NOTE: The individual opinions of each Roundtable contributor is their own, and is not representative of anybody but that contributor.
Ed Brubaker ends run as writer of Catwoman with issue #37, Scott Morse steps in for three part story
Paul Sebert (Still looking for something to do”¦): Brubaker’s leaving Catwoman? *Extreme Joel-Silver Movie Style Slow Motion*
Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
But seriously I’m kind of interested to see what Scott Morse has in store for Selina, but well in all honesty this book just haven’t recovered from Cameron Stewart left the book late in last year. It’s gone from having one of the most unique dynamic looks on the market, to being just another Bat-book despite some solid work by Paul Gulacy.
Nick Piers (Nexus reviewer): Well, I haven’t been reading the title since #25 when the art team changed. In my opinion, the entire feel of the series changed at that point and didn’t feel as pulp-like or unique as before. The writing was still top notch, but the art deco style (is that the right description?) with artists like Cooke and such really did it for me. If DC turns this character back into cheesecake, then they’re taking twenty steps backwards from the revolutionary way that Brubaker had begun the title with.
Iain Burnside (Writer of Marvel News & Views & Nexus reviewer): Hmm. Well, life’s a bitch. I just hope DC hurries up and releases some more Catwoman trades. That’s how I’ve been collecting the series, but they’ve only made it to issue #10 so far so I have no idea if the art team shake-up of issue #25 was the spirit-sapping, soul-destroying harbinger of doom that some have said it was, or if Piers just forgot to take his medication again.
RUMOR: A power ring-corrupted Kyle Rayner is the killer in Identity Crisis (credit: Lying In The Gutters)
Paul Sebert: Sorry, even taking into account the Woman in Refrigerator Incident from the Ron Marz run, well it just doesn’t seem to click with the Killer’s M.O. Kyle Rayner’s an artist, and well if he really did go mad-bad-crazy-go-nuts, well we’d be seeing some really scary over-the-top stuff. The nature of the killings thus far suggests a very methodical criminal mastermind. My guess would be this is the work of assassain like Deathstroke or Merlyn aided by the Calculator, and being funded by Lex Luthor.
But to be honest, I think the biggest reason as to why Kyle can’t be the killer, is that well after angering so many Hal Jordan fans by turning him rogue, would they honestly want to do the same thing to Kyle’s fans? I think not.
Kyle Litke (Nexus reviewer & once upon a time writer of CrossGen News & Views”¦let the bell toll): See, I don’t think this is really a rumor at all…it’s just a theory. A couple people claim to have inside information that it’s Kyle. Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen. Personally, I think it’s way too early to even venture a good guess about who’s going to be the killer, but Kyle’s as good a pick as anyone, especially if you think it might be a hero rather than a villain. And he is about to lose his title….
Nick Piers: It’s ironic that a lot of people will be pissed about this as it’s similar to what DC did to Hal Jordan. In all honesty, though, I think it’s a different thing all together. The way they handled Hal Jordan’s departure was completely wrong, but what I’m more pissed about is that DC is finally back peddling to pressure and it doesn’t make sense from a character stand point at all. I’m all for change and evolution. After around 10 years of trying to tell us that Kyle was the one, true Green Lantern, DC is going back to the original. Personally, I won’t be reading the new series. DC has taken 10 years or more to convince us that Kyle is one, true Green Lantern. They’ve made him a respectable and worthy owner of the ring with hints of bringing back the Corps. I don’t see why they couldn’t just take the Spectre part of Hal away and make him…what? Maybe a trainer for a new Corps along with Kilowog on Oa? I mean, what life will Hal have once he comes back? His supporting characters have moved on, a lot of people don’t trust him anymore, etc. I don’t find any of that interesting.
*Sigh* My thoughts of leaving mainstream comics and going with titles that never changes directions may be more relevant soon. I might just stick with titles like Invincible, Fables, Y: The Last Man, etc. Some of the few mainstream that I might keep will probably be Ultimate Spiderman, Gotham Central and such. Other than that, I might be done.
Jamie Hatton (Writer of Diner Talk & Nexus reviewer): Hopefully they will explain it well for us non-DCites if that’s the case. Meltzer has done a bang-up job making me care about characters that I had no idea about. So unless it’s Superman or Batman, I’m going to be surprised anyway. Heck, if it were Superman or Batman I’d be more surprised.
Iain Burnside: Right, so I’ll add that to the list of suspects that includes EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE DCU. Seriously, there have been that many people listed as suspects since before issue #1 was even solicited that I’m not about to believe a rumour about Kyle, or anybody for that matter. I guess it just goes to show how good a mystery writer Meltzer is for there to be so many possible outcomes of this. If it was Kyle, however, then this would more than likely be something DC editorial ordered Meltzer to do, rather than something Meltzer came up with on his own volition. Since I’m pretty certain that Meltzer came up with this whole story on his own, I really can’t see this being true. I still want to know where/if Luthor fits into all of this though… was his final cryptic comment in Superman/Batman nothing more than a red herring?
Ben Morse (Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Nexus & writer of The Watchtower): I give Meltzer way too much credit as a writer to pull a move that everybody would scream was derivative from one of the most widely reviled stories in DC history.
RUMOR: Geoff Johns & Phil Jimenez are working on a series to commemorate Crisis On Infinite Earths’ 20th anniversary that will feature somebody trying to get “their” Earth back (credit: Lying In The Gutters)
Paul Sebert: Obviously this is the return of Earth C home of Captain Carrot, and the Incredible Zoo Crew”¦
Nick Piers: Huh. The Charlton Heroes? Captain Marvel? I’m not sure what that’s to mean, but you know who I’d really like to see on any kind of anniversary thing? Busiek and Perez, if they’re able and willing. Would Johns and Jiminez do it justice? Probably, since Jiminez’ style originates from Perez. And Johns is almost always impervious to a bad story. Still, I won’t make any judgments about this until I hear more.
Iain Burnside: Oh, piss off. Actually, this has the potential to be the funniest damn comic ever if they turned Barry Allen into a villain. Can you imagine the outcry? HAW-HAW!
Ben Morse: Actually that’s AMAZING Zoo Crew, Paul.
And I have no idea what Iain just said. I’d credit it to “dry British wit,” but Iain is a fellow Scotsman, so I should be able to understand him.
Given the creative team, obviously I’m interested in this. It’s a pretty big task to live up to, pretty daunting pressure, but if Geoff & Phil don’t mind taking it on, I’d certainly salivate to read it. Who could the “refugee” be? Given that it’s Geoff, maybe Black Adam? Nah, too obvious”¦
RUMOR: Hank Pym is the mastermind behind Avengers Disassembled, driven over the edge by the affair between The Wasp and Hawkeye (credit: All The Rage)
Paul Sebert: A pretty logical possibility, one that makes a lot more sense than the Kyle as the Identity Crisis killer. Let’s face it, Hank’s got a looooong history of psychological unstability. That said, I see him as more of a red herring.
Let’s face it, Ultron is perfectly capable of masterminding his own comeback.
Nick Piers: Ah hell, why not? Every Marvel writer has taken that one moment when he hit Janet and made it the entire reason for his character. It’s like he doesn’t exist for anything else now. Look, Ant-Man used to be a pretty respectable character before all that crap that ONE writer did way back when. Now it’s the one thing that encompasses him and makes him the unstable character in the Marvel universe. Just kill him off, Bendis. Kill them all off and do your thing with characters that don’t make sense under the traditional Avengers setting. Where in the bloody hell does Wolverine find the time to do all these crossovers? Does the guy even have any kind of life outside of all the times he appears in X-Men and dozens of other titles? And Spider-Man’s a bit of a loner and always has been too much of one to join the Avengers. If Captain America was to put together some of the BEST of Marvel why wouldn’t he get Reed Richards for the brainy?
And once again, I wonder if I should stick with a series that has and always will have one creative team or writer.
Iain Burnside: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – wake me when The Sentry is here. Speaking of which, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned The Void as possibly being the “mastermind” since the new team line-up was announced.
Ben Morse: I’m with Nick on at least part of what he said”¦I’m so frustrated with seeing writers ignore huge chunks of Hank Pym’s development as a character post-hitting Jan than I’d just assume see the poor schmuck put out of his misery at this point. I’m not an advocate for spousal abuse, obviously, but there is the possibility of redemption”¦and even if Jan and the others shouldn’t have forgiven him (I’m not really sure), well, they did, it was written and we read it, so that means you can’t ignore it no matter how high profile a writer you were. They reconciled and were pretty happy during the Busiek run, so why is Hank now saying he’s resented Jan ever since the divorce?
Since they mentioned this theory in the letter column of #501, I’m betting it won’t happen, but if it does, fine”¦just don’t kill Hawkeye.
Mark Millar says Jim Caviezel is the new movie Superman, Harry Knowles
says he isn’t, Millar puts his money where his mouth is by offering to give $1,000 of his Wolverine earnings to charity if he’s wrong
Jamie Hatton: Ahh the speculation machines turn and turn. Wake me up when it’s posted on IMDB – that’s my watermark on Internet Dream Matching movies.
Looking at this guy, he sure does have a Clarkish kind of look which is great, but wasn’t it just last week we were talking about Tom Welling (Smallville) last week? Next week it will be Keanu as Supes, Eric Roberts as Lex, and Alf as Braniac… and everyone will be up in arms about it.
So crush those rumors Millar, tame us internet hooligans who will speculate until the topic is deader than dead can be. Make us see the light of waiting for properly released information.
Iain Burnside: Yes, but who is going to play Chloe??
Nick Piers: Well, it’s not worse than Johnny Depp as Luthor and Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane. Plus, Jamie, don’t give them any ideas! Personally, I think it’d be hilarious to see Alf in the purple and green Braniac getup. It’ll never happen, but damn that’d be funny. And Iain? GET OFF THE CHLOE STUFF! Damnit, Burnside!
Look, I’m sorry, but unless this movie is made perfectly, it’ll never surpass Donner’s Superman I & II. Those two movies are still great even today. People (myself included) will endlessly compare this project to the originals. They’ll say that Christopher Reeve did the best job and no one will ever compare. Or even compare it to Lois & Clark with Dean Cain and Terri Hatcher. They had a great modern look for the characters even if the series lost all of its magic with the cloning crap.
It’s the same problem that the Batman franchise has right now. The upcoming Batman Begins could bomb badly or it could resurrect the franchise. Either way, it’s going to be compared to Tim Burton’s work.
Burnside: Batman is going to be just fine. If there is any one man in the world that could properly play the modern version of Bruce Wayne/Batman, then it is Christian Bale. Add to this an excellent supporting cast, writer and director, and you’ve got one hell of a movie with plenty of scope for sequels. It’s just a shame that they went and f*cked up Catwoman, killing off any potential there was to bring her into the next movie. Plus, I doubt that there will be many unfavourable comparisons with Burton’s work. Say what you will but the first one was a Jack Nicholson showcase and the second one was a Tim Burton showcase – neither of them were actually Batman films about Batman.
Now, Donner’s Superman films on the other hand are just stunning and, in my opinion, nobody could ever hope to better them. However, there are presumably far more kids out there who have never seen them, or even heard of them, that would quite willingly go along to see a Superman movie. Unfortunately, by focusing on the kids too much they are in danger of turning it into some superficial, glossy action flick. I can’t believe they even considered hiring McG, let alone giving him the job. Hell, if they had their way we would have wound up with Josh F’N Hartnett in the lead. Grr.
This is all just a very roundabout way of saying that they should just focus on the Batman film, get cracking on the untapped potential of a Green Lantern franchise, and just leave Superman alone until Smallville is finished and they can cast Welling and Rosenbaum.
And Mack.
Ben Morse: Y’know, I have a funny feeling that Millar is going to give that money to charity no matter what, why else would he bring it up as he would look like a monumental jerk if he wins and keeps the cash. Despite what I say about the guy’s work, I have always said he seems like a very decent fellow. I really hope he doesn’t go the monumental jerk route described above”¦
And God help us from having Tom Welling as Superman! I’ll abide his wooden, whiny acting on the WB, but not the big screen! Rosenbaum is welcome to make his way into the movie though.
Kevin Smith has begun work on a sequel to Clerks
Iain Burnside: If he’s too scared to actually branch out and do something different like Green Hornet or Fletch, then I’d much rather see him bring back the Clerks Animated Series. Doing a studio-backed Clerks movie in glossy colour with a specially-constructed Kwik-Stop set on some Hollywood soundstage just pisses all over the heart of what made the original so successful. It also further exposes Smith for being one big hypocrite.
Jamie Hatton: I heard about this a couple of days ago and at first was a bit put
off. Clerks 2 from the man who was not attacking the Jersey scene again: Kevin, big budget man, Smith. Then I read an article as to WHY he was doing it, and it was just for those reasons. He made Jersey Girl for, what, 40 MILLION dollars? And it was a bomb. He made Clerks for $50 and a bag of cheetos, and it’s a critical success. He’s going back to his roots. I appreciate that, and am looking forward to another dialogue heavy, geek-joke laden, and openly accessible, fun movie.
Joss Whedon on X3 rumors heat up
Jamie Hatton: Apparently they read our forums. Good. It’s what the majority of the
internet community has been saying since the sad loss of Singer on the project. What I do love is that it will make sure it’s not a Wolvie-centric movie, which I understood then, but we can move past it now. This is in that ‘probably truth’ section of your rumor mill, but as I said before… don’t start getting your Buffy-watching panties moistened over this until it shows up on IMDB.
Iain Burnside: It will be a Wolvie-centric movie no matter who directs it. Hugh Jackman has been the star of the first two films and the studio knows that only too well, not to mention that, like it or not, Wolverine is the most popular X-character by far. Anyway, as far as Whedon is concerned Wolverine is his favourite type of male character in that bad-ass-tortured-soul-with-a-horrific-past kinda way that worked for Spike and Angel.
NEW FEATURE
HOT BUTTON TOPIC OF THE WEEK (please help us come up with a better name for this”¦)
Colossus returns from the dead in Astonishing X-Men #4
Tim Stevens (Writer of DC News & Views & Nexus reviewer): I’m probably out of line here, being that I am, typically, a self-described X-phobe, but I thought Colossus’s return was remarkably well done. The word free three panels of Kitty’s realization is heart-breaking stuff. Personally, I am glad to have that organic steel Russkie back, but, again, I have to mention that I have rarely read or bought X-Men until this point.
Paul Sebert: Read it last week, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m not the biggest fan of reviving popular characters, but his return worked in the context of the story and the final page confrontation between him and Kitty Pryde was really emotional.
Kyle Litke: I know a lot of people are unhappy about this, but I like it. I understand that his death was a very touching moment, but Marvel didn’t really do anything with it. They could have made Colossus a martyr for mutants, someone to influence mutant kids to this day. Instead, he died in a touching story that was promptly forgotten a couple months later in favor of the next shocking thing. When even crappy characters come back from the dead in comics, why should Colossus, a great character, be the exception?
If his death had brought about a lot of good stories, rather than one good issue, I might feel differently. As it is, I’m looking forward to more Colossus.
Nick Piers: It’s about damn time, that’s all I gotta say. I hate the revolving door that Marvel’s Heaven has installed, but this is one character that I’m kinda glad to have back. The X-Men haven’t had a big unstoppable powerhouse for a long time (other than Juggernaut) on their core team and I’m glad the big guy’s back. Now we all know why Whedon threw in Kitty Pryde into the team of big names.
Jamie Hatton: Heh, hot button. Sounds dirty. I see that everyone, so far, has been in accordance on this on the Roundtable. If you want to see people disagree about this more, go check out the forums. As I said in my review of the book, what was amazing about the return is how it was written. It was almost silent, and if it was a movie, it would have been the same way. The door opens and there Kitty stands shocked with Piotr right there. It was moving.
If it was one of the other X-scribes right now, I might have been screaming bloody murder about the whole affair, but since it was not only Whedon, but done well – I’m not so upset with it. As long as he can explain away the glitches in the story, I’ll be fine. The glitches being – How is he alive, since they buried him and he took the Legacy Antidote, and more recently thought up by myself and girlfriend – Isn’t Jean Grey’s DNA down there too somewhere??
Iain Burnside: Let the word go forth from here – Astonishing X-Men #4 is the best single issue that Marvel has made this year. ‘Nuff said.
Ben Morse: Just as I don’t mind death when it’s well done, I don’t mind resurrection when it is well done, and this was beautifully done. Now Joss just needs to make it make sense, and I’ve got faith that he will.
And good point on the death of Colossus being a great story but never yielding much else, Kyle.
But I gotta correct you, Nick: Kitty is on the team because she’s Joss’ favorite character (he said he based Buffy in large part on her), not just for Peter.
