Matt D. Wilson

Try to picture the prototypical Mad magazine cover in your mind. There's a good chance that whatever you're imagining is in the style of cartoonist Jack Davis, who announced his retirement today at the age of 90.

If you've played one of the previous two LEGO Batman games, or really any of developer Traveller's Tales LEGO games, there's a certain degree of knowing what you're getting into with LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. Though it certainly has a new coat of paint on it, so to speak, many of the mechanics and gameplay objectives are the same as they've always been. The developers make up for that by giving players more of everything: playable characters, levels, collectibles, power-ups, costumes side quests, Easter eggs and locations. Mix that more-is-more mentality with an enduring charm and sense of humor, and you've got a pretty compelling package, albeit one that tends to bring out some of my worst tendencies as a player.

Look, we all know James Franco is a weird guy. He has practically made a career out of being a weird guy. But it's still sort of astonishingly strange how the actor and director came together with a group of friends (at least, they seem to be friends) to mash up the famous dinner scene from Beetlejuice with Batman. The video is part of Franco's "Making a Scene" series on Aol Originals, where Franco and pals spin a wheel twice, two movie titles come up, and they have to throw them together. They've all been quirky and funny, but this one is probably the oddest of the bunch.

As fans debate what superheroine should get a solo movie from Marvel Studios, it would appear that Sony is looking to beat the Disney superhero factory to the punch using a Marvel character. According to a Deadline report, Sony Pictures is planning to release a movie in its Spider-Man franchise led by a woman, though it's not clear which character will be front-and center. The movie would see release in 2017.

Adam West is truly a Renaissance Man. He was, of course, Batman. He saved a Las Vegas Casino from computer destruction. He was actor and action hero Ty Lookwell. And now, he's a LEGO figure. Well, in a video game, anyway. According to a tweet from the LEGO Batman Twitter account, the revered actor will be playing none other than himself in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.

I was an unabashed fan of the 1989 Batman movie around the time of its release (particularly after it hit VHS), but the years have worn down my appreciation of it, and quite a few aspects of it don't entirely stand up to the scrutiny of a critical lens anymore. There are a few pieces of media related to the film, however, that I feel just as positively about as I ever have. The Prince soundtrack, for one. And for another, the Sunsoft-developed game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that included a few cutscenes with lines from the movie, and largely ditched its plot otherwise. I took a stroll down memory lane with it, and it still holds up.

The world of comics fans who also love larger-than-life horror rock acts from the 1970s (so everyone who read Kiss: Psycho Circus) was abuzz Thursday upon news of a new Dynamite Entertainment Alice Cooper comic series by writer Joe Harris (The X-Files), artist Eman Casallos (The Ninjettes) and cover artist David Mack (Kabuki). Dynamite's description of the new series, which launches in September, touts it as the story of Cooper's secret role as "The Lord of Nightmares." He's apparently been locked out of his kingdom by a usurper and is struggling to regain his title. That sounds pretty cool, but does it really encompass all that is Alice Cooper? We don't think so. Here are some other aspects of Cooper we hope to see in the comic's pages.

The Marvel Comics press release that announces the above, 3D motion variant cover for September's Deadpool #34 doesn't mention the publisher's rivals at DC Comics, but it doesn't have to. For the second time in as many years, DC will be releasing a slew of 3D lenticular covers tying into a September event -- this year, it's a Futures End tie-in; last year, it was Villains Month -- so this is clearly Marvel have a laugh at DC's expense, and it wears the face of the House of Ideas' most enduringly popular troll.

As the future of its Ant-Man movie remains pretty uncertain, Marvel Studios has switched gears and announced the director of its upcoming Doctor Strange flick: Scott Derrickson, the writer/director of horror movies including Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Deliver Us From Evil.

Dan Slott must have been saving up his jokes over the past 16 months or so. The Amazing Spider-Man #1, the issue that officially reintroduces Peter Parker to the Marvel Universe after a lengthy absence during which his body was under the control of Doctor Octopus, is chock full of laugh lines that really hit. Slott, artist Humberto Ramos, inker Victor Olazaba and colorist Edgar Delgado get the ton