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Absolute Planetary, Vol. 1 (Review)

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Darren

With Wildstorm being officially folded into the relaunched DCU (the “DCnU”), I thought I might take a look at some of the more successful and popular Wildstorm titles that the company produced. In particular, Planetary, the which will apparently inspire Paul Cornell’s Stormwatch – easily one of my more anticipated titles of the relaunch.

Planetary, as imagined by Warren Ellis and John Cassidy charts “the secret history” of the fictional Wildstorm Universe, as we follow a team of pulp archeologists attempting to uncover “what’s really been going on this century.”As such, it provides Ellis and Cassidy a chance to dig around and play in the pop culture of the twentieth century, celebrating concepts and ideas as diverse as Japanese monster movies, Hong Kong revenge actioners and American pulp heroes, all with more than a hint of nostalgia and affection.

Strange ways...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute edition, absolute editions, Absolute Planetary, Action Comics, clark kent, comic books, Comics, dc comics, Elijah Snow, Ellis, fantastic four, grant morrison, Hong Kong, Planetary, review, superman, United States, warren ellis, wildstorm, Wildstorm Universe, wonder woman | Leave a comment »

Justice League International: Volume 1 (Hardcover) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Darren

In light of the massive DC reboot taking place next month, launching with a Geoff Johns and Jim Lee run on a new Justice League title, I thought I’d take a look back at another attempt to relaunch the Justice League, emerging from the then-recent Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Once upon a time — there was a Justice League of America. But that was another era, when the world could afford borders and boundaries. When heroes could claim national loyalties and feel justified in their claims.

But in today’s world there’s no longer room for borders or boundaries. The walls between nations have to fall if our planet is to survive. So, for the new era — a new league: Justice League… International!

– Introducing the Justice League International, Justice League #7

Unlike the upcoming Johns/Lee relaunch of DC’s most famous superhero team, or even Grant Morrison’s tenure on JLA, it’s clear from the outset that Justice League: International was never going to be a powerhouse team. As the introduction states, in the wake of the massive restructuring of the DC Universe following the near-reboot of Crisis on Infinite Earths, many characters were tied up in events in their own titles. George Perez was working on Wonder Woman, while John Byrne was putting his own slant on Superman in Man of Steel. So the only returning iconic Justice League founding members were Batman and the Martian Manhunter. The team had to make do with Guy Gardner as the resident Green Lantern. It wasn’t exactly an all-star line-up, to be honest.

The Unusual Suspects?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, Blue Beetle, booster gold, comic books, Comics, crisis, crisis on infinite earths, dark knight returns, dc, dc comics, dc universe, green lantern, Guy Gardner, J. M. DeMatteis, JLI, justice league, Justice League International, keith griffen, kevin maguire, Martian Manhunter, maxwell lord, superman, United States | Leave a comment »

Alien Nation: What the Aborted Superman Returns Opening Sequence Tells Us About Bryan Singer’s Man of Steel…

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Darren

I’ve already talked a great deal about Superman Returns and why the movie doesn’t really work as a Superman story, but I was still fascinated to get a glimpse at the aborted $10m dollar opening sequence that never made it to the final cut, but only wormed its way onto the internet today. The clip is well-made and there’s no doubt that it was abandoned fairly late in the process, almost ready to fit in Bryan Singer’s epic story about the Man of Steel. It’s fascinating what the clip tells about how Singer sees his protagonist, and how the clip bolsters his own take, while demonstrating some of the more fundamental flaws with his vision.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: american dream, bryan singer, comic books, immigration, Kal-El, krypton, Kryptonian, Kryptonite, man of steel, pop culture, superman, superman returns, United States | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Thor

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Darren

A special thanks to the guys over at movies.ie for sneaking us into an advanced preview screening.

To paraphrase the immortal Odin-son, “I say thee yay!”

In other words, a great start to blockbuster season.

If I had a hammer...

Note: Those unfamiliar with Thor might like to take a look at my informal introduction to the mythos, but – to be honest – Branagh handles it well enough you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ve also written a piece about the film over at ComicBuzz, if you want to check it out.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: chris hemsworth, howard stark, iron man, kenneth branagh, marvel comics, non-review review, review, review of thor, superman, thor, thor film, thor film review, thor movie, thor movie review, thor review, tom hiddleston, walt simonson | 10 Comments »

Time to Worry About Snyder’s Superman?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Darren

Well, the reviews for SuckerPunch are in, and they are… less than encouraging. I could have great fun going through them looking for pithy put-downs, but let’s just agree that it looks pretty bad. The film was a critical and commercial flop, generally agreed to be the handiwork of a director who was allowed to run completely wild with Warner Brothers footing the bill. As inevitably happens after a disaster like this, people are wondering about the director’s next film – it would be a hot topic even if it wasn’t relaunching Superman, but the amount of weight that Warner Brothers is putting on Superman makes it a downright explosive little issue. So, do I believe that Snyder can do it?

No Snyde(r) remarks...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Christopher Nolan, david s. goyer, directors, film, Kevin Costner, man of steel, Movie, steven spielberg, Sucker Punch, suckerpunch, superman, superman reboot, superman returns, Warner Bros, zack snyder | 8 Comments »

Justice for the JLA: Warner’s New Stand-Alone Superhero Team-Up…

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Darren

News broke during the week that Warner Brothers are planning a new Justice League movie, apparently for 2013. Reportedly Ryan Reynolds has not been approached to play the Green Lantern in the film, and – based on comments from both film makers – it’s unlikely that Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot or The Dark Knight Rises will play into the film in any meaningful way. One might consider that something of a marketing faux pas, as that would represent a fairly intense lead-in into the movie (as opposed to the four-odd years Marvel has been teasing The Avengers). Indeed, it has been suggested that the proposed Justice League movie might stand entirely on its own two feet, completely distinct from the superhero movies that Warners are churning out. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this was exactly the plan with the company’s last aborted attempt at a Justice League film.

Justice for all?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Batman in film, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, ensemble, film, green lantern, jla, justice league, Movies, ryan reynolds, spotlight, superhero ensemble, superman, teams, Warner Bros, zack snyder | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: All-Star Superman

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way.

From the outset, it’s immediately clear that All-Star Superman is immensely faithful to the twelve-issue miniseries that inspired it. There are a few key deviations from Morrison’s core text – some of which were made simply to save time or money, but others which are interesting of themselves. Still, this is pretty much as direct an adaptation as we are ever likely to receive – right down to the eight-word introduction (intercut here with the opening action sequence), the power of the origin distilled down to its core attributes. So the movie, based on perhaps the finest Superman story ever told, obviously has a lot of power drawn from its roots – but one has to wonder what the real point of making an animated feature of it ever was.

Shine on...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan moore, All Star Superman, Anthony LaPaglia, bizarro, bruce timm, Christina Hendricks, clark kent, dc, dc animated universe, dcau, grant morrison, joker, lex luthor, lois lane, non-review review, review, richard donner, solaris, superman, the tyrant sun, zack snyder | 2 Comments »

Paul Levitz’s Run on The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Darren

The Great Darkness Saga is regarded as perhaps the classic Legion of Superheroes story. If you could preserve one of their adventures for the ages, this would likely be it. So it’s great to see DC pulling out all the stops and collecting it in a lavish Deluxe Edition, which includes not only the story arc and extras, but the complete build-up to the saga as well. This collection begins with the first issue of Paul Levitz’s second run on the title (and the recent solicitation of a Curse deluxe hardcover suggests that DC will be collecting all of that very popular run) and goes all the way through to the end of this epic storyline.

The book has its legions of fans...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, art, clark kent, comic books, darkseid, final crisis: legion of 3 worlds, Grantmorrison, jack kirby, legion of sueprheroes, Legion of Super-Heroes, Paul Levitz, superman, the great darkness, The Great Darkness Saga, the legion of super-heroes, the legion of superheroes | 1 Comment »

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Darren

They call themselves Legionnaires. There are so many of these guys I can’t keep track of them all.

– Superboy Prime. I can empathise.

The tie-ins to Final Crisis were an interesting bunch. They weren’t, for the most part, your usual comic book event tie-ins. Then again, Final Crisis was hardly your usual comic book event. Indeed, the handful of essential reading material was included in Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis hardcover. The remaining hardcovers didn’t exist to plug holes in the story, nor to showcase particular characters interacting with the crisis du jour. So, while Final Crisis: The Legion of Three Worlds does little to tie-in plot-wise to the main miniseries (save, perhaps, setting up a tiny scene), it’s interesting that Geoff Johns elected to have is story reflect the themes and core ideas of Grant Morrison’s epic event.

And the Legion shall be many...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: art, arts, Bart Allen, comic books, Comics, continuity, dc universe, final crisis, final crisis: legion of 3 worlds, final crisis: legion of three worlds, general zod, geoff johns, george perez, gotham central, Grantmorrison, legion, legion of 3 worlds, Legion of Super-Heroes, legion of three worlds, superboy prime, superman | Leave a comment »

Superman & Relevance: (Yet) More Thoughts on Snyder’s Superman…

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Darren

Dear Hollywood,

I am a movie fan. I am not an American. I didn’t read too many comic books as a child, and those I did never featured Superman. I say this as a means of introducing myself. I’ve been somewhat frustrated that you have been consistently unable to produce a good Superman film since Richard Donner was unceremoniously booted off the set of Superman II over 30 years ago. I know you’re working on a new film, so I thought I’d pen this open letter.

I’m sure David S. Goyer is a great writer, and look forward to his screenplay. After all, I appreciate his work on Nolan’s Batman Begins trilogy and his work with James Robinson on Starman (plus he helped kickstart this whole “superhero movie” business with Blade). Still, I can’t help but be a little concerned about this new Superman reboot you have to produce by the end of next year, lest the rights revert to the creators of the character.

Anyway, I want to talk to you about the relevance of Superman, as I’m sure it’s something you’ve talked about quite a lot, and perhaps it’s something you’re still concerned about.