In an effort to keep things out of the hands of those who made the characters popular, major studios such as Sony, and now Regency and Fox, are rebooting their recent Marvel films in order to retain the rights so they don’t default back to Disney owned Marvel. Sony is doing so with the reboot of Spider-Man, while Regency and Fox have recently announced that they’re doing the same with Daredevil.

Originally made in 2003, and starring Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell, the film isn’t even a decade old and it’s getting a complete revamp. This time, the writer behind 2008’s The Day The Earth Stood Still, David Scarpa, will be penning a script, and the story will more than likely scrub the previous films’ continuity.

It’s unfortunate that studios resort to these childish ways. If the franchise eventually ends up in the hands of Marvel and Marvel Studios, this could mean great film cameos from some of our favorite heroes. A perfect example is what Favreau, Brannagh, and Joe Johnston are doing with the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America films, and it’s all like a fanboy’s greatest dream.

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With 2009 coming to a close, the challenge was to pick and rank the 10 best comics from the entire year. I’ve estimated reading approximately 1,500+ issues over that time frame, so obviously it wasn’t the easiest task to complete. Still, after much deliberation, these are my picks for the 10 best comics of 2009.

1. Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Originally reviewed on December 3, 2009

Perfection. Defined as the highest degree of proficiency, skill or excellence, perfection is near impossible to achieve, especially when every comic ever printed is subjective in nature. You know, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all that jazz. Still, when I thought about all the comics I’ve read this past year, this issue of Jonah Hex kept coming back to me. While not perfect (frankly, what is?), it’s pretty close.

A wonderful done-in-one tale following our “hero” as he diligently goes about his day job, in this specific case while hunting down 50 various bad guys who had it coming to them. A fine story on it’s own. Now add a dash of romance – or the bounty hunter’s version of it – to the mix, sprinkle in a little personal vengeance, and top it off with a jolting reminder of how cruel life can be, and you’re left with a portrait of a man who makes no excuses for who he is or what he does, life expectations be damned.

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With Christmas fast approaching, if you’re still not sure what gifts to get for your favorite geek, why not some cool comics? Our friends at Marvel want to help and are coming out with all new comics this week which would make perfect gifts for that geek in your life, or even for yourself. Come on you work hard, why not reward yourself with a few comics too, right?

To help you in your gift-giving quest, here’s a list of all the comics coming out this week from Marvel. And, as always, be sure to click through to check out some cool art and overs for these books.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #615 (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #615 VILLAIN VARIANT (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: ANTI-VENOM – NEW WAYS TO LIVE #3
ASTONISHING X-MEN #33
BLACK PANTHER #11
CABLE #21
CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #5 WRAPAROUND COVER
CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #5 CASSADAY VARIANT
CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #5 FINCH VARIANT
DAREDEVIL #503
DARK AVENGERS #12
DARK WOLVERINE #81
DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #6

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Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! This week Jonah Hex takes top billing, a couple more Blackest Night mini-series debuts and a slew of over-sized annuals and one-shots invade your pull list. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Score: 9.5

The landmark 50th issue of Jonah Hex hits the stands, featuring a done-in-one tale of the scarred bounty hunter’s latest task: to locate and dispose of 50 various bad guys. The cost of victory, however, may prove to be too much to bear…

Jonah Hex is no stranger to violence. We’ve been exposed to his brand of “justice” for decades now, so it’s very easy to forget that, under all of that hatred, this killing machine does have a heart. Thankfully, writing team Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti weave a story that is sure to please the loyal Hex fans with plenty of merciless vengeance, while injecting a tragedy that goes to great lengths to humanize the central character.

Darwyn Cooke handles the art chores on this commemorative issue, further cementing how incredible a read this was. Gorgeous pencils accompany the artist’s usual cinematic flair, with numerous examples of how to kill a man mixed in with a few touching moments, and a final page that speaks volumes without the aid of dialogue. With the holidays around the corner, I’d gladly accept this final page in all of its original glory as a nifty Christmas gift.

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Normally, this info comes to us on Monday and we get it out to you then. Unfortunately, we got it a bit late and had a full plate at the site yesterday, so we’re it to you today instead. You’ve still got plenty of time to figure out what comics you want to buy, so don’t worry.

Also, remember that Wednesday is a holiday so new comics will be most likely be coming out on Thursday this week. If so, be sure not to show up at your local comic store demanding new comics on Wednesday and then wondering why you’re not getting what you want. Plus, being demanding makes you seem like a douche, so probably best to avoid that anyway.

Anyway, here’s a list of all the new Marvel titles hitting stores this week. Of course, we’ve also got some cool preview art for some of these titles as well, so check those out after the break.

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Welcome to the new The Pull List Comic Reviews! We’ve expanded our weekly offering of comic reviews to a whopping 10 issues each week, so kick back, enjoy and let us know what caught your eye this week! Also, the prerequisite WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Daredevil #501 – Marvel Comics – $2.99 US
Writer: Andy Diggle Artist: Roberto De La Torre
Score: 9.5

Following the events of Daredevil #500 and the Dark Reign – The List: Daredevil one-shot, Matt Murdock is now in control of The Hand. But what he doesn’t know is that other players are moving their chess pieces into position, and Matt doesn’t like surprises. Meanwhile, Foggy and Dakota try to figure out what Matt’s up to over a box of doughnuts.

Writer Andy Diggle has really amped up the playing field for Daredevil and his little corner of the Marvel Universe, so much so that you might not recognize your favorite horned-hero once you get to the end of this issue. Diggle has managed to dramatically shift the title character into new, uncharted territory, and admittedly it’s a great ride. Sacrifices aside, this is definitely not your daddy’s Daredevil…

I think one of the keys to making a Daredevil story great is the choice of artist. Many artists have come and gone with a few making significant contributions to the character – Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, David Mack and Alex Maleev come to mind – so it’s no wonder that artist Roberto De La Torre fits right in with some really beautiful work. This could be the run that puts him firmly in the public’s eye.

Overall, a near-perfect issue that’s also suited for newcomers to jump on board. Even if you missed the aforementioned issues leading into this new arc, do yourself a favor and enjoy what most people will be talking about this week.

OTHER PULLS:

Astonishing X-Men #31 – Marvel Comics – $2.99 US
Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: Phil Jimenez
Score: 9.0

When S.W.O.R.D. Agent Abigail Brand has a run-in with The Brood, narrowly escapes and is on a collision course for San Francisco, who’re you going to call? That’s right, the Astonishing X-Men! Naturally, Abby’s boyfriend Beast jumps at the rescue mission to save his sweety, but what really raises eyebrows here is the return of Laurie Collins, also known as Wallflower. Not all is how it seems, however…

Superstar writer Warren Ellis has proven that he’s not perfect, if the last arc is any indication. He’s not a superstar for the hell of it, though, as he bounces back in a big way with this first installment. Full of action and those X-Men moments we know and love, this issue’s got everything we could possibly want. But how does new-to-the-title artist Phil Jimenez compare to the previous arc’s Simone Bianchi? It’s a step up, no question about that. Jimenez’ art is dynamic in every sense of the word, which makes it a no-brainer for this title, especially if Ellis continues to make this story as fun as the first chapter was.

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With the Marvel/Disney deal looming, the race is on for studios to secure properties. Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures is working on a sequel to Ghost Rider, with David Goyer reportedly in talks to create the story, as well as supervise additional writers for the film. Nicolas Cage is expected to reprise his starring role as Johnny Blaze.

The resurrection of Ghost Rider as a franchise comes in the middle of negotiations with other Marvel characters at Sony, Fox, Universal and Paramount. Studios must move on these properties now if they want to retain the rights to their Marvel superheroes.  If the properties languish, Marvel Entertainment can reclaim the rights to those characters. This is exactly what happened with the Dr. Strange, Black Panther and Iron Man properties. Iron Man languished in development hell at New Line before Marvel turned the property into a self-financed blockbuster last year. And we all know how well that went.

Although Goyer stated through a spokesman, that he has not officially signed on to a second Ghost Rider, plans are already under way to base the sequel on a script Goyer penned years ago. Goyer’s, superhero work includes successful screen transfers of DC’s Batman Begins and Marvel’s Blade franchise.

Columbia isn’t the only one getting in on the properties action. Fox plans to reboot Fantastic Four with Green Lantern scribe Michael Green; develop a Wolverine sequel and other X-Men spinoffs; a Silver Surfer film; and a revamped version of Daredevil.

Sony recently tapped James Vanderbilt to pen the fifth and sixth installments of the Spider-Man series, and Universal is continuing work on Sub-Mariner. Paramount will continue to be the distributor for Iron Man 2 and are also expected to distribute the upcoming Thor and Captain America flicks.

Pull of the Week:

Daredevil #500 – Marvel – $4.99
Score: 8.5

70th Anniversary. 600th issue of Thor. 600th issue of Captain America. 600th Hulk. 600 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. And finally the 500th issue of Daredevil. Marvel sure has a big summer. And of the two milestones, the two best written have been those from Ed Brubaker with Captain America #600 and this issue of Daredevil. This issue of Daredevil continues building upon the deal that Daredevil had made with the Kingpin against the Hand. Though Daredevil suspected Fisk was turning against him, it was a move he was forced to make.

The twists of the story and thought processes of Daredevil during the issue just go to show how awesome a writer Brubaker is. In addition, there is a preview of Dark Reign: The List – Daredevil, a great short story about Daredevil and Bullseye called 3 Jacks, a Pinup and Cover Gallery and of course the reprinting of a past issue of Daredevil, this time choosing #191 from Frank Miller’s run on the series. While normally not a fan of reprinting old materials to fill out the length of an oversized issue, the quality of the two new, original stories are well worth the hefty $4.99 price tag.

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We are chock full of Vertigo Comics this week, as the mature line of DC Comics debuts its Crime Line with two hardcovers from Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) and best selling mystery author Ian Rankin.

Azzarello offers us Filthy Rich about an ex-football player contracted to protect a mob boss’s daughter.  I’ve read a long preview of this and Azzarello’s acid tongue slips into every panel that somehow plays a jazz tune. I don’t know what it is, but just reading the pages I did I just thought I heard a Louis Armstrong song.

Ian Rankin gives us Dark Entries a crime line title featuring Vertigo’s longest running character, John Constantine, as he tackles a haunted house set up as a reality television program. I don’t know this doesn’t seem like a crime story, per se, but seems more appropriate for the main Hellblazer title.

The other Vertigo book is the first trade of The Unknown Soldier. I haven’t read this at all, but an interesting piece in last weekend’s New York Times, has left me interested in checking this trade out. For ten dollars, I’m sure there are worse things you could spend your money on.

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Each and every week the folks at Marvel release lots of great comics for all of us to read and enjoy. This week is no exception and boasts lots of new and exciting titles for your reading pleasure including Punisher Noir #1, a new issue of Deadpool: Suicide Kings and the 500th issue of Daredevil.

But hey, don’t take my word for it, check out all the upcoming books for this week below via the official Marvel press release. And, as always, be sure to check out previews of some of the cool upcoming comic covers that will be hitting stores this week.

Comics On-Sale:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #603

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #603 70TH FRAME VARIANT

DAREDEVIL #500 DJURDJEVIC GATEFOLD COVER

DAREDEVIL #500 ROSS COVER

DAREDEVIL #500 70TH FRAME VARIANT

DAREDEVIL #500 DARROW VARIANT

DAREDEVIL #500 DELL’OTTO VARIANT

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