Coming this weekend, DREDD 3-D gives the beloved comic series a new shot at big screen success, and star Karl Urban tells us why this is the JUDGE DREDD you have been waiting for. Plus don’t call NBC’s new series, REVOLUTION, an “end of the world” story. Eric Kripke, Billy Burke and more of the cast are here to explain why it is so much more – and Marvel adds two more titles to Marvel NOW including an “Avengers Battle Royale”?
Airship 27 Productions announces the release of their newest pulp anthology title, SINBAD – The New Voyages.
The greatest seafaring adventurer of all times returns to the high seas, Sinbad the Sailor!
Born of countless legends and myths, this fearless rogue sets sail across the seven seas aboard his ship, the Blue Nymph, accompanied by an international crew of colorful, larger-than-life characters. Chief among these are the irascible Omar, a veteran seamen and trusted first mate, the blond Viking giant, Ralf Gunarson, the sophisticated archer from Gaul, Henri Delacrois and the mysterious, lovely and deadly female samurai, Tishimi Osara. All of them banded together to follow their famous captain on perilous new voyages across the world’s oceans.
“This was another opportunity for us to explore another classic pulp genre,” Managing Editor Ron Fortier explained. “Fantasy high adventure was a popular setting in many of the more exotic themed pulp titles of the 1930s. Doing one starring Sinbad seemed a natural choice for us.”
Writers Nancy Hansen, I.A. Watson and Derrick Ferguson offer up three classic Sinbad tales to rival those of legend while adding a familiar sensibility from the cult favorite Sinbad movies of FX master, Ray Harryhausen. SINBAD – The New Voyages will enthrall and entertain all lovers of fantasy adventure in a brand new way; featuring cover art by Bryan Fowler and twelve black and white illustrations by Ralf van der Hoeven.
“From inception to realization, this was one of the fastest titles we’ve ever put together,” Fortier added. “In fact we received so many submissions that we had enough to fill two books. You can expect volume two to sail over the horizon soon. And we couldn’t be happier.”
So pack up your you traveling bags, bid ado to your loved ones and get ready to sail with the tide as Sinbad El Ari takes the tiller and the Blue Nymph sets sails once more; its destination worlds of wonder, mystery and high adventure.
AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation!
We wind up our look at the 5th season of the hit FX series, SONS OF ANARCHY by going right to the top. We sit down with series star Charlie Hunnam and creator Kurt Sutter, both offering their takes on this new run of episodes and where it might all end up. Plus, if you’re hoping for an extended cut of DARK KNIGHT RISES, we have bad news for you.
It wasn’t a skit or even a joke, but it was live television as Jerry “The King” Lawler collapsed during last night’s WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW on USA. We’ve got the latest update on that plus more with the cast of SONS OF ANARCHY on the things we can expect to see over the next few weeks, and also more on SyFy‘s HAVEN and the third season plans.
Fall TV is set to kick off in days, and we’ve got exclusive looks at two returning series. HAVEN starts season three on SyFy and the cast talks about why this is the biggest yet. And the red hot SONS OF ANARCHY roars back to FX, but after that explosive season last year, where can they go from here? Will anybody get out alive? Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal and the rest of the cast weigh in.
From Broadway to Box Office, ROCK OF AGES has to slide in just before another blockbuster hits the theaters but can it hold up? Russel Brand talks about that, his new FX talk show and his own favorite rock god plus more with Erica Durance and SAVING HOPE TV and it seems GAME OF THRONES is a little TOO popular.
So I found myself with a bit of time to kill while my wife and mother-in-law went out and about for lunch. My week-old son and I decided it was time to enjoy a bit of cable TV goodness. A quick surf left with me few options. Food Network was showing yet-another cupcake show… USA was playing that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where his wife is a shrew and his mother annoys him, and TBS was on Tyler Perry’s Black People Watch Everything I Put Out, Not That It’s Good. And FX? Callooh-Callay! They had on the Fantastic Four movie from a few years back. Given that I was still sporting half a nerd-boner for the Super Bowl Avengers spot, and the recent web-release of The Amazing Spider-Man trailer, FF seemed like the perfect way to wet my whistle for a bit of comic goodness.
Granted, I’ve seen the movie a few times. Saw it opening weekend, and didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it either, but somehow, it was one of those guilty “Hey, if it’s on, it’s really not that bad is it?” pleasures. A few hours later, my favorite ladies returned to a house with both their boys rife with a case of the cranky pants. I’m pretty sure my son Bennett had pooped himself. I didn’t have a mess in my trousers, but I had a tear in my eye. Seems I crossed that threshold where the movie stopped being “worth” the free cable viewing, and slid right into “Good lord, people paid money for this crap?” zone.
I could spend the remainder of this column dissecting how putrid the FF movie ended up being. But it’s old-hat, right? So, why not make this a turn for the positive. I’d like to outline four things Marvel can do to reboot the familial franchise into something… dare I say… more fantastic.
1. Explore the emotional origins as well as the basic plot points. We all know the bullet points by now, don’t we? On an outer space adventure… they got hit by cosmic rays. And that moment changed forever… in the most fantastic ways. No need to fear, their here… just call the four! Sorry, it was a damn catchy theme song. Suffice to say, the rocket ride with Kirby dots isn’t ALL that the origin of the FF is. You have romance between Sue and Reed. You have Ben, the stalwart pilot. Johnny, the joker, and comic relief. While these points were hit on in the last iteration, we miss the history. Use flashbacks (ala Batman Begins) to enhance our emotional ties to the characters. It’s not a race to the whiz-bang-special effects, when you have solid characterization. And each of the Four present a solid opportunity for fun beats.
2. Ditch the “We’re learning to use our powers until it matters at the end” montage. Face it. What killed Green Lantern (OK, one of the things that killed it…) was the age-old power development plot line. A solid 45 minutes of the last FF movie spent time building the revolvers it would later shoot at the movie’s climax. It’s just not needed. When you cross over into the sci-fi, plausibility takes a backseat to adventure. If we took time to dissect the fact that Luke Skywalker was able to get a shot into a teeny hole on a battle station that decimated nearly all of his backup (who were all far more experienced fighter pilots)… we’d go mad. Once you accept that “Comic Rays” can turn one man into a walking pilot light, and another into silly putty, you don’t need to spend an hour back-peddling to make us “believe” they’ll know what to do when it’s clobbering time.
3. The big villain? Mole Man. Follow me down the rabbit hole if you will. Batman Begins took a venerable B-Lister in Ra’s Al Ghul as its first antagonist. It was a smart choice. As Nolan said in countless interviews, the villain suits the arc the hero takes across the movie. In Spider-Man 2 (easily the best of Raimi’s Marvel contributions), we got a brilliant update on a pretty mort-worthy villain. And because Peter was learning to have balance in his life during the course of the movie, Doc Oc was a perfect foil. The Fantastic Four have a pretty decent rogues gallery. It’s easy to want to jump immediately to Doom or Galactus. But the first in a franchise needn’t aim so high. In both cases, those villains would outshine the stars of the film. First and foremost, it’s the FF that people should be ooohing and aaahing over. With Mole Man you have an obvious foe who will test the Four and their ability to become this odd family unit of world-savers. The villain fits the arc, as it were. Plus, it gives us a chance to recreate that iconic first issue cover on the big screen. And you know that’d be the bee’s knees.
4. Casting. Most every comic book film lands an amazing cast… even if they don’t get utilized properly. I didn’t hate anyone in the last FF iteration per say, but let’s be honest – Ioan Gruffudd looked OK but lacked the cockiness-by-way-of-supreme-intelligence. Jessica Alba was there for eye-candy only. Chris Evans stole the show, Michael Chiklis looked the part, but had no Yancy Street swagger. Ole’ Blue Eyes needs have a definitive balance between boisterous banter and tragic pathos. Some of this could easily be the scripting, but let’s say I was a casting agent? I’d cast accordingly: Jon Hamm as Mr. Fantastic. Uma Thurman as Sue Storm. Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul as Johnny Storm. And Brendan Fraser as Ben Grimm. Hamm can pull off “the smartest man in the room, with ease. Thurman is equally weighted when on screen (and can pull off shorter hair, and heroic). Paul can sling insults, and certainly could look the part… And Fraser, who I know most would say is a stretch, is built big, can pull off a New York accent, and has more potential than most nerds give him credit for. And as my Mole Man? Paul Giamatti. He’s damn good in everything.
So there you have it. I know a new FF movie is already in the works… here’s hoping someone over at Marvel is trolling my articles, and a few of my hopes and dreams gets swept into the pre-production fracas. What do you think? Voice your opinion below, true believers!
Apparently the first case taken on by the television adaptation of Powerswill be “Who Killed Retro Girl?” now that the title character has been cast. Sexy model Carly Foulkes, best known for the T-Mobile ad campaign of the last two years, has been added to the FX pilot.
Series co-creator Brian Michael Bendis revealed this casting tidbit when appearing on on Sirius XM’s Geektime radio show over the weekend. The 23-year old Canadian model turned actress will leap from pretty-in-pink pitchman to geek immortality with this move.
She joins a cast already including Jason Patric and Lucy Punch as the Powers Homicide detectives in the drama series based on the long-running series by Bendis and co-creator Michael Avon Oeming.
Who Killed Retro Girl? is the name of the first Powers collection, including the debut storyline from the series when it was published in 2000 from Image Comics. The story remains in print as a hardcover or softcover.
Jason Patric appears to have nabbed the lead in the FX adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming’s Powers. Initially, Kyle Chandler was rumored in March to be eyed for the part of Christian Walker but the news of Patric’s signing broke late last night.
Patric would be partnered with British star Lucy Punch, playing Deena Pilgrim, in the pilot which Bendis said should be shooting over the summer. At present, FX has not confirmed its interest beyond the pilot, which Bendis wrote before being rewritten by “Chick” Eglee.
Previously cast was Charles S. Dutton, playing Captain Cross, head of the Homicide Division where Walker and Pilgrim work. Also in the cast is 11-year-old Bailee Madison (Just Go With It.), playing Calista, a girl raised by her stepdad Eagle, a man with powers. She will come to live with Pilgrim after Eagle’s wife is murdered and the stepfather vanishes.
Powers was launched in 2000 from Image Comics where is earned the Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2001. Bendis subsequently won Eisners in 2002 and 2003 as Best Writer. By 2004, Bendis’ value to Marvel was such that they created the Icon imprint for creator-owned material with Powers being the first series to launch under that umbrella.
The book has evolved slowly through the years now publishing its third volume, which launched in November 2009, with just seven issues published since then given the creator’s other obligations. (more…)
With all the interest in Norse sagas because of that movie opening today, we would be remiss if we didn’t remind you about you Hammer Of The Gods, the series from Michael Avon Oeming (Powers) and Mark Wheatley (EZ Street)!
This is the saga of Modi, a young Viking who was given amazing powers from the Norse Gods, literally carrying the power of Mjollnir, the hammer of Thorr… and a destiny to shake the world.
In the original 2004 graphic novel (which was recently reprinted by ComicMix and IDW, and is available for sale now) Modi came to terms with his strengths and weaknesses, fell in love with the Valkyrie, Skogul, and became a hero. As the new series starts, Odin, the king of the Gods, decides to peek in on the world of men. He travels to China, and soon Modi and his men must follow.
In addition to Oeming and Wheatley, there are contributions from John Staton, Neil Vokes, Guy Davis, Matt Plog, Tim Wallace, Brian Quinn, Scott Morse, Ethan Beavers, David Beck and others.
