There are few long form comic book stories that really feel like a single cohesive whole. It is just hard to maintain total continuity in style and storytelling over more than a half a decade’s worth of single issues.

Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra were able to accomplish that difficult feat with their epic series Y: The Last Man. A tale told over several years and 60 total issues, that details the last male on earth, and his pet monkey. The comic series is one of the great achievements in comic book storytelling, and is ripe for an adaptation.

The problem is that such an large tale needs more than two hours to tell, and that has slowed the adaptation process down considerably. New Line has been reluctant to sign off on a trilogy of films, but they are still very eager to move forward with a single Y: The Last Man film.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that New Line has brought in two new writers to take a new stab at the adaptation:

Writing duo Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia are in final negotiations to write New Line Cinema’s adaptation of the acclaimed Vertigo comic book… The duo is somewhat new to the feature world but are hot out of the gate – Y is the second studio job in five months after booking Sony’s untitled Zorro origin project — but they have plenty of genre TV credits. Federman and Scaia were writer-producers on Charlie’s Angels, Human Target, Warehouse 13 and Jericho.

Continue Reading →

Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

Preacher is The Godfather of comics. Its brazen, over-bearing, and loud tone leave a distinct aftertaste when you finish reading. The characters are mean and hateful. The locations are gritty and gross. Preacher is the sum total of all the dark corners of America combined into a tale of the problems of religion. It is a series that is not for everyone, and will turn some people off of comics forever. However, if someone asked me what my favorite comic book series of all time was, I would be hard pressed to not choose Preacher.

Preacher was a mature and violent comic book series published by Vertigo in 1995. It lasted sixty-six issues as the main characters blasted and hunted their way through America on their quest to find God. Oh, by the way, their quest was not metaphorical; it was literal.

Continue Reading →

News from the personal Twitter account of D.J. Caruso that he will be directing a big screen adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic series Preacher will probably be taken as both good and bad by the more hard core fans. On the one hand, its nice to see that perhaps Preacher will finally be making its way to the big screen after many stilled attempts at adaptation as a movie or a TV series.

The cynics out there will probably have a problem with Caruso as the choice to take on the project. Sure, his track record might not install confidence that he’s the right man for the job. However, if you’ve ever seen his first film Salton Sea, you will know he has talent and therefore, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here.

To be honest, I’m more concerned how screenwriter John August is going to fit all of Preacher into one two and a half hour movie. My guess is he won’t even try and will probably just use the first major story arc as the basis for the film. Whatever he does end up doing, I’m also a fan of August so I’ll be very interested in how he pulls it off.

No word on if this deal is completely done or pretty much anything else. Still, when we see things like this we feel compelled to bring them to you. So, we did. Now, what do we think of this and if it does go forward, who shall we pick to play the important roles?

Remember the early 90′s, before “emo” was a lifestyle and kids were just dressing up like Neil Gaiman’s Death or Dream and rock out to The Cure? Well, it looks like Warner Bros. TV is a little more nostalgic, as they’re in the planning stages of turning Gaiman’s classic fantasy comic into a new dramatic series.

It may be 15 years after the initial book stopped getting published, but the executives at WB feel that fans of a new, vampire-loving generation will take a liking to this dark and dreary world. Heat Vision spells it out.

Warner Bros. TV is in the midst of acquiring television rights from sister company DC Entertainment and in talks with several writer-producers about adapting the 1990s comic. At the top of the list is Eric Kripke, creator of the CW’s horror-tinged “Supernatural.”

“Sandman” told the tale of Morpheus, the Lord of the Dreaming, a deity who personifies dreams. The book began in the horror realm but quickly made its mark in fantasy and mythology as Gaiman introduced the Endless, a group of powerful brothers and sisters named Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium (as well as Dream).

Continue Reading →

All week long, we’ve been bringing you clips from DC and Warner’s newest comic-to-film adaptation, The Losers, which hits theaters everywhere today. In most of the clips, there has been some stellar action sequences, from what seems to be a pretty action-packed film. Nothing, however, can compare to today’s clips.

We won’t give too much away, but there are the following elements in both clips: a rocket launcher, a sniper, bad guys, a motorcycle, and a jet. Of course, the believability in certain parts of the film can be chalked up to science fiction, but that’s the beauty of calling a film a “comic book movie”, there are no limits.

The film, based on the Vertigo series by Andy Diggle, stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans, and Zoe Saldana, and will be kicking off what looks to be a military-themed summer blockbuster season.

Check out the two new clips after the jump, and be sure to check out The Losers in theaters everywhere today. Plus, look for our review of the film coming up later today.

Continue Reading →

While we’d like you to believe that there is some pretty good story behind Andy Diggle’s original Losers comic, so far we’ve only been showing you some of the shooting, exploding, and punching sequences, so it’s a difficult point to make.

The original story is about a group of special ops CIA agents who are betrayed by their handler and go rogue. In their first mission (which is what the film mostly covers), they go to take down their nefarious ex-handler (played by Jason Patric) and the company he works for. You can understand where the explosions and gunfights fit into there, so our point is proven.

Check out another new scene from the flick after the jump, in which the now sheild-wielding Chris Evans plays his regular smart-ass character, which he’s best known for. The film also stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, and Zoe Saldana. The Losers hits theaters everywhere Friday.

Continue Reading →

Things are picking up as we draw closer to the national theatrical release of Warner Bros. newest DC/Vertigo comic adaptation, The Losers. We’ve had a new clip for you every day this week, and things get a bit more touching this week, as Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Rogue (Idris Elba) make up after a fight.

There are many doubts on how Losers will do, considering that it’s only one of a handful of similar films getting released this summer. The A-Team, MacGruber, The Expendables, and even Tom Cruise’s Day and Knight all seem pretty similar in one way or another. Warners, however, seems to believe the film will kick off the blockbuster season with a bang. Hey, they could be right.

Check out the newest clip after the jump, and be sure to catch Dean Morgan, Elba, Chris Evans, and Zoe Saldana in The Losers everywhere this Friday.

Continue Reading →

Who doesn’t love “shoot ‘em up” films? They’ve been instant favorites for their targeted male audience members since the days of John Wayne in The Searchers. Things haven’t really changed in half of a century, as we prepare for even more stuff to get shot at in this week’s release of The Losers.

Yesterday, we brought you two new clips starring some of the bigger names of the film such as Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, and Zoe Saldana. Today’s clip may only feature Zoe and Whiteout’s Columbus Short, but it does, however, feature a helicopter lifting a SWAT truck off the ground using a giant magnet. That do anything for you?

Check out the action-packed clip after the jump, and be sure to catch Warner Bros’ The Losers in theaters everywhere this Friday.

Continue Reading →

This weekend, Warner Bros. will be kicking off this year’s epic summer blockbuster season with…you guessed it, a comic book film. Though this story isn’t a traditional comic book story. There are no capes, no costumes, just spies and renegades blowing stuff up in The Losers.

The film follows the Vertigo comic by Andy Diggle about a Special Forces team for the C.I.A. who are betrayed by their handler and left for dead. They decide to take revenge, uncovering a much bigger plot. It’s a regular who’s who of sci-fi and comic book film actors with Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Avatar), Idris Elba (Thor), and of course the ubiquitous Chris Evans, who’s in Fantastic Four, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and now the titular lead in Captain America.

Check out the first two clips from the film, in which you get a sexy-ish fight scene between Dean Morgan and Saldana, and some fun banter between Elba and Evans. We’ll be bringing you tons of new stuff for the film this week, and be sure to catch The Losers in theaters everywhere this Friday, April 23rd.

Continue Reading →

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 →

For those of you waiting to see the teaser for The Losers that was supposed to drop today, forget about that. The full trailer is now online. And full trailers are always cooler than teasers.

In this trailer you see the gang in all their glory plus there’s lots of explosive, comic book inspired mayem. And really, who doesn’t love that? Based on the highly regarded comic book series by Andy Diggle and Jock, The Losers is directed by Sylvan White and features Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Oscar Jaenada, Columbus Short, Zoe Saldana, Jason Patric and Holt McCallany.

It hits theaters on April 9, 2010. Until then, check out the trailer after the break. For the HD version, head on over to MSN.

Continue Reading →

Normally the Pull of the Week comes on the Thursday version of the Pull List but this week we decided to keep you in suspense and make you wait until today. –John

Pull of the Week:

USA Comics #1 – Marvel – $3.99
Score: 8.5

When I was younger, I had never known much about Golden Age comics other than that’s where Batman, Superman, Captain America, Namor and the first Human Torch came from. But with Marvel’s 70th Anniversary, they have made it easier to get acquainted with tons of heroes from their past that seemed to be lost in the annuls of time only to be reprinted or re-imagined these decades later. This story follows German journalist Emil Hansen as he is on a supply train interviewing a Nazi colonel during the early days of World War II.

Their train is attacked and destroyed by the Mighty Destroyer who dives out of the train with Emil in tow seconds before a bomb detonates. Emil, though not a Nazi, fears he has become a captive of the Destoyer. He is used as bait and tries to warn the Nazi’s only to be confronted by the Destroyer for trying to save them. Emil talks about how he may not be a Nazi, but Germany is his home and he loves it still. The Destroyer speaks powerful two very powerful words about what a man should do and what he shouldn’t be afraid to. The Destroyer keeps Emil with him as he sets what should be a standard trap on a railway but instead of just watching his target train derail, the Destroyer takes Emil and the two board that train. After some great action sequences fighting around the train, the Destroyer’s plan is revealed with an emotional final few pages.

Issues like this were part of what brought me originally in to comics. I didn’t need long story arcs extending over six months. Back when I first started reading, younger than 10 years old, I had no attention span. If it didn’t wrap up in a single issue, I didn’t remember what had happened four weeks later. The issues that stood out most from my youth were the great one shot stories. USA Comics #1 focusing on the Destroyer is a great comic. Though lacking humor, every other aspect of great comic writing is in this book. There is drama, action, compelling characters with an unusual relationship between the two and of course, conflict.

For someone who only saw the Destroyer before as a WWII version of the Punisher, this anti-Nazi can evoke so much more emotion from a reader than any current rendition of Frank Castle. For example, the explanation of his costume reveals a fantastic “Oh wow” moment that the Punisher could never achieve. Being currently in an era of big events that don’t have much long term consequence like Final Crisis or the Secret Invasion, the story being set in an actual major event such as WWII gives it so much more believability and weight as the reader sees what these characters must go through.

Starting off as Timely Comics, Marvel has gone through tremendous change over the years but like any company to last that long like DC or Archie, they have produced compelling characters. It is great to see a company that honors its history instead of just blindly pushing forward. USA Comics #1 does so in a way that is both captivating and relevant. By keeping the characters accurate to the original themes surrounding them and losing the campy dialogue that was so dominant during the Golden Age of comics, the book instantly becomes so much more accessible to readers new to the character. It’s also great to see one of Stan Lee’s earliest creations still in action after all these years as well.

Continue Reading →