Skybound and Image Comics announced Monday afternoon Stellar created by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri will become an ongoing series in June.
Joseph Keatinge will write the book, with art by Bret Blevins, and letters by Rus Wooten.
Synopsis: Stellar was taken as a child and transformed into the ultimate weapon, one that would end an intergalactic war. She succeeded… at everything except finding peace. Reduced to a bounty hunter, she scours the worlds she’s broken, searching for redemption. But there are other weapons loose in the galaxy, who just can’t leave the war behind them.
Check out the four-page preview below, click on the image to expand or scroll past to see the images as well.
Stellar #01 will hit your local comic shop on June 13.
Do you plan to add Stellar to your pull list? Comment below.
DC Comics announced Monday morning Scott Snyder, Jim Cheung and, Jorge Jiménez will relaunch Justice League in June.
“Justice League has been the golden ring for me since I came to DC. The story I have planned is something I’ve been building towards through DARK NIGHTS: METAL and I can’t wait to tell it in the biggest way possible. And to have megastar Jim Cheung as one partner, and rising superstar Jorge Jimenez as my other partner, I’m just thrilled to get to work,” says Snyder.
About the first issue: Martian Manhunter struggles to protect the team from an incoming threat that will shatter the world as they know it, while a familiar face strikes out on a dark path…
About the second issue: While Martian Manhunter and Batman attempt to recruit an old ally back into the fold, The Flash and Hawkgirl are blindsided by new challenges that could rewrite their mythologies!
The series is biweekly with Cheung’s art on the first issue and Jiménez on the second. This will be variant covers by Jim Lee and Scott Williams. Justice League #1 follows the events of DC NATION #0 (on sale May 2) and, JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE (on sale weekly from May 9 through 30).
Justice League #1 hits your local comic book store on June 6, and issue two on June 20.
Are you excited for the Justice League relaunch? Comment below.
The ever-expanding planned DCU has added yet another film to its slate. According to Deadline, A Wrinkle in Time director Ava DuVernay is set to direct The New Gods for Warner Brothers. Kario Salem will pen the script and work closely with DuVernay on the project.
The talented director has been playing close to the vest with this announcement. During the press tour for A Wrinkle in Time DuVernay was asked multiple times about her interest in directing a comic book movie, to which she always seemed uninterested. That appears to be because they were waiting for the buzz around her newest film to die down before announcing.
If you’re unfamiliar with New Gods, Jack Kirby created the world in 1971 following his exit from Marvel. Their comic history follows the ancient battle between New Genesis and Apokolips, the homeworld of Darkseid. We have seen glimpses of Apokolips and the story in the DCU already. Steppenwolf, the villain of last years Justice League, is the uncle of Darkseid.
It’s unclear if DuVernay’s film will take from what Zack Synder has already set up in BvS and Justice League, but with the current status of the DCU, I would hedge my bets on not.
What are your thoughts on DuVernay directing a live-action New Gods movie? Let us know in the comments below!
A Winkle in Time: Meg Murry and her little brother, Charles Wallace, have been without their scientist father, Mr. Murry, for five years, ever since he discovered a new planet and used the concept known as a tesseract to travel there. Joined by Meg’s classmate Calvin O’Keefe and guided by the three mysterious astral travelers known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, the children brave a dangerous journey to a planet that possesses all of the evil in the universe.
Free Comic Book Day is May 5 this year. FCBD is always the first Saturday in May; participating comic book retailers give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops.
FCBD is an excellent event to introduce new readers to medium, but there’s one catch. Retailers pay between 25 and 50 cents per book, and if the retailer does not counteract the hard cost of the event with a big sale, this becomes a costly promotion for a store owner.
EXAMPLE:If 500 people come to your store and you give them three books each, that’s 1,500 books which could potentially cost a retailer between $600 and $800.
FCBD isn’t cheap, but it is usually one of the busiest days for comic book retailers. This year, to ease the burden of a large invoice for FCBD titles, Diamond Comic Distributors has announced that it will bill participating retailers on two separate invoices.
“Many retailers have requested in the past to delay billing for Free Comic Book Day books due to the large cost involved with that week’s invoice. We’re happy that we can oblige, and hopefully splitting the invoice cost to before and after the event will ease the burden on retailers, so they can concentrate on having an exciting and successful Free Comic Book Day Event,” said Diamond VP-Sales and Marketing Roger Fletcher.
What comic book store are you going to on FCBD? Comment below.
The comics available for FCBD:
FCBD 2018 AVENGERS CAPTAIN AMERICA
FCBD 2018 BARRIER (MR)
FCBD 2018 BOOM MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS SPECIAL SG
FCBD 2018 COMICS FRIENDS FOREVER
FCBD 2018 DARK HORSE OVERWATCH & BLACK HAMMER
FCBD 2018 DC COMICS DC SUPER HERO GIRLS #1
FCBD 2018 DISNEY PRINCESS ARIEL SPOTLIGHT
FCBD 2018 DOCTOR WHO #0
FCBD 2018 INVADER ZIM FLOOPSY BLOOPS SHMOOPSY
FCBD 2018 POKEMON SUN & MOON & HORIZON
FCBD 2018 RIVERDALE (ONGOING)
FCBD 2018 TRANSFORMERS UNICRON #0
FCBD 2018 2000 AD REGENED
FCBD 2018 BERLIN BY JASON LUTES (MR)
FCBD 2018 BOBS BURGERS
FCBD 2018 BONGO COMICS FREE-FOR-ALL
FCBD 2018 BOOM ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE SPECIAL
FCBD 2018 BRIEF HISTORY OF TANK GIRL
FCBD 2018 CRUSH
FCBD 2018 DIE KITTY DIE I LOVE YOU TO DEATH
FCBD 2018 FANTAGRAPHICS WORLDS GREATEST CARTOONISTS (MR
FCBD 2018 GHOST IN THE SHELL GLOBAL NEURAL NETWORK
FCBD 2018 GRAPHIX SPOTLIGHT SPARKS
FCBD 2018 HOWARD LOVECRAFTS BIG BOOK OF SUMMER FUN
FCBD 2018 INFINITY WATCH AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
FCBD 2018 INVASION
FCBD 2018 JAMES BOND VARGAR
FCBD 2018 LADY MECHANIKA
FCBD 2018 LEGEND OF KORRA & NINTENDO ARMS
FCBD 2018 MALIKA – CREED & FURY
FCBD 2018 MAXWELLS DEMONS #1
FCBD 2018 METABARON META GUARDIANESS AND TECHNO BARON
FCBD 2018 MIRACULOUS ADVENTURES
FCBD 2018 NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS ZEROS JOURNEY #0
FCBD 2018 ONLY LIVING BOY
FCBD 2018 RELAY #0
FCBD 2018 SCOUT COMICS PRESENTS THE MALL
FCBD 2018 SHADOW ROADS #1
FCBD 2018 SHADOWMAN SPECIAL
FCBD 2018 SILVER
FCBD 2018 SPONGEBOB FREESTYLE FUNNIES
FCBD 2018 STAR WARS ADVENTURES
FCBD 2018 STARBURNS PRESENTS #1
FCBD 2018 STRANGERS IN PARADISE XXV #1 (MR)
FCBD 2018 STREET ANGELS DOG
FCBD 2018 TICK 2018 FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
FCBD 2018 ULTRA STREET FIGHTER II #1
FCBD 2018 VIZ MY HERO ACADEMIA & RWBY
FCBD 2018 WORLDS OF ASPEN ANNIV ED
FCBD 2018 WORM WORLD SAGA
Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits the home theater on March 13 with Movies Anywhere, and then on March 27 is available on 4K Ultra HD™ Blu-ray and Blu-ray™ disc.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc is available in Dolby Vision™ HDR and Dolby Atmos® immersive audio. Director Rian Johnson put together a feature-length documentary, explaining his unique interpretation of the Force, detailing the painstaking process of creating Snoke, and deconstructing action-packed scenes from the film.
Bonus features include*:
• The Director and the Jedi – Go deep behind the scenes with writer-director Rian Johnson on an intimate and personal journey through the production of the movie—and experience what it’s like to helm a global franchise and cultural phenomenon.
• Balance of the Force – Explore the mythology of the Force and why Rian Johnson chose to interpret its role in such a unique way.
• Scene Breakdowns
o Lighting the Spark: Creating the Space Battle – Get a close-up look at the epic space battle, from the sounds that help propel the action, through the practical and visual effects, to the characters who bring it all to life.
o Snoke and Mirrors – Motion capture and Star Wars collide as the filmmakers take us through the detailed process of creating the movie’s malevolent master villain.
o Showdown on Crait – Break down everything that went into creating the stunning world seen in the movie’s final confrontation, including the interplay between real-world locations and visual effects, reimagining the walkers, designing the crystal foxes, and much more.
• Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only) – Writer-director Rian Johnson presents two exclusive sequences from the movie featuring Andy Serkis’ riveting, raw on-set performance before his digital makeover into Snoke.
• Deleted Scenes – 14 never-before-seen deleted scenes with an introduction and optional commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
• Audio Commentary – View the movie with in-depth feature audio commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
* Digital bonus offerings may vary by retailer.
Blu-ray™ Edition • The Multiscreen Edition (formerly the Blu-ray Combo Pack) includes Blu-ray, and a Digital copy, giving viewers the flexibility to watch the film on different devices.
4K UHD Collector’s Edition • Dolby Vision delivers greater brightness and contrast, as well as a fuller palette of vibrant colors.
• Dolby Atmos places and moves audio anywhere in the room, including overhead.
What home theater experience do you prefer? Comment below.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm back in 2012 they did not only buy the rights to Star Wars, they also acquired the rights to the Indiana Jones franchises. Deadline has already reported that Steven Spielberg has been eying up a fifth Indiana Jones movie as his follow-up project to Ready Player One and he has now confirmed he will start filming Indiana Jones 5 in the UK in April 2019.
Spielberg made the announcement when he was receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Rakuten TV Empire Awards in London. The Empire Awards are nominated and voted for by the readers of Empire Magazine.
Rumors about a fifth Indiana Jones film has been circling for years since the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull back in 2008. These include Shia LaBeouf’s character Mutt taking over the franchise, Chris Pratt being lined up to replace Harrison Ford as the iconic character and one story idea involving the Bermuda Triangle. It is hard to sift fact from fiction regarding these rumors, so it is best to wait for some official announcements.
As a fan of the series, I have a couple of requests for the fifth film – use as little CGI as possible and make the artifacts mystic. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull was a maligned because of favored CGI over practical effects, stupid scenes like Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a fridge and Mutt swinging from tree to tree with a load of monkeys and the one thing I will never get over – centering the plot around aliens!
There is no official release date but it would be easy to suspect that Indiana Jones 5 would come out in the summer of 2020 or 2021.
Spielberg latest film, Ready Player One, comes out on March 29 in the US and March 28 in the UK.
Tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead ‘The Key’ had several key moments, but we are going to focus on the battle between Rick and Negan.
Rick and Negan bring the thunder Sunday night, as the action was intimate and fast-paced. The setup, the battle, and the aftermath were well written and built significant tension leading up to the season finale.
There will be spoilers below!
The setup was a tone shift for the series. The Walking Dead is not known for its car chases, but the series took a chance, and it paid off. Negan had his bad-ass car totaled, and his bucket of blood went everywhere. All the pieces were properly placed for they mini-climax when Rick ambushed Negan. The only major critique has to be the green screen work of whoever is driving a car. The special effects are just bad. The cast and crew the series need to find another way to film those shots as the bad green screen work takes the audience out of the moment.
The battle was everything a fanboy or girl could want from an opening round fight. Negan and Rick both got some outstanding action sequences in, but it was Lucille who stole the show. Whoever wrote down, ‘fights the walkers with a flaming bat’ deserves a big-time raise. First off, Rick is the one who gets to take the best swings with the flaming Lucille, but Negan wins it back building the next round of battle. Rick was on a mission during this fight and seriously came in guns blazing using ever skill set he has. Negan was caught off guard by this, and it was interesting to see Negan react to Rick’s bombardment. This round definitely went to Rick.
The aftermath was perfect. Jadis coming to Negan’s rescue was a huge surprise and pumps up the excitement for the next episode. Her character is also the best go-between Rick and Negan. The only other character who could have had more impact who have been Morgan. Jadis and Morgan are wildcards, and now all bets are off, and the audience has no clue what is going to happen to Negan.
‘The Key’ was a very compelling episode, and that is you want from The Walking Dead.
Ocean City is the latest release from Dublin-based, Rogue Comics. This book represents a number of firsts for the young indie publisher. It marks their first ongoing series as well as the first book to come from outside their founding members. More importantly though, it is the first book to come from writer-artist, Colm Griffin. So how does it stack up?
Reading the open pages of Ocean City felt like being thrown back in time. The establishing paragraph invokes the opening screens of Streets of Rage or Blade Runner introducing you to a world dripping with history. The majority of this debut issue’s time is spent establishing the titular Ocean City as a character in and of itself. The cover, a stunning tribute to Citizen Kane, tells the story almost by itself. There is no doubt that this was once a wonderful place to live. A place that people would flock to, where dreamers dreamed and all was as it should be. Yet, as we are introduced to it, it’s clear that romantic Ocean City is dead and gone. It’s a world filled with fallen heroes, mysteries, and a sense that its best days are behind it. There is often the fear that issues like this fall into the exposition trap, but Griffin skillfully avoids this by channeling the voice of city through Mama, our narrator and a relic of what was once Ocean City. You are left with as much questions as you are answers. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Griffin was an old hand at this. To learn that this is his first comic only makes it more impressive.
Within the broken promises of Ocean City lies the dilemma of our central character, Dillon King (DK). Living in the slums known as “the Hollows” with his guardian, DK sees Ocean City for the prison it has become. Escape is his only solution. Some might say this is all standard dystopian affair, but Ocean City is proof positive that new voices can make old ideas feel fresh. It’s all in the execution. If there is a criticism to be made, it is only that we learn very little about DK in this inaugural issue. There are, however, enough hints throughout the narrative to leave us confident that later issues will dwell more on his journey. In that sense it does what any good premiere should so: leave us longing for more.
The art in Ocean City is cocaine for the eyes. Each page shines with a vibrancy that betrays the dark reality they represent. This juxtaposition cements the neon-noir aesthetic that Griffin hangs his laurels on. There is a dynamism in his panel composition that propels the story at breakneck pace from the very first page. It makes for a quick read, but one you want to revisit again and again. By the same token, Alice Coleman’s letters lure us in with the promise of a familiar, cartoonish superhero story. They lull us into a false sense of security which makes the fall of Ocean City’s heroes hit all the more harder. From early in the story we know they are doomed to fail, but something about Coleman’s letters offers us hope, only to have it ripped from under us once more.
Ocean City is a series that holds a lot of potential. It is a credit to Griffin that each panel oozes with the love and affection that comes from having a single authorial voice at the helm. If this is proof of what’s to come, then we are in for a treat. So dive in and experience Ocean City for yourself.
I Kill Giants hits select theaters and on-demand services next week, so it’s a perfect time to look back at the source material and see what made it such a big hit in the first place. Does the comic live up to the hype?
Barbara is not your normal 5th grader. She has multiple weird head accessories, reads whenever possible, and insists that she kills giants. As her behavior draws the concern of her family, her school therapist, and her new friend Sophia, Barbara does her best to stick to her mission and ensure she eliminates all giants who cross her path.
Writing
The story by Joe Kelly has you guessing through the entire experience. Part of the time the reader believes the giants and mythical beasts are all in Barbara’s head. Other moments make you think she’s telling the truth and she’s the only one who will be able to fight against these creatures only she is aware exist. The book will keep you guessing until the absolute last moments about which scenario is the truth.
Thanks to the intrigue presented through the storytelling, this book has you turning pages unable to put it down. It slowly builds to a point which is stirring and will resonate with you long after reading it. The only downside is some of the language used is a bit harsh. It feels like the kind of book you would like to give to a younger reader to help them understand the more impactful stories which comics can tell, but it may not be an ideal choice.
Artwork
JM Ken Nimura is the sole art designer for this book. The work produced is rough but effective. The characters seem deceptively simple but this lures the reader in and makes them unaware of the more adult drama which the book eventually resonates. The series is without color, but the effects seem to make up for this by making sure when the moments which have more highly detail art is captivating to look at.
The lettering also help drive the plot slowly towards the desired destination. The sound effects as the giants roar send a chill down your spine which are chilling. It is surprising this book was made by only one artist.
Conclusion
I Kill Giants is a book which should be in the library of every comic fan. It shows that comics don’t have to have multiple volumes, intense world changing events, or crossovers on top of crossovers to be entertaining. They just have to tell a good story with fantastic characters and memorable visuals.
Entertainment Weekly recently chatted with Avengers: Infinity War star Benedict Cumberbatch, who portrays Doctor Strange. What does the actor think of the Infinity War script? Well, after revealing he isn’t actually supposed to have read the whole thing, Cumberbatch goes on to call it “epic”.
“It’s just mind-blowingly epic. What I thought is, this just doesn’t stop. Once it starts, it does. Not. Stop. It’s just this horrible, brilliant, terrifying, at times funny, at times very moving, relentless action. It’s like everyone’s constantly in crisis, and catching up with themselves, and it’s really breathless to read a script like that. This isn’t a slow burn. You’re really thrown in helter-skelter. [Laughs] It’s got a lot of facets to it, but I think the main one for me was just how utterly relentless the events and action were.”
A new dynamic the film presents is collaboration between Tony Stark and Strange. The two brilliant minds are bound to have disagreements, which creates an interesting relationship between the characters, as explained by Cumberbatch.
“There’s a lot of interesting dynamic. They don’t always attract. So, sparks will hopefully fly, but at the same time, they’re united by a purpose that’s bigger than either of them, so they get their game on, put it that way. But, yeah, there are a few one-liners along the way.”
What do you expect Strange’s role to be in Avengers: Infinity War? Since the character is one of the more recent additions to the Marvel cinematic universe, will he see the spotlight or claim more of a supporting role? Speculate in the comments below!
“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.”
Avengers: Infinity War features Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
