Iron Man

We won't see Iron Man's fellow armored superhero War Machine in the Iron Man movie, but we may get to see Jim Rhodes (who becomes War Machine) put on Iron Man's old armor to rescue Tony Stark, based on hints actor Terence Howard dropped. [IESB]

Dragonball

Here's a picture of the Mexican set for the new Dragonball movie, opening in 2009. It looks like some kind of crater, presumably with CGI stuff happening in the middle where the greenscreen is. [Slashfilm]

Lost

There are rumors that the next Lost episode (the one with the funeral in Iraq) will also feature "GI Jack (aka "Through the Looking Glass" Jack)" in action, and could be a multi-character flash-forward. The episode definitely will feature scenes on the beach, in Otherton, and in the forested valley where Karl was shot. There's also a rumor there will be no Sawyer-centric episode this season. [DocArzt]

Smallville

The April 24 episode of Smallville, "Sleeper," feaures a blonde femme fatale named Vanessa, sent to investigate one of the characters. [BabetteW54]

Battlestar Galactica

Here are the official first 15 episode titles of season four: "He That Believeth In Me," "Six of One," "The Ties That Bind," "Escape Velocity," "The Road Less Travelled," "Faith," "Guess What's Coming to Dinner," "Sine Qua Non," "The Hub," "Revelations," "Sometimes a Great Notion," "The Disquiet That Follows my Soul," "The Oath," "Blood on the Scales," and "No Exit." [Pop Media Cult]

Batman

Robin's dead ex-girlfriend, Spoiler, recently started turning up mysteriously in some of the Batman comics, but we won't find out who the new Spoiler is until this summer. But she's someone we know, says writer Chuck Dixon. Also, Robin will soon face a "true badass" named 666Gun, who will force Robin to rethink his view on the world. And an upcoming storyline will challenge Tim Drake's present as Robin, and his hard-won future as Batman. This synopsis, plus an upcoming cover image (below), gives weight to the idea that Batman will be dying and Robin will take his place. [Comic Book Resources]

Marvel Comics

A low-level Marvel employee dished some minor spoilers (and bitched about the company) in a Livejournal that was deleted over the weekend. Apparently, spoilers included that several of the company's classic 1970s heroes will turn out to have been replaced by shape-shifting alien Skrulls years ago (as part of the big "Secret Invasion") — and that means blaxploitation hero Luke Cage will be back to his original tiara-wearing, yellow shirt look. Also, Iron Man may get a new villain: MODOG. And Spider-Man's dead girlfriend Gwen Stacy may be back. [Lying In The Gutters]

The easiest - and maybe less productive - way to get rid of your money would be to pick up the rush-released second printing to DC Comics' Heroes hardcover, collecting all the webcomic tie-ins to the NBC show for those who missed the first printing, just in time to miss that Christmas rush. Be warned, though - It'd be fair to say that the highpoint of the book is the design, with the actual content making you long for the start of the new season of the TV show. If you're obsessed with giving your dollars to the Time-Warner corporation, then a much better bet would be the first issue of the uncomfortably-named Teen Titans Year One, which doesn't actually show the first year of the adolescent crimefighters' lives but instead the first year of their adventures together. Amy Wolfram, who wrote for the ginchy Titans cartoon that used to be on Cartoon Network, handles the script while Canadian wunderkind Karl Kerschl provides some beautifully cartoony artwork. If you're undecided, you can see a preview here.

While Marvel Comics' most interesting release this week really has nothing to do with scifi and therefore probably shouldn't be mentioned here (but it's Essential Power Man and Iron Fist Volume 1, collecting the first twenty-or-so issues of mash-up between Marvel's 1970s blaxploitation and kung-fusploitation superheroes), the publisher does see fit to launch the first of its summer movie tie-in titles this week with the first issue of Ultimate Human by Transmetropolitan writer and honorary Suicide Girl Warren Ellis and former Conan artist Cary Nord. You can't tell from the title, but Ultimate Human is actually four issues of "Who's harder? Iron Man, soon to be a major motion picture starring Robert Downey Jr., or the Hulk, also soon to be a major motion picture starring Ed Norton?" so potential fan fun to be had there, as well as potential drinking game fun from awkward mentions of new technology.

In terms of more indie books, it's all about old faithfuls, with the picks being Joss Whedon's Buffy book reaching its tenth issue and celebrates by bringing in Daniel Craig (No, really) and AiT/PlanetLar's The Black Diamond reaching the end of its cross-country road trip/chase movie/colorful exploration of the comic form. Otherwise, it's a pretty slow week; Image Comics are relaunching a book called Shark-Man, and there's something about the sheer "Sci-Fi Channel TV Movie" quality of that title that tells you all you need to know about why you might want to avoid comic stores until next week and keep drinking, instead.