The Inevitable Mediocre Spin-off

2 wallpapers today on a amazon theme. One of the Wonder Girls and one of the new Cry for Justice #5 cover. Click for the full wallpaper. Its a white background so these will fit any screen by just adjusting the wallpaper to centre.

Marvel Merch. Going Adult?

Disney has announced its going to buy Marvel Comics and Studios! You heard it here first everyone ;) Discussion has ranged from the fate of branded rides in competitor theme parks, how Disney is going to bring the properties 'back home' from rival studios, the possibility of pixar's involvement and the hope of better Direct to DVD projects. Here is something close to my heart in particular that hasn't been discussed. Will Disney start making marvel merchendise for adults? For my university degree I have a classic Mickey lever arch file and my final year dissertation notes are in a classic mickey ring bound book.

You may ask 'How is that Adult?' well Disney merch comes in two forms. Kids and Classic. Your average Kid's notebook is bright colours and cutesy poses. Stuff your average college student would drop dead if they were caught using. Disney brought out its Retro range, skewed older. Want a Mickey Laptop skin? How about a Mickey Mouse Mouse? (in school I made a mickey mouse mouse prototype. His ears were the buttons) Stationary? T-Shirt? All more mature in tone. So I ask, could they do the same for Marvel? Marvel is so much better at DC with merchandising anyway. For every DC product I see in town I see 5 marvel products. they are usually colouring books, sticker books, my first photgraphy kit and stuff like that. Marvel haven't stepped into that Adult audience for products outside of comics and toys/statues. It takes a certain kind of fan to by a statue of Spidey or to buy toys of Iron Man but Disney have cornered a market especially open to young women were I could go down to the local supermarket and take home many everyday themed products aimed at people beyond the age of 13. The online Disney store even has whole sections devoted to adult merchandise for men and women. I can only hope they branch out in this area for the Marvel characters, preferably branching out further than spidey and wolverine

In a rare opportunity for Britons an original Action Comics #252 is on EBAY. It looks to be going cheap but no doubt collectors may be waiting until the last minute. I've never seen this on Ebay before and to be honest if it stays that price I'll bid myself.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180395151429&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

Using a mix of GI Joe's Scarlett promotions and The new Batsuit. What is odd is that even without his mouth and eyes the cowl still looks Bale-y to me

I was thinking about the Superman TPBs and how they fit in the big picture of New Krypton. I concluded that it was comparable to the the upcoming Blackest Night. Geoff Johns is very methodical, he blocks things off. If you look at the run up to Blackest Night starting with rebirth its like he has a checklist. He set up parallax and sinestro as a gateway into the corps of various colours and since he's been introducing us to them storyarc by storyarc. (which is so very like how Levitz wrote the Darkseid arc in Legion back in the day) No one like him has this gradual and planned progression over years, possibly because there is no security that they will be on a title to see it through to conclusion.

Putting this in to the Super-books. Last Son started Zod/Chis/Ursa which now comes to fruiton in Action Comics and World of New Krypton, Bizarro was featured on the cover of Adventure so there is something there even if it was a fill in while Last Son was delayed, Brainiac of course kicked it all off and is now is storage, Atlas started the government side of things and he's now reappeared. All little seeds going into the conclusion of this epic. Then there is Legion, sure there is Mon-El but that was set up in an annual and not Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. We also have Tellus who has disappeared and the lead cure. Superman says 'something is wrong with tomorrow'. I don't think that is the Legion of Three Worlds considering he was a part of it and it should have been concluded before the issue came out. It stands to reason the Legion have to find their way back into the big event. It raises some questions no one asked. What is wrong with tomorrow? How do the Legion fit in to an Earth/New Krypton War in the 21st century?Where did tellus come from?

I think DC have stumbled on a great formula of rolling epics. Morisson is doing something similar that started with Batman 666 but that is far more organic in its flow than Johns' approach. It could revolutionise comics, to build up to a summer event over 3 years rather than pulling one out of one's behind as has become the norm. Not only that but another part of Johns' genius is that I could do one of those spider webs with string and show where his catalogue of work intersects. He doesn't just move on, he's telling a continuous story thoughout the DCU. Also the benefit of this is the Omens he can place in his work, whether its been Rip Hunter's board or the end of Action #850 omens have proven a great marketing tool so much so the year started with Origins and Omens back ups. The issue with them though is that most of those titles don't have the steady creative team that the titles that have made the omens successfull do.

Geoff Johns can make an individual title seem epic and important through a carefully applied build up of pressure to a grand conclusion. He makes movies on the page over the months and yet it would take multiple feature films to do his tales justice. I also think its the idea of the writer's room that makes his titles such successes. When you are in weekly conference with your co-writers continuity errors are less and less. So much credit goes to his collaborators but we only have to look at how the arcs are structured to see its Johns' at the heart of these events. We only have to look at the seeming chaos in the batbooks for comparison. It seems everyone is writing around Grant Morrison rather than having any type of communal writers room. It shows on the page.Morrison knows what he is doing and the other writers seem to pray that anything they do doesn't get in the way. It creates a sense of timidity in the batbooks that does not hamper the super-books. All 4 books have big storylines going on right now which can only happen with great communication which is perhaps the reason why the super-books and green lantern are the envy of the comic industry right now

Pete Woods has opened his own account on Deviant Art. Remember the newsarama word balloon interview where it was explained he had plans for new krypton to the nearest fire hydrant? well he has posted a look at some designs for what is coming up. Zor-El's tomb, the thanagarian ambassador, and kryptonian jails. Check it out, some great teasers
http://petewoods.deviantart.com/gallery/

So I've completed Saturn Girl, Supergirl, Superboy and now Cosmic Boy. I'm on my way to a right little Legion. As usual I'm using Smallville actors, why choose new ones when there are fine ones about right? They are on a plain white background because that makes it easier to use in future, insert backgrounds and other characters into the background Its based on the Kitson Cosmic Boy who had the best cosmic boy costume ever, both cool and classic. It was a costume that paid tribute to Grell's infamous bustier and gave him Hal Jordon-like white gloves that go with nothing else.

A Look At Supergirl's Rogue's Gallery
Looking at the new DCU blog post it looks like the Supergirl annual will have yet more Superwoman and her relationship with her father and Lois. That's nice but its not really material for Supergirl. The purpose of a villain is to bring something out in our hero. Through recurring roles we learn more as an when we need it so that the threat to the hero grows or the relationship deepens. We saw it with Lex and the Joker and Cheetah and Sinestro. With Superwoman I feel like we have a total information dump. Like the load is being totally blown prematurely with little room for further development. We should want to know more about a character so that they are worthy of a reappearance. That means some mystery should be upheld.

We have had the mystery and the answer, we know how she acts as an opposite for Supergirl and their relationship. We need answers to how she infiltrated Kandor, how she speaks Kryptonese and how she got her powers. However we don't need her life story unless there is a bit that affects Kara. The preview I assume is the Supergirl annual as it comes straight after the colourist announcement. It seems more like Action Comics material for Lois than something belonging in Supergirl or we could always get a Superman's Wife, Lois Lane special!

A better handled villain is Reactron in his first recurring role in the series. He is fastly becoming Supergirl's nemesis. As a pre-crisis villain of Kara's it seems apt that he should take a prominent place in her collection of Rogues. His first appearance was the best arc between the departure of Joe Kelly and the arrival of Sterling Gates which was littered with crossovers and the cancer plot which alienated the opposing point of view of a controversial issue. His first look stayed true to his original form from the 70's in an updated way. He brought out Supergirl's inquisitive nature which fit a girl raised by scientists and highlighted the differences between the super-cousins. Superman hits things until they fall down and as Atlas shows has no plan B at all. Supergirl is more thoughtful and inventive. Pre-Crisis she invented cancellite and X-Kryptonite after all when she tried to nullify the effect of kryptonite. Something Supeman never tried. Reactron played this up. Since his revamp I've been on the fence about him. He's not much of a cosmic threat, he's been toned down to a less famous Metallo with a cliche connection to Kara. 'You Killed my Father, prepare to Die!' as the famous quote goes. However he has been built up and he has evolved. The man behind the mask is still as mystery. I know as much as I want to know about him for now, I'll be content if he smashes and bashes his way through the rest of New Krypton and if we leave developing him more for another time. There is something more sadistic about a gold-K core rather than a kryponite one. It means that he has to get his hands dirty and he seems to love that.

Other villains that the Supergirl team seem to need to get back too include Silver Banshee and the new Blackstarr who appeared in Action #850. An extremely important issue that set up the future of the titles as far as the return of Alura and Zor-El. Blackstarr is another of the 'Daring New Adventures' cast with Reactron. I only hope they don't bring too many female villains into the fray. Wonder Woman has a similar problem of a predominantly female rogue's gallery and the men have too few. I love a bit of equality. Men and woman are very different and they can both be grave threats in different ways without even landing a punch.

JLA is the aspiration of the DC comic movie and will bring in mega dollars for sure but why, with all the storyline troubles and potential actor clashes are they focusing on this as their big team hope? In the near future Marvel is going to unleash the Avengers and it will probably be awesome but its not like the characters that film will focus on are anywhere near as big as the JLA. So, with this in mind why doesn't Warner counter with a movie that can boast some recognisability and challenge people's expectations like Iron Man did?

1) Teen Titans- Should really be called Titans or The Titans.
We know WB have ordered a script for a potential movie starring Nightwing, so it will skew older than the cartoon and avoid comparisons to stuff like Sky High. They have a villain named Deathstroke the Terminator, this movie could be as dark as Batman.The story is there and there is recognisability from the hit cartoon and merch that went with it. Any issues with Dick Grayson after the nipple incident are irrelevant, if Batman can be rehabilitated so can he. Characters like Batman don't even need to show up, the cartoon went 5 seasons without mentioning him or green arrow or flash. It was not their story so they were irrelevant. We don't have to know where in the timeline this is compared to Bale's Batman just a good self contained story.

2) JSA
The first Superhero team brings fun for all the family. The only downside is WB's lack of faith that Joe movie-go-er will understand how there can be two Flashs, two Green Lanterns and why Kara Zor-L isn't Supergirl. This is easy PG-13 popcorn fare with characters from teens to grandpas. It has such a broad appeal. It would need a director capable of handling large casts and fans who understand that not everyone can have a starring role and may be reduced to a cameo. JSA is more JLU than JLA could ever be.

3) Legion of Super-Heroes
Something very different, its set in a utopian future (its not really utopian otherwise why would they need crime fighters but its what people use to describe the Legion future for some reason) with so many powers this movie could be a feast for the eyes. Any downsides would arise from the landscape, its totally unlike anything on earth so it runs the risk of being as fake as Coruscant. Done right it could be as visually satisfying as the Lord of the Rings movies and just as epic. The Legion is a mash up of everything in the DCU, the intergalatic scope of Green Lantern, the home base of Superman, the variety of the JSA and the family aspect of the Titans. With its two seasons worth of shows on Kids WB it reached a good audience. I think it has been said that the amount of people who watched the premiere made up the total number of Legion comics sold in the last 5 years. Legion spent 15 years without Superman/girl in their pages so its not like they would be essential for the movie so past movie continuity would not messed with.

There are even more, Doom Patrol, L.E.G.I.O.N, Metal Men. There are no bad suggestions just bad execution.