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Alright. I was trying not to get too excited for this. However, after watching this trailer my first reaction was WOW. Second, I think they should forget a live-action Justice League film and instead do a CGI JLA film from the talent behind this online game. Seriously, watch this and tell me it doesn’t excite you for a Wonder Woman film? She’s awesome in this! I love the fighting and the twist on the story at the end. Do not skip this trailer! WATCH IT! - SJD DC has a new animated Young Justice series coming, featuring Kon-El, Robin, Artemis, the new Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Miss Martian. I have the behind-the-scenes/first look for the show and I admit, this looks crazy cool! The Justice League are important figures in their proteges’ lives. Peter David, who wrote the Young Justice book years ago, will be writing a few episodes of the animated show. I may have to check this out! - SJD This week, DC Comics released the trade paperback collecting Neil Gaiman’s fantastic Batman story Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, which explored the reaction following the Dark Knight’s presumed death. At the same time, DC also released a new trade paperback collecting Alan Moore’s now classic Superman tale Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? With similar cover design and presentation, these two trades make for an excellent Trade Paperback Spotlight.
Not much of a surprise to see that last week’s poll winner was Walking Dead #75. It maintained the same high level of storytelling and even included a few goodies at the back, including cast photos for the upcoming Walking Dead show on AMC. This week looks to be a strong week for DC Comics, as we have two Green Lantern books, Return of Bruce Wayne, Wonder Woman, and a couple more! Plus, DC’s Vertigo line is represented well, as it normally is, with Northlanders, American Vampire and Jack of Fables (on the strength of the Jack Dragon story alone). But Marvel isn’t exactly a lightweight this week, with a great issue of Uncanny X-Men, Secret Avengers and Punishermax. And of course we can’t forget Rusty’s pick GI Joe Hearts and Minds #3. Now it’s your turn!  Loading ...
We’re also set get two Shadowland titles with Shadowland #2 and Shadowland Bullseye #1; two Avengers books in Avengers Prime #2 and Avengers Origin #5; plus Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher #1, the Thor: Rage of Thor one-shot, Captain America #608, and Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #6, the final issue of the series. After a massive Brightest Day week last week, it’s a little lighter for DC this week. Look for Brightest Day #7, Batman Odyssey #2, Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1, Red Robin #15 and Red Hood Lost Days #3. From other publishers, there’s Magnus Robot Fighter #1 (Dark Horse), Crossed Family Vales #3 and Supergod #4 (Avatar), Irredeemable #16 (BOOM!), and The Boys #45 (Dynamite). The full list follows…
In one of the most exciting, ongoing comics events in recent years, a cast of familiar characters assumes the mantle of the bat. And out of the events of Batman Reborn, a new generation of heroes rise! Now don’t miss out on the action figures based on this award-winning, best-selling series, which includes both Azrael and Batgirl in their new costumes.
Imagine you are a captured American soldier in the clutches of Cobra. Imagine you are a well trained, highly patriotic, top notch American soldier about to be interrogated. You’re not talking. No way. No how. Enter the Interrogator. He knows you won’t talk and that normal interrogation techniques won’t work either. He has to find what will. It’s the key to unlocking your tongue. And your key is Heroism. Cobra has video coverage of your capture. The real video shows you heroically trying to save your comrades before your capture. A fake video shows you running away as a coward before your capture. So he presents you with a choice. Tell the Interrogator what you know. Betray your country. Your duty. Your honor. And the real video is released. You will be remembered as a hero. Don’t tell the Interrogator anything. Keep your vows. Protect your country. And the fake video will be released. You will remembered as a coward. And you’re going to die no matter what choice you pick. You know that. We know that. The Interrogator knows that. What do you do? You have until the morning to decide. Don’t think you will be getting any sleep tonight. And that was only half the book. The Deep Six story was also great. Imagine you are on a mission in a deep sea suit. Imagine all the possible ways you could die…. Conversation on Sunday. Get into the rest then. Liked a bunch of stuff this week. See ya! Rusty
Apparently, Dragon Ball is an update on the Chinese "Monkey King" myth, whatever that is. Luckily, knowing or not knowing the Monkey King myth has no impact upon your ability to enjoy the series. Dragon Ball is the story of Son Goku. Goku is a young boy who has been raised in the wilderness by his grandfather. He hasn’t been exposed to anything outside of the forest in which he’s grown up, and that includes girls. Soon enough, Bulma, a girl, visits the forest in an attempt to find one of the fabled seven "Dragon Balls." As the story goes, whoever gathers all the Dragon Balls will be granted one wish by an ancient dragon. Bulma enlists Goku’s aid in finding the balls so that she can get her one true wish "to have a perfect boyfriend." Action, adventure and all sorts of juvenile humor ensues. Okay. All doubt removed. It’s so close to the comic book it’s scary and I love it. THOR will be EPIC. - SJD Honestly, there is no way I can cover everything from the SDCC. I have, however, included as much interesting news as I could at the moment. We’ll be posting some cool videos as well. Anything I miss I’ll include in next week’s installment. Promise.
On the Bat books it will be Grant Morrison on Batman, Inc.; Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason (former Green Lantern Corps team) will take on Batman and Robin; Scott Snyder will be writing Detective Comics (love American Vampire, this is great!), David Finch is writing and illustrating Batman: The Dark Knight; and Paul Dini will be doing a sequel to his “Heart of Hush” story in Streets of Gotham. Look for Cassandra Cain to return to the Bat-verse, maybe as soon as November. Warren Ellis had devised animated serials of Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men and Blade for the South East Asian Anime market. He came up with 12-episode stories for each property, writing outlines for the story, which Madhouse (the studio making them) had their own writers turn into scripts. Ellis stated he adapted material from existing comics (he uses the example of Chris Claremont/Frank Miller’s Wolverine mini-series for the Wolverine one) but said these animated serials were created from his “plot, pacing, and colour.” Though he expects his stuff was re-written (the serials were not originally done for English audiences) he states that these Marvel Anime programs will air in the US in 2011 on G4. I bet they’re better than Marvel’s animated films. Of course that wouldn’t be too hard.
You may have seen Shawn’s news column yesterday going over the multitudinous news items stemming from the Con, and you’ll see more today. There is some great stuff going on! As you surely know, San Diego is the humongest comic book and pop culture convention in the world, and so I decided to celebrate it by liberally peppering today’s column with equally humongous (and occasionally non-existent) words. Enjoyify! GREEN LANTERN #56 Man, what a cool cover. Like a lot of people, I didn’t even know who Hector Hammond was until Green Lantern: Rebirth. And though this cover does take some liberties with the size of his cranium and the possibility of Hal Jordan getting trapped therein (I bet he has nightmarish halitosis, by the way), his head is actually pretty big. In fact, I think it needs straps just to be held upright! In fact, looking now, he kind of reminds me of the classic animated character from yesteryear, Butthead, of Beavis and Butthead fame, who also had a massive melon. The newest trailer for Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner’s RED comic adaptation was shown at SDCC and then released for us heathens. It looks fantastic! But don’t just take my word for it!
- SJD
If there is one point that I would like to make, a point that holds even during the worst week you can imagine: we still get more for our entertainment dollar than anywhere else. That is a cold hard fact. On slow weeks you can try something new and comics cover the full spectrum now. Even writers who I don’t like these days are better than what was being done in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. (Editor’s Note: Next week, in the absence of the excellent Jim’s Picks, come back right here to check out something completely different… while also completely the same… You’ll see what I mean.) This week I would point out: Action Comics #891 – In one issue Paul Cornell has sold me on this series about Lex Luthor, and heck he even got Neil Gaiman’s permission to use the character Death for this series in a month or so. This is a chance to get in on the ground floor of what looks like the beginning of a great run on this book. Due to the insane amount of news released during the San Diego Comic Con, we will be running not one but two news columns this week: one today, one tomorrow. This is my vain attempt at getting into a little of everything. We good? Excellent.
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City has been optioned for film. Don’t get too excited yet. The property has only been optioned. There is no screenwriter or director at this point. However I would like to say, if done right, Astro City could make an amazing series of films. At the Irredeemable panel, writer Mark Waid stated that both Irredeemable and Incorruptible will begin to cross over more, with a character from Irredeemable becoming a regular in Incorruptible. Also, issue #17 of Irredeemable explains why Modeus hates Plutonian so much. Should be fun! At the DC panel it was hinted at that the new Wonder Woman outfit will evolve over the course of the story. Wouldn’t it be something if we all got bent out of shape over nothing if the final version looks more like classic Wonder Woman? I’m morbidly curious now. Tried to give a slightly different perspective on some books than Rusty did this week, just so I don’t repeat anything. I did want to comment briefly about his “popcorn” reference in the Avengers books. Brian Michael Bendis, whose work I enjoy in Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers, and now Scarlett, writes Avengers like more mature cartoons. By that I mean they have arcs that read like long episodes and nothing usually happens in them that has permanent, long-standing consequences. They can be fun but ultimately irrelevant. All of the biggest changes for the characters came during their “events” and without those around at the moment I feel both Avengers books need to change or nothing of consequence will happen until the next event, whenever that is. Just a thought. And now for the reviews!
I’ve got a critique of everything I feel is wrong about this book. Before I felt like all I was getting were trailers for books I’d love to read. To some extent that feeling still sits there in the back of my head, but that is not what I’ll be critiquing about now. Six issues in and I think I understand why I have trouble liking this title. Before I explain the bad, I want to comment a moment on the good points of this book. The art on this book consistently looks amazing. Even with the multiple artists for the various slivers of characters we get, it is without a doubt a pretty book. Prettier often than some struggling books that deserve better artists. This title is definitely “Bogarting” some serious art talent. So the art gets a pass on the critique. Also, on the writing side, I’d like to commend Johns and Tomasi on the moments in this series. The big ones and the little ones. In this issue specifically I’d point you to the White Ring telling Boston Brand to eat a cheeseburger because he hasn’t eaten anything since returning to life. The moment when Jason “calls” Ronnie to save some lives even though both individuals don’t care for one another, and the reveal that there is a third “voice” in the Firestorm equation. Mera’s secret history. And of course there is that last page that makes a fan of modern age characters (me) a little upset.
Marvel is giving us Captain America Forever Allies #1, Hit-Monkey #2, Shadowland #2, and Deadpool #1,000! (It seems only yesterday we were getting multiple Deadpool #1’s. Who knew we’d hit 1,000 so soon?!) Elsewhere we have Image United #3 coming out after a delay, Hellboy The Storm #2, Magus The Robot Fighter #1, and Crossed Family Values #3! Keep reading to see the full list of what might be coming out next Wednesday. (If you’re looking for the comics that are coming out this Wednesday, July 28, click here.)
I will start with Marvel Comics today. Gave them the short shift on Thursday but that was really all they deserved when discussing the Best Books of the Week. Sticking by my Orville Redenbacher rating. They make some very fine popcorn. And Marvel is cranking out some very fine popcorn right now. Can totally see how you could enjoy both NEW AVENGERS #2 and AVENGERS #3. They are good. They are enjoyable. They are fun. Just not a lot there. Part of it is that, personally, I still want that all encompassing company wide story as a back drop in these books. Civil War. Dark Reign. Really not getting any of that right now. Which is fine. Always prefer stories with lasting consequences or at least an adjustment in the status quo. Things should happen that matter. Just have to read New Avengers and Avengers as what they are, popcorn, and it’s gonna take me a few more issues to adjust.
And I actually prefer THUNDERBOLTS #146 to the Avengers books. Seems to be a little more meat on this bone. Of course that puts Luke Cage in two books too. He is the leader of the Thunderbolts now. And while there was a big fight, the story held together and Man Thing is awesome. Never thought I would say that. But Man Thing is great! And no column would be complete this week without talking about AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #638. One Moment in Time Part One.
This week’s item up for bid is:
High-octane horror one-shots featuring Jacob Russel, the Werewolf by Night; the Monster of Frankenstein; Man-Thing; Simon Garth, the original Marvel Zombie; the devil’s daughter, sultry Satana; a Living Mummy; Morbius the Living Vampire; and the king of vampires, Dracula, and his beautiful daughter, Lilith! Collecting Legion Of Monsters: Werewolf By Night, Morbius, Man-Thing and Satana. Plus: classic tales of horror and suspense featuring the Scarecrow, Manphibian and the Legion of Monsters from Dead Of Night #11, Marvel Spotlight #26, Marvel Two-In-One #18, Legion Of Monsters #1 and Marvel Premiere #28. Terror has never looked as good as these frightening fables! Starting Bid : 1¢
After a month off, the Top 100 is back, baby! And it looks like June was a pretty good month for comics. Marvel and DC both took five of the top 10 spots, with the Avengers family doing most of the heavy lifting for Marvel and Batman and Brightest Day doing the work for DC.
Here on the home front, there were some interesting differences. There was still a big Avengers presence but Batman #700 edged out New Avengers #1 in actual sales numbers for the #1 spot. Also, X-Men Legacy #237 sneaked onto the list, which, with Uncanny X-Men, gives the Second Coming event a little more of a showing. Not surprising. Had a lot of people asking about it throughout.
Finally, last September we showed you the nationwide market share for the comics industry, how the various publishers ranked in comparison to each other and so on. We decided to put that together again for you just to see what everything looks like… or really, what everything looks like AFTER the Big Two. And while there may have been some shuffling in the interim, they must have shuffled back again because compared to September everything is still pretty much the same! Dark Horse, Image and IDW are still doing their part with Dynamite and BOOM! still holding steady with their shares of the market. (I thought the 17 Green Hornet titles would have propelled Dynamite up above Dark Horse but I guess not!)
The full Top 100 Comics after the jump. For the Trade Paperback Spotlight this week we’re offering up Robert Kirkman’s zombie masterpiece The Walking Dead, as the latest volume just hit the stands on Wednesday! An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled: there is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Needless to say, this book is a fan-favorite!
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Jim says: Wonder Woman film, hell the comic should be this good. I’m have abandoned video games, but this...
Sammy says: The subtle physical growth of Goku is really amazing too, reading the volumes one by one you don’t...
Andy K says: This is why we love Thor! WOW! WOW!
Ben says: Wow! That is an amazing trailer!
This week looks to be a big one for Marvel, led off by the epic finale of the X-Men Second Coming event with X-Men: Second Coming #2 (which was released in most places a couple weeks ago, but we’re just getting our copies now).
BATMAN REBORN SERIES 1
My pick. GI JOE HEARTS AND MINDS #3.
Last week, I read 
Though details were not quite available on how they’re doing this, Grant Morrison will be leaving Batman and Robin and doing a new Batman book entitled Batman, Inc. Dan Didio claimed Bruce Wayne will be “franchising” the Batman idea, which I’m not really excited about but would allow Bruce and Dick to remain Batman. David Finch has redesigned the costume for Bruce.
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This is my final picks column, as I am officially retiring from this column. Hopefully, some of you will continue to read me on 
BOOM! Studios announced three superhero titles were created by Stan Lee in partnership with Lee’s POW! Entertainment: Starborn by Chris Roberson and Khary Randolph in December, The Traveler in November by Mark Waid and Chad Hardin, and Soldier Zero by Paul Cornell and Javier Pina as the first release in October. In this new line, Lee created the concepts and also has approval on plots and scripts before they go to the artist. I am not very familiar with the artist pairings, but the writers here are top notch. On his Twitter feed, Cornell stated this project is the one exemption in his creator-exclusive with DC Comics..jpg)
BRIGHTEST DAY #6
There is nothing better than a good week of comics to look forward to! From DC Comics we have Neal Adams continuing his return to Batman with Batman Odyssey #2! We’re also getting iZombie #4, Red Hood Lost Days #3, Secret Six #24, and Sweet Tooth #12, all store favorites! 
Really got nothing to say about the Walking Dead today. Does makes a good title……. It was the 
Think the funniest thing about the Avengers titles right now is that even with the reboot they really didn’t change that much. At least as far as their lineups. New Avengers is still basically Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, Ms. Marvel, etc. And Avengers which replaced Dark Avengers is Cap, Thor, Ironman, Spiderwoman, Victoria Hand. All the Dark Reign characters. Which makes sense. Of course Wolverine and Spiderman are now in both books….
