Mark Waid talks about his upcoming relaunch of the Hulk at New York Comic Con. Indestructible Hulk finds Bruce Banner working with SHIELD and finding a way to channel the smashing power of the Hulk.
Waid says the green goliath was his favorite character in The Avengers movie.
“I can watch the Hulk ragdoll Loki all day.”
The new take on Hulk is similar to how he evolved on the big screen. Hulk isn’t just smashing randomly but being directed.
“As Hulk destroys, Banner builds.”
With Banner back in control a fan asked how vocal the Hulk will be.
“We don’t want Cookie Monster Hulk but we don’t want super eloquent Hulk. Put it this way, he doesn’t speak aloud a lot. …He hits with his words as hard as he hits with his fits.”
Leinil Francis Yu is the artist on Indestructible Hulk smashing into stores next month.
The minds behind American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest reunite for a new Vertigo limited series next year. Scott Snyder (Batman) and Sean Murphy (Joe the Barbarian, Punk Rock Jesus) create The Wake for Vertigo Comics, an underwater sci-fi story.
“I couldn’t be more excited about The Wake!” Snyder tells the Source, “This is a story Sean and I have actually been developing together for more than a year, a big, twisted, sprawling science fiction and horror epic, all of which begins with a single, terrifying discovery at the bottom of the ocean. It’s one of the most ambitious stories I’ve ever done, and there’s no one I’d rather be creating it with than Sean Murphy. Sean’s a great friend and we had a blast together on American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest; luckily, he’s also one of the industry’s brightest new stars, someone with unrivaled abilities as a world-builder—every scene he draws is so fully realized, so richly imagined, it’s hugely inspiring working with him, and I’m grateful to him for signing on to be my partner at the end of the world, here.”
Lights appeared all over the world as a result of the events in Avengers vs. X-Men #12. This week a light went out in Wolverine and the X-Men #18. The death of an icon earlier in the series deserved all the media attention and fan frenzy it received. I want to take a moment to remember the young mutant who was brutally killed this week. This death was more heartbreaking and had more of an impact on me. It hurt to see that final panel.
This week’s issue shows life for the students and staff of the Jean Grey School as they wait for the outcome of the final battle with Dark Phoenix Cyclops. Jason Aaron and Jorge Molina are pitch perfect with action scenes, humor, teen drama at the school dance – with Lockheed as dj – and kids’ reaction to that final moment of AvX.
Aaron brings several storylines at the school to a head amid the impact of the AvX event. You feel importance of AvX in this issue. You can sense the kids’ fear and hope over the outcome and their future. It’s been a year of thrills, laughs, friendships built and tested. Then Jason Aaron delivered a sucker punch to the gut with a shocking death that hurt but will propel the series and kids forward.
2013 is Superman’s 75th Anniversary and fans have reason to celebrate. The Man of Steel by Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan will hit the big screen. Scott Snyder and Jim Lee will team up to launch a brand new Superman book.
“As a huge fan of Scott’s writing, I’m looking forward to drawing Superman as much as I am reading Scott’s story as it unfolds,” Lee told The Source, “Scott’s crafted a truly epic yet personal story which will demonstrate without a doubt why Superman remains the most iconic hero of the modern age. 2013 is gonna absolutely rock!”
“I’ve loved Superman since I was a kid, and to be working on him now, with the great Jim Lee, is simply too thrilling for words. It’s a dream come true for me on every front,” said Snyder . “I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say it’s the Superman story I’d write if I only ever got one chance to write the character. It’s an exploration of everything I love and am fascinated by about him. Like Court of Owls for Batman, it’s a character piece for Clark – it’s going to challenge him to his core. And it’s definitely epic in scope, with huge action and drama – the biggest and most earth-shaking action I’ve ever done. Can’t wait to see what you all think of it. Couldn’t be more grateful or excited to get the chance to make this one!”
Will Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker “hit the jackpot?”
Variety reports Sony is in talks with Shailene Woodley (The Descedants, The Secret Life of An American Teenager) to play Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man sequel. Director Marc Webb is back to direct. According to the story the search is on for an actor to play Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend and eventual enemy and an unspecified villain. The report says an option is Max Dillon aka Electro.
I hope the producers continue to keep Norman Osborn off camera and in the shadows until a final film. I would love to see Dr. Michael Morbius aka Morbius, The Living Vampire as a villain in the tradition of the Lizard from the first film.
Gail Simone delivers a gripping showdown with a new villainess and sets the stage for Barbara Gordon’s “reunion” the Joker in Batgirl #13 this week. Knightfall is Simone’s most twisted of the the new rogues gallery she’s crafted for Batgirl. Knightfall is in many ways the kind of vigilante Bruce Wayne could have easily turned out to be. Part of Simone’s brilliance is that all the enemies she’s created this past year are damaged just like Barbara.
Batgirl suffers in this issue. She’s beaten, gutted and bleeding but Barbara won’t back down. The Batgirl/Knightfall fight is brutal. What I love is that Barbara is determined but not cocky. Batgirl knows she could be one slip away from dying but Barbara knows if she can save a victim it’s worth the suffering.
This issue is a prelude to Batgirl’s role in the Death of the Family crossover. In a scene that’s eerily similar to that horrible moment in The Killing Joke, a member of Barbara’s family is attacked by the Joker’s enforcers.
Barbara’s reunion with the Joker will be chilling and thrilling but Simone is looking beyond that showdown as we seen all the new enemies from the past year gathered into what could be Batgirl’s own version of the Sinister Six.
Brian Wood and David Lopez deliver their final issue of X-Men this week. I hate to see this end of this creative team. They have crafted one of my favorite Storm stories of all time. Wood writes her as the strong, decisive leader that Chris Claremont made her.
Storm and her unit (Colossus, Psylocke, Domino, Pixie) discovered the remains of a race of proto-mutants that lived on the planet before modern mutants. The team’s search for the truth led to a ruthless scientist, a deranged cult and finally to the one proto-mutant left alive on Earth.
Storm felt this discovery was so powerful she kept it from Cyclops and Wolverine. The tension between Ororo and a disapproving Colossus has been building. In each previous issue you can feel the confrontation building. In this issue the tension explodes into a bitter, violent confrontation between the old friends.
Pixie confronts Gabriel hoping he can give her answers missing links in mutant evolution. In a masterful exchange the young mutant tries her best to argue with this ancient solitary ancestor.
David Lopez’s art is beautiful and powerful. He conveys the shifts of confidence and conflict in Storm, the hope and desperation in Pixie, the anger and pain in Colossus.
I’ve said it before – this storyline reminds me of the classic Chris Claremont/Paul Smith era with generous twists of a Torchwood or X-Files case to create a compelling mystery of corrupted science, the burden of secrets and search for answers about the origin of mutants.
I hope Brian Wood and David Lopez will soon be added to a Marvel Now book. The revamp is about new ideas and new takes on Marvel characters – they already delivered this year in a big, creative and satisfying way.
Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in Skyfall this November. Craig’s third film as 007 is part of the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. While you wait for the newest adventure of Ian Fleming’s super spy consider enjoying a blast from the past. 007 has starred in movies, novels, comic books and daily comic strips.
The James Bond Omnibus collects nine original daily comic strips by writer Jim Lawrence and artist Yaroslav Horak from Titan Books. My favorite Bond novel and movie is From Russia, With Love so I really enjoyed these retro tales of 007. These strips were published by British newspapers in the early 1970’s.
Horak’s stark black and white art reminds me of Klaus Janson (Daredevil.) This James Bond is chiseled with visual elements of Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
courtesy Titan Books
In the first story Trouble Spot James Bond encounters a trio of femme fatales and sharkfaced KGB spymaster and goes undercover in a nudist colony?
The collection also includes titles like Die With My Boots On, The Girl Machine, and The Nevsky Nude. filled with dangerous Bond girls, sinister villains, exotic locales and some surprising plot twists. I think Ian Fleming would raise his martini to this omnibus.
The James Bond Omnibus 004 from Titan Books is perfect for the 007 fanatic but for all lovers of classic adventure comic strips and graphic storytelling.
