It’s been rumored there will be references to Batman in Man of Steel. The success of the Superman reboot could determine the big screen future of the Dark Knight and the Justice League.
Until then you can soon head to your favorite comic book shop to see DC‘s two most iconic heroes team up in a brand new Batman/Superman series by Greg Pak and Jae Lee. This will be the definitive Continue reading Greg Pak Launches Batman/Superman
Jae Lee Art!
Greg Pak Story!
The first meeting in The New 52 of the Dark Knight and Man of Steel!
Did I mention Jae Lee Art?!
Jae Lee inspired huge lines recently at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle. While fanboys and girls waited patiently with copies of Hellshock, X-Men, Wolverine and Masks covers the #1 question on most of our minds was about this sure to be epic new series!
I know Greg Pak will write a powerhouse story but for now let’s just take in the art!!!
Batman/Superman #1 June 5th!
By Editor
Looking at the shelves a fellow comic book reader (with excellent taste and insight) and I were talking about Greg Pak’s new X-Treme X-Men. Almost in unison we say “I’m giving this book a shot for Dazzler.”
How a character that should have failed (the Disco singer was created at the end of the Disco era) still be so beloved? Ali debuted in 1980 in Uncanny X-Men #130. Marvel worked with Casablanca Records (home of KISS and Donna Summer) to develop the character and even proposed a movie for the character. Dazzler soon rollerskated her way into her own series. It didn’t last.
Alison Blaire survived and became part of the Chris Claremont/Marc Silvestri Uncanny X-Men era. Matt Fraction moved Ali out to San Francisco when the mutants relocated out west. Pixie was a fan but Ali soon fell to back burner status.
Greg Pak is sending Ali (along with alternate versions of Emma Frost, Wolverine and Nightcrawler) across the dimensions on a mission to kill…Professor X.
Dazzler is a creation from a bygone era that has been dangling on the edge of comic book banishment for years. Greg Pak tells Comics Newsarama why he saw potential in Ali and put her on his new team.
“I bought that first Dazzler issue way back in the day and always though the character was a hoot. But I never had the chance to write her before, so I hadn’t really thought deeply about her until her name came up while I was in the early stages of developing X-Treme with the X-Editors. But as soon as I started mulling it over, I realized she was just perfect. First, she’s hugely powerful — her ability to manifest solid light blasts make her a pretty good Cyclops analogue, power-wise, which is a nice thing for a team leader.
But more importantly, she’s a great, grounded character with a fun self-deprecating vibe who would be a great POV character to run through a bunch of alternative realities with. Finally, she’s a straight-up hero. And embracing her sometimes goofy past while seriously delving into her character gives us great contrast, increased believablity, and a really strong hero’s journey. ”
Pak gave Ali a new boyfriend named Johnny Ito in X-Treme X-Men #1 and the a change in her sound. Why did this former disco diva go country?
“She’s getting real. And she’s having fun. Dazzler’s a pop star and an icon, which means she’s constantly reinventing herself,” Pak explains, “Keep your eyes open, too — she’ll go through a variety of costumes throughout the series. And she’ll sing a song in just about every issue. [Laughs.]”
In case you’re just joining the series here’s my review of X-Treme X-Men #1. The rest of Dazzler’s team is Emmeline Frost from Ghost Boxes story by Warren Ellis and James Howlett and Kid Nightcrawler are from Pak’s Astonishing X-Men Exalted arc. And how could I forget: the severed head of Professor X in a bottle!
Here’s a link to Dazzler Essentials Volume 1 by legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont. Ali went up against gangsters, Gods and even Galactus!
By Editor
For more of Pak’s interview here’s the Comics Newsarama link.
I did it for Dazzler but Pak’s writing is keeping on the X-Treme team!
This is a mission for….Dazzler? You bet!
There’s a new X-Men book out this week that will remind you of X-books of the past but I’m intrigued by the fun and thrilling future Greg Pak has planned. X-Treme X-Men #1 spins out of Pak’s Exalted storyline in Astonishing X-Men. Alternate universe versions of Wolverine, Emma Frost and Nightcrawler (General Howlett, Emmeline Frost-Summers and Kurt Waggoner) work with a a twisted version of Charles Xavier to save the entire population of a doomed world.
Our world’s Dazzler is just enjoying life, fame and trying to hook up when Cyclops calls her in to power up a Ghost Box in order to help the new allies Cyke met in Exalted. It does NOT goes as planned and Alison is soon portal jumping with Howlett, Emmeline and Kurt on a mission from Xavier to kill Xavier.
I’m reminded of the Cross-Time Caper in Excalibur and Exiles. An odd assortment of heroes jumping through the multiverse in order to save it. Fun, humor, time travel and weird science could make this an entertaining Doctor Who/X-Men hybrid. I definitely see great potential.
If you want to check out the storylines I referenced here are the links to Exalted, Excalibur: The Cross-Time Caper and Exiles.
By Editor
This new X-Treme X-Men #1 variant revealed on Marvel.com inspires great X-memories for me. Salvador Larroca is one of my favorite artists and this marks a homecoming of sorts for the Spanish creator. The new X-Treme X-Men debuting in July is a team of mutants from various dimensions by Greg Pak and Stephen Segovia. Dazzler, Kid Nightcrawler, Emmiline Frost and Captain Howlett (an alternate version of Wolverine) will venture through time and space to save the multiverse. This series is a spinoff of Pak’s Astonishing X-Men run.
Larroca teamed with legendary Chris Claremont on the first incarnation of X-Treme X-Men featuring Storm, Gambit, Rogue, Psylocke, Sage, Bishop as globetrotting team in search of Destiny’s Diaries. I have this #1 issue in a frame on my mantle. Larroca later joined Peter Milligan on X-Men with weird tales like Golgotha, The Blood of Apocalypse and Bizarre Love Triangle: Mystique’s “foxxy” infiltration of the team. Larroca even worked on Chuck Austen’s X-Men’s run.
Ed Brubaker welcomes Larroca back on Uncanny X-Men for his Morlock storyline. Larroca always seems to be evolving his style. His interpretation of Storm in particular.
Since 2008 Larroca has worked with Matt Fraction on Invincible Iron Man. I highly recommend newuniversal by Warren Ellis. With the rumored creative changes coming to Marvel’s main books perhaps Larroca will return to an X-Men book but until then let’s Marvel at this gorgeous cover.
By Editor
The X-Men’s rock n roller shines in a brand new ongoing X-Treme X-Men debuting this July 25th by Greg Pak. The new book spins out of Pak’s Astonishing X-Men run and features a team of X-Men from various timelines. The versatile writer tells Marvel.com why this new mutant book will shine among a crowd of X-titles.
“Dazzler, baby! We’re taking our universe’s Dazzler, the Alison Blaire you know and love, and throwing her into a series of mind-blowing, life-and-death, cross-dimensional, alternate universe adventures that will eventually result in a massive threat to our own reality.
Dazzler’s a phenomenal lead character for a book like this; she’s funny and wry and irreverent, but she’s also a massively powerful mutant warrior and a leader-in-the-making who’s about to be tested to the extreme. So she’s completely down to earth and accessible, which makes her the perfect kind of character to undertake a huge hero’s journey like this. She’s long been due for a story that brings her to the forefront of the mutantverse like this, and I’m thrilled to be along for the ride.”
Pak has assembled (sorry Avengers) a team of mutant heroes from various dimensions and goes into the pros and cons of taking on alternate versions of established favorites.
“Dazzler’s team consists of surprising alternate versions of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Emma Frost. Working with alternate versions of characters is a blast because you have the opportunity to really crystallize some of the things that really work about the character while trying some shocking new ideas that you’d never be able to do with our universe’s version. The extra bonus here is that although these characters are from alternate realities, they’re all absolutely in continuity—and we’ll eventually see their impact on our universe.
For his entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
I’m thrilled to see Dazzler back on the front burner. Anyone remember when she faced off against an obsessive fan named…The Juggernaut? That was a great Claremont issue.
When the Hulk leaps into action to save Iron Man in the Avengers trailer – the screams from the crowd huddled around my computer were filled with joy! The Hulk must really be awesome in Earth’s Mightiest Movie because Mark Ruffalo revealed he’s signed a 6 picture deal with Marvel Films to Collider.
(Ruffalo also reveals there’s a deleted scene with the great Harry Dean Stanton.)
So Avengers 2 is a given but how about a Hulk solo movie? What comic book story would you want to see on the big screen?
I love Peter David’s run on The Incredible Hulk. I especially enjoyed when the merged Hulk – Banner’s mind in control of the monster body – was allied with a group of heroes called the Pantheon. This organization answered to no government and their missions often brought them into conflict with other heroes. I could see a great Pantheon-SHIELD conflict orchestrated by The Leader, a scientist mutated by gamma radiation in a very different way. While the members of the Pantheon took names inspired by Greek mythology, their leader Agamemnon, was half-Asgardian. See the Thor cameo?
Greg Pak’s Planet Hulk would be an out of this world – literally – adventure for the Green Goliath. It’s already an animated movie. The Illumanati (Tony Stark, Reed Richard, Doctor Strange, Professor X, Namor) decide the rampaging Hulk has done enough damage and blast him off to an uninhabited planet to live in peace. The thing about programmed spaceships with a Hulk on board – they can go off course. The Hulk goes through a wormhole and lands on a barbaric world, is forced to become a gladiator, becomes a hero and leads a revolution against the planet’s cruel leader. In the sequel World War Hulk, the Hulk and his Warbound (allies from the arena) come back to Earth to lay down some serious vengeance on the Illumanati. Hulk doesn’t realize until later that he fathered a son on Sakaar until Skaar arrives on Earth ready to resolve his daddy issues with some serious fighting!
By Editor
Updated with quotes from writer Greg Pak!
Marvel revealed a new X-treme X-Men title at the Talk to the Hat Wondercon pan. The new series by Greg Pak and Stephen Segovia debuts this July. This spins out of Pak’s Astonishing X-Men run in an alternate reality. The cover by Julian Totino Tedesco shows the Logan (with a serious stache) from that storyline. The release says Dazzler and a team of mutants from various worlds will team up for reality bending missions.
Update:
“We’re going all new, all the time,” Pak tells Marvel.com, “The joy of a book like X-TREME X-MEN is that literally anything can happen—we’re running wild, pressing all the danger buttons, and pushing our characters to their limits. So as much as I love so many of the existing alternate Marvel realities, we’re going to cut loose as creators as well and dream up new worlds that feed our big storyline and create the right kind of crises for our characters’ emotional arcs.”
Pak’s starting lineup will be Howlett and Kid Nightcrawler from this recent Astonishing run and Emma Frost and Armor from Warren Ellis’s Ghost Boxes.
“There’s always something fun about the curmudgeon and the smart alec running around together,” he says. “And visually, the contrasts between the silhouettes just works—a bear and an elf, right.”
“With Howlett and Kid Kurt, we have the chance to explore that relationship and push those great visual and dramatic contrasts even more. Howlett’s the old, experienced adventurer who’s seen everything; Kid Kurt is the fresh-faced grade-schooler who’s seeing everything for the first time.”
But the team member Pak is most excited about?
“Oh, man, Dazzler, I’m a believer, y’all,” Pak exclaims. “When I sat down with the X-Office editors to brainstorm ideas for the book, we all agreed that we wanted a big character from the mainstream Marvel Universe to play a key role. And our conversations kept circling back around to Dazzler. And the more I thought about it, the more sense it started to make. She’s wry and tough and vulnerable and very, very funny. And she’s a straight up hero who will save the world through rock and roll.”
This Geek’s Opinion: Like Captain Marvel this is a another surprise. I didn’t think the Claremont/Larroca book would be reborn. I didn’t know what to expect. This has been done before with Exiles. And most of the X-books dive into alternate realities: Uncanny X-Men, Age of Apocalypse.
No disrespect to fans that enjoy the alternate takes but I think it’s been done and the focus should be on the X-Men of this universe. I do enjoy Greg Pak’s writing so maybe I’ll be wrong. I’ll give it a try. And I’m a Dazzler fan.