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X-Men 3 gets Psylocke [Details]
PAUL “PROBLEMATIC” SEBERT: Meiling Melacon is a cutey… but am I the only one who likes haughty British Psylocke as opposed to fanservice “Nimbo” Psylocke?
ANDY “SYMPTOMATIC” CAMPBELL: Works for me! For DC, it was always Zatanna and Black Canary. For Marvel, it was always Psylocke and Rogue.
IAIN “MELODRAMATIC” BURNSIDE: So your ideal woman would have weird hair colour(s) and wear fishnets?
JAMIE “PORNOGRAPHIC” HATTON: I find his choices to be perfect.. albeit I would remove Rogue and put in Emma Frost.
First Roundtable of the year and we’ve already moved into disgusting male posturing! WOOHOO!
ANDY CAMPBELL: Ah, male posturing…it makes the world go ’round.
These days, I would replace Rogue with Emma Frost as well, but the White Queen wasn’t around as much during my formative years. :-)
Incidentally, you would think that oddly-coloured hair and fishnets would be my ideal in real life….yet Goth girls do nothing for me. Weird.
KEVIN “PHOTOGENIC” MAHONEY: Goth Girls usually have bad ‘tudes and almost always won’t even look at Non-Goths. So they’re tough to get hot about in person.
If I had to search my brain for the sexiest X-Lady… I’d have to go with Trish Tilby. X-Men’s answer to Lois Lane, she was cool enough to date a blue furred X-Avenger. If Hank could snag that caliber of chick, there’s hope for all of us. :)
IAIN BURNSIDE: No love for Mystique? You’d certainly never get bored with her…
JAMIE HATTON: See, I always assumed that if you were with Mystique and were to go, “Hey, tonight can be Rachael Weisz… but Mummy Weisz… not Confidence Weisz… Oh no! Wait! Sherilyn Fenn! Yeah! Totally Sherilyn from when she was at the whore house in Twin Peaks.. that’s it”
I figure Mystique would start to get an inferiority complex and gut me. Not to mention she’s probably cheating on you…
IAIN BURNSIDE: Nah, you’re thinking too small – she could change during not just in between. And it wouldn’t have to just be human either. I mean, who hasn’t wondered what it would be like with a ladybug?
TIM “NEW ROMANTIC” STEVENS: I can’t believe this conversation is still going on!!!
That said, early 90’s Rachel Summers Phoenix? I think her mutant power was to be fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.
Did I really just type that?
Richard Branson to launch Virgin Comics; John Woo to create their first book [Details]
MATT “ISN’T IT IRONIC” MORRISON: Okay… seeing what I’m seeing here, my “What Fresh Hell Is This?” alarm is going off heavily. Still, if this could wind up making comics themselves a little bit more mainstream (you think the Virgin music stores won’t carry this at the mall?) and a little bit more distributed, it could be worth having to see what gets craziness gets created by Deepak Chopra.
PAUL SEBERT: Things are about to become very, very interesting. This could be as big a deal as Image Comics in the early ’90s, or a well-intended but ill-fated money pit like Crossgen. But Branson has oodles of cash to spend and he sees the big picture of comics being just a part of a potential multi-media power house.
Very, very interesting.
Rosario ‘Sin City’ Dawson to write new title for Speakeasy Comics [Details]
MATT MORRISON: The idea for the book is pretty standard fair (X-Files, Medium?) and not my cup of tea. Still, I find it interesting that the commentary on Newsarama seems to be mostly split between two camps.
1. Oh yeah. She is totally hot, so I’ll buy this book.
2. Beautiful women have no place writing comics, so I will not buy this because it will suck.
And people wonder why comics have a reputation for being an exclusivist, male-dominated society.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Hey, it’s not as though the new Supergirl is going to help challenge that reputation.
WB cast their new Aquaman [Photo]
MATT MORRISON: Dear lord…. they’re actually going through with this?
I’m going to take a wild guess he’ll be playing the shirtless Aquaman?
IAIN BURNSIDE: Baywatch + Superheroes = Happy Network Executives.
Various newsbits from All The Rage… [Link]
– FAMILY GUY comic books?
– NEW AVENGERS/POWER PACK mini?
– New animated Superman series from the makers of THE BATMAN?
– Weird shit happening to Daredevil?
MATT MORRISON: “FAMILY GUY comic books?” This actually makes a lot of sense. While the SIMPSONS comic isn’t a big monthly seller, it does move a lot of TPs. A FAMILY GUY comic written by the same people who do the show could move quite well if marketed properly.
IAIN BURNSIDE: The SIMPSONS books are also very widespread and easily available in most major newsagents, so they probably shift far more than most major direct market titles can manage. Of course, it’s fairly easy to market them for kids and get away with it. Most of Family Guy’s audience seems to be jaded twenty/thirtysomethings old enough to get most of the pop culture references – and how well will those work in print?
MATT MORRISON: It could work pretty well, actually.
Sure, SIMPSONS comics is written to be kid safe (at least, Bart Simpson is) but there’s a lot of referencial humor too. I don’t honestly think a lot of kids will get the Unca Scrooge parody inherit in Mr. Burns taking Homer, Bart, Lisa and Maggie on a search for “Barks Billions” and Homer needing to get a sailor suit… but forgeting pants. Now all the people my age who remember the old Duck Tales cartoon…
IAIN BURNSIDE: You realise that I’m going to have that theme tune going through my head for the rest of the day? Curses for your evil genius!
MATT MORRISON: “NEW AVENGERS/POWER PACK mini?” Given that, at least in my neighboorhood, the X-MEN/POWER PACK series did well… well, I wouldn’t read it, but good on Marvel for trying to do more kid-friendly fare.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Indeed. And jeers to Marvel for not trying to make it more easily available for the kid audience they’re after.
PAUL SEBERT: For the record I thoroughly enjoyed both POWER PACK mini-series. They’re well worth tracking down in digest form.
MATT MORRISON: “New animated Superman series from the makers of THE BATMAN?” Don’t watch THE BATMAN. Probably won’t watch “The Superman”.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Ditto.
MATT MORRISON: “Weird shit happening to Daredevil?” For those of us suffering through the Bendis run, that’s putting it mildly. The book has become FUBAR. Sadly, this news means that the next issue won’t end with Matt waking up, getting out of bed and finding Karen Page alive and well in his shower ala Dallas.
IAIN BURNSIDE: I’ve been waiting on the HCs and so haven’t read any of the last twenty issues or thereabouts. The last HC did feel like Bendis was running out of steam, but having seen some of the phenomenal art Michael Lark has been producing for his run with Brubaker, I’m definitely going to stick around for the handover.
Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns discuss their plans for Superman, One Year Later [Discussion]
KEVIN MAHONEY: Y’know, if I didn’t loathe Superman so damn much, I’d be intrigued by this. Not that I’m here to bash Superman (today anyway) but that’s a full tilt creative team there. Still, I gotta agree with the words of Bruce Wayne, “The last time you inspired anyone was when you died.”
PAUL SEBERT: If this doesn’t work out… be sure to follow Kurt Busiek’s new series “Superman: Sword of Krypton.”
Chuck Austen returns with a baseball manga story [Details]
KEVIN MAHONEY: Oh weird. Mixing genres, absolutely absurd plot twists, quirky characters, cheesecake manga. I might have to pick this up for a trial run and let the Austen haters run amok all over the Pulse.
PAUL SEBERT: Hey… good for Chuck. I’m not a particular fan of Austen’s writing, but I never understood how he became everyone’s least favorite writer while writting the top-selling X-Book for much of his run. Hope he has fun on this project.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Because…
1. Lumping a bunch of mutants with wolf powers together for no reason other than similar genetics.
2. Evil disintegrating communion wafers.
3. Using said wafers as a plot point in a story based on faking the Rapture to piss of Catholics, even though the Rapture isn’t a part of Catholic theology.
4. Making Nightcrawler into a demon, literally, which completely ignores the fundamental aspects of the character.
5. Azazel being too stupid to go through his portal to Earth and stay there rather than always leaving and moaning about it.
And it wasn’t the top-selling X-book either. Not with NEW X-MEN and ULTIMATE X-MEN leading the sales charge.
I wish Austen all the best on his new book but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that his UNCANNY X-MEN was at all excusable.
Degrassi: The Next Generation: The Graphic Novels [Details]
IAIN BURNSIDE: What the hell is Degrassi anyway?
KEVIN MAHONEY: I believe it’s a fictional high school. Every so often a soap opera comic based on a Canadian TV show has to happen. It’s like natural law. Or the law of averages. Or Murphy’s Law. Or something.
PAUL SEBERT: Degrassi Junior High and it’s later incarnation Degrassi High School were Canadian television dramas known for having quality writing and solid acting as well as being a showcase for every dubious fashion trend of the late ’80s/early ’90s. The show revolved around a group of average students making their way through everyday adolescent life. It ran from 1987 to 1991 and taped reruns of the show were frequently shown in my high school on days when teachers wanted to slack off.
A few years ago CBC produced an update of the show called Degrassi: The Next Generation which has become something of a cult phenomenon on Nickelodeon’s spin-off network Noggin.
Kevin Smith is a big fan of the Degrassi series and has slipped references to the shows in his various films. He also directed and appeared in a handful of episodes of the show.
Anyway having watched a few episodes of the new show (which is quite good) and having fond memories of the original series I might just check this out.
Dark Horse solicitations for April 2006 [List]
KEVIN MAHONEY: More B.P.R.D.! Me happy! Even though the current arc of B.P.R.D. is heavy into killing characters and causing problems.
IDW solicitations for April 2006 [List]
KEVIN MAHONEY: Eh. A couple of ANGEL spin-offs. Wake me when they get to better characters/ideas.
– Possible new costume for Spider-Man revealed [Fugly]
PAUL SEBERT: Kind of ugly, but it looks like an early concept sketch. I imagine we’ll be seeing more of these as we lead closer to the end of “The Other.”
Also watch for more die-hard Spider-Man fans insist that it’s some kind of unimaginable sin to change Spidey’s costume while completely ignoring the popularity of the Black costume era.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Okay, so there are two possibilities….
1) Marvel are actually going ahead with this, in which case they deserve to be met with tanking sales and a slap round the head.
2) Marvel are just yanking everybody’s chains, which is fine but really rather pointless.
[UPDATE: It actually is an official new costume for Spider-Man, designed by Tony Stark and complete with weird mechanical arms. Click here for a better picture of it.]
Storm and Black Panther to be married [Invitation]
PAUL SEBERT: You know Ororo’s going to bring new meaning to the word bridal shower.
MATT MORRISON: Okay. Now I am not well versed in X-Men or Black Panther history. So could someone please tell me… is there any precedent of a Storm/Black Panther relationship before now?
ANDY CAMPBELL: They were married in EARTH X, so maybe they’re trying to build up to that future?
IAIN BURNSIDE: They did have a relationship when they were teenagers, before he was Black Panther and before she joined the X-Men. I think it was meant to have been rekindled in the X-MEN/BLACK PANTHER crossover recently.
PAUL SEBERT: Actually it was established durring the Preist run of BLACK PANTHER that T’Challa and Ororo were an item at some point in the past.
Now granted the Hudlin run re-writes a good chunk of continuity from the Priest series, but this isn’t without precedent.
TIM STEVENS: This sort of bothers me because it is so paint by numbers or, at least, it feels that way. As if Marvel just looked at their stable of characters and said, “Hmm…well here are two prominent black heroes. They should probably hook up or get married or something.” And where does it go from here? Does Storm stop being at X-Man (oooh, Claremont will be mad)? Does Black Panther join the X-Men? Are they married but living apart? Long term, this could be disastrous.
On the other hand, weddings are always nice.
PAUL SEBERT: Well the only thing more paint by numbers than hooking up a popular black superhero with a popular black superheroine, is putting that character in an interracial relationship. (See Luke Cage & Jessica Jones and Cyborg’s girlfriend from the early NEW TEEN TITANS.) So really people are going to complain no matter what you do.
“PLATONIC” COREN: Actually, I believe Storm has already left the X-Men, and Nightcrawler has taken over leadership of her team.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare myself for even more backlash against Hudlin, because apparently he’s the worst writer Marvel ever hired.
TIM STEVENS: Oh…hardly. I have no issue with Hudlin’s writing. I don’t read his books but it is not because I think he’s awful or anything. Just not my cup of tea. Honestly, it was just a critique of the plot idea, not of the man or his writing.
Hope that clarifies where I am coming from.
COREN: I didn’t mean you in particular, it’s just that all I ever hear about is how bad Hudlin is, how much better Priest was, how Hudlin can’t write Spider-Man, etc., etc., etc.
TIM STEVENS: Ahh, I dig. Well, dialogue and character wise, I actually think he’s fine. His plots I am less receptive to. But hey, that’s the beauty of so many comics. Something for everyone.
God, I’m such a nice sap aren’t I?
PAUL SEBERT: Ok… I’m not a big fan of Hudlin’s work on SPIDER-MAN, but anyone who tells you his run on BLACK PANTHER isn’t an entertaining book is full of horse-crap. It’s the book I give my friends who are casual superhero fans and want something they can read without having to delve into a metric tone of continuity. In fact I won over my future brother-in-law into the fandom by giving him the hardcover of the “Who Is the Black Panther” arc for Christmas.
COREN: Honestly I hear more outcry against that because Priest has so many fanboys. And I get that people enjoyed the book when it was full of complex plots and political themes and whatever. But there isn’t anything wrong with writing a character that’s appealing to the masses either. If Marvel didn’t do that, they wuoldn’t sell books.
And honestly, compared to Millar, Hudlin’s run on MK Spidey was brilliant. It had Spidey going back to his roots, it used more of his supporting cast (one of his strength), they reminded us Peter is still a scientist, and actual humor. And above all else, it had no Sinister Twelve, no Venorpion, no selling one of the most evil things ever to charity as atonement then slitting your wrists, no Spidey breaking villains out of jail, no Norman Osborne: Ultimate Evil, and no “Supervillains are from the Government”. Goddamn that run was bad.
MATT MORRISON: How very quickly they forget Grant Morrison and Chuck Austen…
They being the die-hard X-Fans and not me.
ANDY CAMPBELL: I know I’m not the only one who liked Morrison’s X-Men.
TIM STEVENS: Nope you aren’t Andy. I happen to know for a fact Jesse is a big fan, I am sure Iain is too. Me, on the other hand, despite my love for Morrison, just could never embrace it. I think it was a combination of lots of rushed art and my overall apathy towards the X-Men.
PAUL SEBERT: Well X-fans consider any X-Men writer in recent memory to be the worst X-Men writer ever because every X-Men run since Claremont left the first time has been an absolute mess. I mean remember Executioner’s Song? Operation Zero Tolerance? @#$^’ing Maggot?
KEVIN MAHONEY: Hey, I stand by Maggot. Give me a blue skinned South African freak with worms for internal organs over secondary mutations and the X-resurrection du jour. Really, other than maybe Chamber or Beak, Japeth had the best sympathy vote for an un-fun mutant power going. Combine that with a huge emphasis on the mutant/racial prejudice in his origin and he could’ve been really neat.
And I agree with whoever said you cannot win when pairing off a hero of color. It’s a damned if you do or don’t situation.
And let’s not forget that the “fallout” from Executioner’s Song produced a real gem… the Professor X/Jubilee bonding issue where the Prof gets to rollerblade as the technovirus fades from his system. Really neat idea, well done.
TIM “SUPERSONIC” SHERIDAN: Oh yeah, I remember that issue. I liked it. Who did the art on it? He had some good stuff.
COREN: I think this is the issue in question. In that case, your creative team is:
Scott Lobdell (writer), Brandon Peterson (penciller), Dan Panosian (inker), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer), Marie Javins (colourist), Bob Harras (editor), Tom DeFalco (editor-in-chief)
TIM SHERIDAN: That was Brandon Peterson? Of this week’s ULTIMATE EXTINCTION? Wow. Had no idea.
TIM STEVENS: No one is allowed to speak poorly about Maggot. NO. ONE.
As for interracial being “paint by numbers”, how so? I think the Jessica Jones/Cage pairing was handled well and the fact that they are of different races has never even been raised as an issue at all.
TIM SHERIDAN: Very sad about the art for Morrison’s arc, because personally, I loved the stories. I thought he was the first person in years to push the X-Men mythos forward in any way whatsoever. And as soon as he left, they pushed them back. As much fun as Whedon’s run has been, it’s nothing new at all.
I gotta say, when X-ecutioner’s song came out, I was all over that. It was my first big X-crossover, and Cable was huge at the time. And as I look back, I know it’s not great, but it’s still a lot of fun. At that age, I actually thought Prof X was going to die.
Foolish me.
PAUL SEBERT: I thought pretty much the same thing… but of course I was like 13 and also thought Silver Sable was the greatest character ever.
I was such a fool. *sighs*
COREN: What about Whedon’s run? I thought that got both critical and popular acceptance? But, regardless, I can see the problems people had with a lot of the recent authors. Claremont’s nonsensical and so convoluted he confuses even himself, Austen’s plots and characterizations just rang hollow, Milligan’s run only just now became mildly tolerable, and then there was Grant Morrison. Say what you will about how brilliant his stories were, or what metaphors he snuck in there, or how he changed the X-Men mythos. His run felt far too much like he was reimagining the X-Men the way he wanted them to be and too little like he was writing stories for existing characters. I realize that the X-Men (and any character) cannot stay stagnant forever, but that doesn’t mean you change most of their personality to suit your storytelling needs either.
PAUL SEBERT: I’ve enjoyed the Whedon run, but I’d say it’s going to be any minute now that we get some kind of huge anti-Whedon backlash bandwagon.
TIM SHERIDAN: You’re totally right, it did feel a bit like Morrison was just doing his own thing without regard for the characters or their history. I think I may be a bit more forgiving though, just because by that point, I had become so bored with what the X-Men were all about. I had felt by then I had seen it all, and I just viewed Morrison’s run as something fresh. But I totally understand what you mean.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Exactly. Remember, what Morrison tried with the X-Men was what Marvel were trying to do with their entire range of books at that point. Sadly, they’ve gone back to the regressive security blanket now.
Anyway, what personalities did he change?
As for Whedon, his run had critics too. The first arc was very well received for the most part, yet some people just couldn’t get over the return of Colossus. The second arc was, very simply, lame. Then there are those peculiar folk out there that just crap all over everything Whedon does for some reason. Still, his run went down well for the most part. Hopefully the third arc will show improvement on its predecessor.
