Tagged: Marvel Comics

Warren Simons on ‘Invincible Iron Man’

Warren Simons on ‘Invincible Iron Man’

  • News
  • February 16, 2008

Marvel’s new Invincible Iron Man series kicks off this May right about the same time Tony Stark and Co. hit theaters in the live-action Iron Man film.

Over at Marvel.com, series editor Warren Simons explains the connection between the new title and the film, as well as the reasons behind the choice of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca as the Invincible Iron Man creative team.

Warren Simons: We’re aiming to provide a kick-ass entry point into the Marvel Universe for fans of the film, while also telling great stories for already established Iron Man and Marvel fans. With INVINCIBLE, we’re focusing on Tony as a super hero, and downplaying the espionage angle and Tony’s role as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Civil War? Never happened.

Even so, the art looks beautiful and Fraction can spin a fun tech-driven tale. This one could be worth keeping an eye on.

 

First Look at ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ #1

First Look at ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ #1

  • News
  • February 13, 2008

As we mentioned a while back, Marvel’s cosmic superteam series Guardians of the Galaxy is returning this June, featuring a lineup of "Annihilation" storyline survivors and some yet-to-be-named characters from the space-faring side of the Marvel Universe.

IGN has the first look at the cover to Guardians of the Galaxy #1 by Clint Langley, as well as short interview with editor Bill Rosemann, the architect of much of the publisher’s recent success in space-based titles. Given the success of Nova, Wraith and the overall "Annihilation" arc, the next step in developing the team-based story of Guardians, it seems, was a no-brainer:

IGN Comics: When gathering your creative team for this series, how did you go about selecting your writers and artists – Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Paul Pelletier and Clint Langley?

Rosemann: Given the vision and velocity they brought to Nova and Conquest, Dan & Andy (a.k.a. DnA, a.k.a. They Who Must Not Be Named) were the go-to guys to continue the cosmic action on full throttle. And while Paul Pelletier was kicking butt on Nova – just wait until you see issues #11 and #12 – we all realized he had the perfect mix of eye-candy and grit to launch us out of the stargate. As for Clint Langley, people are still talking about his Wraith covers – and he’s the guy to bring that "gamer" feel to Marvel.

Makes perfect sense to me!

‘Marvel Universe Online’ Multiplayer Game Cancelled

‘Marvel Universe Online’ Multiplayer Game Cancelled

  • News
  • February 12, 2008

Wired reports that the much-anticipated online multiplayer game based on the Marvel Comics universe has been officially scrapped.

Shane Kim, the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios, confirmed termination of "Marvel Universe Online," which was planned for development with MMO studio Cryptic.

Kim cited "commercial considerations" as the main factor in the game’s cancellation, as well as a general belief that the game wouldn’t be able to compete in the MMO market, which is currently dominated by "World of Warcraft."

 

Remembering Archie Goodwin

Remembering Archie Goodwin

  • News
  • February 9, 2008

Blog@ guest columnist Tim O’Shea notes that March 1 will be the anniversary of the passing of comics legend Archie Goodwin, and writes at length about the editor and his legacy.

While editor-in-chief of Marvel from 1976 to 1978, he was credited in the late 1970s with securing the publishing rights for Star Wars. Given how successful Marvel is these days–making movies out of their own characters and such–securing Star Wars may not seem like that big of a deal. But back in a 2000 interview with CBR, Jim Shooter said: “If we hadn’t done Star Wars … well, we would have gone out of business. Star Wars single-handedly saved Marvel… ”

 

What Makes a Successful Character?

What Makes a Successful Character?

  • News
  • February 7, 2008

Stan Lee and Marvel Comics Senior VP of Sales and Marketing David Gabriel weigh in on why certain characters succeed and others don’t in a recent article on Forbes.com.

After taking a few undeserved jabs at Quasar, the space-faring Marvel hero created in 1978 and recently rejuvenated by a new miniseries, the article gets down to brass tacks and talks to Lee about what makes a superpower success story.

"I’m not sure I have the full answer, but my guess would be in many cases it’s just the quality of the writing, or the artwork or whatever," Lee said.

"For example, take Sherlock Holmes. There have been millions of detective stories over the years. Many of them are forgettable. Somehow Sherlock Holmes has endured, mainly because no one could write a detective story as brilliantly as (Arthur) Conan Doyle, and nobody could come up with a character as interesting and flawed as Sherlock Holmes."

And what did Gabriel, one of the marketing gurus behind all of the recent Captain America hub-bub, have to say?

Gabriel said it’s tough pushing some books on a consistent basis. People in his business have the blockbuster movies and videogames to thank for bolstering demand. With the exception of the diehard fans, this is what gets people into the 3,500 or so comic book shops nationwide these days. Slap the death and resurrection of a flagship character in there, and you’ve got a surge in the franchise.

Well, there you go. If they just killed off Quasar, Marvel would have a hit on their hands… right?

 

Peter David on ‘Dark Tower: The Long Road Home’

Peter David on ‘Dark Tower: The Long Road Home’

  • News
  • February 6, 2008

The subject of Marvel.com’s weekly interview this time around is Peter David, co-writer of last year’s Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born and its upcoming sequel, Dark Tower: The Long Road Home.

According to the Long Road Home interview, the sequel picks up where its predecessor left off… with a slight twist: Roland, the main character, is effectively out of commission:

Marvel.com: Roland’s in a coma—how are Alain and Cuthbert, the other members of the Ka-Tet, responding to the Big Coffin Hunters chasing them while they’re trying to get Roland’s body safely back to Gilead?

Peter David: Well, not to sound flip, but they’re responding in the way that one would expect: They’re running like hell. Their job at this point is to survive and return home to tell of everything and everyone they’ve encountered. Goals don’t get much simpler than that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the series is worth buying simply for the beautiful work of artists Jae Lee and Richard Isanove – the great story is just a bonus. Marvel.com has posted some of the art from Long Road Home with the interview

The first issue of the five-issue miniseries hits shelves Feb. 27.

 

Marvel Comics Greatest Moments in Sports

Marvel Comics Greatest Moments in Sports

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Never one to miss a promotional tie-in, Marvel.com has posted a rundown of the publisher’s greatest moments in sports.

The "Marvelous Moments in Sports" roundup was clearly written before the big game, because it lacks the sorrowful tone one might expect from a post-game writeup by New England Patriots fan Ben Morse. In fact, it’s a pretty funny trip down memory lane, with bits like this one about a bicoastal game of softball played in the pages of Avengers:

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST SOFTBALL GAME (WEST COAST AVENGERS ANNUAL #2, AVENGERS ANNUAL #16—1987)

Picture the softball game at your annual company picnic between marketing and accounting, but then sub in Thor at cleanup, Captain America at pitcher and Hawkeye on the base paths—that’s what the Avengers and their West Coast branch were going for in the late ’80s during their one and only showdown on the diamond. It’s pretty easy to understand why they never gave it another shot when you consider that the cosmically empowered Grandmaster interrupted the game, killed half of each team and then forced the remainder to compete in battle for his amusement. The GM eventually resurrected the fallen Avengers, and Cap learned a valuable lesson as they resumed the game: Hawkeye cheats.

 

Venom Solo Film Planned?

Venom Solo Film Planned?

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Spider-Man fans everywhere rejoiced when it was announced that the hero’s popular arch-enemy, Venom, was planned for the third big-screen installment of the "Spider-Man" film franchise. Unfortunately, the film failed to live up to expectations for most diehard Spidey (and Venom) fans. Recent reports regarding a potential Venom solo project could provide cause for celebration again.

IESB.net has confirmed that "a studio" is in talks with various movie writers to produce a film based upon the Venom character introduced in "Spider-Man 3".

The report cannot confirm which studio – or which writers – are involved in the discussion, but offers the following evaluation of the news:

Eight years ago, New Line Cinema held the theatrical rights to Venom. Since then, the rights have reverted back Marvel. But does Sony have complete control over the character since he was a part of Spidey 3 or does Marvel control the rights to the character with Sony only having distribution rights?

We have to assume that since there is movement and there has been recent meetings with writers this property must belong to Marvel since they have made an interim agreement with the WGA and proceed to develop projects during the current strike. Either way, one thing is for certain, Venom will get a second shot at the big screen.

 

Roger Corman’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Climax

Roger Corman’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Climax

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Science-fiction fan site io9 has posted a video clip in their "Found Footage" section featuring the climax of 1994’s live-action "Fantastic Four" film, which Roger Corman produced and Marvel Comics spent heaps of money to hide from the public.

Okay, I’ve never seen the full film, but I’m quite certain its depiction of Ben Grimm, The Thing, will live on in my nightmares. Oh, and check out the animation used in the "Johnny Storm flying off to stop the Destructo Ray" sequence – it’s wonderfully cheesy.

io9 has more on the background of the film’s production, as well as some of its more questionable plot choices (an angry space leprechaun, anyone?):

How did this disaster happen? A German production company owned the rights to make a Fantastic Four movie, but was unable to raise the $40 million it needed before the rights were due to expire. So the company turned to Roger Corman, who said he could make the movie cheap and quick. … At $1.4 million, this movie had a huge budget compared to a usual Corman spectacle. After the film was completed, Marvel paid a few million to suppress it. The team worked in secret to complete post-production on it, but then Marvel ordered all prints destroyed. So it’s a minor miracle that you’re able to suffer through this clip.

 

Capt. Marvel and Serial Retro-Mania, by Michael H. Price

Capt. Marvel and Serial Retro-Mania, by Michael H. Price

  • News
  • February 3, 2008

 

Apart from some chronic bouts of concentrated cliffhanger enthusiasm in visits with the pioneering Texas cartoonist-turned-fine artist Frank Stack, I haven’t paid a great deal of attention in recent years to the extinct form of Hollywood filmmaking known as serials, or chapter-plays.
 
I’ve overcome that neglectful tendency lately with an assignment to deliver a foreword for IDW Publishing’s The Complete Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy, Vol. 4 (due in print by March 25), which covers a stretch of 1936–1937 and thus coincides with the early-1937 release of the first Dick Tracy serial by Republic Pictures Corp. George E. Turner and I had covered the Republic Tracy in our initial volume of the Forgotten Horrors books – but a great deal of information has come to light during the nine years since that book’s last expanded edition.
 
The transplanting of Tracy from the newspapers’ comics pages to the big screen figures in an earlier installment of this ComicMix column. So no point in re-hashing all that here, or in spilling any fresher insights that will appear in the IDW Tracy edition.
 
Anyhow, I had expected that these strictly-research refresher screenings of Republic’s Dick Tracy and Dick Tracy Returns and so forth would bring on an attack of Serial Burnout Syndrome – but no such. If anything, the resurrected Tracy cliffhangers have stoked a level of interest that I hadn’t experienced since I had been granted my first looks at the Republic serials via teevee in 1966. (Those attractions were feature-lengther condensations, roughly half or less the running time of a theatrical serial, prepared expressly for broadcast syndication, and re-titled to compound the confusion: 1936’s The Undersea Kingdom, for example, hit the tube as Sharad of Atlantis.)
 
I had wondered aloud while comparing notes recently with Frank Stack, whose lifelong fondness for the serials influences his own approach to storytelling, as to how Dick Tracy in particular could have adapted so brightly to movie-serial form – given that Republic’s adaptation had altered many key elements of Chester Gould’s comic strip. Frank’s lucid reply:
 

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