On Thursday August 24th 2006 Pluto’s status was downgraded from “planet” to “dwarf planet” taking it out of the ranks of such greats as Earth, Mars and Uranus to name a few! While this decision is being disputed by those with a political interest in having Pluto remain a planet, as Robin Catchpole says “My own personal opinion was to leave things as they were”, for the time being there are only 8 known planets in our fine solar system. But what does this really imply?

Sailor Pluto, one of the 8 Sailor Soldiers sworn to protect the Princess of the Moon and future Queen of Earth, is no longer representative of a planet like her 7 fellow guardians. While she’s always been an outcast of types forced to spend most of her time in solitude protecting the door of time she was still technically ranked equally with the rest. Is Sailor Pluto dead? Does she lose her powers now that she doesn’t have a planet? Will her true star seed which gives her that power be downgraded to a normal one like the rest of the 6 billion people on this planet have? Well… no.

Many are shown to have star seeds who represent celestial bodies which aren’t classified as planets. The most obvious example of this being Sailor Moon herself who, being the most powerfull of soldiers and with a star seed that shines brighter than any other, is only the Sailor of the moon of a planet. Then there’s Phobos and Dymos, Sailor Mars’s crows, who represent the moons of Mars. Luna and Artemis are … a whole other story.

But who else is named after a dwarf planet? Sailor Ceres represents Ceres, a large asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter which is also classified as a dwarf planet. Her and the rest of the former Amazon Quartet protect Chibi Usa as she is destined to succeed Sailor Moon and needs a posse of her own.

What does this mean for Pluto then? Well probably nothing. But hey maybe she’ll change camps and go protect Chibi Usa. Fitting though that of all the planets this should happen to it would be Pluto considering she is the one who in 30th century Crystal Tokyo is shown to have a close personal relationship with Chibi Usa while the other girls are still taking care of the Queen. Pluto who’s mentioned to be both the same and different from the other girls as she has that different duty of protecting the Door of Time really is the odd planet out.

According to AICN, a new Thundercats show is in the works from WB Animation.

WB animation is remaking the Thundercats as an animated TV series.
The animation style is whimsical, Americanized-anime, along the lines of Teen Titans.
The setting is modern-day Earth, in a major city (possibly LA)
The Thundercats are all teenagers.
Their leader is Snarf (!) who is now a mystic with a “third” eye.
Each of the Thundercats has a weapon with an “Eye of Thunderra” and transformative powers (not just Lion-O)
When they aren’t fighting evil, the Thundercats play together as a rock band. That’s not a typo, or a joke. They are rockin’ cats in their present form.
Mum-Ra now has wings.
And I bet he laughs a bit more than he used to =P
Developing…

I think the best comment from that page was here. I’m not sure they could be more unfaithful to the original material if they wanted. Where are the Four Horsemen when you need them?

It seems that Aint It Cool News has leaked 4 pictures of what the Decepticon leader, Megatron, will look like. I have mirrored the images after the jump. As always, if you don’t want to be spoiled, then don’t click to read the rest of this story. These images don’t reveal anything about the movie itself. They are simply pictures of Megatron, himself.

I’m having a very neutral reaction to most of these designs. I’m having a little more trouble with this one, but if you squint really hard looking at his standard mode face, it sort of looks like Megabolt Megatron‘s head… sort of…
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Despite promises that its delays will end comic books and the universe as a whole, we still get three crossovers this week. And with every purchase, I feel a little bit more like a whore. Today we’re blessed with Heroes For Hire #1, New Avengers #23, and Wolverine #45.

Heroes For Hire not only deals with the pros and cons to registration – and the Registration Act as a whole – but it even paints the Pro side in a positive light. I’m stunned. B+ / A+ for that bad boy.
New Avengers reaffirms that Iron Man, SHIELD, and (by default) the whole Pro side is full of tools. It gets a C / F.
Wolverine deals with that Atlantis sleeper agent plot from Frontline, and it’s a nice story to boot, warranting a B / C-.

Read on to for details, and prepare get spoiled like that month-old salmon in my fridge.

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Elephantmen #2
written by Starkings, art by Henry Flint and Moritat

This strange little book is being put out by Image right now. I guess it’s not a new series/universe they’re working with, but it’s something the creators have been doing for a little while. I think they’re calling this group of stories “Hip Flask“. Or it’s the name of that universe. I have no idea really, so it was a gamble when I picked up their first issue with Image last month. I’m pleased to say it rocked my nether regions ever so gently. More details, and links to previews after the jump…
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Slashdot posted the cancellation of Stargate SG-1. The show will not be renewed for another season. Stargate Atlantis will continue on for its fourth season.

The SCI-FI network offered the following statement:

“SCI FI Channel is proud to be the network that brought Stargate SG-1 to its record-breaking 10th season. Ten seasons and 215 episodes is an astounding, Guinness World Record-setting accomplishment. Stargate is a worldwide phenomenon. Having achieved so much over the course of the past 10 years, SCI FI believes that the time is right to make this season their last on the channel. SCI FI is honored to have been part of the Stargate legacy for five years, and we look forward to continuing to explore the Stargate universe with our partners at MGM through a new season of Stargate Atlantis.”

Quote Source: Gateworld

In 2000, Eidos released a ground breaking game that should have been the start of a mega franchise. Fear Effect was one of the first games to use the popular cel-shaded style of animation seen in games such as Jet Grind Radio, XIII, and Zelda: The Wind Walker. It was a survival horror game with a compelling and bizarre plot, three playable characters each with their own abilities, multiple endings, and LESBIANS! It was also heavy on cinema sequences which depict your character being instantly killed if you don’t do the sequence right, similar to old school adventure games. Even the “health” of your character was innovative. Instead of managing a life bar, you had to manage your character’s fear. Solving puzzles, stealth killing enemies, and overcoming obstacles decrease your fear, while being spotted, taking too long on certain sections, or triggering traps raise it. If it’s too high, you could be killed instantly. A sequel was released in 2001, which added a new character, Rain, and told the gruesome backstory of how the three mercenaries came together. It was an even larger game, and the action was spread out amongst a series of levels. Sadly, a third game, Fear Effect Inferno had been planned for PS2, but it fell through due to developer Kronos’s collapse. Fortunately for fans of the series, all is not lost; a movie adaptation is in the works for 2008. Hopefully this will revive interest in the game, and it can finally get the attention it so rightfully deserves.

Seriously though, how the hell could a game with this in it not be doing Grand Theft Auto numbers?

In 2004, Activision and the crew at Raven released one of the best games based on any comic book property. It bought the X-Men mythos into the realm of roleplaying, and it won over comic book fanboys everywhere. A year later, Activision granted us a sequel that not only added more of what the original awesome, but it addressed the complaints that players had about the first one, mainly the uselessness of some characters, and parts of the game where players were forced to fight solo. With over a dozen characters, (some of which are hidden) unlockable costumes, online multiplayer, and just about every facet of the X-universe a gamer can think of, this is a Marvel fan’s dream come true…at least until Marvel Ultimate Alliance arrives this fall.