Avengers, New and Mighty
February 22, 2007 | 9 Comments
In the wake of Civil War, the Avengers are left split into two teams. These will be the New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers. Little is known about either, especially considering Civil War has not yet completed. However, the cover for Mighty Avengers has been revealed, and the first issue with the new New Avengers is out!
We do know that Brian Michael Bendis will be writing both books. Leinil Yu will be drawing New Avengers and Frank Cho will be drawing Mighty Avengers.
Here’s what the teams are looking like so far:
Mighty Avengers
based entirely off the cover art
- Ms. Marvel - leading the team
- Iron Man - is this Tony Stark? I have my doubts…
- The Sentry
- Ares
- Wonder Man
- Wasp
- Black Widow
New Avengers
- Luke Cage (returning)
- Spider-Man (returning, now in black suit)
- Wolverine (returning)
- Spider-Woman (returning)
- Maya Lopez/Echo (returning, no longer as Ronin)
- Iron Fist - no longer wearing the Daredevil costume and clearly the new money for this group.
- Doctor Strange
- Ronin - not Maya, so who’s Ronin? They imply it is “not quite” Matt Murdock. Could this be Nick Fury? Captain America? Sue Storm? Some other lesser known disenfranchised character?
I find the Mighty Avengers to be the more surprising of the teams. Lots of old characters being brought back to the main stream.
Early indications say that Mighty Avengers will be the more government acknowledged team addressing the massive universe effecting events.
New Avengers are a darker more street level team with a concentration on fighting crime. The art styles do a great job of immediately indicating that distinction as well.
Tags: ares, art, avengers, bendis, black, black widow, brian michael bendis, captain america, civil war, comics, daredevil, doctor strange, echo, iron fist, iron man, luke cage, marvel, matt murdock, maya lopez, mighty avengers, ms marvel, new avengers, nick fury, Ronin, sentry, spider-man, spider-woman, spiderman, spiderwoman, sue storm, tony stark, wasp, Wolverine, wonder man
Ghost Rider Movie Review
February 19, 2007 | 9 Comments
I had low hopes going into the Ghost Rider movie, and I was neither let down, nor inspired. I would give this movie 2 out of 5 stars. The term I would use is poor.
The movie starts out solidly, but Peter Fonda’s portrayal of Mephistopheles is the lead in to the downward spiral of the film. No one should ever cast this man in a movie… ever… again.
There are also a few major holes in some of the effects and an equal number in some of Cage’s dialog. My other big criticism is in Eva Mendes’ Roxanne Simpson character. Actually… it’s the lack of character and development that I found most upsetting. This is the second billing character in the film, and undergoes absolutely no characterization! She is a reporter and she loves Johnny Blaze without any reason or background justification. Just sad…
I will say that the overall look of Ghost Rider is done perfectly. In general these effects are put together nicely. Also, the overall plot seems like it was well envisioned, but the previous complaints obfuscated that to the point if seriously degraded enjoyment.
In conclusion, I had minor hopes that this would be a good film that would excite me into wanting to read the new comic series. The reason for this is that Clayton Crain is an amazing artist. I wanted an excuse to read the book and enjoy his art, instead I’ll have to flip through the book, still uninterested in the character of Ghost Rider. Crain is currently my favorite comic artist, I’m now wishing more than ever that he had remained on Sensational Spider-Man. For reference, the cover image included in this post is from Clayton Crain.
Tags: art, artist, cage, clayton crain, comics, crain, ghost rider, johnny blaze, marvel, movie, nicolas cage, Sensational Spider-Man, spider-man
Comic Book Art Mashups
August 2, 2006 | 1 Comment
Worth 1000 hosts regular photoshop contest challenges, each of which intrigues me for one reason or another. In the past they ran a couple contests called Superhero ModRen and Superhero ModRen 2 which challenged competitors to create images combining superheroes and fine art pieces.
The above image combines the nude female figure from William Adolphe Bouguereau’s “Cupid and Psyche” with Spider-Man to form what I think is absolutely brilliant. You’d almost think Spidey was painted right in there. Other images feature Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Doctor Octopus, Robin, Wolverine, and more!
Defintitely check out both galleries, you are sure to be entertained. If these happen to be your cup of tea, browse deeper into Worth 1000, many of the artists competing here blow me away with their creativity.
(On a side note, the above image and many that are linked, contain full frontal nudity, but I can’t imagine they are offensive or pornographic…)
Tags: art, batman, Bouguereau, cupid, Doctor Octopus, electric Beaugureau, female, image manipulation, modren, naked, nude, painting, photoshop, psyche, renaissance, Robin, spider-man, spiderman, superhero, superman, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Wonder Woman
Great Nintendo Wii Fan Art
July 31, 2006 | 2 Comments
This really cool image highlighting all kinds of classic gaming characters was rumored today to be a leaked promotional piece direct from Nintendo for the Virtual Console on the upcoming Wii. Turns out that isn’t true, but the image is really cool no matter how you look at it. I can’t even begin in wonder how many game references are packed into this amazing work of art.
If anyone finds out who the artist is, let me know so I can give proper credit.
Tags: art, classic gaming, fan art, game, games, Nintendo, nintendo wii, video games, virtual console, wii
Tim Hildebrandt (1939-2006)
June 12, 2006 | 13 Comments
Earlier today artist legend Tim Hildebrandt passed away. Tim and his twin brother Greg established themselves as artist legends especially among the geek community. One of their most famous paintings is the original Star Wars movie poster. The Hildebrandt brothers are also famous for creating a Lord of the Rings calendar which established many of the visual familiarity of Tolkien’s world all the way through to the recent movie trilogy.
Most significant to me however is their work in the Marvel universe. The Spider-Man image included here hung on my wall as a kid, helping to solidify my ideas of how Spider-Man should look.
Certainly Tim will be missed, but his fantastic art will live on.
Tags: art, artists, hildebrant, hildebrant brothers, marvel, marvel universe, spider-man, spiderman, star wars, Tim hildebrant, tolkien
Urinal Games
March 31, 2006 | Leave a Comment
From Yanko Design comes the On Target urinal. Basically this urinal has a built in game that helps to keep men aiming where they should and makes a generally mundane task entertaining. Well, at least that’s the theory….
I grabbed the rest of the images from the designer, Marcel Neundörfer, site. I think the images speak for themselves.
From their site:
Recessed into a urinal is a pressure-sensitive display screen. When the guest uses it, he triggers an interactive game, producing images and sound. The reduced size of the “targetâ€? improves restroom hygiene and saves on cleanings costs (like the “fly in the urinalâ€? at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport). It also makes a trip to the urinal “fun and gamesâ€? – more than just a necessary nuisance. By projecting the game experience into the public space, viewers are treated to a new way of visualizing the abstract, and the entertainment value is boosted. The projection of the project into a museum space was conceived of as a critical-ironic measure, questioning the concept of art, but extending it at the same time. “On targetâ€? is an interactive installation with the functional purpose of improving hygiene.
Tags: art, game, innovation, urinal, video game
Real Life Comics
August 24, 2005 | 1 Comment
A bunch of years back Sara and I got excited about reading Real Life Comics. Once a web only comic, now a compilation has been made containing all the first year comics. The author, Greg Dean, seems to pull a lot of this directly from his life. There are computers, video games, swords, and anime. The series has great art, is really geeky, and is an all around fun read. Anyway, I have been forgetting about it for the last couple years, but I am working on getting caught up again. My whole point for posting is to remind me to go read it.
On a side note, something about the art at Iconize Me! is what made me remember Real Life. Check out Cliff’s icon. Very cool.
Tags: art, comic strip, comics, iconize me, real life