DC Comics caught me off guard this morning. We’re all looking forward to the new BATMAN, INCORPORATED series. Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham are going to deliver big things but today DC exclusively revealed the Frank Quitely variant for the first issue.
It may not fully reflect what’s going on inside. It may be a simple image of Batman and Robin. But it just looks so good.
BATMAN, INCORPORATED is on sale May 23, 2012.
Comics and anime, some feel they could go hand-in-hand and others feel they should remain separate. Marvel Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan (SPEJ) and Madhouse have recently shown us that the two can be combined. Those with the cable network, G4, are fully aware of what these shows are like.
Each DVD includes 12 episodes and bonus features. The X-Men anime picks up with the team getting back together after they went their separate ways following the death of one of their teammates. Iron Man has Tony Stark arriving in Japan with the plan to get closer to world peace by building an Arc Reactor which will provide limitless (and free) energy to the world. Obviously his plan to retire from being Iron Man won’t last long.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have provided us with some copies to give away. We have three sets and we’ll make this easy. In the comments below, tell us what Marvel character you feel is best suited for being re-imagined in an anime style. It could be any of the characters that have already received anime series or it could be one that you’re hoping to see someday in this form.
Here’s a clip from each to whet your appetite.
I’ll post my thoughts on the episodes in the next couple days.
When it comes to video games, you have to make a choice. Most of us can’t wait and will pre-order and pick the game up on the day it’s released. Others will hold off and buy it when the price is lowered. Then there are those that will wait for the “Greatest Hits” or “Game of the Year” editions.
Today, Warner Bros. Interactive has announced what’s contained in the “Game of the Year” edition of Batman: Arkham City.
This version of the game will be available in North America beginning May 29 and in Europe, Austrailia and other global territories in September for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems.
Fans will be treated to Harley Quinn’s Revenge, the final chapter in Batman: Arkham City that adds more than two hours of original gameplay. The gameplay will interchange between Batman and Robin and you’ll have to utilize each of the characters’ unique combat and investigative skills to uncover Harley’s plan and shut the gates of the mega-prison forever.
Also included will be all five previously released downloadable content (DLC) packs along with a Batman Year: One movie download.
== TEASER ==
Now is the time you pat yourself on the back for waiting or kick yourself for buying it already. But if you have bought and played the game, you know it was well worth it.
There’s been talks of making a Lobo movie for some time. There’s been the question of whether or not he should be CG and even Guy Ritchie was loosely attached to direct at one point. All that talk was back in 2009. We haven’t heard a lot since.
Now it looks as if Warner Bros. and DC may have set their sights back on the Main Man’s movie. Deadline has reported that Brad Peyton has been hired to rewrite and direct a live-action Lobo movie with Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman producing.
What has Brad Peyton done? He recently directed Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. I haven’t seen that but it seemed more of a family adventure type film. What else has he directed? Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.
What does this mean for Lobo? After R-rated comic movies such as Watchmen and Punisher: War Zone, the chances of Lobo getting an R-rating are pretty slim. Hopefully the essence and violent nature of Lobo won’t be completely lost. Otherwise, what would be the point?
== TEASER ==
We’ll have to stay tuned to see what new developments pop up. Hopefully the movie can retain some of who he should be. For now, we have his upcoming appearance in the New 52 to look forward to…in the pages of DEATHSTROKE…
Each week we comb the internet (not with an actual comb, of course) in search of the best comic art that will not be appearing in comic books. The reason why they won’t appear is because artists often do sketches and commissions and post them on their blogs, Twitters and Tumblrs. It gives them a chance to draw characters that might not normally appear in the books they’re working on and they’re just way too great to go unnoticed.
Last weekend was C2E2 in Chicago. It gave me the chance to catch up and meet artists I haven’t had a chance to talk to before. One of them was Gabriel Hardman. I don’t know how he gets so much work done but he was drawing non-stop at the convention. I made sure he was going to scan and share the commissions he did on his blog so we could check them out.
== TEASER ==
Peter Nguyen was there. It’s always great talking to Peter (and his willingness to do the Mystery Art Challenge you’ll see way down below). Another cool thing is I got to see this Spider-Man and Mary Jane piece as he was working on it at the show.
Peter also posted these sketches of the little Batman villlains, Scarlet Witch and Hope Summers.
Todd Nauck was another Mystery Art Show contestant that was at C2E2. It was actually he and Peter that talked me into doing it. I wasn’t planning on it but their eagerness to do it made me gather up some other artists to take part in it. I’m not sure how Todd found the time to do his part. Check out all these sketches he posted on his Twitter from the convention.
Because there’s so many, click on each to view them.
Ben Templesmith was there as well but somehow I completely missed him. He did post this sweet pic of a Sandtrooper and Fantomex. I think he might be posting more sketches from the convention soon.
I also got a chance to talk to Robert Atkins. Be sure to check out his blog to find out his commissions. He’s been posting sketches of different Avengers for the month of April.
Paolo Rivera posted a couple commissions from past cons on his blog. He will be at the Boston Comic Con this weekend. Be sure to check out his commission policy if you plan on attending and paying hi a visit.
You don’t have to go to conventions to do commissions. Gene Gonzales has been posting “Conventionless Convention” sketches on his blog. Check out his Stargirl, Power Girl, Shanna the She-Devil and Zatanna.
Daniel HDR also is available for commissions. You can find out how you can get one on his website. Here are a few examples.
Freddie Williams II posted this pic last week. He was firm that it’s a MUTANT and not an ALIEN.
Marcus To posted a couple commissions on his Tumblr he recently did. Check out his Renee Montoya and Loki.
Mitch Breitweiser posted a couple pics this week. Check out his Captain America sketch and birthday card he made for his nephew (did you see his art and Bettie‘s colors in this week’s DEFENDERS?).
Mike Mayhew posted a Red Sonja sketch cover at Comic Art Fans. This is why you shouldn’t mess with Red Sonja.
Jeremy Roberts posted this homage to Jim Lee’s X-MEN #1 cover with the Justice League in place of the mutants. This can be seen on Roberts’ Deviant Art page and thanks to postman for bringing this to my attention. (click to enlarge).
And finally it’s time for the Mystery Art Challenge. The video was posted earlier this week. Here is is again if you haven’t had a chance to watch.
Here are the finished pieces.
That’s it for this week. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more sketches from C2E2 and other conventions. Be sure to look for the next installment.
Eight months into the “New 52″ and we’re still discovering new facts about the characters. The idea wasn’t necessarily to completely wipe the entire past histories of all the characters and start anew but as the stories have been moving along, we’re continuing to discover changes to what we knew about them before. Some of the changes or revelations have been new ideas and others have been clarifications as to when certain events took place and how they went down.
In the pages of the JUSTICE LEAGUE, we’ve seen a little more of the characters’ past history because the series started five years ago in this new DC Universe when the team first formed. After the first arc, the series jumped forward to the present day but it turns out there is still plenty for us to discover with each issue.
Be sure to read JUSTICE LEAGUE #8. While we will point out some of the major revelations, we won’t be pointing them all out. You’ll want to see what else the issue contained (and let’s not forget the Shazam back-up feature). This is your final warning, there will be spoilers below for issue #8.
== TEASER ==
When issue #7 began and we saw the Justice League in the present, it did seem a little odd that it was the same exact roster. One would imagine in a five year period, other members would come and go. If you think back to past stories of Justice League, they have had many different incarnations. It’s not possible for these same members to always be available. They’ve never been an exclusive club. It’s been about having the right combination of firepower to take on any threats.
This sort of becomes a theme of the issue and it makes you wonder what the real story behind this is. Before the League formed, super powered individuals weren’t really celebrated. They were feared and some were even hunted by the authorities.
Saving the world from the threat of Darkseid opened the world’s eyes and made most people fans. Being part of the League would add credibility to other heroes and the League could always use another member. If you want to be prepared to face any evil threat, it would seem that the more firepower you have, the easier it would be to successfully handle those threats.
These first two revelations actually occur within the first three panels of the very first page. Steve Trevor was part of Team 7?!? This is pretty nuts. This potentially completely changes who Trevor is.
The idea of Team 7 in the Wildstorm universe was they were a military special ops unit. The members of the unit were exposed to a substance called the Gen-Factor and they gained psionic abilities. In the Wildstorm universe, some of the members include Cole Cash (Grifter), Michael Cray (Deathblow, who would be absolutely great to see pop up in any comic), Marc Slayton (Backlash), Alexander Fairchild (father of Caitlin Fairchild) as well as others.
Does this mean Trevor was also exposed to the Gen-Factor? Does he have some sort of special abilities and powers that we don’t know about? Or did he play a similar role with them as he currently does with the Justice League? That wouldn’t really make sense, especially if Team 7 was a classified unit.
Trevor hasn’t appeared in the pages of WONDER WOMAN so far but we’ll definitely need to keep an eye on him to see if there are any further developments with this.
The inclusion of Mother Box technology to Cyborg‘s arsenal was a great one. It makes sense that the League would use Boom Tubes to get around rather than somehow have a teleporting machine on their Watchtower. If the League had the technology to have a teleporting device in their headquarters, you’d have to wonder why teleportation wasn’t used by others, especially to try to help with any sort of gas crisis or military use.
With Cyborg having technology from Apokolips integrated into his armor, it gives a plausible solution to this problem. What we’re seeing though is the tech isn’t perfect. There’s also most likely the fact that he (and the scientists at STAR Labs) aren’t necessarily the absolute experts in maintaining and servicing it. The League now runs the risk of having a little detour when they rely on Cyborg to teleport them to a needed location. It’s the risk they take in getting there faster. But when lives are at risk, this is something they really need to look into rectifying.
It’s a little odd to think of these two having an untold story. From pre-New 52, we know that Green Arrow and Green Lantern had their share of adventures.
In JUSTICE LEAGUE #1, we saw that Hal and Barry already knew each other. But with Ollie being a bit younger than before, it may no longer be the case that there’s been team ups in the past. Hal is familiar with him and makes it clear how little he thinks of him.
Then there’s Aquaman. To say he wasn’t happy to see Green Arrow constantly show up would be an understatement. There is some serious bad blood between the two. We’re still discovering who Aquaman is and what happened in his past in the pages of his own comic but now we know that something went down between these two.
Whatever it is, the others aren’t aware of the full story, except for Hal.
In another encounter, there’s more on the past history between the two. Aquaman mentions they don’t need Green Arrow’s help when dealing with the Court of Owls. Green Arrow retorts that he didn’t need Aquaman’s help getting off “that island.”
The big theme here has been about the League keeping their roster intact. As much as it could help, they are standing firm that they do not need any new members added to the team. They may be a group of the most powerful and skilled superheroes but it doesn’t make sense they would keep their number limited.
What we see towards the end is they did let someone else into their club. Or at least they tried to. As cool as a revelation this is, it opens a new can of worms (and mystery). This is one character many have been wondering about in terms of the Justice League’s history. It’s great to see it addressed, even if it’s just a tease for now. This is clearly something we need to see more of and also something I will not reveal here. Go buy the book to find out.
What is going to happen next? Are there any more revelations besides this untold encounter at the end? Chances are we’ll be discovering even more new facts in the next issue.
Yesterday we saw a pretty cool action clip with Thor and Captain America in The Avengers. There was also one with Nick Fury and Loki that popped up (included below). Today another clip has been released. This time it’s with Iron Man and Thor. I won’t even describe the scene because I know many feel these are getting out of hand. We usually see a bunch of TV spots released prior to the movie’s premiere but those often just have the same footage mixed in a different sequence. These clips, while less than a minute, reveal a lot more.
Even though I feel they’re getting out of hand, there are those that love to see clips like these. If you do decide to watch it, it should get you even ore excited than you already were.
It’s a pretty crazy scene. Makes you wonder what’s going on just as that tiny clip way back in the first trailer with Thor vs. Captain America. I’ll let you guys speculate on your own.
== TEASER ==
As for that Nick Fury and Loki scene, if you didn’t catch it yesterday, here it is.
Let’s hope this is it for the clips. It’s understandable that each clip serves to amp up the excitement. I will continue to post them as I stumble across them for those that wish to view them regardless of my feelings on them.
I have to admit, in all my years of reading comic books, I thought I’d seen it all. We’ve seen tons of “What If” type stories but what’s coming up in ARCHIE #636 is something unexpected.
We’ve all heard the line, “Anything boys can do, girls can do better.” That will be put to the test as Archie and the gang switch genders. Who has it easier, boys or girls? Will the question be answered or will they find both sexes have it difficult?
We’ll find out in August.
== TEASER ==
“The Great Switcheroo” – Growing up as a teenage boy can rough! But not more so than a teen girl, right? Upon overhearing the guys and gals of Riverdale grumbling over how the other half has it easier, Sabrina’s mischievous cat Salem turns the town upside down when he dishes out the ultimate genetic makeover! Chaos ensues as the teens discover it’s not as easy to walk in each other’s shoes (or heels!) as they originally thought, so it’s up to Sabrina to set things right! Will Salem’s spell wear off, thus giving the gang a new appreciation for who they are, or will the switch up become permanent? Find out in this off-the-wall issue guest-starring Sabrina the Teenage Witch!
Script: Tania del Rio
Art: Gisele, Rich Koslowski
Cover: Gisele
Variant Cover: Gisele
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: 8/22
32-page, full color comic
$2.99 US.
This might be my favorite clip so far! Nothing else needs to be said except, watch this now!
The Avengers is in theaters on May 4.
Most people might have The Avengers on the mind since the movie is just about ready to land in theaters. Of course that’s not the only comic book movie we have coming this year. Last week we saw new new images from The Dark Knight Rises and Spider-Man isn’t going to sit back and let others get all the attention.
Today, Yahoo! Movies has revealed not one, but two new posters for July’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Check them out below.
Or for a full shot of Spidey:
Which one do you like better?