Newsclips 10/01/08

Well 6 months in and still going (although I wish I had more time to do some of the features I'd like), it's been a slow newsweek so here's a few odds and ends.

Impulse Creations has the Batwoman Infinite Hero in stock. Earlier in the week they had Question and Wildcat. It appears that the figures are coming and going in stock, so someone must be buying the figures. Too bad all I've seen on shelves are Wave 1 Zoom, Adam Strange, etc.

The CW is apparently going to give the stories of a young Dick Grayson a chance. How many seasons before our young gymnast meets a bizarrely tanned teen Starfire, or references to millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne start showing up? Is anyone else more interested in how this plays out than on the concept itself?

And Marvel's own storefront has gone live, including calendars, mugs and costumes including this wonderful photo of the Punisher. That's... that's just great. On the downside... Crimson Dynamo Attacks for $16? Okay now.

Newsclips 9/4/08

While it continues to be a slow news week, here's a few more news clips...

First off, internet thy name is misconception. "There have been talks and good ones with where to go with the character,” explained Cage" does NOT in any way equal "Nicholas Cage who starred as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider in the 2007 Marvel Comic adaptation, confirmed that a "Ghost Rider 2" movie was going to happen". Talks happen every day. Instead of linking to the front page of MTV's Splash Page, let's go to the actual interview which is much more skeptical of Cage's "confirmation" of a movie that has no villain, no plot, apparently no returning stars other than Cage who's having "talks", and a vague sense that the storyline will dig into the more religious aspect of things, as the comic has done recently.

Second, upon finding the most magical Toys R Us of all (there was a matte-grey Iron Man Hall of Armor 4-pack sitting right there on the peg in front of a half dozen silver!) I saw a Gamma Lab in the wild. So, at SDCC we were told it's a Toys R Us exclusive, one person on a trading forum was able to buy one at a Toys R Us (and promptly placed it on eBay for over $50), then it showed up on Hasbro Toy Shop (who promptly shipped them out... mine is waiting at the Post Office apparently), so the question remains whether it's a TRU exclusive also being sold on HTS, or whether the TRU exclusive was changed at the last minute or what.

Third, with the Punisher War Zone poster hanging up in theatres now it seems as good a time as any to talk about Marvel Movies. Newsarama is hosting an interview with Kevin Feige on Marvel's movie madness, rights issues. Be warned... it's a puff piece that refers to Incredible Hulk as a big hit, forgets which movies interviewee is actually involved in (Marvel Studios does NOT equal all Marvel movies... Punisher War Zone being a good example), then closes up by asking Feige if he still has a huge collection of action figures (the answer? He's pared down some of his collection to a core.) While part of me wants to make fun of what passes for journalism in some circles, the other part of me knows if I got around to doing interviews for the Rumorbuster I'd probably throw lots of softballs too.

News Clips 9/2/08

Since it has been a slow-news day (perhaps we're all just recovering from Labor Day in the US) here's some news clips:

1) Hasbrotoyshop has been shipping the Hulk Gamma Labs and Hulk Wave 3, but still no word on City in Crisis or Winter Soldier Saga.

2) Next Avengers, Marvel's latest direct-to-DVD movie, is on shelves today. 5th in Marvel's line, it's the 4th to feature Iron Man, 3rd to feature Hulk (although both parts of Hulk Vs are promoed on the dvd) and 3rd to feature, in some way or another, the Avengers roster used in the Ultimate Avengers movies.

3) In all-ages reads, this Wednesday should see the release of the newest Marvel Adventures Spider-Man digest featuring... Spider-Thor?

4) For those that hate Brand New Day (with Rich Johnston doing the numbers crunch on recent Spider-Man sales), don't forget that Spider-Man appears, married and well, in daily newspapers across the country.

5) For those interested in the upcoming Masters of the Universe Classics line, He-Man.org is hosting shots of the new Skeletor sculpt.

6) The TAG Blog has a history of the rise and fall of animation employment which certainly highlights something I've been thinking for a while... they just don't make cartoons the way they used to.

News Clips 7/31/08

And in general news clips, Hollywood Reporter was the first to write about the possible Venom movie and the inherent problems (ie, casting, how to make a movie about a villain, how to tide fans over until a potential 2011 Spider-Man film.)

And Marvelousnews has posted pictures of more upcoming Marvel Minimates, also focusing on Marvel's Iron Man movie.

ToyNewsi.com has hi-res pic's of the new G.I.Joe Combat Heroes

And although everyone else is already covering it, Lionsgate now has the North American DVD rights for the upcoming Wolverine and the X-Men animated series. Apparently the real news is the behind the scenes drama over Punisher War Zone.

And then finally, October's Lee Toy Review is apparently going to include coverage of DC's Infinite Heroes. The solicitation text (copied from 86 Floor Comics Previews listing):

LEE'S TOY REVIEW #192 OCTOBER 2008
Mattel's line of DC Universe action figures — from Justice League to DC Universe Infinite Heroes — are covered in this issue of Lee's Toy Review. Also find Vintage Toy reviews, McFarlane's Sports Picks, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Teen Titans, DC Comics Super Heroes, Hot Wheels, Market Reports, Trading Figures, and more. Plus, the nation’s #1 Hot Wheels price guide!(Action Figure News &Toy Review) (C: 0-1-2)
Magazine, 100pgs, FC SRP: $5.95

Newsclips 7/29/08

Just realized that we were a day off yesterday... apparently we lost track of time.

First, that Hasbro Sketchbook we told you about a little while ago is hitting eBay with prices varying. For a look at some of the artwork include, check this auction. Shots of Snake Eyes, Darth Vader, Ultimate Thor, and some Transformers will probably make you place a bid at one of the many auctions going on. Apparently some of the designers even did sketches and signatures, as seen by the Logan Lubera Daredevil in this auction. Be warned though, apparently the mark-up is crazy. Allspark is reporting that at the convention itself it was only $10.00.

HASBRO
Hasbro Sketchbook Volume 1 (2008) (Approximate Retail Price: $9.99)
The Hasbro Design Team has assembled an 80-page bound inaugural sketchbook, featuring art from the designer's personal sketchbooks and straight from the drawing boards. This sketchbook will only be available at Comic-Con 2008. Supplies are limited.

Marvelousnews has shots of the upcoming Minimates figures. Nope, still not dead.

News Clips for 7/27/08

Chicago Tribune has this gallery of some of the costumes seen this past weekend at SDCC.

Mattel's new Collector's Store launched today. If you were like me and waited for the site to open so you could get your King Greyskull, you would haven noticed there was some technical difficulty, but as of right now, everything but Lightning McQueen is still available.

The Fables Panel featured lots of insight into upcoming storylines, a Cinderella mini-series, a Jack/Fables cross-over, and a potential movie. Meanwhile, the upcoming Cloak and Dagger series (I didn't catch whether it's a mini or an ongoing) seems to be the thing everyone is talking about, but it's the return of Milestone that they SHOULD be talking about.

And finally, fans were able to see one half of Marvel's upcoming straight to DVD Hulk Vs., and apparently were treated to guest appearances by Lady Deathstrike, Deadpool, Omega Red and Sabretooth. Now that does sound like a fun Hulk/Wolverine battle.

News Clips 7/25/08

A few more news clips from around the internet:

DC Minimates may not be as dead as some predict. DC Direct is apparently thinking box sets

A shot of the Super Hero Squad was shown during the Marvel: Your Universe panel. And nothing more was said about it. If you go to the site, obnoxious overlaid frames promoting the fact that the site you're reading convention coverage on is at the convention will result in browser slow-down. Nothing like treating your readers right. A better run-down is available through ENI here. Both include a bit of the tangle Marvel's movie rights have become. Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, Wolverine and the Fantastic Four are stuck at Fox, Spider-Man and company are stuck at Sony... which on the plus side means there won't be a New Avengers movie featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, and Spider-Man for a long, long time. There's also a lot of apparent bashing for X-Men Evolution (9021X or 90210 X-Men, depending on what coverage you read), and the Comic Book Resources article has the following quote from Craig Kyle regarding new X-Men series:

"There's sixty mutants, it pays off in four and a half episodes, Dazzler is in it -- Disco Dazzler. It works only one way, the way it is in the comics. My plan is to kick the hell out of that show, don't judge us too soon."

Hopefully there's some miscommunication going on there. I would hate to think that Mr. Kyle is suggesting that you should watch the first 2 hours and 15 minutes of the series before it gets good, or that the entire first month the show is airing will be "getting to the good part", or that the number of mutants isn't going to be a cheap attempt to increase merchandising efforts by having more characters available for toys, and that there's still a chance for actual characterization rather than "find-the-cameo" style chases. But regardless of what he meant to say, we'll still give it a shot. Now, will we give it 4 and a half-episodes worth of a shot? Hopefully there's pay-off well before the second month begins.

After shoe-horning Sentry and Jessica Jones into the Marvel Universe, un-killing Namora and then continuing the living retcon that is the 50's Avengers/Agents of Atlas, Illuminati-ing the Secret Wars stories, and bringing back various Golden Age heroes as the Twelve, Marvel is continuing to complicate their history by introducing The Blue Marvel. Now if only they'll spend multiple consecutive mini-serieses trying to explain why he's supposed to be an important character. On the plus side, this retcon sounds like an interesting story, rather than an attempt to shoe-horn a Superman/Captain Marvel/Hyperion/Supreme character into the mainstream.