Category Archives: Comic Book Adaptations

Brett Ratner’s Hercules is the Peoples Champion?

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Turns out that Dwayne Johnson, The Peoples Champion, the Rock is in talks with MGM about starring in Hercules. The film which is to be directed by Brett Ratner; who directed the comedians version of the Expendables. I believe it was called Tower Heist.

The film is based on the Hercules comic book by Radical Publishing. They have two series which are called, “Hercules: The Thracian Wars” and “Hercules: The Knives of Kush.” The last one just makes me think there are blades made of marijuana. Both series are written by Steve More with artist Cris Bolsin.

The Thracian Wars is described as follows:

“Fourteen-hundred years ago, a tormented soul walked the Earth that was neither man nor god. Hercules, powerful son of the god king Zeus, received nothing but suffering his entire life. After twelve arduous labors and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods, finding his only solace in bloody battle. Over the years he warmed to the company of six similar souls, their only bond being their love of fighting and the presence of death. These men and woman never question where, why, or whom they go to fight; only how much they will be paid. Knowing this, the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to train his men to become the greatest army of all time. Hercules begins to question King Cotys’ motives when he takes his army out to battle and sees them practice on innocent men, women, and children of their neighbors. Deep in his soul something stirs, but is it enough to stop a mad king and his army of the damned from marching across Greece – or even Olympus itself?!”

So if I’m to understand this correctly, Hercules roamed the earth in seventh century as an emo, laying the smack down for Kings while the Thracians were being wiped out by Goths. It’s okay, I’ll suspend my belief on this because I too have watched Marvel’s Thor film adaptation. I can’t believe I paid to see that either though.

This might be MGM’s bid to find their own Conan movie for reinvention, but I’m skeptical about Ratner more than I am about The Rock; sure it puts the movie at risk for being associated with the Scorpion King, but “you keep what you kill” and man did that movie die horribly.

So what’s wrong with Ratner? He’s done a great job directing Red Dragon and an X-Men movie, but he’s also been the force behind the Rush Hour movies. While the Radical Comics Hercules title does look serious, it’s still a comic. The comedic moments makes me wonder if if any Rush Hour will leak a bit into the film.  Maybe it’ll just have to take a really good script to really tell.

Hey, is it my imagination or does Hercules on these covers look a little like a time lost Judge Dredd?

Free Harley Quinn Update for Batman: Arkham City Lockdown

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Today Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced a new update for the Batman: Arkham City Lockdown App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is now available. The update will include a brand new level featuring Harley Quinn, a Bruce Wayne skin and achievements, and a Batarang mini-game, all for the low low price of free. It’s strange how consumers will pay top dollar for the latest tech but they’re hesitant for one dollar apps.

As I sat and reviewed the trailer for the new portion of Batman: Arkham City Lockdown I was instantly hit by the realization that Harley Quinn has somehow gone from this cute little thing, to a tarted up sex-pot. Yes, yes, I know that’s what the industry is all about these days but whatever happened to old school costumes and characters? Over the years I’ve watched many comic book characters get the costume overhaul. Some of it just turns way to suggestive. Have you seen the Star Sapphire’s latest costume? When Harley Quinn first debuted, it was in “Batman: The Animated Series”, the costumed started a a modest one piece, traditional harlequin jester outfit, worn by Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel who had some serious nightingale issues.

The popularity of the character prompted DC comics to introduce the Harley into their universe. This time the costume wasn’t so modest and over years became more and more… pronounced.

My initial reaction to the visual of Harley Quinn in the video game was that she looks very much like the Malkavian from Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, right down to the raccoon make-up and blonde pig-tails. Harley Quinn is supposed to have a one piece outfit with a hat, not some leather outfit and pig-tails. Although I can understand the attraction.

Since then, DC comics seems to have updated Harley’s costume with The New 52 reboot. The basis seems to merge the Arkham City video game attire with her traditional costume. Her hair is dyed half-red and half-blue, similar to the jester cap of her original costume, while the rest of the ensemble is still present day skimpy; but just appropriately color coded now.

Aside from the initial realization of Harley looking all wrong, the graphics on the game look very good. If the trailer is any indication of how the game plays on your iWhatever then it looks like the game runs smoothly and is well designed. Harley Quinn’s voice still sounds like a 60’s era chippy, but it’s what I grew up with and still a classic, right next to Mark Hamill voicing the Joker. The scenery is still wrapped in the darkness of Gotham City and at least Batman still looks like he should. The Dark Knight isn’t sporting any nipples on his costume. So that’s a big plus right there.

Video Game Announced Based on DC Comics Young Justice

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Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and game publisher Little Orbit have announced a video game based on DC comics animated series Young Justice. The game will be called Young Justice: Legacy and feature playable heroes going against villains of the DC universe.

Here is the official release from the Little Orbit website:

Little Orbit, a worldwide game publisher, announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the Young Justice: Legacy video game set to ship in early 2013 for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo’s Wii(TM) system, and the Nintendo DS(TM) hand held system.

New episodes of the Warner Bros. Animation series Young Justice will air beginning Saturday, March 3, at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network as part of DC Nation, the network’s brand-new one-hour block of exclusive kids’ television programming and shorts based on DC Comics characters. In Young Justice, teenage heroes Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis are tasked by the Justice League to act as their covert operations team. Armed with superior skills, weaponry and powers, the team must do battle against a wide array of villains from the DC Universe while trying to prove to themselves, and to their superhero mentors, that they too have what it takes to be a hero. Their journey is further complicated when they face the many unpredictable obstacles that arise in their path from inexperience and youth.

In Young Justice: Legacy fans can look forward to an original storyline set in between Seasons 1 and 2 of the television series, written in collaboration with show writers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti. The game is packed with fan favorite playable characters, cameo appearances by popular Justice League heroes and villains, and includes online multiplayer as well as local multiplayer modes.

Video games based on movies tend to suck. Video games based on cartoons seem to not suck as much. The slew of Dragon Ball Z games, some Naruto games, and of course Batman games have been good.  There was even a video game that was intentionally released before the cartoon version called Earthworm Jim. Hooray for him!

“The TV series is a fantastic combination of compelling writing, witty humor, iconic art, and exciting action sequences. The creators have done an amazing job blending over 180 DC Comics characters into their show filtered through a new, youthful perspective,” said Matt Scott, CEO of Little Orbit. “The new video game contains a slew of cool features and a large playable cast of familiar heroes, but our core mission is to create a unique experience that fits seamlessly into the world of the show and offers a new way to interact with these popular DC Comics characters.”

So the current Young Justice cartoon series isn’t based on the original DC comics series. It’s more of a reboot, like the Justice League series of animation and The New 52 reboot.

You can read what I have to say about The New 52 here.

DC comics even separates and distinguishes different reboots and continuities by identifying separate universes. The one that this series is set in is the fictional universe of Earth-16, where superheroes seem to be a recent phenomenon.  This is definitely a good thing because between a lot of these young superheroes already have a dark and gritty history.  For example, in some comic book universes Speedy or Red Arrow has been a junkie.  Robin comes from a long and proud tradition of dying sidekicks; they all wear bright colors and distract villains from shooting the Batman.  Then there’s Artemis who was a former homeless girl turned to child prostitution with accompanying STDs.  Those were the ones I thought of off the top of my head.  They can all thank the Last Son; of Krypton; that they didn’t have to grow up in those corrupted universes.

Having watched a few of the episodes, I’m starting to think I’m finally getting too old for this stuff. The Valley Girl voice acting of Miss Martian grates on my ears. The sound of Robin laughing like a child maniac and disappearing into the shadows is still cool though. I hope the video game ends up borrowing from the original comic series and features a playable Li’L Lobo; the magically transformed teenage version of Lobo, or as they would translate it in Khundian, “he who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it.”

The Amazing Spider-Man Viral Hunt Comes to an End

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What began as a viral marketing campaign has ended with cities covered in (authorized) graffiti. It’s lead to websites and Twitter accounts, all wrapped in more riddles and clues. So what was the payoff? Some cool Spider-Man swag and an opportunity to get all meta with the Spider-Man storyline.

You can read about the initial hunt here.

The viral hunt that lead to websites and Twitter accounts, contained more cryptic clues and locations. Then it lead to some pretty cool gifts that fans could take home. Some of the cool stuff included Spider-Man hoodies and cellphones that sent them instructions via calls and texts on what to do next.

I think this is how official supporters got selected to put up the marks of the Spider-Man around the city.

“We’re supporting Spider-Man,” Abigail Flynn told MTV News of the campaign in New York. “We’re putting up the mark of the Spider-Man around the city to spread awareness and spread his message.”

That’s right. Even MTV covered the news in New York about the appearance of supporters for the masked vigilante known as Spider-Man. You know how they’ve always been a reliable news source. Heh. It’s all very meta though and very well done. The idea is that these Spider-Man supporters are needed to remind whoever the Spider-Man is that he’s made a difference. Especially in light of the Daily Bugle constantly thrashing him. I really wouldn’t be surprised if some of this footage appears in the movie; or maybe a reenactment of the graffiti vandalism.

In addition to New York, these events also took place in Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Seattle. To ensure that no one screwed it up or that separate professionally trained graffiti artists weren’t needed for each location, stencils were handed out. Tape up – Spray red – Tear Down – Pose for pictures. Easy enough right? I’m still having problems coloring within the lines.

Just to be sure everyone is on the same page though, the Mark of the Spider-Man official marketing website had this to communicate:

“These activities were conducted by trained and supervised persons acting with all necessary permissions and authorizations. Columbia Pictures does not condone or support the propagation of unauthorized graffiti and must insist that no one attempt to recreate, re-enact or perform such activity without all required permissions and authorizations.”

Which hopefully frees them for legal issues if by chance a street gang adopts the signature as their own. Like the black spiders in “The New Guy.” Actually, I think that was a comic book storyline entitled, “Spider-Island” where everyone in New York gained the power set of Spider man and a bunch of thugs dressed as Spider-Man. They ended up using their great power for great larceny, so other Marvel superheroes crossed over and laid the smack down on everyone; including Peter Parker.

If the Spider-Man supporters ever got out of hand, I’m sure the riot police wouldn’t have problems gassing them all. Just like the superheroes would do! It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Columbia Picture’s The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters this July 3rd.

If you go to the official viral marketing site and click on the red image of Mark of the Spider, it’ll take you to a trailer.  Check out the trailer below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tnxzJ0SSOw

Bleach Manga To Become Live Action Film? Please No!

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Haven’t we had enough terrible live action versions of animated movies in our time? I mean c’mon Avatar the Last Airbender as a live action film, who thought that would be a good idea? And even worse, please, world, stop turning amazing animes into live action films! Just stop!

Apparantly, my appeals go unheard as Warner Bros. recently announced plans to adapt Tite Kubo’s manga series Bleach into a live-action feature. It is already an anime and a manga which usually go hand in hand so I am ok with that, but a live action movie? I have definite reservations.

If you haven’t read the manga or seen the anime here is the plot:

Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki who is a teenager gifted with the ability to see spirits. His life is drastically changed by the sudden appearance of a Soul Reaper—one who governs the flow of souls between the human world and the afterlife—named Rukia Kuchiki, who arrives in search of aHollow, a dangerous lost soul. Ichigo obtains the powers of the Soul Reaper (死神 Shinigami, literally, “Death God”). With her powers diminished, Rukia is left stranded in the human world until she can recover her strength. In the meantime, Ichigo must take over Rukia’s role as a Soul Reaper, battling Hollows and guiding souls to the afterlife realm known as the Soul Society. – it is bascially pretty awesome.

With it already being super popular in terms of anime fans, I can see why they would want to make it a movie that everyone would enjoy but it would lose so much  of the reason it is awesome.

Firstly, if they want it to be a huge commercial success they would have to move it from Japan to America. They made the decision to do this to the live action adaptation of Akira and look what happened to that? It got put on hold! (and it upset many fans who felt that a story set in Japan should stay in Japan and I agree).  I can imagine this would similarly piss off many of the fans of the original because a change in setting changes much of the feel of the show and manga. Also, if you a hardcore fan of the series you probably watch it in its original Japanese language subtitled in English. Which certainly will not be the case if it is a feature length live action film. (This would also mean that most likely it would feature american actors rather than Japanese which would just be… weird!)

You can not turn these characters into live people!

Secondly, can you imagine a main character with bright orange hair? You probably think, yeah just get an actor with naturally red hair, a ginger! But no, if they do the same as they did on Dragon ball Z you know that they will probably try to style the hair just like the anime which will look ridiculous on a live human person.

Yeah, Kind of like this. It is just ridiculous.

So, I really think if they try to live action it, the characters that I love will end up being just ridiculous looking. Anime features are exaggerated for a reason and can’t be on a real person! (Although I am looking forward to seeing what they do with Kon….live action killer stuffed animal? hmmmm….)

Also, if this is to be commercially successful much of the humor will have to be changed or it definitely won’t be appropriate. I mean if they kept in every reference to Orihime’s boobs then you can bet that many people will not be amused. It would also mean that much of violence would have to be cut down because some of those hollows are pretty intense.

Basically what I am saying is this: PLEASE DONT MAKE THIS LIVE ACTION! I think a CG version could be cool but in reality it will probably look like the Hulk movie from 2003. The only saving grace is that it has a decent director attached. Peter Segal, who most recently directed Get Smart, will produce and potentially direct while Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans) is attached to draft the screenplay.

But if they put the live action film, Akira on hold, I wander if this will even go any further? But as a fan of the manga series, Bleach, I can only hope they do this film adaptation correctly, and not have another Dragon Ball Z situation unleashed on world giving anime fans a bad name.

The Walking Dead Continues to Kill in the Ratings

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After the huge success of the mid-season premiere for “The Walking Dead”, the show continues to garner high ratings. The mid-season premiere was the most watched show in the history of cable television with 11 million viewers combined; from both time slots. The next episode, number 9 of season 2, didn’t yield as many viewers, but still nothing to laugh at with 8.5 million viewers combined. Again, this doesn’t even begin to count the ones that found online alternatives to watching the show.

Already “The Walking Dead” has been signed for a third season. With things moving as slowly as they are, I’m sure the cast will be almost off the farm by then. Gah!

The episode begins with a little flashback of Lori learning her lesson for being an idiot. Ignoring the conventional wisdom of the buddy system, she left last episode to find Rick who’s in town finding Hershel; who in turn is finding solace at the bottom of a bottle. Lori decides that the best way to navigate her way to town is to drive fast while looking down at a road map. Was she that confident in a world where there are no other drivers around? She’s surprised by a slow walking zombie in the middle of the road. Instead of driving through it, she brakes and swerves, totalling the car.

To outline how stupid she really was and to send a message to the rest of the world, I was hoping that they’d show her driving again, but this time looking down to text message.

So the scene begins with what appears to be night time and a zombie scratching at the car windshield, trying to get at an unconscious Lori. Coming too, Lori gives a little scream realizing how much danger she’s in. The scream resonated in me and made me go, “Good. I hope you die.”

The television adaptation has so far been a source of irritation for me. It depicts the cast from comics which I complete enjoy, but have churned out something that I can’t stand but won’t look away either. Is it good writing or am I just that faithful to the source material? The characters portrayed on television want to do so much to live, yet they’re not willing to think anything through.

Robert Kirkman, creator and writer of The Walking Dead comic, and executive producer for the AMC show went on to comment on the episode. This was in an interview with Entertainment Weekly who lead off with, “No one could say that this episode was not action-packed.”

Kirkman replied saying, “That’s true. I mean, look, there’s all that tension in the bar with those people outside and we barely even see them. It was a really cool move on [the part of showrunner] Glen Mazzera working with David Leslie Johnson on this script. They’re this strange outside threat and I think it makes them more scary because everything is played inside and it’s all done off the looks of Scott Wilson and Steven Yeun and Andrew Lincoln. I think the performances in that scene are tremendous.”

The performance of the scene may have been tremendous, but that’s only thanks to the actors doing their best to go along with the faulty writing.

We then go back to Rick, Glenn and Hershel. Having killed two interlopers who had clearly escalated their threat potential. Rick in a sweeping badass movie kill both of them where they stood. That was smart thinking that was completely on instinct. Somewhere a writer must have said, “We can’t have that! Quick! Make him an idiot again!”

With the new threats around them, Hershel somehow mans up and maybe realizes the people he’s taken in are complete idiots. Why are they idiots?

When more outsiders who come looking for their recently shot friends walk towards the bar, Glenn’s first reaction is to push his back against the door as it opens. He had all the time in the world to get in front of it. Was he trying to simulate a locked door? Doesn’t matter because they now know that someone is in there. I think Rick gives Glenn the face of, “You just got in my way. They were going to walk in and I would have had the element of surprise and clearly killed them.” Yes, this is what I’ve interpreted and read into. Bite me.

They all had guns, element of surprise and could have avoided any of them getting in any real danger.

“Yo, someone in there? If someone’s in there, we want no trouble. We’re just looking for our friends.”

Rick who’s just shot Glenn the, “You screwed this up for us look.” Lapses back into his moral and narrative ways; the annoying way he speaks into the radio; first beginning with, “They drew on us.” Then goes on to explain how he’s killed their friends and that they should be reasonable; unlike their dead friends; and go their separate ways. I’m sure Rick would have understood if it was the other way around, right? “You killed Shane? Awwww. Bye.”

The episode, entitled ‘Triggerfinger’ then turns into a gun fight. Let’s speed this up. Outsiders die or abandon their friend who’s impaled himself on a fence. Rick and the gang save him and bring him back to the farm. The show then slows down and turns into something else entirely. I believe it can be boiled down to Office Politics. Why didn’t they shoot this portion of the show like a fake documentary the way they do with The Office.

Shane doesn’t like Rick making all these decisions that he believes are wrong. If he was in charge, he’d do things differently and better. Less taxes and all that rot. Andrea and some others back Shane. Meanwhile Shane secretly confesses his stalker like love for Lori and how she belongs to him.

The show now is setting up into camps. Team Rick and Team Shane. Screw that noise. If they’re so interested in fighting for the zombie matrix of leadership, then I’m voting Team Zombie. Where the Hades is the horde?

Justice League: Doom, Where Are Your Heroes Now?

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As fans of the superhero genre have learned, Marvel might crank out a good live action movie, but it’s Detective Comics that makes a great animation. With the upcoming release of the 13th animation in the Justice League series, we wait in eager anticipation for Justice League: Doom. Until then, let’s do what comic book nerds do best and nitpick.

Justice League: Doom at first doesn’t sound like a proper title. It sounds like a file name that writer Dwayne McDuffie came up with when he started with this piece and never got around to correcting before he passed away last year. For a while I even assumed it was the code name that Batman kept all his Justice Leaguer information under. I do know that for the longest time I couldn’t even see the colon in the title and thought it was just a merger of Justice League of America and Legion of Doom.

Justice League: Doom is based on the comic book series JLA: Tower of Babel, an epic storyline heralded as one of Mark Waid’s best works. Dwayne McDuffie was hired to adapt the storyline for animation, which required many changes and may have lost some of the impact felt in the original.

The first change I saw was the cast. The roster for the Justice League constantly changes but there are some comic book archetypes that need to be seen. So there’s the big three: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Their story hardly ever changes. Then there’s a Green Lantern and The Flash. These two can be interchanged with other incarnations that wear their mantle.

Green Lantern can be switched out with any member of the Green Lantern Corp, but the Justice League tends to use the human ones. This leaves John Stewart, Guy Gardener, Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan; Alan Scott doesn’t count. The Flash is also narrowed down to Barry Allen, Wally West or Bart Allen.

In the original comic, it was Kyle Rayner who wore the ultimate weapon in the universe, while he was still the inexperienced Last-of-the-Green-Lanterns. The speed force was wielded by Wally West, the former Kid Flash who was forever trying to outrun the shadow of his mentor.

For Justice League: Doom, the storyline follows the rest of the Justice League series and uses Hal Jordan and Barry Allen to play the Faster Friends; yeah, they used to have a comic title together with that tag line.

This leaves Martian Manhunter who this time has gone through a slight reboot. The Manhunter now wears more complete clothing that doesn’t match the chest baring Barsoom novel series. This doesn’t change the fact that his real physical appearance and inspiration is a direct lift from that book series. If you see the live action movie called John Carter, then you’ll have a very good idea of what I’m referring to.

So what about the seventh member? The Justice League is usually comprised of several key members. In tower of babel however we saw Aquaman, the worlds most useless superhero, and Plasticman, the shape changing unitard wearing sight gag; didn’t he get the memo to wear the underwear on the outside? Both were replaced with Cyborg, the affirmative action, token superhero.

The Justice League cartoon series had John Stewart who was lord of the green lantern ring, which worked out fine as there was perfect continuity for it. This matched later on with the JLA comics switching out Rayner for Stewart as well. Again, proper as Rayner had to go out and play intergalactic cop in the Green Lantern title. So why Cyborg? Let’s forget that he’s a visible minority with disabilities and the best HMO in the world. I also want to forget that he was originally a thirty something adult that spent a lot of time with adolescent Teen Titans. This brings us to The New 52.

The New 52 is a revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing superhero books. All of its existing titles were canceled, and in it’s place 52 new series debuted starting at issue #1. Nothing more than a large publishing event that came after the Flashpoint crossover storyline. Apparently the Flash’s time traveling screwed up continuity so badly it affected the real world. So while titles restarted at issue #1, rebooting all the characters to allow them to be reintroduced in a contemporary manner; for a new generation of readership; the only title that somewhat survived was Green Lantern. They poured a lot of time into the storyline over the last five years, having been the focal point for two big crossovers; Blackest Night, and War of Light. They’d be stupid to abandon that goldmine now, reboot be damned.

While the New 52 is not being received well by older fans, it’s understandable why DC would want to cut ties with a complex continuity that has been in place since the 1930s. Without the reboot, the next logical step would have been to add footnotes to each comic rather than flashbacks and editor notes.

The entire Justice League series of animation that have gone direct-to-DVD seems to support the New 52 as well, as it also neatly ignores a lot of back story. Almost like a game of red rover, Cyborg from the New 52 Justice League was called over.

The best way to describe the current state of things in the DC comic universe right now is to compare it to a lie. Almost as if older nerds were hazing a lesser nerd, trying to convince them that all they held dear would be destroyed. A lot of fast talking would have to be done, based on an inch of truth called back story. So just like such a hypothetical joke, a lot of work had to be done to fill in the gaps of this lie called the New 52.

Hence, why Cyborg is a member of the Justice League now. Aside from the more sinister reasons of his membership, Cyborg is also the bridge between children raised on the Teen Titan cartoons, which is why I wasn’t surprised at the anime influence for The Justice League: Doom.

So there you have it, the current roster for the Justice League. Everyone is annoyed and feels betrayed because Batman essentially could back stab them at any point when he wanted. You can read more on what happened in Final Countdown to Justice League Doom, here. This wasn’t a back stab, it’s what I will now refer to as a Bat stab. Unlike villains, middle-management and high school bullies, Batman never needs to lord this over anyone. As far as anyone else was concerned, they didn’t need to know how screwed they were until he dropped the bat hammer on them. In addition, back stabbing sounds like a last ditch ploy to win, while every plan that Batman has come up with were winning moves, not moves of desperation.

So was this all a good movie by DC? Yes, I wanted to see more of their animation. No, because I felt cheated out of a better storyline. Will I ever watch DC Animations again? It can’t be helped, I’m an addicted comic book nerd. Think of it as solidarity. I’ll be with them no matter what.

So where are the villains and what exactly did Batman do?  Stay tuned next time.  Same Bat Time.  Same Bat Channel.

Final Countdown to Justice League Doom!

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The latest of DC’s projects gets released this February 28th on DVD and Blu-Ray and it’s the 13th animated movie of the Justice League series is ominously titled Justice League Doom, from writer Dwayne McDuffie.

So what’s so awesome about this? Aside from premieres in Beverly Hills and a little bit of coverage, this almost feels like a straight to video deal. Meanwhile Marvel has The Amazing Spider-Man and The Avengers coming out soon, while Nicholas Cage is currently doing his crazy hair thing as Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, right now in theaters. What’s there to celebrate with an animation that’s not in 3D or worth an overpriced ticket to see?

What fans of the superhero genre have learned is that Marvel might turn out a great live action feature film but Detective Comics crafts an awesome animation combined with memorable stories; with recent Batman movies as the exception of course.  How many times do I need to be surprised by a radioactive spider before I realize it’s just not enough.

Justice League Doom is based on the comic book series JLA: Tower of Babel storyline by Mark Waid. Waid has been a long time writer in the comic book industry, having notable work with titles such as the Flash, Captain America, Kingdom Come; almost the epic era of comics. Waid is also the creator of two titles, Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which tell a story not unlike a What if… or Elseworld series. If they were to describe Irredeemable as anything, it’d be, “What if Superman went evil?” Not in the Superman Rex storyline where he attempts to control earth, but kill and destroy anything that annoys him evil and laugh about it. That is the kind of storytelling that Mark Waid has brought to the table.

That’s right, Justice League Doom is not a rehash of an origin story, but a… adaptation of an epic story that’s only been done once; so far. To point out how this is different from the movie reboots happening right now, let say this: Statistically in the world, Thomas and Margret Wayne must die every twenty minutes in a retelling of Batman.

JLA: Tower of Babel runs a dark storyline about how each member of the Justice League of America is picked off one by one. Not by throwing their evil counterparts of the day at them, but incapacitated with calculated hits that maximize their weaknesses, physically and psychologically. Ra’s al Ghul, a near immortal villain of the Batman franchise is the one that makes these things happen, but it’s the Batman who’s to blame.

So who gets hit?  The JLA at the time consisted of Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern; Kyle Rayner; and wait for it… Plastic Man.

The comic book version of Batman is nearly infallible. If he gets hit, it gets corrected quickly, otherwise he’s a paragon of all that is awesome that’s prepared for everything. The comic book version also paints a picture of a psychopath who’s a mixture of indomitable will, paranoia, and control issues. What does this mean? It means that Batman has studied every superhero that’s a potential threat, and has created contingency plans on how to put them down if he ever needs to. Given enough time, resources and preparation, Batman has laid the smack down on Gods. So what happens when a villain steals all of these plans?

So this storyline has been re-imagined and adapted by writer Dwayne McDuffie. The Justice League roster will change; no doubt to be in line with DC’s The New 52 reboot atrocity; so will the villains and so will the methods of how the heroes are put down. The original story was darker and inferred a lot more pain and death, but I won’t hold it against DC. Especially in light that Nathan Fillion; Firefly, Castle, Slither; will be voicing the part of Green Lantern again!

The Amazing Spider-Man Has a New HD Game Trailer

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A new HD trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man video game has been released. The tie-in to the upcoming movie already had a trailer back in December, but this one contains new footage. Not unlike a new Malibu Stacey doll; except she has a new hat; this has caught the attention of fans and haters alike.

The game which takes place after the events of the movie seems to be based on robotic insects created by Oscorp. This is a rehash of the Spider-Slayers, robots that were commissioned to seek out and exterminate Spider-Man; as long as they didn’t actually do it in the printed pages as per the comic code authority. J. Jonah Jameson was that rich that he could have scientists whip him up that kind of technology on the fly, but he couldn’t pay for Peter Parkers photos full price. The first appearance of cheesy bipedal spider-slayers occurred in Amazing Spider-Man issue 25. The story has long since been upgraded and re-imagined to be slightly more realistic. Now more of a high tech mass produced robot workforce gone awry than steam punk accident. As ill conceived as the original idea appeared to be, the storyline of spider-slayers has been reused continuously. So far they’ve appeared as plots in games for SNES, Sega and Game Boy, Spider-Man cartoons, and alternate Marvel comic universes. Nick Fury even had spider-slayers built as contingencies in case Spider-Man ever went rogue.

It’s unclear if the new trailer is called the “Rhino” trailer as a code name, or someone had confused a mammoth screaming spider robot as the Rhino. Some video game related websites such as Gamestop have clearly labeled it as such. While some websites have gone so far as to say, “webslinging his way across New York to take on Rhino.”

This is where I descend slightly into madness.

Is the giant spider like robot in the end of the trailer called Rhino? If so, then someone in the writing department must have not read any Spider-Man comics or watched any of the cartoons. The Rhino is a Spider-Man villain who’s a muscle bound guy in a Rhino outfit; sometimes enhanced by tech, drugs or breeding. How can this be though? The narrative was crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey. The only reason I know that he’s got the writing chops is because he did episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena; no I don’t watch “Battlestar Galactica”, so no points there.

Next, why does the robot spider scream at the end? Yes, it sounds like a Godzilla era monster ready to rumble which is awesome for game play tone, but it’s still a robot spider. I know I’m suppose to suspend my belief as Spider-Man swings on a thread in his new official Spider-Man shoes, but unless the robot is using echo location; or it’s a oversized prototype of a sonic screwdriver; there’s no reason for it to scream.

So it leaves me with two realistic options. Either the trailer is coded named Rhino to throw people off the sent or inspire this exact type of chatter. Or someone plain didn’t understand what was happening and is making the game out to be Spider-Man versus the Rhino.

Also the shoes that Spider-Man wears in the movies, which are probably designed to work with his spider powers of sticking to things, seem to be really focused on. Trailers, viral treasure hunts, video games, they all want you to see the shoes. Is there a line of official Spider-Man novelty shoes coming out?

The HD trailer is almost the same as the VGA quality trailer that came out before it. It contains hower 8 seconds of new footage of Spider-Man going down a zip cord and 20 new seconds of credits. The game which is in development by game studio Beenox features free-roaming web-slinging across the city of Manhattan which looks more crisp than other Spider-Man video games I’ve seen; trailer wise that is. Too bad this qualifies as a superhero based video game, so it’s going to be compared to Batman: Arkham Asylum. No contest. Nothing beats Batman. Not even future Batman; yes, it’s cannon.

Check out the new HD trailer below; now with a new hat!

New Pinball Shuffle Game/App Release Has Surprising Origins

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When reading that title you might be thinking, “Hey….Wait a minute that doesn’t have to do with optioned things!” and thats what I thought at first. But then I found out this popular new game is actually a game based on the indie comic Stabb Gunner by Joseph Krzemienski.

The original artwork is a defining feature of Pinball Shuffle. Postage, Inc. co-designed the game play and did 100% of the artwork which is derived from Stabb Gunner, an indie comic by Joseph Krzemienski.

“This game meshes classic pinball with the creativity of modern game development,” says Postage, Inc. 3D Animator Riley Hearn. “We know that a good pinball machine is based on a great story and stellar artwork, so we made sure Pinball Shuffle had both.”

The game/app has been released by Postage, Inc., a post production, visual effects, and animation firm. Pinball Shuffle is their second iOS/ MacOS 3D game.

Most pinball games are pretty much the same. You use triggers and bumpers to try and keep the ball in play as long as possible, racking up as many points as possible. But Postage, Inc. took this concept one step further when designing their game.

According to the press release, in the Indie-Comic Based pinball game, you play as Gunner, the perfect assassin (who is apparently a smokin’ hot indie rocker between hits). She sports a bold attitude with a sling of weaponry across her back while clad in the shortest shorts and form-fitting flight jacket. An assassin neither for good or evil, Gunner is tricked into attending the pinball tournament hosted by Well Dressed Man. He hopes to use the tournament as a way to discredit and destroy any would-be heroes in Scene City. In his attempts to rid the city of crime and maintain his utopia, however, he also creates crime. While playing on a pinball table that resembles an iPod (and Gunner’s personality), Well Dressed Man sends his minions, Jefe Grande and Technosaurus Flex, on the table to distract or defeat you as Gunner.

“With ten missions and two bosses, Pinball Shuffle encourages gamers to explore every part of the table instead of just mind numbingly hitting the ball around to gain points,” says Founder of Nuclear Nova Software Jake Leveto.

What also makes this game unique is that is features dynamics that gamers would not normally experience with an average pinball table. Players are able to rack up more points when the pinball grows in size during higher levels of the game. There are three levels of difficulty including “Weak Sauce” (Easy), “Play It Cool” (Medium), and “Get Massacred” (Advanced). In the “Get Massacred” level, players have the chance to test their skills at a shooting gallery when the score gets high enough. Gamers also have the option to follow the pinball’s movements throughout the board with a fixed camera.

The game’s programming, physics, and digital distribution were thanks to Nuclear Nova Software. The game is now available at the MacOS and iOS App stores.