Category Comic Books

Sep 8 2013

Dark Horse Presents George Lucas’ Original Vision For The Star Wars

the star wars coverThis past week, Dark Horse Comics released their latest Star Wars comic book mini-series simply titled The Star Wars. The comic is based on George Lucas’ original 1974 draft treatment for the first Star Wars film.

Looking through the first issue in this mini-series it becomes very clear that the first version of the monumental epic bears little resemblance to what wound up on screen three years later. Superficially, it’s the same basic premise: out in a distant galaxy a young Jedi fights for freedom against an evil empire. Only this young Jedi (or Jedi-Bendu as is the order’s rightful name) is called Annikin Starkiller. By the end of the first issue he comes under the tutelage of General Luke Skywalker, who in this version is more akin to the older Obi-Wan Kenobi seen in Episode IV, except he’s a revered military leader and not an old hermit.

The other important Star Wars character, Darth Vader, while dressed in black, doesn’t wear a helmet, though he still looks malicious. Thanks for that goes to the mini-series’ artist Mike Mayhew. Actually, Mayhew and writer J. W. Rinzler should be credited for presenting this intriguing alternate take on the famous Star Wars franchise. The Star Wars seems more like an updated version of the pulpy Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers newspaper strips. It really isn’t surprising considering that Lucas was inspired by those strips and, in fact, originally intended to direct a Flash Gordon movie.

The story is about an evil Empire, whose skywalkercapitol is in Alderaan, that wants to conquer the last remaining free world Aquilae, which is where the nearly extinct Jedi are located. General Skywalker has to convince the ruling king in Aquilae to marshal forces to fight the Empire. Along the way, readers are introduced to a portly Bail Antilles, a teenage Princess Leia, and Skywalker’s old friend, Kane Starkiller, who is Annikin’s father.

The Star Wars can be daunting even for someone familiar with the Star Wars lore because it’s very complex. Actually, the comic does the same thing that the original Star Wars did for audiences back in 1977, which is to throw readers into the middle of a story taking place in unfamiliar territory and we have to learn about that universe along the way.

It can be offsetting for fans because it can be the blueprint for a reboot somewhere down the line that would be more controversial than the recent Star Trek reboot. This version of Star Wars could set fandom on fire just for its different take on the universe and characters.

But for now, fans can enjoy this new, radical take of Star Wars and ponder what might’ve been.

Lewis T. Grove

Aug 23 2013

Man of Steel Forced To Share The Spotlight With The Dark Knight

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With the recent announcement of the Man Of Steel sequel and the revelation that it will be a matchup between Batman and Superman, there was disappointment expressed by some fans. They complained that Superman will not be getting his own sequel movie and instead will have to share precious screen time with the Dark Knight.

affleck batmanThere is some validity to these concerns since now, for many, this movie will be seen as the next Batman movie instead of the second Man Of Steel film. Also, the speculation about who will be playing Batman (now known to be Ben Affleck), as well as how Batman will be portrayed will take away much of the needed attention from Superman when it should be instead focused on building Superman’s new universe. It has been a while since Superman has been relevant and Man Of Steel was successful in reestablishing him as a viable action hero. Superman is entitled to his own solo movies and not have to share the spotlight with a character that could upstage him. Now, the momentum has been halted and Superman will have to wait until after this new movie or even after the Justice League movie is eventually released to get another solo movie.

But that won’t be until 2017. By then, the movie-going public could be tired of comic book movies and be ready for something else. At the same time, I can sort of understand why Warner Bros. is doing this: The Avengers.

The movie studio saw The Avengers’ box office returns and how well received it was with the public. worlds finestThey want their own super hero movie mashup and don’t want to wait for another Man Of Steel movie followed by a standalone Batman movie to introduce their other main character. Marvel had time to do this with the Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America movies coming out one year at a time. DC doesn’t really have time to do this with The Avengers: Age Of Ultron coming in 2015. They need something to compete with it, and a movie with Superman alone might not be enough. So we get Superman vs. Batman, which has generated a lot of buzz and excitement.

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Hopefully it will help to create a new and exciting DC movie universe that will allow Superman to eventually have his own proper sequel. More importantly that sequel should continue Superman’s interesting character development that Man Of Steel has started.

C.S. Link

Aug 22 2013

Ben Affleck Is The New Batman!

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In a stunning move, Ben Affleck has just been picked to play Batman for the upcoming sequel to Man Of Steel. This is a truly stunning and daring casting pick considering how reviled he was for playing Daredevil a few years ago.

In fact, for years Affleck has gone out of his way to disavow his role in Daredevil and inferred that he was done with playing superheroes. His Hollywood career seemed to have suffered for playing the blind superhero, but he was able to switch gears and built an impressive resume as a film director. This culminated with his acclaimed directing job for the Oscar-winning film Argo. So for him to go back and playing another superhero, especially a high-profile one like Batman is a puzzling move.

Perhaps Warner Bros. threw a lot of money at him and he changed his mind. This is just speculation, but maybe he was offered a shot at directing the impending Justice League film and him playing the Caped Crusader was part of the deal.

batsIn a press release posted on Facebook, director Zack Snyder stated that “Ben provides and interesting counter-balance to Henry’s Superman. He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bear the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”

This casting choice literally comes out of left field considering other more visible candidates seemed to be in the running to play Batman. It’s a bold and risky move that can alienate many fans. Can Ben Affleck pull it off? Will he be the next Christian Bale or the next Nicolas Cage? Does this also mean he will play Batman in other films? Stay tuned, same Bat time…you know the rest.

Waldermann Rivera

Jul 24 2013

Comic-Con 2013 Highlights

Another Comic-Con at San Diego has come and gone, leaving many fans whetting their appetites over upcoming film releases, TV show premieres, comic books, etc. While the convention is supposed to be about comic books and related matter, the biggest news had to do with pending films and TV shows.

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Godzilla

Stealing the thunder in the early days of the convention was the immersive Godzilla Experience exhibit that gave convention goers a chance to see what the aftermath of a Godzilla rampage is like. Also, fans got a look at the new design of the famous Kaiju for next year’s Godzilla. Film director Gareth Edwards promises to deliver a true Godzilla movie unlike the abomination that came out in 1998. Reports are that the footage shown at Comic-Con allegedly captured the mood of the early Godzilla films.

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Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

This anticipated sequel to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, 2011’s successful reboot of the Apes franchise, looks mighty interesting. A special teaser was put together for Comic-Con that showed an older and angrier Caesar (mo-capped again by Andy Serkis) in his ape camp meeting with human resistance fighters. Many were excited by the tease, which presented even more realistically rendered CG apes.

The Walking Dead

The people behind the very successful TV show The Walking Dead seem to have outdone themselves. At least, that is what it looks like with the riveting trailer for the show’s fourth season. We find Rick Grimes and his group of survivors dealing with the nitty gritty of life in a post-apocalyptic world. As usual with The Walking Dead, characters apparently die as shown in the trailer and the tension and thrills seem to be in overdrive.

Gravity

Many curious fans got a gripping look at thrilling and captivating clips from Alonso Cuarón’s Gravity movie. Featuring endangered astronauts played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, the movie looks incredible. Thanks to the clips, which showcase the director’s masterful long takes, anticipation has greatly grown for Gravity. This film was delayed from last year, but based on the clips, the wait may have been worth the delay.

Almost Human

J.J. Abrams’ Lost and Fringe may no longer be on the air, but his new TV offerings may make up for that. The most promising "Almost Human" Season 1TV show seems to be Almost Human, which had its pilot screened at Comic-Con. It stars Karl Urban as a cop whose partner is an artificial being in the near future. While the premise sounds formulaic, the pilot was very well received by those who viewed it.

Marvel & DC Movies

The biggest news and reactions were generated by the Marvel and DC movie announcements and previews. Arguably, the most intense and joyous reaction was from the announcement that the next Superman movie will team him up with DC’s other iconic superhero, Batman.

mutantsNot to be outdone, Marvel previewed footage, props and concept art from an impressive lineup of films like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians Of The Galaxy. Along with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, two other Marvel films generated a lot of buzz. One was the sequel to The Avengers with the announcement that the evil android Ultron will be the villain. The other film is the eagerly awaited X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Aside from shown footage and anti-mutant posters plastered all over the place, the spectacle of the entire cast appearing to promote next year’s film was noteworthy.

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Many comic book fans lament about the way that Comic-Con lost its focus on being about comic books. But at least, the films generating the most talk out of the convention are based on comic book properties. This illustrates how the characters in those comics have evolved past their traditional trappings into something larger.

Jul 21 2013

DC & Marvel Throw The Film Gauntlets

ultron supebat

It’s clear that the comic book/movie titans DC and Marvel have thrown the gauntlets at each other at Comic-Con this weekend.

Both companies attempted to one-up each other with surprise announcements regarding their film franchises.

It all started innocently enough when the famous convention opened on July 17. Marvel hawked their upcoming comic book developments (remember those?), as well as the highly anticipated Agents Of Shield TV show. DC provided news on future comic book projects and celebrated the 75th anniversary of Superman with a tribute to Action Comics #1.

worlds finestThen the first bombshell was dropped yesterday. Warner Bros. and DC announced that the sequel to the film Man Of Steel will feature none other than the Caped Crusader himself, Batman! True, it’s not the Justice League film that fans are slobbering for, but it’s the next best thing, a live-action version of World’s Finest, the comic book series that teamed up DC’s most popular heroes. Seeing them on screen together was unwittingly foreshadowed in the Will Smith movie from a few years ago I Am Legend. A careful eye will spot in the movie a film poster that blends the two iconic symbols together as was done at Comic-Con.

Some may complain that Superman should be granted another solo film to develop his world. The success of Man Of Steel warrants that idea. But the problem is that DC and Warner Bros. are now in a race against the other big kid on the block. With the announcement, DC is acknowledging that they are competing against the Marvel movie behemoth, but in a different way. Rather than rushing out with a Justice League film to compete against the next Avengers film, or carefully building up the DC movie universe with references, DC chose a compromise. A Superman/Batman film allows for a new, re-imagined Batman to be introduced, while giving justified screen time to Superman. If they’re smart they should introduce elements and references to other DC characters to nicely set up the eventual Justice League film. Superman will get a chance to have another solo movie later on. There are also percolating, unofficial rumors about a Flash movie in 2016 and finally a Justice League film in 2017. To date, those two films haven’t been confirmed by Warner Bros. or DC.

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One would think that Marvel would try to raise the ante of that announcement. And they did. At Comic-Con, the company lauded their upcoming releases, principally, a well-received presentation of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 film. In that presentation, they had Spider-Man, the character himself, make an appearance at the official panel for next summer’s film. Meanwhile, footage from the film X-Men: Days Of Future Past was shown and it whetted many attendees’ appetites. Other showcased films included Thor: The Dark World (Tom Hiddleston appeared in character as the villainous Loki), Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the eagerly awaited Guardians Of The Galaxy.

age ultornThe big reveal came when The Avengers director himself, Joss Whedon, presented a preview trailer for the 2015 sequel. No new footage was shown, just a montage of previous Marvel movies. But the end of that montage electrified everyone when the helmet belonging to the villainous android Ultron was unveiled, along with the film’s title: The Avengers: Age Of Ultron! For non-comic book fans, Ultron is an android created by Avengers member Hank Pym that went rogue and became one of the team’s deadliest foes. He was the featured villain in this year’s comic book mini-series event Age Of Ultron. This stunned many who were expecting the big heavy to be Thanos as hinted in the end of The Avengers. Ultron’s appearance in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron also indicates that the Marvel movie universe will be expanded significantly. This also cements the fact that while DC has two titan character franchises, Marvel has shown that they have successfully created a solid film universe. These films feature many middle-ranged characters that are now well-known properties for Marvel.

Many will argue over which of the two companies will be the winner in the new comic book movie war. The clear answer is that the fans will be the victors as they finally behold their wildest dream. Now if they could just get Spider-Man or the X-Men to appear in a future Avengers film! LOL

Lewis T. Grove