Berkeley Place » Superheroes

THE BEST OF 2011: COMIC BOOKS!

ekko — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:19:45 +0000

From Marvel

Celebrating the best of the year….Hit the break.

THE AVENGERS! And other comic book news…

ekko — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:22:41 +0000

At the break, you can read my thoughts about the best of the new 52 and what I think of Starfire’s boobs. But the headline has to be the new Avengers trailer, and related news…

First off, the trailer is awesome. Why is it awesome? Cap uses a gun! Avengers Tower! Updated costumes (except, strangely, for Iron Man)! We get to see Loki versus the U.S. Army, and of course they’re ineffective, so Nick Fury and Agent Coulson summon the team. The trailer then shows a fairly traditional “assemble” scene, with each of the heroes getting ready to answer the call, but then we flash ahead to Loki in custody. At least the heroes don’t all fight each other. (But Cap and Thor do, later in the trailer.) It makes me wonder how much screentime the heroes will actually share…But it’s extremely geek-out cool anyway. Next, we see Fury addressing the team. They’re getting ready for something; presumably, either Loki escaped or the rumors of a Skrull invasion were true and we get to see a little sub-story. I certainly hope there’s more than one major battle. No, I don’t hope it. I expect it. The trailer closes with the inevitable Hulk transformation, which looks pretty good as CGI. I wonder if there will be only one Hulk appearance? Frankly, one is probably enough. With so many interesting characters in the film, I don’t think you need more than one big Hulk scene.

Of course, there’s already controversy with several folks alleging that the preview used existing footage from Iron Man. Michael Bay recently recycled a sequence from his godawful “The Island” picture in his somewhat less godawful Tranformers 3, so movie nerds are on the watch for this stuff. I’m not all that worried—I wouldn’t expect Whedon to have a lot of completed FX shots available for a trailer for a movie that isn’t set to come out for over 6 months. It’s frankly too soon for a trailer, but in these days of instant rewards, I guess the studios feel like they have to keep the hype going. It’s kind of like holding a primary for a national election in January—too soon, and leaves too much time for doubt and negativity to damage the actual release date.

Bleeding Cool has a side-by-side comparison, if you’re curious.

Watch the trailer here:

Meanwhile, Hasbro previewed the toy tie-ins at NYCC, showing both 3- and 6-inch action figures of the main characters. You can find pix of all of them on the internet; Hawkeye has the most remarkable resemblance to the actor (Jeremy Renner), but of course he looks nothing like the actual comic character he’s based on. Black Widow, unfortunately, looks like a cheap sex doll. In the actual film trailer she looks completely different: Like an expensive sex doll. Iron Man is the coolest—but he’s got the circular unibeam, while the trailer shows the more modern one.

Now, hit the break for more comic news.

ACTION COMICS #2. And Grant Morrison proves why he’s better than Scott Snyder. This month, anyway. And if you’re wondering if this book can get any better—it can. As much as I dig Rags Morales, Andy Kubert will be taking on the art chores for issues #5 and 6. That should be amazing. Seriously, how great is it that the two best monthly titles are Superman and Batman, the two most famous superheroes? And how long has it been since this was the case? And how great is it that Swamp Thing is a close third place? So far, the new 52 is so good.

STARFIRE THE SEX KITTEN. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the ne w 52 was how sexed up Starfire was. Well, I went back and read through her first appearances and I have to say: She was always that way. The first thing she does is kiss Dick Grayson to learn English, saying that she absorbs language via physical contact but kissing is the most “fun” way to do it. Over the next few issues there are multiple bikini shots of her (and Donna Troy) being ogled by Changeling and others, and Starfire seems to be making the most out of her biggest assets. And that was in the early 1980s, when kissing was still comic book code for sex. Before Clinton taught us that oral isn’t even sex. So now, she’s the same character, but with a 21st Century attitude about casual sex. And weren’t comics always about sex anyway? Look at early issues of Wonder Woman from the 1960s—it’s practically a bondage magazine. Never seen so many nerds upset to see boobies. Seems to me like that fake “men for women” stuff—guys who download all kinds of deviant crap to get off on but publicly speak of “respect” for women. Since when is sex disrespectful? And if James Bond can be a slut, why can’t Starfire?

THE NEXT WOLVERINE MOVIE… Now Hugh Jackman—who’s almost too old for the part anyway—is saying it should be rated R. C’mon, really? There’s no way they’d voluntarily give up marketing an X-Man movie to the 13-18 year old crowd. This sounds like they’ve run out of stories to tell to keep the project alive now that they’ve lost three or four directors in a row…

DC NATION HOUR. Reported on here several times before today, DC’s Cartoon Network animation block set to begin in 2012 is confirmed to include their terrific Young Justice series, returning for a second season; the new Green Lantern cartoon; the CGI “Beware the Batman” show featuring Katana, an armed-and-dangerous Alfred, and odder villains like Grant Morrison’s Professor Pyg, and produced by Glen “Teen Titans Go!” Murakami; the “Super Best Friends Forever” shorts starring Batgirl, Wonder Girl, and Supergirl and produced by Lauren “Powerpuff Girls” Faust; a Batman animated short by Aardman “Wallace and Grommit” Studios (hooray!); and odd shorts about guys like Doom Patrol and Plastic Man. Hopefully at least one of my boys will still be willing to watch cartoons at that point—they’re almost at the “too old” age—so that I don’t feel like a total geek loser watching them alone.

WONDER WOMAN: “WHO’S YOUR DADDY?” As part of his reboot of the character, Brian Azzarello is changing her origin from an immaculate conception to…Wonder Daddy! Previous legend had her molded from the mud by Aphrodite, but now we’re looking at he daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. Which would make her a Goddess, not a demigod.

ANIMAL MAN MEETS SWAMP THING. Both are horror-ish comics by two of DC’s best writers. Both are about humans with ties to nature. Jeff Lemire tweeted that this team up is “happening you guys. It’s called DEADWORLD and it’s epic.” No further details available.

COMIC BOOKS ARE MY REASON FOR LIVING—I LOVE ‘EM MORE THAN MY KIDS

ekko — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 08:51:43 +0000

The above-the-cut news has to be that THE D.C. CRISES ON INFINITE EARTH FINALS NEVER HAPPENED! Kinda.

DC Comics publisher Dan Didio Facebooked on Tweeter or Tweeted on Facebook or something that “there have been no Crisis events in the New DCU.” Some fanboys are all pissed off because, like, those were such big events, and, hey, they’re still on my shelf so they must have happened! Me, I say: The Crises pretty much all sucked, so good riddance. My only question: Batman is supposed to have his whole Grant Morrison history intact, and he died during a Crisis, so…Riddle me that, Danny boy. Then he clarified later that there “have been ‘crisis’ in our characters lives, but they aren’t exactly the Crisis you read before.” Which basically means we can expect DC’s next summer event to be a new Crisis. Sigh. So much for the new 52. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Hit the cut.

MARK MILLAR MOVIES WILL FILL THE SUMMER! Starting with Wanted 2. The movie wasn’t anything like (or anywhere near as cool as) the comic (by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones), but the movie was pretty damn fun—at least I thought so. And now there’s going to be a confirmed sequel. And while he’s at it, Millar has hinted at several other movie projects based on his comic book properties. Millar isn’t as good a writer as he used to be, but he’s responsible for some of the most influential comics of the past 10 years—so I’m happy to see him succeeding. In other Millar news, he’s finally publishing issue #5 of Superior (a Shazam-like story of a boy with multiple sclerosis who becomes Superman), just in time for Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) to buy the rights. Yes, this is the same Matthew Vaughn who proclaimed the superhero movie “dead” just before this last summer. And just because Millar can do no wrong, he’s also sold the rights to Nemesis (one of his weaker comics, in my view—great premise, terrible execution) to Tony Scott, and his not-yet-released-superhero-heist comic, Supercrooks, will be directed by Nacho Vigalondo.

FEAR ITSELF #6. …..Aaaaaaaand the series finally gets its groove on. Great issue. This “Captain America using guns” issue is an example of how the movies can make Marvel better—Cap’s a soldier. Why on Earth wouldn’t he use guns?! He’s not Batman, for goodness sake. If the enemy is worth killing, it’s worth killing right. So I had no problem with that. I could have done without the cursing (Cap says “bitch” and Thor says “ass”), but what the Hell, right?

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM. I’ve been pretty happy with DC’s animated DVDs. The Green Lantern one was much better than the movie, and the All Star Superman DVD was fantastic. The latest announced project will be a JLA feature with several of the voice actors from DC’s wonderful “Justice League Unlimited” series. It will be based on Mark Waid’s “Tower of Babel” story arc, which features the villainy of Ra’s Al Ghul—he gets his hands on Batman’s secret plans to destroy each individual JLA member (should they ever turn bad), and sets about implementing said plans. Hilarity ensues. We’re looking at a 2012 release date.

WOLVERINE’S X-MEN TEAM. It’ll be Nightcrawler (or some kind of thing (or things) that look like Kurt), Beast, Kitty Pryde, Kid Omega, Iceman and Oya, with Lockheed and some guys I don’t recognize. The art will be by Chris Bachalo, whose Spider-Man work I loved but who, in my opinion, isn’t really right for X-Men. Too whimsical. Anyway, the first arc, by Jason Aaron, will feature the new Hellfire Club. And Logan will be the headmaster of another new school: The Jean GreySchool for Higher Learning.” None of this sounds remotely interesting.

THOR 2. Marvel Studios is courting Patty Jenkins (director of the ugly-Charlize-Theron vehicle, “Monster”) for the sequel.

SUPER HERO SQUAD. Marvel’s “kids” cartoon that’s actually much cooler for grown ups will return at 7am(!) on Cartoon Network, on October 3. Like prior seasons, there’ll be some fringe-like characters—they released stills of the Man Thing and Werewolf by Night. Very cool.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES…AND SO DOES SCARECROW. Cillian Murphy has been seen on set for Christopher Nolan’s final Batman movie.

NOW THAT’S A ROCK ‘EM SOCK ‘EM ROBOT MOVIE. I’ll sit out on Real Steel and wait for Pacific Rim, currently filming under the direction of Guillermo del Toro. It’s a futuristic movie about remote controlled robots fighting sea monsters starring Idris “Thor” Elba, Charlie “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Day, Diego “Homeland” KlattenhoffI, Willem “Spider-Man” Defoe, and many others. Yeah, it sounds cool. But I’d still rather see Hellboy 3.

BATMAN INCORPORATED: LEVIATHAN STRIKES. The last Grant Morrison Batman series (coming in 2012), is half-way completed, and Morrison has revealed the plot: Batman is locked into a “mind control facility” that was used during the Cold War. I can’t wait.

THE WALKING WEBISODES. Don’t miss The Walking Dead webisodes. They’re free, they’re cool, and they may hold you over just long enough for the season premier on the 16^th.

AREA 52. Another comic book movie is on the way! Summit Entertainment bought this Image funnybook about aliens in Antarctica. It’s not like The Thing, though. Summit is the company behind R.E.D. and Twilight.

THE FOUNDATION OF 2012. That’s how Marvel is teasing its new round of point-ones, which will introduce a Defenders team by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson that will include Namor, She Rulk, Nick Fury, an Ant-Man, Icemand and Iron Fist. The Point One one-shot is set 11/2/11, and will include all original pages in a 64-pager by talents like Bendis, Larroca, McGuinness, Loeb, Brubaker, Van Lente, Yost, Lapham, Hitch…It’s a Marvel who’s who.

GEORGE PEREZ ALREADY LEAVING SUPERMAN. Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens are taking over after the first arc, with issue #6. This is more of the “front-loading power talent” and “back-loading lesser-known talent” that I’m sure we can expect once the new 52 become the old 52. Which happens around issue 5 or 6.

GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. It’s premiering at NYC Comic-con on 10/15. Soon to follow, it’ll be on Cartoon Network.

OTHER D.C. CARTOONS. In other DC ‘toon news, a CGI series titled “Beware the Batman” is coming in 2013. That’s an awfully long way out to be announcing this show…But Cartoon Network is turning into a DC animated fountain, with some very good stuff like Young Justice and Batman: Brave and the Bold. It sounds like BTB will be a little offbeat—it’s going to include Katana of The Outsiders (who was a samurai in comics long before The Walking Dead’s Micchone), and will include bad guys like Grant Morrison’s Professor Pyg. Probably not for the kiddies. Also coming to Cartoon Network in the next year: Aardman Animation-produced Batman claymation shorts. I can’t wait for that. Seriously. It’ll be part of the “DC Nation” hour on Cartoon Network, which will also feature shorts of Plastic Man and others and a new kids cartoon called “Super Best Friends Forever” starring Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Girl. It’s created by the creator of “My Little Pony.” I’m cool with trying to get girls into comic books, but part of me wishes that the show starred Catwoman and Starfire from the new DC 52….A couple sex-starved hotties on the prowl. Mmmm…Cartoon sex….

UPCOMING MARVEL MOVIES. A recent issue of Entertainment Weekly quoted Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige saying that they’re working on the Ant-Man film by Edgar Wright, as well as the previously rumored Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The real news? An Inhumans movie. Really?!? How about making sure that Iron Man 3 doesn’t suck as hard as number 2 did? That would be nice.

LI’L DEPRESSED BOY YEAR ONE. Anyone out there reading this terrific little comic by Steven Struble? It started as a web comic, and those pieces will be collected in a trade volume to be released this December. Published by Image Comics.

SNARKED. It’s the name of the new book by Roger “Thor: The Mighty Avenger” Langridge based on the work of Lewis Carroll. Yeah, the guy who wrote Alice in Wonderland. I’m more than a bit curious….

PICTURE OF THE DAY

ekko — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:37:55 +0000

What’s impressive is they managed to get Black Canary in there.

COMIC BOOK NEWS: All the news about print that’s fit to print.

ekko — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:54:42 +0000

I had so much to gab about—I’m such a cape-yenta—that I split the news column this week into one about movies/TV and one about print. This is the print one. The other one came yesterday. So unless you like reading (i.e., are over the age of 30), you probably don’t want to …

Hit the break for news about The Walking Dead; Captain America joining Alpha Flight; the end of Batman, Inc.; the return of the Human Torch; and two new Avengers teams!

THE NEW ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN. Everyone’s talking about it, so I feel like I “should” mention something. So here it is: The Ultimate Universe has pretty much sucked farts out of dead baby bats for years. The one title, the one shining light, was Ultimate Spider-Man. So what did they do? They broke something that wasn’t broken. I can’t say I care all that much about it (although using diversity as a stunt is a little demeaning), and I’m pretty sure I won’t bother to read it. I’d rather try to catch up on back issues of The Boys.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (CANADA) COVER VARIANT. In August, Captain America get’s renumbered at #1 (the second Captain America #1 written by Ed Brubaker—this is just stupid and ridiculous). And there will be a Fred Eaglesham variant cover sold only at the comic-con in Toronto. Way to reward your fanbase, Marvel…I want one.

BATMAN, INC. I’m a Grant Morrison fan, but I also tend to think his stuff reads a lot better in trades, where his complicated, decompressed, I-think-you-should-know-what-I-am-thinking-but-often-you-just-feel-stupid writing style can be digested in chunks. So, I can’t say I’m disappointed that Batman, Inc. will end not with issues #9 and #10, as originally solicited, but with a double-sized one-shot titled “Leviathan Strikes”. It will be a cliff-hanger on which Bruce Wayne will dangle until 2012, when Morrison’s Batman: Leviathan will be released as a 12-issue series that will culminate everything Morrison has ever done with Batman and will, presumably, end his involvement with the character. We need an omnibus before that, please.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Is anyone other than me reading this series? I’m lovin’ it. Writer Jonathan Hickman reports that he will wrap the series in five more issues—with a complete finish. If you’re not reading this, you’re missing an extremely complex and fascinating attempt to turn Leonardo DaVinci into a superhero (trust me, it works), as well many other famous historical characters, and the incredible art of Dustin Weaver—some of the best comic book art I’ve ever seen.

FUTURE FOUNDATION BECOMES FANTASTIC AGAIN? See the teaser? Marvel figured out that the only way to get people to buy Fantastic 4 comics is to make events. Coming in November, they’re 4 again. Could be Human Torch coming back. Could be just the end of the FF and the return of an F4 book with #600, with the current lineup. The book is promised to be “quadruple sized,” whatever that means. (I think it means it’ll cost eight bucks.) No word on whether this means the “FF” books is being cancelled, or whether it’ll be like Avengers Academy (i.e., about the FF kids in school learning to be supergeeks). The promo pix include Spider-Man, so apparently someone needs to tell Marvel that 1+1+1+1+1=5, not 4. But my highest hopes are that Spidey is off this team. It’s ridiculous having him carry two of his own books and be on two teams as well. Who the hell does he think he is, Wolverine?

SCOTT SNYDER IS A SELLOUT. By which I mean that the American Vampire/Detective Comics author’s new Image comic book, Severed, sold out its first issue. It’s always good when new books sell. A second printing is on the way September 9, along with issue #2.

THE REVENGERS … Was the name of a superhero comic I made when was eight. Seriously. But it’s also the name of the latest Avengers spin off by Brian Michael Bendis and Gabriele Dell’Otto. The team looks a little bit like a poor-man’s Defenders. Or even a poor-man’s Great Lakes Avengers. Wonder Man (Simon Williams) is team leader, joined by D-Man (the guy who looks like yellow Daredevil and used to work with Captain America); Anti Venom; Virtue, a.k.a. Ethan Edwards (a skrull); a new Goliath; Atlas; Devil Slayer; Century; and Captain Ultra. All guys who either used to be criminals or who, at a minimum, have beef with one or more Avengers.

THE RETURN OF NORMAN OSBORN AND THE DARK AVENGERS. Doesn’t that sound like a great name for a band? Norman Osborn is returning in a storyline that will cross between New Avengers and The Avengers, beginning in Avengers 16.1—which features the art of Neal Adams! It’s being called “The Hammer War,” and Brian Michael Bendis promises a huge cast—with Osborn uniting Hydra, AIM and the Hand—and team shake-ups that will bring Daredevil and two other “classic” heroes joining Avenger teams, as well as members of the now-defunct (and sorely missed) Secret Warriors series, such as Daisy Johnson. Perhaps the best news about the crossover is that John Romita, Jr., is leaving Avengers. I’m a big JRJr. fan, but his work on Avengers has…Sucked. He’s being replaced by Daniel Acuña, while Mike Deodato will be pencilling “New Avengers.” Based on the teaser, I’m guessing Skaar is one of the Dark Avengers…

SPEAKING OF SPIDEY….SPIDER ISLAND HAS BEGUN. With the weakest issue of Amazing Spider-Man (#666) since the “Big Time” arc began. I’m getting less and less impressed by this book. Spidey’s got no spider sense anymore and he’s relying on gadgets. That’s just not who I want to read about. It’s not as bad (yet) as the spider-armor stories, but we’re getting close. The bloom is starting to fade off this rose…Will Spider Island do for Spider-Man what Shadowland did for Daredevil? Let’s hope not.

LEGION FLIGHT RINGS. Retailers who order at least 25 copies of Legion: Secret Origin #1 will get a bag of 50 rings, and additional bags for each 25 additional issues ordered. Please, Jeff at Victory Comics, set one aside for me?

NOWHERE MAN RETURNS. No, not the (terrific) Bruce Greenwood UPN series that ended abruptly leaving all kinds of questions unanswered, but the 2008 Marc Guggenheim Virgin Comics series that ended abruptly leaving all kinds of questions unanswered. Rising from the ashes as Liquid Comics, the same crew from Virgin (now no longer funded by Richard Branson) have managed to convince Guggenheim to finish off the story line about a future world where the cops arrest you before you commit crimes (a la Minority Report). Nowhere Man is the one dude whose mind they can’t read. It’s a cool concept. On the art will be Jeevan J. Kang (Spider-Man: India and the upcoming Silver Scorpion).

THE WALKING DEAD WITHOUT PICTURES. Robert Kirkman is releasing a “real” novel titled “Rise of the Governor” about, um, the rise of the Governor character from the comic book series. It’s co-authored with Jay Bonansinga.

STAR TREK MEETS THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES. Yes, you read that right. Coming from IDW Publishing, a 6-issue mini with no release date announced. If successful, it will be followed by “Deep Space 9 and the Legion of Substitute Superheroes.”

TOP TEN REASONS FOR COMIC BOOK FANS TO OWN A T.V. SET OR GO TO THE MOVIES IN 2010

ekko — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:03:44 +0000

TOP 10 REASONS FOR COMIC BOOK FANS TO OWN T.V.s AND GO TO THE MOVIES 2010

10. Smallville. The show was on fumes last season, but it’s picked up. It’s getting annoying, though, waiting for Darkseid. And they better bring it. Because if they don’t, it’ll be the biggest cop out since Rise of the Silver Surfer, in which you never got see Galactus. I’m still pissed about that.

9. D.C. Showcase: Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam. Toss in the other two bonus features–12 minutes shorts about The Spectre and Green Arrow, and this is a keeper. Also check out this year’s Superman/Batman DVD, Apocalypse. Pretty damn good.

8. Iron Man 2. Nowhere near as good as the first, but still pretty damn good.

7. Young Justice. All we got was an hour teaser of the series to come, but it was almost as good as the best DC cartoon ever (Teen Titans Go!). The nods to Super Friends were much appreciated by the geeks in my house.

6. RED. Not as vicious as the comic, but lots of fun.

5. Kick Ass. Kicked ass.

4. The Regular Show, Mad TV, and Robotomy. Cartoon Network’s new “prime time” lineup is impressive as hell–Mad is 15-minutes that recall everything every pubescent boy ever loved about the magazine itself: Irreverent, juvenile, and flatulent. Just like me. The Regular Show, with it’s slacker stupidity and bizarre, cell-phone time travel tribute to Bill and Ted’s, is another favorite. And Robotomy is a random, bizarre mess of fun.

3. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Finally! A Marvel cartoon that’s better than X-Men!

2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Pure genius. The most fun I’ve had in the movies in years.

1. AMC’s The Walking Dead. Best new show on TV, and one of the greatest ever.

Honorable mentions: The Losers; Planet Hulk (DVD Animated Release).

PICTURE OF THE DAY

ekko — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:14:42 +0000

See more funny Superheroes on album covers at this site.

SUPERMAN 5, X-MEN 4, HELLBOY 3, GHOST RIDER 2 . . . BUT NO WONDER WOMAN 1

ekko — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:00:21 +0000

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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NEWS! (Maybe a little old news . . . )

ekko — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:38:11 +0000

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:

SPIDER-MAN NEWS

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.

SUPERBOOBTUBE NEWS!

ekko — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:40:30 +0000

TV news–Rapid fire style!

- In 2011, G4 will be running a new Iron Man “anime” animated series, produced by anime studio MadHouse. It will take place in Japan.

- Other upcoming Marvel anime projects discussed by Jeph Loeb at Comicon International included Wolverine, X-Men, and Blade.

- D.C./Warner Bros. Animation announced a November 9 DVD release of animated “shorts” (10-20 minute stories) featuring Superman, Captain Marvel, The Spectre, Green Arrow and Jonah Hex.

- Also from D.C. on November 9 will be the Secret Origin: The Story of D.C. Comics DVD release. It’s a doc narrated by Ryan “Green Lantern” Reynolds about the history of the publishing company. But it’s also produced by the publisher, so don’t expect unbiased poop. Sounds more like promotional material in advance of the GL movie.

- And Smallville is definitely ending this season. And it’s about time.

- The AMC official bloggers are working overtime on news about The Walking Dead. Now, the artist of the comic, Charlie Adlard, is confirmed as a zombie extra. I hope he plays one that dances like Michael Jackson.

- Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the new Spider-Man will be a complete reboot based on Brian Michael Bendis’ incredible Ultimate Spider-Man series for Disney XD. Now, they’re talking Ultimate Cartoon as well, with the involvement of Eisner/Emmy winner Paul “Batman TAS” Dini (and Bendis, of course). They’ve said there will be lots of team-ups (a la Batman: Brave and the Bold). I don’t think there’s even the remotest possibility that this could be bad.

- One last thing: I happened to come upon the pilot episode for The Amazing Screw-On Head (a 22-minute cartoon based on the Mike Mignola/Dark Horse comic from 2002). It’s brilliant. Really. It’s available on DVD and all of you should see it. Animation for grown ups.
-I lied–one more last thing: The Avengers!