Don’t be put off by the title. This new novel from Top Shelf is actually rather funny and genuine.
Read my full review right here.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Clip
After seeing the featurette on DC/Warner Bros’ latest animated film, Flashpoint on the just released Superman: Unbound Blu-Ray I’m eagerly awaiting its release, which we know now is July 30. Very soon! Official details below regarding the dark, alternate version of the DC Universe, as based on the great 2011 mini-series from Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. A few screenshots, and the first clip from the film is also below, in which Cyborg (who I think has a metallic sounding voice for the first time, which makes sense) attempts to recruit Batman.
The film will have its World Premiere at Comic-Con in San Diego on Friday, July 19 from 7:30-9:30pm in Ballroom 20. The premiere/panel description with anticipated participants is below. Panelists are
subject to change (which could include additions!)
Fans can also meet and get autographs (on a Comic-Con exclusive mini-poster) from the panelists on Saturday, July 20 from 11:00am-Noon at the Warner Bros. Booth.
“Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox” will be released as a Blu-Ray Combo Pack and DVD on July 30, 2013.
Here is the premiere/panel description:
Friday, July 19
7:30-9:30 World Premiere of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox –
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation invite you to be the first to experience Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, the highly-anticipated next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. When time travel allows a past wrong to be righted for Flash and his family, the event’s temporal ripples prove disastrous, creating a fractured,
alternate reality where the Justice League never formed, and even Superman is nowhere to be found. Amidst a new world being ravaged by a fierce war between Wonder Woman’s Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans, Flash must team with a grittier, more violent Batman and government agent Cyborg to restore the continuity of Flash’s original timeline.
Come for the film, but stay for the star-studded panel that features Grey’s Anatomy stars Justin Chambers and Kevin McKidd as Flash and Batman, respectively, along with C. Thomas Howell (Southland), Cary
Elwes (The Princess Bride), Sam Daly (The Daly Show) and a few surprise voice cast members, plus the filmmaking team of producer James Tucker (Superman: Unbound), director Jay Oliva (Batman: The Dark
Knight Returns), dialogue director Andrea Romano (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns), screenwriter Jim Krieg (Green Lantern: The Animated Series) and character designer Phil Bourassa (Young Justice).
Moderator Gary Miereanu will add to the fun with a special announcement of the 2014 DCU movie slate, as well as exclusive, cast-autographed prizes for a few lucky fans. Based on the landmark mini-series by Geoff Johns & Andy Kubert, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox will be available as a digital download on July 19, 2013 and a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack on July 30, 2013.
Above are Batman, Cyborg, Flash, Lois Lane, Reverse Flash and Wonder Woman.
Stalag-X #1 Review
My review of the debut issue of Stalag-X, written by acclaimed novelist Kevin J. Anderson is here at Broken Frontier.
The Victories: Touched Review
Writer/artist Mike Avon Oeming’s 5 issue mini-series, The Victories is now available as a Trade Paperback from Dark Horse.
I review the collection of the mature superhero tale here at Broken Frontier.
Marvel Heroes Opening Cinematic
There’s some great animation here. This is the opener for the free Marvel Heroes game created by Gazillion, and written by comics scribe Brian Michael Bendis. It looks fluid, and sums up the origins of some great Marvel heroes beautifully.
You can check the game out here.
Comics Alliance Returns
There are a lot of comics related sites, but Comics Alliance is one of my faves, and I was one of many sad to see it suddenly switch off its lights. Now though, after a month of silence, it has returned. Yay!
Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale Review
In the current May Previews catalogue, for items set for release in July, is a beautifully realised OGN from indie publisher Improper Books.
Read my review of Porcelain right here, and you can find a trailer for Porcelain here.
Six-Gun Gorilla From BOOM!
It’s been a while since I’ve been excited about anything from BOOM! Studios. Not because they aren’t making good comics; just because I haven’t read any of them for a while. Next month, however, that looks to change. Six-Gun Gorilla looks and sounds very cool indeed.
BOOM! STUDIOS REVEALS SIMON SPURRIER’S SIX – GUN GORILLA
IN STORES IN JUNE
This June, BOOM! Studios launches a bold new mash-up of Western and Sci-Fi with SIX-GUN GORILLA. Because the only thing better than a gorilla in a comic book is a gorilla with gigantic, matching six-shooters.
Inspired by an obscure public domain character, SIX-GUN GORILLA is created and written by Simon Spurrier (X-MEN: LEGACY, CROSSED: WISH YOU WERE HERE) with interior art by Jeff Stokely (FRAGGLE ROCK, THE REASON FOR DRAGONS) and featuring a cover by Eisner Award-winning artist Ramón Pérez (A TALE OF SAND, WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN), SIX – GUN GORILLA is a pulpy mash-up of Western weirdness and lo-fi science fiction unlike anything else on the stands!
Welcome to “the Blister” — a bizarre other-world colonized by humans sometime in the 22nd century, which quickly became a hotly-contested source of fertile land and natural resources long ago exhausted on Earth. In this new frontier, a rogue gunslinger and his companion wander across a wilderness in the grips of a civil war, encountering lawlessness, natives, and perversions of civilization in a world at the crossroads between the past and the future. The fact that said gunslinger is a bio-surgically modified silverback gorilla toting a pair of enormous revolvers is neither here nor there.
“The words “Six-Gun Gorilla” have squatted in my psyche – as immovable as only a revolver-packin’ primate can be – since I first heard them. How could I pass up the chance to breathe new life into such an insane, evocative title (so sinfully neglected since its inception as a 1939 pulp serial)?” explained Spurrier, “In deference to its unknown writer, our new version has mutated into a comic unlike any other: a relentless blast of deconstructive weirdness, gunsmoke, surreal frontiers and Awesome Ape Action. Six-Gun Gorilla is a head-poppin’, civil-warrin’, wilderness-crossin’ epic with sly sci-fi notes: a love-letter to the Western genre, signed with a flourish by a black-furred and blood-drenched fist.”
SIX – GUN GORILLA #1 will arrive in stores on June 12th with a cover by Ramón Pérez and carries a retail price of $3.99 under Diamond order code APR130933. And don’t forget to ask your retailer about the incentive cover by James Harren (B.P.R.D.)!
Oh, and BOOM! are also the latest publisher to give us Robocop comics too.
Comics In Libraries
At the revamped Broken Frontier you can read a new blog post by me about comics in libraries. Ah, what an age we live in!
He-Man Comes To DC
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has had new series and one-shots from DC Comics over the last year or so, and now as suspected it looks like a cross-over with the DC Universe is on the way in August. Maybe the residents from Eternia will migrate permanently to Metropolis, Gotham, etc or this will be a temporary visit.
I’m not sure what to think about this though. I mean, the new costumes are bewildering and sexist. (He-Man gets more clothes, and Teela gets less). Well, here’s the only pic released so far, and here’s a brief interview with writer Keith Giffen.
Free Comic Book Day
Yep, it’s tomorrow! The annual tradition returns and there are 52 free comics on offer this Saturday. Here you can read my two part look at some of the options available to you.
Halo Comics Now At Dark Horse
Marvel may eventually take Star Wars from Dark Horse, but Dark Horse are now taking Halo from Marvel.
A NEW ERA OF HALO® COMICS BEGINS AT
DARK HORSE!
One of the most iconic video game franchises in history comes to the number-one publisher of licensed comics!
Dark Horse continues in the tradition of bringing only the biggest and best characters and story lines to comics with the announcement of the Halo: Initiation miniseries, launching in August! This exciting new miniseries will be written by Halo 4 writer and comics veteran Brian Reed, with art by Marco Castiello (Secret Invasion: Front Line,Star Wars: Purge)!
Before she was a supersoldier defending humanity as part of the Spartan-IV program, Sarah Palmer was an ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Trooper—carrying out the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines! See how she became the first Spartan-IV commander in this must-read series for fans of Halo 4 and the Halo franchise!
“A rich science fiction universe driven by compelling characters, Halo has all the makings for show-stopping comics, ” said Dave Marshall, Dark Horse Editor. “In Initiation, Brian and Marco are delivering an action-packed thrill-ride with a beating heart of authentic human drama.”
“It’s really exciting to work with Dark Horse in continuing the Halo story in comics. After Halo 4 and Spartan Ops, fans wanted to know more about the origins of the Spartan-IV program and Sarah Palmer in particular. So it’s great fun to be able to grant those wishes with a partner like Dark Horse,” said writer Brian Reed.
For an exclusive look at an interior page, check out Wired.
Look for Halo: Initiation #1 on sale in comic shops everywhere on August 14!
Superman’s Birthday And Flashpoint Box Art
It’s Superman’s 75th birthday today! He debuted in Action Comics #1 from DC Comics this week in 1938. There are a few celebratory articles online, but this BBC documentary from 1981, with rare footage of Superman’s creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster is one of the best. I hope there’s some mainstream coverage of the Man of Steel’s milestone too.
Also below are two official breakdowns from two upcoming animated, Superman related projects. The first is a clip from next month’s Superman: Unbound film, which looks to feature much darker and more detailed animation than the last couple of DC toon films, and there’s also the first look at the cool box art from the film adapted from the alternate universe Flashpoint comics storyline.
The clip features Superman’s first encounter with Brainiac, a destructive force who has been devastating planets across the galaxy – with Earth next in his sights. Matt Bomer (“White Collar”) provides the voice of Superman opposite John Noble (“Fringe,” “The Lord of the Rings” films) as the voice of Brainiac. The film also features the voices of “Castle” stars Stana Katic as Lois Lane and Molly Quinn as Supergirl.
Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, SUPERMAN: UNBOUND film arrives May 7, 2013 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD, On Demand and for Digital Download.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX features an amazing cast of its own — from the Grey’s Anatomy duo of Justin Chambers and Kevin McKidd as the voices of Barry Allen/Flash and Thomas Wayne/Batman, respectively, to Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale, Friday Night Lights, Chronicle) as Cyborg, C. Thomas Howell (Southland, The Outsiders) as Thawne/Professor Zoom, Nathan Fillion (Castle) as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as Slade and Deathstroke, Dana Delany (Body of Proof) as Lois Lane, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as Aquaman, Danny Huston (Magic City) as General Lane, Sam Daly (The Office, The Daly Show) as Superman, and Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman.
Six Image #1s For $1
Good news for the budget conscious and comic curious. Image Comics are offering six debut issues for only a dollar each. They’ve done this before, and it’s a great opportunity to try some new series.
WITH SPRING, A NEW CROP OF IMAGE FIRSTS
$1 editions of six Image Comics first issues
Image Comics has announced the release of six new “Image Firsts” editions, printings of popular series’ first issues that only cost $1.00, to land in stores on May 1 just in time to coincide with Free Comic Book Day. The six new titles are BEDLAM #1 by Nick Spencer and Riley Rossmo, GREAT PACIFIC by Joe Harris and Martín Morazzo, MIND THE GAP #1 by Jim McCann and Rodin Esquejo, MORNING GLORIES by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma, PETER PANZERFAUST #1 by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Tyler Jenkins, and SUPER DINOSAUR #1 by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard.
BEDLAM, first published in October 2012, is a horror thriller about a former mass-murderer who is rehabilitated and puts his mind, formerly committed to atrocious acts of violence, to protecting the city he once terrorized. The collection of its first six issues will be released on May 1. Image Firsts edition Diamond code: FEB138575
In GREAT PACIFIC, which first hit shelves in November 2012, a wealthy young Texan takes on an unlikely frontier — a floating island of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Claiming it for himself as New Texas, Chas Worthington finds out that taking land is a very different thing from keeping it. GREAT PACIFIC #6 was in stores on April 3, and its first trade paperback, “TRASHED!”, collecting its first five issues, will be in stores on May 1. Image Firsts edition Diamond code: FEB138576
MIND THE GAP is a supernatural mystery that debuted in May 2012, following the ensuing events after Elle Peterssen, a beautiful and rich young woman, is attacked in the subway and left for dead. While her body lies comatose, Elle’s mind can observe what goes on around her. She alone holds the key to her attack, but she can’t even remember who she was. MIND THE GAP #10 will be in stores on May 1, and its second volume, collecting issues #6-10, “WISH YOU WERE HERE,” will be in stores on May 29. Image Firsts edition Diamond code: FEB138577
MORNING GLORIES, set in the elite boarding school Morning Glories Academy, has been a cult favorite since 2010. A complex and ever-unfolding mystery, MORNING GLORIES pits over-achieving teenagers against a baffling and dangerous curriculum — and against each other. Its fourth volume, TRUANTS, collecting issues #20-24, will be in stores on April 24. Image Firsts edition Diamond code: FEB138578
PETER PANZERFAUST, a re-imagining of the classic Peter Pan tale set in World War II France, has been steadily gaining popularity since its first issue landed in stores in February 2012. Its tenth issue was released in March and PETER PANZERFAUST VOLUME TWO: HOOKED!, collecting issues #6-10 will be in stores on May 15. Image Firsts edition Diamond code: FEB138579
SUPER DINOSAUR is an all-ages adventure story written by the creator of THE WALKING DEAD. Young Derek Dynamo and his best friend, who happens to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex with super-cool robotic enhancements, take on Earth’s — and Inner-Earth’s — baddest baddies. Its third trade paperback, collecting issues #12-17, was in stores in February and issue #20 will be in stores on April 24. Image Firsts edition Diamond code: FEB138580
The new Image Firsts issues will be in stores on May 1, joining thirty-one other Image Firsts editions, including some of Image’s most popular titles like THE WALKING DEAD, SAGA, FATALE, THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS, and INVINCIBLE. All are available for order now!
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