Category Archives: Comics
Oh, So That’s the Ant-Man Who is Going to Join the Defenders…
Turns out that Ant-Man is going to join the Defenders after all! And based on solicitations for September’s comics, it’s going to be the newly resurrected Scott Lang Ant-Man! And he’s going to be wearing one of my favorite Ant-Man costumes ever!
That’s him in the Ant-Man costume
This isn’t really important comic book news or anything, just something that’s important to me. Writer Matt Fraction recently relaunched The Defenders, and I picked up the first few issues because I saw an ad for the series that included an appearance by Ant-Man. But since he was so tiny in the ad, there was no way of knowing which Ant-Man. There have been three of them.
I assumed it would be the current Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady. I thought he was going to transfer from the Secret Avengers to The Defenders. And O’Grady is a character for whom I’ll buy any book that he’s appearing – which includes Secret Avengers, but did not include his run on the Thunderbolts. But whatever.
Then after several issues without Ant-Man, I stopped buying The Defenders.
Only now we can see that Ant-Man will be joining the team! And it will be the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang. He recently came back to life in a different comic, and it’s good to know that Marvel will be doing something cool with him. Scott is probably my favorite of the three Ant-Men. So I’ll definitely be picking up The Defenders again.
I just thought you’d like to know.
Review: Scarlet Spider #6
Unfortunately, a discombobulated story and an odd sketchiness to the art finally bring a halt to the so-far fantastic Scarlet Spider series. Not that they make for a bad issue, mind you. But the stellar quality has definitely taken a dip. The villain comes out of nowhere, the supporting characters are a little off and the ending is rather abrupt.
Scarlet Spider #6
Plus this comic has nearly as many epilogues as Return of the King.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
Sadly, this is also artist Ryan Stegman’s last issue of Scarlet Spider! The guy has been fantastic, infusing a lot of energy and style into the book. Sometimes it looked a little cartoonish for the grittier tales that writer Christopher Yost was trying to tell, but the art was clean, detailed and very cool. Stegman had a flair for highly energetic and dynamic action sequences. His fight scenes were awesome.
But for some reason, the art in this issue is a little grainy. The fight is still cool, but there’s just something off about the art…not sure if it’s intentional or not. The same thing could be said for the writing – it’s a little grainy. I’d say this issue feels a little rushed all around. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely a bump in the road.
Batman Finally Comes to Smallville
But only in comic book form.
Tiny picture
The popular TV show Smallville was about the early years of Clark Kent, and how he eventually embraces his super-powers and becomes Superman. It started as a high school drama, but after running for 10 seasons, he eventually grew up, became a reporter for the Daily Planet and married Lois Lane. They told pretty much his entire life story!
I was a fan for a lot of years, and periodically checked back in to watch some of the good episodes. Before too long, DC started guest-starring a ton of other superheroes in the show. The Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Zatanna, Hawkman, the Wonder Twins and many more all made cameo and guest appearances.
But in all 10 years of Smallville, never once did Batman appear. (Or Wonder Woman, for that matter).
I’m pretty sure it was a legal issue. The rights to Batman, either on TV or in movies, were tied up in another creative arm of Warner Bros., and they just couldn’t bring him into the show. It was a travesty of epic proportions. Not to mention stupid. What moron was holding the red tape to keep Batman and Wonder Woman from appearing on Smallville? I hope he sleeps poorly at night.
Anyway, after Smallville went off the air, DC decided to continue the story in comic book form, considering Superman is a comic book hero and all. I don’t read it, but I guess it’s doing alright. And now that Smallville is no longer on TV, there is no longer any red tape to keep Batman from finally appearing in Smallville continuity! I think that’s a pretty awesome idea! The story is going to be written by writer Brian Q. Miller, and it’s going to be called ‘Detective”. It’s about Batman and his sidekick tracking a suspect in the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, and they bump into Superman. So that’s pretty neat.
All of you Smallville fans waiting for your chance to see Batman, here it is!
Batman’s sidekick in Smallville continuity isn’t going to be Robin though. Miller is picking and choosing from the Robin mythos to make a new Nightwing, alias Stephanie Brown. She’s a little too complicated to explain, but let’s just say she was once Robin in the normal Batman comics. And Miller once wrote her comic book series. So now he’s decided to bring her back because he likes the character. Miller told TVGuide:
“Bruce can be somewhat of an angry man. Stephanie’s personality is so can-do and unsinkable and bright, so it’s very much on purpose on Bruce’s part that he has a good cop going out on patrol with him every night.”
So basically I just think this is all pretty cool. I’d actually like to see the Smallville version of Batman. Here’s a better look at the comic book cover, albeit in black and white:
Big picture, but black and white. I don’t know why the Internet won’t give me a big, color picture
Long Lost Concept Art from Wolverine and the X-Men Season 2
Wolverine and the X-Men was a cartoon cancelled before it’s time. It was a straight forward, geektastic take on the X-Men, reveling in its comic book roots while sticking Wolverine front and center. It was the kind of cartoon that featured cameos by obscure characters like Blink, Fishboy and Marrow, while still telling a great X-Men story with the likes of Wolverine, Cyclops and Magneto. It ran for only one season on Nickelodeon in 2009 before getting the ax – likely due to the fact that Disney was buying Marvel Comics.
Deadpool, the Merc with the Mouth
What makes the cancellation even worse is that season 1 ended on a great Age of Apocalypse cliffhanger! And this uncovered production art from the planned season 2 reveals that they were actually going to do a huge Age of Apocalypse storyline. That would have been sweet! Season 2 also would have involved Deadpool, Cable, Archangel, Pyro and more, based on these pictures!
More after the jump!
New Green Lantern? New Origin for Tim Drake?
Hi-dee-ho there, comic book fans! Your favorite blogger here bringing you some fascinating news out of DC Comics. Who is the new Green Lantern? And is DC going to change the origin for Tim Drake, the third Robin? We’re going to find out the answer to both questions in September!
In September, the one-year anniversary of the New 52 reboot, DC will be publishing a #0 issue for each of their titles. These will be flashback and prequel issues, revealing a bit of the new backstory that came with the reboot. This is a fantastic idea, because DC have told us very little about large swaths of the back story. You can check out the full solicitations here, if you’re so inclined.
But of the solicitations, two really stuck out to me: Green Lantern #0 and Teen Titans #0.
First, in the Green Lantern issue, we’re finally going to be introduced to the new human Green Lantern who made his first appearance in DC’s Free Comic Book Day issue. Only in that issue, he seemed to be an antagonist against the Justice League. Yeahbuwha?
I’m excited to see a new Green Lantern. I’ve never particularly cared for any of the four previous human Green Lanterns, and so new blood is just what that franchise needs. The ring can go to anyone, after all. And we haven’t had a new Green Lantern since the early 90s. This guy is apparently Arabic, based on the tattoo on his arm, so that’s cool. Diversity is always a good thing. But I am a little worried about that antagonist thing. Hopefully it’ll get sorted out.
My guess is that this guy, whose name we don’t yet know, will be getting Hal Jordan’s old ring. Prior to the reboot, Hal was kicked out of the Green Lantern Corps and stripped of his ring. Meanwhile, Sinestro had been inducted back into the Corps for reasons that remain mysterious. Since the reboot started, Sinestro has used his Power Ring to give Hal temporary Green Lantern powers so that they can go on adventures together. So that still leaves open the fate of Hal’s ring – which I think this new guy is going to get!
Meanwhile, we have Teen Titan #0.
The solicitation says that we’re going to take a look at how Tim Drake became Robin.
“Focusing on the origin of Tim Drake; how a would be Olympic star and computer genius went on to become Batman’s third Robin.”
So yeah, would-be Olympic star? Computer genius? Neither one was ever part of Tim’s original origin. Granted he’s always been good with computers, but he was never a computer genius. And also, Olympic athlete and computer genius? Do those even go together?
Tim’s original origin had him as a youthful detective who correctly deduced the identities of Batman and Robin using only his smarts and some good detective work. Then after Jason Todd dies, Tim notices that Batman has become a lot more reckless without a Robin. Tim tries to convince Dick Grayson to return as Robin, but Dick won’t go for it. Then when Batman is really in danger, Tim decides that he must do something brave and impulsive, and so he goes to aid him wearing the Robin costume. It’s only later that Bruce finally comes around and accepts Tim as a new Robin.
When it comes to the New 52 timeline, DC really shot themselves in the foot by declaring that superheroes have only really been around for about 5 years…yet they kept all four Robins. So Batman had four different Robins over a 5 year span? How does that even work? Especially considering that Damian Wayne, the current Robin, is 10 years old. That would mean Bruce Wayne has been Batman for at leas t10 years to have met Ras al Ghul and Talia…I dunno, it’s all very confusing.
But making Tim a would-be Olympic athlete would cut down on the time needed to train him to be Robin, making him easier to squeeze into that 5 year span. But does this also mean they’re going to change everything else out about his origin?
I sure hope not. The idea that Tim decided on his own that Batman needs a Robin is key to the character, and to the mantle of Robin. I plan to write a lot more on this someday, but it never works out whenever Batman choose who will be his next Robin. The new kid has to come to him naturally through the story. So I really hope DC doesn’t drastically alter Tim Drake’s origin.
Not that there’s anything I can do about it if they do…
Henchman-4-Hire 