(Alleged) Rise Of The Apes Set Pic

I don't see the big deal that led the studios to contact Just Jared & BleedingCool.com to pull down the images/links, personally. I'll keep it up until I receive a cease & desist request, so save it if you want to be able to see it tomorrow.

I don't know that I'm all that excited in this prequel/reboot, but the image doesn't make me any less interested. BC.com suggests they think the attempts to pull the image are over concerns that it makes the film just look silly. I don't see how that's anymore true here than with any other behind-the-scenes pic from a movie using motion capture. Which is to say: it's nearly impossible to believe this pic is damaging, but that the studios are just trying to control the release for the sake of control, to protect an exclusive promised to some other publication or to generate a tempest in a teapot over the whole thing that leads to free publicity.

This Can't Be Authorized, Can It?

I'd love to read it for shits and giggles, but Hispanic Batman can't be something that Warner is aware of and allowing to happen, can it? Or am I underestimating the exceptions that can be made for parody? The name and the costume directly used like that has to be pushing it, no?

Maybe The Shirt Should Have Been A Tip-Off?

The alleged SDCCI Stabber, who assaulted another con-goer because the person sat through one or more panels in a room in order to have and keep a prime seat.

(image from CBR)

So...That's Green Lantern?

If you haven't seen the image of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern before, there it is on the right.

I don't love it. I don't even like it, really. But I don't hate it, either.

From what can be seen in the image, it seems to be solid green (other than the symbol) with texturing that is supposed to constantly reinforce to the viewer that it is an energy construct threaded together from hard light.

One of the most basic points of honest-to-goodness iconic super-hero costume design, IMO, is keeping it to 2-3 colors. The best (read: easiest to get right) combinations are generally some balanced mixture of black, white and another color. Most of the costumes that are busier than that or select colors that aren't as natural together succeeded because they were introduced in different/simpler times and have been ingrained into pop culture.

So, this outfit that seems to be just green, aside from the white in the symbol? Not so iconic or dynamic. A bit of a dud. Here's hoping they decide to tweak it a bit, since it is all CGI anyway.

Mr. Anonymous, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

Rich Johnston has word that Wolverine is being made into a vampire in this X-Men vs vampires storyline.

And I have...





...yeah...nothing. ;)

I guess Mr. Anonymous just wasn't really moved enough by the story element to feel the need to share about it. But if I did anything to upset him, I hope he'll let me know. ;)

Repurposed Review

Batman & Robin #13(DC Comics; Grant Morrison/Frazier Irving): There's so much going on in this book that things feel a bit blurred, but in an enjoyable way. The issue feels like it was structured in a way that was meant to overwhelm the reader a bit in order to get a sense of how frantic things are in the story. It worked enough for me to consider it a success, but could definitely vary in effectiveness from reader to reader. Though it could be considered mostly setup, it is easily one of my favorite issues of the title, through a combination of the anticipation it built in me for the next issue and providing my favorite Damien scene since the character was introduced. Morrison weaves his magic and Irving is a perfect fit for its delivery. Can't wait for the next issue.

Where's Cully?

How can Cully Hamner get invited on to the set of RED, but NOT be part of the panel at SDCC?

Kudos to Rich Johnston for making it his mission to try to get this fixed. As he points out, Steve Lieber couldn't even get into the audience for the WHITEOUT panel last year. Can't let that sort of disrespect carry over to another artist this year!

Devil's Due Press Leaves Diamond

Rich Johnston is reporting that Devil's Due is pulling all distribution of their product through Diamond Distributors. (official press release from Josh Blaylock)

Some fans are quick to paint this move and the problems Devil's Due has had as being entirely their fault.

I'd beg to differ.

Johnston indicates that there are claims that Diamond has lost a considerable amount of DDP's product over the last year. That has hurt their ability to try to reverse their shrinking presence in the market and pay off their debts.

But that's not where I'm placing some of the blame at Diamond's feet.

I'm talking Hack/Slash #16 & #17.

Re-Animator-gate.

Where Nick Barrucci was part of a group that sent what appeared to possibly be a baseless cease & desist letter, claiming that they owned the copyright to a logo used for the Re-Animator character. Some attributed Diamond's immediate cow-towing to Dynamite having a much cozier relationship with them than Devil's Due Press, seeing as how Diamond's Director of Purchasing had written the Dynamite Entertainment Army of Darkness Vs. Re-Animator mini-series.

Hack/Slash was the biggest title DDP was putting out at the time. Diamond being so willing to put a huge obstacle in its way due to a frivolous cease and desist letter had to be damaging to DDP's business and, obviously, their relationship with the distributor. They were, also, hit hard by the loss of the GI Joe license to IDW, but this legal problem was not their fault in the slightest and only amplified by Diamond's actions.

You can argue how much or how little Diamond siding with Dynamite's play contributed to DDP falling on tough times, but that it played a part is not open to dispute.

Tue Reviews

Originally run as part of the Best Shots column at Newsarama.


Justice League of America #46 
Published by DC Comics
Written by James "hey, wasn't my Starman run great" Robinson
Art by Mark "I'm not gonna blame anyone" Bagley, Rob "I don't even want to comment" Hunter, Norm "ditto" Rapmund and Ulises "aren't the Northern Lights purty" Arreola
Edited by Rex "don't blame me, I was writing a 'Second Feature' elsewhere" Ogle, Adam "don't blame me, Eddie's the boss" Schlagman & Eddie "it's totally the fault of my subordinates that this had three editors and still sucked" Berganza


I'm a sucker for the JLA/JSA crossovers, so I picked up this issue despite feeling Robinson's run thus far has been a major disappointment. While hoping that this may have been an example where he stepped his game up for a special event, I was confronted with a book where the severity of the writer's flaws were multiplied instead.

One of the major problems is Robinson's insistence on attempting multiple character narration. Switching back and forth as often and as rapidly as he does is jarring on its own, but his tendency towards maximum verbosity sets him up to fail. The brain-numbing amount of exposition used to spoon feed everything to the reader is clunky and serves to frustrate/insult the reader at every turn. The dialogue suffers for reasons beyond that, though.

Robinson writes a scene where Jesse Quick seems like she just stepped out of Gone With The Wind and leaves me expecting Hourman to step in and say, "frankly, Jesse, I don't give a damn!" Towards the end, he writes Mikaal's narration as if this Starman is trying to channel the worst William Shatner delivery into something that fits a tweet.

The art is NOT strong. Bagley looks rushed and his pages with many costumed heroes shoehorned in (read: much of the book) look terrible. He's not helped by his inkers or a colorist that decides to have the JLA & JSA discussing tactics inside the Aurora Borealis (judging by the background they created). Issues like this will no doubt lead readers to look back and say, "you know, JL Detroit wasn't so bad."

Death of Dracula #1
Published by Marvel Comics
Written by Victor Gischler
Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Onofrio Cattachio, Frank D'Armata
Edited by Daniel Ketcham & Axel Alonso 

There doesn't seem to be a real purpose to this book. It is heralded as the starting point for the new X-Men book debuting Thursday, but has no X-Men present or any mutants. What bits it might help set up about the vampires here is likely to be restated early and often in the actual X-Men series. I mention this not only because it can factor into how much one enjoys the read or feels satisfied in their purchase, but because this lack of point or purpose seems to be reflected in the quality of the story. The story lacks a soul and serves to put forth info about this group of characters as dispassionately as the protagonist reacts to his father's demise. It certainly doesn't bode well for what is to come from Gischler's X-Men vs vampires storyline.

Run, Don't Walk (Or Roll?)

I take it in the humorous tongue-in-cheek way it is meant, but if you take a close look at the back cover quote from Barbara Gordon, this won't go well.