I can only speak for myself here, but since hearing about the news that Zack Snyder has been named director of the next Superman film, “The Man of Steel”, I’ve come to some pretty definite conclusions about what I would and would not like to see. While I’m sure debate will continue about the choice of Snyder (my own pick would have been Brad Bird, currently locked up with “Mission: Impossible IV”), I think that he might be capable of making a fast-moving, visceral Superman film that we haven’t seen before. As for the rest of it . . .

1) Enough of the Origin: I said this elsewhere, but it bears repeating: “We all know the origin. Superman’s origin is so well-known that my mother, my grandparents, and my cats could all recount it (I shouldn’t really need to specify that my dad, my wife, and my kids know it). Confine it to the opening credits if you must show it at all.”

2) F@#$ Subtle: I like character. I like nuance. I like the underpinnings of human behavior. This is SUPERMAN. And we haven’t seen Superman really, truly unload on screen. Even in “Superman Returns”, with its great plane crash sequence, most of the rest of his action involved the lifting of heavy objects. And that was about it. Even if we have two hours of the most beautifully crafted acting and humanely rendered interpersonal communication, give us a good half-hour of him beating the unholy crap out of Bizarro or something. He’s the MAN OF STEEL. Show it.

3) A Different Villain/A Different Montage: I understand that Zod will be the villain again. I suppose it’s too late to change that, but I’m fairly tired of the fact that Luthor or Zod must always be the villain. Out of five “Superman” movies, Luthor figured in four of them; Zod and gang were in “II” and Zod was in a lot of “Smallville” lately. Apart from beating the crap out of himself in “Superman III”, Superman on the big-screen has only fought a computer-possessed businessman’s sister (III) and the manicure-challenged Nuclear Man (IV) outside of Luthor and Zod’s gang.

Compare that to Batman, who has gotten to tangle with (between all seven movies) the Joker (three times), the Penguin (twice), Catwoman (twice), the Riddler (twice), Two-Face (twice), Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane, the Scarecrow, Zsasz, Ra’s Ah Ghul, various familiar mobsters, and more. Granted, some of those versions sucked, but Batman’s variety was on display. Granted again, “Smallville” has beat the movies to the punch a few times, but what about Brainiac (with skull ship)? What about Bizarro? What about Bob? (sorry, got carried away).

At the very least, please replace the semi-obligatory montage of Superman stopping robbers and rescuing kittens with a montage that shows him taking on a couple of actual villains. You don’t need to deal with them past the montage; just give Superman some scope. Barring that, at least show him stopping a flood or catch a falling satellite rather than grabbing a cat burglar this time. He’s SUPERMAN for God’s sake.

4) Let Lois Know: Don’t be coy. Don’t be ambiguous. Let Lois know, and let us know she knows. Lois should be smart, even cunning. She should be a challenge to Clark/Kal both mentally and morally. What do I mean by morally? Lois as a crusading reporter should be a personality that pushes Superman to make real change in the world. Their conflicts could stem from her thinking that Superman isn’t actually doing enough in the face of the problems of the planet. That would be a different tack, and it could energize that relationship.

5) Appropriate Color: The “Returns” costume was too muted and Snyder’s previous films have occasionally been murky. Mr. Snyder: pump up the volume on the color. You have SUPERMAN. You have the weight of great production people behind you. Make this thing pop and sing. It doesn’t have to be “Speed Racer”, but it should be vibrant and alive. It’s SUPERMAN. He’s not Batman, and he’s damn sure not “Flash meets Silence of the Lambs” (really, who thought of that pitch, how bad was their childhood, and what drugs were they subsequently put on to make them suggest that?). Brighten it up. It won’t hurt anyone.

There’s my thoughts. What say you, readers?

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!

Is that you, Bizarsenal?: Hey, remember that time that this actually occurred in an actual DC Comics comic book that was actually published, in this, the real world? Well artist Bernard Chang and writer Sterling Gates must, which would explain why Supergirl #57 (on sale October 20) apparently contains a Bizarro version of Arsenal clutching a dead cat, with a quiver full of dead cats on his back, as you can see in the detail above. To see the whole page, and three others, you can visit DC’s Source blog, which is where the detail above came from.

Like Covered, only with panels: Anthony Vukojevich has launched Repaneled, a blog that seeks to do for interior comics panels what Covered did for covers. Looking good so far. (Via Top Shelf’s Hey Bartender! blog)

“What’s the worst that can happen…viewers might accidentally be exposed to something awesome?”: That’s comics blogger and extraordinnare and comics retailer Mike Sterling arguing that the producers of Smallville might as well “Kirby it up” now that the shows in its final season and apparently attempting a Fourth World-inspired plotline. Sterling also has some swell suggestions of Fourth World characters who should appear on the show…and how they should appear.

Yeah, I think he fought Black Adam once: “Meet Amenhotep III, Egypt’s 3400-year-old superhero”

Justice League of Americans Assemble!: Oh wait, it’s the other guys who assemble, huh? Anyway, artist Joel Carroll’s redesign of The Flash was posted to Project: Rooftop last week, which means all ten redesigns of Justice Leaguers by invited artists have been completed, and the Project: Rooftop League is ready to be ogled, as a group or individually. More of a Marvel fan? Well then, check out this gorgeous “Mythical” redesign of Nova by Shane McDermott.

“I’ve never, ever understood why Thor never got the respect I felt he was due…one of Marvel’s undisputed heavyweights in terms of character prominence but not in terms of actual publishing priority”: Well then I know at least one fan who’s probably happy Thor is going to be Marvel’s number one publishing priority this fall! That’s Tim O’Neil on the subject of Thor, particularly on the often-ignored (unjustly, in his opinion) years of Thor comics published between the time Simonson stopped making them and JMS started.  I can neither second O’Neil’s opinion, or disagree with it, since I didn’t read any of those comics either (Actually, I haven’t read the JMS ones either. Or the Simonson ones…which I understand makes me a bad person. They’re on my To Read Someday list though, I swear!)

“The Top Seven books Joan Hilty edited while at the home of the Bat and the Cape”: In the wake of news that editor Joan Hilty will be among the DC Comics employees no longer being an employee of DC Comics, cartoonist (and blogger!) Ty Templeton offers a list of some of her best work. I don’t think The Flash is a terribly good example, as it came from an extremely troubled period for the franchise in which the creative team, protagonist, direction, numbering and just about everything else changed way too frequently and seemed to reveal major behind-the-secnes problems (Hilty might not have been involved with all those changes though; for all I know without spending a half-hour looking up editor credits in old Flash comics, the editors changed as frequently as the directions). It’s otherwise a pretty solid list though—Flinch was a shockingly overlooked jewel in the Vertigo crown (if you haven’t read it, check the back issue bins—there was hardly a bad issue), and just about everyone involved with the last volume of Blue Beetle deserves props for making the character and title work as well as he and it did.

Halloween is fast approaching. Can you believe it? Soon, candy commercials will flood the airwaves, the History Channel will have Halloween-themed specials, and who could forget costumes and decor all over your local grocery or department store.

One thing I love especially is the imagery of the holiday that inspires people. Perfect example of this is Francesco Francavilla’s 31 Days of Halloween, of course he is Day 3 into the project.

Already Francavilla has covered the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein’s Monster, and recently Nosferatu (see above). I love the “sketch” look to it. Adds that sense of horror and the fact like it is straight from the 1922 classic film.

It’s a shame this holiday only comes around once a year.

I am incredibly far behind. All the DVD reviews lately (particularly since there have been a number of time-consuming TV releases) have combined with the day job to really put me behind the eight ball here at Newsarama. The upside? I’ve got another week of insanity followed by an entire week off during, which time I’ll be getting the various Q&A features back on schedule and getting some reviews in with the rest of the Best Shots team.

In the meantime, Gavin Higginbotham stepped up and did this whole interview himself. As such, it’s a little shorter than usual…but maybe I’ll get ambitious and add some material to it when I get some breathing room.

Gavin Higginbotham: Double Paige is a rather… interesting… design. I’m guessing she’s a bitch to draw? Just getting the anatomy correct every time when choreographing a fight scene with her has got to be tough?

Erik Larsen: The choreographing fights was a big part of what excited me about the character–just cause it was so bizarre having a character with four arms and legs–there were great possibilities there but yeah–what a pain in the butt to draw! Too many limbs to keep track of and there were quite a few times where I got confused working out all the details. I sorted the mess out but there was a panel where I inadvertently draw Paige’s gloves on Angel–luckily Nikos caught it and I was able to redraw it. But what a nightmare. (more…)

Something’s missing. Can’t put my finger on it…

Laura Vandervoort as Kara this season and she’s bringing a somewhat familiar look in the properly-titled episode: Supergirl. Kara brings Clark some not-so-welcomed news.

You know, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of Supergirl coming on board, but Vandervoort really makes the outfit work. I’ve always thought she carried the role quite well and I’m so ready for the rest of this season.

Well it’s about time.

David E. Kelley (creator of such hits as Ally McBeal and several other TV favorites) is writing and producing a new show centering around DC’s Wonder Woman, Deadline reports. This project is presumed to fill the void once Smallville ends this season, so it’s up in the air as of now if this is a show about Wonder Woman, or Diana, the Amazonian Princess.

With the live-action movie constantly in developmental hell, and the animated movie being quite the success (even outselling Green Lantern: First Flight) a TV show would be the perfect fit for fans of the character to get that fix.

I think Kelley has the creative know-how that could bring this show to a broad audience. We haven’t seen live-action Wondy since the 70′s with the famous Lynda Carter TV show that a lot of us grew up on.

So, readers, what do you think of a Wonder Woman show? Could this be another Smallville, or another Mercy Reef?

Since the first Ghost Rider blew their figurative wad, I was almost certain there wouldn’t be a Ghost Rider sequel. I mean, it had Blackheart and Mephisto in it. I’m not a Ghost Rider scholar by any means, but I couldn’t think of any other villain associated with Marvel’s Spirit of Vengeance. Then, this past Summer, news broke out about the guys behind “Crank” would take the directing helm. Even then, I had doubts.

Well, color me mistaken. Heatvision reports that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will feature the return of Nic Cage as Johnny Blaze, as he is recruited by an organization to defeat the devil, played by Ciaran Hinds (Caesar in HBO’s Rome), who wants to possess his son’s mortal form on the child’s birthday. I’m glad they decided to focus more on the supernatural elements a bit more.

The directors are aiming for a November start, with shooting to take place in Romania. No word if Eva Mendes will be coming back as Roxanne Simpson, or Sam Elliot as the Caretaker, but I’m thinking not this time around.

With casting Andrew Garfield as the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the planned reboot, it was a matter of time before love interests Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane would find their counterparts. According to Deadline, the hunt is seriously on for the next MJ and Gwen, who were last portrayed by Kirsten Dunst and Bryce Dallas Howard, respectively.

These are the names mentioned in the list of prospects:

Dianna Agron, from TV’s Glee.

Emma Stone from Superbad, Zombieland, and the recently-released (and highly-praised) Easy A.

Mia Wasikowska from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Georgina Haig, who can be found in the indie films Wasted on the Ground and Roadkill.

Dominique McElligott, who starred alongside Sam Rockwell in Moon.

Now the article states that their source wasn’t clear who auditioned for who, but Wasikowska and Stone have been in the rumor pool for a while for Gwen and MJ. The latter who I can see perfectly in the role. The situation with Argon would be the fact that she might not be able to fit the shooting in AND shoot Glee as well, but I could totally see her rock Gwen’s headband.

So, readers, out of these fine actresses, what do you think? Who would you want sharing the screen with Spider-Man?

It’s the 40th anniversary of the first Jack Kirby comic to introduce his concepts of the “Fourth World” and so we have a special piece for you this week.

In the DC Universe, long before the Maltusians and the Martians, the first sentient race were the beings of the planet Urgund. These people learned to commune with the Source, the energy that binds all life in the universe (and which pre-dates Star Wars, so no yelling “rip-off”). The people of Urgund became what later cultures would refer to as “the Old Gods” and their age of civilization became known as the Third World.

But… there came a day when the Old Gods died. Civil war broke out and it ended with the planet being destroyed. The energies unleashed wiped out surrounding stars while shifting the rubble of Urgund and its surviving sun into another dimensional plane, out of phase with the rest of the universe. Many centuries passed. The rubble of Urgund began to reform, becoming two worlds now orbiting the same star, one full of life that was called New Genesis, the other a dark wasteland called Apokolips. On Earth, the energy shock wave from the death of the Old Gods created other-dimensional beings who came to be worshipped as gods by the ancient Greeks, the ancient Egyptians and others. And on New Genesis and Apokolips, new beings emerged who, like their ancestors, were linked to cosmic forces. They were the New Gods of the Fourth World.

It would be a mistake to consider the New Gods as powerful aliens. They were celestial beings, more energy than matter, whose spirits would directly return to the Source after death. Izaya, given the title of “Highfather,” acted as mentor to the people of New Genesis, while the tyrant Uxas ruled over Apokolips after assuming the title of “Darkseid the Destroyer.” Darkseid psychically fed off pain, corruption and servitude. Highfather spoke of how free will was the essence of sentient life, making “choice” the “life equation” and in turn, Darkseid sought out the “Anti-Life Equation,” a cosmic formula that would rob anyone of free will and make them his puppet. Realizing that certain human beings held parts of the Equation in their mind, Darkseid turned his attention to Earth, now warring with super-heroes as often as he did with the forces of New Genesis. His greatest enemies were Superman, Wonder Woman and his own son Orion, who had been raised by Highfather.

Eventually, the time came for the Fourth World to end. Darkseid found a way to allow his spirit to survive this, intending that he would reshape the Fifth World in his image and gain influence over the entire universe. The paradox of his spirit’s survival forced time and space to begin collapsing around Earth, causing what came to be known as the Final Crisis, and it took the combined might of Earth’s heroes and several cosmic forces to bring him down at last. The Fourth World ended and we know that somewhere in the multiverse the Fifth World has begun with a reborn New Genesis. What happens next is up to fate (and very likely Grant Morrison).

And now that you’re educated on the basics, let’s take a gander at the fashion choices of some of the most prominent beings of the Fourth World. Keep in mind, this is not a complete list because that would honestly take too long in one sitting. So for now, we’re focusing on the main heroes of Kirby’s cosmic mythology rather than the villains and side players. What’s that? Oh, fine, we’ll include Darkseid too. But just because you asked so nicely.

(more…)

I’d completely forgotten how gross Aquaman’s bare legs are: Check out Blastr.com’s “The 10 greatest all-nude fight scenes in comics”

“What should they be? Killers, honey”: That’s Stephen King talking blood-suckers, from his intorduciton to the new American Vampire collection, which was reprinted in Entertainment Weekly and commented upon hither and yon, like in this Guardian blog post. I hate to disagree with Stephen King about anything horror-related, but I think vampires can go ahead and be whatever they want.

Speaking of King’s vampires…: Tom Spurgeon commented on the announcement that three Vertigo editors have been laid off (previously noted here by Albert Ching), noting that Vertigo may have actually had a pretty good year, as “A DC mainstream universe comic generating the good will of The Unwritten or the sales oomph of that Stephen King vampire thing fails to spring to mind.”

Is this just a cover illustration for The Village Voice, or is Drew Friedman collaborating with Grant Morrison on Arkham Asylum II?: The former, but one can dream.

Who needs fishnets?: Zatara may have eventually been eclipsed by his more famous daughter Zatana, but as Johnathan of Living Between Wednesdays recently deiscovered, Zatara is kind of awesome. After reading his post, I’m convinced—put me down for a Zatara Chronicles trade paperback, DC! Also at LBW: The time Superman saved three forest animals despite only having two hands.

Xavin…?: Cinema Blend reports that young, black actress Keke Palmer told Essence she was asked to play a role in the upcoming Runaways movie, and then wonders which character she would play, given the fact that the original core cast didn’t have any characters who were both black and female. Shape-shifting Super-Skrull Xavin, who joined the cast later and usually appeared as a black female in order to please his lesbian betrothed, seems like a possibility…if they’re allowed to use Skrulls at all. The weird thing about The Runaways in terms of a film adaptation is how tied into a half-dozen different comics franchises the original comic was, perhaps complicating its adaptation a bit.

Ding Dong Daddy From Dingburg
Written & Illustrated by Bill Griffith
Published by Fantagraphics

The latest collection of Bill Griffith’s newspaper strip Zippy the Pinhead, Ding Dong Daddy From Dingburg is also my first exposure to the long-running once-underground icon.  Griffith created Zippy in 1971.  After a long life in independent comics and magazines, Zippy became a newspaper strip, syndicated by King Features, in 1986.  Ding Dong Daddy collects the daily and Sunday strips from September 2008 through June 2010.

(more…)