Comic Book Resources: TRANSFORMERS, AQUAMAN, FANTASTIC FOUR 2, ALIENS VS. PREDATOR 2: JUNE 8TH COMIC REEL WRAP
Comic Book Resources – CBR News – The Comic Reel
TRANSFORMERS, AQUAMAN, FANTASTIC FOUR 2, ALIENS VS. PREDATOR 2: JUNE 8TH COMIC REEL WRAP
by Hannibal Tabu, Staff Writer
Posted: June 8, 2006
TRANSFORMERSAccording to a scooper at Superhero Hype,
Michael Bay and crew will be taking the production to Hoover Dam, 30
miles southeast of Las Vegas. He wrote: “My wife and I will be heading
to Hoover Dam tomorrow to play tourists in the upcoming movie. The crew
will be shooting in that area Thursday and Friday. Some of the other
roles that they were casting were Secret Service Agents, Cops,
Medics/Med Evac, SWAT Team type, and more tourists. Hopefully I’ll get
a chance to snap some pics. Oh yea, we ran into John Voight, who in
real life is pretty damn tall, and looks way younger in person.”
AQUAMAN
What about the show that never was? The blog Televisionary has a less-than-positive review of the first episode, which failed to make the cut for the CW’s fall lineup.
FANTASTIC FOUR
Superhero Hype has also summarized disparate reports to create a fairly effective look at the behind-the-scenes talent working on the sequel.
ALIENS VS. PREDATORS 2
Not a typo! Not Hypertime! Not Superboy PUNCH! Not even an imaginary story! IGN’s FilmForce has confirmed
that special effects artists-turned-directors Greg and Colin Strause
(aka the Brothers Strause) have been signed to bring the Aliens and
Predators together for one more go-round. The studio has the sequel
scheduled for an August 10, 2007 release.
SUPERMAN RETURNS
Actress Noel Neill talked to Wizard Magazine
about her work on the Bryan Singer-helmed film, saying, “I had met the
director [Bryan Singer] and asked to come out to Warner Bros. for an
interview a while back. I met Bryan and his little entourage and all
that and his friends. I dragged a lot of my junk out and showed him
what I did. I think they used Jack [Larson] and I for publicity. And of
course everybody always asks about it, and we heard about it. But I
can’t tell them. [laughs]. The first thing Jack Larson, when he knew he
was going to do it, he called and said he’d like this little bit of
script for whatever he was going to do. And there was silence. He said,
“You can’t have anything.” But if he really wanted to see it he could
come out to Warner Bros. and ask for a certain person who was signed to
silence until death. And he said, ‘Oh to heck with it.’ It was fun.”
Meanwhile, the studio has let slip an amazingly complex PDF file called “Superman Returns” production notes that apparently talks about how they made everything in the film happen. Yowza!
Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter
has an interview with Bryan Singer, which discusses getting the
assignment at all. “The director fell out of ‘Superman’ and Warner
Bros. was willing to take a lot of development — nine years of
development — and a lot of dollars and sort of toss them away and
write them off and go with this new idea, which I ultimately developed
with Dan and Mike, my writers. It happened very quickly. I think we
developed the initial concept over a long weekend in Hawaii and
presented it to Warner Bros. and closed a deal in about 72 hours. That
was right after Fourth of July weekend ‘04.”
Finally, we got an email from Derek McCaw, alerting us to a two part interview
with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who created a companion
documentary, “Look Up In The Sky,” to coincide with “Superman Returns.”
SANDY, CAN WE ROLL THAT CLIP?
Here’s where you get in
on the action. Did you see a link we didn’t catch? Have you snuck into
a closed movie set, and have inside data? Maybe your cousin is dating
somebody who knows something, and they had to tell you? Whatever it is,
we wanna know it all — fire off an email
and let us know whether you want your name used or your contributions
to geekdom to go down anonymously. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles,
this is novelist/karaoke host/all-around lunatic Hannibal Tabu saying thanks for your time and indulgence, check for fresh comics reviews today, and [tagline sent back to development hell until something hipper can be dreamed up].
Technorati Tags: comics, movies, transformers, aquaman, fantastic four
NEWSARAMA.COM: DC PREVIEWS FOR AUGUST 2006
Looks like more good stuff from DC!!
NEWSARAMA.COM: DC PREVIEWS FOR AUGUST 2006
DC PREVIEWS FOR AUGUST 2006
Update – DC has released more previews
for August shipping titles, including two Brave New World titles, The
Creeper and Martian Manhunter, plus Batman and the Mad Monk #1
and Trials of Shazam #1…
THE CREEPER #1
Written by Steve Niles
Art by
Justiniano & Walden Wong
Cover by Justiniano
He’s back for the first
time in a new 6-issue miniseries written by horror maven Steve Niles (BATMAN:
GOTHAM COUNTY LINE, 30 Days of Night) with art by Justiniano & Walden Wong
(DAY OF VENGEANCE)!
TV pundit Jack Ryder – whose successful show “You Are
Wrong” continues to aggravate the nation – runs afoul of a doctor who transforms
him into a strange new weapon in Gotham’s war on crime! The 21st century just
got a little stranger! For a signed edition, see the Dynamic Forces section of
Previews.
On sale August 2 • 1 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US Edited by Joey
Cavalieri
Click on this link for Steve Niles Interview
on The Creeper…
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #1
Written by A.J.
Lieberman
Art and cover by Al Barrionuevo & Bit
Exploding from the
pages of BRAVE NEW WORLD, Martian Manhunter stars in his first solo adventure in
over five years! Written by A.J. Lieberman (Harley Quinn, BATMAN: Gotham
Knights), who’s reunited with the artistic team of Al Barrionuevo and Bit
(BATMAN: Gotham Knights), this series will change the way you see the last son
of Mars!
Since coming to Earth, J’onn J’onzz has strived to fit in with his
adoptive people, even altering his appearance in order to not frighten
Earthlings. And in that time, he has struggled between following the ways and
customs of his people and becoming human.
But now everything he believed
about his past has been shattered, and his tolerance for the failings of
humanity is at an end. On a mission to seek the real facts about his past and
his long-lost race, Martian Manhunter will stop at nothing to discover the truth
about himself and the world he lives in!
On sale August 9 • 1 of 8 • 32 pg,
FC, $2.99 US Edited by Matt Idelson
Click on this link for an AJ Lieberman
Interview on Martian Manhunter…<
TRIALS OF SHAZAM! #1
Written by Judd Winick
Art and
cover by Howard Porter
Acclaimed writer Judd Winick (OUTSIDERS, GREEN ARROW)
redefines the mighty Captain Marvel in a 12-issue maxiseries featuring a
stunning new art style for fan-favorite illustrator Howard Porter (THE FLASH,
JLA)!
The world is in magical turmoil as Captain Marvel tries to keep
everything under control in the aftermath of the events of DAY OF VENGEANCE. And
with the rest of the Marvel Family powerless, it’s all up to him – unless some
drastic changes occur fast. Luckily, everything changes by this issue’s
end!
On sale August 30 • 1 of 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
For more on Trials of
Shazam with writer Judd Winick, and more preview images, click on the
link…
BATMAN AND THE MAD MONK #1
Written by Matt
Wagner
Art and cover by Wagner
Join Matt Wagner as he revisits the early
career of the young Batman in another adventure inspired by DC’s Golden Age in
this blood-curdling sequel to BATMAN AND THE MONSTER MEN!
The Dark Knight is
learning that there are more twisted faces of evil than those worn by the street
criminals and mobsters of Gotham. Now, Batman must counter sinister machinations
and new dimensions of wickedness as he confronts the hooded menace of the Mad
Monk!
On sale August 23 • 1 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $3.50 US
DCcomics.com has more
previews of August-shipping titles, including the Mature Readers The Boys
from Wildstorm and Deadman #1 from Vertigo. Click on the links for those
previews…
Technorati Tags: comics, batman
DARKNESS CALLING: BUSIEK, STERN, & FRY ON DARKMAN VS. ARMY OF DARKNESS – NEWSARAMA
Now this is an interesting team-up…
Read the rest of the interview at the link below.
DARKNESS CALLING: BUSIEK, STERN, & FRY ON DARKMAN VS. ARMY OF DARKNESS – NEWSARAMA
DARKNESS CALLING: BUSIEK, STERN, & FRY ON DARKMAN VS. ARMY OF DARKNESS
“The team up you never expected” isn’t exactly a rare phrase in comics.
But July’s Darkman vs. The Army of Darkness is probably
the closest miniseries to honestly qualify for that title in years.
Beginning in August from Dynamite Entertainment, the four issue,
bi-monthly miniseries pairs two characters that Sam Raimi has made
famous – Ash from Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, and Darkman from the Darkman movie series.And joining Ash and Darkman – not one, not two, but three creators who
all share an equally insane passion for the material: Kurt Busiek,
Roger Stern, and James Fry. We caught up with the three at their
super-secret hideout/headquarters for more…Newsarama: Kurt, the title itself tells the premise: Darkman versus Army of Darkness. Let’s start with a brief description of both sides – tell us about Ash and Darkman.
Kurt Busiek: They’re the world’s most demented heroes. In a good way.
Ash is a crazy, mixed-up nut — an ordinary schlub who went on vacation
with some friends to a secluded cabin, where he wound up battling a
demonic invasion, had to kill his possessed girlfriend and cut off his
own hand. Since then, he’s been thrust into situation after situation
where he has to be the hero who takes on the demons — the Army of
Darkness — to save the world. And he’s not the ideal hero-type –
sure, he’s got the chin for it, but at heart, he’s still an ordinary
schlub just trying to get by. With a chainsaw.Darkman, meanwhile, is a crazy, mixed-up scientist! He was working on
an experimental artificial skin, when he ran afoul of some brutal
mobsters and wound up with his face burned off and the rest of him
practically blown to hell in an explosion. Now he feels no pain, is
subject to wild mood swings, and uses his (unfortunately not
long-lasting) fake skin to create disguises he uses in his role as
Darkman, monomaniacally defending his city against crime and evil and
watching over his ex-fiancee, Julie.The brave (if slightly crackers) hero, defending the world from the
forces of evil. The bold (if even more crackers) vigilante, skulking in
the shadows to protect his city.Kinda like Superman and Batman — but this particular “world’s finest” lives in a mixed-up, demented world…
Technorati Tags: comics, army of darkness, darkman
MARVEL ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION STOCK BUYBACK COMPLETION – NEWSARAMA
MARVEL ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION STOCK BUYBACK COMPLETION – NEWSARAMA
MARVEL ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION STOCK BUYBACK COMPLETION
Press ReleaseMarvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), a global
character-based entertainment and licensing company, announced today
that it has repurchased the full $100 million in common stock under its
May 2006 authorization and that its Board of Directors has authorized
an additional $100 million to be used for the repurchase of the
company’s common stock.Pursuant to the authorization, Marvel may purchase shares from time to
time through May 31, 2007 in the open market or through privately
negotiated transactions. Purchases will be funded from working capital
or from borrowings. Marvel has no obligation to repurchase shares under
the authorization, and the timing, actual number and value of shares to
be purchased will depend on many factors, including the performance of
Marvel’s stock price, its cash flow and market conditions. Marvel’s
Vice Chairman, CEO and the company’s largest shareholder, Isaac
Perlmutter, has agreed to not sell any shares while the repurchase
program is in place.Marvel’s Chairman, Morton Handel, commented, “Given our continued
confidence in Marvel’s ability to generate strong levels of free cash
flow as well as the modest capital needs of our unique business model,
the Board continues to believe that share repurchases are an excellent
use of capital that should enhance shareholder value over the
long-term.“Since the commencement of our share repurchase programs in July 2004,
Marvel has repurchased 33.4 million shares for an aggregate purchase
price of $600 million, or approximately $17.95 per share. Our common
stock repurchases have reduced Marvel’s weighted average diluted shares
outstanding to approximately 85.0 million shares, providing what we
believe is an important and recurring benefit to our shareholders.”gate purchase price of $600 million, or approximately $17.95 per share. Our common stock repurchases have reduced Marvel’s weighted average diluted shares outstanding to approximately 85.0 million shares, providing what we believe is an important and recurring benefit to our shareholders.”
Technorati Tags: comics, Marvel
ANDY DIGGLE ON BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL’S OPENING ARC – NEWSARAMA
ANDY DIGGLE ON BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL’S OPENING ARC – NEWSARAMA
ANDY DIGGLE ON BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL’S OPENING ARC
Note – art not from the series.
Early days, early days.
That’s the focus of two new series form DC, recounting the early days of both Superman and Batman – Superman Confidential and Batman Confidential.
Both series launch in November, and aim at showing key moments of the
heroes earliest’ days as heroes –first meetings, critical decisions,
the forging of alliances, and laying the roots of friendships.As the series will tell individual arcs, both will see rolling creative
teams pass through, with Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale launching Superman Confidential and Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio handling the opening arc of Batman Confidential.We spoke with Diggle about how he landed the gig, and what he’s bringing to the table with his story.
“I think the moment it all started was probably when Jock and I bounded
up to Bob Schreck at the bar at the Bristol comic con a couple of years
ago and babbled at him about how much we’d love to do a Batman story,”
Diggle replied when asked how he landed on the new title’s first arc.
“Bob was like, ‘Cool!’ And that was that – until later that year at the
San Diego Comic Con where, right out of the blue, Bob offered me Detective Comics. I couldn’t believe it!”But, given that this isn’t a story about Diggle writing Detective Comics, and given that Diggle had a lot
gong on when the offer was made, by the time he got around to making
his pitch there’d been an editorial shuffle at DC, Schreck was no
longer the Bat-editor, and a new Detective team was already in place.“But,” Diggle continued, “Dan Didio came over to London later that
year, and we chatted about what I had in mind – a Batman versus Lex
Luthor story. Well, I say ‘chatted’ – what I actually did was engage in
an enthusiastic beer-fueled rant, most of which detailed the
choreography of an elaborate action sequence featuring a Mach-3
face-off between the Bat-Plane and a 200-foot tall war robot outside
Area 51. As you do.“I recall Dan’s eyes narrowed and he made this sort of non-committal
‘Hmm,’ and I thought, ‘That’s it, I’ve just blown it. He thinks it
sucks!’ Turns out what he was thinking was that my take on Batman
didn’t sound like the traditionally low-key Detective style of story, and that it might actually make a great launch arc for Batman Confidential.“It was my feeling that DC had tried so hard to ground Batman in a
gritty urban ‘reality’ in the post-Dark Knight era, maybe they’d lost
sight of that fact that at its heart it’s still supposed to be a superhero
comic. And I passionately believe that superhero comics should be about
speed and energy and movement, thrilling adventures and spectacular
action. Not just, y’know, whining and soap. So my story begins as a
mystery, develops into a conspiracy, and then explodes into all-out,
balls-to-the-wall chunky robot action.”As mentioned earlier, the idea behind the two new Confidential
titles is to illustrate key moments in the character’s lives. As you
probably guessed from Diggle’s comments, his story focuses on Batman’s
first encounter with Lex Luthor.“I know Luthor’s traditionally been Superman’s arch-nemesis, but it
intrigued me how similar he and Bruce Wayne actually are on the
surface,” Diggle explained. “They’re both brilliant, driven, super-rich
billionaire industrialists, each seeking to change the world for what
they see as the betterment of mankind. So on the surface, there’s not
much to differentiate between them, and neither knows about the other’s
shadowy double life… yet. But once you scratch away the veneer, you
see they have very different ideas as to what constitutes the public
good – although both are using extreme, secretive measures to pursue
their agendas. I think that leads to some interesting contrasts,
interesting dramatic friction.”Given the storyline, the meeting, and thus the arc take place somewhere
during Batman’s second year in business. “He hasn’t yet made peace with
his inner demons – there’s still a lot of anger in him, which he
channels into violence. He’s not yet the calm forward-planner he will
later become. He’s still a little green, still a little rough around
the edges, and he doesn’t yet have the huge arsenal of high-tech
gadgets. That said, he does pick up a few cool toys during the course
of the story – not least the Bat-Plane, which is a prototype VTOL
stealth fighter being developed by Wayne Aerospace.“In short, WayneTech and LexCorp are each competing for a multi-billion
dollar government defense contract. Needless to say, Lex Luthor has
bigger plans than merely selling
weapons. He plans to use them for himself – and in a big way. So when
bodies start dropping in Gotham City, Batman takes a personal interest.
And then the giant robots turn up…“Oh, and as for Whilce – what can I say? A picture tells a thousand words, and Whilce’s artwork speaks for itself!”
Technorati Tags: comics, Batman, Superman
Comic Book Resources: SIN CITY 2, HELLBOY 2, TRANSFORMERS, STARDUST: JUNE 7TH COMIC REEL WRAP
I can’t wait for Sin City 2!! 
Comic Book Resources – CBR News – The Comic Reel
SIN CITY 2, HELLBOY 2, TRANSFORMERS, STARDUST: JUNE 7TH COMIC REEL WRAP
by Hannibal Tabu, Staff Writer
Posted: June 7, 2006
SIN CITY 2Director Robert Rodriguez was interviewed by the Los Angeles Daily News,
and noted that he would begin production on the sequel this year.
“We’re going to start that probably in about six months,” he said.HELLBOY 2
Reports of this sequel’s demise have been somewhat premature. According to If Magazine,
it’s across town. “We’re moving studios right now,” said director
Guillermo del Toro. “They don’t have a deal with Sony any more and we
are looking for financing for ‘HELLBOY 2.’ It’s at Paramount right now.
It’s bigger in scale, but not necessarily in budget. Abe Sapien has a
much bigger part, and we’re keeping closer to the mythology of the
comics.” On the “huh” side, del Toro said, “There is a song by Barry
Manilow, and you’ll have to find out about how that fits in. I know you
are all saying ‘what the f**k is that?!’”
TRANSFORMERS
The US Air Force has a new article on the filming at their website.
“The F-117s will be pictured prominently in the movie, both as static
background and taxiing aircraft,” said Lieutenant Hodge, who has been a
fan of Transformers since he was a child. “The CV-22 Osprey is
scheduled to make its feature film debut in this movie, along with the
F-22 Raptor.” Also featured in the film will be the A-10 Thunderbolt
II, AC-130 and C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, MH-53 Pave Low,
HH-60 Pave Hawk, MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle and Air Force
One. The filming of the F-22, C-17, Predator and Air Force One will be
done at another location.
STARDUST
Kevin Bradsher emailed us to point out a note at Neil Gaiman’s blog
where the creator said, “I’ve finally now seen a few rushes from
‘Stardust,’ which looked really cool — the De Niro/Gervais scene was
wonderful. Visually, it’s really interesting — it didn’t look like a
fantasy film, which I liked, but to be honest I only had a few minutes
to look at a heap of DVDs, which then vanished again, so there’s not a
lot more I can tell you. Some photos of locations are up on ain’t it
cool — http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23514 and at this forum http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=266999.”
SPIDER-MAN 3
More images from the New York City shoot keep coming in, including 38 photos at WireImage, a set report at Superhero Hype with two new sets of photos, and a close up of Mary Jane’s play poster from faithful reader “Typo Lad.”
SUPERMAN RETURNS
The Superman Homepage has an early look at the bus shelter poster promoting the Brandon Routh-fueled film, while director Bryan Singer talked to the New York Times
(registration required), saying, “Even if you’re the strongest man in
the world, if the woman you love has found someone else that she’s
nearly married to that’s not a bad guy, how do you figure out what your
place is in that woman’s life? I call it my first ‘chick flick.’”Meanwhile, screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty talked to trade publication In Focus
about the difference in this film’s approach. “Well, theyÕre not so
much spiritual as they are emotional. ThatÕs what we realized very
early on: WeÕve seen Superman go up against every imaginable villain,
weapon and obstacle in the movies, TV shows and comics. So we knew we
had to attack him from an emotional point of view — to give him an
emotional obstacle to overcome, in addition to the physical.”
Contact Music has an interesting anecdote about Brandon Routh having a wardrobe malfunction, while Superhero Hype has the final running time for the film, at 153 minutes.
GHOST RIDER
Latino Review has a set interview
with Nicolas Cage about the Marvel adaptation. “The main thing that
appealed to me about the character was that it was dealing with very
complicated spiritual issues. And for a comic book, that to me seemed
different than all the others. I have a line in the movie that we
worked on in the movie where I say I’m the only one that can walk in
both worlds. And Ghost Rider really is that, when you think about it.
Spider-Man doesnÕt go into the supernatural or the spiritual world.
Superman doesn’t. Batman doesn’t. But Ghost Rider really walks this
dimension between two different worlds, and to me that is interesting.
I find all that fascinating. I’ve always had an interest in the
possibility of ghosts and the possibility of things that are in the
unknown that we don’t really comprehend or understand. So that made it
more exciting for me. The other idea, that you can take a negative and
turn it into a positive. How do you take this terrible mistake of
making a deal with the devil and how do you take this curse and turn it
into something good? Which, to me is unusual for a comic-book based
movie. It’s a pretty deep concept. And I was reading it when I was 10
years old. So that’s pretty heavy stuff for kids to be reading.”
BLADE
Writer Geoff Johns is quoted at Sci Fi Wire
at the recent Wizard World Philadelphia convention, talking about
working on the Spike TV series. “We have been working together,
obviously, in comic books for about four years, so about a year ago
David [Goyer] called me up said, ‘Hey, we are thinking about doing
Blade the TV series. Do you want to help me co-write the pilot?’ I
said, ‘Yeah,’ because I love the movies and the character. So we sat
down with Spike TV and started talking about ideas.”FANTASTIC FOUR 2
Thank spirit for Jessica Alba — the chatty starlet was interviewed by MTV,
where she revealed all kinds of goodies about the sequel. I start
[filming] on August 28th, I think, through the fall,” Alba said. I’m
the most powerful of the four. I can kind of do everyone else’s
powers.” Then the beans really started spilling when she discussed the
script. There is a little tension between the Silver Surfer and Reed,”
Alba said. “He’s a little good and a little bad. So it’s just a matter
of, ‘What does Sue Storm bring Ñ the good or the bad Ñ out of that
boy?’”
WATCHMEN
Superhero Hype posted a correction to an earlier story, discovering that a MySpace blog allegedly by composer John Powell was a fake.
HOLLYWOOD SWINGIN’
Here’s where you get in
on the action. Did you see a link we didn’t catch? Have you snuck into
a closed movie set, and have inside data? Maybe your cousin is dating
somebody who knows something, and they had to tell you? Whatever it is,
we wanna know it all — fire off an email
and let us know whether you want your name used or your contributions
to geekdom to go down anonymously. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles,
this is novelist/karaoke host/all-around lunatic Hannibal Tabu
saying thanks for your time and indulgence, and [tagline sent back to
development hell until something hipper can be dreamed up].
