Yearly Archives: 2013
Cool Unused Iron Man Scene
Back when they were making The Avengers, there were apparently some other plans that didn’t make it to the screen. For example, here’s a neat animatic for an alternate Iron Man intro.
This would have been a cool scene in the movie, but what they went with was good too. You can check out a few more of these animatics here, including one with a brief glimpse of the Wasp, because she was in early scripts.
I’m Only Human, and These Are Only Animals on Trampolines
Tramampoline. Trombopaline. Whatever it’s called, this is a video I found online of animals enjoying them. I’m not made of stone, people!
And hopefully neither are you. Whoever complied this into a singular video has won the Internet for this week. My hat is off to you, kind sirs and madames. You know exactly what the world needs.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/24/13
For the first time in a very long time, DC Comics owns the week! The New 52 comics have been in a downward spiral for me for a long time. But this week, they score a one-two punch of success. For awhile now, I’ve been worried that comics just don’t reach me anymore, that everything is just generic superhero filler, that nobody is trying anymore. But between Batman and Nightwing #23 and Wonder Woman #23, DC shows me twice in one week that somebody still cares. Characters still matter.
There are a lot of good comics this week. Superior Spider-Man puts Phil Urich front and center, so you know I’m happy about that. Avengers and Justice League Dark continue their respective crossovers, though neither one is particularly special. And by popular request, I decided to pick up the latest issue of Thunderbolts to give that another try. Not too shabby. But the week belongs to DC. Wonder Woman easily snatches up another Comic Book of the Week.
Did we know she could go Super Saiyan?
Though Batman and Nightwing (or as it should have been called, Batman and Alfred), isn’t far behind.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #18, Batman and Nightwing #23, Batwoman #23, Justice League Dark #23, Superior Spider-Man #16, Superman Unchained #3, Thunderbolts #14, and Wonder Woman #23.
No Joke: Justice League Moving to Canada
Please forgive the fact that I’m a nerd on the Internet ranting about comic books, but I have no idea what the heck DC Comics is doing anymore. According to the Toronto Star, DC is changing the Justice League of America into the Justice League of Canada next year. There is no logic in this place. This sounds like an unclever April Fool’s Day joke.
What the heck is going on at DC? Have they lost all sense of purpose? Have they all gone mad?
First of all, I’m not picking on Canada. By all means, Canada should have superheroes too, and I have long been a fan of Marvel’s Alpha Flight team. They’re awesome. It makes perfect sense for Canada to have superheroes. And second of all, I’m not incensed because of patriotic reasons that an American superhero team is fleeing to Canada either. That’s not my gripe.
I’m dumbfounded at how DC thinks this could ever possibly sell, and how it once again completely tarnishes the bigger picture of the DC Universe.
Alpha Flight never sells at Marvel. They try again and again to put out an ongoing Alpha Flight comic, but it doesn’t sell. So Canada is not a big drawing point for comic book readers. Beyond that, DC published a Justice League International series at the start of the New 52, and they cancelled that pretty quickly. So clearly the name ‘Justice League’ is not a big selling point either.
But my real complaint, the biggest reason why I think this is insane, is that it’s yet another piece of evidence that proves the head honchos at DC have no idea what they’re doing with the New 52, and they’re just going to throw anything they can at the wall to see if it sticks. That is no way to run a comic book company or to build a new universe of continuity.
When the New 52 launched, DC set up a new Justice League series starring all the big names, like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and more. And that series is fine. They need that flagship team. I’m fairly certain the comic is selling well.
Then last year, DC launched Justice League of America as a sister title. The idea behind Justice League of America was that forces inside the US government wanted their own team of superheroes in case the Justice League ever decided to turn evil. That’s a good enough reason as any, and provides the JLA a reason to exist alongside the traditional JL. But here is where everything starts to fall apart: Justice League of America hasn’t even reached 10 issues yet! They’re only at issue 6 or 7, and most of those issues have all been part of the build up to the big Trinity War crossover that’s taking place in the Justice League titles now.
So DC took the very popular, very well-known brand name ‘Justice League of America’ and used it as a throwaway stepping stone to get to their Trinity War event.
And now, next year, they’re apparently just going to drop ‘Justice League of America’ and turn it into Justice League of Canada. How!? Why? What purpose could that serve? Why would this team of superheroes move to Canada and put that in their name? I realize they probably won’t trust the American government anymore, but why Canada? Why not just disband? Why not join the regular Justice League, which doesn’t identify itself to one specific country? What could the possible context be for this story?
And why drag that popular brand name through the mud? (I’m not calling Canada ‘mud’). From now on, for however many years or decades the New 52 universe lasts, DC will always have to face the fact that the first version of the Justice League of America was some throwaway team that didn’t matter and was only a means to an end. That is now solidified as part of the history of the New 52 universe.
There doesn’t seem to be anybody at DC Comics putting any long term thought into the growth of their rebooted universe. And that is very depressing to me. They’re just coming up with whatever works for that specific moment in time, and a year later, they’ll come up with something else that they think/hope will work, regardless of what happened before or what might happen in the future.
I fear that in five years, everything is going to be a hideous mess of overstuffed continuity and conflicting stories.
Though now I definitely want to read about the Justice League of Australia…
I’m Down With Ben Affleck as the New Caped Crusader
If you haven’t heard the news yet, Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. For some reason, he’s a controversial choice. Did people really hate Reindeer Games that much?
Yes, yes they did
Personally, I’m happy with Ben Affleck as Batman. I like the guy. And I liked Daredevil, so there. Especially the Director’s Cut. Have you seen the Director’s Cut? You’ve got to see it!
Anyway, I don’t see what the big deal is. Affleck is a fine actor and an even better director. I will admit to having a hard time seeing him in the cowl or playing Bruce Wayne, but that’s apparently what people said about Michael Keaton back in the 80s. I can also remember not being sold on Chris Evans as Captain America. But these Hollywood folks know exactly what they’re doing. They wouldn’t give the role of Batman to just anybody. Someone saw in Affleck a reason to make him Batman. And even though I hated Man of Steel, I still love Zack Snyder’s other movies. The man knows what he’s doing.
So consider me on board with Affleck as Batman, or at the very list willing to give everyone involved the benefit of the doubt until we see a trailer or the actual film.
Plus, I’m exactly the kind of idiot who will make loads of Matt Damon as Robin jokes, so this is win/win for me. Or maybe Matt Damon as Alfred…
Henchman-4-Hire 