Justice Blog of America

Yep, the World’s Mightiest Mortal is heading for the silver screen:

Warner Bros. has staked “Get Smart” director Peter Segal and his Callahan Filmworks partner Michael Ewing to a three-year first-look deal.

Segal and Ewing kick off the pact with “Liam McBain: International Tennis Star and Proper English Geezer,” a Chip Hall-scripted spec. Segal will develop to direct a film that follows the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of a fictional British tennis star of the ’80s.

As part of the deal, WB has also acquired the John August-scripted “Captain Marvel”; Segal will direct the DC Comics adaptation. He and Ewing began working on the film two years ago at New Line, but the property has moved over to WB. Pic tells the story of teenaged Billy Batson, who transforms into the superhero when he says the word “Shazam!”

I’ve always thought that Captain Marvel and Billy Batson would make for a better movie (or a better television show) than Superman. Superman is just a known commodity. He’s been in print non-stop for almost 70 years. Captain Marvel is a beloved old character, but still one that is trapped in time. Sure, D.C. is doing it’s best to rape the characters to death, but I doubt many people are paying much attention.

There aren’t going to be any screaming fanboys complaining if Mary Marvel isn’t portrayed as a psychotic decked out of fetish leather drag.

Just as long as they don’t have him traveling the highways and byways in a Winnebago with some old fart named Mentor.

The people who run D.C. comics cannot stop with the gimmicks. There are, I think, some six or seven multi-issue, mega-cross-overs going on right this instant. All of them involving every character in the D.C. universe, and all of them supposedly designed to change everything.

Meanwhile, the best books are those that focus on character development, smart writing and crisp art. Few of these books are coming out of D.C.

So what’s the latest gimmick? They are sending the Man of Steel into space for about a year. Of course, they are doing this gimmick while the titles are undergoing a renaissance.

Just like they did in 1988. And as I recall, they brought him back to take part in what-the-hell-ever super mega cross over was being done THAT year, then had him go off again for a few months once it was over.

Oh-gee-will-he-ever-come-back.

Oh, for the love of God, will someone please rid us of DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio.

The fine folks at Den of Geek are keeping a running list of comics books/graphic novels that are in various stages of being turned into movies. They are up to 84.

But is that enough for these guys? No! They have a new list:  Eight comic book characters Hollywood is ignoring.

On the list? Howard the Duck. No. Seriously.

Howard was on the shelves during my formative comic buying years.

As I recall, I would rather get caught buying Young Romance.

So, I’m reading AICN comic reviews and I came across Ambush Bug’s mini review of Green Arrow/Black Canary No. 14. I was blown away by this passage:

This issue seemed a bit rushed and unfinished. I don’t know if [writer Judd Winick's]  departure was a sudden thing, but that’s the way this issue reads. Sure I gave him flack for using Connor as a punching bag and getting splinters on his feet from the soapbox he was standing on by force-feeding AIDsy the Teen Sidekick on us, but when Judd focused on the action and super-heroing, this was a fun comic to read.

Really? Did he really use ‘AIDsy the Teen Sidekick’ to refer to character Mia Dearden, Green Arrow’s adoptive  daughter and young crime fighting partner, named “Speedy,” who is HIV positive? Yes, he did.

For those who don’t know “geek out” is my phrase for that odd combination of nostalgia and tingly excitement I feel when the elements pop culture I loved in my youth are updated in new and exciting ways.

THIS is one of those times: Continue reading ‘New Batman series looks like a Silver Age geek out’

Legion of Superheroes, No. 47. I forget how many issues exactly former Marvel EIC Jim Shooter has been writing this book. Maybe that’s a mercy. I know that Shooter’s original run on this book (at least three resets ago) is considered legendary. But I have finally concluded that Shooter is not the guy for this book. Yes, I know that the whole concept of Dream Girl being dead, but being alive inside Brainiac 5’s head was put into play before Shooter took over. And if you think about it, it’s a logical pairing of Intellect and Intuition.

But as this issue illustrates, Shooter lacks the subtle touch necessary for the situation. In this issue, he has Brainy consulting a psychic, who arranges for Dreamy to possess her body so the two can have an actual physical date. And as it’s made implied, Brainy and the woman do the nasty thing. And the artwork of Art Leonardi and Dan Green is apparently something we are going to have to suffer through while all the good artists are sucked into one of DC’s never-ending parade of super-duper, the-DC-Universe-will-never-be-the-same weekly crossover series.

I am comforted by two facts: The original Legion of Superheroes — an adult version of the kids Superboy used to hang with, minus the Keith Giffen 5-year-later-continuity — are still kicking around; as is the acceptable follow-up that includes the Legion Lost storyline. This version had signs of promise, but Shooter is taking a bug fat dump all over the series.

Two out of 5 stars.

Supergirl, No. 35. I’m quite fond of what D.C. is doing with the Superman mythos recently. They have pretty much given up the ghost on the John Byrne version that he brought to DC some 20 years ago, and then abandoned. In this version, Superman was the ONLY survivor of Krypton. No Supergirl, no Krypto, no Phantom Zone criminals, no bottled city of Kandor.

Well, they are ALL back now, and I’m loving it. Clark Kent is a nerdy guy who is the butt of Steve Lombard’s practical jokes again.

Part of the renaissance is the recent New Krypton storyline, which deals with the aftermath of Superman’s rescue of Kandor from the clutches of what turns out to be the real Brainiac. The others were just impostors.

But, Kandor is now longer bottled and safely tucked away in the Fortress of Solitude. It’s been returned to normal size and the inhabitants are roaming the Earth, a fact that has a certain presumed dead military figure plotting to do away with Kandorians and the Superman family.

So how does this play out in the pages of Supergirl? She’s arguing with her parents in the Metropolis apartment she shares with Lana Lang, now a business columnist for the Daily Planet. It seems they want her to return to Kandor with them, while she wants to spread her wings in the big city.

I can see why. Because as people who can fly at, I dunno, close to the speed of light, it’s not like she could visit each other in less time it takes you or me to get a can of soda from the fridge. Any excuse for angst.

I’ve ranted about this before, but I hate the direction this book has been taking. They have poor Kara wallowing in teen girl angst, being victimized by boyfriends and being haunted my memories of her parents being evil. At one point, they had her possessed by Phantom Zone ghosts while crystal spikes erupted from her body.

Her horrified parents diagnose this is a case of Kryptonite poisoning that must be cured immediately. But the process releases repressed memories. Thankfully, the memories gibe with the current plot line. So maybe — MAYBE — we are done with “poor-little-Kara-copes-with-her-demons” stories for a while.

I somehow doubt it.

If anyone wants to know how to best do a Supergirl comic — check out how she was used in opening The Brave and the Bold story arc, especially her team-ups with Green Lantern and Lobo. She is a cute, flirty, self-assured and just a tiny bit vulnerable. Not. One. Moment. Of. Angst.

This one was brought to us by Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle and Keith Champagne.

3 out of 5 stars.

You you, when I was a little kid, I would have completely geeked out over this trailer. The only think that could have made it better would be is Green Hornet and Kato were guest stars: Continue reading ‘Da da da da da da da da da da da da Batman! Batman! Batman!’

Amazing Spider-Man, No. 578. This is yet another Marvel Comic that has wormed its way back onto my must-buy list. After the artistic abortion that was Civil War, I thought Spider-Man was going to be eternally dead to me. But Marvel pulled a DC, and pressed the magic do-over button, in the form of some mystic mumbo-jumbo that changes history so that Pete never revealed his identity to the world. Part of the deal was that the part about marrying Mary Jane never happened ever.

Yeah. I know.

But it worked.

Spidey is better than ever. Pete is still the nerdy guy struggling with keeping a job and the other mundane tasks of life while trying to live up to the responsibilities great power bestows.

This issue opens with Webhead sitting  in the rain on a ledge under a make-shift web umbrella trying to enjoy some Chinese takeout. He’s got to get across town to meat up with Aunt May, but he doesn’t have money for subway fare. He finds a lost fare card and is on his way. He meets up with a hot model who just happens to need someone who can take pictures.

But Pete’s luck is true to form, and the subway explodes. He runs into an old villain and a family member of another.

The action  flows nicely, and Spidey is as full of quips as ever.

All and all, writer Mark Waid and artist Marcos Martin turned in a fine effort.

This makes the third ASM in a row I took home with me.

Terra, No. 1 and No. 2: How long has it been since this new version of Terra appeared  appeared for the first time in the pages of Supergirl? I forget. It was so long, I had forgotten to keep an eye out for this new title. And I WAS keeping an eye out for it. That issue was probably the best issue yet of the uneven Supergirl title, and almost perfectly presented lighthearted, whimsical version of the Girl of Steel.

So I was surprised when I saw issue No. 2 on the “new this week” section, and pleasantly surprised when I saw issue No. 1 in the “past issues” wall. In fact, I was so surprised, I accidentally bought two copies of No. 2. I hate it when that happens.

“Terra” is brought by the same artistic team — well, the penciler for sure, I’m not sure about inker and writer. And the “good girl” art style is great, perfect for the “guest star,” the super-endowed Power Girl, who is drawn like a Nazi dominatrix in virtually ever other DC comic in which she appears.

Issue No. 2 is an especial treat, as the title character prances around naked for the first three pages. And Kara leans over a lot, which is always nice.

The story? Frankly, I found it to be standard super-hero fare without a lot of character development. And here is something I’d like to see once in a while: A doctor OTHER than Dr. Mid-Nite treating an injured superhero. At least Mr. Terrific wasn’t called in to consult.

All in all, a good effort from Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor.

Coming soon, reviews of the most recent Supergirl and Legion of Superheroes.