Comic Rack! Details On The New JLA, Thanos Rises & Constantine Dies?

Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…

Geoff Johns Finally Spills The Beans About The New JLA

It’s been a fairly well established trope that DC likes to have multiple Justice League titles running at the same time, because let’s face it, superhero teams are money makers. It’s a pretty simple formula, you grab a couple of heroes, announce they’re on a team together or tease a new team and who the possible members could be, and rake in the cash as people buy your book to find out. Marvel did the same thing with the new Thunderbolts not too long ago. “Why is Punisher a Thunderbolt?”, isn’t damn near the same question as “Why is Catwoman in the JLA?”, and the answer to both is always, “Buy the book and see!”

Comic Rack- 1:23:13- Geoff-Johns-New-JLA

Does that sound cynical? Perhaps it is, but I can’t help but feel cynical when it comes to groups of superheroes banded together eclectically for reasons X, Y and Z. Yes, Mr. Johns I’m sure you have a wonderful story to tell, and there’s a specific reason for each one of them and blah blah blah. Listen, we know you were pitched the idea by DC execs and made lemonade out of lemons for yourself. Good on you. Let’s just stop all the arbitrary team making for the sake of team making, okay Comics Industry? Thanks.

Find out more here.

Francesco Francavilla Joins Fraction’s Hawkeye

Easily one of the best new series Marvel is putting out right now, Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkguy Hawkeye has continued to wow me since the first issue with its enjoyable and down to earth look at the mainstay Avenger. Not to be forgotten is Javier Pulido’s issues that contribute greatly to the overall aesthetic of the series that follows Clint Barton when he’s not being the superhero Avenger everyone is used to. Francavilla joins as Hawkeye embarks on a brand new story line, which serves as a great jumping on point for readers, and faces Hakeye against his deadliest opponent yet.

comic-rack-012413-hawkeye

[box_light]“On Hawkeye we’ve been blessed with not only one of the biggest writers in comics with Matt Fraction, but also some of the best artists like David Aja, Javier Pulido and now Francesco Francavilla,” said Stephen Wacker, Senior Editor, Marvel Entertainment. “Though he’s only on the series for issues #10 & #12, Francesco is going to leave his mark on Clint with some of the most beautiful art you’ll see all year!”[/box_light]

The story starts in April with Hawkeye #10!

Thanos Rising Will Be Jason Aaron’s Next Big Book

Mark my words, in the next coming years, Thanos is gonna get huge. The guy’s long been held back by the stigma of being a thinly veiled rip-off of Darkseid, but let’s face the facts: The guy showed up in the movies first. Nowadays, that’s all that really matters with major audiences. The movies are almost more canon than the comics for the average fan, and the introduction of Thanos at the (post credits) end of last years The Avengers, is gonna cement him as the go-to face of evil for future comics movie watchers. In a way this could be construed as a pre-emptive strike to get existing and new Marvel readers re-acquainted with Thanos. In the movies we know all about the Cosmic Cube but the Infinity Gauntlet was only hinted at, and understood by those already in the know. This new series by Jason Aaron (whose work on Scalped I really need to catch up on) will introduce everyone who’s unfamiliar to Thanos in a way that will get them pumped to see him depicted as the Big Bad on the silver screen. When The Avengers 2 ( or Guardians of the Galaxy depending on where he appears) c firstomes out in theaters, trust me, you’ll be hearing about Thanos everywhere.

Comic Rack- 1:23:13-Jason-Aaron-Thanos

Find out more here.

Constantine’s Death Teased In The Second To Last Hellblazer Ever

Hellblazer is a book near and dear to my heart. It’s one of the earliest series I ever remember buying, as many trades I could find, and reading in a flurry. Constantine is a fascinating character in every conceivable way, and my love for him knows no bounds. It saddened me pretty greatly to find out that Hellblazer will be ending soon, and while I’m wary of the New 52’s Constantine title starting relatively soon, I’m at least thankful I’ll still get to enjoy a title with my favorite con artist/magician in it as lead. The thing here is, what if John Constantine dies? What if somehow, someway, the New 52 Constantine isn’t actually Constantine? I’m not saying they’re going off on a ridiculous Superior Spider-Man style death switch… Although I suppose that would be technically interesting.

Comic Rack- 1:23:13- Hellblazer #299

Anyhow, I’m getting ahead of myself. What I mean to say is that this is probably like any other comics death in that it’s more metaphorical than literal. Sure the cover of this penultimate issue shows Constantine leaning up against a grave that may or may not be his, and if the log line for the issue is to be believed then it is, but this is the comics world. We all know he’s not staying dead. I’m hoping that what they’ll do is have this be his actual, final, meaningful death, and have this New 52 Constantine comic retroactively take place loosely within the timeline of his Hellblazer run. In between fighting off lonely ghosts and The Devil and lung cancer. Somewhere in there.

Find out more here 

Kirkman & Ottley Celebrate Invincible #100

Oh, Invincible. You’re a book that just won’t quit. From being a great mash up of Spider-Man and Superman, to becoming a genuinely awesome superhero comic on its own, to launching an entirely new superhero universe, you’re the little book that could. I’d say that of the big Kirkman two, while The Walking Dead is consistently the most gripping, Invincible is by far more entertaining. I’m a sucker for big bloody action set pieces, and ginormous feats of ridiculous strength, and will generally take that over intense, seething, paranoid human drama any day of the week. While all the mainstream attention has been on The Walking Dead lately, I feel that Invincible has gone by the wayside a bit. It makes sense, Kirkman is focusing on his cash cow, and If I was in the same place I would probably do the same. I can’t blame him for putting more focus into TWD when it’s clearly made him a very rich, famous man. Which is great, because any guy who can make a comic like Battle Pope and still have a successful career just proves what a great country America is.

comic-rack-012413-invincible

So if you’re over in the Sherman Oaks area of California on February 2nd, I highly implore you to grab a copy of Battle Pope, stroll on over to Earth-2 Comics and get it signed by Kirkman. Hopefully he’ll chuckle and be reminded of his roots, rather than have you dragged away by his money dogs who live and breath money and eat money, and kill you with money poisoning. Which is a real disease I just made up.

Find out more here.

That’s all for this week’s edition! We’ll see you next time at the Comic Rack!

Marvel Previews: Nova & Age of Ultron!

Marvel has shared a few new previews of a couple highly anticipated upcoming series. They are set to join a number of other highly anticipated series that have been teased lately, but we’ve known about these two for a while now.The bound to be awesome Age of Ultron and the brand new series Nova!

Continue reading Marvel Previews: Nova & Age of Ultron!

Webcomic Wednesday: Courting Disaster

Welcome to Webcomic Wednesday, in which we feature comics available for free on the innerwebs, just in time for the Geek Sabbath (a.k.a. New Comics Day).

The timing of this suggestion has a bit of unfortunate serendipity, considering  that it’s a comic linked to an advice column, and one of the giants of advice, Dear Abby, passed away just the other day.

Continue reading Webcomic Wednesday: Courting Disaster

Spielberg Planning ‘Gremlins’ Return…

From reading the title of this piece, I am going to take a guess that you have had two responses to this news. One must be a response of absolute joy, because there is a chance Gizmo and co will be back on our screens. The rest of you may be thinking “In what form?” Well it is a valid question and one that you might not like the answer to.

Vulture have reported that Warner Brothers Pictures and Amblin Entertainment (Steven Spielberg’s company) are trying to get a reboot of the franchise off the ground. Apparently Spielberg has had this in mind for a while, but his budget estimates were considered too costly for anyone to take a chance on. The film is certainly not something that is 100 percent confirmed right now, but Vulture’s sources say that there is a good chance this could get the ‘go ahead’ soon.

Gremlins Poster

Is this a good thing however? Most fans of the original movies are going to want to see Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates reprise their roles, as well as strictly puppet Gremlins with no CGI. However reboots do tend to like to ditch the original casts (aside from a little cameo here and there) and go with younger actors, so they can cater their story to a younger, youthful market that has never seen the movies. Also I have horrific visions of a CGI Gizmo leaping out of our screens in poorly put together 3D, but this could just be me. This is also yet another remake in a cinematic sea already full to the brim with retreads and re-imaginings. What is wrong with having a good old-fashioned sequel?

Gizmo

Positives though include the fact that Spielberg seems passionate about this, and if he is involved in a producer role again, then that gives us older fan boys and girls hope that he can infuse this with the same magic he and Joe Dante did with the original. Maybe there is a place for Zach and Phoebe t0o, as the parents of a child that gets a Mogwai perhaps? If CGI is needed then hopefully it will be as good as movies like Ted, where the CGI was seamless. Very little is known for sure, so watch this space for more information when we get it.

gremlins movie remake mogwai

Arrow: Meet Mrs. Lance – Alex Kingston Comes to Starling City

Excuse me as I need a moment. Arrow is back from hiatus and with that comes more casting news. Today’s news is of a more than likely small character, but not a small name actress by any stretch of the imagination.

It appears as if we will get to meet Detective Lance’s wife and she will be played by none other than Alex Kingston. If you keep up with geek TV at all you know this name as it is none other than the actress who plays River Song from Doctor Who.

Continue reading Arrow: Meet Mrs. Lance – Alex Kingston Comes to Starling City

More Call of Duty: Black Ops 2? You Got It Thanks to the Revolution DLC…and Peter Stormare

This could possibly be my favorite Call of Duty video of all time. I’ll get into the rest of the article you view the video but I give props to Peter Stormare, he made this video awesome.

“Now you go pick up my sh*t.”

Obviously it’s not the official trailer of the map but just a fun promotional bit. Luckily there is another trailer for what to expect with the new Revolution DLC, coming out on January 29th first on X-Box Live. It boasts four new multiplayer maps, a new zombies co-op map, a new game mode for zombies, and a new multiplayer weapon called the Peacekeeper that is exclusive to the game mode. There’s more in the video below, which serves as the actual trailer and preview for the new DLC.

Hydro seems like a cool map and having the spillway used to flood and flush out people seems to be a cool element, a la the train in Express. Grind is just going to be a giant chaos map with no real place to hide or hug walls although I can imagine it being a sniper’s haven to like Carrier, which would annoy the living crap out of me. I know Downhill will be a big hit because of people of the white stuff…the snow I mean, not cocaine. Mirage looks cool too because it seems to incorporate wide open space and claustrophobic environments to satisfy everyone involved…unless you’re on the losing end of course.

Die Rise is the new zombie map that takes place in a skyscraper and I’m looking forward to this map because I haven’t gotten into zombies that much in this iteration of CoD but this somewhat reminds me of Die Hard in the high rise so if it provides that type of element to it, I’m sure we’ll play it non-stop. With that, comes the new game mode called Turned, where this time, you take control of the zombie and hunt down the lone human player. If you’re successful at doing so, you then become the lone human player and take turns killing others and the one with most kills as the human player seems to be the winner. At least that’s my assumption looking at the video itself. Regardless, it’s about time we get to see the other side and stalk our human compatriots and make their life hell.

Lastly, we have a new gun called the Peacekeeper coming to multiplayer exclusively.  The gun is a hybrid between a submachine gun and assault rifle so you get a bit of the stopping power of the assault rifles, with the versatility of the SMG. Overall, I think this will be a giant success and am looking forward to the new DLC dropping on XBL on January 29th. Too bad for the other systems though because they don’t get the map packs until later but hey, pick up a 360 and join some of the Grizzly Bomb people. I guarantee you’ll be way better than us.