cyrus.mortazavi

Marvel Studios confirmed "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season three will tackle the Secret Warriors, Daisy Johnson's super powered team from the comics.

Eighteen years after the release of the original, Square Enix and Sony have announced at E3 that they’re remaking Final Fantasy VII for PlayStation 4.

If these tidbits prove to be true, then Captain America, Hawkeye, Giant-Man and Falcon will hew closer to their comic book counterparts.

"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" writer Jun'ichi Fujisaku will write the script for the stage production.

Unable to get a copy of Marvel's "Attack on Titan"/Avengers crossover on Free Comic Book Day? Now you can download the story for free!

Marvel has released a viral video to go along with the upcoming release of Ant-Man. In the video Corey Stoll is introducing the Yellowjacket as the future of warfare. The video is done as an add for Cross Technologies and uses the tag line “Where Big Things Come From Small Beginnings.”

Also, Marvel held a press screening of the film last night and allowed folks to talk about it. The important thing to come out of the screening is that there are 2 post-credit scenes and they are supposedly worth the price of admission. The film also is said to contain the first reference to Spider-Man. You can check Twitter for more thoughts as they seem to be everywhere.

Recent Marvel credit scenes have been kind of minor, but ANT-MAN has two (mid-credits and at the very end) that, unlike its hero, are huge.

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) June 26, 2015

Guys, don’t worry. #AntMan is good. Like, goooooood. Also, it’s the weirdest Marvel movie yet. Weirder than “Guardians of the Galaxy” even.

— John Boone (@jtyboone) June 26, 2015

If I’m not mistaken, #AntMan contains the first reference to #SpiderMan in the MCU.

— John Boone (@jtyboone) June 26, 2015

Ant-Man opens on July 17th

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ant-Man Will Have 2 Post Credit Scenes And Spider-Man Reference

If we were using Rich’s old street light format, I’d say this rumor would be a red light… but it’s a fun idea.

Sir Roger Moore told the Sun that producers are trying to line up a film ala The Expendables, that would start previous James Bonds: Moore (89), Sean Connery (84), George Lazenby (75), Timothy Dalton (71) and Pierce Brosnan (65). Moore says that the hold up on the project is Connery who retired from actin in 2006. Moore said:

I’d be up for it. But Sean balked at the idea as I don’t think he wanted to be associated with Bond any more. But I’d need about ten stunt doubles.

Moore had the longest tenure as 007, having starred in seven films.

[Source: The Sun]

Getting The Bonds Back Together - Roger Moore On Rumored Project

These are scans of messages taken from a private Facebook group for a recent comiccon, Saskatoon Blitz in Canada, discussing one of their vendors, and posted to Tumblr.They are not for the faint of heart.

And in case you wanted to know who was who…

The Dungeons & Flagons is a role-playing themed pub associated with the show. AA stands for Artists Alley. And the subject of these messages is attending artist and cosplayer Lyreric.

Who wrote a long and detailed essay on her experience at Saskatoon Blitz, a show held in Prairieland Park. As an exhibitor there, she encountered many problems with both the show and the staff, and expressed these,

Jared told Laura that he had some major concerns that needed to be addressed. Laura asked if talking here was fine, but Jared said it would be better to talk off to the side rather then right in the middle of the vendors room. He explained to her that this wasn’t going well. Nothing was set up right, our table wasn’t even there to start out with, the backs of our booths were to the traffic, with people carrying around REAL swords and weapons (there was no weapons policy) and there is no communication here. He added we also had people constantly bumping into the back of us because of the way it was set up. He then asked where we are to put our stock and display, as the area in which the dance was being held was the same room the Artist Alley was in. Laura told him that after the Artist Alley closed at 7pm we could move it into the Vendors room. He asked what we should leave, and she advised to take everything down as there was no lock and no security. She added she wouldn’t leave any of her personal stuff in there. Laura ended it with our feedback was appreciated, as she can’t make the Blitz better without feedback. And that was that.

She also shared experiences that others had,

Jared and I stand around in the AA waiting. We watch Brain struggle to carry and set up the 8 foot while taking away the 4 foots. We stand and talk to an artist friend of mine, finding out that a lot of the artists aren’t happy. One artist lost over $200 in stock from theft. He put his wares in the Vendors room, that was only accessible by staff. As we are talking about this, 3 other artists walk in. They stand by the empty 8 foot table with all of their stock and displays in hand. Its obvious they are lost and confused. I go over to talk to them and tell them whats going on. They tell me they had the 4 foot tables, and now they are gone. So those two 4 foot tables belonged to these girls, meaning they literally gave their table space to me after they gave away my table space to another person. The situation isn’t even salvageable anymore. Jacob is all witness to this, and tells us he is going to go figure out what we can do. I go directly to Laura again and tell her my table is gone, you owe me money. Now.

After a considerable back and forth, the post concluded with

And with that, we were escorted out. We left the event and made no money that day. In total, we ended up losing close to $400, and made zero profit. I paid $170 to be there this weekend. Conventions base their table price off of demand and the amount of people who attend. I am going to far more popular, in demand conventions and pay far less for a table. Their prices are insane, they treat you like garbage- and if you really lucky like me, they give away your artist table! And when they can’t take accountability for it, they will have security escort you out. Thanks Saskatoon Blitz!

You should read the whole thing. And while she is clearly frustrated, annoyed and upset, she doesn’t go anywhere close to abuse. And it was a former staff member of the show and still a member of the Facebook group who saw the messages and thought they were worth sharing.

The show has apologised for those statements, though not for the treatment Lyreric received. Indeed they blame her for events that are inconsistent with her original post.

Initially they didn’t allow responses to this piece. But they have now deleted their Facebook page. However other attendees are starting to post corroborating pieces, such as Artsy,

As Skylar said, we talked about what was going on. Frankly, we were pretty upset over how guests and artists were being treated. I was talking to the earlier mention friend and she wasn’t happy either. If they were breaking the contract all willy nilly and not caring about upsetting the artists, hell. Whatever.

Lyreric responded to the show’s response stating,

I have also been contacted with eyewitness accounts to the situation, as well as people saying they had no idea what was going on. Multiple vendors and artists have stated they heard no yelling, or word of any incident. The way the Saskatoon Blitz keeps portraying me it seems like I was yelling and throwing punches. No one raised their voice, no one threatened or harassed anyone. The only time there was any sort of anger from me was the morning in which our table wasn’t there, even then all we asked for was a refund and nothing more. I feel that any other artist or vendor would have reacted the same way.

Despite saying they are addressing these issues privately, no one from the show seems to have yet contacted Lyreric about her experience, after the show.

Though from the tone of those private messages, maybe that’s for the best?

 

 

 

How Not To Talk About Your Exhibiting Artists On Facebook - Saskatoon Blitz And Lyeric

By Madeline Ricchiuto

French game design company Kobojo has teamed up with some key Final Fantasy developers to give us the first JRPG designed by a non-Japanese company. That game is called Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey. While most of the creative team has remained a secret, Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 10 writer Kazushige Nojima and Final Fantasy Tactics composer Hitoshi Sakimoto have been confirmed. Kobojo CEO Mario Rizzo was content to drop hints that many of the other minds behind Zodiac are FF alums, but was mum on the details as to whom. The goal with Zodiac is to make it a successful JRPG in the Japanese market, which is a pretty lofty goal for a French developer.

For those who played FFXII, Zodiac takes its character inspiration from the job titles in that Final Fantasy installment and the FF comparisons are practically inescapable. Its a JRPG with a similarly intricate art style, the logo looks like it was ripped off a Final Fantasy cover, and the gameplay is based around turn-based party combat.

Zodiac is a 2D hand-drawn game powered by and developed in Unity, though the 18 artists working on the game had to reconstruct many of Unity’s tools in order to animate the hand-drawn cutscenes and make the 2D gaming experience flow properly. “Unity loves us,” Rizzo gushed.

Story wise, you play as an adventurer (you can choose your own class) from the world of Orcanon who is accompanied by a string of unlock-able NPCs or friends in an attempt to set things in your world right again after a clash between gods has awoken some ancient evils. Its a pretty standard RPG plot.

Zodiac is a cross platform game, it’ll release on mobile (iOS and android), PS4, and PS Vita so is optimized for small screens and people who haven’t played RPGs before. That kind of mindset seems a bit “Baby’s First RPG” to me, but I tend to be cynical by reflex.

The cool thing about this title, however, is that it allows you to join up with friends to play in real time like an MMO, even though most of the game is a standard single player RPG. Well, as standard as any game can be where you primarily get around by flying on the back of a griffon. Who can assist you in combat and who you craft gear for.

Full disclosure: I really like the griffon. He hangs out during the combat sequences behind your party waiting to power up, but looks so incredibly blasé about it. He really speaks to me as a character.

The biggest challenge Zodiac will face is getting out of Final Fantasy’s shadow. So much of Zodiac looks and feels like it could be the latest mobile installment of the FF franchise that the game may suffer for it. The character designs and 2D animation for the opening sequence and cut scenes are where you get a break from the FF callbacks. The character designs are rather unique though the animation feels a bit more like something you’d see in a Studio Ghibli film. What I really want is for Zodiac to come into its own a bit more because it is so promising at first glance.

Zodiac is due to launch later this year, and it will be Free-to-Play.

Zodiac: The JRPG From A French Company At E3

From Captain Blackard Of The Nerdy Show, for Bleeding Cool,

Final Fantasy VII is coming back. When the trailer debuted during today’s Sony E3 conference, I went ape tits. Heck, I got goosebumps and pigeon nipples. But with all the amazing visuals something felt… off. The game might be calling itself “Final Fantasy VII Remake“, but the narrative and visuals imply something else, maybe something more. The events of FF7 are spoken of as though they’ve already happened and mention known events after the game.

The trailer’s awkwardly-translated narration features lines such as, “Long ago we looked upon a foreboding sky. The memory of the star that threatened all burns eternally in our hearts.” This clearly refers to the final series of events in FF7 when Sephiroth summons a giant meteor to destroy the world – it’s past tense. What’s more, they show and discuss events from the sequel film, Advent Children: “in its wake came an age of silence,” clearly referring to kids being infected with Geostigma.

“Someday we will see them again… After the long calm there is now the beginnings of a stir.” These lines could easily imply the game features sequel content following Advent Children. During the final shot, we see Barrett and Cloud walking through the streets and the narrator proclaims, “They are coming back – at last the promise has been made.” If it wasn’t for the word “Remake” thrown up at the end of the trailer I’d have figured this for a sequel.

Don’t get be wrong. I really want a remake to FFVII. Their sequel track record isn’t so great. But the narration… it just doesn’t sit right. Only other answer I have is that the narrator is speaking from a point in future, looking back on the events of the FFVII chronology. With lines like, “The promise has been made, and they are coming back” he’s breaking the 4th wall too – talking directly to the audience. If the game uses a narrative device like that, what does it mean for the Final Fantasy VII experience? Will it flow differently? Will it go beyond the events of the original game? Only time will tell – maybe at tomorrow’s Square-Enix panel.

E3: Is Final Fantasy VII Remake Actually a Remake?

A remaster of Final Fantasy 7 has been long asked for by fans. It’s the game in the franchise that’s most iconic, but it is so dated now in its presentation, that for new players it can be hard to go back to.

Square Enix finally delivered though, giving us a new remaster version of the classic. We saw no gameplay or release date, but the room erupted. It was very cool being here for it. Hopefully we see it in action really soon.

E3: Final Fantasy 7 Remaster Confirmed For PlayStation 4

We knew we were getting the Supreme Power characters. The New Universe charactewrs. The Shadowline Saga characters. But we didn’t know we’d be getting the return of Marvel: The Lost Generation. But Marc Guggenheim, in a PR-arranged interview with Marvel Comics, has confirmed it.

So many. One of the things I love about the whole Battleworld concept is that it offers a chance to make a deep dive into Marvel’s treasure trove of characters. Secret Wars really is a love letter to the Marvel Universe and I was very fortunate to get access to all the characters I wanted to play with. Over the course of the series, you’ll see the Frightful Four, characters from the New Universe, characters from Marvel: The Lost Generation, the Supreme Power incarnation of the Squadron Supreme, characters from Epic Comics’ Shadowline Saga, and an entire domain made up of characters from all of Marvel’s war comics.

Marvel: The Lost Generation was a twelve issue series that was created to fit into the ever expanding gap between the events depicited in the Marvel Universe and the Second World War.

It starred the superhero tea, The First Line, including characters The Yankee Clipper, Oxbow, Effigy, Nightingale, Pixie and Major Mercury, Captain Hip and Sunshine, Kid Justice and the Black Fox.
In an original twist the entire series was told backwards, beginning with issue 12 telling the last adventure of the team, with each subsequent issue, 10, 9, 8 etc telling an earlier story until their origin was revealed. The series could also be read in order from issue 1 to 12 after publication.Their final, or first mission, saw the team meet their deaths at the hand of a Skrull invasion that was covered up.But the Battleworld can revive any version of events and realities…

John Byrne And Roger Stern's Marvel: The Lost Generation Returns To Secret Wars

There have been many a call for a Poison Ivy comic book – and word reaches me that DC Comics are indeed planning such a venture in the near future. Maybe for Big October? Maybe. But it is in the works.

If it was me, I’d probably write it as an allegory of how a Western woman becomes a member of ISIS, and that’s probably why I should never be allowed near the character. But how about Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn’s Girlfriend as a title? It worked for Lois in the sixties…

@DCComics @jpalmiotti @AmandaRantsAlot what do you think about the romance between harley and poison ivy? #HarleyQuinnChat

— Beyza (@cryptomyth) June 12, 2015

We love that they are the best friends ever. Ivy is Harleys rock. @AmandaRantsAlot #HarleyQuinnChat https://t.co/38Oc8SJJsa

— DC Comics (@DCComics) June 12, 2015

@DCComics are harley and ivy girlfriends? Please confirm this. #HarleyQuinnChat

— #justiceforbap (@trafaIgar) June 12, 2015

Yes, they are Girlfriends without the jealousy of monogamy. @jpalmiotti @AmandaRantsAlot #HarleyQuinnChat https://t.co/n86jApADCi

— DC Comics (@DCComics) June 12, 2015

Which takes the following scenes from Harley Quinn and runs with them.

 

Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn's Girlfriend...

I first remember being aware of Chiwetel Ejoifor in the movie Dirty, Pretty Things where he blew me away. Since then, others have discovered the man, whether as the Operative in Serenity, or blowing away the world in Twelve Years A Slave. He is one of Britain’s finest screen actors – and now he is opposite another two. Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange.

Because, according to Deadline, Chiwetel has been cast as Baron Mordo.

The golden age of  cinema is upon us again and its name is Marvel.

Although he’s an enemy in the comics, don’t look for him to be necessarily a completely villainous character. Rather, he’s an amalgamation of characters culled from Doctor Strange‘s mythology. His isn’t the first change-up in the film; Swinton’s The Ancient One character is another, as the movie has gender-swapped the Tibetan male sorcerer from the comics.

 

 

 

Chiwetel Ejoifor Cast Opposite Cumberbatch In Doctor Strange As Baron Mordo

The logo for Marvel’s Daredevil, season 2 looks like it has seen better days. With six bullet holes in it, what character do you think would shoot it up?

The Punisher of course. And Marvel has announced today that Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) has been cast to bring Frank Castle to Netflix. With season one, Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk both wanted to clean up Hell’s Kitchen, but the differed on the approach. I have a feeling that The Punisher’s approach won’t sit any better with ol’ Horn Head.

“Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on, with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences,” said Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television. “Castle’s appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same.”

Marvel’s Daredevil is Executive Produced by Doug Petrie (American Horror Story), Marco Ramirez (DaVinci’s Demons) and Drew Goddard (Lost), along with Loeb (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Blinded as a young boy but imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fights against injustice by day as a lawyer, and by night as the Super Hero “Daredevil” in modern day Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. “Marvel’s Daredevil” stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson and Rosario Dawson.

Marvel's Daredevil Season 2 Brings In The Punisher

These are common comic book work-for-hire industry rates, compiled by Alex De Campi, and shown off at Special Edition: NYC at the weekend as part of a panel.

That is…

WFH/PAGE	MAINSTREAM	INDIE
Script	$80-100	$25-50
Covers	$600-700	$200-500
Line art	$200-300	$100-250
Colour art	$120-150	$35-100
Letters	$20-25	$10-20

They show common ranges of rate in the comic book industry right now, divided into big publisher and indie, in dollars, per page.

It is worth comparing to rates demanded in 1978 by the Comics Creators Guild.Pretty similar, aside from colourists, who work with greater digital demands today. Shame about inflation…

But something that has been stated before, but often surprised folks, was Scott Snyder talking at Special Edition about earning far more on his Image comic book work than on, say, the best selling ongoing comic book in the industry, Batman. Because if you can sell the levels of, say, Captain America And The Mighty Avengers on a creator owned comic, you can earn more than if that Marvel comic was selling millions.

Which it isn’t.

Some have asked why Matt Fraction isn’t doing any more Marvel comics. Well with ODY-C, Satellite Sam and especially Sex Criminals at Image – why would he take a pay cut?

Scott Snyder Makes More On Wytches Than Batman - The Price Of Working In Comic Books

Some of you may not be familiar with Night on Bald Mountain. It’s one of the eight animated shorts that make up Disney’s 1941 classic Fantasia. The sequence features a winged, demonic figure raising the spirits of the dead to dance around until the sunrise. According to THR, Disney has hired Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will write the script adapting the short into a feature film. The writing duo have previously penned Dracula Untold and The Last Witchhunter.

This follows Disney’s latest trend of turning their animated classics into live-action features. Fantasia is different in that it was basically animated shorts set to classical music and not a feature length story as most of Disney’s other films were. The music for Night on Bald Mountain was originally created by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1867 and was arranged for the film by Leopold Stokowski.

You can see the full short in the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Night On Bald Mountain To Become Feature Film

Lionsgate’s latest post-apocalyptic tale Z For Zachariah has Margot Robbie as the last woman on Earth and in between Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chris Pine.

The film is adapted from the novel by Robert C. O’Brien and focuses on a post nuclear war world where Robbie believes she is the last survivor until Ejiofor appears. He is a scientist, driven half crazy by radiation, but the two form a tenuous bond. That is until another stranger wanders into the valley and shakes everything up.

Z For Zachariah will seem limited release on August 21st.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chris Pine, Margot Robbie And Chiwetel Ejiofor Go Post-Apocalyptic

Another 16 hours, another teaser image from Marvel for All-New All-Different Marvel in which they relaunch every Marvel Universe title. We have been running a fair few rumours over the last few years – and with the Avengers Vs Ultimates opening splash for Ultimate End #1, it could be that a few others are coming true in weird and wonderful ways.

This image seems to show X-23 as the new Wolverine. Which seems to be the fulfillment of this story from September.

A more recent rumour from last month involved the survival of Old Man Logan from Secret Wars…

And the presence of The Thing could, I say could, be regard to a Bleeding Cool report that he will be joining the Guardians Of The Galaxy. He does seem to be wearing a Guardians uniform alongside Rocket Raccoon.

We also have Doctor Spectrum of the Great Society and Hyperion (parallel versions of Green Lantern and Superman respectively) both prominent in recent Avenegrs storylines, Citizen V – otherwise known as Thunderbolts, Baron Zemo, Inhumans Inferno, Medusa and, apparently, Karnak, Iron Man up front, and Daredevil in a blacker, Netflixier costume, Star Lord and Doctor Strange with Thor’s axe.

Busy busy busy!

 

Does All New Marvel Teaser Confirm 3 Bleeding Cool Rumours?

You can have your Romeo & Juliets and your Hamlets… for my money the best Shakespeare play and the one most deserving of a big screen adaptation is Macbeth. A play about murder, betrayal, manipulation, insanity and supernatural forces… it has everything you need to make a blockbuster. And now its getting a chance with Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days Of Future Past) and Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises).

Macbeth will be in UK cinemas on October 2nd.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Michael Fassbender As Macbeth In First Trailer

From DC’s Batman panel happening right now at Denver Comic Con, one fan asked why Oracle was “taken away” and turned back into Batgirl in the New 52, by removing her diversity as a handicapped person. Especially when she was previously very active and beloved.

DC reps said that it was a valid question and that the New 52 was a supposed to be a new start, and it was a risk. They didn’t intend to remove diversity, and there will be more coming up. As Jeff King said yesterday, post Convergence, “all characters are on the table” and that is going to “bring about an ending that Oracle fans have always wanted”, apparently.

This one?

How will that conflict with

I have no idea… yet.

 

DC Comics Give What 'Oracle Fans Have Always Wanted' After Convergence

Brian M. Puaca writes for Bleeding Cool:

Remember Leon Trotsky? No? Not really? Well, the odds are pretty good that many of the young Soviets growing up in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s didn’t remember him either. Many may well have never come to learn of his existence at all. The reason? Joseph Stalin systematically sought to remove him from the collective memory of the Soviet population after he came to power. While there were a variety of methods to achieve this goal, the most visible example of this policy was the airbrushing of the Red Army leader from photos taken during and immediately after the Russian Revolution.

Now why, you might ask, would a Bleeding Cool contribution start with a paragraph about Leon Trotsky? Well — and this is an awkward comparison to make — Marvel has begun to literally erase vestiges of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four from important historical moments in the Marvel Universe. Powerful leaders have long sought to control the collective memory of those they ruled, and albeit for different reasons, Marvel has recently engaged in efforts to manufacture a new official memory of its past. In particular, this effort to manipulate the past has been in regard to the Secret Wars series of the 1980s.

As has been detailed here and here, there are now multiple examples of Marvel not only erasing the involvement of those they wish to deemphasize but also inserting alternative figures they hope to promote. Most notably, the X-Men and Fantastic Four — characters that do not feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because the rights were sold during the dark days of the 1990s — have been removed from images used on t-shirts. Simply deleted. And these are not just random pieces of comic art. These characters have been deleted from iconic covers (Secret Wars #1 and #8) that are well known to fans of a certain age. Alternatively, Marvel has added characters in what can only be seen as an effort to increase their visibility. Daredevil was notably absent from the entire Secret Wars miniseries. And yet he appears on a reimagined cover used on a shirt.

Is it fair for Marvel to do this? Sure, it is. These are Marvel products and the company is free to do with them what they wish. The goal, of course, is to maximize profit. Someone who makes marketing decisions clearly decided that uniting a popular historic series (one that is, not incidentally, seeing its title used again this summer at least in part as a nostalgia ploy) with the current hot properties of the Marvel Universe made good sense. One can almost hear the word “synergy” being used in a corporate meeting to explain the way the past and present are being united — and manipulated — for selling merchandise.

Is it a good idea for Marvel to do this? That is a different question altogether. Judging from the products that have so far popped up with this, ahem, revised version of the Secret Wars covers, one can assume that they are being marketed at adults familiar with the original series. Or better yet, they are being sold to those unfamiliar with the actual books who are buying them for fathers, husbands, uncles, or sons. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the target audience for these products are those who have a personal recollection of the original books. Again, Marvel is likely playing on a sense of nostalgia for the Secret Wars series of the 1980s that are remembered fondly by many in their thirties and forties.

And here is where one has to wonder if this is a wise move by Marvel. Those being targeted by Marvel as customers are precisely those who have the strongest memories of the original series. It would, therefore, be particularly difficult for an airbrushed version of the Secret Wars covers to go unnoticed by these consumers. If they notice in the store, they may well pass on buying the shirt. If it is a gift, it may be returned. Clearly, Marvel is gambling on the fact that it won’t be a problem, or if it is, it will have only a minor effect on sales. That, at this point, is an open question.

So is there a bigger effect of this clear manipulation of the past for present and future commercial purposes? Maybe. Some consumers might not give it another thought. Others, however, might find it to be a crass commercial decision that makes a lasting impression. This is not merely an example of a screenwriter taking liberties with a character or storyline for the silver screen. It isn’t a question of interpretation. Instead, this is literally the manipulation of the past, and specifically the iconic art of some of the most popular comic books of the 1980s, for profit. This may well irk many of those who recognize the changes and consider their purpose.

In thinking about this even further, it is fascinating to consider the fundamental underlying tension here between nostalgia for a distant comics past and contemporary financial considerations. Marvel is banking (pun intended) on the fact that the images are instantly recognizable to its target audience. Likewise, they presume that these images will be remembered fondly by those who know them and will appeal to them in the store or online. Yet there is also the hope that the images won’t be remembered too completely, as this might stop one from making the purchase. Worse still, it could frustrate or anger a fan who is precisely the same person likely going to Marvel movies, streaming Daredevil on Netflix, and/or buying Marvel Unlimited subscriptions.

Admittedly, this would be a forceful (and unlikely) response from fans. But as many political elites have learned the hard way, the long-term effects of manipulating memory can be highly unpredictable. At the very least, when the collective memory is altered in such an obvious and heavy-handed way, it usually reveals the true interests of those pulling the strings. So, too, does it in this case. These instances — and one can hardly doubt there are more to come — underscore Marvel’s willingness to dispense with the past in order to make a quick profit.

To return to the revolutionary, Trotsky, who opened the essay, it is worth noting that his ideas remained a threat long after his murder (ordered by Stalin in 1940). Trotskyism became a derogatory term used by Communist regimes around the world as a way to denote those internal enemies deemed especially dangerous. And one of the most serious threats one could pose in these states was to reject the official memory crafted for public consumption by the elites. Perhaps Reed Richards would today be the one most likely to question this new presentation of Secret Wars. Marvel might have to fear the spread of Richardsism (Reedism?) among its customers. Well, it’s an entertaining thought. Let’s just hope Mister Fantastic doesn’t wind up with an ice pick in his head.

Brian M. Puaca is an associate professor of history at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, where he teaches a course on the history of comic books and American society. He can be reached at bpuaca@cnu.edu.

Reed Richards Meets Leon Trotsky: Remembering Secret Wars

If Batgirling is a phrase used internally at DC Comics, could Bombshelling be one as well?

Starting in July, DC Comics will publish a new “digital first” comic called DC Comics Bombshells by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Savage.

The comic will highlight DC’s superheroines such as Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batwoman fighting in World War II. The comic will be published in print in August.

The “Bombshells” style, using and based on the work of Ant Lucia, has been used on a series of DC collectible statues as well as themed variant covers – of which we will get another set in August…

DC Turns Their Bombshells Into A Comic Book Series

If you are going to put together a team of superheros then you need a villain worthy of that threat. Say hello to Vandal Savage. Immortal and super strong, Savage is a big enough threat to warrant a team up but not so powerful that the heroes have no hope.

We’ve also been told that Caity Lotz is playing Sara Lance / White Canary post Lazarus Pit. So that explains how she comes back to life. That should be an interesting thing since Malcolm Merlyn is the head of the League of Assassins now and controls the Lazarus Pit. Was it his idea or Nyssa’s? And how will her being back effect Oliver, Laurel and Thea?

And below is the video trailer the CW showed at today’s upfronts.

 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Vandal Savage, Sara Lance And The First Trailer For DC's Legends Of Tomorrow

Diego Luna has landed a lead role opposite Felicity Jones in Gareth Edwards's Rogue One.

I’ve kept relativley silent about the whole DeflateGate nonsense, only writing about a half dozen articles about it up to this point. But after the events of the past like, couple of days, I can remain silent no more.

I am officially calling on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to also suspend all New England Patriots fans for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season because, no offense, they are whiney little bitches who are an embarrassment to real NFL fans.

I’ll put it this way- they are at the very least accessories after the fact to cheating. Between setting up a GoFundMe for Bob Krafts personal fine, this Boston Herald cover, and chaining themselves together in the NFL office like a bunch of dirty hippys, they have proven themselves to be a black eye to the people out there who are real fans. If your a Patriot fan and you contributed to the Bob Kraft GoFundMe, but didnt also contribute to Aaron Hernandez’s bail fund, your a hypocrit theres no two ways about it.

And to be honest, I can deal with hypocrisy if that’s all it is. But when you start showing up the commissioner with your outrage you’re breaking a unwritten rule, which ironicly are the only type of rules that average Patriots fans can read.

They need to act like they’ve been there before, especally since New England has been caught cheating more then any other fanbase in sports history that wasnt a East German womens track team coached by Jon Calipari. Hand the Ted Wells report back to league officals instead of playing lawyer, spiking it on the ground, and making this more about the name on the back of your season ticket invoice then the front. Heck, the Nazis did alot of bad stuff but even they owned up for there mistakes. If the Neuremburg trials had been a bunch of Patriot’s fans as defendants, they would of tried to dismiss the Russians as just being “haters,” and then spent weeks parsing the exact PSI levels of their cyanide capsules instead of just taking there medicine and admitting that their “team” had a sucessful 11-year run while doing alot of really horrible unethical things.

Therefore, in conclusion, since Patriots fans have been acting worse than historys more egregious war criminals, the only logical conclusion is that they should be barred from attending the first 4 home games of the regular season. The punishment would fit the crime, and you have to admit that playing in front of a completely empty stadium would essentially be a homefield advantage for the week 3 visitor Jacksonville Jaguars. A true NFL fan cares more about the health of the game then their own team- and Pats fans disrespectful attacks on Commissioner Roger Goodell tells me that they’re not mature enough to be trusted with attending NFL games.

The CW has released a teaser image and synopsis for its "Arrow"/"Flash" spinoff, and solves at least part of the mystery surrounding the actress' role.

Last week, Bleeding Cool ran the story that, after the Secret Wars event, that the mutants of Earth would leave the planet for their own world, exiled as the Terrigen mists circling the globe attacked mutants. So the Inhumans, literally, force the mutants off the Marvel Earth. A war between movie studios playing out meta-fashion in the comics.

It was sourced from two strong sources with proven links to the nature of the ongoing Marvel universe.

But then I was told something else from a third well-connected source, Firstly that, yes, the mutants-off-to-another-world was a real thing. Second, rather than another planet, it would be one of Jupiter’s moons, though they didn’t know which one.

Which gave me a slight double take. We’d mentioned the planet Haven of Guardians Of The Galaxy 30th century continuity, that the mutant population of Earth had fled to But there was another stopping spot on that long journey.

Because the first place mutantkind evacuated from Earth to, was Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. Though I’m sure the Morlocks would have preferred Callisto…

But from that same source, I was told that this plot was developed by X-Men editor Mike Marts and . However, with Mike Marts leaving for new start up comics publisher Aftershock Comics, there may be a change in direction with the new X-Men editor, Mark Paniccia. As we mentioned earlier.

I look forward to finding out more… at the appropriate juncture.

Have Post-Secret Wars Plans Changed Further For The X-Books?

I’ve heard a lot of people raising concerns with Guitar Hero Live‘s track list. Thus far, a lot of the announced songs have been geared towards more popular songs and not necessarily older or harder compositions.

I think this new release of tracks for the game has been put out to combat that some what. The new songs released by Activision in a press announcement seem to be geared towards a more hard rock and metal crowd. Take a look and I’m sure you’ll catch what I mean:

·         Judas Priest – “Breaking the Law”

·         Pantera – “Cowboys From Hell”

·         Alter Bridge – “Cry of Achilles”

·         Rage Against the Machine – “Guerrilla Radio”

·         Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Higher Ground”

·         Sleigh Bells – “Bitter Rivals”

·         System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”

·         Black Veil Brides – “In The End”

·         The Pretty Reckless – “Going to Hell”

·         Broken Bells – “Leave it Alone”

·         Alt-J – “Left Hand Free”

There is a lot of stuff on here I can’t wait to play with. As I’ve said in the past, this whole game has me intrigued. While Rock Band is bending over backwards to please fans, Guitar Hero Live is doing something weird and different and that’s exciting. I can’t wait to see how it pans out. .

Rage Against The Machine, Pantera And Judas Priest Announced For Guitar Hero Live