Clubbing (Minx - Watson / Howard) - This is a one-shot 176 page story from Minx Comics. Minx is a branch of DC comics with stories written for and targeting the teen girl. Clubbing is the story of soon to-be-an-adult self-proclaimed shopaholic London goth lassie who is sent to the country to live with her grandparents for the Summer for getting caught with a fake id. If that were the only premise, the growth of a young adult moving from selfishness to responsibility while dealing with the interesting, and humorous, details of a teen version of “Country Mouse, City Mouse” it would still be worth the $9.99 cover price. Andi Watson does a marvelous job of making Charlotte and her surrounding cast stereotypically identifiable while still being believable. On top of that you add the fantastic trademark art of Josh Howard, a twist of cultist horror reminiscent of a “Call of Cthulhu” adventure and our Charlotte having a touch of hardcore Nancy Drew in her and this book is easily a thumbs up pick. Perfect for any teen reader, or reader of any age, who is looking for a short story filled with adventure… even a great one for that particular someone who claims they don’t like to read. The only real parental issues here are some provocative goth clothing, a few kissing scenes and a one pretty “in your face” conversation between city and country goths discussing who the real posers are.

Grade: A-

Given this was written for teen girls, I thought it would be appropriate to toss in the opinion of a 12 year old “almost teen” girl… Joy95
I liked the storyline, with the twist at the end. I enjoyed the book, while I couldn’t really connect with Charlotte (not being a British fashion-obsessed goth), I was rooting for her the whole time. Some of the skimpy outfits were maybe a bit distracting from the story. I was a little disappointed, hoping Charlotte would have grown more by the end of the book. She didn’t really seem to learn much from her experience.
I did enjoy the art, the lines were clean and it helped when reading the story. I would recommend this to my friends.
Joy95’s grade: B+

This review brought to you by Kowabunga Comics. Show them some love.

I love Youtube! Here is the Iron Man footage that was shown at Comic Con

Here is the Iron Man video game trailer

And here is the first look at the Hulk concept art. Ed Norton will be doing some motion capture for the Hulk and the plot is said to be akin to the TV show. We’re going to see Bruce Banner traveling from town to town trying to find a cure for his “condition”

Small Wonders!

Here’s the Lowdown…

• Jason, Donna, “Bob” the Monitor and the New Atom are hot on the trail of Ray Palmer - they find a tribe of barbarian warriors that seem to have a love/hate relationship with Mr. Palmer
• The bug-riding barbarians see to put the Rayquest members off on the next leg of their journey to “The realm beyond this one where all things are possible”
• Mister Action (aka Jimmy Olsen) makes his crime fighting debut, saving a newsstand from thugs
• Marvel Mary visit Zatanna on a cruise ship where Zatanna is performing
• Mary shows her dark side while being tempted to kill a heckler
• Holly Robinson continues to dig around the Athenian Women’s shelter after the shelter turns down help to dark-haired single mom
• A spy from New Genesis has infiltrated Darksied’s palace
• Piper and Trickster get sanctuary from the Penguin
• Oracle has a secret camera in place, and passes on the whereabouts of Piper and Trickster to… the New Question (Renee seemingly)
• In the History of the Multiverse we learn more about the 52… some of the 51 other worlds are from Elseworld stories (Red Son, Gotham by Gaslight, Red Rain) and we also see different versions of Superman (Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth- 3, Tangent, Kingdom Come, Nazi-Supers)

This week, as seems the theme with Countdown, the issue while very intriguing when by way too fast.  The Garcia / McKenna team for the Countdown art continues to do a great job, regardless of how many story tidbit fractures we get.

Issue Grade: B

Series Grade: B-

Here we go with Comic-Con day 2 updates from G4.

** Back in the mid 90’s, when Marvel and D.C. Comics were more sterile than a hazmat suite after decontamination, one comic book publisher dared to be bold, brutal, and above all, bloody.

Image Comics violated taboos and pushed the industry forward by making funny books more serious and transforming what was considered a medium for children into something very adult. The entire industry owes a debt to creators like Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen and titles like Spawn, The Savage Dragon and Youngblood, to name a few.

** Super-producer Joel Silver talks with our very own Zach Selwyn about his two upcoming films:
- The Invasion - Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig headline this reimagining of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
- Whiteout - A antarctic murder mystery starring Kate Beckinsale directed by Dominic Sena (Swordfish, Gone in 60 Seconds).

** Check out this video for a look at the elusive Michael, spotted here at Comic-Con 2007. The Michael has not been seen in the wild for over a year, but they expect to make a comeback in early 2008.

** Rich Moore, one of the animators on Futurama, talks with Kevin and Olivia about the future of the show. The first movie will release in November, which is perfect for the holidays. He specifically thanks the internet for bringing the show back

** See what Clive and Michael had to say about their new movie Shoot’em Up

** Steve Carell is hilarious and he will soon be stepping into the shoe-phones of Maxwell Smart, but how does he want the movie play out? You can also sort of see The Rock there too.

** Game-makers Electronic Arts announced a new fighting game at Comic-Con yesterday. The PS3 and 360 game will feature super heroes from the Marvel Universe.

“We looked at past comic-based games to find out what was missing and what was needed to successfully translate the intensity, excitement and fiction from comics into fighting games,” said Kudo Tsunoda, General Manager and Vice President, EA Chicago. “We’re challenging ourselves to make a game that delivers on the Super Hero promises of past top-tier fighting games.”
“Featuring a great all-star line-up of Marvel Super Heroes and Super Villains with incredible powers that are authentic to the fiction, huge environments and a living world that keeps the gameplay fresh, every battle will be unique; every battle will be like a first edition,” added Tsunoda.

** Along with all the comic and movie news coming out at Comic-Con, some people might have missed the independent comics and fan-made movies based on comics that had some smaller showings this year. See why DIY will never die as Blair finds out why these artists deserve our attention just as much as the larger publications.

Buffy: SeasonEight #5 - (Dark Horse - Whedon / Lee) - Whedon wrote this stand-alone fifth issue, titled “The Chain,” and it feels much of a piece with Whedon’s old “Tales of the Slayers” series. Buffy’s not in issue five. Nor is Xander, Dawn, Willow, Jonathan, Warren, Amy, Ethan, Faith, Kennedy, Anya, Cordelia, Angel or Spike. I spotted no angry Army men and no anti-slayer tattoos.

Giles puts in a cameo. I think. (It might be Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek; guest penciller Paul Lee is no Georges Jeanty.) We don’t learn this month where Giles has been keeping himself.

Andrew turns up on one page. Slayer One on another. Nikki Wood turns up on Slayer One’s page, wearing her black duster.

Issue five focuses on a heretofore unseen slayer, a girl fleetingly referenced in issue one. She’s a Buffy decoy, but not the one who fooled Spike and Angel in Rome; it’s the decoy operating “literally” underground, where she’s been charged with putting the fear of Buffy into some hellmouthy types.

We follow pretend-Buffy from the day she got her superpowers. We learn a bit about how the neo-slayers are recruited into Team Buffy these days. We follow her through recruitment and training, and how she came to be chosen, as it were, for her Big Assignment. One comes to like the pretend-Buffy.

Faux Buffy also gets her own all-new non-human supporting cast. Not a vampire, witch or werewolf among them.

Not the best in the series, but I say pick it up. This is the last issue Whedon will write for a while. Brian K. Vaughn (“Y: The Last Man”) takes over next month with a four-issue arc focusing on Faith the Vampire Slayer. (There’s a cool preview of the Dushku-y issue-six cover on issue five’s letter page.)

Issue Grade: B+
Series Grade: A

Is Buffy the Vampire Slayer transforming the comics industry? Publisher’s Weekly has an interesting story here about how “Buffy” mastermind Joss Whedon’s new “Season Eight” series is turning first-time comic-book customers into buyers of non-Buffy comics.

This review brought to you by Kowabunga Comics. Show them some love.

Black Summer #1 (Avatar - Ellis / Ryp) - The following is an excerpt from an interview Warren Ellis gave Comic Book Resourses back in March giving the background story and feel of Black Summer

“First there were the Seven Guns: a group of young politically-aware scientist-adventurers who modified their own bodies for street-fighting in order to take back their West Coast city from a corrupt police force, criminal local government and rapacious private security forces,” Ellis told CBR News of the story behind “Black Summer.” “One died. One was crippled. The others drifted apart. And today, John Horus, the most committed of the original team, is walking into the White House. He’s worked with the President on social justice issues. He is the Good Guy. But he’s been thinking about his role in the country for a long time. And he’s not here to say hello. He’s been asking himself the question that informs the book: where do you draw the line? If you’re totally committed to the idea of covering your face and taking on a fake name and standing outside the law in order to fight for justice – where do you stop? Crime pervades society. We’re all aware of corporations that behave in a criminal manner. Is that as far as you go? If, in fact, your perspective is such that you believe your President to have prosecuted an illegal war and thereby caused the deaths of thousands of people – isn’t that a crime? Do you let that pass?”

There’s a diverse cast to be found in “Black Summer,” a fact that shouldn’t surprise readers of Ellis’ nuanced work on “The Authority” and “Planetary,” but the scribe isn’t going to give away too much away quite yet. “I’ve covered John Horus a little. There’s the guy who used to be Tom Noir; now missing most of a leg from the car bomb explosion that killed his lover and fellow Gun, Laura Torch, a few years back. He hasn’t left his apartment in a year and is steadily drinking himself to death. Which means he slept through most of the first day’s events, and woke up as a wanted man. John Horus acted alone, you see, without consulting his old friends: but the government and the people don’t know that. So he wakes up to find that the remaining Guns are now considered the greatest threat to life and liberty in the United States. And, as an alcoholic cripple, he’s absolutely the weakest link.

“Because, to make it clear: John Horus, a man with the personal destructive capability of a fleet of Apache helicopters, walked into the Oval Office and killed the President.”

Though Ellis is no stranger to superheroes, the impetus for making “Black Summer” came from a surprising place – a bet between Ellis and Avatar head honcho William Christensen. “William and I have an easy, longtime friendship and we do this a lot,” revealed Ellis. “And he bet me I couldn’t come up with a high-concept superhero ‘event’ book that naturally featured all new characters and ideas, but also hit some of the notes of a standard Big Two event program. Huge technical challenge, and I like those, because they keep me sharp. It took me more than a year, mind you… Until I hit on the two ideas. What if a superhero killed the President? And the underpinning: where do you draw the line?”

With Marvel’s “Civil War” and even DC Comics’ “Identity Crisis,” it seems that the oft-romanced vigilantism of superheroes is being called into question. “Well, it’s hardly new,” said Ellis.”All these things are cyclical. And I’m not sure you can characterize DC’s current output like that, they seem really focused on classic broad-sweep super heroics right now. It comes down, I think, to what I said before: what are the questions left to ask? And a lot of the questions left to ask are sociopolitical. It’s an aspect of these decadent days we find ourselves in. Pigs with two heads are abroad in the land. The British military is trying to loft a communications satellite grid called Skynet. These are the End Times.”

My over all take on Black Summer was that I got exactly what I expected from a Warren Ellis book. It has big story, complex characters, swearing, violence, more complex story, and more violence. Ryp’s art is a good paring with the Ellis story with his high detail art and kinetic style. This is a book that you’ll have to read more than once to take it all in.

Grade: A

This review brought to you by Kowabunga Comics. Show them some love.

Here are the updates from Comic-Con 2007 Day 1

** At the Paramount Comic-Con press conference, J.J. Abrams dropped some details on his as-yet-untitled horror/monster flick slated for a 1/18/2007 release. In spite of internet buzz, the movie will not be called “Monstorous.” Abrams said the goal is to produce an American monster movie on-par with Japanese big-rubber-suit classics like Godzilla. Abrams said shooting is all but complete, a new trailer, a poster and more footage are on the way.

** At the just-completed press conference for Indiana Jones IV at this year’s Comic-Con, there were a few surprises. Beamed “from the set” were Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford (in the Indiana Jones costume), Shia LaBoeuf (in a beard), and, for the first time, Ms. Marion Ravenwood herself, Karen Allen. From all accounts, Karen looked surprisingly young and hot as ever. Spielberg promised that the film, which will be released in May, 2008, will be “just for the fans.” For his part, Dr. Jones himself said that it was great to be back in the “dirty, sweaty clothes” of his most popular character. More news as it comes.

** Star Trek XI producers J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof along with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzmann announced some big news for the film. First, Zachary Quinto, who is most famous for being a student of Carnegie Mellon University and a Pittsburgh native (or Sylar on Heroes, whatever), will be playing Sr. Spock in the film. Quinto appeared on stage and told fans that he would play the character in his own way, but stay respectful to Nimoy’s performance. Then, Leonard Nimoy himself came out to announce that he would also be playing Spock in the new film. Bwah?! Two Spocks! Kirk is still up in the air and the producers are still trying to figure out some way to work Bill Shatner into the film.

** Paramount revealed the one-sheet post for upcoming serial murder/cannibalism movie Sweeney Todd. According to Dark Horizons, the black and white, Con-only poster of Johnny Depp as Todd features “Depp in costume sitting in a large arm chair in a rundown house looking sinister. The one bit of color on the poster is the armchair which is a bright blood red.”Sounds creepy, eh? We’ll post it when we get it.
GOT IT
The movie comes out on December 21st, 2008.

** LOST video game trailer is released. See it HERE

**CBS has announced that they will be releasing the original Star Trek series on HD-DVD with a ton of extras, and calling it Star Trek - The Final Frontier. Though there is yet to be a release date for the Season One package, they have announced a ton of extras for the set. Eyewitness reports from Comic-Con say that the footage is absolutely clean, clear and beautiful. Trekkers will likely soil their Federation jumpsuits over this information.

** DC is hard at work on a graphic novel based on the hit television show Heroes, they announced at Comic-Con today. The novel will be written by famous comic writer Tim Sale, he of the Batman: The Long Halloween classic tome. Sale’s art is also featured on the show in Isaac’s paintings, so the look will be consistent with the visuals on the show. The novel will be released in the fall of this year, to coincide with Season 2 of Heroes, and will be published by DC’s WildStorm label. Look for it in about September.

** Adult film queen Jenna Jameson is going somewhere no one has ever gone before…the world of comics. She won’t be playing herself, however. Nope. She’s going to be a seriously bad ass warrior woman in Shadow Hunter, the comic she’s producing with Virgin Comics. There’s not going to be any sort of sex in the comic, whatsoever. As a matter of fact, according to the press release, Shadow Hunter is “the story of a provocative superheroine who survives a brush with death only to find herself fighting the legions of hell for her very soul.” The press release adds that “while provocative and sexy, [the comic] contains no nudity and is intended for a mainstream audience.” Hmm…mainstream Jenna Jameson. Interesting.

** The producers of Lost gave us an early tidbit when they announced yesterday that Harold Perrineau (Michael) will be returning to the cast for the upcoming Season 4 of the series. For those who might have been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, Michael was last seen taking his son, Walt, in a boat and escaping the island. Since then, all hell has broken loose. It will be interesting to see what Michael’s return will do for the show. Is he marooned on the island with the survivors? Is he part of the future, as was established at the end of the Season 3 finale? Only time will tell. Sadly, or maddeningly, as the case may be, Lost will not return until early 2008.

** Ubisoft made the Heroes videogame official today, announcing the development of a game based on the popular NBC television series. The game will, apparently, be a third-person superhero action game that brings the series characters, locations and story lines to next-generation game consoles and the PC. The untitled game could be in stores as soon as late 2008. According to The Hollywood Reporter: “Instead of highlighting a specific character’s heroic journey, the game will focus on the entire ensemble cast. The game also is expected to play a crucial role in how the show’s writers explore cross-platform storytelling for future seasons.” Reportedly, Ubisoft will most likely hire its own writer for the game script and develop the game at one of its internal studios; the TV series writers will supervise and consult on game design and story.

** Blade Runner is arguably the greatest, and most influential sci-fi movie of our time. The brooding, fatalistic vision of the future laid out by Philip K. Dick presented through the dark yet realistic vision of Ridley Scott became a motion picture event that changed everything we knew about cinematic portrayal of near-future science fiction. In case you haven’t figured it out by now, The Pull Box is a fan. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of it’s release, Blade Runner will recieve the royal treatment. On December 18th the film will be released in 2, 4, and 5 disc DVD sets, as well as HD-DVD and Bluray versions of the 5 disc set, containing a brand new three-and-a-half-hour documentary called Dangerous Days, 45 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes recovered from deep storage, featurettes about script development, conceptual design, trailers, tv spots, and a piece about how the film led to the development of the cyberpunk scene. Scott stated that he has been working on this version of the film since 2000, and after almost 7 years of research and restoration, this is the definitive director’s cut of Blade Runner. Period.

** Eddie Izzard is going to replace Jeremy Piven as the voice of Schadenfreude in the upcoming Igor, about a competition for evil scientists. The animated film will also star John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jennifer Coolidge, Arsenio Hall, Jay Leno, Molly Shannon, and Sean Hayes. The addition of Izzard makes this one of the coolest and most eclectic animated casts of all time. We can’t help but wonder if this recasting has anything to do with the just-materialized feud between fomer best friends Piven and Cusack, who is apparently none to supportive of Piven’s success on HBO’s Entourage. We’re thinking that it might be, and hoping for a fistfight.

** Looks like the Watchmen have been cast. Warner Brothers announced that Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode have been cast in the upcoming adaptation of Alan Moore’s series of graphic novels. Crudup will play Dr. Manhattan, Wilson is Night Owl, and Goode will be Ozymandias. Snyder is planning on using the green screen technique he used to make 300, which will cut costs and give the film a ton of style

I know this took up lots of room on the front page so be sure to check thre previous pages for the newest comic reviews.

Check out who was live ,via stailite, at Comic Con

Yeah, major geekgasm !

The Order #1 (Marvel - Fraction / Kitson / Morales / White)- As we have been seeing recently, Marvel has been trying new talent and new ideas… some of them are just a dig into your wallet (as Jotham reviewed in some of the supposed World War Hulk crossovers), but some of the new Marvel stuff are really gems… the Initiative, The New Warriors, Omega Flight and a lot of hope for the new Thor book. The Order I would put in this second category. The Order is a completely fresh look at the superhero team… all the positives and negatives that come with a government-run, corporately-backed, market-minded 21st century superteam. A great book to jump in on… new characters, mostly new talent… The Order is definitely a sign that Marvel is picking up their game

Issue Grade: A

Amazons Attack #4 (DC - Pfeifer / Woods)- Finally this book is getting somewhere! We are seeing action / drama and even a tad of comedy from this well written story by Will Pfeifer. Amazons Attack boils down to a political thriller with a whole bunch of kick butt action… tied closely with Countdown I can finally tell you that AA is a must read for those who are trying to make heads or tails out of what is happening in the DC Universe. I am not a Wonder Woman historian so I am unsure whether the now revealed villains behind the attack fit within the WW continuity or not. Given some of the impact the story is having on the President of the US and some obviously missing or just minor parts from DC major players, this still seemly slightly Elseworld or at least taking place on one of the other 51 worlds. Even without a huge WW background, still an enjoyable book

Issue Grade: B+

Series Grade B- (and rising)

Battlestar Galactica #12 (Dynamite - Pak / Raynor)- This issue concludes this storyline (or season if it wasn’t a comicbook). Greg Pak finished strong with his Returners storyline. I have to be honest, as we moved through these twelve issues I definitely had my worries and doubt about where Greg was going with this and how he would resolve it and keep it in canon with the Sci-fi show. Mr. Pak came through with high marks. And Jonathan Lau has consitantly been on target with his art, so often when you have a comic based on some other property, you spend some time going… “is that supposed to be that character?”, not true with Mr. Lau’s work… Rock solid! Given our wait until 2008, any fan of the show will enjoy this series, if you haven’t already picked it up, make sure to get the trades or to dig through the back issue bins. Dynamite is also coming out with a BG: Season Zero to give us some pre-season one background.

Issue grade: A+

Series Grade: A

This review brought to you by Kowabunga Comics. Show them some love.

The San Diego Comic-Con is my geek Mecca. I hope to make it there once in my life. With my comic reviews and journalism for HeroesTV.com, that’s looking more likely. Especially since NBC is announcing BIG Heroes news and I have friends who could have gotten me exclusive stuff, but I couldn’t foot the travel bill. Anyway, lots of other places are doing a great job covering Comic Con. The guy I like the most is Quint from Aint It Cool News. Check out his coverage HERE!!