Tags: Deadpool
They have totally changed the opening to the Walking Dead.
Now, hit the break for lots more foolishness, including the latest on the “real” Batman movie, the status of the Deadpool flick, Green Arrow’s TV show, new Garth Ennis work, and the latest on The Walking Dead. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Captain America, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Thor, Zombies
The top 10 things Marvel oughtta consider for 2012. Look back for my suggestions for DC and indies.
10. Make Marvel Digital iPad compatible. This is a no brainer.
9. Collect the Micronauts. Whatever the legal bullshit may be, do what it takes. And donate a huge chunk of it to Bill Mantlo’s medical fund while you’re at it.
9. More animated movies! Your Avengers Next, the Ultimate Avengers DVDs, X-Men Anime, and Planet Hulk proved you can do it right. So keep it up!
8. You should be having less, not more, Avengers books. I know they sell, but the quality is slipping, guys. I have hopes for Rick Remender on Secret Avengers—if that’s good, maybe you’ll change my mind.
7. Except for Black Avengers. Or were you kidding about that?
6. The Ultimate universe books are scattered, unfocused, and mostly kind of suck. Fix that, please.
5. Instead of cancelling DeadpoolMAX, grow it! If this book doesn’t have legs, then make it a bimonthly double size book with other satirical takes on heroes. You could have the X-Statix crew or Madrox, or include NEXTWAVE or even Irving Forbush! It could be an opportunity for stories like Matt Fraction’s brilliant Punisher tale about the funeral for Stilt Man. How about featuring some of the odder Morrison characters 
from New X-Men (like the see-through guy, the floating head, and Beak)? Even a look back a the old Power Man and Iron Fist rogues gallery, who were largely inane but terrific fun to read (Chemistro!). This is a book that could, can, and should reward nerds—we’ll buy it, I promise.
4. But cancel the “regular” Deadpool. When the horse is dead, it is prudent to dismount. Put the book on hold for a while and then bring it back when/if the movie gets made.
3. Contain the X-Verse, at least a little bit. It’s all over the place. New readers can’t jump in. You need a new “Astonishing” title, like the one Joss Whedon did, which rewards long-time readers but doesn’t alienate those of us who don’t have enough resources (or patience) to read 7 mutant monthlies.
3 (tie). And while you’re at it, leave some money on the table. Yes, you can probably sell a million X-books or cross-overs with the “events” you hold, but your fans are irritated with you for holding us hostage.
2. Break the Omnibi! I loved the Byrne and Simonson Omnibus editions you released in 2011, but they’re just too damn big. For the same price, you could easily print three softcovers and sell them as a set (maybe in a nice bookshelf hardcover sleeve, like they do for DVD sets). It would prevent breaking the binding. Of course, reading an Omnibus is sometimes my only form of exercise, so I can’t complain that much…
1. No more events. Schism was good, but it really wasn’t an “event,” it was just a good, fairly self-contained X-men story. Fear Itself, on the other hand, really, really, really sucked.
1 (tie). And since you’re going to ignore that last one, make events matter. There really was no fall out after Fear Itself. Bucky Cap and Thor died, but then came back just .1 and .3 issues later. And nobody thought they’d really died anyway. Ho hum.
Tags: Comic books, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, The Avengers
From Marvel
Celebrating the best of the year….Hit the break.
Tags: Best of 2011, Comic books, Daredevil, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, Spider-Man, Superheroes, Superman, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Zombies
No, I wasn’t there. But I have been on vacation. Hit the break for news about Marvel Lego, Green Lantern, Walking Dead news, new Marvel TV projects, and much more. There’s so much news, I’m splitting it into two posts!
Be warned: Spoilers abound after the break…
Tags: Comic books, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, Superman, The Caped Crusader, Zombies
My semi-regular post about all things related to comic books–America’s greatest contribution to the literary field. This week, updates about the Chew TV show, the Deadpool movie, and more….
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Captain America, Comic books, Deadpool, Garth Freakin Ennis, Spider-Man, Superman, The Caped Crusader, Thor
I don’t buy a lot of loose issues–I tend to be a wait-for-the-trade kinda guy, ’cause bound volumes are easier to store and more durable, and most of the books I read are more fun in larger arcs. But there are some titles I read month to month. These are their stories.
This week I picked up two weeks’ worth of books: This week’s and last week’s.
BOOK OF THE WEEK: DEADPOOL MAX: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE #1. This book reprints issues #1-3 of the acclaimed–but largely unread–Deadpool Max series. I scooped it up because $.99 for three issues is just too good a deal. I am so glad I did. I buy a lot of Deadpool each week because my oldest son is a fanatic. Even has Rob Liefeld’s autograph on his wall. But this series by David Lapham (the man behind the indie book Stray Bullets) is, by my account, the only one that’s a must-read. The others are of varying quality, some good, some bad, but this one is groundbreaking. It reads like an indie. The reader is thrown off-balance by Deadpool’s insanity, and we are never really certain what is real and what is not, as Deadpool controls the narrative. Bob–who serves as a comic relief for the Marvel Universe Deadpool–is tragically abused in service to his country. And it’s still hilarious. This is the blackest of black comedy and some of the best comic writing I’ve ever had the good fortune to read. Kyle “Plastic Man” Baker’s art is the perfect compliment: It’s realistic enough to be disturbing, but abstract enough that we can even laugh at pictures of Hitler. Baker’s sense of color, his panel layouts, and his choice of odd add ins (Danny Devito and Big Nurse!) are nothing short of brilliant. Grade: A+.
BATMAN #708. I just started picking up Batbooks-other-than-Grant-Morrison recently, so DC’s plan to reign in Grant’s weirdness and have him focus on good stories must be working. And, I must say, I haven’t been disappointed, The main batbook has been hard to follow for new readers. This one is clear enough, but it’s an entree into a Red Robin story. Grrr. They’re just trying to get me to buy Red Robin. Which I won’t do. I did enjoy the issue, though, as well written and beautifully illustrated by Guillem March. Truly, it was the art the kept me turning the pages. Forcing me to follow yet another Bat-title to get the end of the story just ticks me off to no end. Do this again, Mr. Didio, and I drop Batman from my pull list. A for art; B for writing; C for where they went with it.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #656. New spider armor. I love–love!–what Dan Slott is doing with this series. And series regular artist Marcos Martin is fantastic. Only these guys could get me not to miss the classic red-and-blue pajamas with the web-underarm fringe. This is grade “A” comic book work.
THUNDERBOLTS TP CAGE. Collecting Thunderbolts #144-47, wherein Luke Cage takes charge. I appreciate Jeff Parker’s writing, and Kev Walker is a fine illustrator, but try as I might, I just can’t get into this book. First of all, it’s ridiculous to think Crossbones could ever come close to being a good guy. Second, the book just never seems to go far enough. And Cage’s “criminal” past has been reconciled as a frame-up/misunderstanding, so he’s not even a reformed criminal–which means there’s a complete lack of genuine wrestling with morality. T-Bolts hasn’t been great since Warren Ellis left. As it stands, it’s just fair. Nice to see Man Thing, though. Grade: B-/C+.
BATMAN INCORPORATED #4. In this issue, we see both the old and new Batwoman characters, through a present-day mystery and past-day flashbacks. We also get to see Robin jealous of Batman having a girlfriend (he tries to sic Ace the Batdog on her), and, generally, a level of fun and goofball Batzaniness that’s been missing from the Batverse for a long time and that’s been missing from Grant Morrison since…Well, he’s never been this way in the Batbooks before. Morrison is a true professional, but most of the time I find him unapproachable. It’s great to see a master storyteller focus on telling stories–rather than mystifying readers with innuendo and subtlety. This book keeps getting better. At this rate, I’ll soon stop missing Grant’s work on Batman & Robin. Grade: A.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #2. Issue #2 of David Finch’s take on The Bat. The art is still great, the story is getting a little better. I’m still curious enough to keep going with it. Grade: B.
ICEMAN AND ANGEL #1. A comedy relief buddy comic. Much better than it should have been, it’s a light-hearted romp. We used to get a lot more of these in the 1980s, so it’s nice to see. Grade: B.
DAREDEVIL REBORN #3. Somebody end this awful rehash of Frank Miller’s “Badlands” done-in-one from Daredevil #219. Grade: D.
PREACHER: GONE TO TEXAS. This isn’t new. It’s a hardcover I got from the library and read over the course of the last two weeks, reprinting the first 9 issues of Garth Ennis’ series about a Preacher who literally goes searching for God . . . For revenge. It’s not Ennis’ best work, but it’s pretty damn interesting. It’s rare that a comic book about God makes me think about faith. Solid book. Grade: B+.
DEADPOOL #34. Haven’t read it yet. Love the cover.
ALAN MOORE NEONOMICON #4. Haven’t read it yet. The prior issues, though, were some of the sickest stuff I’ve read in comics. Check it out. Grade: B+.
Tags: Comic books, Daredevil, Deadpool, Garth Freakin Ennis, The Caped Crusader
ZACK SNYDER IS THE NEXT SUPERDIRECTOR.
There were three Christopher Reeves Superman movies and one with Brandon Routh, making four so far. (I refuse to recognize “Quest for Peace.”) Get ready for yet another reboot of the most all-American, least cynical hero in comicdom. Zack Snyder, who lensed “300″ and “Watchmen,” will take the helm, with Christopher Nolan attached to produce. I hope this isn’t part of the trend to make comic book movies dark and scary–I can’t imagine Snyder behind a character who really needs to be told in a brightly colored, epic story. And no cursing! General Zod will be the bad guy (again). Haven’t they ever heard of Braniac? Darkseid? Mxyzptlk? Metallo? Bizarro? My advice: (1) Skip the origin–play it out the way they did it in the otherwise-unwatchable Jonah Hex: Show a “motion comic” of it, and then launch the main story. (2) Include more than one villain–perhaps in a twenty minute, self-contained drama that plays out during the larger arc. And (3) make Superman proud, strong and confident. Not like the mealy Brandon Routh.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. More details have been spilling about what will be the fourth X-Men movie. It looks like they’ll be taking some of the unused plotpoints for the Magneto movie, including reshooting his concentration camp scene from X-Men 2, and word is Mystique will be in the flick. Naked. I don’t remember her being important in the early X-Men stories, but then again ,this isn’t Stan Lee’s early X-ers.
HELLBOY 3. Guillermo del Toro will return. Personally, I think the first two films are some fine examples of comic book moviemaking.
GHOST RIDER 2: SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE. The villain in the next Nic Cage overactathon will be The Devil, played by Ciaran (“Aberforth” of Harry Potter) Hinds. The plot will be Blaze trying to repress his Ghost persona while hiding out in Easter Europe, when a bunch of anti-devil worshippers find him and get him to foil the Devil’s latest dastardly plan. Idris Elba will be a drunken dude on GR’s side. Why are they reinventing the wheel here? Jason Aaron’s GR
story wasn’t good enough? Frankly, it would be much cooler if Ghosty fought
Dumbeldore.
WONDER WOMAN. There will be no Wonder Woman movie, but David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal/The Practice) is attached to a
Wonder Woman television series project. Without more information, it’s hard to predict whether it will be worth your eyetime, but I can think of two likely reasons to watch–the right one and the left one.
JMS=LOEB. Years ago, there was a brilliant writer named Jeph Loeb who teamed up with an equally brilliant artist named Tim Sale to produce a “color” series in which he examined key events in the lives of famous Marvel heroes—Spider Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, Hulk: Gray—and also produced some of the greatest Batman stories of the past 20 years (“The Long Halloween”). Not gradually but suddenly, and without warning, Loeb became the kind of hack who created a giant red Hulk who likes to use guns and start in several-issue-long fistfights without plot or point. Now, we have J. Michael Straczynski, who was once a cutting-edge creator responsible for what many think of as the high water mark for Spider-Man stories, as well as the imaginative and acclaimed MAX series about Squadron Supreme. Now, though, JMS seems to be interested in presiding over a conservative costume change for D.C.’s hottest chick, not to mention dull rehash stories of the Amazon wonder, and putting Superman on a walkabout. A what?! Dude can fly! Why walk when you can fly? I just don’t get it.
SMALLVILLE NEWS. In other Supernews, now that the show is cancelled, they’re finally making it get good. Last week they brought in Deadshot (albeit as a cowboy), and next will come Deadpool look-a-like Deathstroke! If they keep bringing in DCU guys, they might actually make me miss it when it’s gone. Actually, I think they should cancel it but next season bring in a live-action Justice League with the same characters. They could do that, I’m sure, and if Tom Welling’s quote is too high, dump him. It’s the suit they need, not the actor.
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Tags: Comic books, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, Movies, Superheroes, Superman
It’s been a few weeks—I’ve been busy—so some of this may be old . . . But at least there’s a lot of it!
1. WALKING DEAD. Of course this is the lead story . . . AMC released a 4-minute trailer, and confirmed that the show will launch on Halloween for a special 90-minute episode directed by Frank Darabont, followed by 5 more episodes for the first “season.” (They’re already in pre-production for season 2.) If you’re not saying you can’t wait until Halloween, you are hereby forbidden to read my blog ever again.
2. SMALLVILLE. Buzz is starting about the September 24 debut of the final season of the [pretty good, then bad, then really good, then pretty good, then dull] series “Smallville,” which has been around long enough to wear out its welcome. The final season will be not-Superman-or-Superboy’s battle alongside Green Arrow and probably at least half a dozen others (not-Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Hawkman, etc.) against Darkseid. Also, the incredibly hot prudish nudist Erica Durance (anybody who heard her interview with Howard Stern a few years ago knows what I mean), who plays Lois Lane, will also play Isis(?) this season. Oh, and Supergirl will be back. Could be good, but keeping Clark out of the tights has gone on too long. Folks are asking what to replace this series with? Howzabout Superman??? ‘Cause this show never had him.
3. ANT-MAN. Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim flick got a mixed reception (but I loved it!) and was a box office dud, but he’s still the only guy attached to an Ant-Man movie. Wright wants to make it a spy thriller. Really? Ant-Man (to me) is kind of a silly character. I only really liked him when he went inside Iron Man after Tony’s systems were fried during a battle with the Hulk (I think that was Iron Man #153, but I’m doing this off the top of my head) during the terrific Roger Stern days. (I did like Scott Lang’s appearances in the brilliant Brian 
Michael Bendis series, “Alias.”) Other than that, he’s a b-lister who should stay off the a-list. If they’re looking for lesser-known folks to get the spotlight, a Giant Man/Wasp movie would be more interesting, or more Blade flicks! Hell, I’d rather see a whole slew of guys: Power Man and Iron Fist, a Daredevil reboot, Moon Knight . .
4. IRON FIST. Marvel Studios hired Rich Wilkes (of the horrible “xXx” action film) to write a screenplay. Of course, we all know that “write a screenplay” rarely translates into a movie that human beings can actually see. But if the chi is with him, Danny Rand will be the first star of a Disney film about a Marvel character (the currently slated Marvel movies are all Marvel Studios productions, started before the merger).
5. DEADPOOL. You have to give it to Ryan Reynolds. Despite all indications to the contrary, he’s pushing to get the Deadpool movie made and talking it up constantly. As Rob Liefeld tweets, “There needs to be a &^%# Deadpool movie NOW!”
6. NEIL GAIMAN’S SANDMAN. Sandman, a most excellent comic book series under any criteria that ran from 1988-96 and was partly responsible for the creation of D.C.’s Vertigo imprint, may be coming to T.V. I know, you’ve heard that before (it was supposed to be coming to HBO), but now it looks like D.C.’s bigger sister, Warner Bros., sees a market on the CW—which is starving for material and is owned by (of course) Warner Bros. The odds, then, of the project actually reaching completion seem a lot greater.
7. BATMEN. If you were a fan of Batman: International (I wasn’t) then you may be excited by the news that when Bruce Wayne is done returning, he will wear the Batsuit. But Grayson will, too. Apparently, Batman is going to incorporate himself around the world—kind of like the Avengers: Initiative idea. Se, we’ll have Batman, Detective, Batman and Robin, Batman Inc., and Batman: The Dark Knight. Every month. Marvel should do this with Deadpool, since they can’t seem to publish enough of him every month, either.
8. DAREDEVIL AND GAMBIT. Looks like Gambit will be the new Daredevil. I’m not psyched about it, but my son is apeshit. Daredevil and Gambit are, respectfully, his two favorite heroes. So for him, this is like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup: Two great tastes that go great together. Daredevil will be ending at the end of the Shadowland arc in November with issue #512. Andy Diggle will return with Daredevil Reborn #1 in January. How much you wanna bet Daredevil Reborn” lasts about 13 issues, and then they go back to the regular numbering with #525? (Or later with #550?) Murdock will be back, that’s for sure. Reborn will feature the art of Davide Gianfelice, who is currently impressing the world on the indie ”Northlanders” series. Here’s the cover of “Reborn,” drawn by Jock:
And to close this out . . . Nuthin’ but:
Yeah, Brand New Day is ending and the book will drop to a twice-a-month schedule. As of now, I don’t think Marvel plans to fragment the Spider-Universe the way it was before BND by having half-a-dozen Spider Books each month (thank God), but major changes are afoot. I hope so, because BND is going out with an uncharacteristic whimper. The usually great series’ concluding arc “OMIT,” is not just silly, it’s lame and boring and doesn’t even seem to fit in with the overall BND story. Here’s some of the changes a’coming that I’ve heard:
- Spidey will get new tech.
- The next storyline, “Origin of the Species,” was originally called “The Sinister 666” as it features several classic Spider-Villains like a new Scorpion, Rhino, and Electro.
- Norman Osborn, Carnage and Spider Girl (a.k.a. Arana) will be getting their own titles, although Oz and Carnage’s will be miniseries. One will be Oz in prison, the other will be Spidey and Iron Man vs. Carnage. No announcement yet about creative teams.
Tags: Comic books, Daredevil, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, Spider-Man, Superheroes, The Caped Crusader, Zombies
