Posted in Press Releases, tagged Press Release, Workshop on January 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I have put up Part 3 of my fan fic writing workshop:
Part 3 – Plot: The Other White Meat
Most fan fic writers have a basic idea what they want to write about but have no idea what to write. Figuring that out is easy, you only have to answer two questions: How and Why.
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged Amazing Spider-Man 2, Batmobile, Days of Future Past, Iron Man, Iron Man 3, Kick Ass 2, Marvel, Thor: Dark World on January 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »
i09 – Functional Iron Man gauntlet shoots lasers powerful enough to pop a balloon – I WANT!
BleedingCool – Marvel’s Big Cosmic Crossover Event Of 2013
It’s supposed to be as big as AvX but there is absolutely no evidence cited… but this is BleedingCool.
ComicBookMovie – Intriguing THOR: THE DARK WORLD Plot Details
“[Christopher Eccelston] goes on to state that good scripts are paramount in his selection process for movie roles…” – then explain G.I. Joe to me?
Change.Org – Avengers Arena petition has reached 133 signatures and seems to have stalled out.
SuperHeroHype – Will the Green Goblin Appear in The Amazing Spider-Man Sequel?
Green Goblin is to Spider-Man was Joker is to Batman, Luthor to Superman, etc. It seems nearly impossible to have one without the other in some way, shape, or form.
ComicBookMovie – Shawn Ashmore On X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST & Working With Kevin Bacon On FIRST CLASS
“Honestly, at this point I have no idea. What’s exciting is Bryan Singer’s back, which is amazing. He was amazing to work with. I would love to come back and play Bobby again.”
ComicBookMovie – Explosive Details For IRON MAN 3 Hollywood Re-Shoots
i09 – Watch the original Batmobile sell for the first time at auction
From ComingSoon.net:
First Official Image from Kick Ass 2
Posted in Reviews, tagged All-New X-Men, comics, Review on January 20, 2013| 1 Comment »
All-New X-Men #6
This issue is a little slower, mostly it deals with Jean and Scott.
Jean is coming to grips with the fact that now she is a telepath, plus she now knows what has happened to her. That’s a pretty heavy burden to carry seeing as she died several times, her family was horribly killed cause of her bloodline, and Scott was, well, Scott. So really, this is just backlash from the last issue but without any real hook.
Scott continues to be an outcast because of things he hasn’t done yet, which will probably lead him into becoming what everyone fears he will become. He steals Logan’s bike and goes into town and we have a very typical ‘fish out of time’ scene. Though it does beg the question why does Logan have that much cash in his jacket? A fight ensues and Scott runs off to presumably confront himself again. This can’t end well.
Angel finally meets Angel. It’s a bit awkward both for the young Angel and the reader. Old Angel is a bit Looney Toons which I dont’ think young Angel has quite caught onto by the end of the small scene. Maybe we’ll get more in the next issue.
Speaking of next issue(s), Mystique is back in the game and has her sights on young Scott… why? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged comics, Days of Future Past, DC, Deadpool, Harley Quinn, Marvel, RED, S.H.I.E.L.D., television on January 18, 2013| 2 Comments »
ComingSoon.net – Hugh Jackman Talks X-Men: Days of Future Past
“Every other actor who’s ever put on a superhero uniform will be in it,” he said. “There’s an element of time travel and, naturally, it will be action-packed.”
i09 – How to Tell if a TV Show is Probably Not Going to End Well
Happy to note that my series avoids all the writing based pitfalls listed here!
Newsarama – Marvel Comics’ April 2013 Solicits
BleedingCool – Chaos And Order At DC Comics
SuperHeroHype – 9 Things We Want to See in Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D.
CinemaBlend – Red 2 Gets An Explosive First Trailer
i09 – 10 Ways John Milton’s Paradise Lost Is Like a Bad Comic Book
and then there’s this…
what if.. deadpool and harley quinn had kids?… by *m7781
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged Editorializing, Gambit, Hawkeye, news, X-Treme X-Men on January 18, 2013| 1 Comment »
Gambit #11 Artwork
After hearing that X-Treme X-Men was cancelled due to sales below 20K, I got to thinking about some of the other titles I read and if they were in any danger of being cancelled themselves. The most important one would be Gambit’s solo series. Here is his sales figures courtesy of ICV2.
Gambit #1 – 40,418
Gambit #2 – 32,336
Gambit #3 – 28,530
Gambit #4 – 27,828
Gambit #5 – 26,723
Gambit #6 – 25,522
Gambit #7 – 23,978
January numbers are not available yet, obviously.
Notice the steady decline? While there hasn’t been any massively huge drops since the 8k drop between 1 & 2, a 1k to 2k drop every issue is nothing to ignore and I’m sure Marvel are looking at those numbers very closely.
Let us compare gambit’s numbers to the Hawkeye solo series which was launched at about the same time and has been ‘critically acclaimed’.
Hawkeye #1 – 41,925 + 6,394
Hawkeye #2 – 33,563
Hawkeye #3 – 35,403
Hawkeye #4 – 34,208
Hawkeye #5 – 34,385
Hawkeye #6 – 33,440
Hawkeye did have a more massive 14k drop from the first issue but unlike Gambit it has remained steady around 34k in readership. And, of course, Hawkeye did get a boost from the current Avengers movie making him better known to the more recent generation of comic book readers.
Now let’s look at the cancelled X-Treme X-Men title which was also launched about the same time.
X-Treme X-Men #1 – 36,802
X-Treme X-Men #2 – 25,689
X-Treme X-Men #3 – 24,490
X-Treme X-Men #4 – 22,584
X-Treme X-Men #5 – 19,841
X-Treme X-Men #6 – 17,947
X-Treme X-Men #7 – 17,602
X-Treme X-Men #7.1 – 16,682
X-Treme X-Men #8 – 16,536
It didn’t launch nearly as high as Gambit or Hawkeye, but after a 11k drop it also did the steady 1k to 2k drop every issue.
Seeing that Gambit has been slowly declining as X-Treme did is not good. He keeps on this slide and he’ll be below the 20k mark before April when Rogue is set to appear. But this also begs the question: how much will Rogue and the Rogue/Gambit shippers boost the sales? A lot of Romy fans are already reading Gambit anyway because they like Gambit on his own (though I do wonder how many were turned off by the lack of Romy or the Joelle character).
Even if the April Gambit issues jump in sales due to Romy, would it be too late to save Gambit if he drops below 20k in Feb/Mar? How far and how long does the drop have to go? X-Termination, which is the arc that ends X-Treme X-Men, was announced in back in November. X-Treme had already dropped to 19,841 in October. The question is wether they decided to end X-Treme then or when they got November’s totals? Note: Age of Apocalypse #9, the other cancelled title, did 20,630 in November, and Astonishing X-Men, the only X-Termination crossover that survived, did 27,583.
Granted, if they decided to cancel Gambit in March they would still have to finish out the issues in the works which, since we get them three months in advance, could add a buffer. If they see Gambit spike due to Romy, they would have time to call off any cancellation. It’s also possible they might wait to see what Rogue does for sales.
Gambit has had its best issue yet with what a lot of fans have come to want to see from Gambit, also, news only recently struck that yes, Rogue will be here in April for at least two issues. How did this effect January sales? How will it affect February?
I don’t pretend to be an expert, this whole industry is rather new to me actually, but the numbers don’t lie. If Gambit doesn’t see an increase, or at least a plateau of sales, then he’s going to be gone before the title is even legal to drive.
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged comics, news, X-Treme X-Men on January 18, 2013| 2 Comments »
X-Treme X-Men Finale Artwork
Sucks.
I’ve already commented in my reviews how much I really enjoy the clever writing in this series. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s everything you want in a comic. So why did it fall below the 20k mark in sales which CBR says lead to it being cancelled?
I’m going to blame the fact that everyone thought it was “a Dazzler title”.
Dazzler leads the team but she doesn’t hog the issues. Logan, Kurt, Sage… all these characters have their share of the lime-light and they all bring something great to the scene. The worlds Pak created had a wonderful sense of depth even if they weren’t necessarily explored. The stories were timely, thoughtful, but not overbearing or on the nose.
I’d jump and whine and complain but I know that won’t do any good.
So while I’m really annoyed as this was one of my favorite titles on my current pull list, at least it does look like it will go out with a bang. I’ve also been introduced to the wonderful writing of Greg Pak, will definitely be on the look out for him in the future.
Goodbye X-Treme X-Men, you join the group of wonderful things ended before their time…
Posted in Reviews, tagged All-New X-Men, comics, Review on January 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »
All-New X-Men #5
While Hank is attempting to save… Hank, Jean discovers more about herself than she probably ever wanted to know.
That’s really the crux of this whole issue. The one member of the team who is dead finds out why… and when she does, she doesn’t like what she sees. Granted, no one wants to be dead, but considering everything Jean went through, all the times she died and came back, her relationship with Scott being such as it was… it is enough to terrify anyone… and I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.
Jean is smart, she knows if they go back then the Professor will find out and wipe their minds and they won’t have learned anything from seeing the future. A bunch of people are okay with that but she’s not okay with it. She claims they can do better here, fixing the modern world, but in reality I think she just doesn’t want to die, or at least not in the way it happened, nor after Scott cheated on her.
Speaking of which… after learning her fate through Hank’s memories, Jean wants nothing to do with Scott, told him to stay the hell away from her.
I feel sorry for Scott, I really do, this kid hasn’t done anything wrong. Sure, he’s capable of doing many wrongs but he’s a product of his environment… of events both within and outside his control. There is no guarantee he would go all revolutionary or cheat on Jean if he had the chance to again. Wolverine is all about ‘second chances’ like he did with Quire but apparently that doesn’t extend to Scott who is only lucky Wolvie doesn’t gut him.
I fear that if young Scott goes the way of old Scott they will have no one to blame but themselves.
p.s. on a side note, I hope they drop any idea of Wolverine and Jean hooking up, I know he loved her but this Jean isn’t the same one he knew, but more importantly, she’s jail bait, and while Wolvie doesn’t age, if he hangs around waiting for her to become legal… mucho creepy… but thankfully he looks to have moved on from her and will be hooking up with Storm soon.
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged daily news roundup, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel on January 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »
ComicBookMovie – VIDEO: See Melisa Stetten’s Audition For Gamora In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Newsarama – 10 Marvel Heroes That Should Meet with Their Past-Selves
io9 – Deadpool Shot First: A Collection of Ridiculous Deadpool Crossover Art
Deadpool Vs. Batman by Mike Kevan
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged Alphas, Heroes, Mutant X, news, SyFy, television, Warehouse 13, X-Men on January 16, 2013| 1 Comment »
SyFy has cancelled super-powered tv series Alphas after two seasons according to TVLine. This was a very realistic take on the super-power genre where people weren’t mutants, they were basically humans whose natural abilities were just ‘more advanced’ than normal.
Basically Alphas was a low budget Heroes without the mystique. Heroes was a high budget Mutant X without the B-Film style. Mutant X was a television version of the X-Men without the licensing.
All three of these tv shows did really well, Mutant X had three seasons and high ratings but its production company folded not through fault of the show. Heroes went four seasons, gained lots of awards, but was ultimately done in by its own convoluted writing. SyFy didn’t say exactly why Alphas was cancelled though don’t think it was ratings as it seems to be pulling the same numbers as Warehouse 13 during their season finales. But then Warehouse 13 is more marketable and has a smaller cast, not sure about their FX budget as well.
The audience has spoken though, they like their superheroes… especially when they are the more fanciful/magical kind even if they have a ‘reason’ for being super, like being government experiments in Mutant X. Alphas was the most ‘realistic’ and had the worst ratings. This just seems to prove that an X-Men tv series is a no brainer.
You have characters and a style people already love in X-Men that will bring people back, the Animated shows have already proven that X-Men in a serialized capacity sells! In fact, serialized is a much better fit for X-Men than movies simply because you have a huge cast and built in long-arc stories.
Simply make sure you don’t go completely off the reservation like X3 and X:O:W and you have a built in audience who will tune in. Then go a little on the realistic side to save on the FX budget but keep that mystique of super-powers and you’re golden. This can work people!
A girl can dream right?
Posted in Reviews, tagged Arrow, Review, television on January 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »
CW’s Arrow
So, let me get this straight. Oliver spends five years surviving on the Island, joining the Russian mafia, and beefing up into a super-archer… but the first time he gets his butt kicked he calls it quits?
Not to mention all the other fails in this episode, not the least of which is why does a cop leave a vital piece of evidence just laying out on his desk.
But again, the show suffers two major pitfalls that are driving me crazy. The first is the villain. Once again it might as well been a common street mugger for all the care that is given the bad guy. I don’t know how big Firefly was in the comics but here he burns some buildings down, gives a little ‘you left me to die speech’, then becomes one with the flame. There is nothing in any of this that makes us care at all about the villain, let alone that Arrow actually does just about nothing to defeat him.
The reason Batman has been so successful in so many other mediums is that great care is given to the villains. They are either made sympathetic or truly scary. They also get a chance to come back and make things even worse. Not so in Arrow. These named characters are made to be fodder.
This might have been forgivable had the main characters not spent the whole episode making speeches. “I have to be this” “I have to do that”. Not only are they making these long speeches but they do them standing still. This makes everything very stagnant and dry. Plus, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, if a character has to give a speech to explain how they are feeling and whatnot, then you’ve already failed in basic characterization. We should be shown all this, not told through constant talking.
I really hope this isn’t a sign of what we can expect from Amazon… Wonder Woman needs to be treated better than that.
Feature Length Gambit & Rogue fan fic movie by JCRG. Cover art by VagabondX
X-Men: The (fan fic) Series 