Tag: Comics

Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense Coming to iOS

Netmarble has revealed that Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense will be submitted to the App Store and should be available for your enjoyment on the iOS device of your choice around August. The game looks like a classic beat-’em-up featuring DC’s finest heroes and heroines. The trailer shows Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash in action. Secondary heroes will be used as “support cards” that augment powers. While the gameplay doesn’t appear to be anything earth shattering, I’m completely down for a Justice League brawler on iOS. As a comic-book nerd, I love the alternate costumes shown in the trailer.

Check out the clip when you have a chance and let me know what you think. Are you excited for Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense?

Thomas Jane Returns as The Punisher in “Dirty Laundry”

Thomas Jane reprises his role as The Punisher in the short movie Dirty Laundry. It’s powerful, visceral, and frickin’ awesome. Jane — famous for fighting smart sharks and portraying Mickey Mantle — totally owns the role. Check out the clip and let me know what you think (please)!

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as…Lobo?!?

Ladies and gentleman, The Rock says this: Dwayne Johnson could be playing DC Comics’ Lobo in the near future. Fans of the maniacal, genocidal, and suicidal Czarnian will be pleased to learn that the actor formerly known as The Rock tweeted, “Rumors of me possibly playing LOBO are true. Joel Silver and Brad Peyton working on it now. That could be fun.”

Personally, I’m not too high about the possibility. In my mind, Lobo requires an exaggerated ridiculousness that can only be achieved with CG. Furthermore, I loved the rumor of The Rock playing Black Adam in a possible Shazam movie. That works way better in my head. What do you think of the prospect of The Rock playing Lobo?

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Coffee Talk #497: Your Comic-Con 2012 Favorites

There was so much to go gaga over at Comic-Con 2012. The movie trailers and announcements were brilliant. The videogame showings were boss. What were your favorite Comic-Con 2012 happenings? Let’s start with the games. Epic had a great show with Gears of War: Judgement and Fortnite…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Danny Garcia’s stunning upset victory over Amir Khan, the rapidly declining prices of SSDs, or the Jeremy Lin saga, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

There was so much to go gaga over at Comic-Con 2012. The movie trailers and announcements were brilliant. The videogame showings were boss. What were your favorite Comic-Con 2012 happenings? Let’s start with the games. Epic had a great show with Gears of War: Judgement and Fortnite. While I’m thrilled for the company’s success on a personal level, the videogame announcement that won me over was Deadpool. Marvel’s merc with a mouth is one of my favorite characters of all time. I’m thrilled that he’s getting very own adventure and I can’t wait to enjoy the game’s writing. Duct tape!!!

The movie trailers, panels, and announcement were killer too. I’m sure all of you were pleased to learn that Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed a sequel to Twins. Most people seemed excited by the latest Iron Man and Superman footage. Fans of minor characters were happy to see The Guardians of the Galaxy getting a movie (Gamora is hot, btw). Obviously Captain America was always going to have a sequel, but I marked out when Captain America: The Winter Soldier was revealed. I love the Winter Soldier character. The revamped Bucky Barnes is cool and modern. He also fits into that tweener category of superheroes that I enjoy. I’m totally amped to see Winter Soldier on the big screen.

Now it’s your turn! What were your favorite movie and videogame happenings of Comic-Con 2012?

Deadpool Trailer Says, “Suck It Wolverine!”

At Comic-Con 2012, Activision revealed that it’s set to publish a Deadpool game developed by High Moon Studios. Now the trailer is here! I love the look and tone of the trailer. It absolutely captures the feel of Marvel’s lovable merc with a mouth. The wise cracks, the dueling inner monologue, the love of boobies, etc. are brilliant.

My one wish is that the game has several duct tape jokes…because Deadpool loves duct tape. He loves the way it tapes. He loves the sound it makes. He loves saying it. Duct tape. Duct tape. Duct tape. Duct tape. Duct tape. Duct tape.

Random Thoughts on The Amazing Spider-Man (Not a Review!)

Comic-book nerds around the world were polarized going into The Amazing Spider-Man. Some felt that it was too soon to reboot the franchise. Others were excited by the potential of a new cast and crew. Last week, I attended a Spider-Man screening thanks to my pal at Marvel. I enjoyed the movie, but wanted a little time to put it in perspective. After some thought, I feel that it’s a very good superhero movie that’s not quite great. Compared to recent spandex adventures, it’s not as good as The Avengers or the Iron Man movies. Compared to the three previous Spidey movies, I’d say it’s better than all of them save for Spider-Man 2. The rebooted Spider-Man is off to a great start, but the movie had one major weak point. Here are some random thoughts (not a review!) on The Amazing Spider-Man.

Andrew Garfield Kicks Tobey Maguire’s Ass: For the most part, Andrew Garfield was wonderful as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. His version of the wall-crawler felt fresh and current. Tobey Maguire is a fine actor, but I never really loved him as Spider-Man. After getting past the whole Facebook thing, I really enjoyed Garfield’s performance. He did a great job at displaying a wide range of emotions — vulnerability, strength, uncertainty, etc. He was a hero that was easy to identify with (and he went on to be a founder of Facebook!).

That’s not to say he was perfect. One of my favorite aspects of Spider-Man is his overuse of humor to deal with threatening situations. There was only one scene where I got a good sense of that. There were a few Peter Parker scenes where Garfield was over-emoting and shaking his head to the point of being distracting. Like the movie in general, Garfield is off to a very good start and has room for improvement. Also like the movie in general, he was better than his predecessor.

Emma Stone Kicks Kirsten Dunst’s Ass: This one was tough for me to admit. I adored Kirsten Dunst in Bring it On. I interviewed her once and found her to be very charming. I just didn’t like her as Mary Jane Watson — not enough of an edge. I’ve been an Emma Stone fan since Superbad. She performed exactly as I expected her too in The Amazing Spider-Man — cool, cute, awkward, and edgy at the same time.

Her character was given aspects that were a bit too convenient, but none of that is her fault. She did a great job with what she was given. Emma Stone was simply charming in this movie.

The Chemistry: Garfield and Stone had great chemistry onscreen…which helps explain why they’re currently boning offscreen. Maguire and Dunst come off as flaccid by comparison. The chemistry helped their scenes come off more powerfully and believably.

CG and Posing: The Spider-Man CG was fantastic, which was to be expected given advancements in technology. There wasn’t much in the way of breathtaking 3D, but the scenes of Spidey swinging around the city and fighting baddies were more than thrilling enough. One of my friends from Sony mentioned that there were a lot of cool Spidey poses. He was on the money with that comment. A lot of poses and moves that are considered Spider-Man’s signatures are found in the movie. Very cool stuff.

The Lizard: Now for the movie’s weak point — the villain. In the comic books, The Lizard was always kind of lame. A giant walking lizard wearing a lab coat?!? I suppose that’s literally scary (lab coats are menacing) but it seems silly by 2012 movie standards. The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man had some slick CG, but still came off as ridiculous. Rhys Ifans did a decent job with what he was given, but he was weak compared to Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and (especially) Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus. In fact, the latter is really the measuring stick. Doc Ock is kind of a silly character, but Molina utterly owned that role. Ifans was merely serviceable.

Part of the problem was that several great Spider-Man baddies were already used. I already mentioned Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Venom and Sandman have already appeared in the previous movies. The Vulture is arguably more ridiculous than The Lizard. Do you go with Kraven the Hunter? Personally, I would have preferred the rebooted Spider-Man to battle bank robbers, muggers, etc. That would have left more room for characterization and relationships. Of course there’s pressure to include a super villain to combat the superhero, but the villain was the movie’s biggest weakness.

Conclusion: I enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man. Admittedly, my expectations weren’t super-high or anything, especially coming off the outstanding Avengers. The cast is more talented than their predecessors and the crew is working with better tech. For the most part, I liked it better than the previous Spider-Man movies, except for Spider-Man 2 with Alfred Molina’s incredible performance.

When you see The Amazing Spider-Man, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Did you dig it? How do you think it stacks up against Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy?

Green Lantern Alan Scott is Gay

The Associated Press has revealed that Green Lantern Alan Scott will be reintroduced as a gay character in next week’s issue of DC Comics’ Earth 2. Scott was the original “Golden Age” Green Lantern and a member of the Justice Society. His ring was not given to him by the Guardians of the Universe and does not have a weakness to yellow. Instead, his ring’s power is derived from the magical Starheart.

We discussed the issue on the site last week. During a Google+ chat, I believe bsukenyan mentioned Alan Scott. I, rather immaturely, found the prospect of a gay superhero with a weakness to wood rather funny. Here are some mature details from Earth 2 writer James Robinson:

He doesn’t come out. He’s gay when we see him in issue two. He’s fearless and he’s honest to the point where he realized he was gay and he said, “I’m gay.”

What do you think of the DC’s reveal? Big news? Or a stunt that will cause minor waves?

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Coffee Talk #482: DC Comics Gay Superhero Predictions

At the Kapow comic-book convention, DC Comics senior vice president Dan DiDio revealed that the company will rewrite one of its established heroes as gay. Fanboys have been feverishly speculating on the identity of the homosexual hero or heroine. Will it be a man? Will it be a woman? How “major” is the character?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the power of WGWG, Austin Aries resigning with TNA, or expensive chef’s knives, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

At the Kapow comic-book convention, DC Comics senior vice president Dan DiDio revealed that the company will rewrite one of its established heroes as gay. Fanboys have been feverishly speculating about the identity of the homosexual hero or heroine. Will it be a man? Will it be a woman? How “major” is the character? Today I’d love to hear your reactions and predictions on DC’s gay superhero. Before you offer your thoughts on the matter, let’s take a look at some modern comic-book characters that are gay.

For a long time, Northstar (Alpha Flight/X-Men) was the only openly gay superhero in mainstream comics. Marvel recently announced — on The View of all places — that Northstar will be getting married. X-Force’s Shatterstar and Rictor were an item back in 2009. The latest version of Batwoman is a lesbian. One of the newest and youngest gay superheroes is Bunker of the Teen Titans. The most badass couple in comics — straight or gay — has to be Apollo and Midnighter from The Authority/Stormwatch.

As you can see, there are a number of gay superheroes in both DC and Marvel. DiDio implied that a major character will be rewritten as gay, but how major are we talking? Several of my nerd friends think that Wonder Woman is most likely. Along with Batman and Superman, she’s one of the three pillars of the DC Universe. It doesn’t get more major than that. A few of my friends pointed out that she grew up on an island of women, so it would be natural for her to be attracted to other women. For various reasons, the mainstream media seems more comfortable with gay women than gay men, so Wonder Woman could be a “safe” choice.

A couple of my friends voted for Aquaman, simply because of his costume. I’m not getting that at all. When did orange become a gay color?!? Besides, dude is married.

As for my pick, I’m going with Red Hood. I have doubts about how big a character DC will go with. With that in mind, I can see the company claiming that Jason Todd is a major character. DC can point to Todd formerly being Robin, as well as being a key part in one of the company’s biggest crossover successes. At the same time, Red Hood is still a relatively new character and safer to play with than someone like Flash or Green Lantern.

How do you feel about DC making one of its major characters gay? Which DC Comics hero or heroine will be rewritten as gay? Please share your thoughts in the comments section!

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Renders

Here’s a trio of high-res parody renders Warner Bros. Interactive sent out to promote the upcoming LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. The LEGO versions of Catwoman, Joker, and Robin are obviously a nod to the outstanding Batman Arkham City. With more than 50 characters rumored to be playable, LEGO Batman 2 is a comic-book nerds dream! The rumored roster includes Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Green Lantern, Superman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Hawkgirl, Cyborg, Katana, Shazam, Zatanna, and Wonder Woman.

As a Nightwing mark, I get goofy every time he’s featured in a game. How about you? Now’s the time to out yourself as a closet Black Lightning fan! Which DC superhero would you like to play as in LEGO Batman 2?

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Play as Stan Lee in The Amazing Spider-Man

Activision has revealed some sweet pre-order bonuses for The Amazing Spider-Man. If you pre-order the game from GameStop then you get a mode called “The Rhino Challenge”. Here’s the description from the press release: “Take control of the massive, genetically engineered villain Rhino and rampage around Manhattan in an exclusive gameplay challenge of pure destruction! As Rhino, players will be able to unleash his formidable powers to destroy anything and everything that gets in his way in a timed event full of speed, combo streaks, and of course, a ton of things to break!”

The super-cool bonus comes from buying the game through Amazon. You get to play as legendary creator Stan Lee! Here’s the official description: “Players will take on the role of Stan ‘The Man’ Lee in his own special mission across Manhattan, borrowing abilities from his old pal Spider-Man as they help Stan collect pages of his latest script in a spectacular race around Manhattan. Stan’s mission is punctuated with his witty banter that fans have come to know and love, and a special surprise waits for them at the end of the mission — after all, it is Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary this year!”

Both pre-order bonuses are for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game only.

As a proper comic-book nerd, of course I’m psyched about the Amazon bonus. The Rhino Challenge sounds like fun and all, but playing as the beloved and legendary Stan Lee sounds completely awesome. In fact, I think every game should let you play as Stan Lee. I guarantee that the reviews would better.

Any of you psyched for either of the pre-order bonuses for The Amazing Spider-Man?