Wait, What? Hourman!?
Following the success of Arrow, and the potential upcoming success of a Flash TV show, DC and The CW are apparently now planning a show starring Hourman. For reals. Hourman!
This guy!
For those who don’t know, Hourman is a rather obscure hero who fights as a member of the Justice Society of America. There have been several different Hourmen over the years – because good brand names never die – with most of them ingesting a magic pill called Miraclo that grants them super strength and super speed for an hour. I apologize to all Hourman fans out there because that sounds absolutely ridiculous.
Which is probably why The CW is going with an entirely different version of the character, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on a short-lived volume of Hourman comics, the TV show is going to focus on a hero who can see one hour into the future. He will use that power to avert horrible upcoming disasters in order to win back his wife and child. So it basically sounds like a reduced version of Early Edition. Anybody remember that show? I never watched it, so why is it ingrained in my memory?
I’m starting to think somebody at The CW, desperate to follow-up the success of Arrow, just went down a list of DC superheroes and kept throwing out pitches until somebody shrugged and said, “Alright, let’s do that one.”
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New Desolation of Smaug Trailer
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is still coming, which means trailers are still coming too. Like this one. This is a new trailer.
While I’m definitely looking forward to the film, I can’t say as how any of the trailers have really filled me with trailer excitement. But that could just be because I’m an old curmudgeon. I turned 30 this year, so clearly everything is going to just annoy me, right? Isn’t that how adulthood works?
Full X-Factor Cast Announced – And I Don’t Care for Any of Them
When Marvel and Peter David announced the new X-Factor series last month, they revealed three members right off the bat: Quicksilver, Polaris and Gambit. The remaining three members were kept a mystery, because that’s how comic books work sometimes. Well now it seems the new Previews catalog has revealed the full lineup, and scans have hit the web courtesy of the CBR forums.
This isn’t it, this is what we’ve already seen
I’ll post the scan after the jump in case you don’t want to be spoiled. Suffice to say, I don’t particularly care for anyone on the new team. It really does seem like PAD threw darts at a wall to pick this cast. Kind of like how Uncanny X-Force ended up with Psylocke, Storm, Spiral and Puck.
Click the jump to see the full roster!
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #28
I apologize for the lateness of this review. These are busy days and I am nothing if not a horrible procrastinator. I picked a bad issue to be late on though because this is the last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man! They say that very thing in the letters page. As we all know by now, Cataclysm begins in a month or so, possibly bringing about the end of the Ultimate Universe. We don’t yet know what’s to come of our hero, Miles Morales, but it’s not looking good. I’ve said before that I don’t want to see him brought over to the normal Marvel Universe, but obviously the decision is out of my hands. All I can do is enjoy the final issue of Ultimate Spider-Man for what it is: a fun superhero romp.
Ultimate Spider-Man #28
The last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man sees an end to the threat of Roxxon in playful fashion. It also reaffirms Miles as Spider-Man – while answering a few questions about his origin – just in time to close the book.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until the end of time: Miles Morales worked, at least creatively. It was a bold move for Marvel to kill off Ultimate Peter Parker and replace him with a brand new character, but writer Brian Michael Bendis made the absolute most of it. Miles lives up to the ideals and character we expect from Spider-Man, but he’s a different sort of man than Peter Parker. He’s quieter, for one. And sometimes it feels like he has a lot more responsibility resting on his shoulders. But he’s as entertaining as Spider-Man has ever been. I would happily read about Miles from now until that very end of time. I want to read about him growing up. I want to read about Miles as an adult Spider-Man. I want him to have the life Ultimate Peter Parker never did.
But the world is unfair and Ultimate Spider-Man as we know it is probably over. This is why we can’t have nice things.
This final issue is a good one. Spider-Man and his amazing friends team up to take down Roxxon, and they make fine work of it. The story isn’t written like an ending. By all accounts, it seems like Bendis is more than ready to keep going. The villains at Roxxon don’t put up much of a challenge at all for our little team, which isn’t too bad. Climactic fights are fun, but I’m a man who likes words and dialogue more than punches, and this issue is good on those. This victory means more to the heroes than the villains. And, of course, it’s all drawn spectacularly by Dave Marquez. The man is a dream artist. I would read Bendis and Marquez on Miles Morales well into the afterlife.
But I can’t, because this may very well be it. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Review: Saga #15
Saga #15 is a kind of fill-in issue, but that’s not a bad thing. Not every issue of Saga can be a mind-meltingly amazing experience. Sometimes Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples just have to take a step back and move the story along on an issue-by-issue basis. We’ve got plot, we’ve got sub-plot, we’ve got a few fun character moments, and most importantly, we’ve got another good issue of Saga. The story is moving along at a nice little pace, so there’s no harm in Vaughn taking a break to enjoy his world for a moment.
Saga #15
Saga #15 is kind of a way station in the ongoing story. Marko, Alana and the gang are enjoying their time in Heist’s lighthouse, while The Will and his team have their own concerns. The larger narrative takes a step back this issue so that we can enjoy the little things in life.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I read both of Vaughn’s previous comics – Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina – in tpb form, and that was an excellent way to read each series. Vaughn is a man who writes to the bigger picture. His comics aren’t the typical, never-ending superhero dramas. They have beginnings, middles, and, most importantly, endings. So I’m fairly certain Vaughn already knows the general strokes of where Saga is going and how it’s going to end. So maybe the best time to read Saga is when it’s all over, like a novel. But because I’m such a fan of his work, I decided to go issue-by-issue, and while I’m not disappointed, it does lead to issue like this one.
Again, this is in no way a bad issue. It’s Saga‘s usual greatness. But we’re still no closer to the cliffhanger at the end of Saga #12, which I’m really excited to see resolved. Instead, we pause for some R&R. It’s good, enjoyable R&R, but it’s rest and relaxation nonetheless. I’m also a little surprised/confused by the developments for The Will’s team. I’ll get to it in the synopsis, but for now, I’m just not sure what it means for the story as a whole. The Will deserves his own stories, but is this an example of Vaughn writing for the single issues? Or is this new twist part of the larger narrative?
Read on and we shall see!
Henchman-4-Hire 