Dark Horse has provided us with the following on the release of the next three issues of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Issue #19 - To Be Released 11/26/08
Issue #20- To Be Released 12/17/08
Issue #21- To Be Released 1/7/09
Thanks and sorry for the wait!
Rumor is that Megan Fox of Transformers fame will be playing Aspen in the upcomming live-action "Fathom" movie. 20th Century Fox has said "No Comment" but that they would be happy to see her come on board.
The Wall Street Journal spoke to the President of Warner Bros., Jeff Robinov, who reported that they would be restarting the Superman franchise.
"'Superman [Returns] didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to,' he said.
With "Batman vs. Superman" and "Justice League" stalled, Warner Bros. has quietly adopted Marvel's model of releasing a single film for each character, and then using those movies and their sequels to build up to a multicharacter film. 'Along those lines, we have been developing every DC character that we own,' Mr. Robinov says."
The story continues:
"The studio is set to announce its plans for future DC movies in the next month. For now, though, it is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters. Movies featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman are all in active development."
Read the rest here
Nickelodeon's upcomming cartoon, Wolerine and the X-Men, had its first showing at the San Diego Comic Con Friday. The lastest X-Toon appears to be just as equally adult and kid friendly as its two previous incarnations (X-Men: The Animated Series & X-Men: Evolution). The three part pilot is set to premire early 2009, and follows a disassembled cluster of X-Men led by Wolverine, fighting their way the Brotherhood of Evil, the Government and dozens of Sentinals. Looks pretty good, but judge for yourself and see the trailer here.
I loved everything about the first issue of Secret Invasion. The art was tight, the writing crisp. But on the last two pages. This is where the comic earned its $3.99.
Man, nothing better than 80's pre/post mortem humor.
We are officially out of free passes to "Iron Man". We started giving them out earlier today and gave out the last one in the early afternoon. Sorry for all of you hopefuls out there.
Sure, the 2008 presidential primaries are interesting. But why settle for regular humans when you can vote for SUPER-humans?! Barack Obama may be a fine orator, but can he stretch himself into ridiculous shapes? John McCain was a war hero – no question – but has he seen any action in interstellar combat? And Hilary Clinton may carry a famous name, but is it more famous than Bruce Wayne?
We at Fantom Comics want to offer people another option. That's why we're holding elections for President of the USA pitting the best of DC against Marvel's finest in an election for the ages!
THE PRIMARIES
The primaries start this coming Thursday, April 17th, when we announce on the website the 16 candidates (8 marvel, 8 DC) that will be running for their publisher's (hereafter referred to as their "party's") nomination. We will post a short blurb about each candidate and the debate can start.
THE NOMINATION
On FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, Saturday, May 3, we will hold party elections at both our stores. Each person may vote once in each party’s nomination. ONLY THOSE PHYSICALLY PRESENT CAN VOTE. Sorry, no online voting, no absentee voting, no proxy voting. You must be present in the store on May 3rd to cast your vote. But hey, it’s Free Comic Book Day, so you’ll want to be there anyway. Oh, and you of course DO NOT have to purchase anything to vote. The voting booths close at 4:30pm SHARP.
This primary election will be a bit old-fashioned, as the 2nd place candidates will become their party’s vice-presidential nominee. Yes, we know it didn’t work too well with Aaron Burr and all, but to keep things simple this is just how it’s gonna be.
The winners of the party primaries will be announced simultaneously at both our locations and on the website at 5:30PM.
THE ELECTION
Once the party tickets are announced, three months of campaigning will begin. Fantom Comics has assembled two teams of experts to serve as the campaign staff for the two party’s nominees. They will bring us biting commentary, sassy op-eds, blush-inducing mud-slinging, quasi-legal dirty tricks and even 3 LIVE DEBATES (1 VP debate and 2 candidate debates) to be held at our Tenleytown store! All of this will culminate on Election Day, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30th! (Note: More details on election day as the date approaches).
The presidential winner will get a special table set aside for them during the month of September, in which trade paperbacks (aka Graphic Novels) featuring him or her will be offered at 15%-off all month. Books featuring the candidate’s VP will come at a 10% discount.
VOTER PARTICIPATION
We highly encourage open debate. Here’s what you, the voter, can do:
Comment on postings. Fantom Comics gets thousands of unique users to its site each day. Comments you make could very well sway at least a few of them – perhaps enough to push your candidate into first.
If you email an op-ed to matt@fantomcomics.com, we’ll post it for you under your name. The piece must come in at under 700 words and management reserves the right to edit it for brevity and grammar. We also reserve the right to reject your piece outright.
Email us at matt@fantomcomics.com with “Questions for the Candidates.” We’ll have their campaign team answer them and post them on a regular basis. Or maybe it’s such a good question we’ll save it for a debate. We will also have an “ask the candidate” box at each of our stores for those of you that can separate yourself from your keyboards.
THE RULES
Fantom Management, through exhaustive research and debate, has selected a list of candidates to run on their party's ticket. The criteria we used:
1) All candidates must conform to constitutional requirements for president. That means they must be over 35 (sorry Spider-Man) and born in the US (aw, too bad Superman). NOTE: Most of the candidates’ ages are debatable. Generally speaking, we offered some leeway to characters near the age limit.
2) The character must have been “outed” as a super-hero, so they can run under both their cape and alter ego identities.
3) Batman is excepted from Rule #2 because we feel he’s too cool to be left out. Bruce Wayne will be running under the assumption that he outed himself at the beginning of the campaign. We also made an exception for Matt Murdock/Daredevil, as he’s been outed on 2 separate occasions and we are sure he will be again in the future.
4) Actions taken by the candidates in non-continuity stories CAN be brought into the debate, but they will of course be considered less credible than events happening in mainstream continuity, as those are the personas that will be running for office.
5) If we saw it happen (be it in a comic book, movie, whatever), then it’s “public knowledge.” What matters is what we, the readers know, and not what other characters from the comics know of the person. For example: people in the Marvel Universe may not know that Professor X hates bagels, but because it was revealed in Uncanny X-Men #438, WE know and therefore it’s considered public knowledge. These candidates have no private life, and the only thing that can save them from their embarrassing past is a lazy opposition that doesn’t raise the issue.
Have fun, and see you at the ballot booth!
Fantom Comics has an exclusive peak at Marvel’s next big story, Secret Invasion, and can now reveal who the Skrull insiders are. These insidious traitors have been impersonating some of our most beloved comic icons for years, perhaps even longer.
The Fantom Comic exclusive outing:
That’s right, Howard the Duck is a Skrull. He apparently was replaced some time during the release of his movie, and since that time has been secretly a shape shifter plotting to conquer our Earth.
From other sources, we have learned that the following is also a Skrull:
Yes, even Riverdale is not safe from this infernal threat. [via againwiththecomics]
You have been warned!
I think I'm the only person left who watches King of The Hill, but the show gave me a nice surprise last night. Bobby reads my favorite comic!
There was no dialouge about it, but still an awesome touch. If you want to be as cool as Bobby Hill and Jimmy Meritt, swing by Fantom Comics and buy "Invincible", by Robert Kirkman. EASILY my favorite superhero comic.
New Hulk Trailer! Intresting design for Abomination....
On another intresting note, according to the cast list the therapist he's talking to in the begining is none other then Doc Sampson!
The city has a new hero...
I haven't been this excited for a New Comic Book Day (as a reader, anyway) in quite some time. We have a TON (well, not quite literally) of first issues of new series. Here are the big ones (though there are also other #1s this week, as well as cool non-number ones, like END LEAGUE #2 for instance):
Cable #1
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Pencils & Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
Variant Cover by ROB LIEFELD
"ARMS," Part 1
A new ongoing series spinning out of the decade's biggest X-Men event! The future of mutantkind starts here! "Messiah CompleX" changed the X-Men forever. But no one's world has been rocked as hard as Cable, the time-traveling mutant from the future. He's been charged with the one mission that could save all of mutantkind -- or, if he fails, damn it to extinction. And hot on his trail is a relentless enemy who won't stop until blood is spilled. No matter where...or when...Cable runs. Brought to you by the dynamic team of Duane Swierczysnki (MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL) and Ariel Olivetti (PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL).
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99
Dark Tower Long Road Home #1
Written by ROBIN FURTH & PETER DAVID
Art & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
It's the return of the best-selling comic book series, inspired by Stephen King's epic The Dark Tower! Gunslinger Roland Deschain has seen the death of his lover Susan Delgado. And the Big Coffin Hunters who burned her at the stake are now in pursuit of Roland and his ka-tet Cuthbert and Alain. The friends are forced to flee into the desert with the deadly posse in hot pursuit....and Roland is in a coma! Don't miss this opening chapter starring the Gunslinger whose quest for the Dark Tower will shake the foundation of reality itself!
48 PGS./CARDSTOCK COVER/T+ ...$3.99
Logan #1
Written by BRIAN K. VAUGHAN
Art & Cover by EDUARDO RISSO
Superstar artist Eduardo Risso (100 Bullets) joins critically acclaimed writer Brian K. Vaughan (TV's LOST, Y: The Last Man) for a unique take on the man who's the best there is at what he does. Finally armed with long-lost memories from his past, Wolverine returns to one of his first battlefields to settle an old score in an all-new adventure with a shocking revelation about the man known as Logan.
32 PGS./Cardstock Cover/Parental Advisory ...$3.99
New Dynamix #1
Written by Allen Warner
Art and cover by J.J. Kirby
Where have all the heroes gone? That's what Lady Love - a Bay Area disc jockey - wants to know. Her alter ego, Love Rocket, is trying to keep her city from falling to pieces, but it's not easy. During a mission, her crime-fighting partner does such a good job attacking a hostage-taker that he puts a child's life in danger - while a TV news crew catches all the action. Their broadcast grabs a lot of attention from various people...including a WildStorm super-powered-being who's been out of commission for years. Will this shock him into action?
Terry Moore's Echo #1
Terry Moore is back with a new series, and this time he's going nuclear! Julie Martin is taking photographs in the desert when she witnesses a massive explosion in the sky. Covered in the bizarre, metallic fallout, she races home to find a chunk of the mercury-like metal came with her. When the metal becomes attached to her skin, Julie is unaware that she is host to a new symbiotic technology: a living bomb! The first printing of this issue will feature a special silver-embossed cover!
Young Liars #1
Written by David Lapham
Art and cover by Lapham
Indie comics auteur David Lapham hasn't embarked on a monthly series since STRAY BULLETS, his magnum opus that garnered industry awards and international acclaim. Now Lapham's back with YOUNG LIARS, his first full-color monthly series, about a group of misfits and their desperate attempt to salvage their crushed dreams. At the core of YOUNG LIARS is the disturbing relationship between Danny Noonan, a habitual liar and crap guitar player from Texas, and Sadie Dawkins, the object of his desire. Sadie was a poor little rich girl until a bullet lodged in her brain turned her into an adrenaline junkie who only listens to Danny. But who shot Sadie is only part of the mystery that drives YOUNG LIARS, from the twisted club scene of lower Manhattan to absurdist hijinx on the high seas. And from the hot shores of Ibiza to the haunted castles of Spain, Danny, Sadie and their entourage of losers will run from poorly disguised assassins, demented billionaires, and psychotic midgets - not to mention each other - in an absurd quest to get rich and famous. Or kill each other trying. YOUNG LIARS will provide relentless action, suspense, sex and murder in the way that only David Lapham can deliver.
With all the great stuff we still have after our huge weekend sale, we are extending the duration of our sale to Tuesday night. That means you can still save a lot on great stuff! Like 50% off all our Manga including hits like Bleach, Naruto, Lone Wolf & Cub, and more! Also 25% off all Absolute Editions, and 50% off all Marvel Masterworks, and DC Archives!
The upcoming X-men movie, focusing on Wolverine, appears to be well underway. The first images of Hugh Jackman reprising his role from the previous X-films have just been released here. Judging by some of the roles announced, with will.i.am playing Wraith, Daniel Henney as Maverick/Agent Zero, Ryan Renyolds as Deadpool, and Lynn Collins as Silver Fox, it appears the focus will be on Wolverine's time before the X-men, with a Weapon X type team carrying out black ops missions. It seems likely that the team will be led by Stryker, now played by Danny Huston. Taylor Kitsch, who will play Gambit, may have an important role, judging by the fact that apparently some of the filming is to take place in New Orleans. Also, Dominic Monaghan of Lost fame is set to play Barnell, who is either Beak from Morrison's run, or perhaps a new character all together. Slated for a May 2009 release, it is up to director Gavid Hood to prevent this from being the last X-men film for some time. [casting info from Variety]
For those of you who haven't heard yet, the new Star Trek movie has been delayed from December 25 2008 till May 2009. Sorry to all the Trekkies out there.
On a bonus side, you can view the sick trailer here.
All of us here at Fantom want to wish everyone out there a Happy Valentine's Day. We hope that Mephisto takes a day off and does not undo any more marriages for at least the next 24 hours.
Give a geek some love!
For those of us who watch the super bowl mainly for the commercials, keep your eye out for a new Iron Man trailer appearing tonight during the game.
And as a bonus, here's a new pic from the set of Iron Man
For those of you who haven't heard yet, there's a new superhero movie out this summer, along with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. The only difference is, it was never a comic book.
Hancock is about an self centered alcoholic superhero (Will Smith) who has an affair with his publicists wife (Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron). I guess it sounds like a emotional drama dressed up like a kick ass superhero movie (*cough* *cough* Hulk *cough* *cough*), but by the looks of the trailer it doesn't seem like the skipped out on the snappy dialog, fast paced plot or special effects.
Judge for yourself and check out the trailer
here.
After much anticipation the film Persepolis has finally made it’s way to DC! The film was originally released in France last February and then was dubbed over in English for it’s American release in New York and LA on December 25, 2007. The film is animated in the same style and drawings as originally produced by Marjane Satrapi in her two books. The film has also been nominated for an Oscar as ‘Best Animated Film’ and won the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Judging by the trailer this looks like one comic-book adaptation worth seeing!
Saturday, Feburary 9th, our own Jimmy Merrit will be performing with fellow geek comedians at the Comedy Spot in Arlington, VA. The show starts at 7:30 and tickets can be purchased for $14.50 at the club or bought online at comedyindc.com. There is also a great half off coupon provided on their website at GeekComedyTour3000.com that allows you to get a 2-for-1 deal!
The CGI movie adaptation of Astro Boy seems to still be on track, despite a change in director. The new director, David Bowers, previously worked on Flushed Away. Early shots of the movie show that it may have a similar look. Expect this movie to be along the lines of other recently adapted, older illustrated proprieties, in that it will probably be light on plot and heavy on gags. This could be a good family movie when it comes out in 2009, or it could wind up failing to capture the magic of earlier Astro Boy iterations, similar to Imagin's previous effort, TMNT. [via newsarama]
Oscar nominated actor Heath Ledger, who stars as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight, was found dead today in a New York City apartment. He was 28. A possible drug overdose is suspected by NYPD offcials, but at this time no further details have been released.
Our condolences go out to his family and loved ones.
Rumors have been circulating for a while, and Variety has now confirmed that the Justice League movie has been placed on indefinite hold. Work on the movie had been paused temporarily because the script needed some extra work, something that could not happen in the current strike environment. Apparently, this gave Warner Bros. some time to reconsider the movie and casting and have decided to not green-light the project for now. The draft script, which revolves around a young Justice League, needs improvement and some of the casting choices have raised questions. While rapper Common as Green Lantern (John Stewart) and Adam Brody as the Flash could be solid, if unconventional choices, Armie Hammer as Batman has raised a few eyebrows. Also, the very idea of having two Batmans on the big screen at the same time, with the stories not connected at all, may create problems for the overall franchise. Director George Miller is hoping that these problems are not enough to sink the project, and that production will resume some time in late Summer. Hopefully, with the extra time Warner Bros. can address any remaining issues (detailed here) to ensure that this movie comes out good and does not become another heartbreakingly poor adaptation.
What do you think about Peter Parker decision to save Aunt Mays life at the expense of his soul, and his relationship with MJ?
Ok so no, this is not the real teaser trailer for Star Trek, but let me just tell you, it is one of the best teasers I've seen and is really getting me pumped for this movie.
You can also view it here
Well if you weren't pumped enough for this movie yet, check out this new picture of Tony Stark with
something (clearly something awesome, though) around his arm.
Iron Man is set to come out May 2nd.
Ever wonder what your favorite Marvel heroes would look adapted into various artistic styles? Well, Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles is hosting a tribute to Stan Lee that features various artist doing renditions of Marvel heroes (and villains) in a variety of styles and formats. Some of this stuff is truly amazing. Click the images below to see two different write ups of the exhibit along with more photos (via io9 and collider).
Something For The Kids
This week, Marvel Comics launched a new website named MarvelAdventures.com, which provides great extras for kids, including an excellent series of “Advervideos” featuring heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Captain America. The site in updated weekly and gives great information for parents on Marvel Comics and new releases for their kids.
This site is actually really impressive. The “advervideo”, this time featuring Iron Man and Spider-Man, was great. Almost like virtually viewing a Marvel Adventures title, which by the way I'm a huge fan of.
JMS on OMD
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141756
In an interview done with Newsarama.com, writer J. Michael Straczynski discussed the creative process on Spider-Man One More Day, and explained the ending and the expectations that Marvel had for the story.
In my honest opinion, I’m disappointed. Marvel had been on a role the last couple of years with events like Secret War, House of M, and Civil War; all stories that advanced characters and moved the universe forward into an era of bold new story telling. One More Day feels like I've been brought back into the 80’s with almost two decades of the Spider-Man story retconned by some sort of phony “magic”. But I am willing to give Brand New Day a chance, but Spider-Man and Marvel, have one heck of a hill to climb.
Five DC Titles Make The A-List
The Washington Post’s 2007 A-List, a list compiling the best in entertainment from the past year, announced that 5 DC titles made the list. Those titles are as follows in no particular order:
ARMY@LOVE, VOL. 1 By Rick Veitch and Gary Erskine, Vertigo/DC Comics, $2.99
THE OTHER SIDE By Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart, Vertigo, $12.99
THE PLAIN JANES By Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg, Minx/DC Comics, $9.99
SENTENCES: THE LIFE OF M.F. GRIMM By Percy Carey and Ronald Wimberly, Vertigo/DC Comics, $19.99
SILVERFISH By David Lapham, Vertigo/DC Comics, $24.99
All excellent books, and all are available at Fantom Comics.
TO BOLDLY GO… WHERE THEY’VE GONE BEFORE!
In March, DC plans to release Justice League: The New Frontier Special. It will be a 48-page, no ad collection and will feature stories from Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone and David Bullock.
Personally, I am pretty excited about this since I have such a hard time following anything in the DC Universe continuity. Stories like Superman: Red Son and the original New Frontier are perfect for a guy like me who enjoys DC characters, but doesn’t particularly enjoy combing through their histories to understand why Green Lantern, Guy Gardner and Batman don’t get along.
Also Darwyn Cooke draws pretty.
NOVA CONTINUES TO SOAR
Also in March, Marvels last Nova Corp Centurion; Richard Rider, gets a couple of new artists added to his stellar book starting with issue #11. Taking over for artist Wellington Alves, is former Fantastic Four artist, Paul Pelletier with the cover duties handled by the always awesome Alex Maleev (Of Halo and Daredevil fame).
One of the best titles in 2007 for Marvel, it looks as if the best continues to get better with this change. As long as Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning write this book for at least forever, things will be all good in Marvels, now growing, cosmic universe.
HULK SMASH PUNY COMPETITION
World War Hulk #5 topped the sales charts as the most purchased comic in the month of November, reports Diamond Comics Distributors. With the exceptions of DC’s All Star Batman and Robin #8, and Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer #8, Marvel once again dominated the months Top 10 with other hits like Thor #4 and Astonishing X-Men #23. But all was not lost for DC who released Alan Moore’s third installment of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier as well at the Heroes graphic novel based on the hit TV show. This helped keep the numbers close in a race that saw Marvel overcome DC in unit share 43% to 36% respectively.
From ebaumsworld. If the Griffins were real people, what would they look like? Meg is a particularly good one!
Fatom Comics proudly presents to you, our loyal readers, the next best thing than making up your own Civil War banners; making fun of the cover of Wolverine #60. Seriously, this is sweeping the web and here I have collected for you, the best of the best!
To start off, the original:
And now, the Top 3 in no particular order:
The trailer for next year’s Speed Racer movie is up. The movie, directed by the Wachowski brothers doesn’t seem much like the Speed Racer of the 1960’s. With every race sequence composed of gravity defying CGI, the movie seems to be pretty heavy on the special effects. However, the effects don’t seem to really evoke anything of the original series, looking more like something out a video game (think F-zero). This could be cool, or just come off as really lame.
On the plus side, looks like much of the casting is spot on. John Goodman is the perfect fit for Pops. The only real issue is Emile Hirsch, who plays Speed, really doesn’t have the long eyelashes for it. Where are the eyelashes!?
Click the picture below for the trailer (via Newsarama).
Returning this month to the Woolly Theater in Penn Quarter is the One-Man Star Wars Trilogy. The show, which runs from December 11th to December 30th features performer Charles Ross acting out the entire original Star Wars trilogy. That means all the characters, music, and special effects of Episodes IV, V, and VI performed by one man in an impressive
75 minutes. Ross manages to do all this without the use of any props or technical gadgets, relying only on his voice and hand motions.
The show has been a big hit at both fringe theater festivals and Sci-fi and Comic Conventions. Tickets and more information for this novel production are currently available here.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, this weeks new comics will be released on Thursday, November 29th. See you soon!
The Surrogates is an amazing sci-fi comic. Fantom Comics does, of course, carry the collected series in one handy volume! To read more about it, check out this ign.com review. Here's the link to the Variety article about the upcoming movie.