SHIELD Agent Coulson on The Avengers

Marvel's The Avengers courtesy Marvel.com

  Clark Gregg plays it cool and professional as SHIELD Agent Coulson in the cinematic Marvel universe (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor). Gregg tells Collider he’s a cut of The Avengers.

  “I’m very excited for people to see this movie. I think the fans, like me, will be as excited as I was, when I saw it. From the minute I read Joss Whedon’s script, I thought, “Oh, man, this is going to be fun to do!” The hardest thing to get right is to figure out how to bring all those characters together, and to fulfill the promise of The Avengers. They really set a very high bar for themselves because you’ve been setting this coalition up, for these five movies, and they better deliver. And in my opinion, they thoroughly deliver.”

For Gregg’s entire interview including his voice work on Ultimate Spider-Man here’s the Collider link.

DC Creators at Emerald City Comicon

 

Emerald City Comicon Exclusive by Alex Ross courtesy Emerald City Comicon

I’m excited! Emerald City Comicon is almost here! DC Comics always has a big presence here at the Seattle event. The Source just provided this update of the DC creators and panels.

  Friday’s DC COMICS ALL ACCESS and Sunday’s DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 panels will be moderated by editors Mike Marts, Ben Abernathy, Brian Cunningham and Rachel Gluckstern – with special guests from the DC Comics creative teams. And Saturday’s VERTIGO: NEW BLOOD panel will be moderated by editor Shelly Bond, who will also be joined by notable Vertigo creators.

   The DC Entertainment booth will have some of your favorite writers and artists from both Vertigo and DC Comics, including Mike Allred (IZOMBIE), Brian Buccellato (THE FLASH), Chris Burnham (BATMAN INCORPORATED), Greg Capullo (BATMAN), Aaron Lopresti (JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL), Francis Manapul (THE FLASH), Dustin Nguyen (JUSTICE LEAGUE BEYOND UNLIMITED), Chris Roberson (IZOMBIE), Gail Simone (BATGIRL), Marcus To (BATWING), Joshua Williamson (VOODOO) and Bill Willingham (FABLES).

Hope you get to meet your favorite! If you’re not in the Seattle, I hope you’ll come back to this site next week for updates.

“Prometheus” Ridley Scott on the Space Jockey

Prometheus cover of Empire Magazine May 2012

  Prometheus marks Ridley Scott’s return to the Alien universe. In an upcoming issue of Empire the director reveals his passion to return to explore the back story especially the Space Jockey – an obsession of mine too.

“[I’ve wanted to revisit it for] years! Years, years, years,” he stresses of Alien‘s space traveller subplot. “I always wondered when they did [Aliens] 2,3 and 4 why they hadn’t touched upon that, instead of evolving into some other fantastic story. They missed the biggest question of them all: who’s the big guy? And where were they going? And with what? Why that cargo? There’s all kinds of questions.”

Prometheus is out June 1st. The Empire issue is out March 29th.

Astonished By Marjorie Liu’s X-Men – Updated

Astonishing X-Men #48 courtesy Marvel

  Marjorie Liu makes a powerful first impression with her first issue of Astonishing X-Men this week. The action kicks in with a peak into the near future where Northstar is being stalked by his new teammates. I have a theory about what’s behind the possible betrayal.

 The story jumps back to the present where Northstar is settling in to domestic bliss – until a fellow Canadian mutant calls – with boyfriend Kyle. Gambit is entertaining a surprise guest at his home away from the school. I’m thrilled to see this former X-woman back. After an entertaining look into the personal lives of  X-Men the drama explodes literally with the new version of a classic team of villains.  

  I feel like I’m experiencing a cool slice of life with these mutants in city. Mike Perkins style has a grit that feels right for this X-Men in New York City story. His talent really shines in the facial expressions. It’s amazing to see how much character and relationship development Liu weaves in one issue while still packing action and intrigue.

Update: I must have been so excited to have Northstar back that I missed the fact that Jean Paul is called Jean Claude three times in the issue. Mon Dieu!

Concrete Martians

Concrete MartiansbyMitch Cook

  Martians invaded Concrete, Washington back in the 1930’s or so the legend goes! Concrete is in the beautiful North Cascades north of Seattle. This old tale is the inspiration for a comic book just waiting for publisher.

  Mitch Cook is a good friend, fellow comic book reader and co-worker (our day jobs) with a dream of being published. I’m hoping this shout out will help. To all the editors and indie publishers at Emerald City Comicon – if you get approached by Mitch please give him a shot.

  This story of small town nightmares inspired by true events is chilling and fun. It’s the kind of creepy cool story Mulder and Scully of The X-Files would have loved digging into and you will too. If you enjoyed the stories of real panic inspired by the radio broadcasts of The War of Worlds this story has that flavor but with its own dark and clever twists.

Concrete Martians by Mitch Cook

    I love how the artist captured the small town 1930’s feel.  Enjoy this tale of paranoia, bizarre circumstances and the power of mass media on a small town. Hopefully Concrete Martians will be invading your comic book shop one day soon! Good luck Mitch! He also wrote a heckuva cool Kitty Pryde X-Men script that would be a perfect for an X-Anthology.

New Avengers Black Widow Photos Updated

The Avengers Marvel Films

Great geek news week for fans of the Black Widow! Following up on the story that Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role in Iron Man 3, Comic Book Movie scored two new pictures of Johansson (via Entertainment Weekly) as the SHIELD agent from The Avengers. By Editor

The Avengers Marvel Films

 Think Black Widow should have her own movie? Here are some excellent graphic novels starring Natasha that could be inspiration for the big screen: Black Widow: Deadly Origin and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose

 By Editor

Avengers Assemble in Seattle

Tom Hiddleston as Loki & Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Thor courtesy Marvel

  Not only is Seattle comic book cool because we’re the home of Emerald City Comicon, Ed Brubaker, Fantagraphics and Soundgarden (their first song in 15 years will be featured in Marvel’s The Avengers!) but we have the Seattle International Film Festival.

  SIFF Cinema is giving Avengers fans their own heroic festival to get caught up on the super team’s solo adventures. The Avengers Assemble series is April 30th May 4th at SIFF Cinema Uptown. You can see The Incredible Hulk, an Iron Man Double Feature, Thor in 3D and Captain America: The First Avenger in 3D.

And don’t forget the The International Film Festival starts May 17th.

“Prometheus” Talking Empire Cover

 

Prometheus cover of Empire Magazine May 2012

  Prometheus star Noomi Rapace is gracing the cover of the May issue of Empire Magazine. The cover proclaims Ridley Scott’s return to the Alien universe as “the movie of the year.”

  The cover comes with its own special effects: Empire promotes that their holographic cover will shout “We were so wrong!” at you when you open it.

  That’s the line from Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) from the trailer which you can see again below: