For The Love of Comics

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• Platinum Adapting Hero By Night for TV
  Posted on Friday, November 14th, 2008 in Small Press - Comments: (0)
  One of the biggest problems with being away from blogging for awhile, at least for me, is trying to come back. I feel like I need to write something really interesting to justify all of that time away and the longer I’m gone the bigger the pressure I put on myself to find something good, which makes it even harder to come back and I stay away even longer.
• The Dark Knight For Best Picture
  Posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (5)
  Warner Brothers has begun pushing The Dark Knight for best picture by placing “For Your Consideration” ads in trade papers and across the internet in attempts to sway Oscar voters.

  [/caption]Imagine - a comic book adaptation winning the biggest award of the year.Fellow geeks, validation is at hand.

• Drama at DC
  Posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (3)
  Yesterday’s Lying In The Gutters column has the internet abuzz starting with the successful exposure of a con artist presenting himself as the legendary Art Adams (see what I did there with the “con artist thing? HA!) and ending with several rumors about trouble at DC Comics.First there were rumors about trouble between Dan DiDio and Grant Morrison over Final Crisis:A familiar source known collectively as “New York comics industry employees talking in bars” tells me that the last issue of “Final Crisis” is further delayed as it is suffering from serious rewrites.
• Josh Schwartz Writing X-Men First Class
  Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (2)
  Some of you may remember that Josh Schwartz, creator of Gossip Girl, O.C., and Chuck, let it slip a few months ago that he was working on an X-Men movie script, followed by complete radio silence.Last night, Variety confirmed Schwartz’s slip by reporting that Fox and Marvel will be rebooting the X-Men franchise that Brett Ratner ruined with X-Men First Class, produced by Lauren Schooner Donner and written by Josh Schwartz.
• James Robinson Apparently Staying On Superman
  Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (0)
  Yesterday, I posted about a rumor that Superman writer James Robinson quit over a heated argument with Dan Didio.According to Superman Homepage, Superman editor Matt Idelson has said that this is not true - James Robinson will still be writing Superman.So now you know. And you know what they say about knowing…
• Captain America Recruits Chronicles of Narnia Writers
  Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (1)
  It’s a big day for Marvel comic movie adaptations and writers!While I was on hiatus, Joe Johnston was announced as the director of First Avenger: Captain America. Johnson directed another WWII-era superhero movie, The Rocketeer, and worked on art direction and character design on the Star Wars movies, so I’m optimimistic that he’ll be able to bring a little something extra to Cap.
• 84 Comic Book Movies in the Works!
  Posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 in Dark Horse - Comments: (0)
  Image via WikipediaSo I found myself scrolling through geek news the other night on Fark.com and came across this little tidbit: Den of the Geek . This page has a pretty full list of comic books being turned into movies. I won’t give a full list here but here are a few of the ones that stand out the most:Doctor Strange (2012)Already the subject of two low-budget adaptations (in 1978 and 2007), there have been many contenders to helm and star in the tale of the New York superhero/mystic; Christian Bale - perhaps unimaginatively - is the latest to be offered the cape, while Guillermo del Toro has flirted endlessly with the project, which remains without a confirmed director.
• Heath Ledger For Best Supporting Actor
  Posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (0)
  Continuing their Dark Knight Oscar push, Warner Brothers has begun circulating “For Your Consideration” ads for Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker.I’m telling you, we old-school geeks are going to be known as visionary trend-setters!
• The Dark Avengers Are Skrulls
  Posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (2)
  Since Marvel released a teaser image of the Dark Avengers (nice throwback to the cover of New Avengers #1, by the way), speculation has been rampant over the identities of these team members. I honestly hadn’t been paying much attention until Mike Hayne’s speculation post last week on Panels of Awesome, when it became very clear to me.I’ll get into my ideas after I show you that teaser image I mentioned, along with the “clues” that Marvel released with the image.
• Batman RIP Off
  Posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (18)
  First of all, I should warn you that this post contains some spoilers of Batman 681 and the Batman RIP storyline if you’ve yet to read these issues and/or you hate having anything spoiled, you should probably stop reading now and come back when you have everything read.As for the rest of you, I just finished reading the final issue of Batman RIP and.
• Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends Rick-Rolls The Nation
  Posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 in Miscellany - Comments: (5)
  Absolutely brilliant.
• Gay For Spider-Man!
  Posted on Saturday, November 29th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (2)
  Mike Haynes’ reposting of his Spider-man toy comics reminded me of some stuff I’d seen on JayPinkerton.com. Basically, he took old Spider-man comics from the newspapers and wrote new dialogue.

Technorati Tags: Monthly Recap, Platinum, Hero By Night, DJ Coffman, Academy Award, Oscar, Best Picture, The Dark Knight, Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger, Joker, Batman, DC, Dan Didio, Garth Ennis, James Robertson, Superman, Final Crisis, Josh Schwartz, X-Men, X-Men First Class, Captain America, Marvel, Joe Johnston, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Chronicles of Narnia, Dark Horse, Deadpool, Green Lantern, Sin City, Iron Fist, Superman, Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America, Shazam, Captain Marvel, Namor, Submariner, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Flash, Witchblade, Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, Ryan Reynolds, Silver Surfer, Thor, Red Sonja, Nick Fury, Wonder Woman, Doctor Strange, Dark Avengers, Skrulls, Iron Patriot, Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends, Rick Roll, Macy’s, Thanksgiving Day Parade, Spider-Man

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Since Marvel released a teaser image of the Dark Avengers (nice throwback to the cover of New Avengers #1, by the way), speculation has been rampant over the identities of these team members. I honestly hadn’t been paying much attention until Mike Hayne’s speculation post last week on Panels of Awesome, when it became very clear to me.

I’ll get into my ideas after I show you that teaser image I mentioned, along with the “clues” that Marvel released with the image.

“What he does isn’t very nice.”
“Back in black.”
“Not such a straight arrow.”
“Men fear a powerful woman.”
“The greatest hero in the Marvel Universe.”

Now the obvious guesses here are Wolverine, Spider-man, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and Iron Man, but that seems a bit too obvious to me and the retro/alternative takes on their costumes gives me other ideas, along with some recent history.

First, the current “Captain Marvel” is actually a Skrull who took to his programming so well that he actually believed he was Captain Marvel and, even when he discovered that he was a Skrull, chose to defend his adopted home planet against the Skrulls.

Second, the impostor heroes that came from the crashed ship in the Savage Land all wore old versions of the heroes’ costumes.

Third, it has been said repeatedly that Dark Avengers will spin out from the events of Secret Invasion
I think you know where I’m going with this by now. I think the Dark Avengers are all Skrulls that have taken to their programming so well that they’ve decided to stay on Earth and become heroes. The retro costumes and younger appearances (especially on “Wolverine”) seem to support this.

The one flaw in my theory seems to be the Iron Patriot, since that isn’t really a retro costume. I have an idea for this, too. I’ve lost count of how many times Vision has been taken out and redesigned. Perhaps, during the corruption of all StarkTech, Vision was also corrupted and could no longer inhabit the armor that Iron Lad left behind. Elijah Bradley could then don that armor and become… Iron Patriot, assigned to lead the Dark Avengers and keep an eye on the Skrull members of the team.

Of course, “Spider-man” could be Venom, since he looks a bit bulky, and “Wolverine” could be Daken, which would explain the younger face. That doesn’t explain Hawkeye or Ms Marvel, though, so I’m sticking with my Skrull idea.

Technorati Tags: Marvel, Dark Avengers, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Ms Marvel, Spider-man, Iron Man, Iron Patriot, Patriot, Skrulls, Venom, Daken

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Popularity: 10% [?]

So I found myself scrolling through geek news the other night on Fark.com and came across this little tidbit: Den of the Geek . This page has a pretty full list of comic books being turned into movies. I won’t give a full list here but here are a few of the ones that stand out the most:

Doctor Strange (2012)
Already the subject of two low-budget adaptations (in 1978 and 2007), there have been many contenders to helm and star in the tale of the New York superhero/mystic; Christian Bale - perhaps unimaginatively - is the latest to be offered the cape, while Guillermo del Toro has flirted endlessly with the project, which remains without a confirmed director.

Wonder Woman (2011)
Possibly the most controversial piece of casting of the decade, there are a million forums alive with speculation as to who will play DC comics’ Amazonian warrior, though Jessica Biel is looking hot right now. Errr. Anyway Joss Whedon’s wasted two years on the project are further indication that no-one really knows what to do with such a cheerful character post-Dark Knight.

Namor: The Submariner (aka Submariner) (2010)
Originally with Chris Columbus, this Marvel Studios tale of the Atlantean wing-heeled hero has had Angel’s David Boreanaz attached for some time. Central character Prince Namor will be caught up in an ecological war between the land-dwellers and the sea-denizens whose habitat they have polluted. Jonathan Mostow is still said to be attached to the project.

The Avengers (2011)
Slated for a prime summer slot on July 15th 2011, this is set to be one of the most highly-anticipated movies of the next few years, directed by Jon Favreau with Robert Downey Jr. firmly signed to it as Tony Stark/Iron Man and new ‘Rhodey’ Don Cheadle attached too. Marvel Studios are financing and Paramount distrubuting, as usual. Rumours are obviously rife regarding casting.

Iron Man 2 (2010)
7th May 2010 and the wait will be over for Downey Jr. to rocket upwards for a sequel to the smash hit 2008 Marvel Studios’ debut. Terence Howard’s replacement by Don Cheadle (see The Avengers above) has caused a stir, but we’re all pleased that Downey Jr. has signed on the dotted line up to Iron Man 3.

Nick Fury (2010)
Jack Kirby’s streetwise S.H.I.E.L.D supremo was a huge hit in a guest spot with Samuel L. Jackson at the end of the credits for Iron Man, and many are hoping that Jackson will return and make the film that Shaft should have been.

Red Sonja (2009)
The Robert Rodriguez-produced adaptation of the adventures of the Marvel comics heroine (a Conan spin-off derived very loosely from a Robert E. Howard short story) generated much interest at Comicon when Rodriguez and Sonja star Rose McGowan showed off some sexy new posters, but there’s some speculation the film may go straight to disc.

Thor (2010)
Kenneth Branagh was entranced by the classical tale of Marvel comics’ Norse god with a big hammer, which remains without a leading man (Daniel Craig turned it down). The film is slated for release 16th July 2010.

The First Avenger: Captain America (2011)
Jurassic Park III director and effects guru Joe Johnston is slated to direct the tale of the New York fine arts student who takes a super-serum that soups him up for action against the Nazis in WWII America. Narnia writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have been put on scripting duty.

Silver Surfer (2009)
2009 is looking a bit unlikely for the (rumoured) return of Doug Jones as the shiny semi-hero of Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. J. Michael Straczynski revealed that the character’s association with the unappreciated FF2 doesn’t help. Galactus is rumoured to return, hopefully not just as a VGER-type cloud. Dark City’s Alex Proyas refused the helm, and Fox is rumoured to be awaiting the reception of the Wolverine movie before committing.

Sin City 2 (2010)
Frank Miller returns to helm the sequel to the stylistic 2005 hit. Based on the GN story “A Dame to Kill For”, Clive Owen reprises his role as Dwight McCarthy to take revenge on (a rumoured) Rose McGowan, an ex-lover who makes an unwelcome return to his life.

Sin City 3 (2010)
Miller is slating the second Sin City sequel to cover the ‘Hell and Back’ story featuring ex-navy SEAL Wallace, a vigilante character that Miller says was based on Johnny Depp, though the actor is not officially attached to the role.

Superman: Man of Steel (2011)
Despite profitability, Bryan Singer’s 2006 Donner-loving reboot/sequel Superman Returns inspired little studio confidence for a franchise run, and many - including Mark Millar - have been seeking to completely reboot the franchise. Brandon Routh is not as out of the picture as many think, it seems, and neither is Bryan Singer. But how far will they have to reboot the franchise to get Superman off the ground again?

The Witchblade (2009)
Battlestar Galactica’s Michael Rymer is set to helm the movie adaptation of the Top Cow productions GN, in the wake of the TV version. The eponymous weapon is (of course) supernatural, a ‘one-ring’-style sentient artifact that has afforded great powers to women such as Cleopatra and Joan Of Arc and now falls into the hands of NYPD detective Sara Pezzini. She doesn’t look like any cop I’ve ever seen.

Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam (aka Captain Marvel, 2010)
The Captain Marvel character is awfully close to Superman in capabilities, and the scrambling for ‘dark’ properties for superhero movies could have moved this project even further down the roster. Get Smart director Peter Segal is attached, and in his defence was talking about a ‘darker’ character well before The Dark Knight’s release and box-office supremacy.

Iron Fist (2012)
Popularly thought to only have a chance if Luke Cage does well (the character developed out of that series), Iron Fist is resting in development hell with Ray Park thought to have left behind his association with the role.

Green Lantern (2010)
Ryan Gosling has been hotly tipped to wear the green ring of power in the movie of the DC comics verdant hero. The script is said to be good at the moment, and producer Donald De Line confirmed his enthusiasm for it. The fact that Green Lantern is more a suit than a person (worn by a series of fictional characters) takes the pressure out of casting a franchise in a Doctor Who/James Bond -style.

The Flash (2010)
The film of DC’s lightning-fast sprinter seems to be tying its shoelaces at the moment. Likelihood seems to be that the JLA movie is confusing the issue in a way Batman never needs to worry about, so it could be quite a wait for Wally West to get moving. Dark Knight producer Charles Roven concedes that there has been no progress on the project.

Deadpool (2010)
Contrary to earlier reports, Variety says that the hyper-acid mercenary played by Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine will have to await that film’s box-office fate to know his own. Deadpool is about as post-modern and ironic a superhero as Marvel has to offer, arguably their most Tarantino-resque hero, but he’s a strong flavour that might not attract the requisite investment for a full-budget superhero flick.

Okay, so that was considerably more then a few but trust me there’s a lot more. I’m not sure how legit these postings are but I have my hopes up. Head on over to Den of the Geek for a full list!

Technorati Tags: Movies, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Deadpool, Green Lantern, Sin City, Iron Fist, Superman, Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America, Shazam, Captain Marvel, Namor, Submariner, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Flash, Witchblade, Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, Ryan Reynolds, Silver Surfer, Thor, Red Sonja, Nick Fury, Wonder Woman, Doctor Strange

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Apparently, writing Invincible Iron Man has been too much for Matt Fraction’s brain. First, he was seen at Comiccon wearing a blasphemous “Tony Was Right” t-shirt and now he’s made the artwork available for download. Just print it out onto an iron-on label, iron it onto a t-shirt, and VOILA!

…iron-on blasphemy.

Technorati Tags: Matt Fraction, T-Shirt, Iron Man, Captain America, Tony Stark, Civil War

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Image via Wikipedia

The Semifinals have ended and we now have our combatants for the final battle of the Tournament of Champions.

Midknight has provided us with the story of our first battle, between Batman and Thor, and picked up five bonus points in the process.

wo Weeks Ago at Stark Tower:

“Knocked out in the first round, pathetic….” Tony Stark thinks to himself as he drowns his sorrow deep in a bottle of Jack Daniels. “Fallen off of the wagon I see.” Stark quickly looks behind himself, startled, “What the hell are you doing here?!” A Cloaked figure steps out of the shadows and scowls down at Tony, takes the glass out of his hands and pours it out onto the floor. “You have something that I need.” the Dark Figure replies, “And why should I help you, Batman?!” Tony Stark snarls back at the Bat. Batman reaches into his utility belt and pulls out a cell phone and begins dialing a number but does not send the call. “Because with one call, Stark enterprises will suffer from a hostile takeover at the hands of Wayne Enterprises, just one call and your company is mine!” Tony sighs and looks down at his feet, “Damnit Bruce, what do you want?” He asks, giving in to Batman’s demands, “I need a sample of Thor’s DNA. I know you have some, you used it to create your Cyborg Thor, now give me what I came here for.”

One week ago in Las Vegas Backstage in the Amazing Zattanna’s dressing room:

“You want me to do WHAT?!” Zattana asks. “I need your help…” replies Batman, “I need your help to defeat a God.” Batman hands her the sample of Thor’s DNA, “I know you won’t do this for free, so take this as payment. The DNA of a God.” Zatanna accepts and looks up at Batman, “Bruce I don’t know if I can do this, I mean I’ve taken down some big hitters before but I have NEVER tried to beat a God, especially not the God of Thunder!” Zatanna says, “I don’t need you to beat him, Zatanna. I need you to make me a weapon so that I can beat him. I’ve done some research and I discovered that Thor is not entirely invulnerable. If I can take his hammer out of the picture he reverts to his mortal self, and that’s where you come in. His hammer is vulnerable to magic.”

Present Day at The Awesome Arena:

Thor enters the ring not knowing what to expect, he’d never faced The Batman before, but is not worried in the slightest. After all, Batman has no powers, a mere mortal can not defeat a God. Batman enters the ring and glares at Thor, sizing up his opponent, knowing that if it weren’t for the tiny scroll rolled up and neatly tucked away in his utility belt, it would already be over. “Ding! Ding!” the bell sounds and the fight is on! Thor flies out of his corner charging at Batman, Batman dives to his left, dodging Thor. Thor slams into a wall, he didn’t think a mortal could move so fast, he looks up just soon enough to see 3 batarangs slicing and tearing through the air towards him. He swats them away with his might Hammer. Then he throws Mjolnir at Batman, that’s the cue. Batman quickly pulls the scroll out of his utility belt and begins chanting the sacred text inscribed upon the brittle piece of parchment. Thor’s Mighty Hammer soars through the air, closer and closer, as Batman chants the last line on the parchment, “WHAT BELONGS IN THE HEAVENS SHALL RETURN TO THE HEAVENS! I BANISH THE MIGHTY HAMMER OF THOR, MJOLNIR BACK TO ASGARD!” Suddenly the hammer vanishes into thin air, Thor looks at Batman, stunned as he began reverting to his mortal self, Jake Olsen, as Batman leaps across the ring and lands a hard right to Jake Olsen’s chin, knocking the mortal self of The Mighty Thor, unconscious. Batman has Defeated a God.

… and my perfect record of Awesome Arena predictions has ended. I’m sorry for ever doubting the great Batman!! Even if he only won by a single vote…

Noone submitted a winning breakdown for our second battle between Superman and Green Lantern, so I’ll throw something together myself.

Superman tries to end the fight quickly by streaking towards Green Lantern to deliver a knockout blow, but Jordan throws up a shield at the last minute and deflects the big boyscout.

Superman keeps up the assault, shooting blast of heat vision and blowing supercooled air at the Lantern, but Hal Jordan deflects them all, seemingly with less and less effort as the fight goes on. Finally, Jordan pins Kent down with a big green hand and walks towards the immobile Kryptonian.

As Jordan approaches, it becomes apparent that he has two green rings - one is a loaner from Batman. Jordan punches Superman in the face repeatedly with his kryptonite ring-laden fist until Superman loses consciousness, ending the battle.

Jordan moves on to meet Batman in the final round, making all the contest participants .500 this week.

Which brings us to the standings…

AJ holds steady at first place with six first round points for correctly predicting victories for Martian Manhunter, Thor, Red Tornado, Captain America, Green Lantern, and Hulk; six second-round points for predicting Batman’s victory over Martian Manhunter, Thor’s victory over Red Tornado, and Green Lantern’s victory over Captain America; eight semi-final points for picking Green Lantern over Superman; twenty-three bonus points for posts on his myspace blog and view askew; three more bonus points for signing up for an account on The Forums of Awesome; and the ten bonus points for his two breakdowns for a total of FIFTY-SIX POINTS!

Midknight has gained quite a bit of ground this week with seven first round points for knowing that Batman, Thor, Red Tornado, Captain America, Green Lantern, Hulk, and Superman ain’t nothing to mess with, six second-round points for knowing that Batman and Thor REALLY ain’t nothin’ to mess with, eight semifinal points for believing in Batman, eleven bonus points for posts on ComicVine, three bonus points for pimping us on his blog, one bonus point for helping Mike search for Batboat pictures, three more bonus points for signing up with Forums of Awesome, and the fifteen bonus points awarded for his three breakdowns to give him a total of FIFTY-FOUR POINTS!

With only two points dividing these two, the final round becomes VERY important

RJP is also still statistically in the race in third with two first round points for supporting Batman and Red Tornado, four second round points for backing Batman and Superman, eight semifinal points for backing Batman, twenty bonus points for posts on Between The Staples and his Facebook account, and three bonus points for signing up for the Forums of Awesome for a total of THIRTY-SEVEN POINTS

Weston has shot into fourth by backing Martian Manhunter, Thor, Red Tornado, and Captain America in the first round and Green Lantern in the semifinals for a total of TWELVE POINTS

In fifth, Xers has four first round points with victories for Martian Manhunter, Thor, Red Tornado, and Captain America, two bonus points for posts on Cre8Buzz and BlackPlanet, and three more bonus points for signing up with Forums of Awesome for a total of NINE POINTS!

Patrick D. is in sixth place with two points for backing Batman and Martian Manhunter (I wonder who he’ll pick when they fight eachother?”), two bonus points for posts on Patrick Says and his Twitter, and three more bonus points for signing up at Forums of Awesome for a total of SEVEN POINTS!

In seventh place, DougFungus has three first round points for supporting Batman, Red Tornado, and Captain America and three bonus points for signing up at Forums of Awesome for a total of SIX POINTS!

Finally, in eighth place, Naimad89 backed Batman to give him ONE POINT!

Once again, the standings are:

1st: AJ - 56 points

2nd place: Midknight- 54 points

3rd place: RJP - 37 points

4th place: Weston - 12 points

5th place: Xers- 9 points

6th place: Patrick D. - 7 points

7th place: Dougfungus - 6 point

8th place: Naimad69 - 1 point

You can get in your votes on who you think will win the final round between Batman and Green Lantern starting right here and now, but make sure to stop by Panels of Awesome starting Monday to vote in the poll and help your pick win.

Also, make sure to get your bonus points in by pimpage and breakdowns - they just may be the deciding factor in who wins the prestige and prizes!

Technorati Tags: Awesome Arena, Tournament of Champions, Thor, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Hal Jordan, Tony Stark

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Image by lman1138 via Flickr

Last week, Mike Haynes from Panels of Awesome, RJP of Between The Staples, frequent readers and commenters AJ and Midknight, and I traded a bunch of e-mails that culminated in a Skype chat between Mike, AJ, and myself this past Sunday night.

The original plan was to focus on Iron Man, but the chat ended up going all over the place. We had so much fun that we decided to try and make it a weekly thing, every Sunday at 7pm EST. Hopefully Midknight will be joining us this week, but we know RJP won’t be there due to prior engagements at Emerald City ComicCon. We all expect tales of Seattle debauchery to make up for his absence.

If you would like to join us us this Sunday, or any Sunday, drop me a line at any of the many ways to contact me listed on the “About” page (or even drop a comment on the blog) with your Skype username (Skype is free, kids!) and I’ll make sure you get an invite to the chat!

Anyway, Mike beat me to posting excerpts from the roundtable discussion, but here are some of my favorite quotes:

Holy SHIT, that movie was awesome.

Hurry up and watch it so that I can geek out with y’all!

Also, in case you haven’t heard, make sure to stay until the credits are over.

~Me, immediately after getting home from seeing the Iron Man movie.

Best Marvel flick to date…with Spider-Man 1 & 2 coming in a close second and third. X-Men and X-Men 2 would be somewhere in the mix too I guess.
~Mike, on where Iron Man stands among the other Marvel movies.

I’ll go as far as to say best Comic Book Movie to date, edging out Batman Begins.
~AJ, going one step further than Mike.

I’m still not willing to go THAT far. Batman is God, people.

Mike Haynes: Speaking of acting, Robert Downey Jr. - Best casting ever?

AJ Tardive: Oh man, amazing. Like I said before, if Tony Stark was that much of a BAMF in the comics, I would be a die hard Iron Man fan.

Dustin Christian (Crackerbob): Yeah, Downey ran away with it, as I expected, but everyone was excellent in it. I think they cast with an eye on the long term… Howard can easily carry the focus on War Machine, as can Paltrow and Favreau with any increased exposure on their characters. I don’t think there could have been a better person to play Tony Stark.

AJ Tardive: Howard’s shining moment “Next time baby…” was great.

Mike Haynes: Loved that little teaser.

AJ Tardive: Really got my hopes up too, cause for a second I thought he’d actually become War Machine this early in the series.

Dustin Christian: I hear he probably will wear the armor in the sequel; everyone is signed for three movies.

AJ Tardive: Yeah, next film will supposedly delve in to Tony’s alcoholism.

Mike Haynes: Exactly. If it’s not Iron Man II, it’ll be in the third. Either way, he’ll be in that armor before the trilogy comes to a close.

~The whole group, discussing the casting and the future of the franchise. Again, this was before Marvel made their announcements on Monday morning.

Dustin Christian: I snickered every time they made fun of SHIELD’s name.

AJ Tardive: I was surprised, I didn’t catch the SHIELD references until he actually said “SHIELD” at the end.

Dustin Christian: really?

Mike Haynes: Yeah, me neither.

Dustin Christian: huh…I caught it right away.

AJ Tardive: yeah. when he said it I was like “oh…damn”

Mike Haynes: Then right before he says it I was like…”Oh. He’s SHIELD…” [and then] “…just call us SHIELD.”

Dustin Christian: I caught it the first time, when they said “Strategic Homeland…” I was like “ooooh… COOL!” I kept halfway hoping to see some people in the jumpsuits, even though they would have looked ridiculous.

Help me out, people - am I really the only one who caught that right away? Am I that much of a geek?

From there, we kinda bounced all over the place, talking about what’s coming out, what’s out, how much Jeph Loeb needs to step up his game with Captain America: White, how Spider-man can just not win as a comic in my mind (no matter what), my seeming obsession with the viral campaign for The Dark Knight, why no woman should EVER date Matt Murdock, and various other topics. There were awesome moments and I was funny as hell, but putting it all into context would quadruple the size of this already long post.

Your best bet is to join our little Bags-and-Boards Mafia this Sunday for more comic book fun! Anything goes and we can talk about anything you like - even RJP’s sex-change operation!

Technorati Tags: Panels of Awesome, Round Table Discussion, Bags-and-Boards Mafia, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Summer Movie Season, Batman, Matt Murdock, Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr

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Popularity: 36% [?]

Found via Doomkopf

Technorati Tags: Batman, Iron Man, Summer Movie Season

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Image by Morning Magician via Flickr

After a scavenger hunt in cities around the world (you can read CBR’s on-the-ground reports from New York and Los Angeles here), participants were treated to a viewing of the new Dark Knight trailer. Someone at the Sao Paolo, Brazil, showing managed to record the trailer.

The bad news is that the quality is crap and the video will likely be pulled any time now.

The good news is that there’s a new site and it looks like the trailer will be released there on Sunday, in a similar method to the release of the last trailer. If you just want the url of the new site and don’t care how it was found, just skip to the end of this post.

During the scavenger hunt, the people on the ground were being fed clues by accomplices at home checking the It’s All Part of The Plan site. The final clue led them to a grid full of J’s.

These J’s corresponded to a set of letters that, when unscrambled, spell out “Sitting Ducks”, leading us to http://www.whysoserious.com/sittingducks/. According to people far more clever than I am, the ducks represent bianry code (blue for 0, yellow for 1) spelling out…

1. 1st row: “To win shoot”
2nd row: “Only row two”
3rd row: ybbyyyybbybby

Following these instructions gets you a “You Win” sign. Click on that gets you…

A new site called “Happy Trails”, with language implying that the new trailer will be released into the wild on Sunday, presumably after premiering before Iron Man.

Technorati Tags: Batman, The Dark Knight, Viral Campaign, Why So Serious, Sitting Ducks, Happy Trails, New Trailer

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Source: WikipediaCracka’s Note: During the craziness of the first week of the Awesome Arena Tournament of Champions battle between Batman and Iron Man, MidKnight and AJ placed a bet on who would win. MidKnight supported - of course - The Dark Knight. AJ supported Iron Man. The loser would have to write an essay on why their choice was inferior to the other combatant. As we all now know, MidKnight won.

This is AJ’s essay.

Batman. He’s a man, not a bat, but that doesn’t make him any less awesome, does it? You bet your “Holy Moodiness!” it doesn’t. No, Batman truly is the peek physical specimen that any hero should aspire to be, and marvel at when he or she is not. Meanwhile, his opponent in this battle, Iron Man (Super alias of Anthony Stark), is what? A sniveling drunk, that’s what! Some gullible naves (myself not among them of course, I obviously know Batman could and did kick Iron Girl’s ass) actually believed that Stark had the one-up on Bats because of his armor. Bah! Anybody who’s read a comic besides Archie knows that Batman has countless weapons at his disposal, such as EMPs and grappling guns to dispatch the Iron Whimp. Batman is also an expert in many, many hand-to-hand forms of combat, something Tony can’t claim. Sure, Tony may have sparred with Captain America or Hawkeye a few times, but you know who he sparred with a lot more? Jack Daniels, thats who!
Another point in Bruce’s favor is his wealth. According to the Forbes List at http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/11/richest-fictional-characters-oped-books-fict1507-cx_mn_de_1211fictional15_land.html , Bruce Wayne is ranked Number Eight in the Top Fifteen Wealthy Fictional people, while Tony Stark is stuck in double digits at Number Ten. And, on top of that, Bruce spends his money on crime fighting and charity. You know what Stark spends it on? The Avengers, booze, and whores.
And that’s not all. According to BusinessWeek, at http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/05/smart_heroes/index_01.htm, Batman comes in at Number Two on the Top Ten Smartest Superheroes, while Tony Stark is close behind at Number Three, with the key word being, behind. As in “Tony Stark may get more behind, but Bruce Wayne is no slouch either, and he doesn’t need a parade of bimbos to make him feel better about not being Batman…because he is Batman.” Put that in your Stark Enterprises brand pipe and smoke it!
Lets take a second to examine the cast of characters that these two surround themselves with. Batman has the the Robins - Dick Grayson (who became bad ass Nightwing), Jason Todd (who became a bad ass corpse, and later bad ass resurrected and pissed off dude), and Tim Drake (who is still a whiny pansy and occasionally cool), and that chick one who died but no one seems to remember or really give a damn about. There’s also Commissioner Gordon, who’s played by Gary Oldman, ’nuff said. Then theres Barbara Gordon, Catwoman, and all his various allies and their baddassery. On the flip side, who does Iron Man have? Jim Rhodes, who is actually a cooler version of Iron Man than fucking Iron Man! Happy Hogan, God rest his soul, who isn’t around anymore. Pepper Potts, who Tony spent all his time trying to get with, despite the fact that she was married to his buddy Hogan. Gee Tony, you sure do know how to pick a bunch of winners. And then theres Jarvis. I have to give it to Jarvis. I couldn’t even lie and say Alfred Pennyworth is cooler than Jarvis, because Jarvis is fuckin’ harsh. Keep it real EJ, keep it real.
Okay, so lets move on to the rogues galleries of the two combatants. Clayface, Scarecrow, Penguin, The Riddler, Killer Croc, Ra’s al Ghul, Two-Face, and of course the mothafuckin’ Joker! Not to mention hundreds more, all of whom Batman has opened a can of whoop-ass upon. My God, what a group of amazing villians. I may make mine Marvel (Alliteration Ahoy!), but the Joker and Two-Face are by far two of my favorite comic villians (which is why I’m psyched for the the upcoming Dark Knight). So complex and layered, and fucked up…gah, I could do a thousand words alone on why those dudes are awesome, but I won’t. Conversely, who does Iron Man get? And, for the record, I’m not talking Avengers villians here, I’m going with original Iron Man villians. Fing Fang Foom, M.O.D.O.K, The Mandarin, Titanium Man…eh. I mean, sure, they’re aight, but they’re no Harvey Dent or Joe Kerr. Plus, Iron Man actually has a villain called “The Unicorn.” A Soviet super soldier called “The Unicorn.” If I was a Soviet, and somebody told me I could be a super villain, but I had to be “The Unicorn.” I would go “For the Motherland!” and shoot myself in the face.
So, anyway, what else is there to say? Iron Man is currently starring in Mighty Avengers, in which he seemingly dies in almost every god damned issue, only to miraculously and unfortunately not be dead in the next issue. He’s also got his own series chugging along “Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D”…whoopee. He got Captain America killed because of his stupid Civil War…asshole. He’s probably going to be revealed as a Skrull, absolving him of every wrong-doing he’s committed recently, while causing a massive continuity train wreck, which Joe Q will just shrug off and give a passive aggressive insult to the heart of the fan base. Iron Man will come out of some kind of prison, give up running S.H.I.E.L.D, which will of course return to the infinitely more capable hands of Nick Fury, and tell everybody that everything that happened he would’ve done the opposite of. He will miraculously clone Captain America, marry him, and reunite the Avengers while causing Maria Hill’s head to explode….okay, the Maria Hill head explosion thing is just wishful thinking, but you all know you were thinking it too.
And what will Batman do? Batman will continue being awesome, fighting the Joker, Tim Drake will die or disown him sooner or later to drive him even further into his cause, The Dark Knight will do better at the box office than Iron Man, the Iron Man game will be “aight” but overall disappointing, and Batman will forever reign supreme.
Thee End

Technorati Tags: Iron Man, Tony Stark, Captain America, Jason Todd, Avengers, Barbara Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Batman, Awesome Arena, Tournament of Champions

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Image by fengschwing via Flickr

Contrary to the slanderous disinformation spread by Tony Stark and perpetuated by the propagandists at Marvel and my well intentioned, but misguided friend The Mike Haynes from Panels of Awesome, Hulk is NOT to blame for the issues Marvel.com had on Tuesday, Nov. 13th.

The perpetrator was actually Iron Man, who decided to crash Marvel’s website for “the people’s own good.” Because Stark is incapable of taking responsibility for his own actions and must use others for his dirty work (see Harry Osborn and the Atlantean Ambassador), he tried to set up a defenseless man who is currently buried under the desert and unable to defend himself to take the fall.

This is typical behavior for Mr. Stark and I encourage you all to spread the truth about this out-of-control fascist gearhead, before he decides that breathing is not in our best interests, either.

tag: Death to the Initiative, Hulk, Iron Man, Marvel, Tony Stark, Digital Comics Unlimited

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