This month I picked up my first copy of Wizard magazine. The monthly bible of comics, it’s a one-stop source for information about the lives of your favorite superheroes. Yes, it looks geeky from the outside (and is just as geeky on the inside), but it’s been a long time since I pondered what I’ll do with the superpowers I will most certainly have one day, and any magazine that makes me consider if I’ll use my telekinetic abilities for good or evil is doing something right.

In this issue I was treated to a complete history of the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson is taking on the leather-clad role in the next Iron Man). I also managed to see my first samurai sword–carrying giant and mutant Japanese bunny rabbit — and, to my surprise, found out that comics just might improve your love life: Brian Bendis, the creator of Max Powers, says of one column in the comic, “We have two marriages that came out of Powers’s personal ads. I think it’s imperative, for the amount of money that comics cost, that the least I can do is try to get you laid.” Yes, Brian, you’re right, that is the very least you can do. And good luck with that. If those matchmaking skills don’t work out, you can always console yourself with some of the hottest girls of sci-fi — barely clothed, of course — featured in every issue.

As if that weren’t enough, Wizard’s “50 Essential DVDs” is one of the best, least annoying lists of its kind I’ve ever seen. I can’t bear it when I read for the hundredth time how I simply must own The Shawshank Redemption, or when A Clockwork Orange is put forth as some kind of secret underground movie that no one has seen. Everyonehas seen it. Maybe try reading the book. But when it comes to having a laugh, I agree with Wizard: Among the DVDs that ought to be lining my shelf are, most definitely, Rambo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. You don’t need to have read every comic of the last decade to enjoy Wizard — though after reading it I bought two Spider-Man comics for the first time since I was a kid. Instead, you need only to be up for some fun. Get ready to release your inner geek. (more…)