MTV’s Spashpage site has a revealing look at next year’s Spidey film costume in action right here. Sleek, as it should be, it also has web-shooters and an air of acrobatic ability. The mask and feet may not be the final deal and could be used for stunt work though. It looks okay, but it does also make him look like an Olympic ice skater.
75 mins. Our anthropomorphic special. That’s talking animals and we talk about a wide variety of comics containing them. Also – Spock, corporate branding, bell bottoms and annoying movie scores.
LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE, ON ITUNES OR MIXCLOUD
2:37 NEWS
Pics of the Spider-Man, and Captain America films. X-Men: First Class and Priest too. Also, the WAI-CON anime convention in Perth.
12:45 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Viking collection from Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein. Large format old timey action.
Casanova Vol. 1. Spies, multiple dimensions and hip zaniness from Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba.
The Infinite Vacation #1 from Nick Spencer and Christian Ward. Handy, though dangerous iPhone application that allows you to buy and sell alternate universe lives of yourself.
Star Trek New Frontier Book One. A novel by prolific scribe Peter David.
30:15 ANTHROPOMORPHIC READING LIST
Early Mickey Mouse from Floyd Gottfredson
Lions, Tigers and Bears
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Cerebus
Elephantmen
WE3
Maus
Blacksad
Sam and Max
and more!
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK (Yes, it’s been a while)
The internet’s a buzz with the recent casting of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman’s alter ego Selina Kyle and Tom Hardy as bad guy Bane, but most non-comics readers have no idea who Bane is. In fact my local newspaper called him Blane. Sounds like a magician. So, Empire have a handy guide to the bulky, back-breaking character right here. They also have a look at 11 Superhero Vehicles from films, including a few of Batman’s rides, and Wolverine’s motorcycle (huh?). Lastly Empire are allowing us music lovers to listen (not download) the entire soundtrack of ballet/dark drama Black Swan here from composer Clint Mansell.
Oh, and in case you haven’t seen them already here’s the first official pics from June’s ’60 set mutant prequel, X-Men: First Class.
Superheroes can be interpreted any number of striking ways, especially superhero teams. For example, the Justice League by Dan Hipp, and his version of Batman’s rogues gallery,
the Guardians of the Galaxy and New Warriors from Patricio Oliver,
and finally Franco Spagnolo’s Justice League.
All these great artists’ blogs are worth checking out for more impressive pics of pop culture interpretations.
Wikipedia describes this as, “a 2010 French horror comedy film about a tyre that comes to life and kills people with its psychic powers. It was directed and written by Quentin Dupieux.” Yep, that’s what it is. Trailer below.
So the dust of casting rumours has settled and now the facts can be revealed. Anne Hathaway is playing Selina Kyle and Tom Hardy is playing Bane in the third and final Batman film from Christopher Nolan, entitled The Dark Knight Rises. Both are interesting choices.
Hathaway has shown more light hearted humour in her roles rather than the darkness that the former prostitute and inconsistent flame of Bruce Wayne requires, but we don’t know what Nolan’s version of the femme feline fatale will be. The press release from Warner Bros. notes that she’s playing Selina Kyle, not Catwoman, so she may not leather up and grab her whip, but Aaron Eckhart was only ever credited as Harvey Dent, not Two Face in 2008’s The Dark Knight, so we could be in for a nice surprise when TDKR opens on July next year.
Tom Hardy starred in Nolan’s Inception (and as the bad Picard clone in Star Trek: Nemesis) and bulked up considerably for crime drama Bronson, so playing Bane is a good choice. Everyone expected Hardy to play doctor Hugo Strange, not Bane though, but I am curious to see what they do with the character who broke Batman’s back in the awesome KnightFall saga in the early ’90s. Bane is a master strategist and the most recent comics supervillain to show up in these films and is a pivotal one in Batman’s history, and it’ll be good for the Dark Knight to have a bad guy to match his strength and dedication on screen. More than just a forgotten character from the ’90s period, Bane has shown up as a multi-faceted character in Secret Six, showing honour and surprising concern for his fellow crims.
Being as this is the final film in this trilogy, it’ll be interesting to see Batman’s arc. Things left off in the last film with Batman taking the fall for Dent’s death and being labelled a rebel. Will Bruce now retire and marry Selina? Will Batman have his back broken by Bane? Or will Bane even replace Batman as Gotham’s law enforcer?
Ed McGuiness draws bulging muscles and bombastic, powerhouse battles like no-one else, and now he’s returning to Hulk. Details, and rare preview pages with text, below.
Ed McGuinness returns to HULK!
Marvel is pleased to present your first look at HULK #30, as superstar artist Ed McGuinness returns to the book he helped create and joins red hot writer Jeff Parker for the gamma-irradiated team-up you never thought you’d see! That’s right, the Green Goliath and the rampaging Red Hulk must put aside their differences to take on a threat so massive it’ll take the both of them to put a stop to it. The Earth will shake as the COMPOUND HULK makes its shocking debut!
“Thanks to his amazing run with Jeph Loeb, Ed’s become THE definitive Hulk artist of our time,” said Senior Editor Mark Paniccia. “HULK #30 is pure McGuinness madness, introducing new characters that are bound to be instant classics, and some Hulk villains that fans have been frothing for. All this and the Impossible Man, too.”
Prepare for an action-packed, gamma-fueled beat down that only the combined might of two Hulks can deliver in HULK #30, on sale this February!
HULK #30 (DEC100576)
Written by JEFF PARKER
Pencils and Cover by ED McGUINNESS
T+…$3.99
FOC 1/24/11, On-Sale 2/16/11
Publisher Abrams make some good books, such as the new Shazam! by designer Chip Kidd, and they’ve just launched a blog focusing on behind the scenes info. Their latest post is a pretty interesting one as it reveals how some of their books, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Mom’s Cancer got picked up.
The fine folks at Wowio are giving away the first issue of Radical Publishing’s Time Bomb from Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Paul Gulacy. It’s WWII, time travelling action, it looks great and you can download it for free from their Facebook page.
There’s a few things up at Broken Frontier now with my name on them, including my review of an Aussie anthology, my interview with Lions, Tigers and Bears and The Phantom writer Mike Bullock and finally the latest issue of The Frontiersman.
Thor is the man of the hour, or the year, and now has a new title. At least this series has promise, thanks to its creative team though. Here’s the skinny, and the two covers including a film focused one and an even better variant from artist Travis Charest. Artist Oliver Coipel helped relaunch Thor back in 2007 with a new series with writer J. Michael Straczynski, and Matt Fraction has been writing the current Thor series for a while. However that series will now be renamed Journey into Mystery, (by Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite) the series that debuted Thor decades ago. Poor Thor. He’s getting shuffled around all over the place, just to make the most of becoming a movie star. Fair enough really. Find out more here.
Marvel Announces THE MIGHTY THOR By Fraction & Coipel
Prepare yourselves for a new Asgardian age with The Mighty Thor #1! In this all new ongoing series, from the superstar creative team of Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel, Thor must defend his homeworld of Asgard from Galactus! When Thor and Sif retrieve an artifact from deep within the World Tree, nobody expected the Silver Surfer to show up. And where the Sentinel of the Spaceways travels, Galactus is sure to follow! It’s the World Eater vs. Asgard in the explosive opening arc that’s great for new readers! No fan can miss this monumental new series that will redefine what it means to be the Odinson!
“The God of Thunder ain’t never been mightier than now!” exclaims writer Matt Fraction. “Everything is going beyond-epic in The Mighty Thor and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Olivier onboard for the book’s maiden voyage. Look up – think big – fight hard!”
“It’s a really exciting time to be working on Thor. A lot of things that have been developing over the last few months are about to come to fruition in a big way—and in a way that’s going to affect not only all of Asgard, but all of the Marvel U,” said Marvel Editor Charlie Beckerman. “With the release of Marvel Studios’ Thor this May, we wanted to be sure that we pulled out all the big guns. And I’m talking talent—Matt, Olivier, Mark and Laura—and I’m talking characters: I can’t say exactly who’s going to show up, but I will say that it will knock your socks clear off.”
The fate of the golden city of Asgard, the wonder of the nine realms, hangs in the balance and only Thor can ensure the survival of the Asgardians! What does the World Eater seek and what terrible outcome awaits the Mighty Avenger? Discover the answers you seek as Fraction and Coipel pull out all the stops in The Mighty Thor!
THE MIGHTY THOR #1
Written by MATT FRACTION
Pencils & Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
Variant Cover by TRAVIS CHAREST
Variant Cover by WALT SIMONSON
Blank Variant Cover also available
Thor Movie Variant also available
Rated T+ …$3.99
ON SALE IN APRIL!
Supergirl has had perhaps more incarnations than any other comics character, all with different visual interpretations. Abduzeedo have a nifty post on the character with pics from different artists, centred on the current incarnation of the classic superheroine – Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin.
Press release below from Viz Media about the debut of new anime, MAR on Viz’s site and Hulu.com. On a related note, YALSA (that’s the Young Adult Library Services Association) has selected its 2011 Great Graphic Novels For Teens and Viz Media is well represented, with a few of their books making the cut such as Biomega, not simple, Saturn Apartments and more.
An Ordinary Boy Becomes A Hero In The Land Of His Dreams In This Spectacular Adventure
VIZ Media announces the launch of MÄR (rated ‘T’ for Teens) available on VIZAnime.com, the company’s premier website for anime, as well as the streaming content provider HULU, starting on Monday January 17th.
VIZAnime.com and HULU will stream for FREE episodes 1-5 of MÄR (subtitled). Two additional FREE new episodes will launch each Monday.
MÄR is based on the hit manga series by Nobuyuki Anzai (creator also of FLAME OF RECCA), published in North America by VIZ Media. An ordinary middle-school boy with an overactive imagination, Ginta Toramizu dreams about fairy tales and make-believe lands. One day at school, a gate appears and he enters the World of MÄR, the world of his dreams. Within the World of MÄR exist ÄRM: accessories with unique powers. Soon, Ginta stumbles upon Babbo, an ÄRM that can speak, and learns that he has been summoned to this mythical world to stop the Chess Pieces, a group of rogue soldiers, from destroying the World of MÄR. Now part of Team MÄR, Ginta and Babbo fight in War Games against the Chess Pieces to save the MÄR World. But will Ginta’s mission be compromised by his ally’s secrets?
To learn more about MÄR anime and manga series, please visit VIZAnime.com or ShonenSunday.com (free Chapter 1 manga preview available).
Image Comics is on a roll lately, with some stand out new series that have flown off shelves and garnered much interest even before their release. Of their recent string of successes, I’ve only read Chew #1 but liked it, it did take me a while to warm up to the charms of Skullkickers, 27 was an interesting idea but not enough of one to keep me coming back, and Who Is Jake Ellis? was a clear fave. Infinite Vacation from Nick Spencer (writer of another popular Image series Morning Glories) and artist Christian Ward (Olympus) is the latest title to generate buzz.
It’s apparent why that would be the case, with its central concept being so attractive. The notion of alternate universes has been a popular one in sci-fi and comics for a long time, and to take that idea and put it in the hands of today’s techno loving populace is a grand one. For the most part, it works here.
Basically, red headed Mark makes the most of this possibility, like 97% of the population, to buy and sell alternate versions of their own lives. After recounting a few horror stories where his other lives didn’t end up like he’d hoped, Mark remarks that whatever life he chooses, it always ends the same, with a dead-end job, failed relationship and boredom. As an everyman hoping for more from life and craving it like an obsessive, Mark’s a good central character, though in this first issue he primarily serves as the personification of exposition. It’s understandable that Spencer would want to make the protagonist’s life relatable, but so far he seems more like an alt-universe junkie than a well rounded, sympathetic figure.
Early in this issue there’s a 4 page sequence using photographs that shows a sleazy salesman pitching the Infinite Vacation application. It looks good and is a novel visual idea, but it’s in a comic that is already filled with such, thanks to Ward’s dazzling art, which renders this photo explanation unnecessary.
Those who’ve read Olympus, or checked out Ward’s site know what he’s capable of and his work stands out in a welcome way. This is the kind of trippy story filled with potential that allows an artist of Ward’s loose layouts and experimentation with design to take this comic and make it even better, in much the same way J.H Williams III and Jonathan Hickman (the artist) do.
The concept of all the alternate Marks slowly dying and “our” Mark’s investigation into why makes what could’ve been a flat, easily throw-away idea into something well rounded and filled with intrigue. Ideas such as other Marks being his own therapist and technical support consultant are just awesome, as is one scene where Mark is bidding on a world in which a lovely lady at a cafe stays a little longer for a chat. It’s a shame the script and the lettering is out of synch on the exact price though, but that’s a minor detail.
In what could well be the deserved next big thing, Infinite Vacation is off to a pretty good start, but to keep the momentum, deeper issues about the interaction between technology, fate and responsibility will have to be addressed.
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