Voices From Krypton

FROM THE CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS: TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME

It had been nearly four years since Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, were disassembled after the breakdown of one of their won. While Captain America and Iron Man went on to form a new team several months later, the Mighty Thor was removed from our plane of existnece after the Ragnarok. As the superhero Civil War erupted throughout the Marvel Universe with the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act, friend turned against friend in a pitched battle in New York City that ultimately resulted in one team of former Avengers being relegated to a fugitive strike force, the promotion of Iron Man to the Director of SHIELD and the assassination of Steve Rogers, the legendary Captain America.
   Since then, while Iron Man has continued to run SHIELD and enforce the registration act, a reborn Thor has emerged in Oklahoma, and Steve Rogers' one-time partner, Bucky, has assumed the role of Captain America. In Secret Invasion #6, the old, the reborn and the new will join forces to battle the Skrull invasion of the Earth as Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America meet up again for the first time. With so much happening to the three of them since the Civil War -- Iron Man's participation in the creation of a Thor clone that killed longime hero, Goliath; Bucky's mission to assassinate Iron Man before finally accepting his new role as Captain America; Thor's own personal battles as he tries to balance his godly and earthly duties -- the tension is sure to be high.
  The Earth has a slim chance at best to repel the alien forces and with the heroes of the planet still unsure who to trust thanks to the shape shifting subterfuge of the Skrulls, there has never been a greater need for unity and leadership from these three icons. They may not be the same heroes they once were -- some in more than one way -- but their meeting is sure to provide the forces of good with a surge of hope, something to rally behind in these most dire times.
   How will Bucky handle working alongside the man who he blames for the death of Steve Rogers? Can Thor put aside his feelings of betrayal at the use of his clone that was responsible for Goliath's demise in the Civil War? After all that has happened, can Iron Man regain the trust of his fellow heroes enough to follow his lead? And will even the reuniting of three of the earth's most prominent heroes be enough to turn the tide against a Skrull invasion that has been so thorough and so well planned over the years? Be sure to see how the new Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, the person perhaps most responsible for the schism of and distrust within the superhero community, react to one another and assemble the scattered remnants of earth's defenders in Secret Invasion #6, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Lenil Yu, on sale beginning September 10th.
   -- Charles J. Baserap

GOTHAM CENTRAL: BATMAN'S WEEK IN REVIEW

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jeff G.  I've been invited to do a weekly round-up of Batman news here at Voices From Krypton (I will also be doing some Batman comic and graphic novel reviews).  I have a Ph.D. in Batmanology from the University of Self-Aggrandizement.  But enough about me, let’s get to the news. 

   Over at Newsarama.com, Brian Azzarello (Lex Luthor: Man of Steel) offered a glimpse into he and Lee Bermejo’s October 22^nd graphic novel Joker.  Fans are anticipating the release because of Azzarello’s success with Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and Lee Bermejo’s gruesome scarred-face Joker (Bermejo’s design actually preceded The Dark Knight).  According to Brian, the premise is Joker, released from Arkham, finds that his assets have been divvied up by the Gotham underworld and he wants them back.  The story is told from the point of view of one of Joker’s henchmen.  Many guest stars are promised, including Killer Croc (who plays a big role as one of Joker’s henchmen), Penguin, Riddler, and Two-Face.  Brian said, “It’s a brutal book. I have a reputation for writing all kinds of hardcore, violent things. This is the most violent thing I’ve ever written.” 

   Fans of All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder (not me) will be relieved to hear that issue #10 has just been released.  It’s amazing that this title started in July 2005 and is only now on issue #10.  Apparently, Axl Rose is fed up with the delay (joke). 

   Looking at the current release dates, Morrison’s “Batman R.I.P” is taking a hiatus for the month of September. 

   Time for some movie news:  Blu-ray.com has The Dark Knight DVD release date as December 16^th.  In the domestic box office, The Dark Knight recently broke $500 million.  As for sequel news, there really is none at this point; Johnny Depp affirmatively denied being cast as The Riddler and denied that any casting is being done.  A sequel will likely happen, but Nolan was not too keen initially on even doing The Dark Knight.  The sequel and Nolan’s involvement is a “wait and see” matter.  But I hear two more DC animated original movies featuring Batman are planned, one being tentatively titled Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (based on the Loeb/McGuinness story of the same name which saw Lex Luthor deposed as President of the United States). 

   That’s all for this week batfans.  Tune in next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel. 

--Jeff--

THE COMIC SHOPPE PODCAST: 8/25/2008

From The Comic Shoppe: "Join Max, Daryll and I as we discuss the following: 1) the new Wonder Woman animation effort (trailer, above); 2) Wall Street Journal's take on the More from HBO's "Marvelization" of DC Superhero Films; 3) dovetailing off the WSJ article....Is Superman to become more like the Dark Knight? and; 4) this Marvel teaser-what does it all mean? And lest we forget-we will take our continuity honed scalpels and dissect the latest graphic novel reads from this past week."

WEB-SPINNER: SPIDER-MAN 4 GETS THE GREEN LIGHT?

According to Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily, a deal has been struck between Sony and director Sam Raimi and actor Tobey Maguire for Spider-Man 4, and possibly Spider-Man 5, which, if that was the case, would shoot back to back. The script(s) is written by Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt. It is also hoped that Kirsten Dunst will be returning as Mary Jane Watson.
   Adds Finke, "Sony is taking its time officially hiring the movie's villain since principal photography doesn't start on Spider-Man 4 until next fall because of the recently postponed May 2011 release. I am told, however, that 'once you find out who the villain is, you'll know who's playing it.' That should lead to speculation that Dylan Baker's character of Dr. Curt Connors will ultimately turn into the Lizard as he did in the comic books." For the full story, click HERE.

BULLETS & BRACELETS: WONDER WRITER GAIL SIMONE

by Raffy Arcega
Wonderfans have so much to be happy about nowadays.
   Not only do we have an amazing writer on the Wonder Woman comic book series, but we have one who has proven herself to be one of the most enthusiastic, most exciting writers ever to handle this assignment.
   I’m talking about the one and only Ms. Gail Simone !
    Our Wonder Woman journey with Gail began with the story arc called “The Circle” (WW Vol. 3, Issue #14), which provides as aspect to Diana’s origin that we never knew before — that Hippolyte once had a royal guard comprised of excessively fanatical Amazons intent on trying to kill the infant Princess Diana on the eve of her birth. To make matters worse, there is a conspiracy within the Secret Society of Super-Villains to not only destroy Diana, but take control of Paradise Island as well by utilizing an old Captain Marvel villain — Captain Nazi and his army of superhumanly enhanced Neo Nazi Storm Troopers. Just awesome! Nazis are always the best villains and this aspect of the story pays homage to Diana’s Golden Age stories.
   Fans have always said that to showcase Diana's prestige as Wonder Woman, she needs to have Super-Villains and stories that are worthy of her mettle. And any challenge a hero can win despite overwhelming odds makes her a Wonder Woman indeed.
   From the inception of the current series, the notion of a non-superpowered Diana Prince was brought back into the mix as a means of providing some vulnerability for Wonder Woman. This element was no doubt inspired by the Lynda Carter WW TV series where “in the persona of Diana Prince…she is vulnerable.” But the current comics version under Gail Simone did the TV show one better — as Diana Prince she continues to have her martial arts skills and remains an excellent hand-to-hand combatant. In one scene of this story arc, we see Agent Prince pinned to the wall by the Metahuman, Captain Nazi. Refusing to allow herself to be beaten, she uses the element of surprise and Judo throws Captain Nazi while launching a smoke bomb that cleverly hides her long enough to transform into Wonder Woman (ala Lynda Carter, of course). 
   Why does this scene work? Because it demonstrates that with or without powers, Diana of Themyscira is a genuine Wonder Woman and this particular vulnerability prevents her from being too Kryptonian-like. Admittedly when this element (the result of a curse from the witch Circe) was introduced, it seemed underwhelming, but Gail made it work from the start and continues to do so.
   The story arc also explores the professional life of Diana Prince, Special Agent for the Department of Metahuman Affairs, where she works under the command of Sarge Steel and an old friend, Etta Candy. Also introduced are a group of Albino Super-Gorillas from Gorilla City, who begin as Diana’s foes, but through her nobility, bravery and compassion have become unlikely allies (some going so far as to live on Paradise Island as Queen Hippolyte’s protectors). As a result, we’re provided a double-dose of superheroic action without sacrificing characterization or the character’s overall direction.
   Speaking of direction, the coming months will explore what happened to the Amazons, where the Olympian Gods went, the ramifications of Diana’s allegiance to Polynesian god Kane Milohai, the courtship of Tom Tresser, an exploration for the Black Horizon and the reasons that Diana must ally herself with Beowulf and Claw the Unconquered. Additionally, we’ll learn why the magic lasso is one of the deadliest weapons, the location of her invisible jet, why the Secret Society is collecting soil samples from locations around the world where genocide was committed and, most importantly, the identity of Genocide.
   Without spoiling too much for those who haven’t read Wonder Woman under Gail Simone’s run, this series can’t be recommended highly enough. If your association with the character is purely based on the live action series or such animated fare as Superfriends or Justice League Unlimited, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.
   It all began with Wonder Woman (third series) Issue #14 to the present Issue #23 and beyond. The series is written by Gail Simone and illustrated by fan favorites Terry Dodson and Aaron Lopresti. For brief descriptions of the Black Horizon story arc, visit
http://phoenixmarvel2002.tripod.com
   Thanks for listening Wonderfriends.

CONFESSIONS OF A MEDIA GEEK: CLONE WARS

George Lucas did not rape my childhood. Or, in my case, my teenage years.
   Don't get me wrong, he didn't do me any favors with the prequels, but they never took away from the experience of the original trilogy for me. The one interesting  thing the prequels did in fact do was provide a little extra resonance to the originals. When Darth Vader makes his first appearance in Episode IV, suddenly there is even more weight to the moment now that we've witnessed his rise and fall. So that aspect of the prequels is pretty cool.
   It also has nothing to do with this column at the moment. This one's about Clone Wars. .
   When I first heard about the new animated series, I responded with a literal and figurative roll of the eyes. "Just George wringing a few more dollars out of the franchise via a new toyline based on the series," I told myself. And as more details came out about the show,  the more pointless it seemed. We know where everybody ends up, we know that any conflict between, say, Anakin and Count Dooku will go unresolved until Episode III, so where's the drama? Plus, who needs 50 hours of our heroes battling endless armies of droids?
   The announcement that the series would kick off with a theatrical movie really didn't make me feel any better. Until I saw the trailer.  Suddenly I found myself slightly...intrigued. So on opening night I took my 16-year-old son, my 12-year-old nephew  and was accompanied by one of my closest friends, with whom I had seen Star Wars during its original theatrical run in 1977.
   Strangely enough, he and I found ourselves laughing at certain moments, simultaneously realizing that we were getting the opportunity to see Anakin Skywalker as a heroic Jedi before his ultimate descent. At key moments we leaned over to say, "That was cool!"  By the time it was all over, we were feeling pretty good about Clone Wars. The trick for both of us, I think, was to keep in mind that this was a movie for kids, with broader humor and a built-in limitation to the darkness it could focus on.
   In the end, both of us were feeling pretty impressed with the final results and began talking about the potential of the series. Then I turned to my son and nephew to see how they felt about it. it. The 16-year-old more or less shrugged, which seemed to convey more than words. I next turned to my 12-year-old nephew who had a look of dismay on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he pointed to the now-blank screen, annoyed, proclaiming, "It's a kid's movie!"
  At that moment I wasn't sure whether to feel really old or incredibly immature — Edward Gross

SPEED ZONE: WEEKLY ROUNDUP IN A FLASH

Hello. My name is Kelson Vibber. I've run a Flash reference site, Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning, since the mid-1990s, and a few months ago I started up a blog featuring Flash news and commentary: Speed Force. I've been invited to do a weekly round-up of Flash news here at Voices From Krypton. This first one's a bit late due to the holiday weekend.
   First, Dan didio and Ethan van Sciver discussed next year's Flash: Rebirth at Fan Expo last weekend. CBR has write-ups of the DC Nation and DC: A Guide to Your Universe panels, as well as a brief chat with Dan Didio and an interview with Ethan van Sciver. There are more hints that Bart Allen will return, but the main thing EVS wanted to tlak about was why now was the time to bring Barry back.
    The biggest splash, though, was Dan Didio saying at DC Nation that he realizes that DC "reboot[s] the characters too much." he goes on to add, "what we should be doing is leet it sit for a while and then come back with a good strong story with what's going on. That's what Geoff [Johns] does." And Geoff Johns is, of course, the writing half of the Flash: Rebirth team.
   Also this past week, Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #2 came out. Response to the Geoff Johns/Scott Kolins miniseries continues to be largely favorable, and you can see my review elsewhere on Voices From Krypton.
   As for the monthly Flash series, Speed Force interviewed Tom Peyer about the 6-issue run he just finished on the book.
   Finally, a fifth volume of The Flash Archives has been spotted on Amazon. This would most likely cover Flash #133-140 (1962-1963), bringing the full-color Archives line up to the same point as the black-and-white newsprint Showcase Presents... series.
   — Kelson Vibber, Speed Force

30 MINUTES OF NILES: AN INTERVIEW WITH WRITER STEVE NILES

In this interview that originally appeared on our sister site at www.vampiresandslayers.net, writer Steve Niles spent considerable time talking about the vampire genre, his motivations for creating 30 Days of Night, the joy he felt in writing IDW's Dracula Meets the Wolfman and details regarding his new vampire superhero comic, Epilogue.