2009 July
Warner Bros. buys Mortal Kombat, other Midway Games assets
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Kollector's Edition
Warners Bros. Entertainment has paid $33 million for most of the assets of bankrupt video-game publisher Midway Games, including Mortal Kombat, Joust and Spy Hunter.
Midway and Warner Bros. worked together on 2008′s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which sold more than 2 million units.
The Chicago Tribune reports a federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware approved the sale on Wednesday after no other bidders emerged. Warner Bros. made its offer in late May, some two months after Midway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Warner Bros. chose not to purchase two of Midway’s development studios, in San Diego and Newcastle, England. Variety reports they will close within two months if no buyers step forward.
The trade paper notes the purchase, of course, means we should expect a sequel to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in the near future. And can a bevy of Wildstorm comic-book adaptations be far behind?
- July 3, 2009 @ 07:42 AM by Kevin Melrose
The best idea for a DC-Marvel crossover that we’ll never see
Gotham City Sirens #1 variant cover, by J.G. Jones
Pink Raygun’s Lisa Fary proposes the best idea for a DC Comics-Marvel crossover since Batman faced The Incredible Hulk, or the X-Men met the Teen Titans.
It involves two of the publishers’ all-female titles. No, not Detective Comics — the other ones: Marvel Divas and Gotham City Sirens.
“It would probably go something like this,” Fary writes. “The Divas would be at a fabulous lounge sipping lemondrop martinis, talking about relationships and cancer, and the Sirens would walk in and kill them for their table.”
It would be a relatively brief event, sure. One issue, tops. But it could help DC and Marvel ease past the obstacles that have prevented any crossovers since JLA/Avengers. Yeah, probably not. I just thought it was funny.
Fary also has an entertaining review of Marvel Divas #1 (a comic that I’ve not read yet): “Patsy Walker has written a book, there’s a party, we learn how the four superheroines became friends, then there’s man talk. And more man talk. And then? More man talk, with a special guest appearance by cancer.”
- July 3, 2009 @ 06:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Top Cow’s third pilot season to feature Kirkman/Silvestri creations
On G4′s Attack of the Show yesterday, Blair Butler announced that Top Cow’s bringing back their Pilot Season competition, where they throw five comics into the octagon and let them battle it out (via fan voting) to see which two will go on to become mini-series. The twist this time around is that all five of them will be co-created by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri, as detailed in this video:
No word on when the third Pilot Season competition starts. Last year’s winners were Twilight Guardian by writer Troy Hickman and artist Reza, and Genius by writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman and artist Afua Richardson.
- July 3, 2009 @ 03:28 AM by JK Parkin
Stunning sagas, alternate realities
Grumpy Old Fan
Marvel tends to revisit its past with a specificity that DC doesn’t duplicate. In projects like World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!, What If?, the current X-Men Forever, and (apparently) the upcoming Clone Saga miniseries, Marvel not only spins new stories out of particular points in continuity, it attempts to give particular creative teams the second chances at closure which the fates denied them. Of course, DC does quite a bit of looking back itself, but most of the time it’s not facilitating such second chances. Still, there are certain points in DC’s publishing history which seem to ask for their own “what if” moments; so I’m going to talk about a few of those today.
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Continue Reading »
- July 2, 2009 @ 03:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Angel and Spike? ‘What in the slashy heck?’
Spike and Angel, from "Dark Horse Presents"
For fans of slash fiction, it’s been a pretty good couple of weeks. First, Rictor and Shatterstar kissed on the final page of X-Factor #45, and now Angel and Spike …
What’s that? I couldn’t hear you over the collective “squeeeee!” of thousands of fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer slash. Yes, I said Angel and Spike.
Say what you will about Buffy creator Joss Whedon, but the man knows his audience. In the July edition of MySpace Dark Horse Presents, Whedon and Buffy cover artist Jo Chen — no stranger to comic-book slash herself — give a certain segment of fandom what it wants. Well, almost.
In the three-page short, titled “Always Darkest,” Buffy’s two great loves appear to give in to their deepest desires — well, slashers’ desires, at any rate.
All of the “Smooch-Smooch-Sproing” action has an oh-so-obvious explanation, of course. (There, there, slashers …) But, hey, the story also features Nathan Fillion’s Caleb character from the TV series. So, there’s some consolation.
- July 2, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Veitch shares the secret origin of the Sentry
early Sentry concept art
The Sentry has had an interesting history at Marvel … remember how the Sentry was first publicized — as a “forgotten” character created by Stan Lee back in the day? And in the comics, there’s the whole plotline about how he made everyone forget who he was to save the world from the Void, even his best friends the Hulk and Reed Richards. So the whole theme of forgotten history has been crucial to the character.
Well, here’s one more “now it can be told” piece of the character’s puzzle: Rick Veitch has started a series of blog posts that explain his role in creating the Sentry with Paul Jenkins. Check out the first part here, the second here and the third here. It’s an interesting, and fitting, reveal about the character.
- July 2, 2009 @ 12:09 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Persepolis 2.0
Persepolis 2.0
One of the more interesting comics mash-ups this week was Persepolis 2.0, a remixing of Marjane Satrapi’s groundbreaking graphic novel designed to draw awareness to Iran’s current post-election plight. Matthew Weaver of the Guardian talked to the comic’s creators, two Iranian exiles called Sina and Payman, who apparently did the work with Satrapi’s blessing:
Sina said the updated cartoon was intended to show how history was repeating itself in Iran.
“The reaction to Persepolis 2.0 has been great,” he wrote in an email. “We’ve had visitors from 120 countries thus far, and a large volume of emails from people asking how they can help support Iranians.
“This has really infused us with energy, and we’re now working on additional ways to help get the word out.”
- July 2, 2009 @ 11:39 AM by Chris Mautner
The panty-shot decree heard ’round the world
From Supergirl #36
Who’d have guessed in a week that saw the debut of Captain America: Reborn and Marvel Divas so much attention would be paid to Supergirl’s shorts?
Specifically, that she now has shorts. Longish red bike shorts, under her mini-skirt.
The addition even caught the eye of National Public Radio‘s Glen Weldon, who salutes Supergirl editor Matt Idelson for his no-more-panty-shots decree.
“It’s not a big deal, but it’s a pretty big deal,” Weldon writes, “and here’s why: 1. The decision suggests that superhero comics may at long last stand ready to evolve beyond the adolescent objectification of the female form in which they have so gleefully wallowed for long decades; and 2. Supergirl flies, duh. She hovers over people’s heads. In a skirt.”
Blogger Kirk Warren delves a little deeper into the problems with the Maid of Might’s costume, from the belly shirt to the ultra-mini-skirt to what he colorfully describes as “Blue Diaper Syndrome.” (I totally swiped the above image from Warren.)
Although online reaction to the bike shorts has been overwhelmingly positive, there are certainly a few fans who are disappointed by the decline in upskirt shots. Luckily, Topless Robot’s Rob Bricken already has them covered. So to speak.
“It’s not like Power Girl is putting on a sweater or anything; there’s plenty of superheroines left to ogle,” he writes. “And there’s always actual pornography, too.”
- July 2, 2009 @ 10:39 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Dreamstar
Hernandez's 'Dreamstar'
Gilbert Hernandez has a new superhero comic up over at the recently moved-from-MySpace Dark Horse Presents. What more do you need to know?
- July 2, 2009 @ 10:39 AM by Chris Mautner
SDCC ’09 | DC Comics releases full panel schedule
DC Comics has released their full panel schedule, with descriptions, for the San Diego Comic Con. The schedule includes a lot of DC Universe-oriented panels, dedicated to stuff like Blackest Night, Justice Society, Superman and Batman, as well as their new Wednesday Comics project. Vertigo and Wildstorm panels are also listed.
Check out the complete list after the jump.
- July 2, 2009 @ 09:38 AM by JK Parkin
Justice League to meet The 99 in upcoming mini-series
The 99
DC’s The Source blog announced today that the Justice League will meet Teshkeel Comics’ The 99 in an upcoming mini-series. Fabian Nicieza, who is no stranger to either set of heroes, will write the book (CBR spoke with Nicieza about the project back in 2007). The release date and artist will be announced at a later date.
THE 99 team, which debuted in June 2006, was recently identified by Forbes Magazine as one of the “Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe.” Not too shabby, huh? In THE 99 — created by Naif Al-Mutawa — are a team of superheroes, including Jabbar the Powerful and Noora the Light who must collect 99 gems encrypted with the wisdom and power of the ancient Dar Al-Hikma library of Baghdad, which are spread across the globe.
They even have their own theme park, and a cartoon is in development.
- July 2, 2009 @ 08:18 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
NASCAR Heroes #5
Awards | The debate over the 2009 Harvey Awards nominations marches on, with spirited discussion at The Beat (now drifting toward Best Single Issue or Story nominee NASCAR Heroes #5), and an open letter from Joe Keatinge pointing to industry apathy, not ballot-stuffing, as the problem with the process.
Tom Spurgeon, meanwhile, argues it’s time to let the Harveys fade away: “At this point, the Harveys neither provide a strong contrast with the Eisners nor do they do anything uniquely their own the way that the Ignatzes (a small press festival award), the Maisie Kukoc (a cash award for a mini-comics maker), even the Reubens (cartooning in all its aspects, newspaper-focused) do. You could probably save the Harvey Awards with an administrative overhaul and a lot of attention and time and maybe even money, but why? What are you saving exactly?” [The Harvey Awards]
Sales charts | The 27th volume of Tite Kubo’s Bleach in June ended Watchmen‘s 11-month reign atop the Nielsen BookScan graphic novels chart, which tracks bookstore sales. The Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons collection slipped to No. 2, joining the Final Crisis hardcover (No. 6) and the fourth volume of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (No. 18) as the only non-manga in the Top 20. [ICv2.com]
- July 2, 2009 @ 07:51 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: What looks good for September
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Time again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for interesting new adventure comics.
Antarctic
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: There are some stories that I’m just going to have to check out every time they’re adapted. Ichabod and the Headless Horseman is one of them. I can’t get enough of that galloping, Colonial-era, pumpkin-headed noggin-chopper.
Archaia
The Grave Doug Freshley: I swear I didn’t notice the pun when I went through the catalog the first time. I’m observant that way. Honestly, that cools my interest a little. Even though the solicitation compares the book to Sergio Aragones and Looney Tunes, I’m hoping that there’s as much soul as schtick to this story about a gunfighter who comes back from the dead to protect a boy in order to fulfill a promise. I tend to trust Archaia’s taste though, so it’s hope with a foundation. That title though…
Okko: The Cycle of Earth: Now this I have no reservations about. I read the first volume as single issues and decided that I needed the rest on my bookshelf instead of my comic boxes. Absolutely gorgeous and mysterious Japanese-inspired fantasy.
- July 1, 2009 @ 04:30 PM by Michael May
Bendis confirms Powers relaunch, teases Spider-Woman art
Art from "Powers," Vol. 3
Writer Brian Michael Bendis confirmed this afternoon on Twitter that Powers will relaunch in November as a monthly series from Marvel’s Icon imprint.
The writer also pointed to the first preview art from Spider-Woman, his highly anticipated collaboration with former Daredevil artist Alex Maleev. The series premieres in September.
Powers co-creator Michael Avon Oeming has provided some previews of his own, posting new art on Bendis’ message board and via the new Powers Twitter account.
This is the second relaunch for the superhero police procedural, which in 2004 moved to Icon after four years at Image Comics. The second volume concluded in September 2008 after 30 issues.
- July 1, 2009 @ 03:38 PM by Kevin Melrose
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Welcome to Send Us Your Shelf Porn and again, no we are not changing the name. We like it. So there.
Anyway, a few weeks ago we featured the growing collection of a devout Batman fan. This week we’re looking at the other end of the DC stable, by way of confessed “Superman fanatic” Paolo Valente.
Just how serious is Paolo’s Kal-El jones? Click on the link to find out …
- July 1, 2009 @ 03:00 PM by Chris Mautner