Trailers Released for "Marvel's The Avengers" and "The Raven"

A couple of film trailers caught my eye yesterday: of course the first official trailer for The Avengers has been posted everywhere - and why should I be any different? - and it really does look fantastic doesn't it.



Marvel Studios presents "Marvel's The Avengers" - the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, "Marvel's The Avengers" is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series "The Avengers" first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when "Marvel's The Avengers" assemble in summer 2012.

[Synopsis source]


Released with less of a fanfare - but no less eye-catching - was the extended trailer for The Raven staring one of my favourite actors, John Cusack, as Edgar Allan Poe.



In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who's using Poe's own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster). When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper--part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story. Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe's writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author's help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer's next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it's too late.

[Synopsis source]


Both films will be in cinemas next year.

Captain America: Lee Garbett Explains His Cover Process

As someone who comes from an editorial background I've long since been interested in the process of how books, magazines and comics are produced.

Over at his blog one of our favourite artists Lee Garbett has posted an interesting feature that explains and illustrates his process when asked to create the cover for the upcoming Captain America collection - from the rough layout, through his pencils to the important contributions of the inker and colourist.

Check out the feature in full here.








CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBIRTH #1
Written by STAN LEE & KARL KESEL
Penciled by JACK KIRBY & KARL KESEL
Cover by LEE GARBETT
The origins of Captain America and the Red Skull, revealed! As the evils of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party spread across Europe, Steve Rogers becomes the legendary Captain America! With his sidekick, Bucky, and under the direction of Franklin Roosevelt himself, Cap battles the diabolical Red Skull on every front! Witness their earliest confrontations here! Collecting material from TALES OF SUSPENSE #63 and #65-68, fully remastered with modern coloring. Plus: an all-new framing sequence by Karl Kesel (CAPTAIN AMERICA 1940s NEWSPAPER STRIP). 64 pages, One-Shot, Rated T+, $4.99, June 2011

Captain America: Rebirth is published by Marvel.

'The God of Thunder' - Thor

Marvel have released two fantastic new posters promoting their forthcoming film Thor.

One shows a red-tinted image of a thoughtful and determined looking Thor (Chris Hemsworth) featuring the words 'The God of Thunder', while the other features head and shoulder close-ups of Thor, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Heimdall (Idris Elba) with THOR in big, bold letters.

To see both posters, and for more about the film, head over to Marvel.com and the film's official website.

Thor opens worldwide from 27 April 2011.

X-Men Origins: Deadpool

Following in the footsteps of Emma Frost, Beast, Gambit and Colossus for the one-shot 'Origins' treatment this week is none other than ... Deadpool.


X-Men Origins: Deadpool
Written by Duane Swierczynski, pencils by Leo Fernandez with a cover by Mark Brooks
'Deadpool: The Major Motion Picture' - You may have heard there's a Deadpool movie in the works. Anyway, Wade Wilson's heard the same thing - and he's determined to tell his own story before Hollywood screws it up. Deadpool even hires his own screenwriter, who manages to get the Merc With a Mouth to open up like never before-revealing not only his origin story, but shocking details you've never heard before. We're talking Oscar(TM)-worthy stuff here, people. That is, unless Hollywood manages to screw it up anyway ... One-Shot/

Published by Marvel Comics, 14 July 2010 $3.99 Parental Advisory

Could be great fun, could be a train-wreck - ultimately I guess it depends on whether you enjoy the way Deadpool is written - X-Men Origins: Deadpool is in shops this week.

One Dollar Comic Books

Over recent months I've been picking up a number of $1 'special edition' comic books - Deadpool, Jack of Fables, Ex Machina to name just three. These reissued tales are intended as an opportunity for the reader to 'dip a toe in the water' before deciding whether to pick up a regular priced monthly or collected edition.

These promotions have worked really well for me - they've given me a chance to try some titles I wouldn't normally buy and then once I've read them I've been able to 'recycle' them onto friends and family with a 'you might like this ' - and, unsurprisingly, I'm not alone in my appreciation ...

Alias and Scalped - Guest Review by Simon Breeze

Alias
Written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Michael Gaydos and Matt Hollingsworth, letters by Richard Starkings & ComicCraft's Oscar Gongora
Published by Marvel Comics

Scalped
Written by Jason Aaron with art by R.M. Guera and Lee Loughridge, letters by Phil Balsman and a cover by Jock
Published by Vertigo Comics

As you read this you may or may not be aware of Marvel's Greatest Comics, a fantastic idea where you can pick up the first chapter of some of Marvel's most acclaimed publications for only a dollar (yes, a dollar!). What does this mean for us the reader? It means something that I think is a stroke of genius. Marvel are publishing the first issue of each run of comics associated to a popular graphic novel or traded addition of some of its most popular stories such as Marvel Zombies, Agent of Atlas, 1602, Hellblazer, Scalped, Alias and many more. As a reader this offers us a unique chance to relive those stories we loved or as a new reader, I guess, 'try before we buy'. The two comics that I'm looking at are Marvel's Alias and Vertigo's Scalped.

I'm going to start with Alias, and if your wondering, no, it has no connections to the T.V. show. Alias follows the character of Jessica Jones of Alias Investigations and as a comic falls under the Max Comics titles, so is pretty graphic in places and free with the language too. So if you are easily offend by such things, off the bat, I'd say this is one for you to miss.

The first issue neatly introduces the reader to the complicated world and equally complicated character of Jessica Jones, your more-than-average private investigator. It then looks to set up an intriguing story that continues into the following issues, of what seems to be a straightforward case of a missing person which takes a curious twist right before the end of the issue and leaves you wanting more.

So what did I think?

I thought it was brilliant.

I have already looked into purchasing volume one of the trades, so my hat off to Marvel, and job done as far as I'm concerned. The character of Jessica Jones is an fascinating one that I feel compelled to get to know better. Not only that, something that took me by surprise was that she lives in the Marvel Universe, which in itself sounds like an odd statement. Isn't this obvious? It is a Marvel title after all? Well No. My point is this. I've read a lot of Marvel, and I tend to find with a character of this nature, they are very good at 'distancing' them from the main stream characters. But not Alias: Jessica Jones and her world sit slap bang right in the middle of it, which just makes the story all the more interesting.

I loved this comic and I was hungry for more the moment I put it down and my comment of looking into buying volume one of the trades is a genuine one. A big five out of five for this book.

This takes me into my second comic, the disturbingly titled, Scalped.

The comic is issue one for the story Indian Country and follows the shaven headed, nunchuck twirling, foul-mouthed and hard as nails, Dashiell Bad Horse as he is recruited into the ranks of a Native American 'mobsters' outfit who hold control of Dashiell's old reservation. The mob seem to be into the usual thing of drugs, guns, murder and casinos and the reservation they govern over appears to be rundown and populated by drunks and the the dregs of their culture.

Dashiell is returning to this life after many years away, and through one thing and another ends up working for Red Crow, the untouchable head of the mob and governor for the reservation. Once in his employ as an enforcer of the law, Dashiell's skills and nasty temperament are quickly put to work amongst the population where he encounters familiar faces from his past. The journey ends with a bit of a twist that sheds a new light on Dashiell's actions and his want to return to the world he left behind all those years ago.

At first glance at the awesome cover by Jock I though Scalped would rock my world, a nunchuck wielding Indian? How could it fail? However upon reading my opinion changed a little. Scalped is a very harsh comic, it is very violent and full of angst, to be honest, I didn't expect anything less. Where I struggled was with it being set in a Native American reservation, something I know very little about, add to this the amount of Indian culture involved and it made it a tough read and very difficult for me to get into and relate to the characters.

That is the one drawback for this comic, which I believe sits on my shoulders for my naivety to that culture and way of life, and it is something I only mention in this review as I feel I may not be alone as a new reader to the world of Scalped to feel this way.

Putting this aside, the comic is very well written and illustrated, with fantastic pacing and action scenes, and you can't help but hate the main character of Dashiell Bad horse, which is the point of the story. Dashiell is mean, nasty and merciless as he brutally makes his presence felt amongst the population of the reservation. There is a big story there with a really rich cast of characters that begs for more attention than one chapter can possibly give. With this in mind, I would want to read more of Scalped, as it is something I think I would enjoy a great deal given time with the characters and their world, so I am going to keep my eye out for the graphic novel - Indian Country - and give it a spin.

I am going to give the stand alone first chapter of Scalped an odd rating of a four out of five for the unread future chapters of the graphic novel, as I can see the fantastic potential this story and these characters have.


Once again, my sincere thanks to Simon for another great contribution to Escape from Tomorrow - remember, you can find Simon's work on his new deviantArt site as well as his work and personal blog.

If, like Simon, you'd be interested in submitting a occasional piece for publication - a review, preview article, or news feature - then drop me an email, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Daredevil Cage Match: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

The title of this comic says it all, Cage Match. The story is a simple concept, who would win in a fight between the Man Without Fear - Daredevil - and the Hero for Hire - Luke Cage? The story very much reminds me of the end of the Rocky III movie, where Apollo and Rocky climb into the ring together for a friendly boxing match to prove who really is the best.

The story starts with Luke Cage and Daredevil patrolling the streets and alleyways of Hells Kitchen when Daredevil 'senses' a mugging a few blocks off. Being the faster of the two, he makes it to the crime scene first and takes out all but one of the muggers. This final and inexperienced mugger catches Daredevil off guard and pulls a gun on him, and whilst Daredevil starts to talk the nervous thug out of shooting him, Luke Cage arrives and intervenes by crushing the gun in the thugs hand as it fires - Cage believes he has saved Daredevil's life, while Daredevil himself sees things a little differently. The resulting disagreement between the two heroes ends with them agreeing to fight one-another for charity to see who really is the best. The rest of the story revolves around the fight that takes place between the two men at Fogwell's Gym, where there is more going on than there first appears.

I really like this One-Shot, cover to cover it is a really nice read. The cover is brilliant, and the first thing you encounter upon turning that front page is an old style boxing poster depicting the fight between Daredevil and Luke Cage, that sets the whole feel for the comic before you have even started to read it. Following that great poster, the story starts with the caption in the first panel 'Some time ago' which perfectly sums up this story to me. I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgia whilst reading it, it really did come across as a comic I would have read years ago, unburdened by years of Marvel universe and Daredevil continuity it just flows off the page like a comic from the past.

There-in lies the crux of this One-Shot, because of the way the comic reads and is styled it is a victim of its own brilliance. What do I mean by this? Simply that you pick it up, read it, love it, put it down and forget about it. For me, that is the perfect One-Shot, and it is what I believe they're designed to be: a 'fire and forget'. For people who might be looking for a longer lasting resonance from the comic once they have put it down, you could be a little disappointed with what this story has to offer.

For me however, this is a brilliant One-Shot, and I give it a solid four out of five.

Daredevil Cage Match
Written by Antony Johnston, pencils by Sean Chen, inks by Sandu Florea, colours by Matt Hollingsworth, VC's Joe Caramagna, cover by Ed McGuinness
Published by Marvel Comics, May 2010, $2.99

Evil Seduces - X-Men #1

I've always enjoyed a good vampire tale - Interview With The Vampire, 30 Days of Night or Hammer's Dracula films rather than Twilight or The Vampire Diaries you understand! - and as such I'm looking forward to the forthcoming Marvel Universe-wide vampire story that begins later this month.

In support of the storyline Marvel have released a new teaser image, illustrated by Mike Mayhew, for X-Men #1:
Nothing less than stunning ... as we'd expect from Mike Meyhew.

X-Men #1
Written by Victor Gischler, penciled by Paco Medina, cover by Adi Granov with variant covers by John Romita Jr., Paco Medina, Marko Djurdjevic
Published by Marvel, 8 July 2010, $3.99

Cloak and Dagger: Guest Review by Simon Breeze

Last weekend, while at the Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo, I had the pleasure of meeting-up and sharing a very quick lunch with locally-based writer and artist Simon Breeze. Over our lunch Simon was able to bring me up to speed on his ongoing projects - including his work on his comic The Doorway - as well as talk about the success of the Doctor Who story that he wrote and illustrated, Doctor Who and the Edge of Forever, which has been published at Myebook and viewed an incredible 26,000 times in just nine months.

Once again, I'm indebted to Simon for his ongoing contributions to Escape from Tomorrow ...

Cloak and Dagger: The Broken Church

This Marvel One-Shot is set in the world of the ever-popular X-Men, so as a reader of the X-Men the two characters came as a bit of a surprise. Now, I might just being a bit naïve, the X-Men universe is a huge place spanning many years and media platforms, you just can’t keep up with it all and I take my hat off to those that do. It was a pleasant surprise; no scrub that, a brilliant surprise when I started to read this book none the less, the two new characters (well new to me) are very easy to like and in a way relate too.

The story follows what at first appears to be a simple enough plot, Dagger (Tandy Bowen) and Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) are ‘in’ with the X-Men, Dagger is introduced to us via a training scenario in the Danger Room as part of a team of X-Men students for example. We very quickly learn that their powers are not from the mutant X gene, neither are mutants, which upset Dagger a great deal.

From this point on the story expands very quickly to reveal the symbiotic relationship between the two characters of Cloak and Dagger and their feelings of isolation and their struggle to just fit in, be with mutants or humans alike. Interwoven with this story thread is a plot about a group that is brainwashing mutants Clock Work Orange style to not use their powers. Chuck in a few relationship issues, a fight, Dagger wearing a costume that makes Power Girls look like the most practical one ever designed and a bit of a tear-jerker ending and you have your One Shot.

And what a One Shot it is, the art is breath taking, the page layouts are effortless to follow, the story hooks you in right away, the characters are likeable, the lettering is brilliant and Wolverine does not appear in this issue. I would really enjoy reading more about these two and finding out how things work out for them, so more please Marvel if you don’t mind.

I give this One Shot a solid 5 out of 5, with the vaguest knowledge of the X-Men you can pick this up and really enjoy it, and it left me wanting more, so what more can you ask for?

By the way, my Wolverine comment, I love the character and it was my way of saying, it was refreshing to read an X-Men centric comic that he didn’t make an appearance in, not even in the background.

Cloak and Dagger: The Broken Church
Story by Stuart Moore with pencils by Mark Brooks, inks by Walden Wong, colours by Emily Warren and lettered by Dave Sharpe
Published by Marvel Comics


Like Simon, I thought Cloak and Dagger was an excellent read: I'm not sure of Marvels plans for further Cloak and Dagger stories but I'd be very keen to read more.

X-Men Comments: The Return of Kitty Pryde and Origins: Nightcrawler

Albeit a little later than I'd planned - thanks to a prolonged spell of glorious spring weather, a new bicycle and the beautiful Somerset country-side - here's the second part of my X-Men feature - click here to read the first part if you missed it.


The Return of a Favourite Character
Back in January I reported that one of my favourite characters from the X-Men universe - Kitty Pryde - was returning to Uncanny X-Men with issue #522 and I suspected this would be a catalyst for me to start picking the book up again after a year or more.

The issue proved to be an excellent jumping-on point - as I'd hoped - and at times read, if not quite like a one-shot, then an appreciation from the writer and publisher that there'd be plenty of readers like myself that weren't current and up to date with events in Uncanny: from the 'Previously in ...' summary on page 1 to the descriptive dialogue throughout, this book made for a perfect reintroduction.

I enjoyed Matt Fractions writing throughout the two stories contained in the book - the main feature and a 'special bonus story' - and I particularly enjoyed Whilce Portacio's pencils, Ed Tadeo's inks and Justin Ponsor's bold colouring in the main feature, along with Terry Dobson's eye-catching cover.

As a result of this issue Uncanny is back on my pull-list - for how long I don't know but if this issue is anything to go by I could be on-board for quite a while.


The Next Installment of an Excellent Series of One-Shots
One of my very first posts for Escape from Tomorrow was in praise of X-Men Origins: Jean Grey - clearly 'Origins' books are nothing new but this one connected with me, maybe in part because of my on-off relationship with the X-Men but more so I suspect because of the quality of the writing from Sean McKeever and the breath-taking cover and interior art by Mike Meyhew.

I remember I picked up several copies of the Jean Grey issue and gave them away to friends who otherwise weren't getting the book because I felt it deserved as large an audience as possible.

The X-Men Origins series of one-shots has continued to include some great stories featuring Colossus, Wolverine and Gambit, to name just three, culminating late last year in a magnificent hardcover collection of the series so far.

The latest installment in the series X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler was published recently and, over thirty or so pages of story, we were introduced to a young Kurt Wagner, circus acrobat, and his pitiful early life, from the family that cared for him, those people that were frightened of him, to those in his life that simply wanted to exploit him.

Once again, the quality of writing from Adam Freeman and Marc Bernardin was top-notch: the dialogue felt authentic and I was genuinely touched by Kurt's story. The art throughout the book - Cary Nord and James Harren (pencils) and Chris Sotomayor (colours) with a striking cover from Cary Nord - was very, very nice and, as a reader, I appreciated the reprint of Nightcrawler's first appearance - Giant-Size X-Men #1 from 1975 - at the back of the book.

All in all, this book was a pleasure from cover to cover and I'm excited to expect further installments in this great 'series' and look forward to picking up another hardcover collection at some point in the future.

X-Men Comments: X-23

I've commented before, I think, that as much as I consider myself an X-Men fan I've been at best an occasional reader of the comics. I've always struggled for some reason with 'team' books and the X-Men, for me, has been no different - perhaps it's the shear number of team members over the years or the depth of 'X' continuity that I've found difficult to keep up with and, to be honest, a bit daunting.

It may come as something of a surprise to regular readers then that in recent weeks I've picked up no less that four X-Men books ... one on the recommendation of a new friend, one on the basis of an intriguing solicitation, one featuring the return of a favourite character and one, the next installment of an excellent series of one-shots. Over a couple of posts this week I'm going to take a brief look at each in turn

The Recommendation
Over at the Batgirl to Oracle Message Board Administrator Noctis created The Laura "X-23" Kinney Portal in which he profiled his 'favorite female (and maybe even overall) Marvel Universe character, Laura Kinney aka X-23'. X-23 is a character I was aware of without really knowing too much so I set out to find out more.

On Noctis's recommendation I picked up X-23's origin story which begins with the 6-issue collection 'X-23: Innocence Lost': story by Craig Kyle, written by Kyle and Christopher Yost with pencils from Billy Tan, and originally published as a collection in 2006.

What a fantastic recommendation and a great introduction to X-23. Kyle and Yost expertly define the world that X-23 is to be born into - a world of intrigue, deception, limitless ambition ... and no little violence all contributing to the books 'parental advisory' status.

X-23 herself, created by Craig Kyle, is beautifully written throughout: sad and vulnerable and always with a sense of danger, I found myself pitying and warming to the character without - for much of the book - really liking the character.

The cast of supporting characters serve the story incredibly well - well written with fantastic, and realistic, dialogue. There's a lot of story contained within the 6-issues in this collection and it's well told without ever feeling rushed.

Billy Tan's art is absolutely fantastic: contrary to the tone of the writing the illustrations are clear and bright with sharp, confident inks from Jon Sibal and great choice and application of colours courtesy of Brian Haberlin.

In conclusion, a wonderful recommendation: I can't remember enjoying a 'new' read this much in a very long time - now I need to pick up X-23: Target X which apparently follows X-23's origin story across another six issue mini-series.

Thanks for a great recommendation Noctis!


The Intriguing Solicitation
Ironically, even before Noctis's X-23 recommendation I had pre-ordered the recent 'Women of Marvel' X-23 one-shot mainly on the strength of Marvel's brief solicitation for the book:

X-23 has spent her short life being used by those in power, from the military to the X-Men. But when she is forced to confront a being who can control her life with nothing but a thought, will X-23 finally learn how to fight - not for others, but herself? Guest-starring NYX!

Written by Marjorie Liu, with pencils by Filipe Andrade and Nuno Alves and complemented by a great cover from Alina Urusov I had high - no, very high - hopes for this book and I'm afraid those hopes weren't met.

Maybe this wasn't intended to be the jumping-on point I had hoped, maybe I just don't know enough about the character to fully appreciate the story but I found this a very difficult read.

Not challenging because I was trying to get to grips with the story, not uncomfortable because my emotions were being pulled in one direction and then another but difficult because I was finding reading the book something of a chore.

Maybe it was the extended 'scream' sequences with their accompanying harsh - scratchy - artwork that meant I just didn't get the book I don't know but despite the nearly forty pages there just didn't feel like there was enough story to keep me interested.

I didn't particularly enjoy the style of art throughout the book although as I'm always quick to point out I'm not suggesting it was bad - I just didn't like it. I like to see a little more detail in a panel - sharper facial expression for one thing - and instinctively find I'm turned-off by too many visually dark panels.

With hindsight, I suspect I wasn't the intended target audience for this book - not a criticism of the writing or the art just an acknowledgement that it wasn't for me, and that's fine.


Later in the week in the second part of my X-Men commentary I'll be writing about the book that features the return of a favourite character along with the next installment of an excellent series of one-shots.

Happy Easter!

Just a quick post to say I'll be enjoying a few days away with my wife over the forthcoming long Easter weekend so won't be updating this site again until probably Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Before I sign-off, it looks like promotion for Iron Man 2 is stepping-up ahead of the films release next Month. In the last few days we've seen the launch of the official website along with a site for the Stark Expo 2010, not to mention the variety of new posters and pictures that have been circulating including these great images over at Collider.com.

Here's my favourite poster - simple and effective. Have a Happy Easter.

(click on the image to enlarge)

Iron Man 2 New Trailer

There are plenty of places to find the new trailer for Iron Man 2 following it's screening after the Oscars last night - here's another ...



[Source]

Mmmm, I want one too.

Out Today - Daredevil #504

Out today, issue #504 of Daredevil.

The first story arc from the creative team of Andy Diggle (Thunderbolts) and Roberto De La Torre (Iron Man) reaches its shattering climax.

Backed-up by the ruthlessly loyal ninja army known as The Hand, Daredevil declares war on a murderous cadre of dirty NYPD cops - and Hell's Kitchen is the battleground!

But can Foggy Nelson and Dakota North find out who's really behind the recent spiral of violence before the city burns?

Source: Marvel






Comic Book Resources have published a number of preview pages from the issue.

Always a good read, I don't think I've ever enjoyed this book more than I am at the moment.

Daredevil #504
Written by Andy Diggle, art by Roberto De La Torre, cover by Esad Ribic
Published by Marvel Comics, $2.99

Welcome Home Kitty

Kitty Pryde returns to the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #522 - due out in March - and to celebrate Marvel have released this trailer:



Uncanny X-Men #522
Written by Matt Fraction with art by Whilce Portacio
Published by Marvel, 17 March, 40 pages

This should see me picking up 'Uncanny' again - welcome home Kitty!

Daredevil #503 Reviewed

One of the remarkable things about the Daredevil title is that, no matter who's writing it, no matter who's drawing it, it's always top, top quality. I'd been enjoying the Ed Brubaker run since it began and I have to admit to being a little ... apprehensive ... about a change of writer. Certainly I don't mean any disrespect towards Andy Diggle, afterall, I felt the same when Brubaker took over from Brian Michael Bendis.

Of course I needn't have worried and, while I'm not saying the book has got better since Diggle took on the writing duties, I do think the character and the overall story have benefitted from the 'refresh' - and of course that's why creators don't stay on the same book forever isn't it!

Featuring a 'cast' that includes The Kingpin, The Hand, Black Tarantula, White Tiger along with Lady Bullseye - a character I'm enjoying more and more - this first story-arc from the new creative team continues apace ...

It’s blood, sweat, and brutal truths as the new creative team of Andy Diggle and Roberto De La Torre continue their first breathtaking story arc! While the Kingpin secretly builds his power base, Daredevil and Master Izo collide violently over the future of the guild of assassins known as The Hand, and Foggy fears the Matt Murdock he once knew may be gone for good.

Source: Marvel

I can't recommend this book too highly: aside from the quality of the writing Roberto De La Torre and 'guest artist' Marco Checchetto's atmospheric, gritty interior art is complemented and enhanced by Matt Hollingsworth's bold and yet sympathetic colouring.

Daredevil continues to be in safe - strong - hands.

Daredevil #503
Written by Andy Diggle
Art by Roberto De La Torre, Marco Checchetto, Matt Hollingsworth, Joe Caramagna
Cover by Esad Ribic
Published by Marvel Comics, 16 December 2009, $2.99

Over at Newsarama readers can enjoy a seven page preview of Daredevil #503 via the Newsarama Comic Viewer.

Iron Man 2 Trailer

Just released, here's the first official trailer for Iron Man 2:



Source
Heat Vision / Hypergeek

Highlights From This Weeks New Releases

Finding a single highlight from this weeks new releases has been difficult so I've selected a few titles to highlight this week rather than just the one.

Daredevil #503

It’s blood, sweat, and brutal truths as the new creative team of Andy Diggle (Thunderbolts) and Roberto De La Torre (Iron Man) continue their first breathtaking story arc! While the Kingpin secretly builds his power base, Daredevil and Master Izo collide violently over the future of the guild of assassins known as The Hand, and Foggy fears the Matt Murdock he once knew may be gone for good.

[Marvel]

Consistently one of my favourite reads Diggle and De La Torre are doing a great job - Matt Murdock, The Kingpin and The Hand: what more can you ask for? Check out these fantastic preview pages at over at CBR.


The Darkness/Pitt #3

Jackie Estacado, the bearer of The Darkness, Timmy and Pitt are forced into a final showdown with The Infected and their Leader! But when The Infected display previously unrevealed powers, will the two anti-heroes be able to triumph? Featuring two covers by series artist Keown and a variant cover by Eric Basaldua (Witchblade Annual 2009).

[Top Cow]

Having initially planned to pick up this three-part mini as a trade I read the first issue in full - for free - at comixology.com and was hooked. As I've said before there aren't many Top Cow titles that I don't enjoy and this series features great writing and superb artwork.

Once again, credit to Top Cow for making their titles so assessable for existing and new readers: visit the Top Cow Reader for a 7-page preview of this issue.


Batman #694

While Black Mask and his Ministry of Death struggle to maintain control of Gotham City, The Dark Knight sets his sights on Kittyhawk – a young thief pivotal to the outcome of Black Mask's gang war. But will a powerful adversary thought long dead spoil all of Batman's plans? Guest-starring Oracle and the Penguin!

[DC Comics]

I like what Tony Daniel is doing with Batman - I'm enjoying his writing and his artwork - along with Sandu Florea - is very much to my taste: take a look over at Tony Daniel's blog.




Batman 80 Page Giant #1

The Batman 80 Page Giant features can't-miss action from some of today's premiere up-and-coming talent working on your favorite characters! It's the biggest blizzard of the year, and everyone in Gotham City is doing what they can to help.
Find out what Batman, Robin, Alfred, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Veil, Poison Ivy and more get up to when snow brings Gotham City to a standstill!

[DC Comics]

Continuing the Batman theme, I'm REALLY looking forward to the 80-page giant: I've struggled to find a complete breakdown of the creators involved but we're promised writing from Steve Niles, Ivory Madison, David Tischman and Simon Spurrier with art from Chris Samnee, Clayton Henry, Marcus To and Saleem Crawford - not to mention a striking cover from Andy Kubert.

New Iron Man 2 Images

I'm travelling at the moment so I haven't had much chance to post - although I have had plenty of time to read so I've managed to catch up a bit on the contents of my 'to be read' comic pile.

I'll be back in the swing of things at the weekend but in the meantime check out the Iron Man 2 photo gallery over at Yahoo! Movies including this superb promotional poster (click on it to enlarge it) along with a very nice (and that's something of an understatement!) picture of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff.

Iron Man 2 opens April/May 2010.


[Click here for my earlier posts about Iron Man]

[click here for the films official website]

Realm of Kings: Inhumans

Out this week from Marvel comes the first issue of a five issue mini-series Realm of Kings: Inhumans.

A Realm of Kings series! Now led by Queen Medusa, the battered and bruised Inhuman royal family struggles to maintain their grip on the reigns of power over the Kree empire. Courtly intrigues and external threats are beginning to erode their rule - but the biggest threat may lurk within the family itself!

War of Kings’ Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning unite with Pablo Raimondi (X-Factor) for the next chapter in the lives of these classic Marvel characters!

[Source: marvel.com]

The title might have otherwise passed me by if it wasn't for the superb cover from regular Witchblade artist Stjepan Sejic.

Over at Comixology there are a number of preview pages from the first issue of Realm of Kings: Inhumans as well as pages from the Realm of Kings one-shot out the same day: the interior artwork across both titles looks great.

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, cover by Stjepan Sejic, pencils by Pablo Raimondi, inks by Andrew Hennessy, colours by Frank Martin, lettered by VC-Joe Caramagna
Published by Marvel, 18 November 2009, 32 pages, $3.99

Realm of Kings (one-shot)
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, cover by Clint Langley, pencils by Mahmud Asrar, Clint Langley, Leonardo Manco, inks by Mahmud Asrar, Leonardo Manco, lettered by VC-Joe Caramagna
Published by Marvel, 18 November 2009, 40 pages, $3.99

Punisher MAX #75

I've been looking for a good point to start reading The Punisher again for a little while now, and when I read that the Punisher MAX series was being rebooted and relaunched in November this seemed an ideal time.

Ahead of the relaunch Marvel have 'wound-down' the current run with a double-sized 75th issue that promises to look at the events that surrounded the death of Frank Castle's family across five short stories

Several years ago, under a cloudless day in New York’s Central Park, Frank Castle’s family was slaughtered in a mob crossfire. On that day, the man known as Frank Castle died and in his place was born the Punisher, a relentless engine of vengeance. Five stories take an unflinching look at what really happened that day, providing a penetrating look into the mass of hard muscle that once was Frank Castle’s heart. You won’t look at the Punisher the same way again.

[Source: marvel.com]

First up is 'Dolls' written by Tom Piccirilli with art from Laurence Campbell. Told over 10 pages this was arguably my favourite combination of writing and art. It's a fairly simple tale that ends on a chilling 'never let your children out of sight' note.

Next up, 'Gateway' written by Greg Hurwitz with art from Das Pastoras. I struggled with this I'll be honest - for me the writing was badly let down by the artwork: I had trouble distinguishing between some of the characters, the art style wasn't to my own personal taste and at times a number of the characters appeared 'comedic' as a result. Not an enjoyable read although I'm prepared to accept that's as much down to my lack of familiarity with some of the characters as anything else.

The third story is called 'Ghoul', written by veteran Punisher writer Duane Swierczynski with art from Tomm Coker, who also provided the book's cover. Like 'Dolls' this is another strong combination of storytelling and artwork that sees Frank Castle interrogating NYPD officer Sergeant Hickey who he discovers is selling evidence from the Castle family slaying. I enjoyed Tomm Coker's art on the recent Daredevil Noir series and this is in a similar vein whilst Swierczynski's writing is sparse and menacing.

'Father's Day' is the penultimate offering of this issue, written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Goran Parlov. Containing no dialogue and written in the form of a 'love letter' from daughter to father interspersed with scenes of incredible violence involving Castle. A genuinely touching tale.

Last up, is 'Smallest Bits', written by Charlie Huston and drawn by Ken Lashley. I particularly enjoyed the artwork on this story, told, like 'Father's Day', without any dialogue although this time accompanied by Frank Castle's narration, although the story itself didn't really connect with me for some reason - perhaps it suffered as a result of being a little too similar in style to the previous story and might have benefited by being earlier in the book.

The book concludes with a bonus 8-page preview of the forthcoming, rebooted, Punisher MAX #1 by Jason Aaron, Steve Dillon and Matt Hollingsworth - good stuff that appears to see the focus of the book shift back to the criminal underworld centering on the Kingpin.

In summary, a book that needed a couple of reads for me to fully appreciate it but a worthwhile read nevertheless and one that's convinced me to start picking up the Punisher title again.

footnotes:

Interior pages are from 'Dolls' and 'Father's Day'.

Comixology have published a number of preview pages from Punisher MAX #75 - click here to view them.