Amazing Spider-Man Pop-up
October 30, 2006 | 1 Comment
My friend Jenny works at Innisfree Bookshop in Meredith, NH. They just got this fantastic promotional piece for the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man Pop-Up book from Candlewick Press. You can pre-order this now from Amazon, it will be available January 9th. Update: this has been delayed until April 9th
From the marketing description about this overall series:
The Marvel Retro Character Collection is headed your way.
It’s your favorite superheroes like you’ve never seen them before! These ultimate pop-ups feature art from the original classic Marvel comic books!
Classic Marvel comic characters are re-animated in this exciting new series of bold, uniquely packaged collectable pop-ups. The first features the adventures of Spiderman, everyone’s favorite web-slinging superhero, as he meets–and defeats–the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Electro, and five more arch nemeses. Four eye-popping gatefolds and dynamic foiled pop-ups tell the ongoing story and profile significant characters along the way.
Have You Seen This Ninja?
October 30, 2006 | 1 Comment
My nephew Aidan (5) is a ninja this Halloween. This is obviously a kit costume, but I think it is wicked cool.
Beware Tuesday night, this ninja may come for you!
All three of my brothers children had great costumes this year. McCullough (8) was a vampire and managed to pull of scary and intimidating. I was amazed at the creativity of Reeghan (7) this year. This normally dance loving girly girl decided out of the blue she wanted to be a dead ballerina. PJ painted her face and she wore an old dress from dance school. A+ for creativity.
Moon Knight TV Series Coming Soon
October 25, 2006 | 11 Comments
Marvel announced today a deal with No Equal Entertainment to create Marvel’s character Moon Knight as a television series. Moon Knight is not the most well known of Marvel’s heroes, but he certainly has the potential for development. After many short and semi-successful comic series going back to 1975. Moon Knight did not experience real success until the 80’s when he managed to sustain 60 issues or so.
I count Moon Knight amongst Marvel’s other 70’s era vigilantes who have seen medium success, more so in the 80’s to early 90’s. Each of these heroes is currently being explored and expanded in new series by Marvel currently. These heroes include: Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Power Man, and Punisher.
Since most people aren’t familiar with MK, from the Wikipedia character analysis:
Moon Knight is often criticized as an ersatz Batman and the parallels are indeed apparent. Writer of the 2006 relaunch of Moon Knight, Charlie Huston, attempted to answer these criticisms in an interview with Comixfan. The interviewer noted that the comparison is not baseless, as both Moon Knight and the Dark Knight are wealthy, “normal” humans that use gadgetry to fight crime. Though not specifically mentioned by the interviewer, further comparisons may be drawn due to the two characters’ specialized vehicles, use of themes in their gadgets, and use of fear to aid their fight against the criminal element.
Huston, though he disagreed, accepted that the character may be a rip-off of Batman, but went on to contrast the two by noting in particular differences in origin, motives, and personality. “Bruce Wayne,” he said, “fights crime to avenge the murders of his parents,” whereas Moon Knight “beats up whoever has it coming because he believes he is the avatar of the Egyptian god of vengeance and it helps him to feel better about all the people he killed when he was a mercenary.” Thus, while Batman is motivated by vengeance for wrong done to his parents, Marc Spector primarily seeks redemption from crimes he committed in his mercenary past. Huston further notes that Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alterego, takes on other personalities merely to aid in his fight. However, Moon Knight has three alteregos which aid him as much in dealing with personal demons as fighting law-breakers, and which have taken a further psychological toll of causing multiple personality disorder.
I actually think Moon Knight has the potential to be developed into a useful TV franchise. Since few people are familiar with the character, he can be expanded and developed in whatever ways the writers want to take them. Additionally, with his Batman-like characterization, there is plenty to fall back on. Add to that the dark and twisted features mixed with the multiple personality stuff and suddenly this vigilante story can go mainstream.
With this in mind, I remain hopeful. I’ll be paying close attention to casting and hopefully No Equal Entertainment can pull off a hit TV show with this. Anything has to be better than the short lived Blade Series…
Tags: batman, blade, charlie huston, comic books, comics, iron fist, marc spector, marvel, moon knight, no equal entertainment, power man, punisher, television
New Thunderbolts Lineup
October 16, 2006 | 1 Comment
Warren Ellis (Nextwave) will partner with Mike Deodato (New Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man) will take over Thunderbolts beginning with issue #110.
This is an ideal time for a creative change with the T-Bolts. Following the events leading up to the startling conclusion of Civil War #2, we’ve seen much of the roster for the Thunderbolts shaken up. Three of the most lethal and frightening Marvel villains unite on this team: Venom, Green Goblin, and Bullseye. Ellis and Deodato promise to provide a dark and disturbing take on a team who can often sway between hero and villain.
Can these evil characters have turned over a new leaf with superhero registration? Can they be trusted to police other villains? This is their opportunity for redemption and I’ll be there watching as many of these characters are sure to unravel.
I picked up a few T-bolt issues leading into and through Civil War. I was surprised to find myself intrigued by the prospect of this team of villains turned hero. Many of them have ulterior motives, some good, some bad. This is a book that always keeps readers guessing. If Ellis does as well with this as he does with Nextwave, this is sure to make my monthly pull list.
Tags: amazing spider-man, bullseye, Green Goblin, hero, mike deodato, new avengers, nextwave, thunderbolts, venom, villain, warren ellis
Spider-Girl is Dead, Long Live Amazing Spider-Girl!
October 16, 2006 | 2 Comments
![Amazing_spider-girl-1[1]](http://static.flickr.com/110/270710622_f382b7f396_m.jpg)
After 100 hugely successful issues, the Spider-Girl run was ended. However, this was ended to begin an all new line called Amazing Spider-Girl. I’m not entirely sure why, possibly marketing? Does this make for an easier jumping on point? It seems odd considering many of the other titles recently went back to some old numbering to clear up some of these odd on again off again renumberings. Amazing Spider-Man is the most recent having had put it’s numbers back with issue 500, which was previously numbered volume 2 number 59.
Anyway, back to Spider-Girl… If you love classic Spider-Man style action, Spider-Girl may be just what you are looking for. Mayday Parker is the daughter of Peter in an alternate future. She’s still in high school and dealing with many of the topics and conflicts which made the original Amazing Spider-Man stories classic and wonderful.
I highly recommend you pick up Amazing Spider-Girl #0 which gives a complete recap of what happened in the 100 issue run of Spider-Girl. This will put you in a good place to pickup and enjoy the new Amazing Spider-Girl!
Tags: amazing spider girl, amazing spidergirl, mayday, mayday parker, parker, peter parker, spider-girl, spider-man, spidergirl, spiderman
Wii Launch Games
October 15, 2006 | 4 Comments
As the Nintendo Wii launch date looms (34 days as of this post), I’m starting to think about what exactly I’ll want for games. With this in mind, I updated my Wii launch page with all the games GameStop is listing as available at launch, as well as everything else they have through the end of March.
If I can manage to get a Wii at launch, I intend on buying an additional controller and 2 or 3 games. With Wii Sports coming packaged with the system, that’ll flesh out my initial game list to 3 or 4 games. Due to my comic book obsession, I have to buy Marvel Ultimate Alliance. This leaves me with a serious debate for the remaining games to buy, especially considering there are 25 others to choose from.
First off, I’m going to eliminate any other sports title initially since I’ll have Wii Sports. This eliminates NBA Live ‘07, Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘07, or Madden ‘07. If either of these is internet playable, I may reconsider post launch, especially if Bramer get Madden…
I can also eliminate all the games that are kids only. This means no to Avatar: The Last Airbender, Cars, Spongebob SquarePants, Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Happy Feet, and Open Season.
Until reviews for one of these comes in exceptional, I’ll probably avoid the first person shooters and similar types: Far Cry: Vengeance, Call of Duty 3, Red Steel, or Splinter Cell: Double Agent. I would eventually like at least one FPS in my collection because I think the controller could really do wonders with this genre.
There are a bunch of titles that aren’t easily cataloged some of which are quite intriguing. Rayman: Raving Rabbids and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz are strong contenders for my money. I’d like one or the other and potentially both. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam could be fantastic and I’d love to have this game if it is good. It is a change for this series, but it seems to be coming together as a nice cross between the other Tony Hawk games and SSX.
I don’t think Metal Slug Anthology, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Blazing Angels, or Rampage: Total Destruction will make it on my list unless one of them truly stands out as a must buy after launch.
I would like some sort of racing title, but I’m not sure which of these will stand out: GT Pro Series, Monster Truck, Need for Speed: Carbon, or Excite Truck.
Finally, there is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. For all intents and purposes this is the game to buy if you are getting a Wii. I’m certainly looking forward to a long quest through Hyrule. It will not be easy to make a final decision on what I get, but however it turns out, this will be one of the greatest game system launches of all time!
Tags: Call of Duty 3, Disney/Pixar’s Cars, ExciteTruck, Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, GT pro series, happy feet, Madden NFL 07, marvel ultimate alliance, Metal Slug Anthology, Monster Truck, NBA Live 07, Nintendo, Open Season, red steel, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, wii, wii launch, wii sports
Frank Miller’s 300 The Movie
October 15, 2006 | 136 Comments
It’s no secret that Frank Miller has created some of the greatest comics of all time. His runs on Daredevil and Batman reinvented these characters. In the case of Daredevil, he popularized this otherwise lackluster character. With Batman, he was able to shake 20 years of campy feel as a result of the 1960s TV show. Suddenly Batman was dark, gritty, and serious. These fantastic successes set Miller up to work independently in the 90s as a huge proponent of creator rights. During this era he created arguably his best work including Sin City and 300.
Sin City is the epitome of Millers film noir style and was a huge success when it was made into a movie last year. When I first saw the trailer, I began calling friends and making people watch it. The trailer alone was a fabulous work of art. I was just as pleased when I finally saw the film. I would count this as the greatest comic book movie of all time. Thankfully sequels are in the works.
This brings us to 300. Currently Zach Snyder is making this into a film due out March of 2007. 300 depicts the Battle of Thermopylae from the Persion-Greco war. The central character is Spartan King Leonidas who leads an army of 300 soldiers to defend against a much larger force of Persians.
The visual style shown in the trailer makes many scenes and characters look almost painted. I’m sure this is intentional to match the painted art from the comic. There is a definite epic war movie feel.
I wasn’t grabbed by this trailer anywhere near the way Sin City hooked me, but I’m still looking forward to this movie. Without a doubt it comes from the end of the best era in Miller’s career.
Go watch the trailer on Apple’s site, let me know what you think.
Tags: 300, 300 movie, batman, daredevil, film noir, frank miller, greco, greek, leonidas, miller, movie, movies, persian, preview, sin city, sparta, spartan, thermopylae, trailer