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John Carter Comics Explosion

  Edgar Rice Burroughs’ legendary novels comes alive on the big screen in Disney’s John Carter.    

  Taylor Kitsch plays the military officer transported to a bizarre new world. Director Andrew Stanton creates the strange world and warring races of Mars. Lynn Collins plays Princess Dejah Thoris. Collins was on the first season of True Blood an played Silver Fox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Willem Dafoe plays the warrior Tars Tarkas, one of my favorite characters. 

  Disney’s John Carter arrives March 3rd in theaters.

John Carter The World of Mars courtesy Marvel.com

 

  You can get ready for the big screen adventure with several graphic novels:

 John Carter Worlds of Mars is an all ages series from Marvel collecting John Carter: A Princess of Mars #1-#5. This series features the Earthman’s first encounter with the Princess of Mars, the white apes of Barsoom, and the warrior races, the Tharks. 

 

The Warlord of Mars courtesy Dynamite Entertainment

 

 

 

 

  Dynamite Entertainment publishes several comics based on Edgar Rice Burroughs series. Schedule to arrive Wednesday:

 Warlord of Mars Annual #1 stars Tars Tarkas, the green warrior John Carter will encounter.

Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom Volume #1 focuses on ancient wars on Mars 100,000 years before John Carter’s arrival.

 Warriors of Mars #1 features the Earthman who arrives on Mars before John Carter.

So there are some graphic novels get your Mars- ready for the big screen adventure!

Star Trek: The Next Generation 25th Anniversary Reunion

 

The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation 1987 photo by Gene Trindl courtesy mptvimages.com

 

  Star Trek: The Next Generation fans engage to the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Event organizers scored a major geek coup: the first ever reunion of the principal cast. This stellar event will mark the 25th Anniversary of the series.

 Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Levar Burton, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, Will Wheaton, Denise Crosby will appear at Star Trek TNG EXPOsed, a special ticketed event on April 28 at the Stampede Corral.

 “A lot of guys in the entertainment industry are looking at (the Calgary Comic Expo) now and thinking ‘How the hell did they pull that off?’ It’s like the little engine that could, right?” said founder Kandrix Foong.

 Thanks to the Calgary Herald for the story.

 Congratulations to the Calgary Comic Expo team for this huge gift for Star Trek fans! It is cool and weird that southern Alberta would be the location for this reunion. Although I admit I once visited beautiful Calgary in December when it was 20 below zero and it felt like I was breathing on an ice planet.

 William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Will Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner have been at my hometown’s excellent event and Emerald City Comicon welcomes George Takei this year.

 

 

Tweet with The Avengers Director and Stars

Avengers Character Banners courtesy Marvel.com

  How many fans would love the chance to talk with Joss Whedon? I would probably be speechless or so hard trying to be cool – I’d blow all my questions.

  Marvel is giving you the rare opportunity to chat (via Twitter) with the fan favorite creator and two stars of The Avengers.

  Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and Clark Gregg (SHIELD Agent Coulson) will join the writer/director Tuesday, January 31st 2pm EST for a global chat.

Fans can use the @Avengers handle and #Avengers hashtag in a live 30 minute session. The faithful will be rewarded with a :10 second preview of the :30 second commercial appearing in the Super Bowl.

For more details here’s the Marvel.com link to learn more.

X-Men: First Class Screenwriter Talks Sequel

Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy from X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com

  Jane Goldman is screenwriter and queen of comic book geek friendly films. She’s featured in Entertainment Weekly because her new film The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe opens February 3rd. I was fascinated to learn the greek cred connections Goldman shares.

  With director Matthew Vaughn, she gave us Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. The Goldman-Vaughn partnership started with an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. He’s a family friend who recommended Goldman to Vaughn. Her husband is British television presenter Jonathan Ross, who is collaborating with Bryan Hitch on an upcoming comic book series, America’s Got Powers. Goldman wrote the short film James Bond Supports International Women’s Day.

 With Kick-Ass based on Mark Millar’s comic and X-Men: First Class -Goldman has become the female member of a male dominated clique of superhero-film makers. 

“The only moment I became aware of being the only woman in a meeting is when actresses are being discussed,” she told EW, “If someone’s critical of how a woman looks, they turn to me and apologize.”

Goldman told EW she and Matthew Vaughn enjoyed a “huge amount of freedom” on the reboot. And her response to a Vaughn directed sequel, “I’m there.”

I’ve posted my hope that a X-Men: First Class sequel will introduce Magneto’s children: Polaris, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver.

I loved Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men: First Class – all very different movies from the comic book genre that worked – a sure sign that the Goldman/Vaughn partnership is magic.

 

Valkyrie Versus Avengers, Storm, the Marvel Universe!

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.

Here’s one of my favorite Art Adams X-Men stories from the late 80’s featuring Mojo, Longshot and the X-babies.

GLAAD DC Character to Watch

  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.

 For more of the Out interview click here.

 For my take on the latest issue of Teen Titans click here.

GLAAD LGBT Marvel Characters to Watch in 2012

  Because of the overwhelming response by my posts on the recent GLAAD Media Awards: Best Comic Book Nominees I wanted to share some LGBT characters to watch for in 2012.

  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_.

 These are some great X collections featuring Anole with a quick link: New X-Men: Academy X, Young X-Men, Nation X

Darkseid Blasts the Justice League

 

Justice League 5 courtesy DC Comics

Justice League #5 demonstrated the power of great scripting and art.

  Geoff Johns unites all the heroes who will become the Justice League just in time for Darkseid to blow them apart. Jim Lee draws two attacks by Darkseid that make you feel the heroes pain. You know a bad guy is bad ass when nothing needs to be said.

Johns gives Batman, Green Lantern and Flash the spotlight in this issue. Barry’s uses his speed for more than just outrunning the enemy. A brash Hal Jordan gets brutally humbled then checked by Bruce Wayne. Batman motivates Green Lantern to mobilize while he goes to hell…almost literally.

You don’t want to miss DC’s ultimate evil makes his New 52 debut.