Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra
August 20, 2006 | 3 Comments
The more I read in the Ultimate ‘verse the more I realize how truly top shelf everything about it seems to be. So far every Ultimate book I’ve read has been great, in some cases awakening interest in characters I previously had no attachment with. Having this in mind, I picked up Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra.
This series starts as a four part series. It is extremely character central. There is very little classic bang up super fight action scenes, but that’s a-ok with me. Especially good when the character development and dialog is as expertly composed as this. In many ways I think this title was targeted at female comic readers, I hope it was successful at this, because I’m certainly going to be making Sara read it…
Here’s the premise: Elektra is a freshman in college. She is the child of a single father who started her with karate lessons at a very young age. Elektra is strong willed and outspoken. Her character exudes strength and confidence. In all ways a great role model for girls (at least early on). She shows up to school, meets some great friends, including one mousy shy girl who she protects from some frat dude jerk. This is where all the problems start, establishing the core conflict of the series.
Later we meet Matt Murdock aka Daredevil. In all ways Daredevil is secondary to Elektra in the series. He and best friend Foggy Nelson are studying law. Murdock immediately becomes Elektra’s love interest.
As the Elektra and frat boy conflict heightens in extremity, eventually she and Daredevil find themselves as a decision point. He must make a choice between supporting her in an act of vengeance or saving the life of someone he does not like. Daredevil feels strongly that the legal system must be played out; Elektra has lost her faith in the law.
In addition to Greg Rucka’s fantasticly written morality centered action character drama, the art of Salvador Larroca is stunning. In fact, it was the recent Marvel Spotlight: Neil Gaiman/Salvador Larroca issue that raised my awareness of this book. I enjoyed reading his interview, but hadn’t read anything he penciled.
If you are interested in Daredevil, Elektra, the Ultimate ‘verse, or character driven story telling, this is a must read for you.
Tags: "ultimate universe", character, comic, comic books, comics, daredevil, drama, elektra, greg rucka, marvel, marvel spotlight, Neil Gaiman, salvador larroca, ultimate, ultimate daredevil and Elektra
Marvel Podcasts
June 5, 2006 | 3 Comments
I am silly amounts of addicted to the Marvel Universe. As part of that I was pretty excited in January when I first discovered Marvel’s podcasts. Since then I have found myself waiting less than patiently for the semi-monthly or so releases. The insight into the authors, artists, and overall creative teams at Marvel has engrossed me even further into the Marvel Universe and the many exciting events that are currently taking place there.
The first one of these I casually listened to was with Damon Lindelof talking about Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk. Of course I have been rabidly following that series, at least for the first two issues. Where’s issue #3 Lindelof/Marvel?!?
Next, I heard Joss Whedon talk about his Astonishing X-Men series, which I immediately sought out the trades and am now following monthly. In fact, if you want to get in on a modern X-Men title, this is the one to read. The team consists of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Colossus, and Beast. The series has dealt with some fantastic plot twists and events, including a story line about a mutant cure whihc is eerily familiar to X-Men 3’s major plot line. Understanding Whedon’s reasoning for building the team he did and why he is playing with the stories he is made the whole experience that much richer.
Craig Kyle was interviewed about the Ultimate Avengers movie. After listening I of course bought the DVD on launch day. If I hadn’t heard him explain in great detail about why he had changed many of the major story elements, I may have been annoyed at the film. Instead I enjoyed every minute of it and again found insights into the changed characterizations.
I was surprised to find Keith Giffen and editor Andy Schmidt raising my interests for Annihilation and all the cosmic Marvel heroes featured there. I had previously had every intention of being blissfully ignorant of this major event which follows primarily characters I find out of place and uninteresting in Marvel. Instead, Silver Surfer, Drax the Destroyer, and Nova have all captivated me into this major event. In fact I’m trying to find back issues of Drax the Destroyer which are proving to be as elusive as honest politicians… Granted, I still find Ronan and Super Skrull about as boring as anything ever written… but you can’t win them all.
The X-Office episode was an amazing amount of fun to listen to, but I haven’t been able to find much that is too interesting in most the X-Men comics these days. The exception is of course Joss Whedon’s previously mentioned Astonishing X-Men. The banter between the many editors, writers, and artists who participated in this episode made for the occasional laugh out loud moment and definitely made a flight from Orlando to Manchester entirely more tolerable.
The two Civil War episodes added to my already frothing excitement for this event. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has ever felt so giddy about an upcoming set of comics as I do about Civil War. I just wish I could sit down and read the 30+ comics that will make up this massive event in one long binge. Alas, I will have to wait for Mark Millar to layout his tale slowly over the next six months…
I could go on, because there are more great episodes to highlight (Neil Gaiman on Moon Night, Ed Brubaker on Daredevil, Daniel Knauf on Iron Man, etc). However, I just need to say thanks to Marvel and hopefully encourage at least one person to listen to these amazing podcasts. I’m certain they will continue, especially if the marketing team learns how addictive they may prove to be.
I will warn you though, listening to the Marvel podcast will be hazardous to your wallet! You’ve been warned, now go listen and spend money on comics.
RSS feed of the Marvel Podcasts
Tags: "astonishing x-men", "Damon Lindelof", "ultimate avengers", Andy Schmidt, Beast, civil war, colossus, comic books, comics, Cyclops, Daniel Knauf, daredevil, Drax the Destroyer, ed brubaker, emma frost, hulk, iron man, joss whedon, Keith Giffen, Kitty Pryde, mark millar, marvel, marvel universe, moon knight, Neil Gaiman, Nova, podcast, podcasts, ronan, rss, Silver Surfer, super skrull, ultimate hulk, ultimate wolverine, Wolverine, x-men
Beowulf Movie (2007)
June 4, 2006 | 2 Comments
The epic Old English poem Beowulf has been adapted to film by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman. The film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis and will use updated Polar Express technology to deliver what I hope will be an amazing computer animated experience. The film is written as a purely adult targeted endeavor. Rumored plans are to shoot for a PG-13 rating, but to also create an NC-17 film to be distributed to IMAX theaters.
The cast is serious Hollywood big time, Crispin Glover is the evil Grendel, and surely Glover plays evil better than most. Angelina Jolie will play Grendel’s Mother and according to reports the character is crazy kinky hot beyond anything we’ve ever seen Jolie play in real life. On the good side, Ray Winstone plays the main character Beowulf. Anthony Hopkins supports him as King Hrothgar and Robin Wright Penn plays the good queen Wealtheow. Undeniably, this is a cast worth lining up for, especially if Jolie lives up to the early hype…
My initial fear about the film was about the “dead eye syndrome” which was the biggest problem with Polar Express. However, their updated technology includes a technique called electrooculography or EOG. Basically they record fine and detailed movements of the actors eye’s which is then reproduced in the animation.
The mix of action movie, sweet technology, and Neil Gaiman has me plenty excited. As soon as a there is any footage or trailers to be shown, trust me, I’ll blog them. If you want to hear more about this, Ain’t It Cool News got a sneak peek of the budding film recently, an interesting read.
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, beowulf, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, electrooculography, EOG, grendel, John Malkovich, King Hrothgar, movie, Neil Gaiman, Ray Winstone, Robert Zemeckis, Roger Avary, Wealtheow