It has become a sought after book but the graphic novel which the upcoming Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movie is based upon remains unpublished. Written by the film’s producer, Lionel Wigram, to help promote the viability of the project, it seems that this book was never meant for the general public. This is not to be mistaken with the current Sherlock Holmes comics series by Dynamite Entertainment. And, of course, this movie is not to be mistaken with the Sacha Cohen/Will Ferrell version.

And the money shot in the comic book that wowed investors? Sherlock looking all bed head and wielding a sword in one hand and a whip in the other. 

Director/writer Guy Ritchie, Robert Downey, Jr. and the rest of the cast, which includes Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong, all appear to be on top of their game. There’s been a lot of buzz about this one and that will just keep humming along with the first trailer for the general public to be released to accompany Terminator Salvation when it opens May 21. 

Set for a Christmas Day release, this movie promises to give the viewer a rough and tumble Sherlock Holmes more true to the original than what the casual observer may imagine. You’ll see a Sherlock Holmes who is handy with a sword and knows his boxing and martial arts. You’ll also get a pretty sweet mystery involving a sinister occultist. And lots of manly swagger between Holmes and his buff compatriot, Watson. These two mean to kick some ass.   

USA Today provides a feature story about the latest developments. Go to their site to see more photos. Now, the question remains, who will win over audiences and go on to become a franchise? Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes or the Sacha Cohen/Will Ferrell flick? Well, the one with Cohen and Ferrell sounds like it’s going to be really offbeat much like the one with Gene Wilder in the ’70s, The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother. It might be good but it will be too offbeat and a franchise like this can’t pull any punches. You want badass action for something like this, right? And, if you have to take sides, how can you pass up the guy who made Iron Man hip?  

Also, if you’re in a position to do so, someone snag me a copy of the Lionel Wigram Sherlock Holmes graphic novel. Then again, who knows, it may not have been intended to be more than a glorified storyboard but it could end being published and available everywhere for the holidays.

I’ve been holding out on posting the rumor from HitFix about Bradley Cooper (of Alias fame) being considered for the role of Hal Jordan, only because it seemed like a bit of a stretch (at least in my opinion.)

Well, Entertainment Weekly seems to be sharing a little bit of skepticism, as they have gotten a competing source to say that Cooper does not have this power ring in the bag just yet:

“He came in and met [director] Martin Campbell. He’s definitely in contention, everyone’s very interested in him, but it’s far from being decided,” the source says. “He’s one of the people that’s in serious consideration, but he’s not in a negotiation.”

Hm. Now this does fly in the face of earlier rumors that Star Trek’s Chris Pine had been in the running for the role as is — we can only spectulate at this point, after HitFix gave out the following rumor:

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I would bet that Cooper’s going to be the guy, and I’m going to also bet that the next time someone has that conversation about casting a movie, and they’re running down a list of names, no one is going to have to ask “Who the hell is Bradley Cooper?” because they’ll know.

This wouldn’t be the first time that director Martin Campbell teased a franchise figurehead. As the director of Casino Royale, Campbell spent months agonizing over who the latest James Bond would be, eventually selecting Daniel Craig over Clive Owen, Collin Farrell, Henry Cavill, Sam Worthington, as well as 200 other candidates. But why take my word on Cooper’s acting? Take a look for yourself when he guest-starred on FX’s Nip/Tuck by clicking here.

I’m pretty sure this motivational poster is pretty appropriate just about now:

And the critics agree. Earning an astounding 94 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes — or 64 positive reviews out of 68 — the J.J. Abrams-helmed reboot of the Star Trek franchise has been getting some critical acclaim for its fast-paced, continuity-shattering take on James Tiberius Kirk’s ascendancy to the Captain’s chair. Here’s some of the highlights from these positive reviews:

For the first time in 15 years, Star Trek actually matters.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

This Star Trek essentially turns out to be a war film, with the occasional philosophical timeout to discuss love, friendship, and duty until the next bone-crunching fistfight or multi-weapon rumble with the Romulans.
Bill Weber, Slant Magazine

Trading on affections sustained over 40 years of popular culture, Star Trek does what a franchise reboot rarely does. It reminds us why we loved these characters in the first place.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Yes, it’s a popcorn flick–and a first-rate one at that–but it also grants these figures a freshness they haven’t possessed in a long time.
Rob Vaux, Mania.com

If you care about this universe (and I do, damn it), you won’t sit passively through J.J. Abrams’s restart Trek. You’ll marvel at the smarts and wince at the senselessness. You’ll nitpick it to death and thrill to it anyway.
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

UPDATE: The Onion‘s review was also pretty good, too. And by good I mean backhanded and funny.

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As ‘Fun, Watchable’

Yet, there have been a few dissenters in the ranks — most notably that grand poo-bah of reviewers, Roger Ebert, who found the film fun (with 2.5 stars) but also found its pseudo-science a bit off:

I understand the Star Trek science has never been intended as plausible. I understand this is not science fiction but an Ark movie using a starship. I understand that the character types are as familiar as your favorite slippers. But the franchise has become much of a muchness. The new movie essentially intends to reboot the franchise with younger characters and carry on as before. The movie deals with narrative housekeeping. Perhaps the next one will engage these characters in a more challenging and devious story, one more about testing their personalities than re-establishing them. In the meantime, you want space opera, you got it.

I don’t know — I oftentimes find myself agreeing with Ebert, but my reviewer sense is still stinging a bit from his four-star Watchmen review (a film I was not particularly keen on myself). I’m pretty excited to see Chris Pine swagger his way through this film — and maybe through a Green Lantern film, if the speculation is true. What say you, Rama readers? Let us know what you think of the film!

DC, via their blog the Source, has given an enigmatic look at a classic character:

Yep, that would be Doc Savage, pulp hero of the ’30s and ’40s. This polymath adventurer shares a lot of qualities you may see in heroes such as Superman, Batman, Captain America, or Mr. Fantastic: the so-called Man of Bronze was trained by scientists from birth to be a superior man, with advanced strength and endurance, as well as photographic memory and a keen understanding of science and the martial arts. And best of all, Green Lantern fans, he even had an oath:

Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

Sounds a little less Abin Sur and a little more Benjamin Franklin, but I dig it.

This character, meanwhile, has jumped from pulisher to publisher, ranging from Marvel to Comico to Millenium Publications. DC last tried a run on this character with a 1987 limited series as well as a 22-issue run from 1988 through 1990. Dark Horse was the latest publisher to have tried their hand on the Doc, trying out a solo limited series as well as a team-up with the Shadow in 1995.

DC thus far has given no word about a possible title for the returning character — but (UPDATE) eagle-eyed readers Adam Richards, DJ, and Kretch noted that the image is actually a portion of a nearly year-old image Brian Stelfreeze posted on his blog back in August 2008 (below). That’s right: it’s looking like a crossover between the Man of Bronze and The Spirit, with some Blackhawk thrown in. And looking at the upper image again, the female character and panther has been Photoshopped out, with her silhouette remaining.

  According to reports by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Fox is claiming that between four and 4.5 million Internet users have downloaded an illegal workprint copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine since it was uploaded to the Internet on April 1. This is revised upwards from prior estimates placing the number of downloads somewhere in the vicinity of a million.

The degree to which this has affected the box-office take, if at all, has been the subject of some debate, with Fox apparently implying to Variety that the impact could be as high as $20 million. That seems high, since it presupposes that virtually everyone who downloaded it would have seen the film at full price in the theater, but bad word-of-mouth among fans who had seen the film shouldn’t be completely discounted either.

The film opened at more than $158 million globally–making it the biggest opening of 2009–and was the worldwide #1 movie of the week in spite of the Swine Flu outbreak causing Fox to delay the film’s opening in Mexico. The Variety story notes, though, the film underperformed in certain foreign markets where piracy is rampant, including Korea and Germany, which may lend credibility (considering its strong performance elsewhere overseas) to the notion that pirate copies of the film’s workprint did slow ticket sales at least in some parts of the world.

On a related note, while stories popped up all over the Internet this morning announcing the a sequel was in active development at Fox, cult ABC comedy Scrubs made what is likely to be its final joke at the expense of X-Men Origins: Wolverine star Hugh Jackman tonight, citing him as one of the many things in the universe that Dr. Perry Cox (played by Office Space‘s John C. McGinley) doesn’t care about. Throughout the eight seasons of the show, McGinley’s character has consistently insulted Jackman. Tonight’s episode, originally written as a series finale, has been re-billed as a “season” finale as ABC explores the possibility of a ninth season of the show.

Or not-gettin’-any-action-figures? (OK, OK, that was awful, I’m sorry). Lucas drew my attention to this on Twitter (via GeekGirlDiva), and I just had to share it. I stopped collecting action figures ages ago, though I still have my Death and a few McFarlane NHL figures. I’m certainly not going to break that streak for Twilight figures, but maybe someone else will.

There are also quite ridiculously priced dolls of Edward and Bella that are temporarily out of stock–which means there’s a significant number of people who spent $139 plus shipping and handling on them.

The Life and Times of Savior 28 #2 hits the shelves today from IDW Publishing, and writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Mike Cavallaro talked to Blog@Newsarama about some of the finer points of the issue, and to give a bit of a “creator’s commentary” on the book’s events.

Blog@Newsarama: I guess we can start with the cover! Mike’s, mind you, not the variant by Kevin Maguire. Was there a decision besides marketing made to have Savior 28 in the costume on the cover, even though he made a point of not wearing the costume to the front in the book?

Mike Cavallaro: Well, I wouldn’t call it a “marketing” decision. I’d call it a “narrative” decision. Not only is S28 in costume, but he’s in his “modern day” costume, not what he would have worn in the mid-40′s when that scene takes place. It recognizes the fact that we’re on the second issue of a comic featuring a new character, and the costume is too important an identifier to do without at this stage. So, it’s a “symbolic” cover. I think you could get away with putting Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, or maybe Steve Rogers on a cover in their civvies, but not someone as new to readers as Jimmy Smith is.

Blog@: When did this introductory sequence occur to you? It’s pitch-perfect for the story, but I feel like, had this been the introduction of the stories you were originally pitching in the ’80s, it could have been ludicrously controversial!

J.M. DeMatteis: No, this sequence wasn’t part of the 80′s pitch.  That original idea was just a template, this version has taken on a life of its own, growing way beyond that template.  The suicide attempts would never have worked with Steve Rogers, anyway.  It’s not in his character.  But James Smith?  Absolutely.

Blog@: Will we ultimately get the “answer” to the question of how these bullets managed to pierce S28?

JMD: Yes.  There’s the first hint of an answer in S-28 #4 and then the definitive answer in #5.

Blog@: What motivated the decision to make the concentration camp sequence black and white, and was that yours or Mike’s idea?

JMD: That sequence is so powerful, and deals with such heart-rending historical material, that I knew we had to treat it with incredible respect and care.  It really needed to be set it off from the rest of the issue and my script suggested we do the sequence in black and white—stark and disturbing—as if each panel was a photograph or a frame of film taken at the liberation.  I think Mike did a spectacular job on those pages:  they are indeed stark and disturbing…and deeply moving.

MC: You’ll also notice there’s no copy or dialogue in that sequence, except for that first caption box. So it was a decision to strip away some storytelling elements for a couple pages, and just let the images do the job. “Mood,” in a word. That was entirely JM’s idea, and was established in the script.

We did a good deal of photoreferencing for that sequence, although it all gets filtered through the S28 art style. I was struck at how, no matter how much Holocaust photos, documentaries, books, etc., you’re exposed to growing up, they never lose their impact. It’s always upsetting to look at.

Blog@: In terms of panel structure–those pages are wide open, giving it a little bit more of an epic, cinematic feel. Is that just my imagination, or was it by design?

MC: It’s definitely a defining moment in the story for our main character, Jimmy Smith, and JM wanted to make it a spotlight sequence. Again, I think the fact that there’s no caption boxes or word balloons gives the drawings more of an opportunity to breathe, which was the intent, and I think you’re picking up on the contrast between this sequence and the rest of the issue.

Blog@: Seeing S28 in the army green reminds me a little of the footage of Elvis when he was drafted; is that the kind of impression you were going for?

JMD: That’s a funny thought, and, in some ways, accurate.  Elvis was a larger than life hero suddenly reduced to “everyman soldier,” and so is Savior 28 in that sequence.  There’s an almost desperate need for anonymity, to be “just one of the guys.”

MC: That definitely crossed my mind. I’m a huge Elvis fan. No, seriously. I really wish we had had 6 more issues in which to explore more of S28′s experiences throughout the 20th century. After first reading the synopsis, I was hoping we’d have the opportunity to have S28 meet The Beatles. And Nixon’s meeting with Elvis could have been a great story element. Maybe we’ll get the chance some other time.

Blog@: A lot of the costumes in the Savior 28 universe seem very Kirby-inspired to me–so do a lot of them in Hero Squared. Is that intentional, and if so what are you trying to do by evoking that feeling?

MC: It’s certainly intentional. First off, I love Kirby for too many reasons to go into here, and of course I’m not the only one. There’s an exuberance and, perhaps, an innocence to Kirby and Sinnott’s Silver Age work. Their heroes unquestioningly embraced the idea that they knew best, and that their cause was just. This attitude is shared by S28 for most of his career. The effort is to evoke that mentality by hip-checking the design work associated with it, so that we can then contrast that world view with the realities of today. Let’s face it, the superheroes of yesterday are basically cowboys with heat vision. That’s a lot of fun to read until your real world leaders start adopting the same attitudes. It doesn’t translate so well to reality. So setting those design elements into a different type of story is one of the ways at our disposal to make that point.

JMD: I’m a total Kirby geek—there’s no better costume designer in the business—so I was always referencing him when I described the new characters to Mike, to evoke that feeling of classic 60′s and 70′s comics.  Mike had been immersing himself in 60′s Kirby before we even started this project so he was completely on the same wavelength.  I think he totally nailed it.  As for Hero Squared, Keith, who is as much a Kirby Nut as I am, designed all the costumes.  I don’t think it’s necessarily that it was a conscious choice on Keith’s part, I just think he’s been breathing in Kirby his whole life and his sense of design has been so impacted by Kirby’s work that things naturally come out that way.

Blog@: It’s funny–I can almost see Superman and Batman having the conversation that ends with Blackrat telling Savior 28, “This is who you are.” It’s interesting, though, that nobody–NOBODY–sides with Savior 28 when he flies off. Did you ever consider giving anyone doubts?

JMD: No.  I think what 28 is saying is so out of left field to them, so totally against their collective “violence is the answer” mindset, that they really couldn’t even fathom it…let alone consider it seriously or agree.  But we will see some shifting of that super hero mindset as the story evolves.  By the way, the basic idea for that sequence was in the original Cap outline.  Can you imagine that scene with all the heroes of the 1980′s Marvel Universe?

Blog@: Do you see this sequence as being emblematic of some of the stories that come out from time to time, politely decrying the state of American superheroics, change the tone of the debate for a minute and then are forgotten? I’m thinking here of something like “Kingdom Come.”

JMD: It wasn’t in my head, but I see what you’re saying.  The bottom line is no matter how far you push these characters away from the slam and bang, they always, inevitably, snap right back to it.  I know that I’ve been in that position as a writer, scripting the adventures of some Major Icon, taking that character to a place where he could really evolve and become something very different…and then realizing that I can go only so far.  You can’t fundamentally alter a franchise that needs to be around long after you’ve stopped writing it:  Batman can’t go to therapy, work through his childhood trauma and hang up his cape.  And even if I did take it all the way, do something like that with a major character, someone else would come along once I left the series and put that character right back where he started.  From the point of view of the owners/editorial custodians of that character it has to be that way.  That’s certainly what would have happened had I done the Cap story years ago.  That’s why it’s so liberating to do something like Savior 28 where Mike and I can create our own universe of characters and do whatever we want with them.  No one can tell us what to do with them or how to resolve the story. 

Blog@: Does Dennis McNulty keep an empty pistol in his desk? It’s an automatic, but the “click” when he pulls the trigger suggests to me there’s nothing in it. This isn’t like Russian Roulette with a revolver. So is there symbolism there? Or just a gaffe between you and Mike?

MC: Yes, you’re right. It seems like Russian Roulette, but the fact that it’s an automatic weapon is a dead giveaway that it can’t be. I’m not sure “symbolism” is an apt description of what’s happening here, but it’s closer to the mark. There’s no gaffe here, though. Future issues will reveal all. Good catch!

 JMD: Yes, the gun is empty.  But that sequence has meaning for the larger story.  Of course I’m not going to say anything else because I don’t want to give anything away!

By Filip Sablik

I think people my age and older have a great fondness for letter columns in comics. Before the Internet it was our one way to communicate with the creators and editors who made the comics we loved. The only other way was conventions and back then there wasn’t one every other weekend all over the country. Something I’ve been pondering recently is the disappearance of printed letter columns in comics.

In the age of instaneous communication and social networking, virtually any motivated fan can interact with their favorite creator, editor, or comic personality in a very direct and immediate fashion. Want to let a Rob Liefeld know that you don’t like his art? Just jump on the comments sections of sites like Newsarama and let him know. Want to share your thoughts on what DC should do with Superman? Write up a clever, insight blog (on Newsarama for example). Want to ask an artist about a commission? Track them down on Facebook or MySpace. Want to know what Joe Quesada has for breakfast? Follow him on Twitter.

But who are the new letter hacks (and I use this term very affectionately)? In times past, it took some writing chops and the ability to construct a cohesive letter in order to get the attention of editors and creators. Prolific letter writers like T.M. Maple or Augie De Blieck were known in comic circles for their letters and became comic personalities in their own right. I remember quite vividly the pride I felt when a letter I wrote was printed in an issue of the short-lived Steven Seagle series “Primal Force”. Or how giddy my childhood friend Jeremy was when his scientific dissertation on the Flash’s powers was printed in an issue of “Flash”.

Somehow a gut reaction posted as a comment, tweet, or on a message board doesn’t seem to carry quite the same weight as the letters of yore. That’s not to say that comments like “You’ll burn in hell for all this T&A” doesn’t evoke some spirited and thoughtful debate…

My fondness for Letter Columns is one of the reasons we brought back official Letters Pages in both Witchblade and The Darkness at Top Cow. I want a fan to experience the same rush of excitement in seeing their name printed in his or her favorite comic series with a thought out response from either Ron Marz or Phil Hester. Sure, it’s a little bit of extra work for us and for the writers, but I think it’s worth it.

Although I do wish that modern day letter writers would run spell check and consult the occasional grammar manual before hitting the “send” button in their email.

So what do you think? Who are the next generation of letter hacks? Are letter columns dead? Do you miss them? Are comic creators and company representatives too accessible?

Take care,

Filip Sablik

Publisher Guy

Filip Sablik is the Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc. He’s been in the business for eight years and just officially entered his thirties. Occasionally, he does a bit of writing and drawing. He loves comics.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. was founded by Marc Silvestri, co-founder of Image Comics. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades.

Hey everybody, it’s a big week for me for a number of reasons, mainly Power Girl #1 hits the stores today as well as JONAH HEX #43.

Please give these both a shot and let me know what you think. I personally thing they are both going to grab a lot of people in the right place, lol.

WOLVERINE REVIEW SORT OF: Gonna start out with a chat about the movie first while it is fresh in my mind. I went to see Wolverine with Brandon Peterson today. We had the whole theater to ourselves except for two couples that had some weird need to sit exactly behind us. This is a 1,000 seat theater. What the hell is wrong with people? I really hate that. I wanted to get up and toss my drink on them, but alas, I was thirsty and tired. Next time, bitches. (more…)

“[A] deeply original and fascinating piece of travel writing”: Guy Delisle’s excellent The Burma Chronicles ends up getting reviewed in an interesting place—as part of a Telegraph article reviewing travel books.

“To me, this felt waaay gayer than Joel Schumacher’s codpiece- and nipple-enhanced Batman and Robin“: EW‘s Tim Stack wants to know:  Is ‘Wolverine’ the most homoerotic superhero movie ever? Well, is it? I don’t know; I haven’t seen it yet.

In other Movie Wolverine vs. Movie Batman news: AMC blogger Bilge Ebiri tries to determine which of the two had a better origin movie.

“I thought the graphic novel looked like puke”: That was Art Spiegelman’s opinion of the Waltz With Bashir graphic novel, as given to the Washington Post’s Michael Cavna in a fairly wide-ranging interview.

“Nobody stops playing basketball when they realize they’re not going to become a professional”: That’s children’s book author and illustrator Mo Willems to NPR, noting how unusual it is that everyone draws when they’re children, but, for some reason, tend to stop doing it when they realize they’re not great at it. It’s an interesting listen and/or read.

The library is a great place for readers to discover comics, and it’s a great place for comics readers to check out things that they want to try without spending their hard-earned cash. I’m looking at comics that I find in the New York Public Library system.

This is the third of three reviews focusing on Jeff Lemire’s Essex County trilogy.

Although it’s the least of the Essex County books, The Country Nurse is still a very engaging comic. It simply had a high standard to live up to, and cartoonist Jeff Lemire didn’t quite match the subtlety of Tales From the Farm or Ghost Stories in this concluding portion of his trilogy.

Like Ghost Stories, The Country Nurse takes place in two time periods, following the lives of two young women – one a nun running an orphanage in 1917, the other a nurse working with elderly Lou LeBeuf. Lemire has an interesting two-page spread early in The Country Nurse which slyly spells out the theme of the book, a thread connecting a tapestry.

Flashing back and forth in time, Lemire finds two women whose connections run deep to the LeBeuf family, bringing them into Essex County and, in a sense as Lou’s health fails, escorting them on their way out. The 1917 segment is solid, but not particularly inspired – it seems a quick overview of Canadian frontier life that’s been explored by a number of Canadian cartoonists – including Chester Brown’s Louis Riel and Scott Chantler’s Northwest Passage. Lemire’s intent is completely different, a more personal, internal tale, but the nun’s temptation struck me, personally, as perhaps too obvious.

Nurse Anne’s modern-day life was much more compelling, though much of the appeal is predicated on having read the both previous volumes of Essex County, as Tales From the Farm’s and Ghost Stories’ protagonists Lou, Lester, Jimmy and Ken all have prominent roles in her life. Her own family issues seem almost an after-thought.

Nevertheless, if you can find the entirety of Jeff Lemire’s Essex County trilogy in your local library, The Country Nurse is a solid complement to Tales From the Farm and Ghost Stories, providing closure to the characters you’ll certainly love in the first two books in this story cycle.

Long-time ensemble cast member Power Girl finally gets a shot at solo star status with this week’s debut of Power Girl #1, a new ongoing featuring the always welcome art of Amanda Conner and scripts by Justin Gray and Blog@ columnist Jimmy Palmiotti.

Will the book manage to find an audience and stick around long, or at least as long as some of the other new superhero ongoings DC has tried out over the last few years? I don’t know, but it sure seems like it will have an uphill battle. Power Girl’s long presence in the DCU and supporting character status in several popular books gives her a fan base, but then, she’s always been a character who played off of other characters and, for the last 20 years or so, has been best known for having big breasts and one of the most confusing and oft-changed origins in the company’s character catalog. Additionally, she hasn’t been up to much lately that would seem to serve as a springboard for a new series; the wake of 2005′s JSA Classified arc (also featuring art by Conner) or 2006′s Infinite Crisis or last year’s Justice Society of America Annual #1 would have seemed like more ideal times to try a Power Girl series.

On the other hand, Palmiotti and Gray have certainly managed to defy market expectations in the past (witness the still surviving Jonah Hex), and Conner’s style is such a strong departure from the bulk of current DCU art that anything she draws automatically stands out. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what this trio can do with the book.

I’m also looking forward to tomorrow, it being new comic book day and all. What will I find awaiting me at the shop? Let’s see what the old direct market has planned for us this week, shall we?

(more…)

Well, the movie is out, and a LOT of people wound up going to see it. While no spin-offs have been announced yet, a sequel is apparently already in the works. The chief complaint by most longtime fans of the characters depicted in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the changes made to Deadpool. Of course, fans can be a bit… overbearing on these issues, so we thought we’d go straight to the source. We had a short, quick conversation with Deadpool’s co-creator Fabian Nicieza to find out what he thought. He may have danced around the issue a bit, but he did make one great suggestion.

Newsarama: What did you think of the movie overall?

Fabian Nicieza: I think it had some good things in it and some not so good things in it. Pretty much the batting average for Hollywood’s treatment of most comic book properties.

NRAMA: What’d you think specifically of the treatment of Deadpool, especially before and after the transformation?

FN: I think Ryan Reynolds had the wit, delivery and physicality for a pre-cancerous Wade Wilson, as for what they did after that? Well, I’ll let audiences decide for themselves.

NRAMA: Would you want to see a spin-off featuring him, even if it meant it had to go from what this movie started?

FN: If they’re smart enough to hire Joe Kelly and Fabian Nicieza to co-write the script, then I’d likely go see it…

NRAMA: Did you see either of the “after-credits” endings? (as I’ve heard one somewhat redeems the character)

FN: I only saw the after-credits where his hand is reaching out to find his severed head — Is that the ending you mean? I don’t know that it does anything to “redeem the character,” as you say, all it does is acknowledge his indestructibility and the potential for a spin-off. Was there another after-credits scene I missed? Did Sam Jackson come out and offer Wade a job with SHIELD?

So there you have it. Who wants to see a Deadpool movie penned by Kelly and Nicieza?

It should come as absolutely no surprise that I am a Tank Girl fangirl. I even love the movie. Of course I own the first collections, but I am sorely tempted to spend money I don’t have buying the “remastered” versions that come out tomorrow. Like any good comic junkie, I can’t resist newer, prettier versions of books I already own. Yet I am broke, and must fight the temptation. Drop me a comment if you buy them and let me know if you think it was worth it, eh?

What am I reading this week? A little Bang! Tango (jury’s still out, but I’m also still reading) and a little The Boys, and that’s pretty much it. So suggestions are welcome. Make me spend my hard-earned cash on books I don’t already own.

If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

Also, if you’re interested, check out this mega fantastic interview where I cover all things “So Super Duper” as well as my groovy upcoming indie comic projects! Wheeee:www.associatedcontent.com_interviews_brian_andersen!

Based on the image Marvel has released for Incredible Hercules #132, it’s looking like the mythic muscleman has a little bit of hammer envy going on…

That’s right: Hercules is the new Thor. (Hammer time!*) Now discuss.

*And yeah, with the goofball trio of Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and Rafael Albuquerque on board, I don’t think I’ll be able to read this series without this song in my head. And that is the greatest compliment I can give.

**And yeah, I do know that is the Golden Mace, which is apparently the metal that scientists tried to base adamantium on. Yep, it’s that strong.

The Conqueror is coming — and he looks good and ticked.

DC, via its blog the Source, gave a tease over the J.G. Jones redesign, giving no hint as to what series this new-and-improved Starro could be in. But whatever the case, it’s looking like the star-shaped insignia on this character’s torso might in fact be a Starro parasite — how that differs from a typical Starro remains to be seen. So where does Starro fit in? As Dan DiDio told the mothership last week, this new take on Starro will be introduced as part of the R.E.B.E.L.S. storyline.

But at the very least, Starro seems to have grown even more menacing than his previous incarnations. Let’s take a look at Starro through the years…

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Karl Kerschl has revealed a sample of his work on the upcoming DC Comics experimental weekly series known as Wednesday Comics.

Kerschl, who has drawn the Flash in All Flash #1 as well as in Teen Titans: Year One, will be teaming up with co-writer Brendan Fletcher and colorist Dave McCaig. As Kerschl wrote on Twitter, his series will be featuring Barry Allen and Iris West — and based on this image, at least one denizen of Gorilla city.

Wednesday Comics, which will be printed on broadsheet for twelve weeks, will be in stores July.

With a $90 Million opening weekend, Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine lived up to box office projections and surprised a fair number of people by coming much closer than most fanboys would have guessed to matching Iron Man‘s spectacular opening last year. This, of course, came almost exactly a month after a DVD-quality workprint of the film was leaked onto the Internet.

At the time of the leak, a number of news outlets (including Newsarama) ran stories wondering what the financial impact of the leak on ticket sales might be. With a leak of that scope, so far in advance, and almost universally-negative word-of-mouth (as well as a paltry 36% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), one has to wonder: What, if any, harm did Internet piracy do to this film’s box office? Without getting into a discussion on the ethics of such a leak–it was illegal whether or not it hurt Fox financially–it seems entirely plausible that there was almost no impact on the opening box office for the flick.

There if, of course, a popular conception both inside and outside of the comics community that comic book adaptions will have a certain number of comic book fans turning out for opening weekend more or less no matter what.  It might be a really long time before we ever see a similar leak, but when it comes in a non-genre film, that might tell us a little bit more about THAT particular line of thinking, as well.

An interesting question posed by the success of Wolverine in spite of all the factors working against it is–if this movie can overcome all these obstacles and still come out with one of the higest opening-weekend grosses of the year, what does it say for a film like Watchmen, which underperformed despite a highly-motivated fanbase…or even more, for a movie like The Spirit, that couldn’t even get that same fanbase out the door to start with?

From Dave Kopecki via Joe Keatinge at Image Comics, please take a minute to read.

This is a call to action!

As many of you may know already, artist Josh Medors (Frazetta’s Swamp Demon & Sorcerer, Runes of Ragnan, 30 Days of Night) has been fighting a losing battle against a terminal form of cancer for well over a year, and it has recently taken a turn for the worst. The doctors and conventional medicine have all but given up on him and say there isn’t anything else they can do. But he has found an alternative treatment that has the possibility of extending his life a bit and can help improve the quality of his life near the end so he can spend it with his wife and son. There is even a slim chance it can make him somewhat better, so he has to try. But of course the treatment is very expensive and Josh has no medical insurance. (more…)