Giant Robot is proud to present the Panelists V art show and as well as a reception for three new comic books at the Giant Robot Gallery in the East Village. The follow-up to the popular series puts a spotlight on indie-comics creators from across the country, ranging from stapled-and-folded stars of DIY to art-gallery superstars. The show will feature original illustrations, paintings, mixed-media work, and special surprises from an assortment of contributors–including many Eisner and Ignatz Award nominees and winners. This event coincides with the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art Festival, and is slated to include:

Cut & Paste Tokyo 2009 will go down at WOMB in Shibuya on May 30th! We really appreciate the new trend of design battles that Cut & Paste has helped contribute to. If you’re in Tokyo, check it out. The Tokyo competition will also feature 2D, 3D, and Motion Graphics. Why not enjoy a creative night with some good music.

Are you as pumped as I am about the further adventures of Travis Touchdown, the goofy yet strangely badass Otaku-turned-beam katana-weilding-top ranked-assassin? You should be. The original No More Heroes is still one of the best games on the Wii and easily one of the most original IPs to come along in a while. It’s quite a delightful piece of post-modern video gaming. It’s action-packed, funny, and just flat-out bizarre in all the best ways and the upcoming sequel, No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, looks to retain all those elements with some new characters like Nathaniel Copeland, a man ranked 50th by the United Assassins Association and who apparently carries a shape-shifting boom box (yes, you read that correctly). Also, Mr. Touchdown apparently learns the ancient art of the double-bladed beam katana. Bring it on.

UPDATE: IGN has a kickass new trailer with plenty of rocket-shooting boom box, double-bladed beam katana goodness to go around!

No More Heroes 2 Brings The Double Beam Katana Action (via Kotaku)

By Stewart Smith

DETROIT METAL CITY manga is coming to North America and is set to release on June 9th. The first print run of volume one also contains limited edition tattoos. The basic story is about the switching alter-ego of a bubblegum pop band dreaming Soichi but ends up fronting a death metal band. The popularity of the manga also led to the live action film which even featured Gene Simmons from KISS and Marty Friedman from Megadeth. If you need your over-the-top, profane, and hilarious hard rock manga satire, this is for you.

Explore the night-life of Liberty City in the new episode, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony. You play as Luis Lopez, and assist Tony Prince (aka “Gay Tony”), as you wreak havoc on the glitzy and glamorous world of Liberty City after-hours.

Exclusive to the Xbox 360, the downloadable episode will be available this fall for 1600 MS points (which is about $20).

You will also be able to grab this episode as well as the previous episode The Lost and Damned on a single disc for $39.99 with the release of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which does not require the original game.

Oscar-winning pianist, composer, and actor Ryuichi Sakamoto will be having a solo performance at the BANG ON A CAN MARATHON 2009! The event will feature 12 hours of free music to the public. The Bang on a Can Marathon 2009 will happen at the World Financial Center Winter Garden – 220 Vesey Street on Sunday May 31, 12pm (noon) to 12am (midnight). A Ryuichi Sakamoto performance is rare and a must see! There will also be other great music acts that will be sure to entertain. For more information visit, http://www.bangonacan.org