Taylor Kitsch as John Carter AP Photo Frank Connor courtesy Disney Enterprises
I loved reading John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was younger and was thrilled to learn Disney and director Andrew Stanton would bring the adventure to the big screen.
Taylor Kitsch will play John Carter in the upcoming Disney epic directed by Andrew Stanton. The British Columbia native said he underwent a tough regime to get in shape for his sword fights and sporting a loincloth.
“It’s the most boring diet you could think of, really, it was four months before and seven months during, so an 11-month regimen with that. Good times,” he told The Associated Press. “Training at 4:30 in the morning before you go to work, and then training for the four months before as well. And then during the day, you’re training as well before takes.”
Fear Itself The Fearless #12 by Art Adams courtesy Marvel and Comic Book Resources Exclusive First
I’ve been raving about Fear Itself: The Fearless. The action packed series stars Valkyrie in a race with Sin to recover mystical hammers. The Norse warrior woman defied the Avengers in search to recover the Asgardian artifacts. The legendary Art Adams provides stunning covers for the limited series.
I was thrilled to see two preview images in this week’s Axel in Charge column on Comic Book Resources. Valkyrie is ready to strike on the cover to the final issue and another image shows Storm and Danielle Moonstar (back in her Valkyrie form) confronting Val with a hammer ready to strike.
When a fan asked about Art Adams upcoming work with Marvel, Editor in Chief Axel Alonso responded:
Fear Itself The Fearless preview cover courtesy Marvel
“Fingers crossed we can find time for him to draw a story in “AvX: Versus.” I mean, how cool would that be?
Seriously cool! Adams starts creating covers for Secret Avengers, also featuring Valkyrie, next month.
DC Comics earned GLAAD Media Awards Best Comic Book Nominations for Secret Six and Batwoman. Kate Kane is the most high profile lesbian character that defies labels and stars in her own critically acclaimed Batwoman series. Scandal Savage and her girlfriend Knockout are the anti-heroines of Secret Six by superstar writer Gail Simone.
Teen Titans #3 from DC Comics. Art by Brett Booth.
There’s a new out kid in town to watch out for who wears his signature purple and attitude proudly. Miguel Jose Barragan code name Bunker is a Mexican teen wielding purple force field bricks. He debuted in the New 52 Teen Titans.
“If the comic book industry doesn’t create another white, straight male superhero, that will be ok,” Titans writer Scott Lobdell says in the latest Out magazine.
Bunker joins established young heroes Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, a revamped Solstice and Skitter, a new creation. The Titans are currently fighting Superboy.
“It never entered my head that people would object to the color scheme of his outfit based on whether or not he was homosexual,” says Lobdell of Bunker’s signature color and criticism of his flamboyance. Miguel does refer to his own ‘cute butt’ when he first appeared.
When asked about Bunker’s possible love interests? “He has love in his past and in his future,” Lobdell says, “and will have a healthy relationship life as all the other characters in the book.”
Bunker versus Superboy in Teen Titans by Brett Booth courtesy DC Comics The Source
If you’re reading this great title you know that there’s no time for romance as the kids are trying to survive a twisted version of Superboy and the mysterious organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E. that’s hunting down metahuman teens across the DC Universe.
Scott Lobdell has a history of creating compelling adventures with diverse young characters and groundbreaking stories. He had an epic Uncanny X-Men run in the 90’s and created Generation X – including Monet St. Croix who now stars in GLAAD nominated title X-Factor. M is not a lesbian. M is a diva.
Lobdell wrote the breakthrough Alpha Flight issue in 1992 when Northstar came out after years of being in the comic book closet due to editorial policy. The Canadian mutant is rejoining the X-Men later this year.
Writer Marjorie Liu and Artist Mike Perkins are the new creative team on Astonishing X-Men starting in March. Northstar and Karma are in their lineup. I’ve posted before about why Northstar should rejoin the X-Men now that Alpha Flight is ending. Jean-Paul Baubier and boyfriend Kyle’s relationship was tested in Alpha Flight and the tension isn’t over as the couple move to Westchester. I’m hoping Jean-Paul will be a teacher at the Jean Grey School. You can read about Liu and Perkins take on Northstar in this post.
Karma preview art by Mike Perkins courtesy Marvel and Comics Newsarama
Karma was a founding member of the New Mutants. She has the mutant power to possess the minds of other people or animals. Xi’an (pronounced Shan) Coy Mahn was born in Vietnam. During the Mekanix series Karma and Kitty Pryde reunited at the University of Chicago. This is when Xian came out as a lesbian, confessed her for Kitty but Kitty’s heart belongs to Colossus. (OK I know they broke up but they’re soul mates.)
Karma eventually returned to the Xavier Institute as their librarian and became a mentor to Anole, a young gay mutant boy. When the X-Men were based in San Francisco Xi’an’s leg was injured in battle, had to be amputated and replaced with a prosthetic. It will be exciting to see Karma on the Astonishing team and perhaps have a love interest.
Anole (Victor Borkowski) is a young mutant with an appearance like the reptile he’s named after. Vic’s powers include wall crawling and adaptive camouflage. Vic was a student at Xavier’s then regrouped with the X-Men in San Francisco and decided to attend Wolverine’s new Jean Grey School. Anole is among the student cast of Wolverine and the X-Men. Anole and Rockslide’s (Santo is straight with a mutant body made of rocks) friendship continues to be hilarious and inspiring. You can follow Victor on Twitter @_Anole_.
Teen Titans is a blast. Engaging story. Dynamic Art. Action. Humor. FUN. I love deep dark mysteries and books that twist my mind and make me think. The new Teen Titans is a pure joy to read and it’s a fun, fast paced escape.
Scott Lobdell’s been building up to this showdown between the teens and Superboy and issue #5 delivers a kinetic, character building battle. There’s a moment between Tim Drake and Superboy demonstrating what heroism is all about. The new character Bunker and revamped Solstice are great elements in the team’s chemistry. The action builds to a conclusion that has me eager for the next issue of Superboy and Teen Titans.
Doctor Strange: The Oath cover courtesy Marvel.com
I hated math and science as a kid and a college student. Always said I’ll never use that for anything I want to pursue. If my teachers only knew the irony of this next story they’d be laughing and saying “we told you so.”
Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist. The scientist is one of three that got to work on Marvel’s Thor. The experts worked with the film’s writer, director and producer as a scientific advisor. You need help if you’re going to have Frost Giants falling to their death on an ice world.
io9 has the full interview and a scoop – Carroll says he’s working with Marvel on Doctor Strange! His job will be to set limits on the sorcerer Supreme’s powers.
Defenders #1 courtesy Marvel.com
You may have seen my post – a new photo of Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins made me think that he’d be perfect as the Master of the Mystic Arts.
I hope they chose the Doctor’s new threads he’s wearing as leaders of the new Defenders.
Today Marvel recognized the creative teams of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade and X-Factor for their GLAAD Media Awards. Both are nominated in Best Comic Book category.
“We try very hard at Marvel to be inclusive of people of all backgrounds, all races, all religions and all orientations,” said Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s Senior Vice-President of Publishing and editor of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. “And to make sure that a reader of any stripe can find a character that reflects their experiences within our stories.”
“Usually when you say, ‘It’s an honor just to be nominated,’ that’s code for prepping yourself for disappointment,” says X-Factor writer Peter David. “But in this instance, it genuinely is an honor considering that X-Factor was nominated and won last year. Not a convention goes by where a fan or fans comes up to me to tell me how much Rictor and Shatterstar’s relationship means to them, and that always fills me with a sense of pride; and also a feeling of—to borrow a page from Spidey—great responsibility. I’m just glad that Marvel has consistently allowed me the latitude to explore these kinds of topics.”
X-Factor's Shatterstar and Rictor courtesy Marvel.com
Allan Heinberg is the writer of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade featuring gay teens Wiccan and Hulkling. X-Factor made an appearance in this series.
For today’s complete press release click here. For my previous posts about all the nominated books (and who I want to win and who I think will win) click here and here.
Independent comic book publisher Oni Press revealed a new look today.
“Yep, for the first time since we started publishing in 1997, we’ve done a complete overhaul of our logo,” Oni Press editor-in-chief James Lucas Jones wrote to the company’s creator base via email. “The original Oni Press logo was designed by the amazing Dave Gibbons and based on a small trinket that publisher Joe Nozemack’s brother had brought back with him from a trip to Japan. It’s an iconic image that has served us well for a long time. We can’t thank Dave enough for contributing such a significant piece of our company’s brand and identity.”
courtesy Oni Press
The new logo will debut on one of Oni Press’ newest books: Brian Churilla’s The Secret History of D.B. Cooper. The first issue ships to comic book stores on March 14, 2012. The revamped Oni Press icon will appear on all books following, and there will also be merchandise and promotional items featuring the image available at upcoming conventions.
“This is only the beginning,” says Director of Marketing Cory Casoni. “We have plenty of big announcements and new publishing initiatives on the way. It would be easy for us to rest on our laurels, but instead we’re going to make the next couple of years our biggest yet.”
