I’m always looking for cool things for my house. See, as an adult male this pains me to say this, but I’m just gonna go ahead and do it. I watch MTV’s Teen Cribs. I know, that’s retarded. But these kids have crazy houses with crazy stuff in them, and I like to see what kind of stuff they come up with. Whether it’s an in-house bowling alley, or a nutty tree house. I love that stuff, but I understand that it makes me a horrible person.

Now I don’t make $5 billion a year – just $2.5 billion, sorry – so I take the things that I see on Cribs and try to figure out how to integrate them into a house that I can afford. Someday, I’m going to have a game room again, with stuff just dedicated to my geeky and nerdy habits. I’m a Star Wars guy, so I love finding Star Wars related items for the home. Like this one.

It’s a Lightsaber Nightlight, and it just mounts on the wall. It’s controlled by a remote control, so if you want to project a Darth Vader vibe in the room, go with red. Or maybe you’re watching a Samuel L. Jackson marathon and want to get all Mace Windu on your room. Go purple. It’s all possible, and looks pretty cool to begin with.

Right now the light is just $24.99, and it’s going to arrive later this year. But if you want to be the first, you can pre order one now. Of course you can just wait until they’re released in stores, but what fun is that?

The 501st Legion is a group of Star Wars enthusiasts who all have and wear costumes from the Star Wars series, particularly those from the empire. Everything from Darth Vader, the Royal Guards and even a few Galactic Marines all make appearances in the group, and they’ve been going strong for quite a long time now. Recently, they decided to put together a charity event for the Make a Wish Foundation, so they came up with a creative way to raise some cash. They have designers create their own helmets, then they get auctioned off for charity. Well, at least that’s how I’m assuming they do it, since that’s not clear on the TK Project site. They’ve gotten some big names involved, and some really cool helmets have come out of the project.

Like what you ask? Well there’s the one painted by Jesse James pictured above, then a model by Seth Green and the Robot chicken crew. But my favorite is the Steampunk model done recently, which just blows my mind. Want to see it? Of course you do. Hit the jump for more Stormtroopers doing their thing.

The Creature by Matt Busch

Jaguar by Tsuneo Sanda

Steampunk by Brian Rood

Titan Trooper by Tommy Keiser from Titan Maximum

REBELS Annual 1, the Warlord Starro

I’ve always liked Starro as a villain.

There’s something about a giant mind controlling starfish that you just can’t hold a candle to. My first exposure to him was during my first exposure to the entire DCU, during the CRISIS On Infinite Earths. What a jumping on point eh?

In my early teenage years, I picked up #9 of CRISIS, as Brainiac gathered his army of villains without number to take over three of the five remaining earths. This was my first exposure to that lovable tyrant. In Brainiacs satellite Starro lumbered in the background, appearing again later in the massive battle on Earth-S. That was all I knew, but my curiosity was piqued.

My second exposure was in a back issue of Captain Carrot And His Amazing Zoo Crew. In no way could this be described as impressive, but I immediately loved the series and held them close to my heart ever since. The pathetic and endless puns amused me, small things for small minds I suppose. I very relieved in the climax of Final Crisis as the Zoo Crew were returned to humanoid form – can we have another series please?

Anyway, this appearance really didn’t do Starro any justice, but he rose in my estimation when he managed to con Justice League Europe into assisting one of his invasion attempts. That was my first glimpse of how all-encompassing he promised to be.

Where he really rose to prominence however was (of course) in the capable hands of Grant Morrison in the pages of JLA, where even the Sandman Lord Morpheus himself was forced to get involved. Cold, inhuman, hungry, unstoppable, Grant portrayed Starro in a manner that I don’t think anyway using a giant starfish had accomplished before. This made the appetite of Starro as voracious and implacable as the Borg of Star Trek.

So it was with some dismay that I read in recent issues of REBELS that there is a humanoid warlord in control of the Starros. The Dominion has fallen, and the Gil’Dishpan (who when I first saw them were called Dispan. Dishpan? DISHPAN?!? What the hell sort of name is that? Oooh, watch out, the evil Dishpan is coming for you! Sounds more like a nemesis for Betty and Veronica). Then out of the mists comes this warlord guy.

Fortunately, as revealed in last weeks REBELS Annual, it is not as simple as that, and Starros inhumanity has been preserved.. This warlord is like a cross between Marvel’s Overmind and the Spirit Of Vengeance, the final survivor of a telepathic race so filled with the hate of his entire race for the conqueror Starro that he dominated the group mind. Even so, he is driven for Starros hunger to be everything.

If you haven’t been picking up REBELS, here is space drama to rival the War Of Kings. Oh, and Vril Dox is as manipulative as ever, if maybe a little humbled. If you were a fan of the original L.E.G.I.O.N./R.E.B.E.L.S series, you can’t miss this. Space Opera is doing really well in comics currently, and as readers, we are all the better for it. Keep it coming.