The Hobgoblin from the year 2211 has returned and he’s ready to put another Spider-Man six feet under in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #9. Having destroyed several Spider-Men of the future, the new Hobgoblin is ready to do so yet again, but this time Peter Parker is in his sights.
Not only is the Hobgoblin looking to murder Peter Parker, but he has brought back an influential figure from Spider-Man’s past that is sure to torture the web-crawling hero - his uncle Ben.
Hailing from an alternate reality where Aunt May died accidentally and Peter Parker became an entertainer instead of a super-hero, Uncle Ben now finds himself in the mainline Marvel Universe.
Can Spider-Man right this cosmic wrong and defeat a villain who already has the blood of other Spider-Men on his hands? Check out part 2 of “Jumping the Tracks†in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #9 and find out for yourself.
Featured in Wednesday’s (5/10/06) edition of USA Today, new art was revealed about the highly anticipated Halo Graphic Novel from Marvel Comics and Bungie Studios.
The hit X-Box and PC video-game franchise already has best-selling novels along with an upcoming movie with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson attached as producer and now comes a jam-packed original graphic novel featuring all-new Halo stories.
The Halo Graphic Novel features four full-length stories by several well-known comic writers and artists including Moebius, Simon Bisley, Tsutomu Nihei, and Jay Faerber. It also features a gallery of illustrations with contributions from a number of prominent artists, Bungie’s amazing visual team, and several distinguished comic book illustrators.
Marvel’s Director of Development, Publishing, Ruwan Jayatilleke says, “The Halo Graphic Novel is true to the vision, scope and spirit of the Halo universe. It is dynamic, engaging and cinematic.â€
The Halo Graphic Novel is a 128-page full-color hardcover that will go on sale July 12 for a retail price of $24.99. With E3 underway, the Halo Graphic Novel is poised to make a big splash in the video game and comics community.
A few days ago I found a message waiting in my inbox from Kourosh Rahimpour. Neurons churned to life in my inebriated mind… Kourosh was back! The subject of this completely unexpected email?
NEW BATMAN FILM
I starred at the bold letters in awe and wonder. Dare I read this email? Perhaps the great Mr. Rahimpour was simply writing to inform me he could no longer fulfill him promise of a sequel, dashing not only my hopes, but the hopes of all loyal Kourosh-ites to tiny little unreconcilable pieces.
Who’s Kourosh Rahumour do you ask? The greatest director since Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest writer since Shakespeare, and the greatest actor since Fred Savage.
Like many of you I didn’t fully appreciate his first film upon first viewing. I wrote a scathing review and hoped I would never lay eyes on another work of Kourosh. Yet after watching Batman: Defenders of the Night 10 or 12 more times I was nearly ready to quit my job and follow the ways of Kourosh (you know: move back to my parents house and make little known Batman films with my gay buddies).
Kourosh somehow caught wind of my review and replied to it, swearing that he would return with a sequel.
After becoming a follower I patched things up with Rahimpour and interviewed the man behind the film himself. That was five months ago.
Flash-forward to May 9th. I’m in front of the computer. The email is in front of me. I click it, and read:
The title of the film is Batman and Robin: Dark Betrayals and it’s nearly 4 minutes longer than Batman: Defenders of the Night. Four minutes longer and ten times funnier.There were several moments when I literally laughed out loud.
The short film centers around Batman’s quest to find Robin, who seems to be on a crime wave.
Dark Betrayals features the first appearance of Commissioner Gordon who is played by Michael, the same actor who play the Riddler in Defenders of the Night. His portrayal of Gordon is much funnier, and happens to be one of my favorite scenes: Batman sneaks up on the Commissioner in his “office”, dirty laundry is lying against one of the walls. Gordon is pouring over a hand drawn Wanted poster of Robin. He claims that Robin has turned up in “robberies, smut shots and all sorts of illegal activities.” Cut to Robin dealing drugs on the street. Comic gold!
Arvin’s portrayal of an evil Robin was very funny, especially the afore mentioned drug scene. If these guys decide to make a third film I would absolutely love to see more Arvin.
After discovering that Robin is actually a thug in disguise, Kourosh gives us one of the worst cuts of the film (on purpose). It goes like this:
Batman tackles Robin (played by Arvin Tounian). Cut to a close shot of Batman on top of Robin getting ready to beat him to a pulp. Robin is now played by a completely different, unnamed actor.
His clothes have changed from the typical Robin costume to black sweat pants and a cut off shirt, and he’s sporting a paper mustache and beard. Hilarious!
There’s a great reference to Defenders of the Night. When “Robin” is attempting to scale a bride he says “I wish Batman were here!”. In Defenders of the Night Batman helped the struggling Robin to climb a bridge.
The acting in the film was better. The fight scene at the end of the film was a bit more realistic. The editing was leaps and bounds above the first film, and the sound was improved slightly.
I do wish music was used a little more sparingly, and when used that it didn’t muffle the actor’s voices… but who am I to question the unfaltering genius that is Kourosh Rahimpour?
So now you know what I think of this amazing gem. Watch the film and let myself, Kourosh and the rest of the crew know what you think.
In case the podcasts didn’t clue you in, Bill (my intrepid “co-host”) is a huge dork. He knows a lot about comic books, hero clicks, RPGs and dork stuff in general.
He won a Star Wars card competition for crying out loud… and if that’s not bad enough, he traveled 6.5 hours to Chicago to play in it.
He wears t-shirts with comic book themes. He purchased the Hulk AND the Incredible Hulk TV series, and I’m pretty sure he wears Spiderman thongs, although that’s unconfirmed (thank god).
In order to prove how big a dork Billy actually is, I’ve compiled the following list:
Has a comic book collection in which all of his several hundred books are in mint condition, protected with backer-boards and plastic slip covers.
Has a massive Hero Clicks collection.
Has a toy collection.
Has a Massive baseball card collection.
Has Star Wars posters on his wall.
Owns all Star Wars DVDs as well as the original Star Wars VHS tapes.
Eats Cheetos.
Owns and wears more than one comic book t-shirt.
Former Star Wars RPG player.
Knows obscure Star Wars facts, including character names and bios.
Likes cartoons.
Dressed up for at least one Star Wars movie premier.
If all that isn’t enough to convince you that he’s a dork, then surely his vacation pics from Universal Studios will.
That’s Bill in the middle. He’s wearing a Cheetos shirt. As you can see, he’s posing with two former hookers who are now employed by Universal to make complete idiots of themselves every single day of their lives. I’m not sure the one on the right qualifies as a Woman.
This second photo features Bill in a he-man pose with Captain America. Even though Bill is still wearing a Cheetos shirt and sporting the grin of a pre-pubescent boy who’s hopped up on Lucky Charms and Saturday morning cartoons; and even though Cap looks like he could pummel Bill in to a bloody pulp, Cap’n A is still managing to out-dork Bill! Amazing!
Even though I’ve given Bill the internet bashing of his life, I will say he’s one of my best friends. Despite his dork tendencies, nay lifestyle, he does wash on a semi-regular basis and likes to drink beer. He’s a great friend (hopefully still after reading this) and I wish him well. Hopefully our paths will soon cross in the upcoming Wizard convention here in Chicago where we will dork it up together!
Quicksilver is running a deadly race with not only his life but the life of his daughter Luna in Son of M #6. Plus, his tunnel-vision just may prove to have dire consequences for many others besides just himself and Luna as this mini-series that bridges the gap between House of M and Civil War comes to a close.
Son of M continues to garner critical acclaim such as the review by Adam White on ComicCritique.com where he said, “Hine and Martinez have put together a great miniseries here and have set the groundwork for much bigger and better things for both Pietro and themselves.â€
The Inhumans have been on Pietro’s trail trying to recover the Terrigen mists he had stolen, but how much damage will Pietro do before they catch him? Having betrayed the trust and tradition of the Inhumans, Pietro is going to learn first-hand that the Inhumans are not a forgiving lot.
The Inhumans search also brings them face-to-face with the last surviving Genoshans and the confrontation’s result will be horrific. And where is Magneto during all of this?
Don’t miss out on the conclusion to the acclaimed mini-series Son of M because the finale will have direct repercussions on the upcoming Civil War.
After the disappointing return to Project Omac in the Project Omac infinite Crisis Special I was not expecting much out of the Villains United special. Sometimes, though, things just turn out right.
Villains United was great. This was easily my favorite of all the specials. It features non-stop action and loads of super villains.
The Story (beware of impending spoilers)
Way back before the Infinite Crisis began, Lex Luthor assembled a super group of the world’s meta-villains. Six villains refused to join Luthor and reluctantly formed their own group instead called the Sinister Six. They were blackmailed in to doing this by “Mockingbird” (later revealed to be Lex Luthor) who also lead the group from a remote location.
The Villains United special picks up after Infinite Crisis #6 and reveals the master plot of the Secret Society: free the prisoners of every holding facility on Earth.
Though Earth’s heroes made a hard attempt to stave this mass prison break, they failed. This was due in part to being caught off guard by the Society, but mainly because Earth’s mightiest heroes have went missing.
First Impressions
I was expecting more of the Secret Six in this issue, but wasn’t at all disappointed to merely catch a few glimpses of them. This comic was definitely a set up for the upcoming Secret Six #1 and Infinite Crisis #7, but that didn’t make it a mere filler issue. It was a filler Issue done right. The brief fight between Black Adam and Captain Nazi was cool, and I enjoyed the fast paced storytelling.
The art was good and the ending was great. Seeing the return of a major villain (I won’t spoil it for you by revealing who that is) was a plus and it really got me geared up to read Infinite Crisis #7.
If you’ve been keeping up with the whole Infinite Crisis thing, you had better not miss this issue. It was a great series to begin with and was a strong issue.
Missing or dead heroes
The following is a list of missing or dead heroes according to a Oracle’s computer screen (as revealed in the Villains United special):
Newly signed Marvel exclusive Ron Garney brings you all the Civil War tie-in action along with writer J. Michael Straczynski as Spider-Man stands on the precipice of one of the most life-changing decisions he has ever had to make.
“I feel good about it,†says Ron Garney about his exclusive Marvel contract announcement. “Its nice to come back after a few years, and it feels new again and in a lot of ways it’s a different place to come back to. It’s like your favorite sports team - some different players, same franchise but you love it just the same because the characters are there.â€
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada says of pencil-pushing penciller Garney: “Ron has the weight and heft of a Kirby, the grace and poise of a Ditko, and the soft voice and manners of an Aunt May…we love the guy.â€
After pitching in with the relief efforts at the site of the Stamford disaster in Amazing Spider-Man #532, Peter Parker accompanies Tony Stark to Washington once again.
With the Super Hero Registration Act seeming to be a foregone conclusion, Spider-Man makes a decision that will force the heroes of the Marvel Universe to never look at him the same way again.
To coincide with the release of Civil War #1, Marvel has released an all-new trailer of Marvel’s biggest event ever. And with the unprecedented mainstream media coverage, Marvel wants to lend a hand in helping all of these New Believers find their copy of Civil War and other great Marvel titles by including all pertinent information in this trailer… as well as some new art for our faithful fans.
The new trailer features the comic shop locator info, Civil War Checklist and will be available through Marvel.com as well as Youtube.com so you can share it with friends, post it on your MySpace page, or simply just watch it over and over. View the new trailer.
After only one day, the response to Civil War #1 has been tremendous. “We’re overwhelmed by the reaction Civil War has received on its first day, from retailers to long-time fans to those picking up their first comic with Civil War #1,” says Publisher Dan Buckley. “This is quite possibly the biggest thing Marvel has ever done and we’re glad that everyone who read the first issue is as excited as we are.”
Retailers are calling the release day of Civil War #1 the busiest day in comics’ history and report seeing masses of new faces coming in for the politically charged blockbuster that’s proving people are interested in stories relevant to today, and will read them in any form. Especially comics!
“Marvel Comics has a long tradition of delivering must-read summer crossover events, and it looks like they have another winner on their hands with Civil War,†said Diamond Vice President of Sales & Marketing Roger Fletcher. “Marvel’s done a great job of promoting this series to retailers and fans alike, and early reports are indicating strong sell-through on Civil War #1. Congratulations on a job well done!â€
Fans new and old are scrambling to get Civil War; even the friends you always wished read comics. What better way to get them started than with the new-reader-friendly runaway success Civil War, and another runaway - X-MEN/RUNAWAYS, the all-new comic handed out this weekend at Free Comic Book Day!
I really enjoy the new Supergirl series. Even though the stories seem to be less about plot and more about the fight of the month I still like them for some reason. The art is decent… maybe that’s it. Whatever the reason, I figured I’d give Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes a chance. #17 was released this week and so I paid an extra 50 cents for issue #16 in plastic (with backer-board) and gave it a read.
Maybe it’s the whiskey I’ve been sipping… maybe it’s the crappy writing and crappier art…. no, it’s definitely the crappy writing and crappier art: this comic is useless.
The hollow dialogue mixed with boring art and a very slow story line makes for a terrible comic book. I suppose traveling to the future means that Kara (Supergirl) is stricken with a sever case of mental retardation. Just take a look at her first few lines:
Awww Kelly Pickler… er, I mean Supergirl… you’re so cute… er, I mean stupid!
Kara: “Hi. Is everyone all right?” Crowd: “GREAT KRYPTON!” Kara: “Is that a ‘yes’…?” Cosmic Boy: “I’d say. And if you’re who I think you are, it’s an honor to meet you!” Kara: “It is?” Cosmic Boy: “Are you? Kara: “Wait, what?” Cosmic Boy: “Because either way, we owe you our gratitude. That was an amazing save! Kara: “Oh, please. I’d call that a team effort. I’ve been flying at top speed for days trying to catch that behemoth before it hit something populated.” Kara: “If you hadn’t slowed it down, I’d never have stopped it from hitting… hitting… say… where am I?”
Oh, Supergirl! Will you never learn??
Klar’s so modest!
Within the first several pages consistency was thrown out the window. Case in point:
In the first panel of page one Klar (a man of the future) is getting angry over the “Legion kids” being “congregated” outside of his house. His wife tells him to come away from the window because someone might see him and he’s “barely clothed”… The fact is, only his face and hands are exposed.
Fair enough. Looks like in the year 3007 modesty will have been taken to the extreme. Yet 4 pages later Klar has raised an angry mob against the “Legion kids”.
Check out the garb… These people need a lesson in modesty!
That mob is outside in various states of dress. One of them is wearing a short sleeved shirt, none of them are covering their faces, and there’s even a woman with her belly exposed.
Sure this crowed was rushed from their homes outside to confront the teens, so some of them should be “exposed”… but all of them? That seems like a bit of a stretch to me. Consistency people… It’s no that hard!
Uh oh! Supergirl has turned 2-D!!
The art in this comic is bad. Not the worst I’ve seen mind you, but it feels very rushed and run of the mill. That really doesn’t help the overall flow of the comic.
I believe that this series was rushed in to production to follow on the heels of the Supergirl title’s success. I recommend passing this series up unless you’re a huge Supergirl fan, a collector of The Legion of Super-heroes, or a masochist.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 kicks off “Frightful†which sees not only the return of Doom, but the introduction of the Ultimate Frightful Four as well. And if the deck wasn’t stacked enough against the FF, the zombies held captive in the Baxter Building since the “Crossover†storyline make their escape.
There will be a variant cover for Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 featuring a zombie rendition of the original Fantastic Four #1 by Arthur Suydam, the man behind the uber-popular covers and variant covers of the Marvel Zombies series. Plus, there will a sketch variant of Greg Land’s stunning cover featuring the zombie FF and Doom.
Millar and Land’s year-long run has all been building towards this 3-issue arc. And you better bet this super-star creative team is going to put the FF through the wringer one last time before they’re done.
Don’t miss out on the beginning of the stunning finale to Millar and Land’s heralded run in Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 as the Ultimate FF face the biggest challenge yet in their young careers.
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