Fall of the New Mutants preview from Marvel Comics’ New Mutants 15
Marvel Comics has provided a preview of “New Mutants” No. 15, which kicks off “Fall of the New Mutants,” by Zeb Wells and Leonard Kirk.
According to Marvel, in the storyline, a secret military group is looking for Illyana Rasputin and they won’t let the New Mutants stand in their way.
Click past the cut for the full preview!
- Matt Price
X-Men/Avengers: Lost and Found, the Gamma Quest Trilogy book 1 review
The X-Men and the Avengers find themselves at odds when members of each of their teams go missing, in this 1999 novel by Greg Cox (writer of the “52″ and “Infinite Crisis” novelizations).
Scarlet Witch of the Avengers, and Wolverine and Rogue of the X-Men find themselves attacked in strange situations, and held hostage and tortured by a mysterious captor. Both the Avengers and the X-Men uncover gamma radiation at the sites of the disappearance – so they seek Bruce Banner, who is the world’s foremost expert.
However, Banner turns into the Hulk before a peaceful discussion can be had, leading to a huge donnybrook with X-Men, Avengers and Hulk all at seemingly cross purposes at Niagara Falls.
As the kickoff to a three-book series, “Lost and Found” had plenty of action, though the plot may have moved a touch slowly. I thought the characterization of Captain America and Iron Man on the Avengers side of things was particularly well-done. The Vision is the other main Avenger in the story. On the X-Men side, besides the aforementioned Wolverine and Rogue, the main players are Cyclops, Storm, and the Beast.
Of note is the cover, by Julie Bell, and illustrations throughout by George Perez, who was the “Avengers” artist around the time this book originally came out. Since Perez is possibly my favorite “Avengers” artist, it was great to see illustrations of his that I hadn’t seen before.
- Matt Price
Review of Book Two
Congratulations on 700 issues, Superman!
Superman #700 comes out today, with stories by James Robinson, Dan Jurgens and J. Michael Straczynski.
Congrats to Superman fans, of whom I count myself one, on this celebratory day. I suggest reading “Superman” 700, and maybe cracking open a favorite back issue or trade paperback featuring the Man of Steel. (One I’ve recently enjoyed is “Superman: Past and Future,” featuring time-traveling tales of Superman and his friends.)
Click past the cut for other Superman anniversary covers!
- Matt Price
DC Comics goes digital with comiXology, PlayStation Network
DC Comics has announced a digital platform, kicking off today, on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as a second app for the PlayStation Network.
“Today’s launch provides an additional opportunity to convert new readers and recapture lapsed readers while serving existing fans,” said John Rood, Executive Vice President, DC Entertainment, in the release at DC Comics’ Source blog. “We look forward to working with our partners in the industry—the creators, the retailers and the fans—as we experiment with our digital strategy, in a manner that remains additive to our traditional business models.”
Comics available include “Batman: Hush” and “Green Lantern: Rebirth.” Price points will range from 99 cents to $2.99. DC plans royalty payments for creators, and plans to work with existing print retailers.
“At DC Comics, it has been a top priority that DC forges a meaningful, forward-looking digital strategy,” said Jim Lee, Co-Publisher, DC Comics in the release. “As both a comic book creator and Co-Publisher, it was incredibly important that our plan includes not only creator incentive payments, but also an innovative component that supports comic shop owners. We see digital as an opportunity to grow our entire business.”
Probably the most surprising part of the announcement is that The Justice League: Generation Lost mini-series will be available through both platforms day and date with each issue’s print edition on-sale date, with both the digital and print editions priced at $2.99. It will be an interesting experiment to see if this helps, hurts, or has no effect on the print sales of the comic book.
- Matt Price
Megan Fox wants Gen 13 movie role
Megan Fox
Megan Fox, who starred in the just-opened “Jonah Hex” and is involved with the planned upcoming “Fathom” movie, is campaigning for another comic-book role. Fox News reports Fox is interested in playing Sarah Rainmaker if a “Gen 13″ movie came to fruition.
“I don’t want people to protest this, but I would like to be (Sarah) Rainmaker in ‘Gen 13 ‘ if they ever made that into a movie,” Fox said. Sarah Rainmaker is both American Indian and lesbian, both of which made the headline of the Fox News article. ”Gen 13″ was a popular WildStorm series originally illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. The series, featuring superpowered teens with mysterious ties to murky governmental organizations along with their mentor, was flashy, fun and at times risque.
Freefall, left, and Sarah Rainmaker, right, of Gen 13
While the series hasn’t burned up the sales charts in its most recent incarnations, there’s something to the original comics that might transfer well to film. And you’d think a star of Megan Fox’s caliber expressing interest will at least get some producers to search out back issues and trade paperbacks of the property.
- Matt Price
Like Iron Man, Nerdage is upgrading
Like Tony Stark’s armor, the Nerdage blog will be getting an upgrade today, so posting will be light. Happy and safe Tuesday to everyone!
Archie meets vampires in Twilight parody
Archie and Friends #146 - "Twilite" part one.
Archie Comics takes a look at the world of Twilight with the parody story “Twilite,” kicking off in “Archie and Friends” #146.
According to Archie’s news release: It’s love at first bite when two new mysterious students arrive in Riverdale. Betty and Veronica are fascinated by the smoldering-hot Ivan, but Jared is warning everyone who will listen that Ivan is really a bloodsucker! Reggie jumps at the chance to help Jared expose Ivan as a vampire, but love… or maybe Ivan… is clouding Betty and Veronica’s vision! Can Archie and the others save the girls from the mysterious Ivan? Is there a greater danger lurking in the darkness?
“Twilite: Part One,” the first of a two-issue storyline that concluded in “Archie and Friends” #147.
“Vampires and the friends and foes of their world surround us every day,” remarks Archie Comics Co-CEO, Jon Goldwater in the news release. “It has been a spectacular treat to bring them to the world of Archie, Betty and Veronica in ‘Twilite.’ I can assure you, Riverdale has never seen a romance quite like this!”
(From that quote, it sounds like Goldwater is saying vampires run around our world every day — but I assume he just means in the worlds of fiction… or does he?)
- Matt Price
Monday movie quote challenge #84
“Well, ain’t this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!”
Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!
RIP Rik Levins
ComicMix reports on the July 12 passing of Rik Levins, artist of “Captain America,” “X-O Manowar,” and “Avengers.” He was 59.
I wrote a fan letter to Marvel in 1991, thrilled that Levins had taken over the book. While his style wasn’t particularly flashy, his storytelling was always solid, and I thought he also had a nice way of portraying interactions between characters. As both a Valiant Comics fan and a Captain America fan, I have read many of the books Levins illustrated, and had hoped to someday meet him at a convention. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
ComicMix reports there is a memorial service for relatives and friends at 5 pm today, with visitation at 4:30 pm, at the Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, 7520 Aloma Ave., Winter Park, FL. 32792.
The site also reports that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Richard’s memory to Moffitt Cancer Center “Gifts of Memory” at www.moffitt.org/giving or the American Cancer Society. Please sign and view the family guest book at www.baldwinfairchild.com.
- Matt Price
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World international trailer
I really dig the international trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. “Scott, if your life had a face, I would punch it.” Really hope this movie lives up to the hype. The books are fantastic, and the trailers so far have me pumped. The film stars Michael Cera and opens on Aug. 13.
- Matt Price
