RAGS MORALES: NIGHTWING AND THE BAT-FAMILY – NEWSARAMA

I have been a fan of Morales work since Identity Crisis. I am really glad to have him on Nightwing

RAGS MORALES: NIGHTWING AND THE BAT-FAMILY .

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by Vaneta RogersAlong with Peter Tomasi kicking off his Nightwing run earlier this month, January’s Issue #140 of the title also saw the return of artist Rags Morales to monthly comic book interiors.As we found out from the artist last spring, he’s been out of the spotlight for awhile for both personal and professional reasons. But between this gig on Nightwing and the story he did on Batman Confidential with writer Tony Bedard, which begins in February, Morales is back with a vengeance.

Newsarama talked to Morales about his work on Nightwing and what brought him to the title in the first place, looking both back toward his preparation for the first issue and forward to what readers can expect from the comic in the future.

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IESB.net – Movie News, Reviews, Interviews and More! – Devil’s Due Loses G.I. Joe Comic Book License

 

Devil’s Due Loses G.I. Joe Comic Book License
Written by IESB Staff

Tuesday, 29 January 2008

Devils Due Publishing has lost the G.I. Joe comic book license, their contract will not be renewed as hoped says industry insiders.

I am a bit torn on this, I feel that Devil’s Due has done well with the G.I. Joe brand giving fans over 7 years of great books. Apparently, Hasbro doesn’t feel the same.

It’s been known since mid-last year that the license was up and Hasbro had solicited proposals at Comic-Con for partners. Most assumed they would go ahead and renew with Devil’s Due but the news is sadly no, Devil’s Due is out and it looks like it will be either Marvel or IDW.

G.I. Joe comics have been published in the past by Marvel, Image, Dark Horse and most recently by Devil’s Due Publishing.

I checked with a few other sources embedded deep in the comic book world and all indications are that IDW will edge out Marvel.

Why you ask?

Well, from what I figure, since IDW holds the Transformers license, Hasbro would prefer to have their eggs all in one basket if you know what I mean. They have already experienced a "mega-movie opening" with the giant robots and may have some great ideas having to do with Joe and the book’s future. Plus, with both licenses held by the same company, it could just make things that much easier for Hasbro in the end. Remember this one ? (Click here) Joes with the Autobots and Cobra with the Decepticons? Classic.

Well, that’s where it lies as of today, we’ll keep you posted if we hear anything further.

IESB.net – Movie News, Reviews, Interviews and More! – Devil’s Due Loses G.I. Joe Comic Book License

Which Power Ring would come to you?

SEAN McKEEVER ON THE TERROR TITANS – NEWSARAMA

I wasn’t really fond of the last story arc, and from what I read here I am not so sure I will like this one either.  Might be time to cut this for something else.

SEAN McKEEVER ON THE TERROR TITANS

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by Vaneta Rogers

It’s the calm after the storm – or so they think. As today’s issue #55 of Teen Titans demonstrates, the team needs a little time to regroup after emerging from the trenches of a raging battle.

But not for long.

As writer Sean McKeever told us, the Teen Titans are facing a new threat in the upcoming storyline – a team of teenage legacy villains called the Terror Titans. In a series of issues that will focus on a different team member each month, the Teen Titans will face these new foes head-on as the Terror Titans attack under the leadership of a brand new Clock King.

We talked to the writer to learn more about the mysterious Terror Titans and found out issue #55 is a new beginning for the team – and the writer – in more ways than one.

 

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DAYS OF X PAST & MORE – CATCHING UP WITH ROBERT KIRKMAN – NEWSARAMA

 

DAYS OF X PAST & MORE – CATCHING UP WITH ROBERT KIRKMAN

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by Vaneta Rogers

After just over two years with the title, writer Robert Kirman announced in late December that he would be leaving the series with issue #93. As he said in his blog, after being hired for a nine issue fill-in arc, sticking around for over two dozen ain’t half dad.

We spoke with the writer about his time on the series.

 

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COMICS FANDOM UNITES TO SAVE J’ONN J’ONZZ – MICHAEL NETZER ONLINE

COMICS FANDOM UNITES TO SAVE J’ONN J’ONZZ
Comics web sites and forums show resounding support for the campaign,
covered at The Beat, Blog@Newsarama, Comics Should Be Good, Comics
Related… and more.

AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER
Websites and forums from across the globe are placing banners, links
and raising support for the campaign to save the Martian Manhunter.
Some reactions from Spain, Germany, France, Costa Rica, Philippines,
Mexico, Canada… and more.

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER
Stop by and sign the growing petition… and help make a difference!

http://www.michaelnetzer.com
MICHAEL NETZER ONLINE

HEATH LEDGER DIES – NEWSARAMA

Very sad.  I always hate to see things like this happen.

AP: HEATH LEDGER DIES Original article: According to TMZ.com actor Heath Ledger, who was currently playing the Joker in the upcoming sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight was found dead this afternoon in one of his residences in Soho at 3:35 PM EST. The 28 year old actor had been receiving acclaim from both director Christopher Nolan and his fellow actors on the set for his portrayal of the twisted criminal of the Batman mythos. Earlier this month, Nolan told the LA Times, "The Joker, he sort of cuts through the film — he’s got no story arc, he’s just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it’s really extraordinary." The Dark Knight completed principle photography in the latter part of last year, and is currently in post-production. According to TMZ, the police do not suspect foul play. As reported by The New York Times, and MSNBC, pills were found near his body. Ledger was in the midst of filming The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus. Updated 7:50pm EST: NEW YORK (AP) _ Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment, naked in bed with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said. The Australian-born actor was 28. There was no obvious indication of suicide, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the SoHo apartment that is believed to be the home of the “Brokeback Mountain” actor, Browne said. The massage therapist and a housekeeper found his naked body in the bed at about 3:30 p.m. They tried to revive him, but he was already dead. Paparazzi and gawkers gathered outside, and several police officers put up barricades to control the crowd of about 300. Onlookers craned their necks as officers brought out a black body bag on a gurney, took it across the sidewalk and put it into a white medical examiner’s office van. As the door opened, bystanders snapped pictures with camera phones, rolled video, and said, “He’s coming out!” An autopsy was planned for Wednesday, medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said. While not a marquee movie star, Ledger was an award-winning actor who chose his roles carefully rather than cashing in on big-money parts. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a gay cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain,” where he met Michelle Williams, who played his wife in the film. The two had a daughter, now 2-year-old Matilda, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year. It was a shocking and unforeseen conclusion for one of Hollywood’s bright young stars. Though his leading man looks propelled him to early stardom in films like “10 Things I Hate About You” and “A Knight’s Tale,” his career took a notable turn toward dramatic and brooding roles with 2001’s “Monster’s Ball.” “I had such great hope for him,” said Mel Gibson, who played Ledger’s vengeful father in “The Patriot,” in a statement. “He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss.” Ledger eschewed Hollywood glitz in favor of a bohemian life in Brooklyn, where he was one of the borough’s most famous residents. “Brokeback” would be his breakthrough role, establishing him as one of his generation’s finest talents and an actor willing to take risks. Ledger began to gravitate more toward independent fare, including Lasse Hallstrom’s “Casanova” and Terry Gilliam’s “The Brothers Grimm,” both released in 2005. His 2006 film “Candy” now seems destined to have an especially haunting quality: In a particularly realistic performance, Ledger played a poet wrestling with a heroin addiction along with his girlfriend, played by Abbie Cornish. But Ledger’s most recent choices were arguably the boldest yet: He costarred in “I’m Not There,” in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan _ as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress. And in what may be his final finished performance, Ledger proved that he wouldn’t be intimidated by taking on a character as iconic as Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Ledger’s version of the “Batman” villain, glimpsed in early teaser trailers, made it clear that his Joker would be more depraved and dark. Curiosity about Ledger’s final performance will likely stoke further interest in the summer blockbuster. “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan said earlier this month that Ledger’s Joker would be wildly different from Nicholson’s. “It was a very great challenge for Heath,” Nolan said. “He’s extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic.” Ledger told The New York Times in a November interview that he “stressed out a little too much” during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.” “Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” Ledger told the newspaper. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour, the paper said. Ledger was a widely recognized figure in his Manhattan neighborhood, where he used to shop at a home and children’s store. Michelle Vella, an employee there, said she had frequently seen Ledger with his daughter _ carrying the toddler on his shoulders, or having ice cream with her. “It’s so sad. They were really close,” said Vella. “He’s a very down-to-earth guy and an amazing father.” Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. He met Watts while working on “The Lords of Dogtown,” a fictionalized version of a cult classic skateboarding documentary, in 2004. Ledger was born in 1979 in Perth, in western Australia, to a mining engineer and a French teacher, and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 at a local theater company. He began acting in independent films as a 16-year-old in Sydney and played a cyclist hoping to land a spot on an Olympic team in a 1996 television show, “Seat.” After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and costarred opposite Julia Stiles in “10 Things I Hate About You.” Offers for other teen flicks soon came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn’t like. “It wasn’t a hard decision for me,” Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. “It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, `You’re crazy,’ my parents were like, `Come on, you have to eat.”’

HEATH LEDGER DIES – NEWSARAMA

FINAL CALL FOR WHO WANTS TO CREATE A SUPER-HEROINE SHADOWLINE CONTEST – NEWSARAMA

I sent my entry in a few weeks ago, wish me luck!!

FINAL CALL FOR WHO WANTS TO CREATE A SUPER-HEROINE SHADOWLINE CONTEST

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From Jim Valentino

With less than two weeks left to go (final warning, there’s still time to send yours in!), we’ve received hundreds of submissions. Of those, some were marked as potential semi-finalists, some were starred as runners-up, the rest were deleted and all were responded to with a confirmation of receipt.

There were tons of Pandora’s, Greek (and other pantheon) Gods, celebrity heroes, sibling heroes, teams, government conspiracies and agencies, aliens, dysfunctional families, lesbians (down boys), pregnant, widowed, unwed mom heroines and second-generation heroes. We saw a lot of duplicate names, origins, powers, etc.including many names of pre-existing characters. More than even we anticipated. So if anyone sees a winning entry that looks similar to yours, you can chalk it up to syncronicity. Similarities abounded.

The synopses of the potential semi-finalists (no more than 50) will all be sent to Jim blind–that is, without the name of the creator attached–and from those he’ll select ten. Only the names of the ten (10) semi-finalists will be listed at Newsarama on February 4, not the names of their super-heroine. Semi-finalists will be warned that if they reveal the name of their entry to the public, they will be immediately disqualified.

The ten semi-finalists will then be asked to send in a script for the FIRST five pages of their story. From these scripts, Shadowline will choose five finalists. Decisions made by Shadowline are final, and not debatable.

The five finalists will each have their original synopsis posted at Kristen Simon’s forum on the "Who Wants to Create a Super-Heroine" message board ( www.kris-korner.com/forum) on March 10 where they can be reviewed by anyone interested in voting. A link will also be provided in the next announcement from Newsarama. You will need to register to vote. One vote per IP address will be allowed (to discourage ballot box stuffing). All synopses will be posted sans creator names and again, any finalist that reveals their
identity will be immediately disqualified. Polls will close on April 4 at noon, Central Standard Time.

The winning entry will be announced at Newsarama on April 28, along with Franchesco’s initial concept art. Thereafter we will be posting progress reports and pages on a regular basis at the message board.

Click here for the original announcement and contest details.

This contest is fully run and administered by Shadowline. Newsarama in no way influences the outcome or plays any role in the decision process.

FINAL CALL FOR WHO WANTS TO CREATE A SUPER-HEROINE SHADOWLINE CONTEST – NEWSARAMA

TALKING SHOP: RETAILERS WEIGH IN ON ONE MORE DAY – NEWSARAMA

Read the rest of the article at the link below . My opinion is they really screwed the pooch on this one, and in effect made Spider-Man continuity similar to the movies.

TALKING SHOP: RETAILERS WEIGH IN ON ONE MORE DAY

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by Vaneta Rogers

As Spider-Man swings from wedded bliss to swingin’ “macking” on the ladies bachelorhood, online fans have let their opinion be heard. But many have wondered if the displeasure voiced on the internet truly translates to a response at the store level.Newsarama asked retailers what they’ve experienced, and the answer wasn’t surprising. We asked retailers to be as objective as possible and report what their customers thought — not what their opinion was about the story. According to local store owners, their customers, just like online readers, are sharing their distaste for the change in Spider-Man’s status quo. In fact, one retailer compared his role to that of a bartender, listening behind the retail counter as customers pour out their hearts about their history with the character over the years and their feelings of being cheated upon having his continuity so suddenly altered.

Yet no matter how unpopular Spider-Man: One More Day may be seen to be online — and how many customers drop the comic for now – most retailers recognize that the move to publishing Amazing Spider-Man three times a month will most likely have a positive effect on sales. And they also know that angry voices do not always translate to lower sales, with most shop owners being hopeful that curiosity and the potential strength of future stories can win out this time around and make the change a successful one.

Newsarama Note: The following questions were put to retailers this week, and were answered between January 9-10th.

TALKING SHOP: RETAILERS WEIGH IN ON ONE MORE DAY – NEWSARAMA

TOMASI ON NIGHTWING – NEWSARAMA

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