Presently on the front page of Newsarama, we’ve got another in our Cast-Off series, this time focused on Thor.  Over here, we’re going to take few to look at some good choices for the other Asgardians.

Sif:  For this one, my instinctive casting would be Evangline Lilly of Lost.  Raven-haired, athletic, and used to sci-fi fantasy, she’d be solid.

Loki: How about Paul Bettany of about ten dozen movies?  I’m especially thinking of his smooth-talking Chaucer from A Knight’s Tale.

Odin: I know he’s retired, but Connery, man!  Or Terrence Stamp.

Fandrall: Come on, that’s Cary Elwes.

Hoggun the Grim: I’m thinking Tahmoh Penikett of Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse.

Volstagg:  I’d have to say John Rhys-Davies with some appliances or CG.

Enchantress: Chuck‘s Yvonne Strahovski could be great fun here.

Skurge: Derek Mears (the new Jason) would be perfect.

What say you, gang?  How about your thoughts on Donald Blake, Balder and Heimdell?

If you like what’s you’ve read so far totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

Last year, WildStorm did something bold: the heroes full-on lost, the world was destroyed, the population decimated, and every book set in that universe had to drastically change. The pro-active teams and heroes of this slightly more “extreme” world suddenly had to fall back and play the protection game. Some of them were killed, and worse, some were simply taken out of commission (How can you be a King of Cities if there are no Cities left?).

There were a couple of stumbles and missteps with the relaunches of the core books, but now that things are running smoothly, the folks at WildStorm have created a story that runs seamlessly between Gen 13, Stormwatch: PHD, Authority, and Wildcats.

That’s not to say the story is constantly moving back and forth between every issue of every book. The fine line between a cohesive universe and annoyingly disjointed stories has been walked nearly perfectly here. You can read any one of the four books and have a full story. You’ll be lucky, as well, because DnA, Chris Gage, Edgington, Beatty, and Utley are telling some very cool post-apocalyptic stories individually. The way they weave together is sometimes subtle, like a single location or character being mentioned in two or more books, and sometimes elaborate, with entire scenes replaying across more than one book. This is done sparingly, so it doesn’t induce any rip-off feelings, just a sense of cool.

The world hasn’t magically snapped back into place, the internal conflicts amongst each team are much more dire (if they can’t trust/rely on each other, they’re screwed), and it’s making for a truly new world, new dynamics, and new stories.

The other nice way they’re tying the stories together is through four part backups that run in each of the four books. Now for this, yes, you need to get all four for the complete story, but its not essential stuff. It does, however, further grow the universe and the other characters that live in it, and set up stories for later. A nice bonus to include, and while they’re at varying levels of excitement, they still make the whole post-apocalyptic world feel much larger and more devastating.

In an industry where continuity between characters (or even between a single character and himself) can get quite confusing, what WildStorm has done here isn’t just a successful experiment or a breath of fresh air, it’s a truly cool project that excites this Non-Jaded Comic Fan. Stories that stand-alone, issues that provide large looks at the characters involved while also adding to a larger tapestry, and the strongest inter-book continuity out there makes for some great reading.

Yeah, I’m getting kind of sick of riffing that title, too. Promise it’ll be the last time.

The Hollywood Reporter has written an interesting commentary on the release of the Watchmen film. A highlight:

When is a solid opening still a disappointment? When it comes attached to “Watchmen.” After the legal battles, the fanboy hype and the boxoffice hopes, the pic came in with a $55 million opening  — pretty decent for an R-rated March movie … but not that decent when you consider nothing opened against it and it was on 3,600 bloody screens.

It goes on to discuss the Alan Moore connection, and what might be Zack Snyder’s future. You read the blog post in its entirety here.

Mezmer Games announced yesterday that with the cooperation of three independent game development studios, they are releasing an “arcade-like approach to the RTS genre” in a game called Stalin VS. Martians. The game takes place in 1942 Russia, but is a little less serious than the time and country are known for. From here, I’ll let the trailer speak for itself:

The game is scheduled for an April 2009 release for PC.

This is pretty interesting — while it’s been reported that DC and Warner Bros. have been considering a darker take on its currently-defunct Superman film franchise, but now it seems as though Marvel is following suit.

IESB has announced that the “word around town” is that 20th Century Fox is looking at a darker, less “bubble gum” reboot for the Fantastic Four films. According to them:

The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise. This means no Tim Story, no Iaon, no Julian (thank the maker, he never sat well with me as Dr. Doom), no Chris, no Chiklis and no Jessica.

Keep in mind the first film made $330 million over its run, while the second film petered out at $289 million. (This is just over a third of the total amount the first Spider-Man film’s $821 million, but surprisingly more than the first X-Men film, with only $296 million. Granted, that last movie came out in 2000.)

According to IESB, Daredevil may also receive a reboot — not particularly surprising, given the relative success of reboots like the Incredible Hulk, and considering Ol’ Hornhead was flat-tired with a $179 million payoff, and an underachieving $56 million spin-off starring his girlfriend.

ABC’s reboot of V now has a genre veteran in its ranks: Morena Baccarin.

TVGuide has reported the actress from Stargate SG-1 and Firefly has been cast as Anna, the leader of the Visitors.

I think she’s a pretty underrated actress, so I’m excited to see her on the screen again! She will be starring alongside Scott Wolf and Morris Chestnut.

Mark Andrew Smith and Matthew Weldon’s New Brighton Archaeological Society is in stores this week.

Not familiar with the backstory? The book came out of Popgun 2007 (and you can read an interview about it here). And while we’re talking Popgun, in advance of Popgun Three (due April 1), Smith has a full 32-page story up for free with luscious art by Johann Leroux. Called Japanese Wasp, it’s a monster/superhero tale worth checking out. Plus, y’know, free comics.

So in honor of all of this, I bring you PREVIEW IMAGES! You’re welcome.

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I went to see Watchmen with a hateful review by Anthony Lane stuck in my mind. His review in The New Yorker came complete with dutifully snarky illustration by Istvan Banjai and it got me wanting to see what could have inspired such bile. In general, I love The New Yorker but Anthony Lane just doesn’t get it to the point of being absurd.

At first, I thought his review must be a gag but he means what he says. He thinks most graphic novels are trash and that those who read them are as obsessive as fans of Wagner. Wow, this guy sounds like the clueless blowhard in Annie Hall with the subject being graphic novels instead of Marshall McLuhan.

In an alternate reality where there’d never been a Watchmen graphic novel, I think the movie would have been taken seriously by the Anthony Lanes of the world. The same content objected to in a comic book movie would be placed in its proper context and be accepted much as it would in a film like Clockwork Orange or Pulp Fiction.

Fortunately, the reality is that there is a graphic novel. It came first and it was written by Alan Moore. The reason that he will not support the movie, despite what Lane would try to imply, is that he does not support Hollywood. Getting past preconceptions, when I look at Watchmen, I see a movie that holds its own in the world of cinema. It is a great movie whether or not it came from a graphic novel and it’s great that it indeed comes from a graphic novel.

I had the pleasure of seeing Billy Crudup on Broadway in The Pillowman where he portrayed a man whose parents drive his brother insane through a series of freakish experiments. In Watchmen, Crudup brings his gentle but determined presence to the role of Dr. Manhattan where he is the result of a freakish experiment. He is no one’s brother but it is literally in his power to save humanity. It is a wonderful role played to perfection by Crudup. Another standout performance, of course, is Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. He provides the most powerful moment in the movie when the volume is turned up on one of the panels from the graphic novel as he must stand his ground as a new prison inmate. He has just cut a rival down to size when he delivers these lines: “None of you understand. I’m not locked up in here with you. You’re locked up in here with me.” It is one of those moments suitable to be replayed as often as Jimmy Cagney saying, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” in 1949′s White Heat.

Watchmen‘s theme of deconstructing superheroes is probably best expressed within the pages of comics. And the best argument for the need to move beyond the traditional superhero is the actual Watchmen graphic novel. As Moore states, the comics industry as a whole did not get his message. So, it’s understandable why he’d expect even less from a movie version. To the credit of the director, Zack Snyder, the screenwriters, David Hayter and Alex Tse, and the whole creative team, the movie is essentially in tune with the graphic novel while recalibrating it for the screen. It’s the politics of Watchmen that the movie fully develops in ways natural to cinema. Lifted up from the page, the doomsday geopolitics of the graphic novel of some twenty years ago, along with the universal truth of aggression, can be appreciated from the perspective of today. We’re still playing with a balance of power even if there are new players and the rules have changed. 

For those gremlin reviewers determined to undermine the movie by overstating its violence and dismissing its relevance, that is the act of an elitist attempting to bully through his agenda.  And that is more offensive than anything in the movie.

“This is one case where I’m in favor of experiencing them both”: The Onion AV Club’s Tasha Robinson takes a look at Watchmen in her occasional Book Vs. Film feature.

Rorshach vs. Wolverine: The “I’m a Marvel, and I’m a DC” guy’s look at this month’s two big comic book movies.

“Do America’s political cartoonists have it in for Rush Limbaugh?”: Maybe. Or maybe they just like drawing angry fat guys who smoke comically large cigars…?

It doesn’t seem to bother Batman, and he’s got everything in his belt: Some Australian police officers are unhappy with how much stuff they carry around on their belts.

People are still writing about this? And Sarah Palin?: “Sarah Palin immortalized as comic book character”

I’m just posting this link because the headline amuses me: “Movie based on graphic novel draws large crowd”

Tintin in 2011. It sounds like one of the boy reporter’s biggest adventures. That’s when we can expect the first in a trilogy of movies by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson of the landmark comics character by the Belgian cartoonist, Hergé. It’s a project that’s been in the works for years but it is finally off the ground.

The claim is that only now has the technology caught up with what’s required to properly bring this comic to the screen. Don’t tell Windsor McCay that. Apparently, “performance capture” special effects is so complex that it is utterly indescribable, at least for those with the most to lose from not finding the words.

Entertainment Weekly’s Jeff Jensen, always ready to do his part for comics culture, posted a handy guide for civilians titled “More from Moore”, intended to guide people that enjoyed Watchmen to the next thing.  Jensen addresses all of the usual suspects and some of the smaller (“A Small Killing”).  What adds a level of interest for discussion here is how Jensen tags each entry: Essential, Recommended, or For Completists Only.  Both Killing and Lost Girls receive the For Completists Only, which is sure to rankle somebody.  Weigh in here: what, in your estimation, is the Essential Moore?

Yeah, yeah, I just got around to seeing Watchmen today. I’m assuming that most of y’all already saw it, so won’t need a spoiler warning, but just in case, here it is: below this line there be spoilers.

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Yes, I know this is a bit of an old joke at this point, but even with the poor grammar abound in the subtitles I still think this is too funny not to pass on after a friend of mine sent it my way:

Click HERE to see Hitler’s rant about the lack of squidy-goodness in the Watchmen film.

That aside, raise you (cyber-)hand if you caught the not so-subtle (in my opinion, at least) Alan Moore stand-in chillin’ in the bar towards the Third Act of the of the film…

It speaks to the mysterious nature of character creation that often times the best villains are the ones created almost on accident, meant to cause problems for the hero for a single story and then go away forever.

That was certainly the case for The Joker, who was meant to die off after his first encounter with Batman, but was immediately brought back and has since become probably the best and best-known comic book villain of them all.

And it was also the case for The Shredder, the blade-covered ninja who was killed off in Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s gritty, goofy parody of Frank Miller’s Daredevil. He was somewhat slow at returning to the comics, turning up for an issue three years later, and again two years after that, but only to get killed off again.

He was much longer lived in the immensely popular cartoon show. And the Archie comics inspired by the success of the cartoon show. And the live action movies. And the other cartoon shows.

Those telling turtle tales since have struggled with the fact that the Shredder was never meant to be, as Laird said in interviews around the time of the last movie, the Darth Vader of the turtles’ world. For the most part, new archenemies tend to at least be colored by The Shredder, as one of the villains in the Shredder-less, 2007 animated movie was.

Which brings us to Tales of the TMNT #56 (Mirage Publishing), the latest issue of the current volume of ninja turtle comics, which offers the latest attempt to come up with a new Shredder who isn’t actually The Shredder.

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Mediocre kids comics are incredibly difficult for me to review. While I’m often accused of being immature and even childish, I am, in fact, technically a grown-up. And I’m a grown-up without any kids, so I can’t even pressgang a J. Caleb Jr. into reading a comic for me and telling me what he thought of it. The best I can do is try to remember what I liked as a kid, and ask myself if the Caleb from back then would have dug something or not.

Great kids comics are a completely different matter though. Because if they’re good enough comics, then they tend to transcend any narrow and—let’s face it—artificial definition of their own audience. Aside from some allowances for age-appropriate content, a great comic is one that you should be able to enjoy no matter what age you are, right?

Andy Runton’s Owly, James Kochalka’s Johnny Boo, Jeff Smith’s Bone and Shazam!, Dark Horse’s Little Lulu reprints, Debbie Huey’s Bumper Boy, Art Baltazar and Franco’s Tiny Titans…I appreciate all of these first and foremost as comics, and then, if asked to, as kids’ comics.

Erik Craddock’s Stone Rabbit #1: BC Mambo (Random House), the first in a series of digest-sized kids’ comics, certainly has its charms, but it just doesn’t belong in that company. Instead, it belongs in the mediocre (and thus hard to review) category.

Craddock, whose previous work includes illustrating Manga Claus, is certainly a strong artist. His character design is quite accomplished, a touch of Japanese influence (particularly in their range of expressions) on top a foundation of animation influence atop a bedrock of plain old drawing chops. His lead character, an unnamed anthropomorphic white rabbit, seems more than ready to run off the page and into other media; heck, many panels look like paper stills from a modern cartoon show with dialogue bubbles added on.

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I was in third grade, and the only comics I had read were the little ones that came packaged with He-Man action figures: I’m trying my hardest to keep Watchmen links to the bare minimum until this whole Watchmen storm front blows over, and this one qualifies as one of the more interesting of the lot. Kiel Phegley talks to Len Wein about what he was doing back in 1986 and, as it turns out, he was editing Watchmen. An interesting interview with an interesting figure who’s worn a lot of hats and done a lot of things in the comics industry.

Er, does “best” really belong in a headline about a 3 1/2-star movie…?: “Why ‘Watchmen’ is the best superhero film ever / 3 1/2 stars”

But what if the real Batman wants to join?: Caitlin Batman Shaw  discovers that her maiden name  is one that happens to be  forbidden from Facebook for potential misuse.

“What are some of the problems Batman would have as an old man?”: I don’t think it’s possible that anyone hates “Holy ____, Batman!” headlines more than me. In fact, I’m currently planning a vacation to Canada just to yell at Hayley Mick of The Globe and Mail and/or her editors for this stupid “Holy caped crusader!” headline (That doesn’t even make sense! That’s like Robin saying, “Holy Batman, Batman!” Ghah!). Dumb headline aside, this is actually a fun little Q and A interview with E.  Paul Zehr, author of 2008′s  Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero. There are good questions, amusingly dumb questions (“Can a woman be Batman?” “Yes indeed. A woman could become Batgirl or Batwoman”), and some amusing answers. For example, Zehr estimates that it would take about 15 to 18 years to become Batman, but that Batman would only have a two-to-three year crime-fighting career.

So, that’s pretty much all film superheroes then, right?: “The Watchmen join the list of super-dysfunctional superheroes”

Perhaps it’s fitting that Watchmen seems to be hanging one second before midnight in terms of its reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes has given the film a 63% — just three percent above a rotten mark — while giving it a pretty good sum-up of all the critic’s thoughts:

Consensus: Gritty and visually striking, Watchmen is a faithful adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, but its complex narrative structure may make it difficult for it to appeal to viewers not already familiar with the source material.

But already I can tell this is going to be a movie that is debated upon for the days and weeks to come. Perhaps surprisingly is the reviews of Ebert and Roeper. Ebert, for those who don’t remember, wrote a scathing article on fanboy culture (rightly or wrongly, you decide) during his review of Fanboys. But with Watchmen…

…He gave the movie four stars.

After the revelation of “The Dark Knight,” here is “Watchmen,” another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie. It’s a compelling visceral film — sound, images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel. It seems charged from within by its power as a fable; we sense it’s not interested in a plot so much as with the dilemma of functioning in a world losing hope.

Yet Ebert’s partner in crime, Richard Roeper, only gave the film 2.5 stars. Some highlights:

In a film I loved called “The Lookout,” Matthew Goode gave one of the most underrated performances in recent years. Please rent it. Here, as Ozymandias, who is supposed to be so smart and so fast and so dangerous, Goode comes across like the backup singer in a boy band. He’s all foppish fopphishness, and he seems about as lethal as a fashion designer bitching out a model backstage.

And then there’s Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre. I’m sure Ms. Akerman is a nice young lady, but having seen her in “27 Dresses,” ”The Heartbreak Kid” and here, I’m not so sure acting is the career for her. Her delivery is so flat that it would compel an acting teacher at a community college to say, “Have you thought about becoming a nurse?” Whether she’s learning a shocking secret, fighting with Dr. Manhattan or doing it with the Nite Owl, she sounds as if she’s reciting lines she just memorized. It’s painful to watch.

Ouch. What say you, Rama readers? My local cineplex did not have a midnight show, and I want to hear what you thought about this movie!

“Wonder Woman has always been considered the third most-important DC Comics superhero, behind Superman and Batman, but when it comes to an original DVD film, she beats them both.”
—Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly

“Some might try to dismiss Wonder Woman without a closer look—it’s an animated film and it’s direct-to-DVD—but they’d be fools to do so. This updated take on the classic warrior-in-a-strange-land tale is an enjoyable mix of butt kicking and empowered romantic comedy that will satisfy geek guys, gals and kids alike.”
— Ken Denmead, Wired

“I though the movie was great: beautiful, funny, well-written, and an altogether pleasure to watch… and watch again.”
—Kellen Rice, Blast Magazine

“Well, that was disappointing”
—Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading

“This is not a perfect film. A first act dogfight goes on much too long, and the story is still a relatively conventional origin story. Furthermore, I still bemoan the inexplicable demand for a mere 75 minute run time, especially in a film that is aimed at older kids. But in every other way, Wonder Woman is a terrifically entertaining action picture, with fully drawn characters, clever dialogue, and a clear and specific point of view. And the final scene provides an absolutely perfect capper that will have fans and geeks grinning from ear to ear.”
—Scott Mendelson, Film Threat

“[W]hat the non-comics-reading world needs is a property that allows them access to a character whose potential has virtually never been lived up to and the upcoming Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD animated feature from Warner Brothers may go a long way to improve that state of affairs.”
—Steve Bunche, The Beat

It was kind of touch and go for awhile, but NBC entertainment president Angela Bromsted has confirmed that Heroes will continue for a fourth season.

But the catch? It’s not really a full fourth season, the Hollywood Reporter says. Instead of the 23 or more episodes that typically go into a season, this will be more like 18 to 20.

That said, for the struggling show, any continuation is good, and this very well might be the salvation of the program, as Pushing Daisies writer Bryan Fuller will have his contributions appear in the next few weeks.