GLAAD Best Comic Nominees Part 2

    I hope Avengers: The Children’s Crusade wins the GLADD Best Comic Awards. Hulkling and Wiccan fell in love in Young Avengers. As the heroes try to save the Scarlet Witch (Wiccan’s mother) they are in the center of a huge storyline featuring Doctor Doom, Avengers and X-Men. The book is filled with action but the heart of story is the strong relationships between the boys and their devoted teammates.  This is one of the most beautifully written and drawn stories Marvel is publishing.

Northstar to the rescue. Courtesy Marvel.com

 

  I’m hoping that Marjorie Liu’s upcoming Astonishing X-Men (featuring the return of Northstar and his partner Kyle) will be nominated next year. Northstar (when he was in Alpha Flight) was the first superhero to come out. The Canadian mutant has been a teacher and mentor to younger gay mutants, Anole and Graymalkin.

  If you want to learn more about Northstar you can read my post about why he should rejoin the X-Men – which he will later this year.

  Teen Titans (part of the DC New 52) welcomed Bunker, an openly gay Mexican teen hero. Scott Lobdell co-created Bunker with the plan to make him flamboyantly out. It will be interesting to see Bunker’s story develop in Teen Titans and if the book will be nominated next year.

Teen Titans #3 from DC Comics. Art by Brett Booth.

  You may want to read my post about gay heroes in comics.
  Thanks to Comics Alliance for the story about this year’s GLAAD nominees.

James Bond Skyfall Plot Point Revealed?

Skyfall is not based on any of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels or short stories. An image on the official 007 Twitter feed could be a key plot point and perhaps the meaning of Skyfall? Never underestimate a fan’s obsessive eye and need for information!

 

You may consider this speculation a SPOILER so you may not want to keep reading:

 

 

 

  It’s just clapper board but if you look closer you see what looks like two meteorites entering the atmosphere according to MI6.com.

Courtesy MI6-HQ.COM

  Thanks to MI6-HQ.com for capturing the images and their analysis.

courtesy MI6-HQ.COM

  When I first heard Skyfall I thought the plot could be some invention that can bring down satellites – maybe like when Desmond Hume inadvertently brought down Ocean Flight 815 on Lost.

As I write this post (and remembering the official statement that M’s past come back to haunt her) I’m thinking of For Your Eyes Only when 007 races Russian operatives to recover critical military technology from a sunken ship. Perhaps Skyfall will involve Bond racing to recover secrets in a crashed satellite. After the plots of Daniel Craig’s previous films I think crashing meteorites is little too sci-fi but with the cast and crew involved – they could make any plot work.

Secret Avengers Versus Sentinaughts?

Sentinels courtesy Marvel.com

  The Descendants are rising up to threaten the surface world in Secret Avengers #22. A mysterious enemy known as “The Father” created these new races evolved from the most famous robots and androids in the Marvel Universe. All this week new writer Rick Remender is revealing the new foes with his research and commentary on Marvel.com. The latest Father File reveals the Sentinaughts, descendants of mutant hunting Sentinels.

“The Sentinaught Society is sentient Sentinels who have a natural hate for mutants and still have some of their original tendencies from their mindless ancestors,” says Rick Remender of these Descendants. “Such as their inherent need to crush, kill, and destroy the mutant race. [But] they’re individuals. So any Sentinaught that you’d meet would have its own personality and background. The Core has been hidden for so many years, and these things have been living there for many, many years. So these things all have their own back-stories and likes and dislikes.”

 Earlier Remender revealed The Core is a hidden city deep within the Earth where the Sentinaughts, The Machine People and UltraVisions are waiting to strike.

 For more of Remender’s notes and quotes visit Marvel.com.

AVX Colossus, Red Hulk, Thing, Namor Underwater Clash

  The latest AVX cover is a crushing battle between a Juggernaut fueled Colossus and Red Hulk. The Avengers Versus X-Men #2 variant is by Nick Bradshaw, new artist on Wolverine and the X-Men. Bradshaw created variant X-title variants for the Regenesis relaunch.

Red Hulk and Colossus fighting while Namor has his grip around Ben Grimm and other Avengers and X-Men are defeated in murky water. Is this a downed Quinjet, X-Wing or SHIELD helicarrier?

For more on AVX here’s the Marvel.com link.

 

 

Secret Avengers Face Doomborgs!

Doombot courtesy Marvel.com

  Rick Remender is pulling from Marvel history to create new races for the start of his Secret Avengers run. The Descendants are evolved versions of Marvel’s most famous androids and robots. The writer is revealing the new ‘races’ created by a mysterious enemy in The Father Files on Marvel.com.

 Remender takes Doctor Doom’s infamous Doombots to a new level of evil. Here are his notes and commentary on the Doomborgs.

“The Descendants that are derived from previous species, such as the Doomborgs being descendants of the Doombots, are all failed in someway. They’re all incomplete in some fashion. All of the Descendants that are built off of previously existing robots in the Marvel Universe are somewhat flawed. We will reveal what those flaws are as they progress. There are perfect Descendants but they were introduced to the general population and haven’t been heard from or seen since. They’re among us procreating. Whereas I guess these would be the red-headed stepchildren of those more perfect descendants.”

Doombots courtesy Marvel.com

 

  Remender definitely knows how to reinvent exciting characters and worlds from history. Just read the Uncanny X-Force Dark Angel Saga to see what he did in the Age of Apocalypse. Secret Avengers #22 is Remender’s first issue with Hawkeye as team leader. For more of Remender’s notes and quotes here’s the Marvel.com link.

 

The Man of Steel Actor on Comic Con Culture

 

"The Man of Steel" Courtesy Warner Bros.

  Superman versus General Zod in The Man of Steel won’t happen until June of 2013 but actor Michael Shannon says that’s all most people want to talk to him about. This role will mark Shannon’s first venture into the fan crazed world. The Boardwalk Empire star tells Hero Complex he’s baffled by the Comic-Con culture.

  “There are legions of fans salivating, who will literally spend the next year and a half looking at the clock, waiting for this movie,” Shannon said, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s just the way it is. I don’t know why. Me, personally, I’m not a huge fan. I can’t even read comic books. I don’t know which panel to look at next. I hardly ever know what any of the characters are talking about. So, no, I am not one of them. But there are a lot of them. They’re out there. And they really want to talk to me about this movie!”

  Terence Stamp played the Kryptonian villain in Superman II. For the full interview click the Hero Complex link here.

Michael Fassbender on X-Men: First Class Sequel Ideas

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

  Michael Fassbender quotes are coming fast and furious as the hot star talks about a possible sequel to X-Men: First Class while promoting his new movie Haywire.

  Fassbender gave IFC his thoughts on the next chapter of Xavier and Magneto.

  “You know what’s interesting about Magneto and Professor X from the comic books as well, is there’s such a complexity to their relationship,” he explained, offering the notion that Magneto need not necessarily become a full-fledged villain. “It’s not just like clear-cut enemies; they’re best friends as well. In the comic books, even after they’ve had this sort of rift, Professor X asks Magneto to come back and look after the students at certain points… I think there’s always that complexity in their relationship and we want to keep that alive as possible, because that’s I think a really interesting thing — the conflict there.”

  “I get where [Magneto] is coming from, that’s for sure — having read the source material, the comic books,” he explained. “From what we know with human beings, history has told us that we’re a pretty destructive race, so you can see where he’s coming from. It’s always interesting for me to have the villains doing positive things as well as negative or destructive things. I just think it’s more realistic.”

  I would like to see Magneto’s children (Polaris, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver) turn up in the sequel. Fassbender is still a young man so casting and aging make-up would be considerations to make it work.

  Thanks to SuperHeroHype for the story.