The Defenders by Matt Fraction Trade Paperback is out this week collecting the first six issues of the series.
In the aftermath of Fear Itself this odd mix of heroes is recruited to stop a monster’s rampage. I won’t spoil the hero that summons Dr. Strange, Silver Surfer, Iron Fist, Namor and Red She-Hulk into this latest incarnation of Marvel’s non-team.
The book has action, humor and strange twists. How does the idea of Dr. Strange hooking up, monsters and zero gravity kung-fu in the first chapter strike you? The misfits discover threats and mysteries on Wundagore Mountain and deep in the sea. Fraction has said the book is filled with characters he really wanted to write and you can feel the love for each of them. Dodson’s bold art captures the big screen fun, supernatural twists and enthusiasm Fraction pounds into the script.
Defenders by Matt Fraction cover courtesy Marvel.com
With so many other Marvel teams why would you need the Defenders? Why would a concept that’s been tried so many times he another reboot. Check out Defenders By Matt Fraction and you’ll see why. If only Fraction could find a way to bring Hellcat back on the team!
Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye of Marvel’s The Avengers) takes over the Jason Bourne action franchise (from Matt Damon) with The Bourne Legacy. Writer/Director Tony Gilroy hints how Damon and Renner’s characters could be together in a new film. Gilroy’s game plan for continuing the series revealed in the latest Empire magazine is pure Shakespearean.
“If you think of the first three Bourne films as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, then we’re showing you Elsinore. You thought you were seeing something you weren’t. What if there’s a much larger story? What if Treadstone wasn’t the only black-ops programme?
“I had never spent one moment thinking about how to do a sequel to Bourne Ultimatum. I first came in for two weeks just to spitball. I had a very random idea…so we started with that and it got more and more exciting. All of a sudden I was staring at something that had a great deal of resonance and was soulful and uncynical and was also gonna kick ass. So that was good.”
Producer Frank Marshall says, “You see there are several different programmes in the movie with different skill sets. All possibilities are open. My dream is that in the next one we see Matt and Jeremy team up.”
For the entire interview here’s the link or watch for the new issue of Empire magazine.
Here’s the trailer:
Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 courtesy IDW Publishing
The Borg attack a Federation planet but they are not alone. The Cybermen are with them. This frightening alliance can only mean one thing…crossover! IDW Publishing phase Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation together in a new series. I said “make it so” to the premiere issue.
Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 #2 is out this week. The Doctor, Amy and Rory beam aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. Will Captain Picard mistake the Time Lord for a member of the Q Continuum? You could see how that might happen! How did the Starfleet’s greatest threat form an alliance with the Doctor’s most ruthless enemies? Resistance is futile…I must get this next chapter.
After a mind warping miniseries (Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega) Brian Wood is now chronicling two X-Books in two different universes. X-Men #30 saw Storm’s security team investigate a new race of mutants and what might be the start of a schism between Ororo and Scott. Kitty Pryde is taking charge of Ultimate Comics: X-Men as the mutants struggle to survive in a nation overrun with Sentinels.
X-Men #32 courtesy Marvel.com
Brian Wood revealed how he writes two different X-teams in two different worlds on Marvel.com. Jim Beard asked about writing a small team of mutants versus the huge cast populating the other X-books.
“It’s funny you ask that because to me, this is not a small team! I don’t have much of a history of writing team books; most of what I’ve done has been non-super hero creator-owned, with single character POVs or small casts. So to me, right now, a five-person primary cast is big, and I’m still getting the hang of it.”
Wood was asked if the characters are telling the direction they want to go and elaborated on the security team leader.
X-Men #33 courtesy Marvel.com
“I’ve found this to be true, since these characters have so much history and written experience that helps guide what they say and do, at least in a reactionary way. Unless something really specific is going on, we all know how a certain character is likely to react to something. So yeah, this has happened and I’ve found myself pleasantly surprised by writing Storm. She’s become more than I thought she would be in this story.”
Over in the Ultimate-verse Kitty Pryde is getting a new look (no more Shroud?) and assuming a leadership role.
Ultimate Comics: X-Men #14 courtesy Marvel.com
“Kitty’s new costume was an idea of mine that Jorge Molina kindly made into reality, and it’s entirely about supporting events in the story. It’s part of Kitty’s new no-hiding, no-label, no-codename philosophy—almost an anti-costume. For her to have anything else would be in opposition to the story. I generally like costumes when they feel real and are practical, that look like human hands made them. I don’t have total control over them, of course, these aren’t my characters, but whenever possible that’s the approach I’ll take.”
“She makes herself a good leader. At first, she decides this is what she wants and then goes out and literally takes it; she aggressively becomes this mutant revolutionary, this freedom fighter. And I’m using those terms in an old school, 20th century way, shades of Che [Guevara] and of Malcolm X—people out to reclaim power from the occupiers, nothing more. And before anyone starts getting alarmed at those references, they’re not meant to be literal.”
Ultimate Comics: X-Men #16 courtesy Marvel.com
Wood and Kitty take command in time for the Divided We Fall crossover with the rest of the Ultimate books. For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link. Here’s my review of X-Men #30X-Men #31 is out this week.
Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham are delivering a twisted tale withBatman Inc. Issue #2 is out this week. DC comics revealed the variant cover for July’s issue #3 by Jason Fabok.
A bloody Dark Knight boldly stands in front of a stark emblem that looks like it could belong to the Red Lanterns. Perhaps it’s part of Talia Al Ghul’s Leviathan network?
Batman Inc #2A bitter and bizarre custody fight. With Batman and Talia Al Ghul for parents no wonder Damian has issues. Batman has created a global crime fighting franchise. Talia has a worldwide empire out to crush it. But the real fight is for the soul of Robin. Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham follow-up their macabre masterpiece debut.
Fatale #6 The time twisting horror crime noir series kicks off a new arc. Nicholas Lash is obsessed. In the modern day Lash tries to uncover the mystery of Josephine, a woman who may be immortal. In the 1970’s Jo is a woman carving out a new life. But you can bet Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips will expose Hollywood’s dark (and possibly demonic) underbelly.
Manhattan Projects #4 Who would have imagined Albert Einstein as a comic book anti-hero? Jonathan Hickman continues his twisted alternate history of weird science. The atomic bomb was just a cover for what this government think tank was really up to but is this Einstein’s final creation?
Spider-Men #2 courtesy Marvel
Spider-Men #2 Peter Parker’s encounter with a classic foe throws him into a new world to meet Miles Morales. Amazing Spider-Man meets Ultimate Spider-Man. Will the two wallcrawlers bond or clash?
Wolverine and the X-Men #12 An AvX tie-in with cosmic consequences. Kid Gladiator is a breakout new character. Will the arrogant alien get schooled when he takes on the Avengers? Emperor Gladiator is leading Shi’ar military might to Earth to save his son and destroy the Phoenix.
Secret Avengers #22 art by Gabriel Hardman courtesy Marvel.com
One comic book show is not enough in Seattle! The Jet City Comic Show will be September 22nd at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. The show just announced two new guests: Artist Gabriel Hardman (Secret Avengers, Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes) and his wife writer Corrina Bechko (Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes.)
The talented couple joined previously announced guests: Joe Casey, Matthew Clark, Emi Lenox, Colleen Coover, Paul Tobin, Brandon Seifert, Seattle-based Moritat and many more.
Come check out the one-day event in the shadow of the Space Needle – come see it while it’s got an orange top…seriously.
The heroes of Marvel unite in the fight against breast cancer. Eight of Marvel’s biggest titles will go pink this October with variant covers in support of the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Campaign during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. These books will be sold exclusively in comic shops and include a one-page advertorial educating readers about breast cancer.
Captain America #18 courtesy Marvel.com
“Marvel is proud to partner with Susan G. Komen For the Cure to support their unparalleled efforts to raise awareness about the risk of breast cancer to both women and men,” said Dan Buckley, Publisher & President of the Print, Animation & Digital Divisions, Marvel Worldwide, Inc. “We’re in a unique position to educate all our fans worldwide and increase awareness of the ways to fight—and reduce– this risk of this disease by utilizing our comics and online presence.”
