White reimagined as a warrior. To my surprise, most of the more fantastic elements of the story are still present, which I actually found refreshing. In the end, however, the movie still manages to disappoint.

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Weekly comic books are a big part of my life and below is a list of what I’ll be picking up this Wednesday along with cover artwork and previews courtesy of Comixology’s Pull List app.

A short list of only four new books this week. I’m still on the fence about Batman Annual #1. I’m only reading the Batman issues of the Night of the Owls event and can’t tell if this is one to skip or not.

• NEW MUTANTS #43 – The Exiled crossover with the Asgardians of Journey Into Mystery continues. Unfortunately, I haven’t read enough of it to say more yet.
• WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #11 – Another AvX tie-in and one of many that have the Red Hulk on the cover. I’m not sure that’s a welcome sight. Seeing that Nick Bradshaw is drawing the issue in place of Chris Bachalo was also a bit disappointing, but that has more to do with my appreciation of Bachalo than anything negative about Bradshaw.
• X-MEN #29 – It’s hard to place this series in X-Men continuity with AvX in full swing and this issue featuring Skrulls which may have been more suitable in 2008 than 2012. I believe Victor Gischler’s run on the book is wrapping up and the cover suggests he’s bringing many of his previous stories together here.
• X-MEN LEGACY #267 – AvX continues to impact this title as the students at the Jean Grey school are under house arrest and Rogue’s team goes head-to-head with the Avengers’ Iron Man, She Hulk, and Moon Knight. Ms. Marvel really needs to be in this fight even though she’s busy trying intercept the Phoenix Force in the pages of Secret Avengers.

Check back every week to see what’s on My Latest Pull List and please share your thoughts on these titles and everything you’re reading this week in the comments.

After helping General Manager John Laurinaitis get a win over John Cena at Over the Limit, the Big Show appears to be firmly in the pocket of the man who fired him two weeks ago. A turn as a villainous giant might be a good direction for both the Big Show and Raw.

On this Memorial Day, everyone at MLD thanks those who’ve given their lives in service to the United States throughout its history. As we take a day to ourselves, this abbreviated edition of the Warm Up comes on the heels of a less than memorable edition of Raw last week following the Over the Limit pay-per-view. Hopefully, tonight’s show in New Orleans does more to distinguish itself in the weeks leading up to No Way Out.

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You’ve heard of the The Cult. You’ve probably heard the mid-eighties track “She Sells Sanctuary” on car and Budweiser commercials and the tune “Fire Woman” from their Sonic Temple was a staple of rock radio and MTV during its initial release in 1989. The band is back this week with their first album in five years, Choice of Weapon. Are you prepared to worship at the “Sonic Temple” again?

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