Since this is the first Roundtable on The Nexus, I wanted to give you, the fans, something special”¦something you’ve always wanted”¦what my girlfriend thinks about what is going on in the world of comics.
My girlfriend Megan is a twenty-year old Theatre major (about to enter one of the best acting conservatories in the country, only 32 out of 400 people in the country accepted”¦eat it) and self-professed “girly girl” who knew absolutely nothing about comics until she was fortunate enough to start dating me. Now she still knows practically nothing about comics, but listens to me talk about them a lot and I bought her the first issue of Rogue because she liked Anna Paquin in the movie (and she liked it and also read a few issues of The Flash to shut me up). I figured maybe you’d all enjoy the views of a complete outsider”¦but don’t send too much negative e-mail, she’s fragile”¦and if you really like her, she still doesn’t get my column, deal with it (her opinions are the first after each item, so if you’re appalled at this cheap tactic and blatant show of nepotism just skip the first comment and go straight to Jesse saying he wants to kill Bendis or Jamie typing through his hangover).
On with the show!
NOTE: The individual opinions of each Roundtable contributor is their own, and is not representative of anybody but that contributor.
Comics love triangle/square: Aspen discontinues working relationship with DC, DC pursues similar relationship with Top Cow, Top Cow would prefer to have relationship with Marvel
Megan Sherlock (Ben’s girlfriend): I think Top Cow should go skiing in Aspen”¦wouldn’t that be Marvel-ous”¦hahahaha!! Seriously, I have no idea what any of this means and it’s like 3 in the morning and Ben is just bugging me to do this”¦
“Starman” Matt Morrison (Writer of Looking To The Stars & Nexus Reviewer): If this somehow keeps me from having to look at the anorexic, stick figure-like beings that Michael Turner calls women while I’m reading my Superman/Batman, then more power to him taking the Aspen property elsewhere!
Ben Morse (Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Nexus & writer of The Watchtower): This sounds like a bad soap opera (a good one being Melrose Place). In all honesty, I think Marvel should jump on this and forge a similar relationship with Top Cow to the one DC has with Wildstorm; it would give Marvel a new venue for more experimental titles, bring aboard some talented creators and proven properties, and allow Marvel to grow in the public perception.
RUMOR: Hawkeye will be the character to die in Avengers #502 (credit: Lying In The Gutters)
Megan Sherlock: FACT: nobody gives a good god damn.
Ben Morse: I do”¦
Sherlock: Shut up”¦P.S.: I hope no actual hawks are killed in this issue.
Matt Morrison: Bad idea, if true. Hawkeye is one of the cornerstones of the team. After the big three of Cap, Iron Man and Thor, Hawkeye is the guy who NEEDS to be on the team if only to keep the rest of them from getting too serious.
Morse: I’m usually the last guy to say “I will stop reading a title if something happens,” but I’m getting as close as I’ve ever gotten as far as Bendis’ Avengers run, only an issue old. #500 was one of the worst issues I’ve ever read of any title, both in terms of the characters reading boring and the shock value deaths of extremely good characters meaning nothing. Bendis is showing me he has very little respect for the rich characters he’s handling given the way The Vision was treated (Marvel seems to be doing the same given the extremely crass update system they have on their website with such gems as “Half the man he used to be” to describe Vision’s grisly fate) and if he kills off Hawkeye, one of the greatest creations to come out of Marvel to never have his own lasting ongoing, that may well be the final straw. I’ll re-iterate what I said in my column earlier this week: Kurt Busiek made Avengers the number one title in comics for the first time in its history and didn’t have to kill off a single character to do it.
Iain Burnside (Writer of Marvel News & Views & Nexus reviewer): If you can’t support your own ongoing title for more than eight issues, Marvel WILL send Bendis round to your house and you WILL pay the ultimate price… Oh yes, the ultimate price…
Kevin S. Mahoney (Nexus Reviewer): Sweet LEAPING JESUS?!! Why is the only interesting Avenger getting offed? And what will the Thunderbolts re-launch look like if this is true?
Jesse Baker (The World’s Angriest Comics Reviewer): Clint’s the dark horse since everyone is expecting Jan or Hank to die for the sins of Jim Shooter and the fact that it’s been several months since something horrible happened to f*ck up a book that Christopher Priest is writing as part of his never-ending karma punishment for ruining the Spider-Man books in the mid-1980s….
Jim Lemoine(Writer of Did I Think That Out Loud?! & creator of X-Assault): Ben pretty much summed it up – he’s one of Marvel’s best non-solo-titled regulars. I’ve heard it argued that his recent ongoing only lasted eight issues; big deal. The ONLY new books Marvel is giving a chance to are the ones with X-connections or uber-high-profile writers – show me someone who honestly expected Hawkeye to last longer than that, based on Marvels’ new new-title-“strategy.” The fact is, he’s a great character with lots of potential both as an Avenger and as a Thunderbolt, and it’s time Marvel gave him back to Busiek, Nicieza, or someone else who respects the character.
Tim Stevens (Writer of DC News & Views & Nexus reviewer): So I’ve been thinking about this Hawkeye rumor and the new team (which should be announced this weekend at Wizard World) for the past few days and here’s what I’ve come up with.
First, with all due respects and apologies to Mr. Ben Morse (my proverbial brother from a different mother) I don’t know that I agree with his “we should never kill off characters with future story potential” anymore. It made sense to me at first, but the more I think about it, the less I agree.
Why? Well, obviously, there’s the whole, “Any character has potential in the hands of the right creator” thing, but whatever. Here’s the real thing of it for me. The death Ben holds up as being very well done is Jack o’ Hearts buying it at the end of Avengers. And he’s right, Johns wrote that very well. It was a strong issue. But at the end, that’s all I had to say for it. The best deaths in comics should leave uncomfortable, moved, angry, sad, whatever and not just because of the skill of the writer. The best deaths in comics are the deaths of those that have potential because death needs to be tragic to pack a wallop.
Don’t believe me, look at the following list (and please ignore the thousands of resurrections that ruined these deaths). Elektra at the hands of Bullseye, Jean Grey sacrificing herself, Karen Paige at the hands of Bullseye (damn him!), Jason Todd at the hands of Joker, Betty Banner at the end of Peter David’s Hulk run, Gwen Stacy’s neck snapping after being tossed off a bridge”¦the list goes on from there. Remember how those felt? See that most of them are landmark moments in comic history?
I think what really is at the heart of this debate is whether or not a creator has earned the right to kill a character. This cropped up a lot when Smith wrote the above mentioned death of Karen Paige. How dare he come in and kill an established character is his first arc! And so on. I get that. From the Marvel perspective, Bendis has earned the right because he writes about a thousand titles a month and all of them are excellent reads (Jesse’s opinions of the man not withstanding). Does that work for you? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe for you, he needs to put together an impressive Avengers run until he has the right. For others, maybe he just has to write it well.
I hope he doesn’t kill Hawkeye. I’d prefer Bendis just leave him the heck alone. I like Hawkeye a bundle. But I also liked Elektra”¦and Karen”¦and Gwen”¦and Betty (why are these all women?). In other words, I am not comfortable damning the choice until I see how it was done.
Whew”¦that was long. Anyway, in brief, don’t mourn Vision, he’ll be back (he’s an andriod, trust me on this), the reason Ultron goes down so quick is that isn’t really Ultron, and changing your mind (i.e. “I don’t want to do Venom or Carnage.” Months later, but still months before those storylines, “Actually, I got to thinking”¦I have some cool ideas I would like to try with those characters after all.”) is not the same as lying (i.e. me saying, “Seriously, I’ve never shot a guy”).
Morse: On the one hand, I totally see your point and even agree with you Tim; there are many great comic deaths that do leave you feeling sad and uncomfortable. Sometimes even the deaths of characters with “future story potential” work just because the story is damn good; I’m sure Terra could have a gut-wrenching recurring villain in New Teen Titans, but her death in The Judas Contract was incredibly powerful; though he may have been experiencing a lull, the Barry Allen Flash certainly still had (and has) a fanbase, but he got a tremendous sendoff in Crisis; Thunderbird was a member of the Exiles for barely a dozen issues and had loads of stories left in him, but his “death” was probably the highlight of Judd Winick’s run on the book. I’m not saying not to kill a character because he has future storyline potential period, I’m just saying that if you’re going to do it, particularly with a character as good as Hawkeye (or Vision), do the death justice, and given his track record (Ultimate Beast, White Tiger, Ant-Man, Vision), Bendis has shown little skill in that regard. If he comes up with an amazing and poignant story to kill off Hawkeye with, I’ll mourn the loss of a favorite character, but I’ll appreciate the story. If a Sentinel falls on him or he gets blown up for no adequate reason, I’ll be pissed.
And just to cut through your examples a bit…it was pretty much accepted fact from the moment she “died” that Elektra would be back, Jason Todd had long since outlived his usefulness and Karen, Betty and Gwen were great supporting characters, but none was going to launch a series. The only example that really works is Jean Grey, and it’s an excellent one.
But, with all due respect, none of those characters were Hawkeye.
Brian Michael Bendis again shoots down rumors of a JLA-esque new Avengers lineup or the roster being comprised of the Secret War team
Megan Sherlock: I actually thought the Justice League cartoon was funny when Ben made me watch it last week, Superman looked really stoned”¦on a side note, putting Dragonball Z on mute and doing the voices is always a good way to spend a Saturday night. Anyways, this Bendis guy should make Avengers more like the Justice League cartoon”¦but instead of being stoned, everybody should be drunk!
James Hatton (Writer of Diner Talk & Nexus reviewer): Right on! To the bar!!
Matt Morrison: This is what has gotten bandied about of late. After all, why would Spider-Man tie into “Disassembled” if he weren’t going to eventually be on the team? I don’t know if we can take Bendis at his word since all signs point to a “big gun” approach being on the horizon for The Avengers. Still, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment and hope that Hawkeye at least makes it out alive.
Ben Morse: I’m willing to buy anybody being an Avenger provided a good reason is given in the course of the story”¦Wolverine for instance would need a damn good reason (Spidey too, since he’s joined twice in the past and left both times because it “wasn’t for him”).
Iain Burnside: Okay, so I am awake enough to be able to determine that Spider-Man and Wolverine will be on the new roster but the caffeine hasn’t yet reached my brain and is currently mired around my ankle area, which is why I am finding it hard to write this when I really want to go and dance a merry jig. In fact, sod it… I am now the first Nexus-ite to be writing for a Roundtable whilst dancing a merry jig. Yay! Ahem… Anyway, as for the rest of the team I shall hazard a guess of Jessica “Spider-Woman” Drew, Luke Cage and Ghost Rider.
Perhaps after the shell-shock of the Disassembled events, they request Logan’s presence because he has plenty of team-experience? Perhaps Spidey’s reasons can be tied into the presence of Jessica Drew, if she is indeed involved? Tenuous, but I guess they could go with it…
Morse: Sure, Iain, I can just see Cap’s logic now”¦”The team has nearly been decimated and lost everything”¦the only glue that can hold us together now is a psychotic loner who constantly brawls with his teammates and goes after their women in between going off on missions for himself for months at a time”¦”
Burnside: Hey, I never said it was a *good* idea…
Jesse Baker: SPIN BENDIS SPIN! SPIN WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT! SPIN AND PRAY THAT YOU CAN REBRAINWASH THE MASSES AFTER EXPOSING YOURSELF TO BE A LYING HACK WITH THIS REVAMP/REBOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bendis should not be trusted on this. Remember his pledge that he would never use Carnage or Venom in Ultimate Spidey? He’s bootstrapping with this after the public finally saw the talentless hack he really is with his boasting and bragging about how he hated the Avengers and wanting to kill off the second/third stringers Bendis has a pathological hate of.
That being said, watch Bendis cry “OVERWORKED AND EXHAUSTED!” and bail from the book once it re-launches and Marvel scrambling to pay Kurt Busiek a king’s ransom to save the franchise… AGAIN….
Jim Lemoine: I’m with Ben on Wolverine in Avengers… there’s no possible way to justify it. If the Avengers contains an ounce of realism, there’s no way Captain America (or the U.S. Government, for that matter) would EVER allow Wolverine on the Avengers. And beyond mere marketing, there’s no reason Logan SHOULD be there anyway. I mean, it’s not like the little runt doesn’t already show up in every single other team book Marvel publishes… wait, no, I take that back. I’m sure we’ll see Logan on the Fantastic Four as soon as Mark Waid leaves the book… which I pray never happens.
And, umm… Jesse… ummm… way to start the Nexus off on a positive note. You. Don’t. Like. Bendis. We get it. But at the level of sales his book’s usually stay at (not to mention his Eisner nominations), I really don’t think he’s worried at all about the public thinking he’s a “talentless hack.”
Morse: To clarify, I didn’t say there’s no possible way to justify it, just that if they did it, they better have a good justification, and “we need an experienced team guy to hold the team together” would definitely not cut it.
Burnside: How would you justify it?
Morse: I honestly can’t think of a way to justify it…but there’s also a reason I’m not writing comic books professionally and guys like Bendis are, so maybe he can…
Hatton: Without thinking too hard into continuity and Wolvie re-writes, here are just a couple examples that could be a part of getting Wolvie into the story, and then once he’s IN the story, keeping him in is a minor matter at best.
Any one of the following villains would immediately allow for Wolvie to enter the fray:
-Sabretooth
-Viper
-Lady Deathstrike
-Weapon X (specifically pertaining to Capt. American as Weapon 1)
So, all of a sudden, we find out that the person behind the attacks is affiliated with the Weapon X program, and they need to somehow segregate Capt. America from the rest of the team. They feel that the easiest way is to ALSO get rid of the heroes that would immediately come to his aid, the Avengers. Capt. America gets hijacked and Nick Fury has to pull together a team to get his #1 Soldier back. He grabs Wolvie immediately because of his relationship to the Weapon X program.
I’m not saying that this is a great scenerio, but it links itself into some other stories, and allows Wolvie an entrance.
Will Cooling (Nexus reviewer): What Jesse doesn’t like Bendis?
You’d never have guessed
I buy EVERY single Bendis book currently published, yes even Secret War (of course because I’m unemployed they stay in my standing order until Daron tells me to review them).
Paul Sebert (Um”¦he does something for us, but I’ll be darned if I can remember what): You know for a guy who claims to hate Bendis as much as Jesse does, the guy certainly seems to buy and read a LOT of his books… I mean why repeatedly lay down cash for a writer you can’t stand? It makes absolutely no sense. I haven’t enjoyed a John Byrne book in years and you don’t see me laying down cash for Doom Patrol month after month because I’d rather be spending my money on stuff I actually enjoy. Don’t like Bendis? Fine. You don’t have to remind us week after week, go spend your cash on an issue of Usagi Yojimbo or something.
Tim Stevens: Ahh, anger. Mmm, tasty.
To join in on speculation before it is too late, here are the New Avengers lineup hints and my guesses:
1. To know her is to her is to fear her.- Spider-Woman (the Jessica, red costume wearing one)
2. Danny’s friend.
3. Tobey or not Tobey
4. He’s the member you don’t remember. – Gilgamesh (get it, he’s the forgotten. Ok, its probably Hulk, but you never know)
5. Hugh could it be?- Iron Man
The other three I just don’t want to guess about.
Adam Hughes to draw six issue Wonder Woman limited series, wants Geoff Johns as writer
Megan Sherlock: Ooh! Good idea! Because we know Geoff”¦actually Ben knows Geoff, but he made me read the Flash issues he wrote and he’s a good writer”¦and Ben knows him”¦I think if they make a Wonder Woman movie, Kristin Chenoweth from the musical Wicked should play her; not only could she have the traditional Wonder Woman superpowers, she could also be able to hit a high C and dazzle villains with her beautiful operatic voice.
Matt Morrison: Hughes is a great artist and his Wonder Woman covers were excellent. A whole series of books with his art would be great by itself, but if Geoff Johns were writing…. oooh, count me in for that.
Iain Burnside: So he’s the one to blame for all those Tomb Raider covers, eh? Ah well, best of luck to him. I just hope Diana doesn’t have to wear a thong.
Kevin S. Mahoney: Well if it’s more work for Geoff, I’m all for it. I just hope the story idea is a winner, and it’s not another case of “let’s draw sexy babes for four issues.”
Scott Kurtz offering PvP to newspapers free of charge, bypassing syndicates
Megan Sherlock: There are people starving in China and this guy thinks he’s doing a good deed by giving newspapers free comics”¦way to have your priorities in order, dude.
Matt Morrison: I refuse to officially comment on this story on the grounds that I’m sick of reading the misspelled, profanity-filled rantings of Kurtz’s fans that find their way into my mailbox every time he tries to get his name in the news.
Iain Burnside: Awesome. I’ve never read this before but I just checked out the first strip online and now I have something else to distract me from real work for several hours!
James Hatton: Kurtz actually talked about this at San Diego, but it seems now this is reaching an actual story instead of a ‘what I’d like to do’ kind of thing.
The idea is a strong one, where Kurtz is willing to give the newspapers free comics instead of dealing with money hungry syndicates, as well as putting some fresh ideas out into the newspaper market – where comics are generally stale. I think with the exception of ‘Get Fuzzy’, and the occasional ‘Zits’ the only thing you do when you read the Funnies is miss Charles Schultz.
So, more power to him for trying something different.
Kevin S. Mahoney: Good for him. Stick it the Man, down with conglomerate power, baby!
RUMOR: Tony Bedard to do X-Men related mini-series with former CrossGen colleague (possibly Greg Land or Paul Pelletier) (credit: All The Rage)
Megan Sherlock: Would Rogue be in it?
Ben Morse: I don’t know, it’s a rumor”¦
Sherlock: Go bake me a pie, (expletive deleted).
Matt Morrison: I haven’t read anything by Bedard, but I fondly remember Greg Land’s work from the original Birds of Prey. Not enough to pick up an X-Men book (ewww it burns like Liefeld!) but enough to be happy that he’s continuing to find work in the wake of the collapse of CrossGen.
Morse: As I’ve discussed with Tim Stevens, Bedard has yet to show me on Exiles why he garnered such critical acclaim at CrossGen”¦actually, I think his run so far has been awful. I like Land a lot, but it would need to be a character I was really interested in to hook me.
Iain Burnside: One of three X-Men related mini-series, no less. I’m more interested in the one written by Akira Yoshida, personally. I can’t say that a CrossGen or
Dreamwave influenced X book does much for me, even if it has been a while since I seen them team up with the Fantastic Four. Now, why can’t Marvel just release these minis as straight-to-trade rather than stumbling through the single issues?
Bryan Singer & Halle Berry out of X-Men 3
Megan Sherlock:
Ben Morse: He’s the director”¦
Sherlock: What?! Why?!
Morse: He’s directing Superman now instead.
Sherlock: Have they even found a Superman yet?
Morse: Not yet”¦
Sherlock: I don’t care about Halle Berry, I’ve lost what little respect I had for her after Catwoman and she looks bad with white hair”¦but I really liked both the movies, the director leaving makes me sad.
Matt Morrison: Bad news: One of the few directors who cares about the comics he bases his movies on is off X-3.
Good news: the overrated hack who has apparently stopped even trying to act now that she’s gotten an Oscar and called playing Storm “an insult” is off X-3.
Now, if we can just get Jack Black on a fitness regiment in time for Green Lantern and Alan Moore can work some magicks to make the Constantine movie not suck like Jenna Jameson shooting a movie in a Hoover outlet, we just might be able to salvage the comic book movie genre.
Iain Burnside: WHEDON.
Morse: Right now I’m a lot more concerned about Hugh Jackman, who remains unsigned and has expressed wishy washy feelings; Berry can be replaced, we can find a new director (it won’t be easy, though I love Iain’s suggestion), but Jackman is crucial to any sort of success for the franchise.
Burnside: Absolutely. It would be rather stupid of Jackman to not sign on though. After all, Van Helsing doesn’t exactly seem to have a long-term future. Sure, he *could* go and step into Pierce Brosnan’s shoes on the 007 franchise, but X3 would still be the better choice. Even if this does prove to be the last in the series, Jackman has been made to look like an absolute star through them and there is plenty of potential for him to do a Wolverine solo movie. Or two. Or twelve. One for every comic Wolvie’s ever appeared in. Lord knows that Fox would want to make them too. After all, it wouldn’t involve half as much casting effort as these X-movies have done yet would still appeal to just as big an audience. Put it this way – if Jackman doesn’t sign on then I will track down his agent and whack ’em upside the head with a frying pan.
Also, glad to see Whedon is proving to be a popular choice!
James Hatton: I agree with Iain’s sentiments. At this point in time, Whedon is the man we want. I was upset when I heard Singer was off the movie, and it probably
means this is the last in the series. The question is are they going to hold it to the same standards they held the last one to. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them get someone to write a script, do the movie, take in as much as they possibly can with it, and then bail out hard. Warner Bros. is doing it (see Catwoman).
And on Berry leaving, pfft.. whatever. Rumor has it also that her reasons are very selfishly tied to her movie career and the KIND of role she’ll get, but I don’t know her so who am I to comment. She’s overrated anyway… (I guess I ‘AM’ the one to comment, eh?)
Jesse Baker: 1. I hope John Peters makes Bryan Singer’s life a living hell while working on Superman for the way that Bryan has bailed on X3 and 2. WHY HALLE? Why couldn’t Famke Jansen be the one not returning? Famke was the real no-talent hack in the X-Men Movies, not Halle (since everyone forgets that Storm is SUPPOSED to be a wooden, lifeless character)….
That being said, they should just write Storm out and bring a new female into the film series to replace Storm. I’d nominate Polaris since if she is in X3, it would give TPTB the perfect excuse to bring Magneto back.
Burnside: X-23 seems to be getting quite the push lately…
Will Cooling: On Halle Berry leaving X-3
Thank GOD! What a dull and lifeless performance did she give? Personally I want Beyonce to take her place, she would be perfect.
Oh and I second Iain’s call in Marvel News and Views for Joss Whedon to get the director’s chair, would be interesting.
Paul Sebert: I honestly don’t understand this current streak of Berry-bashing. Was Catwoman a lousy movie? Yes, but it wasn’t really Berry’s fault as well, her performance in that film was essentially the movie’s only redeeming value. At the heart of the film is a lousy script combined with a flimsy director, and the fact that Berry was able to get a few laughs out of the material she was given shows she was obviously trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
And really, I can’t blame Berry for wanting a bigger role. I mean essentially all she’s been allowed to do in the other two movies is stare blankly at the camera wearing white contact lenses while CGI tornadoes wreak havok. Why bother going through that thankless role when she could be trying for a second Academy Award doing you know actual “acting” instead of staring at a camera in front of a blue-screen?
Hatton: I think the problem here is double-sided. First, she made it quite apparent at the end of X2, that she wasn’t into doing a 3rd unless they had a bigger role for her. This came right after her Monster Ball win, which made her immediately sound ‘I’m better than this’ about the whole affair. Whether it is truth, or just the speculation of internet rumor, it comes across like she wants an X-Movie about HER.
That coupled with her being in Catwoman, which most people (specifically comic folk) knew was going to be poop on a stick, makes her seem all the more like an enemy to comic movies. Yes, this is a silly thought, but have you seen the people who read comics, for god sakes, we’re hideous.
Personally, I never understood what the hype about her is anyway. I’m just not a fan.
Marvel & WWE go to court over use of the name Hulk
Megan Sherlock: What the hell is WWE?
Ben Morse: It’s the WWF, they had to change their name.
Sherlock: Why?
Morse: They got sued by the World Wildlife Federation.
Sherlock: Are you serious? Hahahahahahahahaha!!
James Hatton: On the side of WWE, I say yes. They will lose money if they aren’t putting out Hulk product anymore. There is ALOT of footage they can play with, we have yet to see ANY retro-style dvd’s based on NWO, the Hulk Hogan Legacy, and your first decade of pay-per-views goes away as well.
Marvel on the other hand has nothing to lose. The Incredible Hulk is his own icon, and is in no way connected to Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan). It really seems that it’s just a matter of them making a smart business decision in the mid 80’s, and really – if you were getting free money for twenty years, and somebody said ‘Nope, no more’ – you would fight it too.
I don’t knock either company for trying, but the only people that have ANYTHING to lose in this are the WWE.
Iain Burnside: I’m sure I covered this a couple of weeks ago… Can’t remember if it was in my Marvel or Wrestling news report though!
Three page preview of Nightcrawler #1 released to ComiX-Fan
Megan Sherlock: Whoa, Nightcrawler is getting his own series too? Cool, Alan Cumming was really good in X2 and Cabaret, for which he won the Tony award”¦there are a lot of award winners in X2, as you and I have discussed, Ben.
Ben Morse: Baby, you can’t actually type like you’re talking directly to me, we need to maintain the illusion that I actually sent these e-mails out to you along with the rest of the staff.
Sherlock: But you are talking directly to me”¦you just got served.
James Hatton: From Previews: “Nightcrawler is a man with a foot in two worlds – one the daylight world of super heroes and super-villains, the other a netherworld of demons and angels, ghosts and monsters – human and otherwise”
WHAT?! Apparently, where they are pushing away from all of Morrison’s X-Ideas, then are embracing Austen’s, which makes me start to believe how much a victim of Editorial Control he was as was rumored. Nightcrawler isn’t a demon!! He’s a mutant that LOOKS like a demon!! Then again, given this whole ‘Crawler retcon, I’m wrong.
But now, we are left with this whole ‘huh?’ when talking about how the shadows have always called to him and how he has a dark taint upon his soul. All of this and he has been generally, one of the most piously, gentlemanly characters ever given an ‘X’. There is no frigging LOGIC!
The writer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is the same gentleman who was going to be taking over after Waid left Fantastic Four – and this is the project he gets? Ah well, I’m probably going to pick up to see if I like his writing… but I won’t be happy about it.
Iain Burnside: Hey, a Greg Land cover with no hot chicks! To paraphrase Bill & Ted, we were totally lied to by our album covers, dude… Anyway, the book isn’t for me as I’ve never been much of a fan of the character, but I do like Robertson’s interior art a hell of a lot. It looks like it belongs in one of the Essential X-Men trades. Very old school cool.
Paul Sebert: I think I might check this one out. I’ve always been a fan of the X-Men’s resident “Blue Fuzzy Elf,” Sacasa has shown some serious potential as the writer of 4 (which I’m not ashamed to admit I like better than Mark Waid’s Fantastic Four), and Darrick Robertson’s art looks pretty sweet.
Let’s just hope Sacasa ignores that whole Nightcrawler being the son of Satan (no not Mephisto, not Damian Hellstorm’s father, someone else) nonsense.
RUMOR: Jude Law wants to play Ozymandias in Watchmen movie (credit: The Beat)
Megan Sherlock: No comment”¦I have no idea what Watchmen is.
Ben Morse: Oh boy, that will go over real well with the readers”¦
Sherlock: Oops”¦no disrespect or anything”¦
Iain Burnside: Law clearly knows how important Watchmen is to comic fans, plus he has the right look for the role. I’d prefer it went to someone a bit older, like Brad Pitt, but I’m certainly not going to complain if it went to Law. I’d just complain about the movie in general because there is no way it can ever work.
Will Cooling: For the love of GOD let there be a shower scene…
woof, woof
Seriously, Law’s a great actor and has the good looks, camp regard for his own image and aloofness to pull this off. Of course the film will be a mess; no way can Watchmen be done in 2-3 hours.
Morse: Between Jesse coming about an inch short of threatening Bendis with death and Will woofing over a Jude Law shower scene, I officially decree this the most unprofessional Roundtable ever!
Matt Morrison: Well, to heck with it then. I’m going to go get drunk and beat up some midgets!
Morse: Too late; Jamie beat you to one, Tim beat you to the other.
Tim Stevens: You hit one midget and no one ever lets it go. Or was it a dozen?
I suppose that isn’t really the point.
Paul Sebert: A very fine effort. Let’s top it next week by having everyone ever make their contributions in the nude. An all naked round-table. Think about what
it will do for bringing hits to our site!
Burnside: Dude, quit encouraging Will.
Cooling: YOU MEAN YOU AREN’T!?!
Stevens: Yeah, nothing brings the people in more than nude comic book fans.
RUMOR: Joss Whedon has not been made an offer to direct X3 yet, but would be interested (credit: ComingSoon.net & Ain’t It Cool News)
Megan Sherlock: Neat! Ben got me hooked on Firefly and I love it now. As long as Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn’t end up in the movie”¦stupid whore”¦
Ben Morse: I told you you’re prettier than she is, it was just a crush”¦
Sherlock: I said go make me a pie, (expletive deleted)!!!
Will Cooling: Man he’s going to look a fool if they don’t give it to him…or they will if its a turkey. Of course he’s the perfect choice, aside from the fact that he’s never directed a feature film, and that all his recent TV projects have bombed and been cancelled but hey let’s get him anyway!!!
Seriously, he seems a good choice. From the little I’ve seen of Buffy/Angel his style and aesthetic is quite similar to what Singer’s did with X-Men (still not seen X2) and we all know he’s got a good grasp on these characters. Although personally I just want Beyonce as Storm (complete with her Claremont era disregard for clothes) and Hugh Jackman to stop playing Rambo and go back to making kick ass musicals and actually looking damn fine whilst doing it.
What?
…
Okay I’ll stop.
