All posts by Adam Parker-Edmondston

Hello there :D i like poster art, films, graphic novels, vhs.........just loads of things really. if i list them all here then you will no doubt leave and no one wants that. Lets just say i like cool stuff and leave it at that ;)

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SDCC 2013: Marvel’s Revolutionary War – The Return of Marvel UK!

July 21, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

Hot off the press from the Marvel website comes this news straight from Comic Con about their next big story arc, Revolutionary War. Andy Lanning and Alan Cowsill are behind this mini-series and they had this to say.

“[Alan Cowsill and I] plan to be setting up all you need to know in the story itself but the main thing readers need to know is that back in the 1990’s Marvel UK had a brief glorious spot in the sun where we got to develop our own UK based heroes as part of the greater Marvel Universe.”

The UK characters joining with the Marvel Universe proper is long overdue. Death’s Head has just recently popped up again in Iron-Man (the original design, not Death’s Head 2 or 3.0), so this is great news.

Living in the UK myself, these were some of the first heroes I was exposed to after I had sought out the X-Men and Spider-Man annuals. Titles like Overkill featured some incredible stories all set in their own universe, but including the Marvel main stream characters (the X-Men popped up regularly). For UK readers these were our characters, operating in areas that we knew about and even lived in. The sense of excitement reading these characters made directly for the UK was amazing. It seems that Lanning remembers these days fondly, as he had this to say.

[box_dark]“It was a very exciting time to work in comics in the UK and I have a lot of fond memories of the time we spent working on our own, UK-centric versions of super heroes. I was given one of my early breaks into comics by Paul Neary at Marvel UK along with a great number of current comic creators [including] Liam Sharp, Carlos Pacheco, Salvador Larroca, Gary Frank, Bryan Hitch, Pascal Ferry, Doug Braithwaite, Simon Coleby, Richard Elson, Gary Erskine, Cam Smith and more.”[/box_dark]

The fun thing about this new series of stories was the new villains that were created. The Mys-Tech Corporation were the main villains here. They pulled all the strings in the Marvel UK universe and almost all of the characters in these stories were affected by this company. Looks like Lanning has also remembered how popular and unique this new villain group were as his quote below elaborates.

[box_dark]“It’s been over 20 years since then and it seemed like a good time to revisit the Marvel UK landscape and see what has happened to the heroes since the last Marvel UK comic was published. The biggest surprise has been rereading the old issues and rediscovering how cool the characters and their stories were. Many of the stories revolved around the evil machinations of a shadowy organization called Mys-Tech, which was formed of 7 ‘techno-wizards’ who, in 987, sold their souls to Mephisto in exchange for immortality. As part of their pact the board must supply a steady stream of souls to the demon or else forfeit their own. Many of the stories and characters were linked to Mys-Tech’s efforts of finding a way to escape their compact with Mephisto and becoming immortal in their own right and the machinations and the numerous nefarious plots that they hatched to do this”[/box_dark]

But who will we see in this mini-series? There is such a diverse amount of characters created for the Marvel UK Universe it seems difficult to fit them all in. Luckily, Lanning has taken all this on board and has clear plans on what he and Alan Coswill wants to include.

“In re-reading the Marvel UK titles and researching old continuity we’ve realized there’s actually a very large and diverse cast of UK based characters available to us. We’ll be revisiting most of the popular old Marvel UK characters and a few of the more obscure ones. I think it’s safe to say that Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom will be involved. It would be sacrilege not to feature them in a story set in the UK. Fans of heroes like Warheads, Knights of Pendragon, Death’s Head, Warheads, Dark Angel, Super Soldiers, Motormouth and Killpower will be pleased. We will strive to fit as many in as possible so keep your eyes peeled as your own old favorite may very well make an appearance!”

This is incredible for all comic fans, not just UK ones. The return of these characters is awesome news and will be a welcome treat for older readers who remember them in their prime, and new readers who have yet to experience them. How they will be used is yet to be seen but with the extracts from this interview makes this reviewer feel that these characters are in safe hands. Keep your eyes on this new series because I think it will be full of surprises. Make sure you are prepared for the return of the UK heroes by checking with Grizzly Bomb for a who’s who of the Marvel UK comic characters which will be coming soon.

Check out more from Comic Con here!

Movie News & Opinions

SDCC 2013: Blu-ray Exclusives – The Adamantium Collection, Predator and Dexter

July 20, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

Comic Con is always a place for exclusives, and 20^th Century Fox have outdone themselves this year. They have released photos of a new boxset only available to pre-order at Comic Con. This Blu-ray set features not only every X-Men movies, but also The Wolverine. This is great timing as the film comes out on the weekend and fans will be clambering for X-related goodies. It looks simply stunning and actually quite life-like. Hopefully this will be on general release soon as something this amazing should not be kept as an exclusive.

Remember this image from our article on Comic Con film poster releases?

Well it appears it is not a sequel that is in the works, but actually a new Blu-ray release of the original Predator movie. You can also win prizes by hunting the Predator. Here is the web site if you want to have a go yourself, make sure you don’t look threatening and you should be safe from his wraith! The Predator Blu-ray “head box” is shown below.

What could be more exciting than that? Well, how about becoming a Predator victim! Read the official press release below to find out how.

[box_dark]In a first-of-its-kind activation at Comic-Con, fans can enter booth #3528 and have their photo taken with state of the art cameras courtesy of 3D Systems. Their image will then be used to make them the victim as a customized figurine is created using 3D Systems 3D printing technology that features the Predator alien holding the fans’ severed head![/box_dark]

You can only get this if you pre order the Blu-ray from Comic Con. The Head box is $129.99 and the standard Blu Ray is $49.99. And who does not want the chance to be a victim of the Predator? The Blu-ray will be released in December.

Finally take a look at this box set for Dexter which has the entire series all on shiny Blu-ray.

Keep checking Grizzly Bomb Comic Con Coverage as it arrives.

Family Guy Meets The Simpsons: Greatest Team Up Since ‘The Avengers’?

July 19, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

In news that will blow the minds of animation fans everywhere, Fox has decided to merge two of its most popular animation shows for one incredible episode. Yes, the Griffin family are going to come head to head with the Simpsons (thanks to Collider for the info). This merging of shows might be due to another one of their popular animation shows American Dad moving on to TBS (scheduled for 2014), and they may be feeling the loss of this show very soon. What better way could there be to ease the pain of this loss and get the ratings up, then having this incredible meeting of the world’s most famous cartoon families. Scheduled for next fall and called The Simpsons Guy, below is a brief rundown of the plot:

[box_dark]Peter (Seth MacFarlane) and the Griffins get out of dodge and end up in Springfield, where they are greeted by a friendly stranger named Homer Simpson (guest voice Dan Castellaneta), who welcomes his new “albino” friends with open arms. The families get along famously: Stewie (MacFarlane) becomes obsessed with Bart (guest voice Nancy Cartwright) and his old-fashioned pranks; Lisa (guest voice Yeardley Smith) takes Meg (Mila Kunis) under her wing and is determined to find something – anything – at which she excels; Marge (guest voice Julie Kavner) and Lois (Alex Borstein) ditch housework for a little bonding; and Peter and Homer fight over the best beer in town – Pawtucket vs Duff.[/box_dark]

I have to be honest, I never saw this coming myself even with both shows airing on the same network. It’s great that the cast from The Simpsons were up for this, with all the original voice actors playing their parts. As it is set in Springfield, we must see some more of the residents popping up throughout this episode. The interesting thing for me is what tone will the episode have? Both shows feature quirky families and have a heart and moral message in most of their episodes, but they go about them a very different way. Will the shocking humor of Family Guy manage to gel with the more restrained comedy of The Simpsons? What animation style will they be using as both have distinctive art for their shows? This sounds like incredible news and hopefully this will not be the last encounter between the two families.

What do you think of the meeting between these two TV families? Sound off in the comments section below!

POP CULTURE

Mondo: The Top 15 Posters from 2013 So Far

July 19, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston 7 Comments

Collectors of poster art are well aware of the reputation Mondo has. This is a company that sells out off its stock within minutes of it becoming available to the public. The prices can be on the high side, but you definitely get your moneys worth. The quality of poster they produce is top notch and they are sought after collector’s pieces on Ebay. Though their limited editions sell out so quickly that people who have slow broadband can miss out in an instant, it has not stopped people coming back for more. Now Mondo has far too expansive a back catalogue to do a definitive list of my favorites as their work dates back to 1998. But I thought it may be fun to see what type of posters have come out in 2013. So here we have the top 15 Mondo film posters of the year (some may be considered NSFW, fair warning).

15) Gremlins by Drew Millward

This poster just sums up the Japanese culture for me and it is appropriate for the style to be like this, because Gizmo was owned by an old Asian shop keeper before coming to suburbia. The extreme melting of Spikes face and the rays of sunshine gleaming down on him meld perfectly with the design frame of the picture which looks like Japanese manuscript (or a calendar if you are more aware of that).

14) The Deadly Spawn by PhantomCity Creative

What do most people remember from this cult ’80s horror classic? The big alien monster with loads of teeth, that’s what. The entire film is encapsulated in this simplistic yet knock out design. The battered look of the poster only adds to the ensemble and makes it look exactly like an old poster you would see in your local video rental store (when they were still around, that is).

13) Maniac by Jeff Proctor

Now Maniac (remake) has never promoted itself as a family friendly film, and this poster for the movie is very explicit in its intent. The hiding of the face makes this killing seem more disturbing because of the loss of identity and it also ties nicely into the fact that we only ever see Elijah Wood’s face when he looks in the mirror. The undone jeans adds an extra uncomfortable element of sexuality to the piece. Not something you could hang in your front room but something to be admired never the less.

12) Man of Steel by Martin Ansin

The artwork reminded me a lot of Alex Ross’ work, which certainly makes an impact. The motion lines around Superman which show key characters in the movie are superb and you get the feeling of heroism, which is what Man of Steel was supposed to be all about.

11) The Thing by Randy Ortiz

Now the remake/prequel was a huge disappointment to most, but this poster reminds us just how great the original really was (and still is). The mist of the coffee turning into the alien spider legs looks incredible and the body morphing that amazed us in the film is exploited to the maximum here to great effect.

10) Boogie Nights by Rockin’ Jelly Bean

This slightly cheeky poster gives this movie based on the rise of Dirk Diggler a very ’70s flavour. Though it is not an exact match for Heather Graham, the woman taking center stage certainly arouses your attention, in more ways than one. The ’70s color scheme is stunning. Who would have thought so many yellows, browns and oranges could make such an amazing visual?

9) Evil Dead 2 by Jason Edmiston

I covered Jason’s work before in an article about ’80s inspired art work, and here we get to see how he takes on Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2. This guy’s artwork is mind blowing, adding elements of tension to a story we know all so well. Ash has never looked creepier and his battle with the raping trees in the forest is something that would have been amazing to see in the movie itself. Not since House has a door opening looked so menacing.

8) Robocop by Jay Shaw

Grizzly Bomb did an article about posters from abroad and how there styles differed greatly from the US or the UK. In that article there were plenty of examples of Polish art which is stunning but also mind blowing in its bizarreness. Artist Jay Shaw has gone for this polish style in his Robocop poster, and it shows all the pathos and pain Alex Murphy suffers from as he becomes Detroit City’s ultimate law enforcer. The single blood stained tears speaks volumes and the clever use of OCP as his eye (they built him, own him and also constantly watch him) goes great with the black and white coloring which brings the whole image to life.

7) Scarface by Mike Mitchell

This one image manages to completely sum up Tony Montana’s character. Cocky, arrogant, controlling, dangerous and powerful, it all comes out in this piece. The palm trees in the back further show the life style Tony dreams of from the start and manages to grab through force. For some reason it manages to sum up the 80s for me. Must be too much Miami Vice as a kid, I guess!

6) Argo by Kilian Eng

The main reason I love this poster art is because it focuses on the false movie and not the events that occurred. The movie is an incredibly tense and fascinating film, but all the way through viewing it my thoughts wandered slightly. “What would this film really be like if they had made it?” Well, this poster helps put those thoughts to rest. If it was to become anything like Kilian has drawn it, it would have been a master piece. Filled with 70’s psychedelic it looks like a cross between Logans Run and 2001.

5) Iron Man 3 by PhantomCity Creative

It’s a simple diagnostic poster but it’s this simplistic style which drew me to it. With Tony Stark as its focal point it gives us a massive display of the suits he used in Iron Man 3. One of the many fun things about this film was trying to spot what suit was in the film and its role for Tony. Here all that information is laid out for you so anyone who missed a suit can stare at all of them now in the comfort of their own home.

4) Battle Royale by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Bryan is better known for being the creative genius behind the super popular Scott Pilgrim, and his style perfectly suits this film. Much like the movie where cute Japanese students are forced to do horrible things, Bryan’s mix of Manga inspired cute art works superbly with the juxtaposition of graphical violent acts we are seeing the characters perform. The graphic novel of Battle Royale is even more disturbing to read and has the same power Bryan’s poster has here.

3) Friday the 13^thby Francesco Francavilla

The face seen in the imagery on view motif (the best name I could come up with for this type of art) is seen a lot in horror movies, so its great to see this getting used for one of the greatest Slasher movies of the ’80s. If the menacing skull was not enough to give you a chill then look for the references to other movies within this poster. The pitch fork pops up a few times in the series but the cabin in the back is first found in Friday the 13^th Part II. Now whether it has Mrs. Voorhees head in it I don’t know, but this attention to detail with the franchise impressed me, as did the tiny skull hidden in the ground far right of the pitchfork.

2) The Lost Boys by PhantomCity Creative

Never have vampires felt so much like a dark creature from Peter Pan than in The Lost Boys, a movie about immortal youths that can fly away and take your children while they sleep. The reason this poster piqued my interest is because it covered the scenes in the movie that always amazed me, the flying scenes. Very rarely before this had I ever seen vampires fly in non-bat form, so at the start when they swoop onto the unlucky couple in the car and when they drop off the bridge it amazed me, and that’s what this visual happily brought back.

1) Jaws by Laurent Durieux

What is not shown is the most important element of this poster. It seems exactly like the type of promotional poster that would have been used to promote the beaches. As the films plot does cover the lengths people went to making sure the tourists did not know there was a shark in the sea it works perfectly well. The design is a spot on copy of those holiday resort style promotional posters, but the hidden sense of dread is definitely there in this seemingly calm beach. With all the crazy shark movies coming out at the moment it is nice to take a break from them all for just a few minutes and look at where it all began, Jaws.

Mondo are constantly making incredible pieces like those on this list, and they are only a small segment of what they have to offer. Check out their web site here to see more of what they have to offer.

Movie Trailers

Shark Overload! Sharknado 2, Ghost Sharks, and the Mega Shark 3 Megafan Contest!

July 19, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

Now it is no secret that I love a good shark movie, or I would just as easily settle for a bad one. There really isn’t much new ground to cover here. We have had tornadoes with sharks in them, two-headed sharks, sharks that walk upright on land, octopus sharks and giant sharks that can eat entire helicopters all in one bite. But just when I thought this genre must be dead in the water the Syfy channel have unleashed this film on us, Ghost Shark. Now I know by the name alone you are chomping at the bit to find out what this film is all about, so I won’t make you wait any longer. Here is the brand new trailer for Ghost Shark:

http://youtu.be/y48HGKeHS_I

This film is a bit more restrained than Sharknado, but it still hits all the key targets we look for as fans of this sub genre. It has hot and (not so hot, if the large chap is anything to go by) teenagers living it up in the sun, a truly stupid concept which sounds amazing to watch. Also, there is a shark. Job done. My favorite part of the trailer was that the people need to be either covered with water or in water for the shark to sense them (kind of like how sharks smell blood to trace their prey). This adds some realism (as daft as that sounds) to the movie and will also no doubt give us numerous scenes of people accidentally breaking taps, fire hydrants, spilling water on themselves, all so the shark can make its entrance. I loved the design off the shark as well, it looked very much like the original granddaddy shark of them all, Jaws himself. The main thing that blew me away with this was the trailer has a real sense of fun about it, and that’s what I as a reviewer, and as a fan of these movies, want to see.

Then to top off this glorious day for fans of shark movies, Assignment X just shared news that there will be a sequel to Sharknado, the fantastic laugh riot that we recently reviewed here. Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies for the Syfy channel was the bearer of good news saying

[box_dark]“Every once in a while, there is a perfect storm – on television. The fans are clamoring for a sequel. Or perhaps it will be a prequel. What we can guarantee is that Sharknado 2 will be lots of fun. We’ll be announcing more details very soon. But we didn’t want our fans to worry they wouldn’t get their fill of more shark fin, I mean, fun next year.”[/box_dark]

It would have been foolish not to go for round two, especially as it got 1.37 million views when it aired (above average for the channel according to Variety) as well as a huge Twitter reaction. My friend and I have already discussed the sequel possibilities in length and we are hoping that the Syfy channel will reunite the shark’s common enemy (the octopus), and have Sharknado vs. Octonado. It seems that the Syfy channel has alas not gone this route, and instead have gone for a bigger version of their original idea with the city of New York feeling the pain. This is scheduled for 2014, but I am sure we will get more information on this in the next few months.

Now to make matters more confusing, we will jump across the ocean to yet another ghost shark in Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws, which has nothing to do with the above mentioned movie. It still seems like a heck of a lot of fun either way. It is a bit complicated to explain but it is a standalone movie that acts like it’s a sequel. For more information here is the synopsis from the official website.

[box_dark]Nine years after the events of GHOST SHARK, Jack Broody is the mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, and former Lieutenant Commander Tony Palantine is down and out on the streets. The mayoral electoral campaign is underway and Broody is down in the polls, with newcomer Marco Guerra winning the hearts and votes of the public.

But people start turning up dead all over the city, and it soon becomes clear that GHOST SHARK is back. Desperate not to repeat the mistakes from his former life, Broody calls in expert ghost shark hunter Tom Logan to defeat the undead beast once and for all. But Logan carries with him demons of his own.

With the election fast approaching and Ghost Shark taking more souls by the day, can Broody and Logan save both the mayoralty and the city?[/box_dark]

If this has got your attention, then here is the trailer and it looks like something special.

As you can see both these films follow the same idea of the shark as a ghost and it needing to be near water to attack. But the tones are very different with this one playing out more like a thriller, or like your standard cop movie only with a shark instead of a serial killer. Looks interesting, but I doubt this will be out before its more exploitative counterpart. So overall it is a great time to be a fan of shark movies, as news of three new titles have come about all in a matter of days.

And finally, fans of The Asylum’s Mega Shark franchise have a chance to be involved in the third movie of the hit series, Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark. For those die hard fans who can prove their ultimate devotion to the Mega Shark franchise, they ahve the unique opportunity to get flown to the set, put up for two nights, and filmed in a more than likely gruesome death scene. This is a very cool hance to be a part of the movies you love, so if you consider yourself a Megafan and can prove it, click here for all the contest details!

POP CULTURE

SDCC 2013: First Glimpse at the New Collectibles from Mattie Collector!

July 18, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

It’s Comic Con and you know what that means right? Loads of new collectibles! Mattie Collector (the collector’s branch of Mattel) has already started the ball rolling on their Facebook page with a big collection of Master of the Universe figures and a few other surprises along the way.

Firstly let us look at the solo figure of the bunch, The Comedian figure from the iconic graphic novel Watchman. This design is based on the comic rather than the movie (which had its own line of figures a few years back). It looks fantastic and I am hoping that we are going to see a lot more of these coming in the next few days.

Next up is the life sized collectibles from Ghostbusters and the Adam West Batman series. These include a full size utility belt from Batman, along a trap and Neutrino Wand. Now thanks to The Examiner we know the rod will cost about $130, but no prices on the other items quite yet. That’s a pretty awesome price for something of that quality and who among us would not want to pretend to be a Ghostbuster or the Caped Crusader for the day? Well, here is your chance.

Last but not least is the reissuing of some of the classic Master of the Universe lines of toys (seen below). The End of Wars pack has a ton of weapons and spare parts and also comes with your very own Kowl figurine from She-Ra. We also have some old favorites like Rattler, Roboto, and Trap Jaw all making an appearance mixed in with some more obscure characters like Nepthu. We also get to see some pretty fantastic looking vehicles like The Jet Sled with its pilot Sky High. My favorite out of the bunch has to be the inclusion of the Rock Men, who were some of my favorite toys as a kid. Lord knows why a bunch of transforming rocks held so much appeal to me when I had Transformer toys to play with, but that’s the way it was.

Keep checking with Grizzly Bomb for more collectable news as it arrives, and for more on SDCC 2013 click here!