SmartMarks Comic News Report

[Guest raptor]

Your Soundtrack for this edition: Avril Lavigne, Let’s Go. As good as power-pop gets. Plus, she’s pretty hot.

 

-Lead Story: New X-Men 2 Details

A recent set report from X-Men 2 has shed light on some character related plot points:

"The characters of Kitty Pryde, Pyro, Bobby (Iceman) will have a much bigger role in the sequel, and we'll get to see them using their powers (in battle!). Rogue's role is smaller than in the last film. Current ideas are that she will mostly be seen w/ the other 'Junior' X-Men.

 

They DO get their own versions of uniforms, although they're not as 'professional' looking as the advance X-Men. Telling by the shooting dates and story boards Halle Berry will get much more screen time as Ororo Munro, than in the previous film. She will also take flight a couple times.

 

We do not start shooting the 'Nightcrawler' scenes until early August. Nightcrawler will not have an X-Men uniform for most of the film. There are cameos set for the characters of: Angel, Gambit, Colossus, and possibly Jubilee but she has yet to be cast. Out of all four cameos, Colossus will have the most screen time.

My Take: It kind of pisses me of that Gambit won’t be in it for more than a cameo. He always seems to get the shaft when it comes to this kind of thing (remember when he was left of ALL the X-Men relaunch rosters?). I am glad that Rogue will be in it less, since she was the only bad thing about the first movie.

 

-X-Men Special Edition DVD

The X-Men Special Edition DVD is due out earlier than thought. FOX wants it out in time for the Holiday Season of this year. Expect some previews of X2, including the logo trailer, and behind the scenes footage.

My Take: On this day, Raptor is a happy, happy X-Men mark.

 

-Image Comics 10th Anniversary Hardcover

From Newsarama:

Wondering where the Image Comics 10th Anniversary Hardcover is? Originally due in February, its been made clear the project is being held up by Todd McFarlane, who has yet to turn in any pages for his 20-page story. Now Erik Larsen is providing his take on why his Image partner on has yet to turn in any work…

 

In an interview with Caleb Gerard of the Comic Word News website, asked for an update on the project, Larsen told Gerard the project is late “cause of Neil Gaiman”, explaining McFarlane wanted to use a character that's being legally contested by Gaiman in his lawsuit against McFarlane and that Image can’t release the book "until the lawsuit is settled, dammit.”

 

“…I just don't know what I can really say other than Todd was really stupid to let somebody else create evil twins of his characters, then claim to own them,” Larsen went on to say. “Just stupid. Bunch of bull. At this point Todd's the hold up and I don't know when and if that's gonna get cleared up. Todd's gotta find the time to do it and find the urge to do it. We all keep trying to get him to get off his rear-end and get it done, cause we'd all like to get the book out. The rest of us are sitting here done or mostly done. “

My Take: Remember when people gave a crap about Todd McFarlane? I was originally going to give this a shot, but the lateness has seen any excitement I had over the project evaporate.

 

-The Authority: Rumors

From Silver Bullet Comics:

A number of Authority projects were canceled when DC cracked down on the title, which led to a number of images and bits of dialogue being censored during Millar's final arc.

Some may suggest all the projects were canceled due to homosexual content, given the the following synopses:

 

-One book was an Apollo and Midnighter mini-series, to be written by Marc Andreyko and illustrated by Phil Jimmenez. It dealt with a heterosexual Midnighter and Apollo from an alternative earth, traveling through the bleed, murdering all homosexual and minority versions of Midnighter and Apollo. It is up to our Midnighter and Apollo to… well, kick the shit out these homphobic racist assholes.

-Another book was a one-shot that Mark Millar pitched. It involved Midnighter and Apollo bringing on a boy sidekick for one of their adventures. The book would have been filled with jokes about how homosexuals like to molest children. Apparently not only are Superman and Batman in bed together, but they've invited Robin for a three-way.

-The last Authority project that was canned was a mini-series by Grant Morrison and Seth Fisher. The pitch dealt with a future version of the Authority; where everyone on the planet was homosexual and the future versions of Midnighter and Apollo were discriminated for being heterosexuals. An amusing concept, but Seth Fisher ensures All the Rage the project it quite dead.

My Take: Did any of you read Authority? I never got into it, but the first mini-series sounded pretty interesting.

 

Quick Hits/Rumor Mill

 

- Seth Fisher will fill-in on two issues of the critically acclaimed series Doom Patrol. Issues 13 & 14 will see the new team transformed into the original Doom Patrol by Dr. Niles Caulder’s tie-pin.

 

-Gary Frank (of Midnight Nation) will fill-in on Avengers 61 & 62. Avengers will ship twice that month (December).

My Take: This will mark the first time I will be reading Avengers for an extended period of time. Geoff Johns’ run starts on Issue #57, so I suggest that everybody gives it a try.

 

- The X-Men/G.I. Joe crossover rumor has been debunked by Devil’s Due’s Josh Blaylock.

My Take: Let’s take a collective moment to reflect on the shameless commercialism that could have been...

 

- Dan Fraga will illustrate Black Panther starting with issue #50. Andy Kubert will supply covers.

 

- JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice will be a hardcover graphic novel by Geoff Johns and David Goyer. Steve Sadowski will handle the art chores.

My Take: Little poll: have any of you guys ever bought a hardcover comic? They seem to be all the rage for the publishers now, but I have never honestly spoken to someone who owns one.

 

-Turok: Evolution is a 32 Page one-shot to be released by the supposedly defunct Acclaim Comics. It will tie in to an upcoming video game.

 

- In a bit of sad news, Chaos! Comics are in dire financial straits. Chapter 11 may be the next step. Also, it seems that Brian Pulido may be trying to sell Chaos! to Crossgen’s Mark Alessi to be run as an imprint.

My Take: The only Chaos! comics I own are Stone Cold Steve Austin #1 and Chyna #1. Needless to say they both suck. It’s always sad to see a smaller publisher go down, just because it leaves that much less differentiation in the market place.

 

- An official announcment concerning a new Robotech series is expected soon. Rumor has it that Wildstorm Comics have one the liscence over Dreamwave.

My Take: The only 80’s nostalgia property I’ll be getting is Thundercats. I’ve never even heard of Robotech.

 

- Shadowhawk is back! Rumor has it that Jim Valentino will relaunch the series when Image relaunches their superhero line. The new Shadowhawk will be a seventeen year old white male, in the vein of Ultimate Spider-Man.

 

- In addition to the other Wildstorm revivals announced last week, Rick Veitch and Carlos D’anda will be relaunching Vigilante.

 

Some information gathered from Newsarama, “Lying in the Gutters” at cbr.cc, and “All The Rage” at Silver Bullet Comics

Feedback is welcome at [email protected]

[Guest areacode212]

I'll respond to the other stuff later, but I do own a few hardcovers. I think the first one I ever bought was the Morrison/McKean Arkham Asylum HC that came out in the 80s. I also own a leatherbound The Complete Frank Miller Batman thing which contains Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, and some Batman-meets-Santa Claus story that Miller wrote/drew.

 

I also have several Sandman HCs (Brief Lives, The Kindly Ones, The Wake, Sandman: The Dream Hunters). Those are all the original HC releases, not the ones with the new cover designs. I think I have the HC of the 2nd Death miniseries (Death: The Time of Your Life).

 

More recently, I got David Boring (by Daniel Clowes, of Ghost World fame) and Morrison/Quitely's JLA: Earth 2.

 

Of the newly-announced ones, I plan to get Darwyn Cooke's Catwoman: Selina's Big Score, and I'm kinda, sorta on the fence about getting that Wonder Woman Hiketeia (sp?) thing that Greg Rucka wrote. Randy Lander gave it a great review, but still....maybe I'll just wait for the TPB.

[Guest starvenger]

>Your Soundtrack for this edition: Avril Lavigne, Let’s Go. As good as power-pop gets. Plus, she’s pretty hot.

 

You could say that, but seeing as I'm 28, that'd just sound wrong. About as wrong as say, noticing her half-exposed ass on the MuchMusic Video Awards. If you like Avril, check out Tuuli, who are allegedly punk, but more J-Pop than anything else. Speaking of J-Pop, Puffy Amiyumi is, for some strange reason, fun to listen to.

 

>There are cameos set for the characters of: Angel, Gambit, Colossus, and possibly Jubilee but she has yet to be cast. Out of all four cameos, Colossus will have the most screen time.

 

According to Reality News Online, Hawk from Tough Enough 2 was auditioning for the part of Colossus.

 

>-X-Men Special Edition DVD

The X-Men Special Edition DVD is due out earlier than thought. FOX wants it out in time for the Holiday Season of this year. Expect some previews of X2, including the logo trailer, and behind the scenes footage.

My Take: On this day, Raptor is a happy, happy X-Men mark.

 

New DVD Rule: There must be at least 2 DVDs of each Bryan Singer movie.

 

>Larsen told Gerard the project is late “cause of Neil Gaiman”, explaining McFarlane wanted to use a character that's being legally contested by Gaiman in his lawsuit against McFarlane and that Image can’t release the book "until the lawsuit is settled, dammit.”

 

Besides which, if it WAS ontime, it wouldn't really be an Image comic, would it?

 

>- In a bit of sad news, Chaos! Comics are in dire financial straits. Chapter 11 may be the next step. Also, it seems that Brian Pulido may be trying to sell Chaos! to Crossgen’s Mark Alessi to be run as an imprint.

My Take: The only Chaos! comics I own are Stone Cold Steve Austin #1 and Chyna #1. Needless to say they both suck. It’s always sad to see a smaller publisher go down, just because it leaves that much less differentiation in the market place.

 

I'm impressed that Chaos! lasted this long, given that they were at the forefront of the "Bad Girl" craze. They probably took a hit from the WWE books as well.

 

>- An official announcment concerning a new Robotech series is expected soon. Rumor has it that Wildstorm Comics have one the liscence over Dreamwave.

My Take: The only 80’s nostalgia property I’ll be getting is Thundercats. I’ve never even heard of Robotech.

 

They've got the entire series out on DVD. I'd try to explain it, but This Page does a much better job of it.

 

>- Shadowhawk is back! Rumor has it that Jim Valentino will relaunch the series when Image relaunches their superhero line. The new Shadowhawk will be a seventeen year old white male, in the vein of Ultimate Spider-Man.

 

Screw Shadowhawk... I want my !@#$@#%@ 1963 annual!!

 

>- In addition to the other Wildstorm revivals announced last week, Rick Veitch and Carlos D’anda will be relaunching Vigilante.

 

Wait... wasn't Vigilante a DC character?

[Guest raptor]

Wait...  wasn't Vigilante a DC character?

Yes, but Wildstorm is reviving old DC-limbo properties. Already rumoured/announced:

-OMAC (Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo)

-Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth (Unannounced Writer, Art Adams)

-Challengers of the Unknown (Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Andreyko, Unannounced Artist)

 

Oh, and I'm only eighteen, so my Avril lust isn't quite as creepy.

 

EDIT: Reviews won't be up this week. I have to attend Orientation at University of Oregon. If they're up this week, it'll be the weekend. If I don't have time (or energy), I'll put them in next week's reviews. Sorry.

[Guest areacode212]

Which Vigilante is this supposed to be? The Western character, or the cool, DC version of the Punisher (Adrian Chase)?

[Guest raptor]

Which Vigilante is this supposed to be? The Western character, or the cool, DC version of the Punisher (Adrian Chase)?

I believe it's going to be the Punisher like Vigilante.

[Guest Vyce]

I find the news that the Image anniversary book is late to be hilarious. 10 years later, NOTHING has changed. They're still missing deadlines.

 

I hate McFarlane. I hope Gaiman RAPES him in their court battle.

[Guest Vyce]

Oh, I forgot to mention:

 

Avril Lavigne is so very, very hot.

[Guest starvenger]

>Which Vigilante is this supposed to be? The Western character, or the cool, DC version of the Punisher (Adrian Chase)?

 

They'll probably try to revive the female version that was in Deathstroke...

 

>I hate McFarlane. I hope Gaiman RAPES him in their court battle.

 

Yeah, he seems to be an asshole, but I gotta give him props for a couple of things:

 

- helping to save the Edmonton Oilers (although that 3rd sweater he designed is ugly)

- McFarlane Toys helped raise the bar for action figures.

[Guest SuperTonyJaymz]

If i ever met Avril, she would fall deeply in love with me...oh its true, its true.

 

Hey Raptor, you'll be happy to know Im going to get that hardcover Ultimate SpiderMan book next week. Lets see if Spidey still kicks ass huh.(That is, if I dont go crazy in the bookstore, i do that sometimes )