Random News and Rumors

[Velorath]

By themselves, none of these things seemed to require a topic of their own:


- Ellis could be the new writer for Thunderbolts.  So far this rumor just boils down to the fact that Quesada announced that the Thunderbolt's new writer would be announced Friday, while Ellis announced that his next Marvel project (aside from Newuniversal) would be announced Friday.  The current version of the book is supposed to "end" with issue #109.  Fab had a good, if sometimes convoluted run, but I'd agree that Thunderbolt's is about due for a fresh take.  Obviously Ellis coming onto the book would ensure that I continue to pick it up.

- Marvel released 3 new books on Wednesday by reasonably popular writers, Criminal, a Dr. Strange Mini, and Irredeemable Ant-Man.  Criminal is Brubaker's new crime book released under Marvel's creator-owned Icon imprint, Dr. Strange: The Oath is written by Brian K. Vaughan, and Ant-Man is written by Robert Kirkman.  It's hard to review most titles just based on their first issues since a lot of the set-up tends to be spread out over multiple issues, so my snap-judgements are as follows:

Criminal - Probably worth checking out just based on the fact that Brubaker is writing it and I think it's a good idea to support non-superhero comics.  There's a little bit of action in a flashback at the beginning, but aside from that Brubaker is so far doing a slow boil with this book it seems.

Dr. Strange - Good set up so far here.  Dr. Strange has been shot, Wong is dying from a brain tumor, and we get some pretty good characterization of both of them here.  Too often Wong is underutilized in Dr. Strange stories, but I like his use here.

Irredeemable Ant-Man - To be honest I haven't like much of Kirkman's work other than Walking Dead, and even that is starting to flounder a bit.  This issue has more dialogue than 2 or 3 Bendis comics combined.  It also doesn't help that almost every main character in this book so far is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent which doesn't help when it comes to keeping track of character names and the like.  Throw in an odd tie-in to the Wolverine story "Enemy of the State" from months back in one of the last few pages, and you've got a book that's really a pain to slog though.  Not recommended at all.

- New Justice League trailer up.  I was looking forward to this game for a little bit, but damn that action looks slow and uninspired.  They've got the fucking Justice League to work with and the best they can come up with is Superman doing some flying uppercut over and over?  And Batman sending actual bats to attack people?  Looks like I'll have to stick with Ultimate Alliance.

I'll throw any other random comic news in here as I feel like it.

[Llava]

The Flash looks pretty cool in that trailer.

The rest, yeah, boring. X-Men Legends: Now With More Justice League!

[HaemishM]

Irredeemable Ant-Man - To be honest I haven't like much of Kirkman's work other than Walking Dead, and even that is starting to flounder a bit.  This issue has more dialogue than 2 or 3 Bendis comics combined.  It also doesn't help that almost every main character in this book so far is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent which doesn't help when it comes to keeping track of character names and the like.  Throw in an odd tie-in to the Wolverine story "Enemy of the State" from months back in one of the last few pages, and you've got a book that's really a pain to slog though.  Not recommended at all.

I haven't read this yet, but I like Kirkman's stuff. If you haven't read Invincible, you're missing out on his best work. If you have and don't like it, I can't understand why. 

- New Justice League trailer up.  I was looking forward to this game for a little bit, but damn that action looks slow and uninspired.  They've got the fucking Justice League to work with and the best they can come up with is Superman doing some flying uppercut over and over?  And Batman sending actual bats to attack people?  Looks like I'll have to stick with Ultimate Alliance.

It looks decent, but that's the problem I have with "real-time actiony" superhero games, even X-Men Legends. You're going to have to limit the moves you can do to fit with the button-pushy action. Give me a turn-based super-hero game and I'm there in a second. I'll still probably pick this up eventually (used of course). It reminded me a bit of Freedom Force as well, only without the pausing features.

[Llava]

I really think X-Men Legends was overrated.

The game gets decent later on, but at the early stages it's just awful.  They should have started the characters with some stats already purchased and more skills, so that it feels like you're playing Cyclops (for instance) from the very beginning.  How often do you see him running around, punching and kicking things?  Almost never.  It's all eye-beams, baby.

[HaemishM]

That's the fault of the more recent X-Men writers. Cyclops is a very accomplished hand to hand guy. It's just that I think almost every fucking writer since Claremont left hates Cyclops, so they turn him into a pussy.

[Velorath]

It looks decent, but that's the problem I have with "real-time actiony" superhero games, even X-Men Legends. You're going to have to limit the moves you can do to fit with the button-pushy action. Give me a turn-based super-hero game and I'm there in a second. I'll still probably pick this up eventually (used of course). It reminded me a bit of Freedom Force as well, only without the pausing features.

The thing with the Justice League is that half these guys have superspeed.  It should be a bit faster paced.  Superman especially seems to move way too slow.  I don't expect them all to move at Flash's speed, but I would have loved to see Superman fly across the screen and hit somebody.  Instead he slowly jumps in the air and sends out some AOE shockwave.  The only reason I might pick this game up is because where else will I ever get a chance to play as Martian Manhunter?

[Llava]

That's the fault of the more recent X-Men writers. Cyclops is a very accomplished hand to hand guy. It's just that I think almost every fucking writer since Claremont left hates Cyclops, so they turn him into a pussy.

But why would you ever bother punching something when looking at it funny is 1000 times more effective?

[HaemishM]

There have been a few situations where he's had to resort to fisticuffs, when he couldn't use his powers, etc.

But yes, in a video game, you'll want your main attack with Cyclops to be the big blasty. What's disappointed me about most of the super-hero video games, including the ones claiming to be RPG's is how little creativity can be applied with these powers. Part of that is lack of good physics engines, but it's also partly about pigeon-holing the games into existing video game genres.

I've now read Ant-Man #1 and the Dr. Strange #1. I can't say either one was all that good. The Ant-Man just seemed silly, making Shield look like a big conglomeration of dumbasses. The Dr. Strange was a bit better, but Vaughn went out of his way to make the Dr. seem like a completely self-absorbed douchebag. That's what he was BEFORE the accident that ruined his surgical skills. The accident and his subsequent elevation to Sorcerer Supreme was a humbling experience, none of which shows through in this characterization of him. But it was better than Ant-Man.

[Velorath]

The Dr. Strange was a bit better, but Vaughn went out of his way to make the Dr. seem like a completely self-absorbed douchebag. That's what he was BEFORE the accident that ruined his surgical skills. The accident and his subsequent elevation to Sorcerer Supreme was a humbling experience, none of which shows through in this characterization of him. But it was better than Ant-Man.

I don't really see him as being portrayed as a self-absorbed douchebag in this.  For the record though that was part of his character back in the 90's around the time of that Midnight Sons stuff.

Edit:  Ellis has been confirmed as the new Thunderbolts writer.

[Velorath]

If you like Invincible Haem, DCBService has a pre-order on The Complete Invincible Library Volume 1 for 50% off (can't really link to individual items on that site otherwise I would).  $62.50 for 768 pages (Amazon apparently is selling it for full price).

[HaemishM]

Criminal was quite good, very much like Bendis was when he wrote good comics. Only he didn't have the Tarantino-esque dialogue, which is a plus these days. Makes me want to read Sleeper, which I will at some point.

[Velorath]

I read Sleeper a ways back and enjoyed it.  The series is only 4 tpbs long, so it's fairly cheap to pick up the whole thing.

[Velorath]

Quick Review on The Boys (issues 1-3):

The book Ennis claims could "out-Preacher Preacher", actually seems more like an effort to out-Hitman Hitman.  Aside from being set to run about 60 or so issues, The Boys has little in-common with Preacher and has more to do with the distaste for superheroes Ennis has shown in quite a bit of his post-Preacher work.  Aside from a good set-up with our POV character Hughie, the book has all the over-the-top violence, language, and humor of most of Ennis' work, but so far little of the three-dimensional characterization or emotion that made Preacher a great read.

For those who don't know the premise, the Boys are reforming after having been out of action for a while.  Their job is apparently to beat the living shit out of Superheroes who in this book seem to have little regard for human life.  When Hughie's girlfriend dies due to a reckless superhero (a member of the group known as the Seven, obviously meant to be a JLA analogue) knocking a villain into her at superspeed, Hughie is recruited to join the team.  The first three issues have been setup so far with next issue presumably having the Boys take down a teen superhero group.

It's a good book, but sometimes I wonder if Ennis remembers that there was more to Preacher than just the shock value.  Maybe he's just getting warmed up though.

[schild]

Probably in this thread already, but Warren Ellis said he's writing the Castlevania animated movie.

That shit is about to get a taste of the awesome.

[Velorath]

Probably in this thread already, but Warren Ellis said he's writing the Castlevania animated movie.

That shit is about to get a taste of the awesome.

He also plays Second Life apparently:

So I sold up last night.

Lalinda, the self-proclaimed “19 year old erotic model, escort and student from California,” has been buying up all the parcels surrounding mine, expanding her sex factory operation exponentially. I’m only sorry I didn’t get a picture of the object on her original patch of land entitled “Free Penis Dispenser.” “She” has been bitten hard by the Second Life bug, going from a monthly land use fee of $20 to at least $75 in a matter of weeks, just devouring the Rogla area. This, of course, is how land lays dead on Second Life and why the entire world is so much bigger than the population would suggest, as I’ve said before; people buy up shitloads of land, get stung by the land fees, and have to abandon the parcels.

I don’t have that kind of money to spend on what is essentially a hobby/investigation, especially with my PayPal account still screwed up. And being surrounded by playground junk and heavy traffiic is lagging my patch of land something rotten (the more process-time-demanding things, like objects that spit out cocks, on a piece of land = everything on that land moves more slowly).

But, in the meantime, my patch of land has become untenable. So I put it up for sale last night, and, sure enough, Lalinda had bought it by the morning (I’d actually forgotten about it, but someone emailed to ask why my land was now called “Meow”).

Therefore, I am landless right now. I have a couple of small places I bought to sell, and I might convert one of them up as a temporary spot. I looked around at some places last night — I thought it might be interesting to buy a volcano hide-out, for instance — but that gets you into the people who use SL as a business.

What people do is pay SL to create land for them: archipelagos of islands, small countries and the like. And then they sublet, and take payments outside the Linden Dollars economy of SL. If I were to buy the volcano headquarters, for instance, I’d have to immediately go to the rental website the company runs, and set up a monthly payment system through PayPal directly to them., not SL. Now, these can be much cheaper than SL’s own costs — they’ll quote you two hundred American dollars a month to have your own little island, for example, and that runs up to $2000/month for a big one. If you shop around, you can pay a fraction of that through a resale/rental company. But you’re still talking about a chunk of change, and if you don’t have PayPal, forget it. This is how SL businesspeople like Ansche Chung make serious incomes.

I’m thinking about waiting until my two bits of small land sell, and then reverting to a free account and just wandering again.

I note also today that Reuters have embedded a staff reporter in SL. I put this down both to increased interest in SL through the media reportage they’ve arranged of late, and also to the place having been under steady attack over the last few weeks. They’re not using the term “embedded,” but I am. This is because I am cheap and sensationalistic, and they are Reuters.

[Velorath]

Daredevil Frank Miller Omnibus HC listed over at Amazon.com for pre-order.  FOr $62 apparently you'll be able to get his 33 issue (816 pages) DD run collected in one oversized volume.

Edit: I'll also throw in some reports of a possible Moon Knight TV series.

The character is enjoying a solid resurgence in popularity thanks to the ongoing series by Charlie Huston and David Finch, and now, according to Variety, Moon Knight may be headed to television.

The trade today reported that Marvel Studios has joined with No Equal Entertainment – a Vancouver-based production company – to develop a live-action television series based on Moon Knight.

As Variety explains it, the series “will follow soldier of fortune Marc Spector as he becomes the titular vigilante after an encounter with the Egyptian god of vengeance and moon deity.”

[Zetleft]

Edit: I'll also throw in some reports of a possible Moon Knight TV series.

The character is enjoying a solid resurgence in popularity thanks to the ongoing series by Charlie Huston and David Finch, and now, according to Variety, Moon Knight may be headed to television.

The trade today reported that Marvel Studios has joined with No Equal Entertainment – a Vancouver-based production company – to develop a live-action television series based on Moon Knight.

As Variety explains it, the series “will follow soldier of fortune Marc Spector as he becomes the titular vigilante after an encounter with the Egyptian god of vengeance and moon deity.”

I am elated and saddened by this news.  I mean I  loved the character but no way will they not fuck it up.  I predict Punisheresque suckitude. 

[Llava]

Animate it.

That's the only possible way it could be any good at all.

And it still won't be.

But you go from a 0% chance to a 2% chance to make it decent.

[Velorath]

In addition to Moon Knight, Marvel is working on 2 other TV shows:

Marvel also has three live action TV series in development including Alter Ego (Brian Michael Bendis has adapted his MAX comic book series Alias for Fox, which is calling it Alter Ego); Moon Knight (see "Marvel Preps Moon Knight TV Series"); and the Skrull Kill Krew (based on the Skrull Kill Krew comic written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar for the Marvel Edge imprint).

.

Ok, seriously now, Skrull Kill Krew?  I guess that explains why Marvel collected it in TPB form earlier this year despite the fact that it sold horribly (especially for a comic with both Morrison and Mark Millar involved).

[Llava]

If they really want to just throw money away, I'll take some.

[Velorath]

Preview art from an upcoming Spider-Ham book posted only because Hambit made me laugh for some reason I can't quite figure out:

[Llava]

Hambit looks like Alf.

[Velorath]

- Sega gets the rights to make an Iron Man video game.

Normally I'd just write the development of an Iron Man game off as being a quick movie cash-in, but it's fucking Sega.

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (November 6, 2006) - SEGA(R) of America Inc., SEGA(R) Europe Ltd. and Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) announced today that they have entered into a worldwide licensing agreement whereby SEGA has secured the exclusive rights to develop and distribute video game titles for all platforms based on Marvel's renowned Iron Man property. Under the multi-year agreement, SEGA has been granted the exclusive interactive rights to develop and distribute games based on both Marvel`s Iron Man feature films and the classic comic book iterations of the character. The Iron Man agreement represents the first step in a strategic partnership between Marvel and SEGA to bring at least one additional Marvel Super Hero property to next-gen platforms.

The first Iron Man project produced under the license agreement will be based on Marvel Studios' highly-anticipated Iron Man feature film starring Academy Award(R) Nominees Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard, and directed by Jon Favreau. This project, the first feature film to be produced independently by Marvel Entertainment, will blast into theaters May 2, 2008.

"Marvel is recognized as one of the world's leaders in the entertainment industry and Sega is excited to be publishing the next-gen interactive entertainment based on Iron Man, the first Marvel Studios project being brought to the widescreen," said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. "The Iron Man history is filled with compelling and intriguing characters and stories and with the power of the next-gen systems, SEGA will be bringing these characters to life like never before."

David Maisel, Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive of Marvel Entertainment, added, "SEGA is an excellent partner to bring our Iron Man franchise to the next generation consoles. SEGA is a powerful force in the video game space and has always been on the cutting edge of the industry. We are very excited to be bringing Iron Man to theaters in 2008 and to team with a great partner to simultaneously introduce Iron Man to the video game world."

- For those who haven't seen the news yet Alan Moore is going to guest-star on an upcoming episode of the Simpsons.

In a story published this week in Britain's NorthantsNews, comics writing legend Alan Moore announced a forthcoming appearance by him in a future episode of the top-rated American animated sit-com, "The Simpsons." Known to be long-time comics fans, and lovers of Moore's work in particular, "The Simpsons" producers first approached Moore's fiancé, Melinda Gebbie, while she was in America to promote their "Lost Girls" project."

"She said: 'Why don't you give him a ring, he's very approachable,'" Alan Moore explained. "I was happy to do it. I'm a big fan of 'The Simpsons.'"

Though it is presently unknown when the episode will air, Moore has already recorded his lines at Lodge Studios in Abington Square, Northhampton. Moore features in a sub-plot involving a newer and "cooler" comic store opening in Springfield, one so cool that it manages to get the "Watchmen" writer to make a rare personal appearence in the shop, threatening directly the dominance of the Android's Dungeon, the local comic store managed by the infamous Comic Book Guy.

[Velorath]

Excerpt of Alan Moore's essay on pornography from this months Arthur Magazine at comicbookresources.

For those interested it's titled:  "Bog Venus Versus Nazi Cock-Ring: Some Thoughts Concerning Pornography"

[Tannhauser]

I am SUCH a Alan Moore fan.  I divide comics history by BW and AW, before and after Watchmen.

No one has used the format of comics as effectively as he has.  Needless to say that seeing him on the Simpsons will
set off a fanboi bomb in my head totally devastating the surrounding countryside.

[Velorath]

Lying in the Gutters, with several guests from various comic blogs and news sites, has an entertaining look back at some of the low points of the comic industry from 2006.  Some of the Highlights include:

From the visual of the Year catagory:

Valerie D'Orazio dismissed Todd's prick, pulling up the cover to Omac #4. "It's like everything I've written online, expressed as a single condemning thought. And no one at DC even noticed."

From the Feud of the Year Award:

Thankfully saliva was provided by the category winner, agreed by everyone, John Byrne Vs The John Byrne Forum.

Now, Byrne has always had a certain edgy attitude to members of his forum


Dave Farabee, on "Lost Girls": Got my copy on order. Looking forward to it more than any other comic in quite some time.
John Byrne: Then you are a complete asshole.

Certainly Byrne has had his share of Feud nominations in the past. But, when one Byrne Forum regular passed away at home a few weeks ago, it went up a notch. Many members expressed their sadness and condolences. One, Frank Lauro, lived near the funeral home and, with the blessing of the family and members of the board, took those messages to be read at the funeral, representing the board. Returning, he reported as much, only to find himself subsequently banned from the board by John Byrne. There was speculation that this was over either Frank's breaches of the controversial copyright notice Byrne attaches to the board, or by representing the board as a whole, an action previously disapproved of by Byrne. I understand that the only reason given to moderators was because "he was askin' for it" and it may have been cumulative.

In response, a number of regular Byrne Board posters have expressed their outrage on the boards, a number of which have been deleted. Dave Pruitt, founder of the board, has quit as a moderator and stated on the spinoff board IMWAN, "Let me give you a hint. I'm no longer a mod due to a 'cumulative effect.' I wasn't fired, it was my decision. I'm not leaving the forum though. I will have to be banned for that to happen. Frank being banned by JB was not the reason, just the last straw." He is not the only moderator to leave over this incident, and there appears to be quite an exodus of Byrne Board regulars. And transcripts of the John Byrne Forum Chat have been made available online - Day One and Day Two. There is no Day Three as, on hearing that the chats were being copied and made available online, Byrne closed the Chat function on the site

On Continuity:

Matt Brady ruminated over the various versions of events in the "Civil War" crossover books, with serious contradictions all over the place - though the two scenes, one in which Iron Man tells Spider-Man that the big prison is permanent, then in a similar scene in another book, states it's temporary was a key point. As was Captain America and Iron Man having two contradictory "One Final Meeting" in two Civil War specials in the same week.

And probably my favorite part of the column:

Jonah Weiland wanted the award to go to Alan Davis, who talked about the reality of the business as he saw it, openly, honestly and with such cynicism that Dirk Deppey was transformed into a fluffy bunny in comparison. Davis told a convention panel crowd that writers, needing to increase their salary after royalty payments disappeared as the norm, stretched their story ideas into multiple issue arcs, a five issue arc taking less time to write that five separate stories, so that they could write more titles. And artists demand editorial ask writers to give them splash and double splash pages for extra resale value. And how most mainstream comics are editorially driven with set plot points, and the writer's job is nothing more than finding acceptable ways to join the dots. Something we'd all suspected, but to hear such a participant in modern comics state it was, rather surprising.

[Velorath]

Well, it's not something I'm really interested in (which is why I didn't mention it here right after it was announced a few weeks back) but I feel that I should probably point out that there is an upcoming Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness crossover being done by Marvel.  Now I thought Marvel Zombies was only average, and I really don't have any interest in anything Evil Dead related where the Raimi's and Campbell aren't involved, but I figured maybe somebody here would be interested.  If nothing else I'm sure the covers will look nice.

[Llava]

10 to 1 Ash shoots Zombie Spider-Man with a shotgun and says "Groovy."

[Velorath]

Comicbook Resources has a pretty good interview with Peter David.  Part 2 is here.  There some interesting stuff about the problems his first writing assignment at Marvel caused, due to him being Marvel's Direct Sales Manager at the time, the issues that led up to him being kicked off the Hulk, his problems with crossovers, and his work on the upcoming Dark Tower book.

Newsarama has a look at the first 8 pages of the Army of Darkness/Marvel Zombies book.