Berkeley Place » Zombies

COMIC BOOK NEWS AND HILARITY

ekko — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:27:39 +0000

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.

It’s been a while since I did an update, so lots to tell. Let’s start with the world of film…

MOVIES ABOUT COMICS

DARK KNIGHT RISES. And it’s now certain: The movie will involve Talia al Ghul as a young girl.

DEADPOOL. Starring Ryan Reynolds. It’s a go (or as certain to be a go as anything in Hollywood ever is) to start shooting this year. And it’ll be R-rated. The director will be Tim Miller, an FX guy from the X-Men movies, and they’re still working with the script from Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who wrote the stellar R-rated horrorcom Zombieland. A leaked shot of Reynolds in costume appears at right.

THOR, TONY, CAP AND FURY. Marvel Studios is wrapping Thor 2 this year, beginning filming on Iron Man 3 in May, and will then launch into Captain America 2 and then…A Nick Fury movie. Is that really what everyone is clamoring for? I would so much rather see something like a well done Punisher or Daredevil or the Ant Man movie they’ve been promising us, or even the Doc Strange flick that’s apparently in development. Fury is best as a side character, even in comics.

WOLVERINE. Is also a go, and will still star Hugh Jackman.

KICK ASS 2. Will NOT be directed by Matthew Vaughn. And volume 2 of the comic book doesn’t come close to vol. 1. So there’s a high suckage risk here. Still, I loved the first movie…

BONE. Yes, Jeff Smith’s genius book is being adapted as a cartoon movie by Animal Logic, the gang behind “Happy Feet 2″ and “Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.” It’s being written by Patrick Sean Smith, creator of ABC’s “Greek” TV show, with P.J. “Muriel’s Wedding” Hogan to direct. Can’t say that any of that sounds particularly promising to me…I hope Jeff is at least getting some bux out of it.

THE GOON. David Fincher, one of my all-time favorite directors, is producing the adaptation of the critically acclaimed comic book, and Paul Giamatti is signed to voice Franky, The Goon’s sidekick. The movie is slated as a CGI production, but is still in early development.

HACK/SLASH. The horror comic from Image will be translated into film by Marcus “Conan the Barbarian” and lame remakes of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Friday the 13th” Nispel. Let’s just say that the magic 8 ball doesn’t like the looks of that.

HANCOCK 2. Oh, God, please. No. Make it stop.

I’m as excited by the above films in the order they appear here. (I was one of the few who actually liked the Wolverine movie.) And now for the boob tube:

TELEVISION SHOWS ABOUT COMICS

ARROW. The Green Arrow live action TV show I reported on a few weeks ago now has a title. And the worst news is, it’s being produced and written by the guys who wrote the Green Lantern movie. The cast list has been released, and it includes roles for Black Canary and Tommy Merlyn (the Green Arrow version of Lex Luthor). There’s also an ex-soldier named “John Diggle,” which I assume is a nod to Andy Diggle, who wrote the best Green Arrow story of all time, Green Arrow: Year One. That’s kind of damning with faint praise though because other than some of the old Neal Adams Green Lanter/Green Arrow stuff, Green Arrow comics have been consistently dull. I’ll watch this, but I’m not waiting with baited breath.

THE WALKING DEAD. Lots of folks associated with the series are doing the press junket in prep for the show’s return. In doing so, they’ve given away/revealed some interesting tidbits:
Micchone will NOT appear this season, but will appear in future seasons.

The band will leave the farm this season…And Shane will still be along for the ride.
The team will also meet up with “other survivors” who might be able to help them…I figure that’s got to be the Governor’s crew, especially since Robert Kirkman just wrote a book about the dude.
Darabont has confirmed that he left the show because they wouldn’t give him the budget he felt he needed to do justice to the project.

And finally, the most important medium of all media…

COMIC BOOKS ABOUT COMICS

GARTH ENNIS KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN. Dynamite publishing signed Garth to write a new Shadow comic, based on the old radio serial hero. Ennis’ stuff is rarely bad, so I’m hopeful. I haven’t read a good Shadow comic since Howard Chaykin’s book from the 1980s. And speaking of Ennis…

ENNIS BACK ON CROSSED. “Crossed,” the “hard R-rated” book about a plague that turns people into sex-crazed lunatics who are impervious to pain and get off on murder and mutilation, has fallen on sad times since Garth Ennis left the book after the original 8-issue series ended. It’s a staple book, always selling pretty well, but the quality hasn’t kept up. Don’t get me wrong, I think David Lapham is a very talented comic book writer, but his work on Crossed seems to be more about being as gross and offensive as possible than it is about telling a story. So it’s good news that Ennis and Jacen Burrows, his co-creator on the original series, will be returning to the book. Coming this March from the great Avatar press.

RANDOM RECOMMENDATION. Gail Simone’s “old DCU” Secret Six book was far and away one of the best things DC did this century. The final volume, “Darkest House,” is available now and is a great example of how to end a series.

CUL DE SAC. Finally, we offer best wishes for Richard Thompson, the creator of the most brilliant strip you’ve never read, “Cul De Sac,” who has put the comic on hiatus while he undergoes treatment for Parkinson’s Disease. I met him at Balticon. He’s a hell of a guy, and his strip is easily as great as Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County or any of the other more famous, more celebrated comics.

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 TOP 100 COMIC BOOK HEROES OF ALL TIME

ekko — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:22:34 +0000

IGN published a top 100 comic book heroes that made me crazy, both in its predictability (Hey! Superman and Bats are #s 1 and 2!), overinclusiveness (every single Robin except Damian Wayne (who is the most interesting one by far), as well as Superboy and Supergirl? Really?) and its attempts to be esoteric without providing sufficient justification (Groo makes the list, but they don’t really say what makes him so essential; James Gordon makes the list, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben don’t–nor does Jarvis; and Nova makes the list, but nobody really gives a shit about Nova). Maybe it was the list’s sketchy criteria for placement: “Picked by their cultural impact, character development, social relevance, general cool factor, and importance of storylines, these are the best of the best.

It made me so nuts, I made my own list. Yes, there’s a lot of overlap. But mine is better. Because I said so.

Note: If you’re just looking for a list without supporting arguments, you can jump to the last page of this post. But you can’t tell me I was wrong to put Thor at #33 unless you go and read why. So, read every page and then tell me why I’m full of $#!+.

Enjoy!

happy halloween!

ekko — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:38:29 +0000

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….

COMIC NEWS: “Why didn’t they just kill them all first, then launch the new 52?”

ekko — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:50:07 +0000

From the mouths of babes. My kid said to me yesterday, after we read the fantastic Batman #1, “They should have just killed them all and then did the new 52!” I agree. That would have been awesome: Old U, everybody dies. Then reboot. That would have been cool as shit, plus they would have sold a ton more comics because everyone would have bought the last issues and then the new #1s…

…And while we are talking about bad ideas: Did anyone see Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots: The Movie starring Wolverine? No? Well, looks like there’s going to be a “Real Steel 2.” No kidding.

For more news you won’t believe, hit the break.
EVIL DEAD 4. We started with Real Steel, and we’ll continue with the non-comic-book news. The fourth installment of the Evil Dead franchise will not have Ash in it. Or Sam Raimi, from what I gather. Sniff. Sniff.

BATMAN, INC. ONE-SHOT SLATED FOR DECEMBER. Grant Morrison’s killed-by-the-new-52 title will end with a one-shot in December, in which Batman and his worldwide alliance take on Doctor Dedalus, School of Night and the schoolgirl assassins, bat-robots, and Nazi masterminds with Alzheimer’s. All that according to Morrison himself. Cameron Stewart will be on the art (hooray!), and the story will cap off the Inc. series and set the stage for 2012′s Batman: Leviathan. The latter will be Morrison’s final Batwork, and he promises that it will wrap up all six-years of his work with the character. I’m a fan of what Scott Snyder is doing these days, but I can’t imagine how it will fit in with Morrison’s stuff. Or with the new 52. And frankly, I don’t care. Morrison can do whatever he wants and if it don’t fit into new 52, I won’t give a rat’s ass.

TEEN TITANS: GAMES. Perhaps to coordinate with the recent publication of the can’t-rave-about-it-enough New Teen Titans Omnibus, DC is finally releasing “The New Teen Titans : Games,” an original graphic novel written 30 years ago by the best Titans writer ever, Marv Wolfman, and illustrated by the best Titans artist ever, George Perez. It’s the Nightwing version of the team: Starfire, Cyborg, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Jericho, Raven…All of ‘em…Versus a new villain: The Gamemaster. Obviously, it doesn’t take place in continuity. I can’t wait to get my hands on this thing…

MARVEL’S BRIGHTEST DAY. Marvel is already teasing “Fearless,” which will come after Fear Itself. Like Brightest Day followed Blackest Night. Of course, Blackest Night was a lot better than Fear Itself. And Brightest Day was horrible. The teasers feature a lot of Valkyrie. And Sin. The story is something about those two chicks globetrotting to collect the hammers disposed of after Fear Itselzzzzzzzzzz.

THE NEXT VOLUME OF “CRIMINAL.” It will be titled “Fatale” and will be 12 issues instead of the usual 5 or 6. Brubaker says it will take place both in the 1930s and the present, and will be noir-ish but also will have a “horror” element, which would be new to the Criminal series. If you haven’t been reading Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal books, you’re missing out. I recommend getting them in trade anyway, so don’t worry about the loosies, because they’re best read as long-form comic novels.

AVENGERS: X-SANCTION. The next Cable story will be him vs. The Avengers, and will be created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Which, frankly, could go either way.
PIGS. A new comic—with a Jock cover for issue #1—on the Image brand about a KGB Cuban sleeper cell, in the present day, trying to overthrow the U.S. Government through a series of kidnappings, assassinations and acts of terrorism. The first issue was great. Go indie, and scoop it up!

SUPERHERO DVDS F-ING ROCK. Topping the charts for the first week of September, in both Bu-ray and DVD, was X-Men First Class. Also in the top ten: Hanna, which was kind of a superhero flick and also which was, by the way, an amazing movie. Sales topped $30 million. Sniff. Sniff. I smell a sequel!

7 WARRIORS: THE CHICK 300. BOOM! Studios, in November, will produce a comic set in 6th century Libya and starring seven chicks with swords. Written by Michaël Le Galli and drawn by Francis Manapul.

WOLVERINE. Filming is pushed back again, this time to after star Hugh Jackman films Tobe “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” Hooper’s adaptation of Les Miserables, the musical. Sigh. Can’t they just fire Jackman and move it along? He’s practically too old for the part anyway.

MARK WAID’S DAREDEVIL. Has, with issue #3, finally delivered on its promise to recast Daredevil and make you not miss the old one. Fantastic. Absolutely perfect superhero comics.

SQUIRREL GIRL. Lots of folks credit Dan Slott with this character, seeing as how she really made her bones as part of his too-funny-to-survive Great Lakes Avengers book, but she’s actually a Steve Ditko creation. Anyway, Bendis has been using her quite a bit lately, which may be why she plays a major role in the second Marvel Super Hero Squad video game, “Comic Combat,” coming November 15 to Wii, Xbox and PS3. It’ll use the new uDraw tablet.

THE WALKING DEAD, STARRING OPRAH. AMC confirms a ½ hour post-Walking Dead live wrap up talk show, Talking Dead, hosted by Chris “The Nerdist” Hardwick.

DANIEL ACUNA JOINS THE AVENGERS. Beginning with issue 18, the “regular” Avengers #18 will be drawn by (the amazing and brilliant) Acuña. Thank God. This book has been characterized by the worst John Romita, Jr., art in that man’s otherwise stellar career. The story arc will feature a new team…Of Dark Avengers! Should be a thrill.

THE RAY. After the new 52, DC will launch some miniseries that, frankly, don’t sound all that intriguing Except this one. Reimagining the Freedom Fighter character (previously reimagined by Grant Morrison), The Ray has the power of light. The series will be by the superstar team of Palmiotti and Gray, who say it is in the vein of their Power Girl series. And if you didn’t read that series, you missed out on some truly hilarious writing. And two other things. That only Amanda Conner can draw so well. (I’m talking about boobs, guys.)

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.”

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COMICS AND SUPERMOVIES, MAN?

ekko — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:04:38 +0000

Glad you asked. Or, to be exact, glad I asked me on your behalf.

Hit the break for the latest news and my views. Drop a comment and argue with me while you’re here.

CAPTAIN AMERICA. I’m leading with this: How awesome was the Avengers preview after the movie? 100 percent awesome. Check it out here:
watch?v=GkLkqQGOBTs

DETECTIVE COMICS #880. With the iconic Joker-by-Jock cover, this is one of the best Batman/Joker stories I’ve read since…Ever. If you’re not reading this, you’re stupid.

THE WALKING DEAD UPDATES. I understand that AMC has a few critical darling shows right now (Breaking Bad, The Killing), so maybe they’re getting spoiled…But I would think they’d take better care of a show that one of the highest cable debuts of all time. Writer, producer, director and showrunner Frank Darabont has left the show. Darabont also adapted (brilliantly) a few Stephen King stories into movies you might have heard of—including Shawshank Redemption (one of my top 10 movies of all time) and The Mist (one of the best, scariest horror films of the last 10 years—and it did it without being torture porn!). Another show writer, Glen Mazzara, is taking on the showrunner position, and Robert Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd are continuing on in producer roles as well. So maybe all will be fine…But it’s never good to lose someone of Darabont’s stature right in the middle of filming, and for the departure to be so abrupt and unexplained.

GREEN LANTERN 2 WILL BE EDGY… The Prez of Warner Bros. says the next one will be edgier—if they make it at all. That’s the word he used. “Edgier.” Was that really the problem with the movie? A guy with a ring that makes giant boxing gloves is not really known for edge. The problem with the movie is that it wasn’t any fun. Making it edgier is just going to make it worse. If that’s possible. Jeff Robinov’s exact quote was: “We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience. To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action…. And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth.” Ahem. No, Jeff, that ain’t the problem. It’s having a girlfriend with zero depth and a Hal Jordan whose character made no sense—and was completely unlikeable. It’s having the other Lanterns basically exist only as comedy relief or background noise. It’s having a villain that looked like smoke, and had the personality of smoke, too. If you want a good GL movie, it’s really not that hard: Focus on the characters, stupid. That’s what made Thor and Captain America and X-Men First Class so great. Good character development, good dialog, and, perhaps most important: A good villain. In the same interview, Robinov said that they have a “solid” script for the next Flash. “Solid?” That’s the best he could do? Is he describing his next DC film or his next bowel movement? Or both? Tell you what: Don’t do another GL (which frees Ryan Reynolds up for Deadpool), just give us a really, really good Superman movie. That hasn’t been done in over 20 years.

…BUT GHOST RIDER 2 WILL BE GRITTY. And the Ghost Rider panel at SDCC mentioned that the new film, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, will be “grittier.” That wouldn’t take much—the first film was neither gritty nor edgy. (Nor interesting, for that matter.) This one is based on the too-brief and seemingly truncated Garth Ennis run on the character, which was one of the stronger comic book runs for this character (whose comics typically, ahem, suck). It’s also directed by the guys who did the Jason Statham movie Crank, so I’ve got hopes…And stars Nic Cage again, which can be very good or atrocious, depending on which Nic Cage shows up to the set. Anyway, the shots released so far look damn cool. And, really, Ghost Rider has always been about the look…

WOLVERINE MOVIE. If and when it ever gets made, Wolverine 2 will star an almost-too-old-for-this Hugh Jackman in a script based on the (brilliant) Claremont-Miller miniseries in which Wolverine fights Silver Samurai.

SHRAPNEL IS BIG-SCREEN BOUND AS WELL. Mark Long’s Radical Comic’s indie title Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising, a 5-issue space opera about a rebellion on Venus against the oppressive “Solar Alliance” government, is finally scripted and their seeking an actress to play the lead rebel, Samantha. Hillary Swank is circling the boat. Radical comics is basically a shop that makes comics to sell to movie studios. The film has a ready-to-go sequel, the second comic book miniseries Shrapnel: Hubris. I’m not sure how I feel about a comic book company that solely produces comic books in order to get a movie deal. That’s basically the story with Cowboys and Aliens, which was given away at many comic book stores in order to generate hype and get readers. On the one hand, I’m in favor of anything that brings attention to the medium. On the other hand, it delegitimizes comics as an art form when they are used merely as a sales tool. Of course, Andy Warhol said the same thing with his Campbells Soup art…

AND SPEAKING OF COMMERCIALIZED COMICS…MILLARWORD. Mark Millar, for a brief, shining moment was one of the best writers in comicdom. Now, his product is much less even. But his “Superior” series is flat out terrific. For those who’ve wondered what happened to it (publication was halted recently), Millar promises it’s back on track with two issues to ship in October and then the first story arc will end with a double-sized #7 in November. Number seven?!? And double-sized?!? Has he no respect for the trade industry standard of 5-issue arcs!?! After that, his long-promised superhero heist book, Supercrooks, will begin in January. And he says he’s already sold it to a movie studio. Sigh. See the item above this one. But I guess if the books are good, no harm no foul.

DAREDEVIL #1. Lived up to every high expectation. Nay, it surpassed them. And it is a perfect jumping on point for new readers.

FEAR ITSELF. Sucks. Really. It didn’t even make sense when Tony Stark drank alcohol to get attention from Odin. First of all, there’s been no indication in his regular book that he was getting closer to falling off the wagon. And second of all, it was completely random and weird. And killing Bucky in an event rather than in his own book was a slap in the face of regular readers of Captain America. Now they’re going to be extending the concept of evil magic hammers into a post-event event titled “Battlescars.” I won’t be participating. But if you’re asking can an event be even lamer, the answer has to be: See Flashpoint. Here’s an “event” that we all KNOW doesn’t matter because DC is completely re-doing it’s universe anyway, and it seems fairly obvious at this point that Flashpoint is just a long-winded way of saying “Retcon!” We know the Flashpoint U won’t matter. Martha Wayne won’t be Joker. Superman won’t be a latch-key kid. Come on.

MAN OF STEEL. For the Superman reboot,Laurence Fishburne will play Daily Planet editor Perry White. Question: With newspapers becoming increasingly less relevant, shouldn’t Clark Kent work for something other than a paper in the DC reboot?

THE MIGHTY IS FILMBOUND. I’m pretty sure I’ve reported on this before, but Peter J. Tomasi and Keith Champagne’s long-running comic The Mighty now has a screenwriter: Drew Pearce, author of the BBC superhero sitcom “No Heroics.” I haven’t been able to score a copy of a DVD of that show yet, but I hear it was good. Anyway, Pearce is currently writing Iron Man 3, which I’m sure will take priority over this project anyway.

MARVEL POINT ONE. Here’s an interesting way to promote new series: In November 2011, Marvel will publish an oversized volume titled “Marvel Point One” that will feature original short stories (not previews of upcoming books) about most of its major characters/properties (Deadpool, FF, Thor, Spidey, X-Men, Cap, Iron Man, Avengers, Punisher, etc.) that will show where those series will be going in the next year or so. It’s a cool idea to this rather than a “preview” book that simply repeats pages in coming books, because the original stories may be enough to hook new readers.

YOUNG JUSTICE. Will return for a second season next year (the first season was ridiculously short), and will include a non-team ep focusing on Red Arrow. It’s a great show. Can’t wait.

X-MEN DESTINY. I so can’t wait for this Activision game, set to release in September. You get to be a new mutant, pick her powers, decide whether to take sides with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or the X-Men…And you can of course play Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Psylocke, Havoc, Nightcrawler, Storm, Magneto, Juggernaut, etc. I hope it’s 4 player, like Marvel Ultimate Alliance (probably my favorite game ever).

DOC STRANGE MOVIE. Supposedly, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have turned in a script (they wrote the new Conan movie and helped write Cowboys & Aliens), and Marvel Studios is tarting to talk about hiring a director. I have to say, though, that out of all the properties they could push to the big screen, the Doc would be low on my list. Just off the top of my head I can reel off a half-dozen better, more interesting, more accessible films: Power Man and Iron Fist (a 1970s style film would be cool as hell); Power Pack (come on, man, bring some kid-friendly flicks on board!); Black Panther or Falcon or Shang Chi (let’s get some color going!); Deadpool(!); Winter Soldier (come on, a cool spy flick spinning out of Captain America!); or even a Howard the Duck and Man Thing flick. Hell, the one I really want is NEXTWAVE: Agents of H.A.T.E. Bring it.

G.I. JOE vs. SPIDER-MAN. G.I. Joe 2 and the Spidey reboot are slated for virtually simultaneous releases, with Joe out on June 29, 2012, and Spidey on July 3.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE BEST TRADES OF JULY: Only four recommendations this month. Hmmm. Either a slow month, or I haven’t been watching the publication schedule closely enough.

4. Essential Spider-Man Vol. 10. Yeah, it’s black and white, but these stories include (finally!) some of the Roger Stern era—the best Spidey ever told. Collecting Amazing Spider-Man #211-230, it includes three of my favorite comic books of all time: Spider-Man vs. The Foolkiller (a done-in-one) and Spidey vs. Juggernaut (a done-in-two, and possibly the greatest 2-part comic book of all time). 500 pages and just twenty bucks.

3. Avengers Academy Vol. 2: Real World. You can wait for the paperback if you like, but don’t sleep on what is far and away the best Avengers book on the market in years.

2. Scarlet Book One. Proving that Brian Michael Bendis is still capable of greatness.

1. Incognito Vol. 2: Bad Influences. Brubaker and Phillips return to their masterful tale of a supervillain in witness protection.

POST COMIC-CON NEWS…Part One

ekko — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:21:27 +0000

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…

THE TOP NEWS STORIES FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON!

In no particular order….

JUSTICE LEAGUE. The mystery JLAer is a chick called Lady Luck. I don’t know who that is, and don’t really care. I have the series on my pull list because I really want to see if Geoff Johns and Jim Lee can pull it off, but I suspect I’ll know by about issue 3 whether I’ll want to stick around.

EVIL DEADPOOL. Apparently, Daniel Way’s next big arc will be “Evil Deadpool,” wherein he’s hunted by a bunch of heroes who finally figured out that he’s a murderous dipshit and a pain the ass. Foolkiller will be in it. Oh, and he’s supposed to die or something in February 2012. Does anyone really believe that? And do they really need to hype DP to sell him?

MARVEL SEASON ONE. Starts next year, and it’s designed to be a jump-on point for new readers. I guess they still have a fantasy that people who see movies will become new comics readers. Word to Marvel: In the history of media, moving media has always been doom for still media. CDs? Gone. Youtube is how everyone finds music now. Books? Going, going, almost gone, as people seek entertainment from all kinds of broadcast alternatives. My prediction: Comic books will be gone in 10 years. But I can’t fault Marvel for trying. Hell, I praise them. I’m just cynical. A good idea, though, is that the concept will include original graphic novels. Sales of graphic novels about movie characters do, in fact, sell.

THE WALKING DEAD. Season two starts October 16^th. Apparently, though, Frank Darabont is leaving the show behind. That doesn’t bode well for it.

MARVEL T.V. Lots of news, which I’ll pass along as bullets. No info on whether these shows fit into the movie continuity, but Agent Colston is in the Spidey toon:

A series based on Mockingbird is in development. Yes, Hawkeye’s resurrected bride will get her own series on ABC Family. So they’ll greenlight this, but not a Luke Cage series?!?
Ultimate Spider-Man, the animated series, is still scheduled for 2012.
Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men will also get a cartoon (awesome!).
The Hulk TV show, produced by Guillermo Del Toro, is going to take place early in the creature’s life, when Banner wasn’t known to the world and he was still trying to get down Bett’s pants.
The show based on Brian Michael Bendis’ brilliant Alias series will be titled A.K.A. Jessica, and Luke Carol “Ms. Marvel” Danvers will be included.
Cloak and Dagger will take place in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Red Hulk will infect Marvel TV as well, on toon called Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. series featuring Rulk, Hulk, Skaar, A-Bomb and She-Hulk.

UMBRELLA ACADEMY. A movie is in the words to be directed by Rawson “Dodgeball” Thurber.

SUPERMAN NEWS. Well all know Grant Morrison is taking over the character. He’s got a full year and a half plotted out, and has plans that extend beyond that. Yeah, they’ll be retooling the origin (again), but I completely trust Grant to do it in a cool way. Jimmy Olsen will be a part of the new series, which will take place in Metropolis, as will Steel. Luthor will still be bald. And Superman will indeed go back to kicking some ass. That’s pretty much a direct quote. It’s about time.

MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD: COMIC COMBAT. Most of the video game news wasn’t really news, but Marvel did announce this new game for Wii uDraw, Xbox 360 (with Kinect support) and PlayStation 3 (with Move support) in November. Players will use a drawing panel and stylus to engage in combat with enemies by drawing with a stencil-like tool and tilting the device. Sounds a little bit like Drawn to Life. But it will feature …. Squirrel Girl! There was also some discussion of the next Marvel vs. Capcom, which will include Ghost Rider and Hawkeye and Ant Man. I’m not that excited, though, because it doesn’t come out on any platform we have at Berkeley Place.

CABLE REBORN. Fortunately, Cable is returning from the dead. Unfortunately, he’ll be written by Jeph Loeb. Fortunately, Ed McGuinessis on the art. Balance sheet seems positive, but only barely so.

WHY JMS LEFT SUPERMAN AND WONDER WOMAN. At a panel, JMS claimed that leaving Superman and Wonder Woman in the lurch wasn’t his idea; his “Superman Earth One” graphic novel did so well that DC Comics told him to stop all other projects and focus on just doing a sequel. It will come out in 2012. I find this a little hard to believe, as it is hardly the first time JMS has left a series suddenly without wrapping up his storylines. See: The Twelve, Supreme Power, Thor, etc.

FEAR ITSELF CONTINUES. After Fear Itself will come another miniseries titled Battle Scars, a bunch of 4-dollar one shots called Shattered Heroes, and a biweekly new series by Matt Fraction called The Fearless, which will be about the hammers…Please, make it stop. This gives new meaning to the famous quote: The only thing we have to fear, is Fear Itself.

GREEN LANTERN. Hal Jordan is history, man (at least as a GL). Apparently, Sinestro will be a major player in next year’s stories, and Hal will be a civilian.