Beyoncé Wants to Be Wonder Woman

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively star in Martin Campbell's film

(NEWSER) - Green Lantern is chock-full of special effects, but they’re not enough to rescue this superhero flick. Critics complain:

• “Green Lantern is bad,” writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times . It’s "impeded by lame jokes; evocations of better movies; an ugly-bruise palette of black, green, and purple; and a formulaic script that mechanically switches among story threads as TV shows often do.”

But he'll go on representing the same values on a global scale

(NEWSER) - OK, so technically he's an alien, but really, what's more American than Superman? Heck, even his outfit is red and blue. But after years of fighting for "truth, justice, and the American way," the Man of Steel announced he's going to renounce his US citizenship in Action Comics #900 . It all started when he independently and non-violently supported protesters in Iran, prompting the Iranian government to view his actions as an act of war from the United States. More»

Silver Scorpion the brainchild of disabled US, Syrian kids

(NEWSER) - It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... well, this time it's something a bit different: The latest comic-book hero will be a wheelchair-bound Muslim boy who lost his legs in a landmine accident, reports the AP. The Silver Scorpion began to take shape when a US philanthropist, inspired by President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, gathered a group of disabled American and Syrian kids to talk storylines. More»

DC reboots iconic character

(NEWSER) - Wonder Woman's days of looking like a patriotic stripper are over. DC Comics will reboot its iconic character this week in Wonder Woman #600, the company announced last night. She'll get a new backstory, and with it a costume that new writer J. Michael Stracynski says will be modern and functional. “So many female fans have said over the years, 'How does she fight in that without all her parts popping out?'” he tells Comic Book Resources . More»

Robert Downey Jr. saves flashy sequel, say critics

(NEWSER) - Iron Man 2 is clunkier than its predecessor and its self-destructive hero has succumbed to boozy overconfidence, but Robert Downey Jr. saves the film, not to speak of the world, say critics.

• This movie is "bigger, louder and dumber than its predecessor" but still plenty of fun, writes Bill Goodykoontz at the Arizona Republic , praising Downey's "enormously entertaining" performance as the Marvel Comics superhero.