The blurry photo above is making the rounds today, proving that the promo photo (currently shown on the new movie’s IMDb page) isn’t a fluke: Superman is indeed losing his red briefs — or at least wearing them on the inside — just like he did a while back in the comics.
As you might imagine, this has created quite a buzz among aficionados. Change scares the hell out of fans, but it’s not all negative talk. Hell, it’s not even the first costume change for the Man of Steel in recent years. As RoboticJesus points out over on ComicVine, Supes wore jeans and boots once. And he’s a character that response well to change. What do you think?
(via @TheOperatorGWC)
I’ve always considered the “original” Spider-Man movie to be essentially a reboot, though I suppose many would consider it simply the modern superhero movie formula: Draw liberally from the hero’s comic roots to create a cinematic story that works on the big screen–and in product marketing. But Batman Begins changed all that, taking us for an altogether darker ride and launching the trend toward portraying the masked and caped more as they existed in the imaginations of comic readers than on the page.
Now Spider-Man looks to get the same treatment. Recent news outed Andrew Garfield as the the upcoming movie’s Peter Parker, to mostly positive critical reaction. As comic legend Todd McFarlane points out in an interview with SuperHeroHype, casting Spider-Man is an entirely different task than, say, Captain America:
Spider-Man is a juggernaut in and of himself, so you have the luxury of getting 500 tests and picking the best talent that will make the character. That’s what they’re saying they did, and I’m going to take them at their word. They didn’t feel pressured to put in a guy everybody knows, who’s one of the sexiest guys under 25 or anything. Peter Parker has a skinny neck and isn’t the biggest guy on the block. He doesn’t usually get picked first when it’s time to put together a baseball team at recess. As I look at images of Andrew Garfield, he sort of falls into that category.
(Check out the rest of the article for additional responses by once-Spider-Man authors Peter David and Mark Millar.)
The Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle may soon be due for renovations. Over five thousand characters from the Marvel Universe could be moving to the Disney camp, as Disney head Robert Iger and Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter announced their plans for the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment by The Walt Disney Company. What this means to shareholders and corporate expense accounts is a topic sure to keep the financial experts busy for awhile.
In a move sure to excite every geek in the frakking universe, Dark Horse Comics is about to release a One Shot Wonder comic book. The subject? Why, none other than that holder of a Ph.D. in Horribleness: Dr. Horrible. Every poser in a parka is going to want one of these!
As some of you are aware, I’m a writer and I’m searching for an agent right now. With the possible exception of the fourteenth century’s Black Death outbreak, I’ve picked the worst time in history to be an unknown author with a book to sell. As a writer, I’m following publishing news daily and trying to stay current on an industry that is both changing rapidly and struggling to keep from changing too much. While being a writer is more difficult than ever, it’s a fantastic time to be a reader, which all of us here at GWC are.
I’d like to give you a layperson’s glimpse of some of the bigger book trends, how they’re affecting both writers and readers, and who I believe comes out ahead with each new innovation.
Greetings all — Operator here…
Found some anime goodness that caught my eye. I’ll give you a hint: one has armor and the other has claws. Peep out the trailers after the jump.
Dark Horse announced at the San Diego Comic Con that they’re teaming up with the lovely Felicia Day to create a three part comic mini-series based on hit web-video franchise The Guild. It seems Dark Horse’s Scott Allie is a fan, too: “Felicia’s amazing, and her writing will translate smoothly into comics. This’ll make a great companion to our line of comics. It’ll fit great alongside our webcomics and our Whedon books. And I’m really looking forward to working with her to get into some areas the show simply can’t because of budgetary reasons,” he said. Read on for more details.
Bioware is teaming up with Dark Horse Comics to give you a much-needed Mass Effect fix: a four-episode comic book arc titled Mass Effect: Redemption. The arc will span the time between the end of Mass Effect and the beginning of the upcoming Mass Effect 2 and explains the disappearance of Shepard and his fight to survive.
“Fans of Mass Effect are going to be pleasantly shocked by the events in these comics,” says ME lead writer Mac Walters. “We worked very closely with Dark Horse to make sure this story was built into the Mass Effect 2 arc right from the ground up. Reading the series won’t just add to your experience of the universe, it will change the way you look at Mass Effect 2… and beyond.”
You’re relaxing during your time off and an image of the opening credits of Star Wars: A New Hope scrolls through your mind. Or maybe it’s an image of ET’s glowing finger, the sound of Inigo Montoya saying “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” or an image of the Charlotte’s Web cover. All of these things remind me of my childhood and teenage years. I’ve loved sci-fi and fantasy as long as I can remember.
But how did it start? Did my parents guide me into sci-fi or did I just fall into it on my own? I may never know the answer, but it definitely made me think: How does one introduce children and young adults to the genre? Read on for a few suggestions from me and fellow GWCers!
Ryan Reynolds will portray Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in the new Warner Brothers movie to be directed by Martin Campbell and released in June, 2011, the studio announced. GWCers, of course, will remember Reynolds as Deadpool in this summer’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Reynolds will join the likes of David Boreanaz (Buffy, Angel), Michael Rye (Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible, The Real Ghostbusters), and Christopher Meloni (Twelve Monkeys, Scrubs) — all of whom have brought the Green Lantern to life either via acting or voice work.
Tonight we wrap up our all-too-brief X-Men arc with an X3 re-watch. Highlights: we enjoy the first appearance of a sentinel in the movies, argue that Xavier may well have brought the wrath of the Phoenix upon the world by preventing her from learning and understanding her nature (the way he helps other mutants), question what happened to the real Wolverine, wonder why Stan Lee is living next door to the Greys instead of on his own island in the Caribbean, hear Audra’s most recent comic junk report, and meet PMS Girl.
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I’m totally engrossed in Dark Horse’s Star Wars series, especially Legacy. And though I’ve been able to track down almost all of the series locally in either trade paperback or back issues, for some reason #16 (above) eludes me. I’m sure I could order it from somewhere, but I thought I’d ask GWCers first. Anyone have a copy they’d be willing to sell me?
Star Wars Legacy #16: Claws of the Dragon, Pt. 3 [Dark Horse]
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