“Star Trek” trailer up within the hour
Trekmovie.com is reporting that the teaser “Star Trek” trailer should be up at Yahoo Movies at noon Central. We’ll post the direct link at Nerdage once we have it.
– Matt Price
Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends
Many of you in your 30s will remember the TV show “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends,” which featured Spidey teaming up with Firestar and Iceman in an animated Saturday morning cartoon.
Sean McKeever revisited the Amazing Friends in an issue of Spider-Man Family not too long ago, and now writer Brian Michael Bendis is doing the same in “Ultimate Spider-Man.”
Bendis said this idea has been building for a while in an interview at Marvel.com:
Marvel.com: Spidey and some of his pals are coming to town. Is “Amazing Friends” something that you have wanted to do for a while?
Brian Michael Bendis: Absolutely. Literally, when it became clear that [ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN] was gonna do [well], and it was going to be an ongoing and I wasn’t going to get fired, [I made my] wish list of stuff [I would] love to do. I wrote down “Amazing Friends” and I looked at the idea, and I was like, “How do you get Iceman in the book?”
Keep in mind that ULTIMATE X-MEN hadn’t even started yet, so how do you make it organic and not just a goofball team up? But if Kitty [Pryde] joins the book on an ongoing basis, that gets Iceman into the book organically. It’s been building since like the second year, so yeah, I’ve been waiting a long time to get this done.
—
The team-up takes place in “Ultimate Spider-Man” No. 118, slated for a Feb. 6 release.
Meanwhile, to revisit the original cartoon, visit Spider-Friends.com, or check out the intro on YouTube (complete with den that transforms into crazy Batcave-like lair with supercomputers).
– Matt Price
It’s the 90s all over again – “Youngblood” sells out
Press release from Image Comics:
YOUNGBLOOD gets second printing to keep issue in-stock!
18 January, 2008 (Berkeley, CA) – With YOUNGBLOOD’s return to Image Comics being reordered at an exponential rate, Image Comics has gone back to press to ensure copies are available for the foreseeable future.
“We anticipated a high level of interest in Joe and Derec’s work on YOUNGBLOOD, but we were frankly caught off-guard by the amount of advance reorders the book generated as press time drew closer,” said Image Executive Director Eric Stephenson. “We’re thrilled with what the guys are doing with the book, though, and want to make sure copies are available for everyone interested in checking it out.”
The new YOUNGBLOOD comes courtesy of THE LAST DEFENDER’s Joe Casey and GREEN ARROW’s Derec Donovan, who previously worked together for a sixteen-issue run on ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, while being overseen and featuring variant covers by series creator Rob Liefeld. YOUNGBLOOD marks Casey’s second acclaimed relaunch of an Image classic. With WILDCATS, Casey was praised for upgrading the original concepts with a post-modern spin. Similarly, YOUNGBLOOD’s new direction combines the bombastic beginnings of Liefeld’s celebrity heroes such as Shaft and Badrock with the more classic approach developed by Alan Moore, featuring new heroes such Johnny Panic and Doc Rocket and Casey’s own sensibilities. In addition, a limited, black and white Rob Liefeld variant cover will be made available on as a 1-in-4 cover for retailers ordering the second printing.
YOUNGBLOOD #1 2nd (DEC078061), a 32-page comic book for $2.99, will be available in stores January 30th, 2008.
Comments from me:
The first issue was kind of entertaining -we’ll see how it goes. A variant on a 2nd print is a little unusual, but, it probably makes financial sense. Also, Liefeld is someone that I would really like to interview at some point.
- Matt
Aaron saddles up for “Ghost Rider”
Vaneta Rogers interviews newly Marvel-exclusive incoming “Ghost Rider” writer Jason Aaron at Newsarama. Aaron won a Marvel talent contest in 2002, and eventually went from a back-up tale in “Wolverine” to “Scalped” and “The Other Side” for Vertigo, now to “Ghost Rider” (and an arc of “Wolverine,” after writing a fill-in on issue #56.)
The Kansas City-based Aaron talks about his upcoming projects and his history, as well as this interesting bit about his influences:
Yeah, I’ve been reading them for as long as I’ve been able to read (and no jokes about that, just because I’m from Alabama). Back when I was first getting into comics, buying them off the spinner rack at the local drugstore, my favorite books were New Teen Titans, Blue Devil, Atari Force, Swamp Thing and Fantastic Four. These days, my all-time favorites include Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, From Hell, EC’s Frontline Combat, Lone Wolf And Cub, Stray Bullets, Kirby’s Fourth World titles and virtually everything that Steve Gerber did for Marvel in the ‘70s. I also love Michael Fleisher, Timothy Truman, Garth Ennis, Azzarello, Brubaker, Bendis, Adrian Tomine, Rick Veitch… I could go on and on. My biggest influences as a writer would be James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, Cormac McCarthy, David Simon, Stanley Kubrick and my late cousin Gustav Hasford. These days, I’m also heavily influenced and inspired by the amazing group of comic creators we have here in Kansas City – guys like Matt Fraction, Ande Parks, Tony Moore and B. Clay Moore.
So – someone influenced by “Blue Devil,” James Ellroy and 1970s Steve Gerber on “Wolverine”? Sounds worth a shot.
– Matt Price
“Underdog” DVD review
“Have no fear, Underdog is here,” the clever 1960s cartoon character used to say. But, when updated to a live-action film, the 2007 version is best left to preschoolers.
Former pro skateboarder/“My Name Is Earl” star Jason Lee voices the canine star Underdog, a police dog who is booted from the force after making an embarrassing mistake at a news conference. He finds himself in the laboratory of mad scientist Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), who is aided by doofus henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton). In a scene with similarities to the origin of the 1960s DC Comics’ “Flash,” he’s accidentally splashed with chemicals that give him superpowers.
He’s found by security guard Dan Unger (James Belushi), a former police officer. Dan names the dog Shoeshine and takes him home for his son, Jack (Alex Neuberger). Alex learns of the dog’s superpowers and fashions him as Underdog, superhero dog. The mad scientist wants to make his own superhero dogs, so he aims to capture Underdog and re-create his powers.
It’s for the most part inoffensive, but adults will have a hard time making it through the film. Dinklage and Warburton are worth a few laughs, but you’d think each could find better material.
While the original “Underdog” was filled with dry humor, the live-action “Underdog” is in no way as funny. While the filmmakers work in a few nods to Underdog’s origins, “Underdog” is basically “Look Who’s Talking” with a canine superhero.
— Matt Price
Board games falter in DS translation
Four of Hasbro’s popular board games are in handheld electronic form for the Nintendo DS. “Clue,” “Mouse Trap,” “Perfection” and “Aggravation” are all bundled onto one budget cartridge.
“Clue,” the whodunit classic of board games, suffers in this translation. The graphics are so pixilated, it’s hard to tell Miss Scarlet from Col. Mustard, and unless one has memorized the game board from playing at home, the rooms are virtually unlabeled. How to move the pawns is as big of a mystery as who killed Mr. Body. The game will keep track of each of your suggestions and which clues have been revealed to you, but it offers no way to allow you to keep your own custom notes on other players’ guesses.
The main appeal of “Mouse Trap” was building the complex, and often-flawed contraption that came in the box. That physical option is gone in the electronic format. Instead, moving mice around a blurry game board is as exciting as this one gets.
“Perfection” seems an odd choice for a video game, but it works the best in this format. In the original, gamers must fit all the geometric shapes into the puzzle before the timer goes off and the pieces leap off the board. In the electronic version, gamers simply drag the pieces onto the board and rotate them to fit. There are several time-limit options to change the level of difficulty. Although nostalgic and entertaining, this game is limited in its replay value.
Race your marbles around a star-shaped board in “Aggravation.” The game is a variation on Parcheesi that incorporates shortcuts and “super shortcuts” along the way. The electronic version is not forgiving to players who may not be familiar with the game’s dice-rolling rules, and the small DS screen can get uncomfortably cluttered when a lot of marbles are in play.
Budget is the key word when describing this bundle. It’s evident very little was spent in developing these games for the DS, and the video versions are a poor substitute for the playing the original board games. Even as a budget title, gamers could easily afford two of these board games for the same price as the DS bundle.
The Hasbro companion bundle of “Battleship,” “Sorry,” “Connect Four” and “Trouble” is also available for the DS.
– Matt Price
Western comics require a little prospecting
At one time, Western comic books were a ubiquitous part of the American market. In the 1950s, comics based on Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Billy the Kid, Jesse James and dozens of other comics starring real and fictional heroes and outlaws dotted the comics landscape. Today, Western comics require some more prospecting to find.
Fans may not be able to find most Western comics on the spur of the moment, but there are some diamonds in the rough.
DC Comics is currently running two Western series — the ongoing series Jonah Hex, about the scarred bounty hunter; and the miniseries Bat Lash, starring the at-times self-indulgent gunslinger.
Marvel Comics’ most popular Western characters — the Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt and the Two-Gun Kid — appear from time to time, and in 2006, Marvel showcased these and other of their Old West characters in the “Marvel Westerns” miniseries. Now collected in hardcover format, “Marvel Westerns” features many of Marvel’s most acclaimed writers, including Dan Slott (“She-Hulk,” “Amazing Spider-Man”), Jeff Parker (“Marvel Adventures: The Avengers”) and Fred Van Lente (“The Incredible Hercules”).
Meanwhile, Moonstone Books has more than a half-dozen historical figures — including Wyatt Earp and Belle Starr — set to appear in upcoming graphic novels.
Three Western legends star in “Wild West Triple Feature: Wyatt Earp, The Cisco Kid, Belle Star.”
In 1877 Dodge City, Kansas, Wyatt Earp is the town’s new marshal. In this story by Chuck Dixon (“Robin,” “Batman and the Outsiders”), Earp quickly gets on the wrong side of several Dodge City outlaws. Earp saddles up with Doc Holliday and Bat and Ed Masterson to clean up the town.
Belle Starr recounts her life story in the story by Mark Ricketts, and in Len Cody’s “The Cisco Kid,” Cisco faces off against a powerful shaman. The Cisco Kid, also known as Ben Thompson, was a real-life desperado who was immortalized in the stories of O. Henry.
This 240-page graphic novel will retail for $23.95 and ship in March.
For more on Wyatt Earp, Richard Dean Starr’s “Wyatt Earp: The Justice Riders” features 96 pages of the marshal, teaming up with Geronimo, Belle Starr, Annie Oakley and the Cisco Kid.
“The Justice Riders” is historical fiction which takes documented events and spins them into a story of retribution that might have been. The art is by Dan Dougherty.
The introduction of the book is by Wyatt Earp himself — not the historical figure, but the actor who is the lawman’s namesake. “Justice Riders” is also set for a March release.
– Matt Price
Loeb dishes on “Hulk”
Want to hear about writer Jeph Loeb’s plans for the not-necessarily Jade Giant? Hop on over to Marvel.com for a podcast featuring Loeb. The “Heroes” writer dishes about his take on the Hulk and artistic collaborator Ed McGuinness.
From Marvel:
The Hulk #1 teams Loeb up with longtime collaborator, artist extraordinaire, Ed McGuinness, and relaunches Marvel’s resident maniacal monster with an all-new twist. The former Green Goliath, has had a change in hue, and now the rage fueled monster literally has everyone seeing red. Now the hunt is on as Doc Samson and She-Hulk play detective in an attempt to hunt down a murderer. How does the all-new Crimson Colossus tie in? The answers lie in The Hulk #2 coming in February to a comic shop near you!
The first incredible issue of The Hulk has sold out and gone back to press (featuring an all-new variant cover of Ed McGuinness’ stunning interiors)! So what are you waiting for? Go out and get your copy of The Hulk #1 then sit yourself down, fire up that mp3 player, and feast your ears on the Hulk Podcast Featuring Jeph Loeb!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Not a dream, not a hoax, wait…maybe it is a dream.
It’s not like the two universes haven’t met before — hell, didn’t Superman and Mr. Majestic switch places for a couple months? — but the bleed will be breached again soon in the DC/Wildstorm crossover “Dreamwar.”
Keith Giffen is writing and promises readers a few things:
1. Even though it’s called “Dreamwar,” the characters won’t wake up at the end, “Dallas”-style, with Grifter in the shower. In other words, lasting consequences will be felt in the Wildstorm Universe, which is much less important than DC proper, apparently.
2. This isn’t a one- or two-character crossover — almost everybody from both universes will make an appearance. It will be similar to the “JLA/Avengers” mini-series done so well a few years ago.
3. The Legion of Super Heroes will show up, though it won’t be the version Giffen wrote. In fact, he’s not telling which Legion (classic, diet or New Legion) will appear.
Anybody interested in this? My devotion to the Wildstorm books has waned mightily in recent years. Though I’m enjoying the current Simone run on “Gen 13″ and loved the recently cancelled “StormWatch PHD,” the start-stop-start-stop on “WildCATS” and the general all-heroes-are-villains attitude in most of the books has turned me off.
What do you guys think?
– Greg Elwell
New ‘Supernatural’ comic in April
BuddyTV reports a new comic book based on the “Supernatural” TV series is launching in April. “Supernatural,” on the CW, stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as the demon-hunting Winchester brothers.
From BuddyTV:
The first issue is set to hit stores on April 23 and will pick up a few years after Origins, following a 7-year-old Sam and 11-year-old Dean as they travel with their father, John. “Whereas the first series was more about John and his becoming a hunter, this one’s much more of a dysfunctional family story,” explains writer Peter Johnson, who’s also a co-executive producer on the TV show.
– Matt Price
