Good news for comics and Sci-Fi fans: Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, who’s no stranger to the world of comics having penned several titles for Marvel, will be taking over DC Comics’ Superman and Wonder Woman titles on an ongoing basis, starting in July.

According to the DC Comics Blog:

Starting in July with SUPERMAN #701 and WONDER WOMAN #601, superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski—a man who’s created layered and compelling characters and worlds on the big screen, on television and across the comic book spectrum—dives head-first into the DC Universe by taking the ongoing writing reins for two-thirds of the fabled DCU trinity.

Straczynski himself is very excited to take on these two iconic characters. According to the writer:

“For as long as I’ve been doing conventions (starting in the early Cretaceous period, when it was just me and a handful of pterosaurs on a panel debating whether or not mammals with opposable thumbs were really necessary to the writing of quality comics, a point still hotly debated today), there has always been the same question from folks in the audience: “Is there any one character who is your dream character to write for?” The answer has always been the same: Superman.

When I first came over to DC, that dream was realized in part by Dan DiDio’s gracious invitation to write the first of potentially many Superman original graphic novels. Now the dream has come fully true with the opportunity to write for the mainstream title, in a story that returns Superman to his roots in a way that will have the whole country talking about him in ways that we haven’t seen in a long time.

Continue Reading →

Regardless of the hype, good reviews, or recommendations we get on a game, sometimes we just miss out on some of the latest and greatest titles because of one thing: cold, hard cash. Videogames are expensive, and whether you rent or buy you’re still paying a pretty penny for the ones that you deem worthy enough to play.

So what if you could get a bunch of really great games you’ve wanted for dirt cheap? That’s what Microsoft’s Games on Demand for Windows is banking on for the month of March, when they’ll be discounting a different PC game every weekend. According to Kotaku, the first one will be Batman: Arkham Asylum and starting today this weekend (now confirmed via Major Nelson), the game will sell for 75% off of the $49.99 retail price on their online store.

While PC might not be your console of preference for this or any of the other titles they’ll be releasing, you can’t deny the awesome savings at a time when we all kind of need them. Be sure to check back here at The Flickcast or your Games for Windows Live account every Friday all month long for the latest.

When writer David Goyer left his post as showrunner for TV’s Flashforward there were rumblings about what he was up to. At the time the most obvious answer  was that he was helping director Christopher Nolan with the third Batman script. At the same time, DC had confirmed Nolan would be helping to get the Superman franchise back on track.

Well, today all the pieces are falling into place as we learn Goyer has been hired to write the next Superman movie.  A source confirmed the news to Latino Review and gave a little indication of what we can expect:

“I can tell you that Goyer’s story involves Luthor and Brainiac.  It is NOT an origin and assumes audiences already know about Lois, Clark, Jimmy and Perry.  I know the Daily Planet is struggling due to the internet.  And I know it sets up a huge Kryptonian mythology.”

Some other points of interest are that Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh will probably not return. Also, the film may be called The Man of Steel instead of Superman: The Man of Steel.  Contrary to prior rumors Mark Millar will not be involved  from the sounds of it.

Continue Reading →

Detective Comics #1. Amazing Fantasy #15. Captain America #1. All iconic issues that most true comic fans would give their left leg for. In some cases, maybe even the whole left side of their body. But as rare as these books are, only one stands above the pack as the ultimate issue for a collector to lay their hands on. Action Comics #1. While you can’t trade the left half of your body for it, you can apparently pick it up for a cool $1,000,000.

So how did this first appearance of Superman break comic sales records? Monday morning, comic auction website ComicConnect.com posted the a 8.0 graded, non-restored copy of the issue at 10:30 eastern time. Minutes later, the book was reported to a “well known individual” who has chosen to remain private.

John Dolmayan, drummer of System of a Down and owner of Torpedo Comics, once paid $317,000 for a lesser grade issue of Action Comics #1 for a customer of his. Talking about the book, Dolmayan said, “It’s considered by most people as the most important book… It kind of ushered in the age of the superheroes.” Take a second and think about what Dolmayan has said and imagine a world without Superman or any other superheroes at all.

Continue Reading →

It appears the search for Green Lantern’s arch enemy Sinestro is finally at an end. Amid speculation that is was going to be Jackie Earle Haley and other confirmed casting news about the film, it now looks as if Sherlock Holmes veteran Mark Strong is the clear winner and will definitely be taking on the role — assuming Geoff Johns knows what he’s talking about.

According to MTV’s Splashpage, Johns visited the New Orleans set of director Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern, the upcoming DC Comics adaptation starring Ryan Reynolds, and once there decided to let a few details about the project slip out via his Twitter account.

“Back from an amazing trip to Green Lantern town a.k.a. New Orleans!” Johns said on Twitter. “Ryan IS Hal. And Mark Strong is going to be a brilliant Sinestro.”

Johns also weighed in via Twitter with an opinion about several other key elements of the films including the inclusion of Kilowog, the Guardians, Oa and more. Said Johns:

“Kilowog, the Guardians, Oa…all breathtaking,” he surmised. “The age of Green Lantern is upon us!!”

It would appear the newly appointed CCO of DC is giving his stamp of approval to the film and also managing to confirm several details for fans everywhere all at the same time. Seeing as how Johns is the man pretty much responsible for putting Green Lantern back on the map and probably had a great deal to do with this feature film adaptation moving forward, his thoughts should go a long way to put fan’s worries about the film’s quality to rest.

Personally, I was pulling for Guy Pearce to be cast as Sinestro. Still, Mark Strong could be a great choice. I guess we’ll see soon enough. What do you guys think?

Yesterday, we showed you some of the cool new movie toys from this year’s Toy Fair at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center. Diamond came in with lots of new and exciting movie properties, but some of their coolest new toys were for their existing DC and Marvel lines.

Among the new toys we got to see were some cool new Marvel MiniMates for the upcoming Iron Man 2 film, including a neat Whiplash, Justin Hammer, and Stark Drones. Marvel Selects announced a gigantic new Abomination figure, as well as The Thing and others, each heavy enough to be used as a murder weapon.

From DC and Diamond, we got to see some cool new statues from the DC Dynamics line, the first ever line of Vertigo busts, and some great statues form the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths film. Also from DC, we got to see some great new “then and now” style figures, including the original Superman vs his current incarnation.

Check out the full gallery after the jump, and be sure to keep it here for more upcoming news and features from the wonderful world of toys!

Continue Reading →

Looks like changes are underway and DC Entertainment is finally moving forward with its plans and getting things in order. Today, DC Comics announced changes to its executive management structure including the promotions of Editor-In-Chief Dan Didio to Co-Publisher with Jim Lee as well as naming Geoff Johns to the position of Chief Creative Officer. This announcement follows the departure of publisher Paul Levitz, who stepped down in September of 2009.

The full details from a press release posted on DC’s The Source blog are reprinted below.

Jim Lee and Dan DiDio Named Co-Publishers DC Comics
Geoff Johns to Serve as Chief Creative Officer

John Rood Named EVP, Sales, Marketing and Business Development

Patrick Caldon Named EVP, Finance and Administration

(February 18, 2010 – New York, NY and Burbank, CA) DC Entertainment, founded in September 2009 to unleash the power of the DC Comics library of characters across all media platforms, has named its executive management team, including new co-publishers of DC Comics and a Chief Creative Officer, as well as heads of Sales/Marketing/Business Development and Finance/Administration. Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment, made the announcement today.

The new senior executive team includes Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, who have been named Co-Publishers of DC Comics, and Geoff Johns, who will serve as Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment. Additionally, John Rood has been named Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Business Development, and Patrick Caldon will serve as Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration. Each of these executives will report directly to Nelson.

Continue Reading →

Principle photography for DC and Warner’s newest superhero flick, Green Lantern, starts up this month. With that, we’re expecting to see lots of news on the casting front of the film. On that note, Heat Vision is reporting that Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins will be joining the cast.

Robbins is set to play Senator Hammond, the father of the film’s villain Hector Hammond, played by Peter Sarsgaard. The role will be mostly supporting, but with a name like Robbins filling the shoes, we can expect it to be longer than 30 seconds.

Robbins will join an already hearty cast of Ryan Reynolds, Sarsgaard, Blake Lively, and a rumored Mark Strong as Sinestro. Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) is taking on the task of directing, and he’s already reassured the easily irritable fan community by stating that most of the film will take place off-planet.

Last week, some interesting concept art got leaked online, and may have given us a first glimpse of what the rest of the Green Lantern Corps could look like. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as more information on the film comes our way.

The Internet was abuzz last week with reports of a possible Watchmen sequel.  There was some suggestion that in the wake of DC President Paul Levitz stepping down Senior VP Dan DiDio was championing a sequel to the “unfilmable” film directed by Zak Snyder. Further, speculation had DiDio planning multiple spin-off projects based on one of DC’s most profitable comic book runs.

Adding to the confusion, and controversy, was the somewhat untimely use of art by comic book authority Wizard magazine. A portion of the picture depicted Batman laying some smack down on resident Watchmen psychopath Rorschach.

Let me say at this point I loved Watchmen. In fact, I loved it so much I never want a sequel to be made.  Thankfully, it seems, that will never happen…at least from what we’re hearing now.

Deadline.com looked into the Watchmen 2 rumor and a well placed insider stated: “There is no truth to anything related to a movie sequel. Not a chance by a long shot. With regards to the comics, well, I guess anything is possible. I’ll keep my opinion to myself as to whether it’s a smart idea to do so.”

Continue Reading →

Buffy’s got a brand new bag, Superman makes his pitch for “World’s Greatest Detective” and the Sentry gets to the heart of the matter in this latest edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Buffy The Vampire Slayer #32
Dark Horse Comics – $2.99 US
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artist: Georges Jeanty
Score: 9/10

While the ongoing war against Twilight hits a lull, Buffy and Xander take the break to examine the Slayer’s new power set, much to Dawn’s chagrin. Meanwhile, Giles – along with Faith and Andrew – find themselves in Twilight’s grip and Willow makes a horrifying discovery.

Best-selling author Brad Meltzer – no stranger to comics – kicks off the “Twilight” story arc with this issue in a round-about way. Twilight himself doesn’t factor into the story much, but Meltzer took the “maximum fun” approach in setting up the pieces via tiny revelations sprinkled throughout the issue while focusing on Buffy’s new powers. The result is an incredibly enjoyable read that’s sure to please virtually any fan of comics or comics-related media.

Artist Georges Jeanty continues to pump out the work that has become the glue that holds everything together for this series, and this latest issue is no different. The scenes involving Buffy and Xander, especially, were a hoot, and how could you not love Buffy hovering in mid-air while asking the General to step outside? If this issue doesn’t symbolize having fun while making a comic, I don’t know what will.

Other issues came close – it was a really good week for comics – but this issue took home the Pull of the Week title thanks to an offering that was part major story arc launch and part open love letter to comics; it’s been quite some time that a comic has made me smile this much.

Continue Reading →