Trailer Thursday: Captain America's latest

Here is the latest clip from Captain America. This is definitely the best we've seen of it so far. Looks like they're pulling out the stops for this one and I hope it does great. Superhero films this summer have performed a little poorly compared to years past, so let's get out and support this one.

Save The Retro Action Heroes!

Just found out Mattel is killing off the Retro Action Superheroes lineup due to poor sales. How any company can complain about poor sales when you can never find the product is beyond me. Someone is putting together a petition you can sign to try and salvage the line or at least make it available on MattyCollector.com as a subscription service like they do for Masters of the Universe toys. I'd gladly sign up for that subscription myself.


Mattycollector.com is a weird place anyway though. They complain about how no one buys their stuff enough to keep a line going, but almost every single DC product they put up sells out within minutes of release! You can never find a single DCU product on their website (everything says "Sold Out" except the newest Stewart Green Lantern Retro). If everything you make sells out, how can you complain that you have no sales? It's crazy! They even had a special DCU sale this past Monday morning to help clear up inventory, and those sold out within minutes! Again, if you're selling out then you're either not making enough or what you're making is selling better than you expected!

They even released a special 4 part Green Lantern series set to coincide with the movie. Sinestro and Guy Gardner sold out within hours of their release. John Stewart's GL hasn't fared as well and is still available, with Kyle Rayner's GL due to come out in a few days to complete the set. 

At $20 a pop, these Retro figures were incredibly expensive for what they were. The figures seldom stood on their own due to flimsy construction on the legs--but I still bought all of them and would gladly buy the next sets coming out just due to the nostalgia factor. The problem was you could never find them in stores!

Anyway, please take a moment to sign the petition to keep this line alive, even if only from the website or--preferably--through a subscription-based service that promises everyone who wants one can get one. It's kept the MOTU line going for years now, so there's no reason it wouldn't work for us. Even if you don't collect the line, please sign it for a fellow collector...please!

It's Our Birthday and You Could Get the Gifts!

As I mentioned yesterday, this little blog just turned 3 years old! Now, I'd love to pass out cake and ice cream for everyone, but we've decided to do something special for one lucky reader instead.

Random pic from the web--but the right size box

I'm an avid comic book collector and unfortunately I have a tendency to buy too many books sometimes. I've been selling a lot of stuff on Amazon.com lately, but I have a box of comics sitting here that needs a good home. So that's what we're giving you the chance to win: absolutely free, a box full of Marvel and DC comics!

How do you enter? That's simple:

1. Go to our Facebook page

2. Click "Like".

3. Wait and see if you've won!

Around July 31, 2011 we'll put our list of followers into a randomizer program, hit enter, and take the first name that pops up!

Tell a friend though, and here's why: If we reach 30 followers, I'll throw another box of comics into the mix so that gives you 2 chances to win! 

Now to the FAQs:

1. What comics are in the box?   Different ones, but all Marvel and DC. I will do my best to have absolutely no repeats in any of them. Most are from the past 3 years. You might even find a complete run of an "event" like Blackest Night or Siege!

2. Can I request a particular title?  Afraid not. I'm packing that box full of goodies though, so you should find something you like.

3. How many comics will I win?   As many as I can safely pack into the USPS $10 shipping box. I estimate around 20 or so, but it could be many more.

4. What does it cost to enter?  Nothing. There's no cost to you at all. I just want to get more readers heading our way and Facebook seems like a great way to start.

5. How many chances do I get to win?   One per "like", but for every 30 "like"s we get I'll throw out another box of comics. If we get 60 likes, there will be 3 boxes of comics given out which means you now have 3 chances of winning!

6. Are they bagged and boarded?  Nope, but they're free!

7. Why would you do this?  I just wanted a chance to give something back to the folks who take the time to read this blog. It's a contest all month long, so get on in there! I'm giving away an early-bird prize when the "likes" reach a certain number, so enter quickly and you might win another great comic-book-related gift while you wait!

It's our birthday, but thank you for reading our blog! Jump on in here and get a chance at some free comics!

Happy Birthday To Us!

Today our blog officially turns 3 years old! I never would have imagined when I started out ranting about comics that I'd find enough stuff to keep it going for 3 years. I guess comic books just keep on giving me material to work with, eh?

Anyway, grab a Twinkie and some milk and celebrate with us!

And come back tomorrow morning for a very special announcement on the big celebration and giveaway we're having to honor our 3rd birthday!

Trailer Thursday: The Green Lantern Animated Series

Not sure about this one. It really looks amateurish compared to even Batman: Brave and the Bold, but at least it's something besides Young Justice.

Superman and Lois No More!

In an interview, DC EIC Dan Didio announced that the longtime marriage between Superman and Lois Lane will be experiencing a sort of wipeout with the new reboot. A company's flagship character has his two-decade marriage wiped clean by a reboot...does that sound familiar?

It's a Super One More Day!

To be fair, Didio keeps coy about the whole thing, but when he mentions how proud he is to have Grant Morrison on the character it pretty much shows the trouble we're in with the character.

Don't believe me? Then check out the cover for Action Comics #1, with Morrison at the helm with his new vision for the hero:

Blue jeans and a cape? I'm from Alabama and see this often at Wal-Mart, but I never expected anyone to purchase an actual comic book with this as the true costume scheme!

DC is doing this, according to the interview, because comic shops are being filled with "older generations of reader" who grew up with the stories, while this new approach should bring in the younger new readers who go the movies and want to learn more about the heroes without the back-stories. Whatever.

I just think this whole Superman/Lois breakup is a dumb idea. Whether it's by choice or they get Darkseid to wipe out their history with omega beams to Ma Kent won't die, it stinks. Comic writers seem to think that any comic book with a married couple is death on a cracker. Never mind showing how tough a relationship might be when one of the pair is out fighting super-villains all the time, let's just break them up and start all over.

Well, at least we still have Reed and Sue Richards as a married couple making it work...for now.

Heroes I Miss: Part 1

Here's where I wax nostalgic. There are certain comic book series and heroes that I loved reading when I was a kid but you never see anymore. Some are gone for licensing reasons, while others just didn't sell well enough to warrant another series attempt. But these are the comics I scoop up happily when I see them in the back issue bin at the comic shop.

ROM

Ok, this one was created simply to get the toy of the same name some business, but who would have ever guessed the comic book would be so popular! This guy teamed up with everybody! During the 75 issue run of the series, we saw guests like the X-Men (pretty much a staple guest star to every comic of the 80's), Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, the Avengers, Alpha Flight, and even the Master of Kung Fu! Not bad for a cheap toy that couldn't bend its arms!

I owned the toy and thought it was cool for the time (it's pathetically laughable in today's age of action figures). The eyes lit up and the rocket pack made noise. As long as I had batteries, I was happy. Still, it was the comic book that made the guy memorable to me.

Over the years, ROM ended up becoming a great comic. He fought the Dire Wraiths, hunting them down and blasting folks away (the DWs could disguise themselves as normal human beings and only ROM could detect them using one of his cool tools). Naturally this didn't sit well with most heroes, though eventually they found out the truth when the DWs became more obvious in their invasion attempts.

An entire storyline was developed that allowed ROM to have a true origin. He was a normal man who became a Space Knight to save his beloved planet Galador. He began chasing the DWs across the galaxy and ended up on Earth trying to wipe them out completely. He was never a regular part of any super-team, but he interacted with a ton of major and minor heroes and villains along the way. He even fought Galactus at one point!

When the time came to end the series, fans were treated to a rarity among comics: a satisfying ending. Marvel didn't own the license to the toy so the hero was perishable at best. They finally allowed ROM to return to being a human back at his planet with his loving wife at his side. Happily ever after? Nope.

The recent miniseries Annihilators allowed us to see what happened over time to everyone but ROM (they couldn't even mention his name because of the licensing issues, just alluded to his death sometime in the past). The Dire Wraiths infiltrated Galador again, and ROM was dead. No chance now of ever seeing him back in his armor again.

The Micronauts

Yes, I know many of these guys have come back in different titles, but the original team was one of my favorite must-read comics of the time. I had the figures (most of them anyway...I was never able to buy an Acroyear figure and actually still want one today) and the adventures these guys faced were above the standard Marvel fare at the time. They gave each member of the team a true backstory and the chance to examine it in detail.

The series ran for 59 issues, ending a few years after the toys themselves were no longer available. That attests to the popularity of the title at the time. They introduced another Marvel regular in issue #8: Captain Universe. The team even made it from the Microverse to our universe to face the Fantastic Four, SHIELD, and even had a helping hand from Ant-Man. The tiny heroes always managed to create this larger-than-life world of adventure and fun for this little (at the time) reader.

Unfortunately Marvel only owned the rights to certain aspects of the title, so Commander Rann (not Space Glider), Marionette, and Bug are the only members of the team we'll ever see again in comics (and do see on a fairly regular basis lately). Acroyear, Biotron, and Microtron, along with Time Traveler, Force Commander, and Baron Karza are gone from us forever.

JJ Abrams was rumored to be helming a Micronauts movie back in 2009, but that has apparently fallen through. And Marvel's recent reintroduction of Rann and Marionette in the Enigma Force miniseries wasn't the update we'd hoped for either. Rann and Mari had marriage problems and were at odds with each other after a messy breakup. Here's hoping they find a happy future someday. 

Dial H for Hero

During the 80's there was a very simple storyline of two teenagers, Chris King and Vicky Grant, who became "The heroes created by you!" Every month I grabbed the latest issue of this short-lived series that eventually found its way into the last few pages of Superboy comics as a backup story. These were heroes that were created by kids just like me!

The premise was that you could send in your drawing and brief description of the hero and hope it ended up being printed. While I had a ton of cool hero ideas in my head at the time, I was a horrible artist and could never get anything on paper like I saw it in my head. As a result, the world is forever robbed of DreamStalker in comic form somewhere.

The "Dial H for Hero" concept actually came out two decades earlier when a kid named Robby Reed found the dial and became 3 heroes throughout the course of each issue of House of Mystery from issues 156-173. This collection was actually brought out in a "Showcase Presents" collection last year. But it's the 80's version of the title I miss.

Where else could you hope to actually see your own hero or villain in print? And for a group of amateurs, people came out with some pretty cool creations. My personal favorite villain was called Wildebeest, sort of a Kraven/Deathstroke combo that was very effective.

The only downside was Carmine Infantino's artwork. I know there are people who put him as one of the greatest comic artists of all time, but I have never understood that. Put his work next to Neal Adams or Jim Aparo from the same time period and there is absolutely no comparison.

Unfortunately, we were robbed of a happy ending to this little tale. By the time the series moved to Superboy, the heroes were created mostly by some comic writer rather than a kid. Finally, Robby Reed showed up and the kids both were supposed to be big heroes forever. Years later we found out in a Teen Titans storyline that Chris was a hero but Vicky had become evil due to some cult. In the end, both characters basically disappeared, while Robby Reed continues to show up from time to time.

In today's litigious society a series like that could never fly. If one of the heroes became popular, their creator would get greedy and want to sue for more money. It would be more trouble than it was worth. Still, it was unique for the time it came out and was the dream of many budding comic book writer-wannabes to see something like that in print.

And on my own personal happy ending, thanks to the very fun MMORPG City of Heroes, I've been able to create my own heroes decades later just like I saw them in my head (I'm still a horrible artist though). DreamStalker lives!

The Thrill is Gone, Baby

Usually, the highlight of my month is when I sit down on the couch with the latest issue of Previews and slowly go through each page to plan my upcoming months. I read over the synopsis of most interesting-looking comics and decide which is worth buying and which is worth just passing over until the trade paperback comes out and I can get the whole story cheaper. It's usually a ritual for me that I love.

This month was different.

As I sat down this week to put together my comic book order, I realized I was looking at the last DC issues before the reboot comes out. There were several variations on the theme of "...will never be the same after this issue! Things change forever!" but then I realized that nothing happening in these few preceding months' issues will really matter. If I skip the next two months it's all fine because nothing happening will actually have a lasting impact on the title thanks to the reboot. It was such a sad experience for me to realize I could literally stop reading DC comics for a couple of months and not miss a thing.

I can appreciate the need for a jumping-on point for new readers, but an entire line's reboot at once is disheartening. Marvel lost me by taking 20 years of Spider-Man's history and throwing it out the window without so much as a nod to the fans. That was just one title. A whole lineup? Ouch!

Marvel's not doing much better for me. I really try to get into some of their titles, but there's nothing really that grabs me as "must read" anymore. I've tried to get excited about "Fear Itself" but it's just another stupid crossover event for Marvel and to me it's too soon after the last one with the Chaos King stuff.

In the end, my order had exactly 3 comic titles on it...and none of them DC.

What about you? Are you skipping out on the next few months to save money for the reboot titles?

Today is the Day!

Well, it's time for yet another Summer superhero movie, and this is technically the next-to-last one for this summer (Captain America being the last). I know Khristian has been anxiously awaiting Green Lantern and I'm hoping it'll live up to the hype. DC desperately needs another successful film franchise. Marvel can't keep them coming out forever.

The only sad part of watching this will be thinking about how DC will be rebooting all of it anyway in a couple of months so none of it will matter anyhow. The next Green Lantern movie might just look completely different.

But forget all that! Comic book fans unite, grab some popcorn, and then get back here and let me know what you thought about the movie!

Stupid Identities: Patch Logan

While there are some pretty cool secret identities floating around, there are times when comic book writers seem to stretch the boundaries of believability a bit. Case in point: Wolverine's stint as "Patch" in the beginnings of his first ongoing series.

During John Byrne's turn on the X-Men, he gave a lot of love to Wolverine (they were both Canadian) and soon created a breakout star. Any comic with him on the cover sold quickly, and then the time came to give Wolverine his own miniseries and eventually his own ongoing series.

Then the series came out and strange things began to happen. First, we lost the familiar costumed look everyone expected from the feral mutant tough guy. Instead of the mask and brown-and-tan or even yellow-and-blue spandex look, we were treated to a black number that made it appear Wolverine was doing some ballet work on the side. This was done because at the time the X-Men were presumed dead and this was a way to keep himself in action without giving away the fact that he was, in fact, Wolverine.

The claws were absolutely no indication of that whatsoever.

"Ignore the claws. I'm a normal guy."

Then we got a look at Wolverine's new secret identity: Patch. Looking at the character, it was fairly easy to see what Marvel was shooting for. Raiders of the Lost Ark was a pretty popular film and anyone looking like Indiana Jones was sure to be a hit. Take Marvel's most popular mutant and tie him in with one of the most popular action hero movie characters of the time and throw in a little Bogart from Casablanca...what could go wrong?

Wolverine was dropped into Madripoor, a locale created for the miniseries and the rest is history. Who would recognize this man now because he had such a convincing disguise?

But look at this and think about it. Who has perhaps the most immediately recognizable hairstyle in the comic book world? Do you see many other characters with this weird "hair everywhere" look (except maybe Beast)? Now throw in his liberal use of adamantium claws from time to time and you get this incredibly obvious "secret" identity.

Please keep in mind he was in Madripoor fighting guerillas and even the Silver Samurai, using nothing more than a fishnet for a mask and still no one figured out who he was.

The black costume died a quiet death eventually and Wolverine was back in his normal costume again, but the Patch identity has come back many times over the years to be used whenever a comic book writer saw fit.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is that this costume actually got a figure recently. It's in a two-pack set with Silver Samurai and reprints the second issue of the Wolverine comic book series. If you're a completist, you can add this to your collection of the 400 other previously-offered Wolverine figures.

Make fun of Clark Kent's glasses all you want, but at least he changed his hair style a little when he put them on. Imagine how ticked he'd be to find out all he needed to do was just throw on an eyepatch and the world would be none the wiser.

More DC reboot news...good or bad, you decide.

You may wonder why I've flooded the posts this week with all the DC news. Well, this blog is all about the mistakes and successes of the comic industry, and there can be no doubt DC is lining itself up for the biggest of one or the other. No cow is sacred, and everything that's been working for them up to this point is shot.

Today we learned that Secret Six will be ending with issue #36. While never my favorite book, they have had some amazing storylines over the years and I've really loved seeing Catman and Deadshot interact. They have this begrudging friendship and respect that you never see in any other book--mainly because while they're friends you can easily see they'd turn and kill each other in a heartbeat if the situation called for it.

Now the closest we'll get is a new title called Suicide Squad. The series has been in DC's roster twice before with different lineups, and now we see a new face leading the team in a new costume.

Say what you will about reboots, DC has definitely gone for it this time with a newly revamped Harley Quinn. The jester suit and hammer that we've come to love since her introduction almost two decades ago in the Batman:The Animated Series cartoons are gone, replaced by this dominatrix-with-a-knife look.

That doesn't bother me nearly as much as the new look for Deadshot. I've always said he had one of the best costumes out there, and now it appears DC is giving him some sort of cyborg kind of look. I'll reserve judgment until the first issue is out, but I'm not impressed with what I've seen so far.

In happier news, Grifter is getting a solo book. DC has moved the Wildstorm universe to their regular continuity and while Martian Manhunter is joining Stormwatch, Grifter is moving to his own series.

The premise is that he's killing creatures only he can see, leading everyone else to believe he's crazy. If this sounds a lot like the storyline from the old Marvel comic series ROM, that's because it is. I'm sure the creatures won't turn out to be Dire Wraiths, but the similarities are undeniable.

Again, I'm giving this book a shot simply because I like the character from years ago. As long as they don't try to turn him into a Deadpool clone they might have a winner with this one.

With all these new titles coming out, DC is definitely setting the internet on fire this week. They are setting the bar tremendously high, and here's hoping they can live up to the hype.

Trailer Thursday: Green Lantern clip

Watch this fight, see the ring contructs in action, and tell me you aren't psyched to see this film next week:

DC...Now you're starting to worry me.

With the announcement of 52 new series coming out starting in August, you know DC is going to have to throw a LOT of characters out there for a series shot. The vast majority of them will crash and burn within an issue or two, but some might make it. Unfortunately, after the initial coolness factor has worn off we're starting to see some DC comics that look like gigantic steps back for the company.

Case in point: The Teen Titans

Don't get me wrong, I stopped reading this title years ago. I've picked up an issue or two when it looked good, but for the most part I've never seen anything in this one worth reading on a regular basis. Now they've rebooted the team, and it doesn't look promising.

Tim Drake is still Red Robin...but not the RR we've ever seen before. Now he appears as if he's truly trying to be a red robin or something. He could call himself ChickenMan right now and make more sense.

And what in the world is going on with the other guys on the team? Superboy has a tattoo? Wonder Girl looks like she stepped out of a Tron movie. And what about our two other mysterious figures lurking on the page? Perhaps Vixen and Starfire?

Again, I'm not a regular reader of this book so I have no vested interest in the team per se, I just hate to see DC going off on some crazy tangents with core characters. One thing that kept me in their camp after Marvel went crazy with the Spider-Man reboot is the fact that they've stayed true to their characters over the years. Now it would appear they're going to go for a company-wide "Brand New Day", and that doesn't fill me with confidence.

On the plus side, Hawk and Dove are getting a series shot. I was hoping to see Don Hall back in the role of Dove, but I guess that's part of a reboot we won't see.

I'm also not a fan of Hawk's costume color change to black instead of white. I appreciate the desire to show them as opposite sides of the spectrum in actions, but did we have to make it so obvious? Hawk's costume was always one of the coolest ones out there!

I'll definitely be giving this series a shot for the first few issues at least because I like the characters and loved what they did during Brightest Day (let's hope Boston Brand makes an appearance in here soon). I just think it's going to be a long shot for this book to last any length of time. DC is flooding the market with new books and fans will be forced to just buy into titles they are seriously interested in instead of trying new ones simply because of the sheer number of possibilities out there. Spacing them out over a period of five months or so would have been a much better gauge of how good a book was doing. Most of these guys will just be cannon fodder in this war.

Oh, and by the way, 52 new series out there and we never got a chance to submit any scripts? I think DC should seriously consider opening their doors to new talent out there. I appreciate giving established guys a series, but when you're rebooting your entire lineup anyway, why not see who else is out there to shake things up a bit? Just sayin...

New Batman Storylines in the DC Reboot

According to an article on IGN, DC is planning on bringing to a close all those Batmen running around out there, making Bruce Wayne the one and only Batman again. This pretty much kicks their newer Batman Inc. series in the butt and says "Thanks for nothing".

Along with such stunners as the return of Barbara Gordon to the role of Batgirl (that should get some folks upset or happy) and the ultimate fate of Dick Grayson now that he's no longer needed as Batman, this return for Bruce Wayne to the mantle of Batman in all of the revolving titles is sure to cause some controversy.

I've actually enjoyed being able to read both Bruce and Dick's adventures, as both were decidedly different Batmen while staying true to the central idea of the character. It was cool to see Dick move from Robin, to Nightwing, and eventually taking the place of his mentor. I actually see this one move as a massive step backward for DC, but only time will tell I guess.

What do you think? Four different monthly issues of Bruce Wayne Batman now...will you jump on as they're hoping?

As a side note, I know I'll definitely be picking up Batman #1 and Detective Comics #1 just to be able to say I have those first issues. They may suck, but at least I'll have them.

As for "news that makes me happy", it's the return of Jason Todd to the regular Red Hood look. True, I'd have preferred him as Red Robin, but at least he's gotten rid of the stupid red fishbowl he's been sporting in the "Batman and Robin" series.  He'll be getting his own ongoing series called "Red Hood and the Outlaws". It's another series I'll be jumping on.

And hey, seeing Dick Grayson as Nightwing again will be good. I was worried they'd do something stupid and kill him off, but this is good news. Still, I'll miss him as Batman.

Dream Casting the Alpha Flight Movie

 Alpha Flight was the creation of John Byrne during his X-Men years. Wolverine got a lot of love during those years because Byrne was Canadian just like the character. He even took it step further though and created an entire superhero team for the country to work with.

Now they have a new miniseries coming out in hopes to revive the team's popularity back to what it was in the 80's.

While there is absolutely zero possibility we will ever see an Alpha Flight movie, I thought it might be cool to think about who would be best for the parts if it ever came to be. I think this film would be huge in Canada!

Guardian - Christian Kane

Kane does an awesome job on Leverage playing this tough guy ready to beat the tar out of anyone at any time. Give him a haircut, and I think we'd be looking at a halfway decent James Hudson. He's a little young to fit the part, but he seems tough enough to put on the suit when duty calls.

When you take a comedic actor like Ryan Reynolds and turn him into a very-convincing Green Lantern, there's no reason not to give other actors the chance to stretch a bit as well. Kane might just surprise a lot of folks out there with his acting range.

Shaman - Vik Sahay

An actual Canadian for the team, Vik might surprise you.

Vik's role on Chuck doesn't give him much room for serious moments, but you can see sometimes where he might be able to pull off that "man of mystery" thing. True, he's a little young for the role from the way the comics portray him (I think he's supposed to be in his 40's in the comics), but it's a small difference we can work around.

It works.

Puck - Peter Dinklage

Dinklage is an incredible actor. He plays a wide range of characters, but always brings this cool factor to each one. It's almost as if you should feel privileged to watch him act! I'm not saying he's conceited or anything, I'm just saying he's always this simmering tough guy just waiting for the chance to attack (hey, remember his fight scene in Elf?).

Puck would be the character to allow that. Remember, according to the mythos he is actually harboring a magical creature inside that fights to get out (and consequently forces him to his small stature). That means the character would fight but would also have to show obvious pain and toughness. I believe Peter could do the job.

Northstar - Ian Somerhalder

This character is supposed to be a conceited, arrogant guy. He's a world-class athlete (Olympic skier) who is a superhero only to protect his schizophrenic sister, Aurora. That means we need someone who will be the unhappy hero constantly looking for a reason to snap off on everybody. Oh, and they need to be able to have a French accent. Easy enough, right?

Well, I don't know about the French accent, but Ian did a great job of portraying the overprotective brother on Lost, so I say give him a try. He's got the same thin build you'd expect from a mutant speedster, and he can be pretty intense in his acting from time to time. It might be necessary to drop the accent to keep the role.

Aurora - Kristin Kreuk

For Northstar's sister, you'd need someone who at least looks related to the guy. Kristin's turn as Lana Lang on Smallville went on for too many seasons. There's no way to deny the fact that she was basically killing time on the show her last three seasons there, but she has this otherworldly look about her that could allow for interesting stuff.

Aurora is supposed to have a split personality (at least in the beginning of the comic series), so she needs to be able to go from shy to fireball in a moment. Kristin did some decent fight scenes in Smallville and her mega-successful Street Fighter film (cue sarcasm music here), so I think she could bring the fire to the role as needed. Plus, any chance to make us forget Street Fighter could only work in her favor.


Sasquatch - The Big Show

Let's just admit it: CGI characters are a little over-rated. While I appreciate the need for it from time to time, I really like it when actors are allowed to actually act in a part. With the character of Sasquatch we have the rare opportunity to have a person in costume who actually wouldn't need any CGI work involved if we used The Big Show.

At 7 feet tall, he's already got the height covered. His voice is deep enough to make it happen. Need a roar during a battle scene? He's got that covered as well. Add to it the fact that he's actually a pretty good actor (have you seen Knucklehead?) and I think you have a no-brainer for the part. The only problem would be making sure he didn't look like Chewbacca.

Who would play Walter Langowski when he wasn't being all furry?  How about Mark Pellegrino? He has the studious look and makes you believe he could be a scientist with a fun personality in there somewhere.

Heather Hudson - Amanda Righetti

Amanda has the fire in her acting on The Mentalist that makes you believe at some point she could throw on the spandex and go into battle.  Plus, she has the "smart girl" vibe going on that makes you believe she could be a scientist on her own.

While I wouldn't envision the movie to portray Guardian's death scene from issue #12, you could still work in a reason for her to put on her version of the Guardian costume. I don't think it would work for the first film though. Perhaps in the sequel (as if).

Snowbird - Yvonne Strahovski

This ageless spirit seems a good fit for our Chuck super-spy. Snowbird transforms from time to time into other animals and birds, while always fighting to keep her human side dominant. Though she keeps a relationship with a regular guy, she doesn't quite understand how to keep it working because she wasn't raised as a normal person. I think Yvonne's done an admirable job of portraying that type of character for the last four seasons of her show.

This one would be heavy on CGI for obvious reasons, but I think Yvonne would be able to play the "not of this world" part needed to make this a credible character.

Marina - Summer Glau

Marina is supposed to be a character who doesn't quite fit in and who eventually explodes into a fit of violent rage and almost disembowels Puck when her wild nature comes out. Summer has pretty much made her career out of playing those roles. In Firefly she was a crazy girl who eventually turns out to be a super-assassin when needed. In the Sarah Connor Chronicles she's the newest terminator robot. It's hard not to see the obvious possibilities here.

The only hitch is the ending. In Marvel continuity, Marina was eventually killed by Prince Namor in a mercy killing because she'd lost her mind. I honestly don't believe there's any way Namor could kill Summer. I believe we'd end up with a much different finale here.

DC Reboots Everything in August!

 

Ok, that's slightly an overstatement, since 1/3 of their titles won't be touched, but according to a recent interview in USA Today we'll be seeing a LOT of issues after Flashpoint ends that will start with #1. From what has been said, we'll actually see 52 new titles coming out, including reboots of Justice League (with younger versions of the heroes) and even Superman.

Let's be honest, Superman has nowhere to go but up from the past year or so. But look at something else: 52 new titles? Seriously? I want you to take a second and give me 52 DC heroes out there strong enough to hold their own title. Ready...go!

Yeah, I thought so. What we're seeing is a bunch of single starter issues and I suspect we'll be down to about 10 titles or so within a few months.

At the same time, DC is pushing more emphasis toward their digital comics and shoving people that direction. Do you read digital comics? I might look at an issue or two here and there--and it's definitely a cool way to have a ton of comics in a little bitty device or archive important issues--but to me they will never take the place of real paper comic books. I guess I'm an outgoing breed of customer while they focus more on the younger crowd.

Speaking of younger crowds, most of the new titles will be rebooted with younger versions of the heroes, including the new Justice League title headed by the dream team of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. We'll get the standard heroes of Batman, Superman, etc, along with some lesser heroes. Cyborg is supposed to play a big role in the team, but I have no idea why. I've never enjoyed the character or seen a reason he's vital to any team. Guess that's why I don't work for DC though, eh?

So what do you think? Brave move on the part of DC, or a desperate act that will end in disaster?