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Early Review: ‘Justice League: New Frontier’

 

Like many of you out there, a bad taste was left in my mouth coming off of Superman: Doomsday, so of course I was wary of DC’s next direct-to-DVD flick. I wasn’t a huge fan of the graphic novels (Isn’t that what we call thick comic books these days?), but I am certainly a fan of the [[[Justice League]]] and its animated counterpart. 
 
I’ll start with a warning to those who aren’t totally familiar with The New Frontier and its universe, but ARE fans of the established animated DC universe: this is a whole new direction from shows like Justice League Unlimited and others, but it is full of exciting DCU fan favorites. In fact, my biggest complaint about [[[Superman: Doomsday]]] was that there were no outside DC heroes, even though they were all over the original story. But I digress.
 
Looking at the animation first, I was very pleased that Bruce Timm (main creator of the animated DCU) and Darwyn Cooke (wirter/artist of The New Frontier graphic novel) were able to find a happy medium between the already established look of the animated Justice League and the very stylized look of Cooke’s art, thought I do think the eye-slits works much better for Superman than the baby blues. The entire artistic feel practically beamed with that golden age look, which is what attracted me to the books in the first place.

 

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On This Day: YouTube is Born

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  • February 15, 2008

 

Today in 2005, three disgruntled PayPal employees created and launched a website where users could view, upload and share video clips, naming the site, "YouTube."

The site became so popular that a little less than a year later, Google acquired the website for a mere $1.65 billion in Google stock. Hot-Damn!

Thanks to YouTube, we’re now able to watch videos of crying Britney Spears fans, mock lightsaber battles and people dancing in front of their webcams whenever we get the urge — which, if rumors about YouTube’s traffic are true, is pretty freakin’ often.

It is a lesson learned and relearned, a modern day fairytale that gives us all hope: it pays to be a nerd.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I resemble that last remark, Shira. Don’t forget you can also watch your favorite commercials from days gone by… Long live "<a href=”

Spaceknight!" – RM]

 

 

‘Justice League of America’ Film Delayed, No Superman or Batman?

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  • February 15, 2008

As we reported earlier, Paramount announced they are pushing back the release of the latest installment of the Star Trek franchise until Summer 2009. Now, from the pushed-back department comes a report via MovieHole.net that the oft-discussed and delayed Justice League of America feature has had its potential start date pushed from sometime this year to mid-2010.

Apparently, according to the report, one of the major reasons for the push was the availability of cast who, as actors often do, have taken as much work as they can and are booked up for the year. Although, as we reported earlier, Common seems to be onboard and ready to rock as Green Lantern.

Casting wasn’t the only factor, though, as it appears the studio also realized the film just wasn’t ready to roll given its current condition — which is probably more the "real" reason.

In related news, a report out of Blockbuster would seem to call into question the presence of Superman or Batman in the eagerly anticipated superteam film.

A casting agency has apparently released the following plot description for Justice League of America:

“Feb 28, Sydney, Australia: The film is about Green Lantern, Green Arrow and others of the Justice League of America, an organisation made up of the world’s greatest superheroes. They must deal with the expulsion of Batman and the death of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday”.

 

 

 

 

First Look: ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ Video

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  • February 15, 2008

 

A preview has hit the ‘Net of <a href=”

Batman: Gotham Knight, the straight-to-DVD animated anthology intended to bridge the gap between the big-screen feature film Batman Begins and its upcoming sequel The Dark Knight.

You can watch the preview below, which includes commentary from ComicMix columnist (and former Batman Group Editor) Dennis O’Neil. 

 

 

The creative team for the film includes such Batman comics notables as Bruce W. Timm, who directs the anthology, as well as Brian Azzarello, David S. Goyer and Greg Rucka. According to IMDb, actor Christian Bale will voice Batman.

Confirmed characters in the feature include Deadshot, Killer Croc, the Scarecrow and Man-Bat.

Batman: Gotham Knight is scheduled for release this year, but no specific date has been announced.

(via SHH)

GrimJack: He’s back!

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  • February 15, 2008

Hooray!  GrimJack‘s back today, with an all-new episode from John Ostrander and Timothy Truman. 

GrimJack’s gone back in time, and he’s still surrounded by demons. Some things never change… In this episode, John has to share a body, and not in the fun way!

 

linklogo2-6040038 Webbed Comics

 

First Look: ‘Doctor Who’ Season Four

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  • February 15, 2008

 

Wow. There are more spoilers, rumors and plot predictions than you can shake a stick at in this post over at io9.

However, if Doctor Who fans can resist the urge to scroll down through the full post (where the spoilers for Lost, Sarah Connor Chronicles and other series are collected), there’s also a great video preview of the sci-fi series’ much anticipated fourth season.

The video has been appearing in British movie theaters, and features (among other things) the return of Rose Tyler and Martha Jones, the creepy Ood from "The Impossible Planet" episode in Season Two, and a massive wasp. Good times are in store for the Doctor, it seems.

 

Lost In ‘Lost’, by Dennis O’Neil

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  • February 15, 2008
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Denny’s column normally runs on Tuesdays, which is great because Denny e-mails it to me on Sundays. For some reason – and for the second or third time – his various e-mail accounts don’t seem to like my various e-mail accounts. We think we’ve straightened it out. Go figure. If computers were cars, we’d all be riding horses.

 

And now, Mr. O’Neil… -MG]

 

While I was sort of half-watching the two Lost specials our pals at ABC television were treating us to recently, I recalled the hot new trend of a couple of years ago. Serialized stories. Nothing resolved until late in the season. They came and they went, those shows, though there are a few survivors, of which my favorite, and apparently the favorite of millions of my fellow citizens (including you?) is the aforementioned Lost.
 
The purpose of the specials, which ran on consecutive evenings, was ostensibly to remind the Faithful of what’s been happening to those funsters on the island, and to clue in the non-Faithful, like me, people who just watch the thing for an hour’s easy amusement, as to what the hell the continuity is. (Another reason for the specials might have been the writer’s strike, now settled; clip shows like these eat up airtime at little cost and need no new material. Or am I being cynical?)
 

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Manga Friday: Slight Return

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  • February 15, 2008

This week the theme is “stuff I liked the first time around,” as I review the second volumes of four series that I enjoyed in volume one. For those who came in late, the reviews of the first volumes are here and here.

Mu Shi Shi, Vol. 2
Yuki Urushibara
Del Rey Manga, 2007, $12.95

Mu Shi Shi is still a quiet, atmospheric comic that feels steeped in folklore, even if most of its stories are completely invented. Since the background was explained in Volume 1, this time around we get five separate, freestanding stories.

Ginko wanders through the countryside of a Japan neither in this century nor any other, finding various mushi – tiny, primitive creatures that come in a bewildering array of forms and which often parasitize or otherwise harm humans – and helping the nearby humans to live with them, or just to survive.

In this volume, he meets another mushishi, who had made himself master of a mountain’s mushi, but is about to be overthrown. Then there’s a young woman cursed with hereditary mushi that she controls by writing them on scrolls, and a younger girl who dies and comes back to life every day to heal her local villagers. Ginko also helps a man searching for a rainbow, and a family with a cuckoo-ish mushi child.

Some of the stories here are as powerful as in Volume 1, especially the first and last. But I do wonder how long this series can be just about Ginko wandering around, with each story being discrete and separate. I hope Urushibara is building up to something – several characters look like they’re being set up for a return in a later story – because Mu Shi Shi is quite good as a series of individual stories, but could be great if there’s something to tie it all together. (more…)

More ‘Hellboy 2’ Production Videos Hit the ‘Net

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  • February 15, 2008

Universal Pictures has added two new Hellboy II: The Golden Army production videos to the film’s official website. The first video highlights the very first meeting to discuss creature design and the second features a meeting of the production team to discuss the design of Johann Kraus.

The Hellboy sequel features many of the same cast from the first film including Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and John Hurt, and tells the story of a rebellion against humanity that Hellboy and his team must stop in order to save the world.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens July 11th.

 

(via SH)

Warren Ellis’ ‘FreakAngels’ Webcomic Launches

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  • February 15, 2008

 

The first episode of FreakAngels, the free webcomic created by Warren "I am Internet Jesus" Ellis has finally gone online.

… And there was much rejoicing.

Announced at last year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, FreakAngels is written by Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield. The webcomic is hosted by publisher Avatar Press, who will post a new episode each week on the FreakAngels website.

CBR spoke with Avatar founder William Christensen about FreakAngels and the unique online publishing plan unfolding around the series.

Though other publishers have offered content online, sometimes even new material, “FreakAngels” is perhaps unique in that its creators will be paid as they would if it were a standard, print comic. “After I spent a little time looking around, I realized there hasn’t been much in the way of a focused effort at providing streamlined, quality material,” Christensen said. “We’re not interested in setting up a huge site with a grab-bag of daily strips—Warren and Paul are going to make an amazing serial comic, and we’re going to make sure it’s being produced and displayed as well as anything you’d pick up on a shelf.”

Amen!

 

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