Fandom Five: 'Super 8,' 'X-Men' and Kevin Smith

François Duhamel/Paramount Pictures

It's been a predominantly super week in the geek world, and that affects the Fandom Five, our weekly rundown of the biggest stories.

1. 'Super 8' is Super

Combine E.T., Stand By Me and Explorers, and you've got Super 8, the J.J. Abrams love letter to Steven Spielberg. The movie has really strong reviews but was tracking soft, causing a lot of hand-wringing about 1) whether Abrams' penchant for mystery and its affect on the movie's marketing had gone too far this time, and 2) whether this movie should have been released in the middle of summer. (Also, no one in town believes Paramount's claim that the movie cost $55 million, some even believe the number leans more towards $100 million).

No matter. The movie, on track to make around $35 million this weekend, is Heat Vision-certified. See it, then make your own Super 8 film.

2. 'Superman' Blu-ray Box Set is Also Super

Warner Home Video this week released Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology (1978-2006) on Blu-ray, and holy cow, is it packed with goodies. You've got the original theatrical cut and the extended cut of Superman: The Movie, the original and Richard Donner cut of Superman II, Superman III and IV, plus Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.

Then there are documentaries up the ying-yang, the never-before-seen original opening to Superman Returns (which cost about $10 million to make), the entire Fleischer and Famous Studios 1940s cartoons, a 1958 pilot for Superpup, and more. The only thing not on the list (a glaring omission, actually), is the 1984 Supergirl movie.

But quite frankly, if you don't get this, you don't like Superman.

3. Action Comics #1 Can Be Yours For Under 5 Bucks

Speaking of Superman, DC unveiled the last piece of its renumbering/relaunch that has been the talk of the comic world for the past two weeks.

For the first time in 73 years, there will be a new Action Comics #1. The book that ushered the superhero comic book world is getting restarted with Grant Morrison writing and Rags Morales doing the artistic chores.

Seeing as how the original Action Comics #1 can sell for over $1 million, this new one will be a bargain.

4. Does Marvel Still Even Exist?

You'd think that with all the loud DC chatter out there, its Marvelous competition had disappeared. Don't fret.

Marvel still handily dominates the comics market and even had its own bit of news this week: With issue 544, the company is canceling Uncanny X-Men, the book that launched Marvel's mutants in 1963 and had been the flagship title of the X-brand since the 1980s when the popularity of the characters exploded.

Usually when books get cancelled it's due to low sales. Nowadays, when comics are selling low numbers in general and the state of comics publishing is pretty bad, canceling a book (and then renumbering and relaunching) is done to drum up sales and media buzz.

But the mutants aren't going anywhere. Uncanny X-Men is being rebooted later this year as two books, with two separate mutant teams, one led by Cyclops, the other by Wolverine.

5. Kevin Smith Does TV

In the I Can't Believe This Wasn't Done Years Ago Department, Kevin Smith and AMC are teaming up for a reality show project that will revolve around two guys who work at Smith's New Jersey comic book store The Secret Stash.

STORY: AMC Developing Reality Show Set in Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Shop

Smith posted a casting call for the project on Facebook; he's not looking for actors, but rather comic book fans -- men and women ages 21-35 -- who live on the East Coast.

Who's signing up?

Email: Borys.Kit@THR.com