First Look: Ryan Reynolds' 'Green Lantern' Costume

The first image of Ryan Reynolds' costume for the Green Lantern movie (coming out next year) has hit the internet and has already divided fans. Some feel it's too far removed from the original suit and others feel it is an interesting shake-up of the source material. Many, like myself, are waiting to see it in action when the trailer inevitably premieres at Comic-Con in few weeks.

As a relatively new fan to the franchise, I don't see why they changed the suit that much. It would have been pretty easy to communicate to the Silver Screen, I mean it only had three colours; a small revamp would have been fine. I'm also not too happy about the revamped power ring, but i'll just wait for the trailer. BUT I'm very pleased with the domino mask. Finally a superhero has white over his eyes, just like in comic books, I love it!

Hurry up Green Lantern movie, I want to watch you.

Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween

DC's Absolute format is quickly becoming my favourite printing for comics. Much along the line of Marvel's Omnibus format, the comic collections are physically larger, come in nice slipcases (with a ribbon in each as a bookmark) and use a higher quality paper stock. While Marvel may collect more content, DC presents their most critically acclaimed and popular series in a stunning fashion, making these collections a must have.

'Batman: The Long Halloween' is a 13 part mini-series which is know a staple of the Batman mythos. The series, written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, deals with the early relationship of police sergeant Jim Gordon, district attorney Harvey Dent and the Batman. The three men form a trinity of justice (emulated in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight') to bring down corruption that all stems from one man. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone is the untouchable crime boss of Gotham City, and is making moves to eliminate any competition from anywhere in the city, all before someone strikes back.

The Holiday killer first strikes on Halloween and continues to make his presence known throughout the following year, dealing out a special form of justice by eliminating key members of the Falcone family. The three heroic characters are left questioning each other's loyalty to each other, as Batman's rogue's gallery twists and turns through the narrative with each and every character showing signs they could be Holiday. Even though you know where the story is headed, with Dent finally becoming Two-Face, the mystery makes this a story that you'll want to get through and process as quickly and deeply as you possibly can, just so you can deduce Holiday's identity and then read it all over again.

Jeph Loeb's story is extremely intriguing, and will have you reading and re-reading for any clue you could have missed. Every major Batman villain makes an appearance, and the story gives the reader a great insight into Harvey Dent's life before he became Two-Face. Tim Sale's art is edgy and sharp, his characters leap from the pages and are enveloped in shadows that help to convey the dark tone of the book. His renderings of the characters include a deformed Joker, a Poison Ivy wrapped in her namesake and a scarred and mentally broken Two-Face. The collection is introduced by a foreword from Christopher Nolan and David Goyer, and includes many extras which offer an insight into the design of the series' covers, which are all visually stunning (April Fool's Day is my personal favourite). This is a collection that needs to be owned by any true fan of Batman, and the story definately deserved the Absolute treatment.

The End of a Two Month Long Era

Well, it's finally happened. The harsh reality of my economic situation has caught up to the whimsical way in which I make my purchases, and so it all must come to an end. The buying of monthly comic books has to end.

But, it will not be the end of me, for lovely hardcover collections grease the shelves every few weeks and I will do my best to get my hands on them. And if a particularly intriguing mini-series is released (such as 'Darkstar and the Winter Guard, issue #2 out this week) I will buy, cheat, beg or steal my way into it's glossy pages.

But that isn't the point of this post, the point of this post is to point (HA! Repetition!) out that i will continue to strive on and deliver reviews of the the hardcovers that come out for the series (plural) i'm reading. At the moment i'll be catching up, looking at : Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth, Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween, Absolute Dark Knight and Batwoman: Elegy. All DC I know, but I am trying to diversify, which really defeats the purpose and meaning of itself (HA! Paradox!). I'd like to mention that i'm loving Amazon at the moment, ordering Absolute GL on Monday and getting it by Friday is my kind of delivery service.

Before I go, I'll leave you with my series to watch, in the hope that unlike myself, you have the money to buy them:

Hawkeye and Mockingbird (Issue #1 sold out and is being reprinted, to be simultaneously released with issue #2 this week)
Secret Avengers (Again, sold out and reprinting with issue #2 this week)
Batwoman: Elegy (already released in Detective Comics and recently came out in hardcover, but she'll be getting her own solo series very soon)
Batman & Robin (getting closer to the big finale and still rocking it. I feel bad for liking Dick Grayson as Batman more than Bruce Wayne)
Green Lantern (Geoff Johns is still going strong with this series and shows no sign of stopping)
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (with Jonah Hex starring next issue, and pirate Batman in the last one, this series is serving as another chapter in Grant Morrison's epic Batman tale, and it's awesome)
Daredevil (Shadowland is just around the corner, get ready to have the Marvel universe turned upside-down)

Well, that's all i'll care to mention, but I'm going to do my best to keep this blog as interesting as possible, and diversify my reviews and updates into gaming as well. This is only the beginning.

I've got Batman fever

Last Sunday I walked to the train station and it started to rain five minutes into the journey. I kept going. Then I missed the train by a minute and had to wait another 20. My resolve wasn't weakened. I was on my way to the city, to buy Batman & Robin. I had seen it on the shelf the last time I was in the comic shop, and would have bought it then if I had had enough money on me. 'Batman & Robin, The Deluxe Edition: Batman Reborn', how could I have not wanted it? I'd read all the reviews for the new series, and was interested to read Dick Grayson as Batman, and so far, i'm really enjoying the series. But recently I read that Frazer Irving (my nemesis from The Return of Bruce Wayne #2) will be taking over art duties on Batman & Robin from #13, and i'm really hoping I can still enjoy the series after just discovering it.

It didn't help that I got the Gam of the Year Edition of Batmn: Arkham Asylum last week either. It quickly became my favourite game, even though those fights with Scarecrow started to get annoying towards the end. And throwing three Batarangs at once? Yes please. I'm stoked that the sequel is coming out later this year, and it's going to be set in Gotham City which is going to expand the game play area immensely. Seeing the inside of the asylum was great, and fighting all of Batman's old villains was a fantastic way for me to stretch the old brain muscles. On a side note I almost crapped myself while playing the Killer Croc level and my phone rang when it was right next to me. To have five minutes of tense silence shattered in mere seconds, it nearly killed me.

And speaking of Arkham Asylum, I picked up issues #864 and #865 while I was at the comic shop and they were really great, something I wasn't really expecting. Not that I have anything against DC or Detective Comics, I just thought that a series that has bee going for that long must have lost some of its appeal, and I was dead wrong. The art was nice and simple, the story was engaging (even though i didn't know half of the characters, especially Alyce Sinner?) and the two issues lasted me the whole train ride home. Once again, i've added another title onto my ever growing list of comics to buy every month.

Of ocurse this all staretd with the great review of 'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne' issue one, and i'm sticking with that intriguing miniseries. To see Bruce Wayne flying through time and still being an awesome fighter and detective is a bit of a thrill, I must admit. Of course Batman #700 comes out tomorrow, so i'll be getting that as well, and it'll give new readers like me a good insight into the history of the Bat. Next week the Joker's Asylum II one-shots continue with Harley Quinn's installment, and i'll be getting that too.

Batman is good, but the amount of merchandise available surrounding him isn't good for my wallet.

BREAKING NEWS: The Captain America Movie Costume

Yesterday we got an in depth description of the costume and today we get an image of what it looks like. And they're telling the world it's the real deal.

It looks fantastic, the elements of the helmet blend seemlessly with the look of the Captain's hood in the comics and the red stripes on his shirt being made up of two straps was a genius move.

And of course the shield is present, let's hope they start remaking the replicas when the movie comes out. Because I want one.

The great thing about this costume is that it wouldn't look out of place in World War II or on the streets of New York today, fighting alonside Thor and Iron Man.

Well, we have the costume, all we need is a picture of Huge Weaving as the Red Skull, a plot synopsis and a movie poster. Then it'll just be up to Chris Evans and the rest of the cast to amaze the world.

My Comics for the month of June 2010 [UPDATED]

I'm back again for another installment of Mark's pull list. Last month was quite eventful in the fact that I picked up a few series that I didn't mean to, and wasn't disappointed. But enough talk, I know what you want, you want to know what I want, so here we go (sorry, no linking to covers this month, the more comics the harder it is to find all there cover art. i'm a terrible blogger.):


Angel #34 (30/6/2010) - Well, seems I got my numbering wrong last month, so here we are at issue 34! James has revealed himself to be something that isn't in fact an angel, and now he's going to rip the Angel team a new one. By proxy of course. Elena Casagrande took over art duties from Denham last issue and did a great job, and Willingham's story is still a thrill. I always look forward to picking up this series every month, and so should you.

Angel Barbary Coast #3 (30/6/2010) - The final issue of this miniseries features many things: cable-cars, vampires and a dragon. What's not to love? Angel's chances of winning against a giant fire-breathing lizard don't seem to be great, but i'm sure he'll figure it out. The next miniseries after this one falls to Spike in 'Spike: the Devil you know'.

Avengers #2 (23/6/2010) - The Avengers are back and Kang has provided them with their first adventure: sort out your kids. So it's a hop, skip and a jump away into the time stream, but not before they find a time machine. Oh, and fight Wonder Man who's still convinced putting the Avengers back together is a bad idea. I'm interested to see where this title will go, and to see hwo the last member of the Avengers is, or if i'm imagining if there is anyone else.

Avengers Prime #1 (3/6/2010) - The story that bridges the gap between Siege and the Heroic Age is this! Steve Rogers, Iron Man and Thor go on a little side adventure to mend their broken friendship, so they can all get along again in the new world order. A bi-monthly, five-part miniseries.

Avengers: The Origin #3 (3/6/2010) - We're halfway through this miniseries and I don't feel any forward momentum whatsoever. Last issue was mostly a dream (or nightmare) which Loki sent to Thor's brain. Thrilling? Not so much. But i'm sticking with it to see them get together (eventually) as the Avengers. Plus a fantastic cover for this issue.

Batman #700 (9/6/2010) - As a lovely person on CBR's forum pointed out to me, if I want to start reading Batman, #700 is the issue for me. This issue is going to chronicle the lives of the different Bats (Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne) and serve as an anniversary issue. Perfect time to jump on for me and for anyone else who wants to start reading Batman. And 700 issues? Now that's a milestone.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 (16/6/2010) - An intriguing miniseries that has me wondering, what the hell is going on here? Now Bruce Wayne is on the swashbuckling high seas with Blackbeard, while Superman, the Green Lantern, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter try to find their friend before he destroys reality. I'm sticking with this series and trying to get into other Batman titles as well. Come on, it's Batman!

Black Widow #3 (16/6/2010) - With Elektra's appearance at the end of last issue, and looking at the cover for this one, I can guarantee there's going to be a little tension between the two ladies. Daredevil jealousy perhaps? The artwork for this series has been fantastic, I love the painted style and washed out colours. Buy this series!

Daredevil #507 (9/6/2010) - Daredevil is back after a bi-monthly stint (which is over now, thankfully), and racing towards Shadowland. But before we get there, Matt Murdock needs to resolve the Hand situation in Japan and figure out what's happened to White Tiger. We lose the Japanese theme in the cover this month, but gain a great display of DD's radar sense instead.

Darkstar and the Winter Guard #1 (3/6/2010) - Nostroyvia! The Winter Guard are back after the success of their Hulk one-shot. Who knows, if this three part miniseries sells well enough we might be seeing more of them in th months and years to come. I am certainly hoping that we do. Red Guardian! Darkstar (obviously!)! Crimson Dynamo! Ursa Major! Russians! ASSEMBLE!

Green Arrow #1 (23/6/2010) - Green Arrow gets a relaunch this month, so I thought what a perfect place to jump on and read me some DC! The Emerald Archer is living in Star City Forest and shooting at punks (as you do), and i'm looking forward to reading this one. If it's good, i'll continue. If it doesn't impress me, could it lead to Mark not buying into DC Comics anymore? Stay tuned! I'll be reviewing this one.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #1 (3/6/2010) - Now this is a series i've seen waiting for! I love Hawkeye, bow and arrow rules, screw modernity. Clint Barton is back together with Mockingbird, his erstwhile wife and current girlfriend, and along with a new team are taking on the world's terrorists. This book has mega potential and i'll be very excited to get my hands on it this week.

Heroic Age: Prince of Power #2 (9/6/2010) - BUY THIS SERIES. DO IT NOW.
Fantastic miniseries and I hope it won't be the last we see of Amadeus Cho and Hercules, as well as the plethora of fantastic supporting characters. We last saw Amadeus being confronted by Thor after Vali Halfling tricked the boy genius into sneaking into the Asgardian apple orchard right after all the apples were stolen! Why is this starting to sound like a kids' book...

Secret Avengers #2 (30/6/2010) - Ed Brubaker's team of secret heroes are on their way to Mars to rescue Nova, who discarded his awesome helmet for the Serpent Crown. Roxxon, that oh-so-evil energy corporation are at something again and it's up to Steve Rogers and his super spies to figure it out. With Shadow Council Nick-Fury-lookalike man attacking Sharon Carter back on planet Earth, when will we find out just what the hell is going on? Great series, buy it!

Serenity: Float Out #1 (3/6/2010) - We all loved Firefly, we all loved Serenity, we all loved Wash. So Joss Whedon stuck the nose of a spaceship through him. Why do I put up with you Whedon? A one-shot story from Dark Horse that chronicles three different stories of Wash from three different people who knew him. Written by Patton Oswalt actor/comedian/writer/(minor bad guy in Daredevil? Chico, look him up) and illustrated by Patric Reynolds, this will be a great add-on to the growing Serenity comics library.

The New Avengers #1 (16/6/2010) - One thing Marvel likes to do is spread their characters across several teams. A marketing strategy you say? No! They wouldn't do that! Anyway, New Avengers gets a relaunch this month with a few old faces but a few new ones too. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Man, Wolverine and The Thing are the members i'm sure of, but let's hope there are some different characters in the mix as well. Doctor Strange and Iron Fist seems like good and likely candidates. *cough* Iron Fist *cough*

The New Avengers: Luke Cage #3 (23/6/2010) - The final issue of this miniseries, which has been an interesting look back at Luke's days in Harlem. We're still slugging our way to the bad guy right now, but run ins with Hammerhead and Wheelchair-man have kept the action moving along nicely. Nothing fantastic in this series but if you're a fan of Luke Cage I think you'll enjoy it.

Thunderbolts #144/#145 (OUT NOW/ 23/6/2010) - A great series brought to my attention again by CBR, with Luke Cage taking the reins of another title's team. I've been reading Thunderbolts for about 20 or 30 issues back and i've found it really interesting. I wasn't going to pursue the series monthly (maybe getting the hardcovers if and when they came out) but after the review it got (here) I thought i'd better get out and take a look. Issue #144 came out last week but I neglected to get it, so here it is listed today. They better not be sold out...

'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2' thoughts

As you may have guessed from my frequent Marvel posts, I'm not a big reader of DC comics. Besides Batman, I've never been a huge fan of the DC characters. Superman can do just about anything, where's the fun in that? So, I choose Marvel as my source of entertainment, and I think it's a wise choice; nothing against DC but I prefer my heroes in New York rather than Metropolis. But 'Green Arrow' #1 comes out next month and I will give it a try, promise.

So my decision to read 'The Return of Bruce Wayne' was influenced merely by the review of issue #1 courtesy of Comic Book Resources.com. I'm completely out of the loop on DC events, so Infinite and Final Crisis mean nothing to me except that Batman is back in time and has no idea who he is. So it was interesting to see in issue #1 that the bat motif follows him everywhere (even in caveman times), and that he's making his way back to the 21st century. Just after we see Batman disappear into time again Superman, the Green Lantern, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter turn up and Superman states he can hear every heartbeat on the planet and Bruce Wayne's isn't one of them. Get over yourself Kent.

Anyway, this post has nothing to do with any of that, I'm here to talk about Frazer Irving's artwork in #2. Grant Morrison's story is interesting to say the least, and I look forward to pirate Batman next month, but I honestly hope Irving is done. After Chris Sprouse's straight forward pencils of issue #1 where the characters are easily indentifiable and clean cut, Irving's renderings are horrible. I'm sorry, but they are. I have the utmost respect for different approaches to comic artwork (Brian Michael Bendis' "Echo" arc on Daredevil and the current run of Black Widow are fantastic examples of beautiful artwork that moves on from the norm), but Irving's character work is awful. His forst scenes are BEAUTIFUL, the oranges, yellow and reds of the trees in autumn are stunning and the colouration fits in perfectly with the Halloween vibe I got from this issue. But at times it is nigh impossible to determine Bruce Wayne from fellow witch hunter Malleus (Nathaniel Wayne, his great ancestor of course), and in one panel it looks like Booster Gold's face is melting off his skull. What happened to the awesome bat themed costume on the cover? It had a great mix of Salem witch hunt and Batman and looked fantastic, it's a shame we didn't get to see it anywhere in the story.

Now I hate, hate, HATE having a go at comic book artists (I'm fine with attacking writers) because I know I'll never be able to do what they do. It seems any drawing talent I once had has eradicated itself from my body, who knows how many times I've tried to draw Iron Fist and failed miserably, but I also hate seeing artwork that ruins the characters in a story. With Yanick Paquette taking over art duties next issue, all I can do is hope that 'The Return of Bruce Wayne' develops into a great little miniseries and doesn't kill my interest in DC stone dead.