DC has a new MOBA game coming out. Does “MOBA” sound weird? It means “multiplayer online battle arena,” which is the relatively recent name given to what was previously called DotA-clones, after the original Defense of the Ancients scenario in WarCraft III. (I still think they both sound weird.) Regardless, this MOBA is based not just on DC’s stable of superheroes and supervillains, but the reality-altering Infinite Crisis storyline. Read more…
Here’s a few tidbits for your weekend: Man of Steel, the Warner Bros. latest attempt to reboot the Superman franchise, is getting some good buzz. JoBlo mentions that their source says the upcoming movie has “tons of action” and “it’s not nearly as dour and serious as the trailers suggest.” This is great news, and I hope it turns out to be true. I’m hoping the combination of Snyder and Nolan can result in a good movie. Check out JoBlo for more details. In other superhero news, Marvel has released a new Iron Man 3 poster that shows off more than a few Iron Man armors flying around. Perhaps we’re getting an Iron Army? Check out the poster below. Read more…
Since Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is finished, Warner Brothers needs to take the Batman franchise in a new direction, and that means a reboot. The previous plan was to introduce a new Batman in the upcoming Justice League movie, which itself will be shaped by the success of Zack Snyder’s Superman movie Man of Steel. But now, things are uncertain, and we me see a new solo Batman film even sooner. Read more…
If you’re going to make a game like Injustice: Gods Among Us where superheroes beat each other up as well as the supervillains, you gotta at least give some reason for them to duke it out, however flimsy. The latest trailer does just that, showing Batman teaming up with Harley Quinn and Deathstroke to counter Superman’s fascist rule. Hm, sounds like Superman: Red Son! Read more…
I admit, I’m not the biggest Superman fan. The character is often just too powerful, removing tension and making everything around him dull, and when combined with his unwavering good nature, I find it hard to care about any of his problems. Why worry when you can throw any problem into the sun? If Superman’s personality is altered or presented in a different light (Red Son), then I can find enough interest to stick around. Fortunately, that seems to be what’s going on in this full trailer of Man of Steel. Read more…
Talk about blowing your load right away. So The Avengers 2 will feature Thanos, an intergalatic villain that seems natural for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to build up to. DC wants some of that superhero team-up money, so enter Justice League, a film from Warner Bros. coming in 2015. Justice League‘s Big Bad will reportedly be Darkseid, an intergalactic villain that is a horrible choice for a newly-launching franchise. Read more…
Batman vs. Superman is one of those match-ups that usually bug me. One of them is an extremely intelligent, paranoid sociopath, while the other is a nigh-invincible alien who can throw anything that bothers him into the sun. Writers will try to even the odds, since Batman is as big a name as Superman, but realistically, there’s no way that Superman wouldn’t just punch Batman to death before he could execute any of his plans. Read more…
Superheroes are big business in entertainment, even more so after the spectacular success of The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises this year. It’s not that surprising that we’d see a comic book character adapted into a TV series, which is what the CW is doing with Arrow, a live-action take of Green Arrow. But just as comics are becoming more accepted in the mainstream, Arrow seems to be doing its best to distance itself from its origins, as shown in this three-minute featurette. Read more…
Robot Chicken always does some amazing specials, and it looks like their upcoming DC Comics special will be no exception. Seth Green went on Conan to promote the special with a short clip featuring Aquaman. I’m sure you can all figure out where it’s going from here. I’d guess they picked a clip to appeal to more mainstream audiences, but the Robot Chicken guys always deliver solid stuff, so I’m excited to watch it. The special airs this Sunday at midnight, don’t miss it! Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Aug 31, 2012 in Comic Books
Here’s some simultaneously awesome and depressing news: at one point, Phil Jimenez pitched a Justice League/Transformers crossover to both DC (Justice League) and IDW (owners of the comic license for Transformers). And while IDW was more than happy to get the ball rolling, DC didn’t seem to approve of the combo. Perhaps Hasbro had an influence in the decision too, we don’t really know. What an incredible shame! Who wouldn’t want to see Optimus Prime as a Green Lantern? That’s freaking brilliant! Thankfully, the flip side of this, is Brian Michael Bendis has released his art done for the pitch, so you can at least see some awesome art. Read more…
The Justice League is an interesting beast to tackle. Mainly because Warner Bros. can’t seem to make up their mind one way or the other what they want to do with the property. Most recently, news came out that Warner had picked Will Beall to script the Justice League film, and in fact it’s implied that this was last year this happened. So with a script finally on the way, and a new Superman film from Zack Snyder peeking over the horizon, what will Warner’s strategy be? Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 14, 2012 in Animation
Here’s a preview clip of Super Best Friends Forever from Lauren Faust who is the evil genius behind My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And from what I can see Lauren has brought her magic tricks over to the DC Comics universe. This show will appear on Cartoon Network…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 1, 2011 in Comic Books
In 1938 a comic book fanboy would have paid a mere ten cents for a copy of Action Comics No 1 which featured a new guy called Superman: Today that comic book was sold at auction for $2.16 million dollars. The new owner of this gem has not been disclosed, however speculation has it that it may be Nicolas Cage.
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 4, 2011 in Comic Books
Three weeks ago in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland some selfish thieves stole the plaque honoring the home of Superman. However the creed of “Truth, Justice and the American Way” must have gotten the better of the thieves conscience because mysteriously the plaque has been returned in undamaged condition. Although Tracey Kirksey a local official feels that bad publicity may have helped just a bit to give the criminal collectors a change of heart: Read more…
It would appear that NBC’s Wonder Woman has had an official wardrobe change. Apparently, enough people complained about the bright blue vinyl to make a difference. In addition to ditching the shiny pants in favor of a darker spandex, it looks as though they’ve decided to do away with her glossy red lipstick, and blue high-heels as well. While the changes are arguably for the best, I can’t help but feel the costume still seems a bit off. Perhaps I’m just not used to seeing Wonder Woman in anything but shorts. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Read more…
IGN’s given us the first good look at Batman: Arkham City, the follow-up to 2009’s critically acclaimed Arkham Asylum. Until now, we’ve only seen a live-action teaser introducing Dr.Hugo Strange, however this new trailer features quite a bit more. Not only do we get a glimpse at the actual gameplay, but we’ve been given our first look at Catwoman, and Two-Face. I’m also pleased to see The Joker — Mark Hamil — making his return after having been the focus of the last game. In recent weeks the developer has stated that they’ve opted to avoid an online mode — a feature that has been heavily requested for whatever reason — in favor of focusing on the single player aspect, and making sure it’s nicely polished when the game hits stores later this year. Personally, I can’t wait.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 14, 2011 in Comic Books
Above: “Hurry up Green Arrow: It’s our turn to kiss Lois Lane NOW!”
Most of us know Superman thanks to his many appearances in movies and television shows — but once upon a time the man of steel was mostly a creature of print. And in that tradition DC Comics had to expand the franchise as much as they could: And one of the results was Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane a comic book series that lasted from 1958 until 1974. The cover art and content of each issue was quite silly by today’s standards — in fact after a while you almost feel sorry for poor Superman: Read more…
Rob Pratt, a veteran animator and storyboard artist who has worked on numerous projects including Disney’s Pocahontas and, more recently, Kim Possible, has put together this amazing tribute to the Superman of old, simply titled Superman Classic. The character designs are very reminiscent a mid-90’s Disney film, but Pratt made sure to include a number of features we’ve come to identify with the Man of Steel, such as his signature hair style and Clark Kent’s mild-mannered demeanor. I don’t expect the upcoming film to retain any of those features, but seeing this hand-drawn short was definitely a welcome change. Now if only Warner Brothers would option this instead.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Feb 6, 2011 in Comic Books
Well, ComicsAlliance hit the jackpot here — sometimes you just find something so ridiculous it makes Electric Superman look like a good idea. A reader sent them concept art for an unreleased 1985 superhero action figure line from Kenner, only these aren’t just any action figures. These are grim, bizarre “anti-hero” versions of five beloved DC Comics heroes. Well, four beloved heroes and Firestorm, anyway. Each has a “Road Warrior” version, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like; Batman’s Road Warrior outfit, for example, is straight out of Mad Max, with a helmet that looks suspiciously like Humungus’, and knives for ears. The other variations are “futuristic” and “robot” versions, which can get downright bizarre when you’re dealing with someone like Cyborg, who is already half-robot to begin with. Wonder Woman probably gets the worst treatment of the bunch. Read more…
Following the success of their earlier bishoujo figures, Kotobukiya went ahead and expanded their bishoujo line to include figures from both the Marvel and DC universes. The figures, modeled after designs by popular artist Shunya Yamashita, have been selling out at various comic conventions over the past few years. This year, they’ve announced two brand new bishoujo figures. From the DC universe, they’ve brought us Supergirl, and for Marvel they’re introducing the Invisible Woman, Susan Richards. I have quite the collection going, but if they keep releasing these, I’ll never be able to keep up. The figures retail for around $65 each, and will likely be available by the time New York Toy Fair rolls around later this year. No word on if either will have a con exclusive.
I Am Legend teased it. Fringe teased it. Once upon a time, it seemed like Warner Bros. really wanted to make it. But if you were looking forward to a Batman/Superman team-up movie, you’re in for a disappointment. WB producer Charles Roven stated in an interview recently that there are currently no plans to move forward with a Marvel-style shared film universe for DC Comics properties. With Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy ending with The Dark Knight Rises and the Harry Potter franchise ending this year, though, the money has to come from somewhere, so it’s possible that the possibility will be reexamined at some point. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 3, 2011 in Comic Books
I was quite pleased to discover that DC Comics will be releasing a hardcover collection of Sugar and Spike which will go on sale at the end of August this year. Typically one associates DC with superheroes but this series of comic books which ran from 1956 until 1971 was a kid focused humor book — and in many ways reminiscent of the series Rugrats. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 28, 2010 in Comic Books
This is the upcoming cover of Batman: Europa #3 which will be released in March 2011 by DC Comics. What blew me away about the cover painting by Spanish artist Diego Latorre isn’t just the high quality of his craftsmanship — but the fact that building Batman out of Eiffel Towers is a brilliant editorial touch. Now I won’t say if this is the best Batman cover I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly up there.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Dec 19, 2010 in Comic Books
Just in time for the holidays, Noir Jewelry has released a line of accessories based on DC Comics properties. A lot of it is what you’d expect, like gleefully gaudy Wonder Woman and Supergirl stuff, but there are a few genuinely cool items in there, like the Gotham City ring, shown above. And all I’m saying is that there is an uncomfortably high number of Catwoman claws in that collection. Grievous bodily harm: the gift that keeps on giving. Read more…