The New DCU: The Tough Guys. Deathstroke, Grifter and Jonah Hex

DC Comics will bring in some their WildStorm characters into the mix with a new StormWatch title, with Apollo, Midnighter and J'onn Jon'zz as lead heroes..check out all the new books with an edge here, via DC Blog

Stormwatch is a dangerous super human strike force whose existence is kept secret from the world. Jack Hawksmoor and the rest of the crew look to recruit two of the deadliest super humans on the planet: Midnighter and Apollo. And if they say no? Perhaps the Martian Manhunter can change their minds. Featuring a surprising new roster, STORMWATCH #1 will be written by the critically-acclaimed Paul Cornell (Superman: The Black Ring, “Dr. Who”) and illustrated by Miguel Sepulveda.

Movie Review: 'X-Men: First Class'

By Don M. Ventura

When I refer to myself as “not an X-Men fan” I mean no disrespect to the mutant-centric comic books. I only mean that, while I have a reverence for many of the characters and teams, I must admit to having a difficult time recounting the rich history of the characters and intricate plotlines.

However I have found the Bryan Singer-helmed X-Men films to be extremely special adaptations that are faithful to the spirit of the source material. And this is key to all comic book films. Attempting to slavishly adapt storylines (Daredevil) or appease fanboys by sprinkling famous characters and elements from beloved runs (X-Men: Last Stand) can cause a crinkle in a comic book movie. X-Men: First Class suffers from the latter, though not nearly as sloppily as Last Stand.

If I were to put it simply, I’d say the film left me cold. By the time the end-credits appeared I found that I cared little for the characters and the world they inhabited for the past two hours. But I won’t blame the cast, not wholly at least, who are often quite superb here. Specifically, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence—these four lift the sullen script higher than its overstuffed story. They bring charm and sincerity to just about all of their scenes. But the script remains lifeless, and the fine actors at its core are unable to salvage the film.

The Walking Dead Season Two - First Pics

"BRAINSSS"

 AMC has released some pictures from the upcoming season.

Last year I had trouble sleeping after watching the pilot.

I dare them to try that again.

Season Two of The Walking Dead premires on October 23rd.

Green Lantern Has Some Good Buzz To It

Things may actually be on the up and up for the Green Lantern Film. We know the film isn't opening for reviews until Thursday the 16th but that doesn't mean people have not seen it...and those that have, are saying good things.

Per Screen Rant,

Trey Alexander from Fandago.com and Ashley Williams from Good Day Sacramento are both tweeting positive reviews, see below

Other positive news was gathered by  /Film, stating Green Lantern was a “great mix of humor, action & drama” – not to mention, “Blake Lively looked Smokin as a brunette and Ryan didn’t look too bad either ”.

And Filmmaker Robert Meyer Burnett from Free Enterprise has this to say in an odd but still positive review,

GREEN LANTERN f***ing ROCKED. The 3D was AWESOME. As a lifelong DC fan, the opening ten minutes made me squeal like schoolgirl. … Believe it. The first ten minutes will make you believe. The 3D is also outstanding. … GREEN LANTERN was terrific fun. The fact that it works at all is a miracle, but it really does cook. The first ten minutes sold me. … The 3D in the opening ten minutes is wonderful. But YOU MUST see it with polarized glasses. The color is great. … It’s not campy at all. The humor is earned. And Mark Strong as Sinestro was AWESOME. … I LOVED GREEN LANTERN. Don’t know why, but it kinda’ felt like THE LAST STARFIGHTER. I know…”Huh?!? What?!?” … it really did feel like an 80′s movie, circa ’84… Weird. … BTW…In LexG parlance…Blake Lively…LOOK AT HER. SMOOOOOKING hot.

And then there is all this twitter action we found,

Natasha Eloi (Space Channel) on Twitter:  ”So-Frakking-Un-Believable!!! I’m still spinning w/ delight & utter fangirl satisfaction!! #GREENLANTERN IS GO!!!” … #GREENLANTERNCORP be sure to stay until the end of the 1st credit roll for the BIG PAYOFF!! U won’t be disappointed!! …. Torn between #MarkStrong as #Sinestro & #RyanReynolds as #GreenLantern on who rocked more! Hmm? Think we have a tie. Better be a sequel.

Trey Alexander (Fandango.com) on Twitter: “Just saw Green Lantern. Interview the cast tomorrow. Blake Lively is so hot. Ryan Reynolds is perfect. Great mix of humor, action & drama.”

David A. Arnold (comedian) on Twitter: Just saw Green Lantern…GOOD SHIT!

Ashley Williams (Good Day Sacramento) on Twitter: “Just saw Green Lantern…amaz!”

This is obviously all up to debate still, nothing is ever a guarantee. But one thing is clear, with all the advertising the WB has been doing lately, they really want you to see this film.

Lets just hope they did good on their end.

Why I have a lot in common with Captain America

This is not a normal story/post here, but I thought I would share what I just read.

Captain America is going bald, well Chris Evan is anyway.

Per E .online he told MTV (does that sound weird?)
"I have no problem saying this, but I'm losing my hair,"

Why do I love this? Well it's not because I'm a jerk...its because I am 33 and my hair is getting thinner and thinner everyday.

I like to stay in shape and eat right but there is very little this side of a hair transplant that I can do.

So its awesome to see (or read) that the man playing the superior human has the same problem I do and he's 29.

Oh Cap, we still love you and your movie looks terrific. Just keep working out and let them fix it in post. At least you have that. I have to buzz my head.

Jerry Ahern of Capetown Community

Reactions To DC Comics

With DC Comics announcement, some people are excited, some people are clearly not and then there are those who are simply asking why?

Here is one such person,

What's nU with me?  What's nU with you?

by Sean Kasper

When DC comics announced that there would be a 'DCnU' most fans seemed to embrace it with open arms.  I am sure that long term fans of the company are use to the idea of 'rebooting' continuity since they have done it several times since the first try with 'Infinite Crisis' back in 1986.  

Back then, the Crisis was used to 'clean up' DC's cluttered universe of multiple realities and basically muddled history.  I am sure it was 'controversial' back in the day but, for the most part, it was a very successful venture both commercially and artistically.  Then there were several other reboots… all of which were used to 'fix' continuity…

THE NEW DCU: Teen Titans, Legion of Superheroes And All The Other New Kids

They just keep coming, DC Comics has unveiled what the kids will be doing in the new DCU.

Check them all out here at DC blogs

Tim Drake is forced to step out from behind his keyboard when an international organization seeks to capture or kill super-powered teenagers. As Red Robin, he must team up with the mysterious and belligerent powerhouse thief known as Wonder Girl and a hyperactive speedster calling himself Kid Flash in TEEN TITANS #1, by Scott Lobdell and artists Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund.

Marvel Previews 'X-Men: Schism' #1

I’ve been more excited for what Marvel has planned to disrupt the X-Men’s status quo with this summer’s X-Men: Schism event than I’ve been for just about any other event coming our way this year. Helmed by Jason Aaron and a cadre of fantastic artists, Schism features the breakdown of Cyclops and Wolverine’s relationship. And why not? Their wildly differing viewpoints on mutant harmony have been clearly established in the pages of X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Uncanny X-Force. I assume Cyclops’ discovery of Wolverine’s cover X-Force team will contribute to the catalyst that breaks the mutant team into two factions.

Check out the fantastic pages of X-Men: Schism #1 by Carlos Pacheco after the jump!

Do Bright Days Lie Ahead for 'Green Lantern'?

I head into the summer movie season with a great deal of optimism until I see a few on the long-awaited films and they turn out to be misfires. It’s at this point that I begin to approach the new releases with a degree of apprehension.

While I enjoyed Thor a great deal more than I expected, I was let down by X-Men: First Class, a film that I got the sense was going to be the underdog comic book film that would strike a more powerful chord with audiences.

Spinoff is reporting that Green Lantern, which opens next week, will not be screened for most critics until the eleventh hour. If you follow film, even casually, you’ll know that this is a strategy used by movie companies to prevent critics from publishing negative—of flat out scathing—early reviews. With Rotten Tomatoes being many people’s source of information on the quality of upcoming films, early negative reviews could be pretty damaging for a film. Typically, every genre website writes up something on the status of early reviews for comic book films.

There is a lot riding on Green Lantern. Warner Bros. is looking for new properties that will lift the imagination of movie audiences now that the Harry Potter series is coming to a close. With an endless stack of comic book properties at their disposal, Green Lantern seemed to be the first big screen adaptation of a second-tier comic book hero that would test the waters for those that could follow (e.g. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, etc.). While I have been extremely happy with how closely the filmmakers appear to have embraced the source material, which is steeped heavily in sci-fi, I expect that if the movie fails to find an audience the blame may be laid upon those elements to which comic book fans seems to be responding.

I’m a realist. Movie companies don’t withhold films that they are proud to present from movie critics. I can’t help but go into Green Lantern next week with a fair amount of caution about the quality of the film. However, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Conan: Character Posters

Conan is back.

Is he even more barbarian-y this time around? Well until the film comes out (8/19/2011) check out these character posters.

Or to hell with you

The New DCU: Rumor - Supergirl #1

Hey there Supergirl fans...fear not, it appears the Girl of Steel is not going any where.

Per the gang over at Bleeding Cool the Daughter of Krypton will be handled by Michael Green and Mike Johnson, known for their Superman/Batman runs and working on such TV shows as Smallville.

Green is also a co writer on the upcoming Green Lantern film, so yeah, he knows his superhero stuff.

The New DCU: The Dark Side

DC Comics has unveiled there next string of new books. All centered on magic and other things that go bump in the night.

You can check them out all here at DC Blog.

DC Comics embraces its dark side. On the 40th anniversary of the character’s creation, the New York Times bestselling writer of AMERICAN VAMPIRE, Scott Snyder, teams up with Yannick Paquette (BATMAN, INCORPORATED) to bring horror back to the DC Universe in SWAMP THING #1. For years, one man served against his will as the avatar of nature. And while he may have been freed of the monster, he’s about to learn the monster will never truly let go of him.

The Most Dangerous Man Alive Is The Black Panther

Come this September fans will found out why the Point One book for the Black Panther will be titled The Most Dangerous Man Alive, which previously was labeled The Man Without Fear

Per Marvel Comics, the former king of Wakanda is trying to "figure out why a mysterious killer has set their sites on people the Panther has saved since his arrival in New York."

The issue is brought to you by writer David Liss with artist Jefte Palo. Black Panther 523.1 hits shelves in September.

Video Review: 'X-Men' #12 and 'Flashpoint' #3

Cristian is serving up a whole lotta reviews this week! And why not? There were a stack of big books that came out last Wednesday! You can see all of Cristian's reviews on his YouTube Channel here. This week Cristian has reviewed Moon Knight #2, X-Men #12, Uncanny X-Force #11, Superboy #8, Secret Six #34 and Fear Itself #3.

Cape Town Extra: "X-Men: First Class" Review

In this Special Edition Episode, Don and Jerry review the new film X-Men: First Class! Was it as good as the critics have been claiming? Was it better than the last few mutant outings served up by Twentieth Century Fox? Listen and hear for yourselves!

As always, we remind you that this episode is as spoil-heavy as our review show, so you may want to give it a listen after you’ve seen the movie.

The show is embedded below and is now available on iTunes for subscription. Each episode will labeled "podcast" so you can link to previous episodes here on the blog. Refer to the Direct Download link after the jump to download the MP3.