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Some say Spider-Man has a convoluted history, what with the clones and the deals with Mephisto. Others think the Legion of Superheroes, which seems to get rebooted weekly, is confusing.

But if you want your mind twisted, try on Hellcat for size. Patsy Walker was a female Archie before she was imaginary, before she was married and became a superhero, before she got divorced and married Satan’s kid, before she went insane and killed herself, before she was a gladiator in Hell, before she was brought back to life, before she joined the Initiative as an instructor.

And now? Now she’s in her own book, a pretty light-hearted (if a touch too streamlined) story about Patsy Walker as Alaska’s sole superhero.

Fans of an only semi-jerky Tony Stark will enjoy a bit of back-and-forth in this issue, though things move pretty fast and get a bit confusing once the action moves far north. Still, writer Kathryn Immonen crafts a fun little story. If this wasn’t a mini-series, I’d honestly be more interested in it. As it is, with four more issues to go, I worry that the slight tone won’t have time to build to something more engrossing.

I’d love more fun, light-hearted on-going series — the kind where you get the jokes and the whimsy up front with a building sense of menace and urgency. Hellcat, I fear, may not provide the payoff I require for the investment of time and money it will take to complete the story.

That said, if you’re looking for something a little different and by no means unpleasant, this here picture book might be right up your alley.

– Greg Elwell

Michael Turner, popular comic-book artist and creator of “Fathom” and “Soulfire,” died last night, June 27, according to Aspen Comics’ Vince Hernandez.

Turner, 37, was widely considered one of the nicest people in comics, was always upbeat at convention appearances, even after his 2000 diagnosis with cancer.

The few times I met Turner personally, he fit the conventional wisdom about him — nicer than he had to be, more positive than anyone would expect.

Turner got his big break in 1997, as the initial artist on “Witchblade.” In 1998, he followed that up with his creator-owned title “Fathom,” which he moved to his own company, Aspen Comics, in 2002. He drew a multitude of covers and variant covers for Marvel and DC Comics, on projects including “Identity Crisis,” “Superman” and “Wolverine.” He and Jeph Loeb reintroduced Supergirl to the DC Universe in “Superman/Batman.”

“Fathom” was my favorite Michael Turner project, and it held a special place for me as the first “big book” we ordered at my comic-book store after I bought the place in 1998. The excitement of the fans for Turner’s “Fathom” — a brand new creation — is something I wish the industry could recapture.

Hernandez said those wishing to send condolences to Turner’s family can do so at this address:

Aspen MLT, Inc.
C/O Michael Turner
5855 Green Valley Circle, Suite 111
Culver City, CA, 90230

Aspen also encouraged donations to Turner’s requested charities, The American Cancer Society or The Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Newsarama and CBR also have reports on Turner’s death.

– Matt Price 

Just announced at Wizard World Chicago is the new creative team on DC’s “Supergirl” title.   Writer Sterling Gates, who grew up in Tulsa and graduated from the University of Oklahoma, joins artist Jamal Igle as the creative team on “Supergirl,” starting with issue #34.  

Nerdage asked Gates a few quick questions about his plans for the Girl of Steel.

Matt Price: What’s your take on Supergirl?
Sterling Gates: Supergirl is one of the strongest girls on the planet Earth. One day, she’s going to grow up to be one of the greatest heroes the world has ever known. In the meantime, however, she’s got a lot of learning to do.

Life is hard for Kara Zor-El. She’s an immigrant who was put in suspended animation and sent to Earth by her parents in order to escape Krypton’s destruction. Now that she’s here, she’s found herself living in her cousin Superman’s shadow. That’s a
LOT for a teenage girl to deal with and wrap her head around, to live in constant comparison to someone who is, or who comes off as, perfect. So she’s tried everything she can think of to try and separate herself out from just being “Superman’s cousin,” and it’s not worked out too well, so far.

And that’s more or less where we pick up in Supergirl #34. My goal for that book is to build Kara into a better hero, and hopefully when I leave, she’ll be one step closer towards being the hero we all want her to be.

MP: What are your favorite “Supergirl” comics?
SG: Y’know, I was a big fan of the Carmine Infantino-Paul Kupperberg “Daring New Adventures of Supergirl” comics in the mid-80’s. I loved loved loved Supergirl the movie when I was a kid, and I read that comic book adaptation they did so many times the staples fell out. I’m also a big fan of the Jeph Loeb-Michael Turner story in Superman/Batman that introduced this version of Kara Zor-El.

And I’d obviously be lying if I didn’t say the “Death of Supergirl” issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths wasn’t one of the greatest Supergirl stories of all time. I get all misty just thinking about it.

In case you’ve forgotten, the first episode of “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer,” “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” has one of the great pre-credit sequences of all time.   This and other episodes of “Buffy,” “Smallville” and more are now available online (though still in beta test mode, so you have to sign up and be approved) at www.thewb.com.

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

James MacAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, a downtrodden loser recruited into a secret cadre of assassins in “Wanted,” out today in movie theaters. The film is based on the comic-book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. “Wanted” was published by Top Cow as a comic-book series and is now available from Top Cow in graphic novel format.

“It’s basically about a young guy, Wesley Gibson, that is kind of an everyday schlub, works in a cubicle farm and doesn’t really do much with his life,” Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik said.

“One day he is approached by this mysterious woman named the Fox, who tells him that his father was one of the great assassins — probably the greatest assassin in the world. And that he and a group of other super villains secretly ruled the world behind kind of a veil of normalcy, and that he’s basically inherited his spot in the secret fraternity of super villains. From there, the proverbial crap hits the fan and Wesley has to go from being a zero to — I don’t know that I’d call it a hero, but definitely a guy who takes charge of his life.”

The comic-book “Wanted” has costumed super villains and alternate realities, while the film, for all its over-the-top elements, is somewhat more grounded in the real world.

“It was one of those rare instances that there was such a buzz on the property as it was being developed that we actually sold it around the time the second issue was getting put together,” Sablik said. “Which is one of the reasons that the movie kind of diverges from the comic book a little bit. Because at the time Universal picked up the property, the comic was still being finished. So the screenwriters had to take the inspiration and the beginnings and what they knew about the story and develop it from there.”

Sablik said “Wanted” was a good fit for Top Cow’s line.

“We tend to do kind of dark books, things with either with a dark sense of humor, or a horror or supernatural bent to it. It seemed like a good fit for us.”

Two of Top Cow’s other major properties are also making waves in other media. “Darkness,” about a young mobster who inherits a primal power, was a platinum-selling video game in 2007. And “Witchblade,” featuring a New York police detective with a supernatural gauntlet, is being developed for a 2009 film.

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

“Wanted,” directed by Timur Bekmambetov of the “Night Watch” films, is a visually arresting, over-the-top, paean to violence. Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones, the film takes a different slant than does the source material — but manages to improve on it.

Wesley Gibson (James MacAvoy) is a down-on-his luck loser in a dead-end job. He knows his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, but he can’t motivate himself to do anything about it. Wesley is sleepwalking through his life, until he meets the Fox (Angelina Jolie).

She tells Wesley that his father, whom he never knew, was one of the world’s greatest assassins. And another of those assassins is after Wesley.

This begins the slam-bang action portion of “Wanted,” as Wesley finds himself introduced to the Fraternity, a group of assassins who call themselves weavers of fate.

Led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), these weavers follow mysterious assassination directives, aimed at making the world a better place. “Kill one, save a thousand,” explains the Fox.

The storyline has twists and turns and double-crosses, but the visuals are what makes “Wanted.” Bekmambetov channels Tarantino by way of John Woo, but adds dozens of his own touches. The only off-note is the dialogue.

Some is lifted directly from the comics, but other scenes are just f-bombs dropped on anyone who might be nearby.

Still, this is what an adrenaline-filled action movie should be — a darkly comic vision whose flaws are obscured by the film’s unyielding pace.

Matthew Price

MOVIE REVIEW

“Wanted”

R 1:48 3 stars

Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie

(For strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.)

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

THE NEXT LEVEL

Relive the first three “Indiana Jones” films in LEGO format with “LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures” from Lucas Arts.

After the success of the “LEGO Star Wars” games, it seemed a good idea to bring Indiana Jones to life in the same format, and it works again.

The yellow LEGO figures stand in for Harrison Ford and crew in a LEGO reimaging of the three films. While some story bits have been changed for gameplay purposes, it’s close to the plotlines of the original films. Recasting the stars with LEGO figures makes for some additional tongue-in-cheek humor, and the cut scenes range from snicker-inducing to laugh out loud funny.

The game features more than 60 playable characters, including villains and supporting characters in different costumes, many of which must be unlocked. As a bonus, the LEGO body parts of playable characters can be rearranged, to make a character who’s a mix of Rene Belloq and Marcus Brody, for example.

The sound features the score from the films, and no voice acting per se.

While Indy has the use of his trademark whip, “LEGO Indiana” features much more hand-to-hand combat than the lightsaber-fueled “LEGO Star Wars” games.

“Indiana” also appropriately features more puzzles and problem-solving than the “LEGO Star Wars” games, fitting with the archaeological theme. The game is relatively short but has plenty of treasure to go back and unlock in the “Free Play” mode.

The game has improved the use of vehicles, as they’re more easily controlled than in the “Star Wars” games, but the camera issues that plague the “Star Wars” episodes, particularly in multiplayer, still exist here.

Still, it’s a minor annoyance and doesn’t stand in the way of “LEGO Indiana Jones” being a whip-cracking good time.

The game is rated E10+, for everyone 10 and up. “LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures” is available for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and in portable form on Nintendo DS.

The third season of “The Incredible Hulk,” starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, has fewer two-part episodes than previous seasons, but still manages some solid episodes.

While the season’s fifth episode, “My Favorite Magician,” has some flaws, it’s got several interesting ideas working for it. It co-stars Ray Walston, Bixby’s co-star on “My Favorite Martian,” and it features Banner becoming a magician’s assistant, likely referencing Bixby’s 1973 series “The Magician.”

The highlight of the third season is “Homecoming,” in which Banner returns to his hometown for the first time since the accident that transformed him, in times of stress and anger, into the Incredible Hulk (portrayed by Lou Ferrigno).

The episode “The Psychic” features Brenda Benet, Bixby’s first wife, as a psychic who discovers the connection between Banner and The Hulk.

While the third season lacked the dynamic two-parters of seasons two and four, it holds up as part of one of the best television adaptations of a comic-book hero.

— Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

The strike-shortened 1980 season of “The Incredible Hulk” started off with a bang, with the two-part episode “Prometheus” exploring the more science-fictional aspects of the show. A meteor with unusual properties causes David Banner (Bill Bixby) to be caught in a half-Banner, half-Hulk stage. He eventually triggers the full transformation, but is caught by a government agency seeking to capture extraterrestrials.

Lou Ferrigno, who played Banner’s alter-ego the Hulk in each episode, gets to guest-star without the green paint in “King of the Beach.”

A two-part episode called “The First” explores Dr. Jeffrey Frye’s earlier radiation experiments that created an earlier version of a Hulk-like monster. This “Hulk” is played by Dick Durock, who later became another comic-book hero in the “Swamp Thing” TV series and films. The Hulk vs. Hulk showdown is worth the price of admission.

“The First” is followed with two other classic episodes — “The Harder They Fall,” in which Banner finds himself temporarily paralyzed, and “Interview with the Hulk,” when another reporter gets the scoop on Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) and lands an interview with Banner.

— Matthew Price