Nerdy News

A few blog-worthy bits of Nerdy News today...

Via AintItCool.com we have this lovely Watchmen cover from this weeks Entertainment Weekly. Likely one of the many that will be appearing between now and when it's released in 2009, this one in particular seems to be filled with nerdy bits. Star Trek, Terminator and more!? I'm sold. Here is the link to the article itself online with some other pictures.

Of course your Watchmen fix could not be complete without seeing the first trailer which Apple posted today. I haven't watched it yet actually, I'm waiting until I see it in theaters before The Dark Knight this weekend.

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Once again, The Sun has solidified it's foothold as one of the most dedicated media outlets in the world. They've discovered our sweet, charming Black Canary has dabbled in S&M. I know, I know, it's tough to hear. Personally, I'm holding back tears. Not our Dinah!

They're actually reporting that the Christian Voice has an issue with this new Black Canary doll. She's part of Mattel's fall line of collector edition Barbie's that also include Batgirl, Supergirl, Wonder Woman and some REALLY creepy baby dolls of Batman and Catwoman. 

"Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far," the Christian Voice said, "A children's doll in sexually suggestive clothing is irresponsible - it's filth." 

Sigh. Where are the days of innocent Malibu Barbie? Oh wait, we all know how well THAT turned out.

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And last, but not least, it is my pleasure to inform you that a geek-filled show from Britain is about to be available in the U.S. Oh yeah, I'm talking about Spaced.

I remembered seeing it was going on-sale months ago but completely forgot about it until Freakgirl and Geekboy reminded me today. I was turned on to Spaced this year by my boyfriend and a few other friends who told me I'd love it. I'm usually hesitant when people push something on me like that but I eventually gave in and...I loved it of course. 

It's a fairly simple comedy, starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (Hynes) about a girl and a guy who pretend do be seeing each other in order to get an apartment. Throw in a few crazy neighbors, two best friends and almost non-stop geek references and you've got yourself a winner. There were two seasons but they are both on this version coming out Tuesday. 

If you've never seen the show, do yourself a favor and just buy it. I can't give you a money-back guarantee but I'm pretty confident in saying you'd be making a fine purchase. But if that's not good enough you can get your look at the series on BBC America starting July 21 at 3 a.m. Ok, you might have to DVR those, you're not all night owls like me.

Help WANTED: Nerdy Bird seeks amoral supervillain

Male/female. No regard for human life. Enjoys torture and mutilation. Is that too much to ask? Apparently for the creators of Wanted, the film, it is. Spoilers ahead.

I was really looking forward to this movie. When I first saw the trailer I hadn't read Mark Millar and J.G. Jones' comic of the same name. It just looked like a fun action movie with a hot guy and a hot girl. In that sense, it was. But, as I thought best, I read the source material before seeing the movie. Big mistake.

The film was directed by Night Watch/Day Watch creator Timur Bekmambetov which gave me high-hopes. I knew going in that the characters weren't going to be supervillains but rather assassins and I accepted that, Hollywood rarely keeps everything the same. I also heard a lot of comparisons to The Matrix which is one of my favorite movies. 

The first ten minutes of the film left me holding my breath. You view David O'Hara,   apparently playing the part of Wesley Gibson's father, called Mr. X here. When he realizes he's the target of an assassination attempt he goes as far down an office hallway as he can, does some sort of breathing exercise and runs at super speed crashing out of a window careening across a city block to the rooftop of another building. He proceeds to take out the numerous gunmen that had been sent to kill him, a few in mid-air, until he's the last one standing. As in the comic, they were just the decoy and a snipers bullet from miles away ends his life by blowing out his brains. Nothing comes remotely close to touching this entire chain of events for the rest of the movie. Cool action? Yes. Actual evidence of building-jumping powers that we'll see throughout the movie? Seemingly not. 

Let's put that aside for now. Just when you think it's over, the action of the first scene rewinds following the bullet back through Mr. X's head to the origin of the sniper who we see. The actor is Thomas Kretschmann playing a character we come to know as Cross. You find yourself scratching your head at this point if you've read the comic, we don't see the identity of the sniper because there isn't one. But, go with the flow as they say right? 

Our introduction to Wesley Gibson, played so perfectly pathetic by James McAvoy, is the closest the film comes to the comic and any comparison to The Matrix. You're really able to feel how bad this guys life really is, right down to his anxiety attacks. Sitting in a cubicle, taking crap from his boss, aware his girlfriend and best friend are sleeping together and doing the same thing day in and day out. That is, until he meets Fox.

Granted, Halle Berry was the model for the character of The Fox, but she ruined her comics cred when she played Catwoman. One of the writers apparently rewrote the screenplay in order to tailor the role to Angelina Jolie instead. I'm still torn about whether that was a good choice or not.

Wesley is quickly brought into the world of the Fraternity led by Morgan Freeman's character, Sloan. If you're wondering, he's actually supposed to be Professor Solomon Seltzer from the comic. Why they felt the need to change his name I'm not sure. Anyway, Sloan explains they are part of a race called Weavers that have been around for a thousand years and just happen to have their headquarters in a weaving factory. I was almost lost until Sloan explains they have a weaving machine that gives them the name of their targets in binary code. Wait, actually that still made me feel a bit lost but I now understood the movie was going to completely diverge from the comic. See, the people they are supposed to assassinate are bad and will continue to do bad in this world unless they are stopped. Goodbye supervillains, hello for-the-greater-good assassins.

Wesley gets schooled in the ways of the Fraternity by the rest of the assassins, none of whom have nearly as much personality as they should. Most of them don't have many lines at all actually, including Angelina Jolie. In my opinion, the schooling went on far too long and didn't actually have that much effect on Wesley. By the end of the movie he's still hesitant about his abilities and not nearly as bad-ass as he should be. Sure he can curve bullets now but he still closes his eyes when he does it.

Turns out somewhere down the line Sloan's own name came out of the loom and he's been giving out false assignments for profit. Which happened first is not explicitly known, either way everything the Fraternity has been doing is called into question. Including Wesley's fathers death. It's revealed that the man Wesley has been waiting all this time to kill, Cross, is really his father, not Mr. X. Cross learned about Sloan a long time ago and went rogue. 

I was hoping somehow that the film might make a turnaround and have the same surprise ending as the comic. How cool would it have been if they all threw confetti then went back to headquarters where everyone was dressed in costume? But alas, Hollywood came up with a really depressing ending where we find out ALL of the assassins names had come out of the loom at one point or another and Sloan explains if they all wanted to keep exactly to the code they should put their guns in their mouths and fire. While something like that might have redeemed the ending, Fox decides she should take them all out instead, including herself but minus Wesley, with one curved bullet around the circular room. There's a bit more after that where Wesley gets to kill Sloan but I don't think anything could have been done at that point to lift my spirits.

I can't believe I'm actually about to type these words but...Angelina Jolie didn't come off very sexually appealing in Wanted. There. I said it. I'll probably be struck down by the God of the Hotties but there it is. She definitely came off cool but she just didn't ooze sex like she usually does. Strange considering she doesn't even have to try most of the time. This usually wouldn't be a problem for me but The Fox is supposed to be overtly sexual. Part of Wesley's training in the comic was her teaching him how to be better in bed. Jolie and McAvoy only share one on-screen kiss the entire film! Even then it's not an indicator of a relationship between the two but rather to make Wesley's girlfriend jealous. Thank goodness at one point James McAvoy came out with no shirt, dripping wet and proceeded to put on a leather jacket or I would have been concerned.

Something else that skewed reality for me a bit was Morgan Freeman. Cursing. In everything I've seen him in he's played a mild-mannered take-charge kind of guy. Someone you'd like to know, maybe have a weekly lunch date with to talk about life. Seeing Morgan Freeman as a bad guy was just weird and hearing him let the expletives fly was just plain wrong.

I know I've been a bit harsh, don't get me wrong, it really was an enjoyable movie. The action and effects were top-notch. I didn't expect a carbon copy of the comic but when you pull people in with an eye-popping opening like the one in Wanted and don't have anything else like it in the entire movie, it's a little disheartening. Next time I'm going to take "loosely based on" a tad more literally. 

Wanted went off on such a tangent that I wouldn't be opposed to someone making another one that followed the comic exactly. I understand people feel the need to have a "good-guy" in every film but in the comic the good-guys are just the less bad bad-guys and you still root for them. So please, someone, I want the fat "Detective," the menopausal Warrior Princess, Doll-Master with his creepy "babies" and most of all I want Shit-Head! Is that too much to ask? I guess it is.

Smack one, save one, put one in prison.

I never did like that Lana Lang. Always lurking. Popping up every few years to remind Clark she's still alive. Oh, and by they way, not married anymore! Hint, hint Clark. The other woman, the poor man's Lois Lane if you will, saved by Superman time and time again. This time Lana, it's personal.

Superman/Batman wrapped up it's K arc today with #49. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled. At Wizard World Philly Shane Davis hinted at a surprise ending that no one had yet picked up on. Well here it is: Lana Lang is a bitch.

If you haven't been following the book, Superman and Batman have been hunting down every piece of kryptonite on Earth in order to destroy it. They thought they were done until they found a rather large deposit in the possession of the U.S. Government. Eventually they discovered the kryptonite had been sold to them by LexCorp. Makes sense right? Only, Lex hasn't been running his company since he's been on the prison planet, Lana has.

Superman confronts Lana while Batman storms the building to figure out where the source of the kryptonite is located. Lana explains she was doing it for the greater good. LexCorp was in the hole and thousands of people depend on the company for survival. By arming the government against one of her oldest friends she was saving people. You know who else saves people Lana? SUPERMAN!

Batman finds the deposit of kryptonite they were looking for and Superman tells Lana it's over. Not so fast. She tells them there isn't one deposit, there are thousands and any attempt to go after them will force her to press a button which would release the kryptonite into the atmosphere as dust. Essentially she'd cover every inch of the planet making it unlivable to Superman and his super relatives. He calls her bluff and...she presses the button.

Clark is obviously crushed and immediately heads to the JLA Satellite for refuge. Luckily this catastrophe has a solution. Toyman (Toyboy?) Hiro has self-replicating spider-bots that clean on the microscopic level. They've got Earth clear of kryptonite up in no-time. In exchange Hiro got honorary membership in the JLA and a date with Powergirl.

Clark will probably never trust Lana again, nor should he, but he still knows there may come a time he might need to be taken down and he entrusts Batman will the last piece of kryptonite. On the last page we see Batman placing the kryptonite next to every other color kryptonite he's in possession of. No surprises there.

While reading Catwoman #80 today it hit home that the series has been canceled. I'm still really upset about that and suggest fans write to DC to get her back. It worked with Manhunter right? I actually didn't know when exactly it was set to end so I checked and we've got two more issues to go. The picture above will be the cover for #82 and has Selina looking more Audrey Hepburn than ever.

I'm not the only one who knows how important Catwoman is. In this weeks DC Nation column art director Mark Chiarello tells us the story behind "The Real Power of the DC Universe" poster that was given out during the NY Comic Con. Apparently Catwoman was never supposed to be in it and Adam Hughes took it upon himself to add her after repeated attempts to convince Dan Didio she should be included. I always thought it was a cool idea to have her there standing out as the only one dressed in black. But anyway, it's a fun story that's worth a read.

AAAAAND the creepy award for the week goes to....drumroll please...RED TORNADO!

Justice League of America #22 was focused on getting Red Tornado back into a body instead of drifting in the JLA computer. He's been a little depressed, granted, but while talking things over with his wife Kathy he tells her he watched Kendra and Roy having sex recently. Ewwww! Skeevy! Oh and the best part is, instead of Kathy yelling at him for being a peeping-tom, she jokes about how there's gotta be some porn on the JLA computer he can watch instead. Huh? Makes you wonder what else he's been watching...

Nerdy News

In case you're interested, EW.com has an exclusive first look at DC Comics Final Crisis. The article previews five pages from the first issue with art by J.G. Jones and dialogue by Grant Morrison. You can also choose to view the pages in Morrison's original detailed-script form. Also included is Jones' design work on Darkseid. And that's all I'll say because I didn't look at the pages. I for one, want to go in fresh. Final Crisis begins May 28th.

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In other Nerdy News, you may want to make a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art if you're a fan of superheroes and haute couture. The special exhibit "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" will be there through September 1, 2008.

"Featuring movie costumes, avant-gard haute couture, and high-performance sportswear. it reveals how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body. Objects are organizes thematically around particular superheroes, whose movie costumes and superpowers are catalysts for the discussion of key concepts of superheroism and their expression in fashion."

Sounds like a lot of fun to me, but then again, I'm a girl and the fact that they have Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman costume has me sold.

DC Comics at the NY Comic Con - One Liners Galore

"How many people here want to know what's going on in the DC Universe?" That question was posed by Sr. VP/Executive Editor of DC Comics Dan Didio at the start of Friday's "DC Nation" panel of the NY Comic Con. It was met with a decent amount of applause and lots of laughter when some of the DC editors raised their hands. After two DC panels I'm still in the dark about what's going on in Supergirl but at least I now know lots of new and exciting things about to happen in the DCU. Here's some news from both.

Gail Simone filled us in on what's coming up in Wonder Woman. "Some of the best scientists in the entire world have the mathematical formula to take down Wonder Woman, so we're going to create a new Rogues Gallery for her," she said. As if that wasn't scary enough she followed it up with this, "Someone believes the Amazons are a failed experiment and is going to create their own Amazons. However, we are going to have a new Wonder Woman -- who is a man." No one in the audience knew quite how to respond to that so Didio asked if we liked their working title of The Manazons. It was a resounding no from the audience. One fan yelled out, "It sounds like a drag show!" Here's hoping it doesn't stick.

Peter Tomasi and Geoff Johns

Senior Coordinating Editor Jann Jones has been working hard on comics aimed at kids. She introduced a new six issue mini-series on the way called Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade. "We have a real commitment to taking our characters and making them really accessible to young kids," said Didio. And yes, 8th grade Supergirl will have a super cat.

The subject turned to the new Blue Beetle. After the crowd hollered that most of them read it, Didio admitted it is one of their weaker sales but, "one of the books that has the most support right now." Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler announced something different that would be happening in May. "Blue Beetle #26 is actually entirely in Spanish with English script in the back of the book," he said. Sadler and Didio said it is a good spot to jump on board. Blue Beetle is one of my favorite books so I was concerned about it's sales. At the second panel I decided I'd ask a question to see if I could help things along. Basically, I figured most people who weren't reading the book were big fans of Ted Kord and were still sour over his death during Countdown to Infinite Crisis. I stated that fans could still see him in recent issues of Booster Gold and asked if he was sticking around for good. "I can't tell you that," said Geoff Johns. What can I say? I gave it a shot. Speaking of Booster Gold Johns said that in issue one-million, "We find out who Rip Hunter is."

Of course the panel would finally get around to discussing Batman R.I.P. When asked directly by a fan if Batman was going to die, Didio put it to the panel. Keep in mind, most of their answers were in jest so there's no way to tell if they were telling the truth. Though by process of elimination one of them has to be right, right? Here were their varying answers:

Ian Sattler - "Someday."

Peter Tomasi - "Mmm could be?"

Geoff Johns - "Uh, no."

Sean McKeever - "Absolutely yes."

Jimmy Palmiotti - "Twice."

Gail Simone - "Of course."

Keith Giffen - "God willing."

Bob Wayne - "Not in a movie year!"

Jann Jones - "Mostly?"

Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones and Gail Simone

During the second panel the writer of Batman R.I.P., Grant Morrison, got a chance to speak. Didio asked him what that stood for and Morrison replied, "'Rest In Piece' apparently -- but he doesn't." Morrison sounded excited that this would be the culmination of all his Batman work. "Basically if you miss this one, you miss your chance to say goodbye," he said.

Geoff Johns announced that in the JSA Annual in July, called "Welcome to Earth-2", Power Girl finds herself back home there. Jimmy Palmiotti then announced some of the biggest news of the day. He and Justin Gray will be working on a new on-going series with art by Amanda Connor called Powergirl. "It's one of the books we've been asked for the most," said Didio, "I'd just like to say, we heard you. We just wanted to get the right team, the right style and the right jump-off point." Hooray for Powergirl!

About forty-minutes into the first panel and numerous questions being directed at Geoff Johns he finally decided to say, "You know what's weird, is that most people call me 'Geoff Johns' instead of Geoff." That didn't stop the fans, they kept calling him by his full name. Though one younger fan finally just said Geoff, with emphasis.

Gail Simone, Geoff Johns and Stephan Roux

In the second DC panel, just before she had to leave, Gail Simone delivered what was probably my favorite news all weekend. "We are doing a new Secret Six, ongoing," she announced. She anticipated us asking who the six would be, "Catman, Deadshot, Scandal, Ragdoll -- an A-list Batman villain -- and a new character that I've created with Nicola [Scott]." She revealed the new characters name is Jeanette and she has a secret that even the Secret Six do not know. She added, "It is going to be literally, the most ballsy DCU comic out there and it's going to be done by two redheaded women. So how cool is that?" Pretty cool if you ask me.

I was saddened to learn that Catwoman is getting canceled. A fan said he heard a rumor online and Didio confirmed it saying, "Catwoman is canceled, but that doesn't mean you won't be seeing the character in the DC Universe. By the next day of course news of the books demise had spread and by the time the second panel rolled around there was one very angry female fan who go up to demand an explanation. "I heard you're canceling Catwoman and I'm pretty pissed off about it. I just wanna know what's gonna happen to her," she said. Ian Sattler fielded this one, "She'll be in the Batman universe." But she quickly replied, "That's not good enough." She left unsatisfied with their answers and scared the panel so badly Didio felt the need to ask the next fan to, "Please be nice to us."

For the record, I did ask about Supergirl after my Blue Beetle question. I asked them what was going on, because I had no clue. Ian Sattler told me to hang tight, "Supergirl is gonna be a lot closer linked to Superman and Action shortly." Johns decided to add, "Supergirl is gonna be intricate, the character in the book is intricate to all the Superman plans for the rest of the year."  He continued to say she was an important character to the DCU, "We've got a story that's gonna kinda tilt her on her head but in a good way." I'm happy to hear that obviously because I think Supergirl deserves a lot more attention than she's gotten lately. But did you notice none of them actually told me what's going on right now in Supergirl? Nothing to do but wait I guess.

Grant Morrison

I think a good place to end would be with the fan who asked if Zatanna would be showing up anytime soon. After a few jokes about how she was sitting in the front row, i.e. me, Didio replied, "Reign in Hell and possibly something with Paul Dini coming very soon." Sounds good to me.