Monthly Archives: January 2011

Review: UNCANNY X-FORCE: The Apocalypse Solution

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“You will grow to hurt millions of people.  You can’t help yourself.  You are Apocalypse.”

What would you do if you could kill evil before it became evil? This is the question that UNCANNY X-FORCE has asked us in it’s inaugural storyline. No longer sanctioned by the X-Men as a result of events in the Second Coming storyline and now covertly operating under Wolverine’s control, the team is comprised of the Marvel Universe’s most morally ambiguous characters, uniting to stop all threats to mutantkind before they become a threat. Rick Remender’s opening story doesn’t pull any punches, as the team faces old school X-Men villain Apocalypse…reincarnated as an innocent boy.

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PREVIEW: “Days Missing: Kestus” #3

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We’ve been mostly quiet about DAYS MISSING: KESTUS, largely because we’ve just been so gosh darned busy.  Well, take it from us, it’s just as good as the first DAYS MISSING was, and The Steward’s complicated past is catching up to him quickly.  You really owe yourself to take a look at this one.  Preview pages follow.

PREVIEW: “Cyclops” #3

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I don’t know if you guys have been paying attention, but we’re really digging on Archaia’s CYCLOPS mini-series.  The story’s been exciting as hell, and really dives into some incredible story lines as the line between celebrity and human starts to blur.  CYCLOPS #3 is hitting stores this week; if you’ve not caught up yet, we highly recommend you do so.  Preview pages follow.

FLASHPOINT To Include 15 Mini Series Tie-Ins

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So, today DC started FLASHPOINT FRIDAYS over on the source, wherein they tease the upcoming FLASHPOINT event.  And, you know, I’d figured it was just that: an event.  But DC instead seems hellbent on achieving epic, and has announced today that FLASHPOINT will include a mammoth 15 mini series tie-ins, as well as a number of one shots.

I really can’t begin to stress how horrible an idea I feel this is.  The primary complaint of events from any publisher is that there are far too many tie-ins.  FLASHPOINT is being proposed as a full on revamp of current titles, a universe changing event, but rather than having the event overtake the core titles they’ll be releasing 15 additional books tying into it.

As a comic book fan on a budget, I am somewhat appalled by this.  For a company that’s current marketing strategy is “Holding The Line At $2.99″, this seems like an ill fated move, and one that will most likely hurt the crossover in the end.  If DC isn’t willing to give FLASHPOINT their full support by allowing it to overtake the core titles, as is obvious the intention originally was, then why am I going to give it a chance by spending extra money on books that I wouldn’t normally collect?  Only time will tell if this is a worthwhile venture.

Black Panther on the Big Screen

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Last year Marvel announced that it was planning to bring the Marvel U to life without the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. Aiming to knock out a series of movies all connected together (you would assume so anyway) but for a budget of 20-40 million. There were a couple of characters listed that caught my eye and some that I wished were there but aren’t. Now Black Panther isn’t mentioned on that list but as we found out a little while ago the project is in development and currently has a writer attached and as were are at that stage of affairs the casting rumors have begun to fly. I came across an article online a couple of days ago which had the most comprehensive list of actors who are either rumored to be inline for the job or just some wishful thinking. However it turns out it still got me thinking… who would I like to see ass T’Challa.

Now I wan’t to make it perfectly clear that I have very little knowledge of Black Panther, as a hero he didn’t really appear on my radar until a couple of years ago and even then I haven’t gone out of my way to find out more but as of December I have been forced to deal with him as he is now the protector of Hells Kitchen in Black Panther: The Man Without Fear Because of this I now feel that I should be paying more attention to T’Challa!

The roll of T’Challa is a tough one I feel. The person responsible for bringing him to life has to deal with a number of things.

  1. T’Challa is Wakandan royalty so they need to be able to portray a convincing monarch
  2. He needs a certain amount of charisma otherwise T’Challa will come off as Prince Namor and lets face it, nobody really needs that much attitude in their face
  3. It’s a super hero movie to the guy has to look like he can handle himself, Black Panther has no heat rays or energy blasts. He can only dispose his foes with face crushing blows and possibly a little help from some tech

Considering all of these things I think that there is only one man for the job. That man is Chiwetel Ejiofor if you don’t know who he is you can find out more here but for me he will always be known as The Operative. He poseses the acting chops to be able to pull off almost any roll. He is capable of mixing it up with some action and he is totally bad ass! I agree that last statement is the fanboy in me talking but you know what? I don’t care because as all fanboys know, my opinion is the right one! That being said however please feel free to continue the discussion below in the comments section!

Am I wrong here or is that a man who looks like T’Challa?

ThunderCats Are…Oh. Oh God.

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THUNDERCATS Gets A Revamp.

Source.

I get it.  Old things need facelifts.  The revamped HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE was pretty great, I’ll admit it.  So THUNDERCATS?  Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be awesome.  But this half assed anime ripoff style just isn’t going to cut it.  Remember the original?  Remember how Cheetara was your first crush (guys, you know what I’m talking about)?  She looks like a flea bitten shrew.  Panthro is bald and looks like Hudson from GARGOYLES, and….I mean, Christ, Tygra has a gun.

Despite the anime style and the presence of a Japanese animation company, THUNDERCATS is being designed for American audiences and the WB, and is slated to air on Cartoon Network later this year.

Super duper, not safe for dial up high def image here.

PRESS RELEASE: Archaia Formally Announces AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON

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An Elegy For Amelia Johnson

‘AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON’ LEADS THE WAY FOR ARCHAIA’S 2011 ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL SLATE

COMPASSIONATE STORY OF A CANCER PATIENT TELLS A TRUE TALE OF FRIENDSHIP AND IS ALREADY BEING HAILED AS ‘ONE OF THE BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS OF 2011’

Los Angeles, CA (January 24, 2011) – Following the critical acclaim and success of titles like Tumor, Return of the Dapper Men, Syndrome and Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard in 2010, Archaia is excited to announce the first title that will kick off its original graphic novel slate for 2011: AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON, written by Andrew Rostan with art by Dave Valeza and Kate Kasenow.

AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON (digest-sized, 5.25” x 8.25”, black and white, 128 pages, $14.95) tells the story of a young woman dying of cancer who asks her two best friends to travel across the country to hand-deliver personalized goodbye messages to individuals from her past. A moving portrait of friendship, hope, coping and loss, AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON speaks to all readers who have ever had to say goodbye to a loved one.

Known for delivering stories of depth, this black-and-white, slice-of-life drama continues the publisher’s tradition of putting out unique graphic novels that readers can only find at Archaia.

“With gorgeous art, beautiful production, and a story that anyone who has ever lost a loved one can relate to, I can’t think of a better book to kick off Archaia’s 2011 graphic novel slate than AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON,” says Archaia Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy. “A terminal illness is definitely not your run-of-the-mill comic book fare, and I’m really proud of the positive message of love and hope put forth in this book by Andrew, Dave and Kate. I promise this will be an entirely different reading experience than any other graphic novel you’ll buy this year.”

With AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON, Archaia once again debuts new graphic novelists to the world. This is writer Andrew Rostan, Dave Valeza and Kate Kasenow’s first graphic novel work. Rostan, a former champion of the TV game show “Jeopardy,” even used a portion of his winnings to help produce AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON. The beautifully rendered but simple and clean style of artists Valeza and Kasenow bring Rostan’s triumphant freshman script to life and make it accessible for all readers.

“AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON is a story about the best of humanity; of how people need each other, love each other, live for each other,” says Rostan. “It seems only appropriate that a story about our connections is a magnificent collaborative effort.  To have people like Dave and Kate bring my words to life is an honor beyond measure. And to be working with Archaia, a publisher which not only prizes innovative graphic storytelling but also collaborates to the fullest with their talent, is the dream of any artist.”

Newsarama’s Jill Pantozzi raves, “It’s still early in the year but don’t miss out on [AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON]. Trust me when I say it will be named one of the best graphic novels of 2011.”

AN ELEGY FOR AMELIA JOHNSON is currently available for pre-order in comic shops (Diamond Order Code: JAN11 0937) and wherever books are sold (ISBN: 978-1932386837). It is scheduled for release in March.

About Archaia

Archaia has built an unparalleled reputation for producing meaningful content that perpetually transforms minds. Archaia is: Artesia, Awakening, Beautiful Scars, Berona’s War, The Black Knight, Critical Millennium, Cyclops, The Dark Crystal, Dark Fall, Days Missing, The Devil’s Handshake, An Elegy for Amelia Johnson, The Engineer, Everlast, Feeding Ground, Fraggle Rock, God Machine, The Grave Doug Freshley, Gunnerkrigg Court, Hybrid Bastards!, Inanna’s Tears, Johnny Recon, The Killer, Killing Pickman, Labyrinth, The Lone and Level Sands, Lucid, Miranda Mercury, Moon Lake, Mouse Guard, Mr. Murder Is Dead, Okko, One in a Million, Primordia, Return of the Dapper Men, Robotika, Saga, The Secret History, Some New Kind of Slaughter, Starkweather: Immortal, Syndrome, A Tale of Sand, Titanium Rain, Trial By Fire, and Tumor.

For more information on Archaia or any Archaia titles please visit www.Archaia.com. Archaia can also be found on Facebook (facebook.com/ArchaiaEntertainment), Twitter (twitter.com/Archaia) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/ArchaiaEntertainment).
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