Hey all- just a quick note on this. I don't think I've posted about Jonathan Hickman before, as I've only started reading him fairly recently. I've been following A Red Mass For Mars and just finally read The Nightly News last month. Anyways, this could be old news to everyone out there for all I know, but I feel like Jonathan is one of the more refreshing writers to land on the scene in the last few years and he's now on my list of must buy authors whenever I see he has something new.
Since I'm still playing catch up, I'm happy to see that the collected edition of Transhuman is in stores today via Image Comics. I'll try to write more about his stuff at a later date and maybe go into more detail about why I enjoy his work so much, but it's almost quitting time around these parts and I need to shove off to my shop and pick up my weekly bounty.
Next time you are perusing the graphic novel section of your LCS looking for something new and interesting, try to remember Jonathan Hickman. Pick up The Nightly News or Transhuman and flip through the pages to see what he's been doing. Hopefully you'll appreciate his stuff as much as I do.
DC Comics has released a five page preview of the final installment of Final Crisis, in stores tomorrow. Will this end up being the great, amazing event many were anticipating when it first started? For me personally, it could easily go either way. Looking forward to seeing how this wraps up and where the DC Universe stands in the aftermath.
Well hey- look at that. The first Battlefields story by Garth Ennis just wrapped up last week and we already have the first part of the next story hitting comic shelves tomorrow.
As I mentioned before, The Night Witches is one of the best war stories Ennis has delivered in a long time and hopes are high that the second chapter keeps with this trend.
CBR has a five page preview of Dear Billy. Check it out here.
Damn this thing looks pretty. Gianluca Pagliarani did the art for Aetheric Mechanics, which I finally got around to reading this past weekend (and was also great by the way).
This is high up on the list of most anticipated anythings for 2009.
First up- Torso, the 1998 crime comic by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko. Paramount had aquired the rights to this and David Fincher was attached to direct, but it looks like the film studio has let let their option expire.
The Celebrity Cafe, via The Hollywood Reporter: "Paramount has had the rights for "Torso" since January 2006. The project drew interest with Casey Affleck and Matt Damon with reports on Damon being Fincher's choice to portray Eliot Ness. Hollywood Reporter says the option for Paramount to extend their rights on the film adaptation expired. The studio still owns a screenplay written for the movie by Ehren Kruger. There are still discussions with Paramount and the comics' creators whom now hold the rights. Fincher still remains attached to the project at this time."
As for Seth Rogen's The Green Hornet, rumors abound that ever since Stephen Chow is seemingly no longer the director on this it looks like it might not end up happening for a while (if at all).
"According to Drew McWeeny of HitFix.com, "Ever since Stephen Chow started to waffle about his participation in the film, I've been hearing rumors that there were major hesitations at Sony. Then at Sundance, I heard several people say that the film was off completely. I spoke this afternoon with a source close to the film, and while they didn't call it completely dead, they did say it is 'highly unlikely' that the film will shoot in 2009 at all." Sony is still listing The Green Hornet for a June 25, 2010 release despite the rumors."
Lest anyone think that anything comic book related automatically gets a greenlight in ol' H-Wood these days, it appears there's still plenty of reservations and hesitation as there ever was at times.
In other news, Paul Blart II: Mall Coppier! is already in pre-production.
final crisis: superman beyond 2 battlefields: the night witches 3 green lantern 37 supergirl 37 dark avengers 1 mighty avengers 21 uncanny x-men annual 2 x-men legacy 220 astonishing x-men 28 x-factor 39 thunderbolts 128 x-men manifest destiny 5 trinity 34 conan the cimmerian 7 justice league of america 29
x-factor: on the opening recap page peter david begs his readers not to post spoilers about this issue. while i was turned off by a delusions of grandeur vibe in his self described plea, i will respect it. it's a good issue with a good twist and i'm eager for the next one.
superman beyond 2: grant morrison writes the best superman, though these two issues only exist to cram in a subplot that was apparently left out of the proper final crisis book.
thunderbolts: spider-man meeting obama? boring! andydiggle takes presidential cameos to a new level by sending the green goblin to attack obama on air force one!
uncanny x-men annual: matt fraction should write a namor monthly. and is there anyone in the marvel universe emma hasn't fucked? seriously.
i've also been reading a lot of little orphanannie vol.1 this week. the plots are funny, exciting and heartbreaking with beautiful, terrifying cartooning. little orphan annie makes me regret all my abortions. well, almost.
Have we talked about Battlefields: The Night Witches yet? No? All right, let's talk about it.
This is a wonderful three part World War II story written by Garth Ennis with art by Russ Braun. Published by Dynamite. The last issue just came out this week.
Ennis writes a lot of war stories. Some of them are good. Some of them are better than good. And a few are kind of meh. I just finished the third and final chapter of his latest and it's not only one of the best war stories of his I've read, it's one of his best stories in recent memory.
It's the Soviets vs the Nazis. This story is told from both perspectives. The Russian side follows the fighter pilots, specifically centered around The Night Witches- women pilots who fly their missions under the cover of darkness and who also don't get much respect from their male counterparts. On the German side you follow a regiment made up of the obligatory scum of the Earth type we've come to expect in these types of situations- except this particular unit is interesting since it includes a solider who is far more inclined to follow his own moral compass than he is at taking the horrific orders he's given by his head of command.
In three short installments, Ennis and Braun craft quite the captivating narrative. It's rich with history, violence, some interesting twists that you might not see coming and even brief glimpses of a love story. The idea of these "Night Witches" was so fascinating that one might think that ol' Garth had come up with a great fictionalized World War II story that seemed almost like it could have really happened. As it turns out, it's firmly grounded in facts. You can read more about The Night Witches here.
And as luck would have it, Battlefields continues on with a new story coming in a few weeks. If you haven't read this first one go and check it out. And be on the lookout for Battlefields: Dear Billy at your comic shop in the near future.
Hey all- just a quick note on this. I don't think I've posted about Jonathan Hickman before, as I've only started reading him fairly recently. I've been following A Red Mass For Mars and just finally read The Nightly News last month. Anyways, this could be old news to everyone out there for all I know, but I feel like Jonathan is one of the more refreshing writers to land on the scene in the last few years and he's now on my list of must buy authors whenever I see he has something new.
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