PENDRAGON'S POST: Jun 17, 2009

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

IDW Previews: June 24, 2009

IDW Previews
June 24, 2009

G.I. Joe Movie Prequel TPB
Chuck Dixon (w) • S.L. Gallant (a) • Joe Corroney (c)
You're going to see the BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE! Now find out the real stories of DUKE, DESTRO, THE BARONESS, and SNAKE EYES as each one of them takes center stage just prior to the film's pulse-pounding opening! Learn how DUKE and RIPCORD became friends in one of their earlier missions! See DESTRO in action across the globe, outwitting terrorists who try to rip him off! Witness THE BARONESS seduce, manipulate and eviscerate her prey! And last but not least--marvel at the mysteries of SNAKE EYES revealed!

G.I. Joe Movie Adaptation TPB
Denton Tipton (w) • Casey Maloney (a)
The official adaptation of this summer's highly anticipated film, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra! G.I. JOE is a highly trained, classified special operations unit composed of men and women from around the globe. Officially, these warriors don't even exist. Few know the truth—that G.I. JOE fights a secret war, as the first and last line of defense against forces that seek to plunge our world into chaos. Wherever there's trouble G.I. JOE is there.
NOW YOU KNOW, AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE.

G.I. Joe #6
Chuck Dixon (w) • Robert Atkins (a) • Dave Johnson, Robert Atkins (c)
The first epic story of G.I. Joe draws to an explosive conclusion as Snake Eyes hunts for the man who can lead him to the secrets of COBRA. But first the Joes’ silent warrior has to face down Destro, who's willing to risk a fate worse than death to prove his worth.

G.I. Joe, Vol. 1 TPB
Chuck Dixon (w) • Robert Atkins, Clayton Brown (a)
Destro, the twisted-yet-honorable arms dealer from Scotland is planning something big — a new weapon called the Mass Device that can — and will — change the face of warfare forever! Meanwhile, G.I. Joe is under attack in their own secret base of operations! But who could have found — much less attack — them! Where has Snake Eyes gone and what is his mysterious connection to G.I. Joe member Scarlett? And under the shadows, whispers of a terrible and powerful organization grow louder. Whispers that say one word over and over... "COBRA."

Pebbles, Book 2: Daddy’s Girl
Charles Carney (w) • John Skewes (a & c)
Pebbles from The Flintstones takes center stage in a new series of charmingly illustrated picture books. Pebbles lover her mom. She loves her "dog" and her "cat." She loves the world inside and outside of her imagination. But above all, Pebbles loves her dad.
HC • $15.99 • 24 Pages • 10.5” x 11.5” • ISBN: 978-1-60010-417-6

Sir Apropos of Nothing HC (w/new prose short story)
Peter David (w) • Robin Riggs (a) • Mike Kaluta (c)
New York Times bestselling author Peter David’s acclaimed prose fantasy trilogy comes to life in this hardcover comics collection. Collecting the vibrant five-issue series, this hardcover includes an art gallery by Robin Riggs and variant cover artists, as well as a brand-new Sir Apropos of Nothing prose story by David!

Star Trek: Mission’s End #4
Ty Templeton (w) • Stephen Molnar (a) • Joe Corroney (c)
With McCoy missing, Kirk unconscious, and the Enterprise badly damaged, Spock and Scotty must protect the Archernarian "Heart of God"—the most powerful weapon in the universe—from being stolen by Orion Pirates… all while civil war rages inside Archernar-IV.

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #12
Shane McCarthy (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Casey Coller, Trevor Hutchison (c)
The shocking conclusion to All Hail Megatron is finally here as the war between the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS hits fever pitch. Betrayal, sacrifice, and an ending you won’t see coming! Next month, look for All Hail Megatron: Coda, which will answer many lingering questions and set up the coming monthly TRANSFORMERS series.

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New story by film's screenwriters coming in August

Hot on the heels of one of this summer's biggest blockbuster films, IDW is proud to announce the latest chapter in its Star Trek comic book saga. Star Trek: Nero expands on the action of the movie, following Starfleet's newest enemy as he seeks ultimate revenge-the utter destruction of the Federation and all its worlds.

"Nero, the great villain of the movie, was actually introduced in Star Trek: Countdown, which leads directly into the film," said Scott Dunbier, IDW's Star Trek editor. "This follow-up series will reveal exactly what happened to the crew of the Narada during the intervening 25 years Nero was waiting for the arrival of Ambassador Spock."

Star Trek: Nero reunites the creative team behind The New York Times best-selling movie prequel, Star Trek: Countdown. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the film's screenwriters/producers, once again supply the story, while Mike Johnson and Tim Jones return to skillfully apply their scripting talents to Nero's story. Artist David Messina again lends his artistic talents, depicting each painful twist and supplying eye-catching covers. The four-issue miniseries will be available monthly, beginning in August.

Star Trek: Nero #1, a licensed product of CBS Consumer Products, will be available in stores in August 2009. Diamond order code JUN09 0956

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John Broome and Frank Jacobs have been selected to receive the 2009 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The choice made by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by writer-historian Mark Evanier was unanimous.

The Bill Finger Award was instituted in 2005 at the instigation of comic book legend Jerry Robinson.

"Each year, we select two writers who favored us with important, inspirational work that has somehow not quite received its rightful recognition," Evanier explains. "The idea is that the award may go some distance to rectifying that, and I sure hope this one does. Because no one is more deserving than Frank Jacobs, for his past and current work, and John Broome for the legacy he left behind."

Frank Jacobs was the first freelance writer hired by Al Feldstein when he assumed the editorship of MAD magazine in 1957, and his byline continues to appear in MAD more than 50 years later. More than 300 issues have featured his witty satires of movies and TV shows, but he is most famous as the magazine's poet laureate, filling its pages with his amazing poems and song parodies, many of which have drawn praise from the composers of the works he burlesques. MAD has published numerous original paperbacks of Jacobs’ work, and in 1972 he authored The MAD World of William M. Gaines, the definitive history of MAD and EC Comics.

John Broome began writing for science-fiction pulps in the early forties. When his agent, Julius Schwartz, left agenting to become a comic book editor, Broome followed. From 1946 through 1970, he wrote for DC Comics, mostly for books edited by Schwartz. His work included "The Justice Society of America" and "Detective Chimp," among other features, but his most notable scripts helped define the Silver Age of Comics with The Flash, Green Lantern, "The Atomic Knights," and "The Elongated Man." Broome passed away in 1998, only months after making the only comic book convention appearance of his life: at the 1997 Comic- Con International.

The Bill Finger Award honors the memory of William Finger (1914–1974), who was the first and, some say, most important writer of Batman. Many have called him the "unsung hero" of the character and have hailed his work not only on that iconic figure but on dozens of others, primarily for DC Comics.

In addition to Evanier, the selection committee consists of Charles Kochman (executive editor at Harry N. Abrams, book publisher), comic book writers Kurt Busiek and Tony Isabella, and writer/editor Marv Wolfman.

The 2009 awards are underwritten by Comic-Con International. DC Comics is the major sponsor; supporting sponsors are Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG) and Heritage Auctions.

The Finger Award is presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International: San Diego and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con on the evening of Friday, July 24, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

About Bill Finger

Bill Finger (1914-1974), the unsung hero and co-creator of Batman, scripted the first and many of the best Batman stories during the Golden Age of comic books. He created many of the series' most notable characters, including the Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and Two-Face, and he made significant refinements to Batman's concept and persona. Finger wrote the scripts that introduced the Bat Cave, Batmobile, Batplane, and Batsignal. Many terms he created, such as the Dynamic Duo and Gotham City, have become part of our lexicon. Finger was a craftsman, and his Batman's adventures were carefully plotted, as well as being imbued with humor and sprightly repartee. Above all, he was a visual writer-he knew instinctively what the artist could translate into compelling pictures and sequential narrative.

Finger's comics writing credits include many other DC characters, including the Green Lantern and Wildcat, and many titles for Quality Comics, Fawcett Publications, and Timely Comics. His television credits include episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, the animated New Adventures of Superman, and the primetime Batman series.
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Urban magic at it’s best.

When a storm rages, I feel a kind of fearful glee. I love to stand with the door open and just watch the chaos ensue. The wind, rain, and lightning along with the other elements unfolding their power. For me it is amazing to see this: to feel the electricity in the air, the crash of thunder in your ears, the smell of ozone in your nose as the lightning flashes, sensing the arc of the lightning through your closed eyelid. Now imagine wielding that kind of Power.

When I heard about Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files- Storm Front TPB, I was curious. Having not read the original novel myself, but followed the TV series ( which got canceled way too soon), I didn’t know if this comic was true to Jim Butcher's original work, but I figured having the original author writing the comic couldn’t hurt!

For those who don’t know, The Dresden Files follows the life of a tortured soul named Harry Dresden. A Wizard by profession, Harry works as an on again, off again, freelance private eye for the Chicago Police Department. He helps out Lt. Connie Murphy, a Detective in the Chicago P.D. and gets involved in all sorts of “special” cases. Now everybody thinks Harry is some sort of Psychic working for the Police force, but instead he meddles in the arcane, solving the unsolvable with a twist of the wrist and few ancient verses.

Now being the tortured soul he is, Harry has the Sword of Damocles swinging over his head, and believe me in this case it isn’t a metaphor! To make a long story short, Harry’s parents died when he was young and he was raised by his uncle. This uncle taught him everything Harry ever wanted to know about magic, even stuff he didn’t want to know. His uncle was involved in the Dark Arts, and tried to seduce Harry into the same path, but Harry would have nothing of it, so Harry’s uncle decides to kill him for his rebuff. Calling on the same magic, but with more will and vigor than his mentor, Harry carries out this spell which slays his mentor by magical means. A slaying by sorcery is an act punishable by death, but since it was in self defense, Harry is given a kind of probation…which leads him to having the Sword of Damocles, a one strike and you’re out type of deal.

The one major difference I found between the TV series and the comic is when Harry helps Lt. Murphy. Harry can’t divulge anything about the world of magic without breaking one of the rules of magic, thus bringing about his death. In the comic book there is no such law, and he freely speaks to her about the inner workings of the mystical community. It seems to me, any magic community would want to keep its secrets hidden from the whole “mortal” world, wouldn’t they?

But besides that little idiosyncratic outrage, I found the story to be true to what I know from the show. The art is complementary and flows nicely with the storyline. This is one of the rare comics where I sat down to read and was surprised how each issue ended so quickly. This collection held me captive as only a well written story usually does. For those who love their magic in an urban setting, you will be very pleased.

Overall, this trade paperback is a gem and absolutely worth reading, regardless if you are a fan of the novels or the TV Series. . My only wish is that if there is another TPB, it will conjure up the same mystical feelings I felt reading this one. But for now, I guess I’ll leave the sorcery to Harry, or Jim Butcher for that matter, because that is exactly what this TPB collection is: Pure magic.

9.5/10

John H
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Can they cook, or can they cook?

Overall I am not a huge fan of comic book adaptations of popular movies per say. Usually something is lost in the transition from the big screen to the printed page. It never really matches what the director had in mind when he conceived this on film, and sometimes the comics can be not as faithful as what was originally presented. But this isn’t the case this time around.

IDW Publishing’s Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan is one of those rare comic book movie adaptations which actually borrows and builds upon what was shown to film audiences in 1982. Taking inspiration from actual scenes, such as the presentation for the Genesis Device, and using the same kinds of settings, colors and lighting from the film itself, this book is very faithful to the movie. Basically you can feel the love and attention to detail which went into this.

Also, if you’re wondering about the dialogue, it’s the same as in the movie. So if you watched the movie and read this comic, it would sync up pretty well. If someone I knew had never seen the movie, but wanted to have a quick peek at something before deciding whether or not it was worth renting, I would recommend this to them.

Now, I know some of you out there are wondering if we really need a book like this, even after the movie came out some 25 plus years ago. The answer is YES. The reason being this: to inspire a new generation of fans. And that’s what Star Trek is all about. It’s the fans which make the franchise work, and I cannot think of a better film to show people what Star trek really is all about. And I am glad to see that the people who worked on this book are just as big of fans as I am.

8/10

Eddie R
Review Co-Editor
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Captain America gets a mammoth-sized extravaganza for his 600th issue

Captain America #600 contains a 40-page tale leading straight into the five-issue Reborn limited series launching in July, another 22 pages of backup stories, 26 pages of reprints and a couple bonus features. If you're an avid fan of Cap, it's a treasure trove. Even if he's not among your favourites, the issue provides lots of solid storytelling, mostly focusing on Cap's human vulnerabilities and the profound effect he had on his loved ones.

We kick off with a two-page painted retelling of Cap's origin by Alex Ross from 2002. It brings back memories of when Ross used to actually do the interior of comics and not just covers. It's a sterling introduction to our protagonist and serves as a reminder that Cap has already “died” twice before: upon injection of the superhero serum the old Steve Rogers passed away, and he remained in a near-death coma after World War II.

Next we have the main 40-page story which is told in eight parts by series writer Ed Brubaker and drawn by Howard Chaykin and a gaggle of other artists. One year after his assassination, we meet a who's-who of Cap's closest allies and sworn enemies and get an inside glimpse as to how his passing has affected them. The various episodes move along briskly and are mostly highly entertaining and fascinating in that they provide a very real glimpse into how a death has massive repercussions.

Although newcomers to Cap will have no clue who some of these characters are, it's not too difficult to pick up on the gist of what's going on. Most importantly, the New Avengers get the tantalizing surprise that Cap might be able to be brought back from the dead, although the Red Skull will certainly have something to say about that. The story generates interesting thoughts about politics and sociology as Norman Osborn co-opts the Central Park Captain America memorial service for his own ends.

The reminiscing continues in a 12-page backup feature where Steve Rogers' ex-girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal yields her recollections of the man. More poignant is Mark Waid's 10-page backup feature about Cap's memorabilia being auctioned off and the motivations of those buying the items. In these two stories, the art of John Byrne and Jack Kirby is said to have been created by Steve Rogers himself. Speaking of Jack, we're also treated to a two-page article by Cap co-creator Joe Simon where he shares the comical struggles he had getting King Kirby to draw the hero.

We then get a 24-page reprint of a 1942 tale by Stan Lee. The art is simply atrocious and Lee's writing has not yet attained the magnificent heights he reached in the 60's. The Red Skull even has uniform malfunctions as his chest emblem switches from a Japanese imperial flag to a Nazi swastika from one panel to the next. Still, it's nice to see Cap being unjustly labelled a traitor in the 40's the same way he was in the present day when he opposed Osborn and the Superhuman Registration Act during the Marvel Civil War.

Finally, there is a 9-page spread of all 600 Cap covers. Impressive, but printed so small there's not much point. At least a collaborating website is listed so that fans can see the same covers in a less headache-inducing format. It was nice to see one of the first comics I ever bought on the newsstand: Captain America #355 from 1989. So here's to another 600 issues of one of Marvel's premier heroes.

8/10
Adam P.
Review Co-Editor
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G-MAN CAPE CRISIS, originally anticipated at $3.50, will have a cover price of $2.99 for the entire series!

While G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS, the all-new mini-series from MINI-MARVELS cartoonist Chris Giarrusso, was originally anticipated with a cover price of $3.50, it will now feature the lower price of only $2.99!

"I know the recent price jump on a lot of mainstream titles has fans watching their wallets more than ever," Giarrusso said. "It's especially difficult to keep prices down on non-mainstream titles that don't have advertisement dollars helping to offset costs, but I'm very happy that with Image, the price of G-MAN will actually be lower than anticipated, retailing for $2.99."

G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS is the five-issue follow up to G-MAN: LEARNING TO FLY, a compilation of all of G-MAN's appearances to date, and shows what happens when pieces of G-MAN's magic cape fall into the wrong hands. While G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS was originally solicited at $3.50, the entire series will maintain a $2.99 price point, ensuring fans of all ages can afford to give the series a try!

G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS #1 (JUN090322), a 32-page full color comic book for $2.99, will be in stores August 12th, 2009. G-MAN: LEARNING TO FLY DIGEST (MAR092415), a 96-page full color digest tradepaperback for $9.99, is available now. For more information on Chris Giarrusso and G-Man, please see http://www.chrisgcomics.com.

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Fusion #2 (of 3)
(W) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (A) Tyler Kirkham (Cov) Stjepan Sejic

The mother of all Top Cow/Marvel crossovers thunders on in June! Battle lines are being drawn between Cyberforce, The Avengers, Hunter-Killer, and The Thunderbolts; but who is siding with who?
Ripclaw has been detained but neither Cyberforce nor The Avengers are happy about The Thunderbolts being in control. A crossover event too massive to be contained in a single issue and brought to you by the writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova) and Top Cow favorite artist Tyler Kirkham (Ultimate Fantastic Four, Broken Trinity: Aftermath).

Full Color 32 pages $2.99 limited series