Yearly Archive: 2008

Even scientists like to have fun every now and then.  England’s New Scientist magazine will be exploring the SF world in their November issue and along the way want to get reader input on the best and worst to date.

“We plan to explore this question in a special edition of New Scientist out on 15 November – as well as reviewing the best new science fiction books and talking to some of the world’s leading writers,” they write at the magazine’s website.

To engage readers prior to the issue’s release, they ask for people to vote on their favorite science fiction books and films.  In order to kick start the debate, they polled themselves and named Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the best book. “Hitchhiker’s Guide as the out-and-out best sci-fi book by several dead whales and one bowl of petunias. Anyone who disagrees with me is clearly a crass Golgafrinchan who should be forced to listen to Vogon poetry for as long as it takes," wrote one of their editors.

We applaud their choice of L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics as the worst science fiction novel.

Blade Runner was the clear favorite film among the magazine staff, noting "It’s a great story, emotionally involving and well acted – and still has a mystery. Was Harrison Ford’s cop really a cyborg?"

Steve McQueen’s The Blob took the worst film title. "I saw The Blob when I was about seven years old and haven’t eaten jelly since," said one of the staff.
 

The recent Ultimate Origins mini-series has been delving into the past of the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Now at last, we’ve learned how many of the heroes and super-humans of this reality are related and interconnected. We’ve learned the startling secrets of the creation of the mutant gene and Mutant Zero, we’ve seen the initial transformation of the Hulk and how he was responsible for the deaths of Peter Parker’s parents (although writer Brian Michael Bendis recently denied this at Batlimore Comic-Con, the recent March on Ultimatum one-shot confirms it). We’ve seen the secrets of Nick Fury and learned that he’s been around since World War II.

But most startling about the Ultimate Origins mini is the sub-plot that takes place in the present-day. A Watcher has appeared, a strange device with a single eye that claims to be part of a hive-culture. The first Watcher appeared on Earth when Captain America, the first true post-human of the Ultimate Marvel Universe, recieved his enhanced abilities. Now hundreds of Watchers are appearing all over Earth. Which means that something catastrophic is coming.

They didn’t show up during the coming of Gah Lak Tus. What could be coming now that is worse?

Possibly the end of human civilization. Magneto is back. He’s angry. He has a plan. And he may have already defeated Thor.

The story is Ultimatum, a new mini-series written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by David Finch. The tagline is simple. "For what they’ve done, they will have to pay the ultimate price." Rumors abound how much this will change the Ultimate Universe and alredady some are whispering that characters will die and titles will be cancelled. Be on the look out.

But Ultimatum isn’t the only thing Marvel is throwing at us. It has recently been revealed through a leaked cover image that the New Avengers line-up, following Secret Invasion, is likely to include Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ronin, Luke Cage and the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes). Wonder who’s gonna be on Dark Avengers if they didn’t pick up Wolverine.

And in his most recent Cup o’ Joe on Myspace, Joe Quesada talks about Deadpool, Madelyne Pryor, Secret Invasion and how the Malibu characters are not coming back anytime soon.

We’ve been writing a bit about the Swedish vampire sensation Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In).  We’ve already mentioned how it will finally get some screen time here in the states starting October 24 before coming to DVD in January.  We also told you how Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves will be directing the English language version for the newly revived Hammer Films.

What we didn’t tell you are that director Tomas Alfredson doesn’t think a remake is such a good idea. According to Slash Film, he told MovieZine, “Remakes should be made of movies that aren’t very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong.

“I’m very proud of my movie and think it’s great, but the Americans might be of another opinion. The saddest thing for me would be to see that beautiful story made into something mainstream.”

Alfredson was drawn to the 2004 novel from writer John Ajvide Lindqvist about a 12-year-old boy and the 200-year-old vampire child, Eli. The dark coming of age tale was a big hit and ripe for screen adaptation.

The film was an international sensation, winning the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award at Edinburgh Film Festival and first place in the Horror Features category at the 2008 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

 “I don’t like to whine, but of course – if you’d spent years on painting a picture, you’d hate to hear buzz about a copy even before your vernissage!”"

Russell T. Davies suggested to Britain’s Sunday Express that the current Doctor, David Tennant, may remain in the role for quite some time.

“David has brought everything to Doctor Who. I remember exactly where I was when I saw him audition for Casanova, I thought, ‘Here is someone saying the lines exactly as they are written.’ But mainly it was the sense of humor. A lot of straight men don’t handle humor well, but he can do the tragedy, too,” he told the paper.

"David may never leave; he could go on forever… I haven’t talked to him about leaving. Maybe it will never happen. Maybe he’ll be 70 and have to be taken off set."

The outgoing producer of the popular series then discussed the 2008 Christmas special and revealed, “It’s called The Next Doctor’, and there is a major plot twist at the end. We’re even thinking of not having a press screening, because we don’t think anyone will be able to keep it secret. For the first time we have two men together as leads. It’s a small focused idea, a little different.”

The Cybermen arrive to spoil a Victorian era Christmas and will guest star David Morrissey and Dervla Kirwin.

Marvel is over-joyed to announce that Daredevil #111 has sold out at Diamond and thus will be re-solicited. The second printing will have a wrap-around cover with art by Clay Mann.

If you don’t know who this lady is, that’s because she’s just been introduced. She makes her debut in Daredevil #111, by Ed Brubaker and Clay Mann. This issue is the beginning of a new story-arc and is also set-up to be a jumping-on point for new readers.

Daredevil’s been through a lot lately. His wife is in a mental institution. He finds himself attracted to another woman. And he’s never in short supply of enemies. As any Daredevil fan can tell you, one of the hero’s most personal foe is the assassin Bullseye. Gifted with an innate understanding of geometry and physics, Bullseye can take any hand-held object and instantly calculate how to throw it so that it becomes a lethal weapon.

Over the years, Bullseye has destroyed Daredevil’s world twice, first by killing his lover Elektra (although she was later resurrected) and then later by killing his other great love, Karen Page. When Daredevil once tried to get revenge on the killer by dropping him from a rooftop, the little psychopath just got himself an adamantium spine and got back into action. Nowadays, Daredevil couldn’t go after Bullseye even if he wanted to, as the assassin serves as an agent of Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts and thus has federal protection.

The very mention of the name Bullseye causes Daredevil pain and anger. How much worse will it be when he finally meets the new Lady Bullseye, a woman who has dedicated herself to emulating the assassin, whom she considers a hero? And while Bullseye killed for the sheer enjoyment of it, moving from one body to the next without a care, our new Lady Bullseye looks on murder as an art form, to be carefully laid out and appreciated in all its glory.

This new issue is an enticing one and Lady Bullseye promises to be an interesting new rogue. So if you haven’t gotten your copy of #111, be on the look-out for the second printing!