The neatest… The Most Splendiferous
Comic news in years…
What do I think of it on the column that breaks the internet into five-hundred-and-twelths…
So it’s a weird week over at the Nexus. Some fubars here, a little behind the scenes checking up there. That added to the fact that I cleaned my room, helped some guy move, and watched Crossbone… and I’m out of sorts.
Oh, and Dani and I are addicted to Veronica Mars, proving once again that I might not, in fact, be a man. Well, I have the huge Marvel announcement this past week coming a bit later in this report with my take on it – so stay tuned True Believers.
First though… the fluff.
SLOTT THING FLUFF!
(Courtesy of Newsarama
Dan Slott just enjoys comics. It’s obvious from the way he talks about them. The way he sits and gets poetically dreamy about The Thing… not to mention his incredibly great She-Hulk – there is no way you can afford to NOT pick this up if you like your comics fun and light. Take for example this exchange about what the first storyline is going to be about….
NRAMA: While he’s (The Thing) busy mindwiping villains, the world changes and the FF are second class citizens?
DS: Right! We’re kicking off a six-issue crossover event that will take everything you know about Ben Grimm, turn it inside out, and when it’s over the Marvel Universe will NEVER be the same again!
Just kiddin’.
That alone should tell you that Slott has a great sense of humor and is going to give us a Thing to enjoy.
THE DEADLY GENESIS IS ALMOST HERE
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
Look at that page? LOOK AT THAT DAMNED PAGE!
I have nothing to say. This is going to be awesome… umm… ok, so there isn’t a lot going on in that page – but I’m not reading any of the ones with the text on them. That would ruin it, and there is no way that I’m going to ruin Deadly Genesis. I just can’t!
The Age of Brubaker begins…
BLACK COSTUME!? PUMPKIN BOMBS!? WHA!?
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
MK Spiderman #19 has sold out. Reggie Hudlin’s Spidey has sold out? Gee whillickers, maybe I have to think about him just a little bit more.
Let’s ignore my dislike of Hudlin and move onto the cover. Take a glance, it features Spidey in the old Black Costume fighting off Pumpkin Bombs and OctArms. Given a story that has nothing to do with either of those villains OR that costume.. what does this fortell? Well Beadle and RatCat over on the forum boards are pontificating about Peter having cancer. The symbiote suit would then EAT said cancer…
Personally, I think it’s all a huge red herring, and there is a flashback in there as Peter reflects back on his life. Seems much more likely than Doc Ock and Goblin coming back to fight him…
EPIC ROMANCE! BLACK PANTHER! STORM!
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
In what is sloooowly moving into our brains as a story that we should have known about forever. Black Panther is hooking up with Storm. Add this in that it is going to be coming out during Black History Month, and I have to say that this actually seems a bit exploitive to me.
Let’s address this first from a sales perspective. If Marvel makes a book about two black characters coming together during Black History Month – it of course is going to get some mainstream press. Let’s not forget that Reggie Hudlin has his hand in it since it involves Black Panther, and you have a media blitz that can only be topped by a PAJAMA-JAMMY-JAM!
Now you take these two characters and you hook them up… the only thing you can do is, over time, send them to break-ups-ville. I guess there is some stories to tell as a bitter ex-boyfriend Black Panther gets all huffy and wants his records back as Storm screams for him to get out of her house.. but past that. I got nothing.
Then again, Storm has been underutilized forever, so maybe this will give her something to do.
The cover is really hot though.
OVERSHINED BY WHAT’S COMING NEXT!
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
Did you ever see Rambo? Yeaahh.. well take the guy who wrote that and give him a book about Captain America. I’m not a war guy, so I don’t have too much to say on this.. here’s Marvel’s press blurb about it:
In his first comic book writing effort, Morrell will bring his action writing talent to Captain America, in the story of a young Marine, Corporal James Newman, who is on his tour of duty in Afghanistan. In the midst of a brutal fire fight with enemy forces, Captain America leads him out of the battle while helping him rescue his wounded comrades who are trapped by enemy fire. When the smoke clears, Newman is unsure if Captain America was really there, or a hallucination in the stress of battle.
Sounds like a cool story, and apparently Marvel’s big do-gooder is going to get some Urban Legend treatment. Any story that takes the mythos of the characters and makes them larger than life is me. They should have been doing that to Ghost Rider for years.
..AND NOW THE BIG NEWS!
(Courtesy of Newsarama
Next week, retailers who filed claims in the class action lawsuit brought by Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience in San Francisco will see credits from Marvel on their Diamond invoices. The credit are, as regular Newsarama readers know, the result of the lawsuit (which Hibbs’ class won) which sought damages from Marvel due to the publisher’s then refusal to accept returns on books that either shipped late, or with contents that were not solicited properly – conditions which were in Marvel’s Terms of Sale.
I know that’s a bigger blurb than I put in here normally, but all that data is important. You see, Marvel’s lack of a consistant schedule caused retailers to lose money. The change up of artists and writers for fill in issues, again caused rifts between retailer and customer.
Hibbs is taking it to the big boys. Good for him to. He has a contract with the big distrobuter (Diamond) and he holds up his sides by paying his bills. Marvel should do their part to hold up theirs. So he took it to the man and won for everyone. Good for him. For more on this story, go check out the link…
HA! That wasn’t the big news you were expecting.. were you?
This is though..
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed…
(Announcement at Newsarama)
(Joe Friday Explains it at Newsarama)
Here is the barebones:
King is coming to Marvel.
King is doing a new Dark Tower book.
Jae Lee is arting it.
Richard Isanova is coloring it.
What this is, is in fact, the biggest story in comics this past week. You have the man, whether you like him or not, is probably the most iconic American author of the last 25 years, teaming with a place that puts out funnybooks.
Add in that he is taking this entire universe that embodies his entire work and giving it to Jae Lee to art up. The images that you can find from those two links is amazing.
What do I think about it? Well, as a Stephen King fan – and as a Marvel fan – and as someone who really really really… CAN’T GET INTO the Gunslinger.. I have to say.. “Hmm..”
You see, the Gunslinger is, in itself, a hard novel to digest. I’ve tried, like 5 times, and each time I fall asleep somewhere around the Gunslinger gets to the old train station. I don’t know why, but I’ve heard if you can stomach the first book – the rest are excellent. I really have too many books to read to stomach something.
I think this is a boon to Marvel, and to all of us. This really is going to pull in new readers, because the rabid Stephen King fans are just that.. rabid. They will digest it up, and King’s mentioned his love of some of the Marvel characters before — the rub is going to be influential.
Then again, this could me just being a fanboy speculator and this could all just be fun.. then gone.
I look forward to reading it, and hopefully being able to see what made the Dark Tower interesting.
POPCORN AND JUJUBEES AND MARVEL AND YOU!
(Courtesy of ComicBookResources)
Some photos of the movie that has been on the slow burner as way as hype goes. I’m really starting to get worried about this one.
There is finally a spoiler. FINALLY a spoiler. It seems that this lovely lady:
Will be playing Callisto villain over on the Golden Gate Bridge fight that people have been rumbling about. For the record, that brings the
running tally of mutants in this movie to a svelt 198….
Remember when everyone talked about how Tom Cruise was going to play the drunk playboy? Yeah, neither do I – but it seems this movie has found it’s way to slushpile hell… back to Marvel it goes.
Yes, I want that to be the title of the movie, and written by the late Douglas Adams. Ahh.. the news on FF2 is that they are planning a release date of July 4th, 2007. If you watch closely, it’s the same day that Transformers is coming out. I, apparently, will not be barbecuing in 2007.. I will be at a double feature, and not wearing any pants.
MINI-REVIEWS!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #525
I know I know.. HOW COME THEY HAVEN’T TOLD US WHAT’S WRONG??!! Oh – quit whining. Stop it.. be a man! I’m going to get more into this on my review of this book – but take away every single thing about Pete’s disease.. you are left with a perfectly acceptable story about Pete vs. Tracer from the perspectives of the main three characters. It’s great storytelling.
BOOK OF LOST SOULS #1
If Rising Stars was JMS’ Watchmen, and Midnight Nation was his Sandman, then this book is going to be his Book of Lost Souls. Meaning that I think he might have found the story that puts him on the A-List that he has deserved to be on for so long. Then again, I’m a gibbering fanboy for JMS.. so please, take that with a grain of salt.
DAREDEVIL #78
HOLY CRAP! This book had it all, and as we move into the last bit of Bendis’ monumental run on this book… I don’t care how it’s going to end – I know I will walk away happy. Who didn’t get a chill at that last panel?
KABUKI #5
A quote from Danielle, authoress of Fangirl Ramblings: “It’s pretty because it’s David Mack’s artwork, and it’s an interesting concept that he used throughout the book – but, the story isn’t completely holding my attention. It’s the new step in Kabuki’s life, but it feels like the same rehashed thing he’s done before.”
NEW AVENGERS #12
Do you know who Ronin is? NO.. YOU DON’T.. NEITHER DO I! The fact is that this book is very good, although there is a weird pacing issue where I had a hard time distinguishing when/where things were happening.
YOUNG AVENGERS #8
Can I see an adult animated movie about this show? Each character makes me love it a little more. The way that Cap’n handles Elijah and his family is exactly how you would want. The pacing is perfect – by far my book of the week.
THANK GOD I TYPE FAST!
As that column took me roughly 5 minutes to do. Five minutes is all I gave to all of that heartstopping, blood-thirsting, heart-quaking, bone-slipping, random-wording, combo-plattering, death-defying, break-fasting work.
That’s not true – it took me 1.5 episodes of Veronica Mars, and that’s not including the time I took to read through all of the feedback you people sent me. HA! SNAP! OOOOOO I WENT THERE!
Until next time – this is Hatton saying..
OOO SNAP! I WENT THERE!
