From under my rock I can see quite a bit is going on.

Between comics-to-film news and revamps of iconic characters to sexy political intrigue perfect for a good story exercise; if you wanted “interesting” you’ve got it in spades.

The Russian spy scandal

First of all, yeah, she is not bad on the eyes even if she’s an alleged dirty, filthy, spy. Admittedly, I’ve been avoiding TV especially mainstream media for the last month or so, so I’m not well versed on the up-to-the-minute details of this story. On the surface however it has that classic sleeper agent spy story begging for a new post-cold war twist. It’s almost perfect timing  as Angelina Jolie’s flick Salt gears up with a somewhat similar plot-line. I’d be rather impressed if it was somehow a large guerrilla / viral-marketing  scheme (yeah, I know it’s not).

The BP oil spill debacle / environmental FUBAR

I don’t care who’s at fault, the damage is monumental and is on-going. This oil spill is disheartening! It’s killing already strained local economies as well as absolutely wrecking the ecosystem of the gulf. It’s so bad my kids (when I have them – go go gadget 2012 baby announcement / end of the world) will probably be in their 20′s before it can be said that the the impact on the environment has let up from this spill. Heads need to roll and the way we look at our energy sources needs a drastic overhaul. It’s wishful thinking at this point but from time to time I sing the praises of companies like Tesla Motors for trying to push alternative powered automobiles that don’t look weak as all get out. There needs to be more of these innovative companies pushing the status quo to the side in the name of true progress.  Maybe my kids will see that day.

Jim Lee, come on dude…

This one deserves a full article. Jim Lee was who I had patterned my drawing style from, I collected issues of X-Men & WildC.A.T.s and anything I could get my hands on studying the style. Now, after the Captain America thing (you let that HACK Rob Liefeld touch Caps?!) and this story, maybe the time away was for the best. While I’m quite comfortable with the idea of rebooting an iconic character like Wonder Woman (I was attached to the TV show not the actual comic), I can see the fuss that it’s making, and maybe they should have thought the revamped look through a little more. I’ll speak to that in that blog post for sure. Maybe even make one about imagery when it comes to established characters. Oh, the ideas these sorts of things spark…

DC Comic’s move into web / mobile distribution

I spoke of this a couple of years ago, the little guys are pioneering it and the big guys are going to catch on soon enough. With the emergence of apps centric mobile devices, and CDNs (Content Distribution Network) media is moving to a point of merging into a singular entity where your entertainment, communication and information channels are driven by the cloud and your stored preferences follow you everywhere. Devices like the iPAD while ridiculously named are just the transitional bits of technology necessary to get us to that future.

Here’s some neat fan art

of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man gathered at Youthedesigner.com. As of late, Spidey has been in the headlines for troubles with the property at Sony. When the plans for the fourth sequel fell through, Spider-Man became yet another victim of the “gritty reboot”. Now that they’ve committed to it, the speculator’s talk now is about the possibility and acceptability of taking the character and his alter-ego Peter Parker in a new direction by arguing that the character is more defined by his personality and principles than his (traditionally) portrayed race.

They’ve decided to skew young as well so with this in mind some fans have taken to campaigning for Comedian / Musician Donald Glover (of NBC’s Community) to take up the  webbed mask. I can’t give an opinion on Glover as I’m not familiar with his body of work, however when I’ve asked around, the word is he’s well versed in being a geek on the screen. Danny has been said to have been honored by the thought but would want to earn the role traditionally rather than by popular vote. I say if he can act, why not give him a screen test for the part Sony, after Michael Clarke Duncan’s portrayal of The Kingpin in an otherwise crappy movie (Daredevil), I’m more open minded.

Click here to read the full article»

clipped from www.youthedesigner.com

33 Astonishing Spider-Man Artworks

Among the most popular superheroes that have ever been launched, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) may be considered as one of the most successful fictional characters of all time, possibly even second only to Superman. It has been almost fifty years since his first appearance, but Marvel’s number one superhero is still going strong, especially in the minds and hearts of today’s designers.

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Details via IMDB

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Jane Goldman (screenplay) & Matthew Vaughn (screenplay)

Plot: Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

Cast:

	Aaron Johnson	…	Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass
	Lyndsy Fonseca	…	Katie Deauxma
	Christopher Mintz-Plasse	…	Chris D’Amico / Red Mist
	Mark Strong	…	Frank D’Amico
	Chloe Moretz	…	Mindy Macready / Hit-Girl (as Chloë Grace Moretz)
	Nicolas Cage	…	Damon Macready / Big Daddy

Going in blind…

When I know a movie is based off a comic book property I usually make an effort to find the comic and read a few issues or find a graphic novel to get the general flavor of the characters I’ll be seeing on the big screen. I wasn’t able to do my due diligence for Kick-Ass so I can’t compare the flick to the source this time around.

That’s okay, it may have actually helped me to like this flick even more than I would have.

Mark Millar was behind the comic along with John Romita Jr., and my familiarity with Millar’s comics to films properties always tell me that what’s in the book isn’t going to end up 100% in the film. Wanted the graphic novel is 50% different from Wanted the motion picture.

The clincher for me is that this was a Matthew Vaughn flick, he gave the world Layer Cake, which gave us Daniel Craig channeling his version of  James Bond through a Guy Ritchie filter.

skip to tl;dr summary »

The inevitable comic book /movie geek unnecessary comparison

I’m going to go ahead and throw this out there because for anyone familiar with the two properties and a lot of Millar’s body of work, you’ll notice that the theme of Kick-Ass is rooted in a similar place as Wanted’s comic source. Both involve a nameless nobody living in a world sans superheroes that find themselves pushed to do things outside of their comfort zone. They don masks and go forth to change things how they see fit only to realize they weren’t alone in doing this to begin with.  Twists, turns & growing up ensue.

You’ll also notice hints of 1999′s Mystery Men in it

The real superhero movie of the 2010 season

I gave my verdict on Iron Man, it suffered from minor sequel-itis and managed to bloat itself into feeling incomplete. This is not the case with Kick-Ass as it has more in common with 2008′s Iron Man in that it’s a fun fast paced origin story that balances the trends of gritty realism and tongue-in-cheek cheese to bring the audience a solid film going experience.

What’s good about it?

The story – As I’ve pointed out it’s not terribly original at the root nor was it meant to be, but it maintains a graphic novel / comic structure that’s difficult to do when crossing mediums. This keeps the pacing just right and doesn’t leave room for the ADHD set to begin to wander.

Aaron Johnson’s Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass – This guy reminds you of Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, he means well but is in over his head most of the time. He’s driven by the simple question: “Why hasn’t anyone tried to be a superhero in real life?” When he receives his answer in one the most brutal ways possible (you’ll wince) he strengthens his resolve and throws himself into making it as a superhero.  You’ll find yourself rooting for him  with ease.

Nick Cage’s Damon Macready / Big Daddy -  You can see where Nick would’ve been a solid superhero in other properties if he let go of wanting to be bigger characters (He’s not Kal-El, and he’s not Johnny Blaze either). Here he takes what appears to be a Hollywood watered down batman / Punisher combo and makes him tolerable enough to care for his character’s involvement in the plot. Cage’s notoriety as an actor that loves to ham it up is reinforced here as he plays a father out for revenge that missed the classes on bad parenting.

Mark Strong’s Frank D’Amico – Mark has built up  a resume that has positioned him to be Hollywood’s go-to goon / main villain and this effort is no different. While he’s not as sinister and threatening as his turn as Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes, he’s closer to the vain of  Guy Ritchie mobster types who are always a little neurotic and surrounded by idiots (though his turn as Archy in Ritchie’s RocknRolla was far from idiotic goon). He’s also playing the not-such-a-good-father-figure role here as he fights with whether or not his son should begin to learn the family business.

What’s great about the movie?

Chloe Moretz’s Mindy Macready / Hit-Girl -  She. Steals. The. Movie. This kid pretty much comes out of nowhere in a role that Dakota Fanning may have gotten a few years ago, to slice, dice and blast her way into your heart. As Big Daddy’s side-kick, this superhero protege can hold her own with most of the criminal element and makes you wonder how such a brutal vigilante can fit in such a little package. Yeah, she’s everything that’s wrong with media & video games these days but they manage to make her fun and thanks to the movie not taking itself far too seriously you can unclench a little despite the punk-rock fueled mayhem she dispatches at will.

Should I go see it?

Spend your money, Hit-Girl alone is worth the ticket.

TL;DR Summary:

A genuinely fun popcorn flick worth the price of admission, the bucket of popcorn and the soda, but you better hold it in if you drink the whole thing because the break times are in odd spots & you’ll miss something cool. Yes, there is a sequel in the works.

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We knew it was coming.

Beginning with promise and wonder, riding off the coattails of successful comics-to-movies franchises, NBC’s series Heroes seemed to be destined for world domination. Honestly, for roughly 2 and a half seasons it did just that. It managed to be must-see-TV on a Monday night that was full of competition. It was new, it was innovative and it tapped into the sense of nostalgia and imagination of it’s viewers.

The Downfall.

These people EVERY season, NO exceptions.

The recognizable pattern of too-big-to-be-good set in.They had a concept they had no idea how to execute in a way that could sustain it beyond a couple of seasons. Show runners began to jump ship to other projects and they seemed to be as lost as the writers of ABC’s LOST. However, it was evident that they nowhere near as clever as the writers of LOST turned out to be.

It was clear that the writers:

• were cribbing plot lines from comics that had done it better (season 1 was the plot to Watchmen)
• were becoming too attached to the characters they began with / certain dead weight characters were allowed to hang on in multiple incarnations. (Ali Larter, I’m looking at you.)
• were rebooting the same key plot lines, ignoring character development
• spent their time doing too much teasing with too little pay off (the fights, the future, sword wielding time-lord Hiro?)
• had no course of action to recover from the strike or any of the other items on this list

Hiro could’ve helped.

He’s from Japan, he could have easily pointed out that a lot of the television series that originate from his homeland end with one set of characters and begin anew with a fresh cast and plot line; a format that Heroes seemed to be made for.

But of course, Hiro forgot that he knew such things and must save the cheerleader from Sylar, again.

Read the full article»

clipped from www.nydailynews.com

“Heroes” can’t save themselves and neither can NBC.

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The network’s presentation of its 2010-2011 schedule was leaked Sunday morning when journalists from The Hollywood Reporter (THR) snuck into their upfront rehearsal at New York‘s Hilton hotel, deadline.com reports.

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clipped from www.comicvine.com As many of you may know, I had been a huge fan of Reginald Hudlin’s run on Black Panther for a long time. When Hudlin left the character in the recent story arc, I admit I was a bit disappointed. So, naturally, when I realized he would be making his return to the character in the mini series ‘ Flags of Our Fathers,’ I was really excited. Needless to say, the series has been pretty interesting overall and it has been great to see the writer pen the Marvel character once more.

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