Archive for the 'Comic News' Category
— January 27, 2008
I just wrote about Wanted, and decided to write a post about Mark Millar’s next soon to be a hit comic book, Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass #1 is due out Feb. 27th, 2008. It’s written by Millar and drawn by John Romita, Jr. If you remember, they last worked together on Wolverine, and the result were one of the best Wolverine runs in recent history.
Let me just say if you are a fan of Millar, or just realistic superhero comics in general, you’re going to want to pick this one up. Here is the synopsis.
The greatest super hero comic of all-time is finally here. WOLVERINE: ENEMY OF THE STATE’s team of MARK MILLAR (CIVIL WAR) and JOHN ROMITA JR. (WORLD WAR HULK) reunite for the best new book of the 21st century. Have you ever wanted to be a super hero? Dreamed of donning a mask and just heading outside to some kick-ass? Well, this is the book for you–the comic that starts where other super hero books draw the line. KICK-ASS is realistic super heroes taken to the next level. Miss out and you’re an idiot!
Anyway, here are some Kick-Ass related things you may want to check out until it comes out:
— January 27, 2008
Wanted is a comic book written by Mark Millar in 2004 and is currently being made into a movie scheduled to be out this summer. I knew the movie was coming out because I had seen the trailer, so I became interested in reading the comic. I also knew the comic was written by Millar, which made me want to read it even more. I finally bought the trade paperback yesterday, and read it today while traveling for work on a plane.
I’m sorry I waited so long to read this. The book is excellent, and deserves to be made into a movie. The writing and artwork are both top notch. Mark Millar has always been one of my favorite writers of Marvel Comics, and in my opinion, Wanted proves that Millar is the best writer working in comics today. The story really makes you think. It’s Fight Club for comic book readers and fan boys, although most comic book readers and fan boys have probably already seen Fight Club, but you get the idea.
The artwork is great as well, and some of the best I have seen in a while. J.G. Jones was not a name I am familiar with, but that has changed. I am now a fan of his and will be on the lookout for more of his work. If you can find Wanted, go buy it and read it now before the movie comes out.
Now about the movie, I’m not sure the same can be said about it. I just watched the trailer again, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend you watch it. The trailer looks badass, and was more than enough to get me interested in it. After re-watching the trailer though, I’m not sure the movie will at all resemble the comic. For fans coming off of several comic books movies that were highly faithful to the original material, such as Sin City and 300, this is might not turn out so well for Wanted the movie.
Admittedly, there is a lot in the comic that they could not possibly put in the movie. The comic is very graphic and violent with tons of foul language and adult subject matter. This may be the reason why the movie looks so different from the comic. This will all be meaningless of course, if the movie comes out and follows the book pretty well. But somehow I find that hard to believe with the trailer as it is. There is a good possibility it could change though, due to the fact that the movie was pushed back. After all the trailer has been out for a while. The movie was originally supposed to be in March, but is now set for release on June 27th, 2008. Perhaps we will see a new trailer between now and then that will tell us more.
Right now, I am still looking forward to the movie, mainly for the fact that Angelina Jolie is in it, playing the character of Fox. Until then, I will be reading Kick Ass which is Mark Millar’s next project for Marvel, with John Romita, Jr. drawing it (my favorite comic artist,) due out next month. It’s sure to be an excellent read as well.
— May 1, 2007
That’s right readers! Marvel can’t get their claws out of our wallets and now they are giving us The Civil War Chronicles. Apparently, The Civil War Chronicles is a monthly series presenting Civil War again for readers in chronological order and without the publishing delays that plagued them throughout the initial run.
Here is a quote from Marvel.com.
Fans will also be able to experience Civil War in a brand new way with each issue of Civil War Chronicles, which presents every issue of the Civil War event in chronological order, allowing readers to see the nuances of this epic tale in the order they occurred. Featuring two Civil War tales per issue, Chronicles will show you a new side of comic books’ biggest event of the decade.
Apparently, this is a reordered, reprinted version of Civil War and Civil War: Front Line.
I’m not sure whether this will sell for Marvel or not. Personally, I thought Civil War turned out okay, but I am getting tired of it. I was not happy that they unmasked Spider-Man and now they killed Cap. I am really tired of Marvel over-hyping everything and milking it to death.
Does anyone else think this is a good idea or are you tired of Civil War yet?
— March 8, 2007
Okay, Marvel is really trying to pull a fast one on comic books fans here. It’s really nothing new if you are a comic book fan however. If this is news for you, on Wednesday, Marvel released Captain America #25 where Cap is shot on the steps of a court house.
The result of this is that it is being reported that Captain America is dead. This has created a media and collector frenzy. The media jumped all over the story, which is why Marvel did this in the first place, and the issue was impossible to find in comic book stores yesterday, except on eBay.
Marvel knew this was coming, but retailers did not know, so they did not prepare for this. As a result, comic book stores all over the US immediately sold out of the book once this story hit the press. The problem is comic fans are not buying the book. Instead, speculators are buying the book in hopes that it will bring them a nice return on investment.
As of last night, there were 300 results on eBay for “captain america 25″ and there was not one auction available for less than $10. Most were between $30 and $60 with the highest auction I saw at $66 for both books ending soonest. Oh yes, that’s right, I forgot to mention there are 2 covers for this book, making 2 collectibles, not one. Not to mention, that Wizard already has another variant issues planned as a Wizard World LA exclusive which starts next weekend!
SPOILER ALERT!
There is a spoiler alert coming. If you are reading this, you have been warned. The clincher in all this has to be the fact that CAP IS NOT DEAD YET! In the “Civil War: The Initiative” which was also released yesterday, readers find out that Cap is not dead, but he survived the shooting and they are keeping him alive in a hidden location.
Is anyone shocked yet? I am not. I did not know about any of this until yesterday, but as a comic book reader and a skeptic, I know that comic books deaths are rarely final. They do them from time to time to generate sales and publicity as they have done here. These characters are money machines for them and they cannot kill them off permanently. Instead they will bring them back after a while and generate more sales and publicity. So yes this is nothing new, but seems that Marvel is sinking to a new low here. The truth is though this is not the end. This is only part of the cycle of life as a superhero. So to that I say, Cap, Rest in Peace?
Update: It gets better. Diamond Comic Distributors issued a press release to comic book retailers today. It turns out that creating a national media frenzy was Marvel’s plan all along, in order to drive demand for Marvel books. According to the press release:
“While Marvel regrets having to withhold any solicitation information from retailers, we had no choice,” said Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel. “The media would never have picked up the story unless it was an absolute secret… so we had no choice. Instead, we made sure to have the healthiest overprint ready to fill reorders for as long as possible.”
To ensure maximum exposure in the media, secrecy about Captain America’s fate had to be ironclad. Many retailers were understandably caught off-guard by the surprising developments of Captain America #25, resulting in rapid sell-outs at the retail level and quickly escalating prices in the aftermarket. However, as Gabriel stated, a significant overprint of this hot issue is now being shipped to Diamond, which will fill all backorders placed as of press time. Marvel fully supports the specialty market, and appreciates storeowners’ patience in this unusual circumstance.
So it appears that Marvel planned for the book to be scarce initially, but overprinted so that the book would be widely available later. Well, at least they were smart about that. Take that people paying $60 on eBay! But wait, there’s more!
The aftermath of Steve Rogers’ assassination continues in a number of upcoming comics, many of which are undergoing title changes to reflect the hero’s death. To keep the incredible ending of Civil War a secret, Marvel solicited five Jeph Loeb-written books in the February and March Marvel Previews with bogus titles and partial information.
Well, at least it’s only 5 more new books about Captain America’s death. What’s that, another one?
In addition to these five Fallen Son specials, Marvel also revealed that the March-solicited Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Remembered would be retitled Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered. Looking back on Steve Rogers’ storied career and paying tribute to the life and legend of The Star-Spangled Avenger, this 32-page, full-color issue carries an FOC date of Thursday, May 10 and arrives in shipments May 30.
Be sure to see your local comic book retailer of choice to get both covers of Captain America #25 that you missed this week because of scalpers, as well as both covers of all five new books remembering Captain America, plus the Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered book.
And don’t forget, Cap’s probably not all dead. He’s only mostly dead.
— October 13, 2006
I just ran across this recently. The site is called Cover Browser, and it is a repository for images of past comic book covers. You can use it to browse comic book covers from Marvel and DC as well as others. The covers are organized by title for easy browsing, but it also has a search function.
It appears to be linking to scans of comics found on the web. There’s also links to find out more about individual comics or to buy them.
I found it to be a great tool, and it is something I will definitely bookmark for future use. Visit it here at Cover Browser.
— October 1, 2006
As most of you probably are aware, Marvel Comics blockbuster event this year was Civil War. In August, I believe, Marvel announced that they would be delaying issue number 4 of Civil War until September ‘06 and because of this they were delaying all of the Civil War books because they all tie together event-wise.
Much grumbling was heard over this in the comics community and rightfully so. Fans would not be able to get the books they were anticipating. Retailers would not be getting the books to sell, so potentially they stood to lose money. This was a big deal.
Or was it? Diamond’s sales figures are out for August and which comic book publisher came out on top? Marvel. Yep, Marvel beat out DC by 1% in market share for the month of August, in spite of holding back all their Civil War related books.
The top 300 comics is a different story though. DC had the number one book with Justice League of America #1, and Marvel only held 4 of the top 10 positions. Although, Marvel still have positions 2, 3 and 4 with New Avengers, Wolverine: Origins and Astonishing X-Men.
Think DC’s pissed?
— September 30, 2006
In comic book related movie news, Marvel just announced that Robert Downey, Jr. will be playing Tony Stark/Iron Man in the new Iron Man movie which will begin filming early next year. What Eric Bana wasn’t available?
I expect a wide range of reactions from fans, mostly focusing on the negative. I agree that Downey is an interesting choice especially since this is his first lead in an action movie. I hope he does well in the role though, for Iron Man’s sake.
Also in Marvel movie news, it was confirmed that Doug Jones will be playing the Silver Surfer in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie sequel, which I believe will be out in the summer of 2007. This news was leaked earlier this year, but Jones refused to confirm it when asked at SDCC this year. Jones, who also played Abe Sapien in Hellboy, is expected to reprise his role in the sequel, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.
In other Hellboy news, an animated Hellboy movie, “Sword of Storms,” will air on Cartoon Network, Saturday, October 28 at 9:30 PM ET.
Finally in Marvel TV news, Spike TV announced that Blade: the Series will be canceled. Who knows if this the last we will see of it, but I suspect it probably is. I myself tried watching it several times, but it just wasn’t enough to really interest me. “Heroes” on NBC however kicks ass, and I hope it will get even better.
— July 30, 2006
You may have seen an ad recently in your comics advertising the Mill Case. The Mill Case is a new alternative to storing comics. It is a hard, flat, plastic comic book sized case that is hinged and opens from the side. The best way to describe the design is that it resembles a CD ROM slim case. It allows you to safely store and secure your comics and not worry about them getting bent without the use of cardboard backing.
I have not had the opporuntity to see one in person, but I checked out the web site to see what they were about. Here are some of the benefits according to their web site.
- Requires no tape
- Fits in regular sized comic boxes
- No backing board allows for front and back view of comics
They offer also the ability to add labels to the outside casing, and it looks like you can print them yourself from a computer. They offer 2 different sizes. The Millcase-G that fits taller, thicker or wider comics from golden age to modern age. The regular Mill Case fits all current sized comic publications.
You can purchase them from their web site or from the Wizard web site, http://wizarduniverse.stores.yahoo.net/millcase5pack.html. At Wizard, you can purchase a 5 pack for $18.99. From their web site, you can purchase a 10 pack for $33, a 50 pack for $125 or 500 for $1000. You can also look for these soon at your local comic retailers.
The only downside I see to these is the cost. Even if you buy these in bulk, each case costs as much as a comic. The only practical use I see is that collectors will use them for really valuable comics. Otherwise, I don’t know many collectors who could afford to buy one for every comic they own. However, retailers could use them to help protect and display their valuable comics, and may help them sell better as a result.
If I run across these, I may buy some to protect older more valuable comics I have. But I do not see it as a replacement to the old bag and board.
Check them out here, The Mill Case.
— July 21, 2006
The 2006 San Diego Comic Con kicked off last night with Preview Night. Lots of good announcements are coming out of San Diego right now. There is also a lot of coverage of this event on lots of web sites. So rather than recap everything here for you, I will link to the best coverage I find so that you can check it out for yourself. Enjoy!
Toy News International
Rebelscum
Michael Crawford
Superhero Times
Figures.com
Action-Figure.com
Action Figure Insider
— July 9, 2006
Last night I happened to catch a documentary about comic book superheroes on the History Channel called, “Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked.” I started watching it and it really drew me in. It covers the history of comics from the stories to the economic side. Here is a synopsis of the program from the History Channel web site.
Comic books–serious or escapist fantasy? This 2-hour special shows how comic book superheroes reflect their times–from the 1930s to the 21st century–and how these wish-fulfillment figures became role models for generations of children. Following the most representative cartoon crusaders and villains, as well as the industry that formed them, we see how they mirrored society–from the Depression, WWII, the Cold War, and the turbulent ’60s to today–and how they proved adaptable to other media.
You can buy the program on DVD online from the History Channel web site here. You can try to catch it on the History Channel. It airs again on the History Channel this week but at wierd times. You can find listings on their site here.
Next Page »
