Thor and Wolverine Movie Updates!

So today was a big news day for Marvel movie fans. Hugh Jackman has announced that The Wolverine (sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine), is in full swing. And by full swing, I mean it starts filming in October. Now... I, and many others, weren't huge fans of the first Wolverine spin-off. What makes this one any better? Well, rumor has it that it'll take place in Japan, as the after-credit scene showed a bit of. And Wolverine in Japan is one of his greatest storyarcs. He gets humbled by some samurai, and all that jazz! Let's hope they do this one well. Hugh Jackman can't be Wolverine forever (or can he?) This guys made a literal career of playing the role of Wolverine. And he's got it down. This movie will mark his sixth movie appearance as the character (if you're counting his cameo in X-Men: First Class).

In other news, it was confirmed today that Thor 2 is under way, slated for 2013. Kenneth Branagh is not returning to direct the film however. Good thing? Bad thing? Does it matter? Believe it or not, Thor is a hard character to adapt to the silver screen, and Branagh did it better than we imagined. Let's hope his successor takes some good notes!

Catching Up on Thor

Yesterday, I started my Twitter feed, and I kicked it off by posting my reviews of the last 5 canonical Thor issues. With the limited message space on Twitter, I feel I'd like to discuss my thoughts a bit further. If you're not into spoilers, or haven't read all the way up yet, read at your leisure :)

Marvel decided a few months back that the greatest way to make a jump-on-point with their more popular series was to make an issue between continuity, and thus: Marvel.1! Thor #620.1 was enjoyable enough. It shows an average feast in the hall of the Asgardians. An average feast meaning the Grey Gargoyle came and turned everyone into stone! Only in comics, I swear. Mark Brooks artwork is noteworthy for it's detail and crisp look, and great for a Thor book. As far as jumping on points go... eh, maybe. The cover art was extremely bland. I feel like most of Thor's cover art looks like this. I gave this issue a 7/10.

From what I've heard, this is the last issue of the long-running Thor series, Vol. 1. The numbers pick up at 622 in a new title, under the Fear banner, "Journey Into Mystery". For a last issue, I was fairly disappointed. In fact, Matt Fraction's story hardly delivered. The art was very cartoony, but easy on the eyes. The high point I found in this issue is that the colors chosen were so vibrant, they became easily more enjoyable than the story, which was everywhere at once. Some panels were extensively trippy. I gave Thor #621 a 5/10.

Matt Fraction, Olivier Coipel and the gang, really bring Thor back with a great new Galactus themed run and start to a new series. Matt, you've redeemed yourself. The artwork is superb throughout, and so far the story has kept me on the edge of the page (I have to watch out for papercuts!). In the midst of the end of the Thor run, Asgard has fallen to Earth, and in so doing the world tree Yggdrasil has been "rendered in twain". Seeing the possibility and the state that Asgard is in, the Silver Surfer attempts to end Galactus' hunger forever, in sending him to the remains of Asgard. Thor and his folks ain't too happy. Great concept. The cover artwork for issue three is beautiful. It reminds me that these books are as much pieces of art as they are great stories! I rated issue #1 with a 10/10, issue #2 with a 9/10, and issue #3 with a 9/10.

Happy reading! 

Just Watched Marvel's Iron Man Anime (in Japanese)

After recently watching the new Marvel Anime's Iron Man episode 1, I can testify that it's going to be a gorgeous series. The art for the actual suit looks to be a semi CG rendering, and it blends in with the actual penciling of the cartoon. The story, although a little slower than I'd have liked, proved worth my while before long. I found that the voice acting was great, and they got Tony Stark's humor right on key. But, it was in Japanese. Can't wait to hear it in English!

Here's a little tease, in Japanese, if you please.

First Avengers Poster Art Revealed!

As many may know, Marvel's had this huge epic movie line going for a while, where they were creating films for several heroes that corresponded to the superteam the Avengers, and eventually they would make an Avengers movie, using all the same actors. Well, that's finally happening. After two Iron Man movies (soon to be a third), a Thor movie, a Captain America film, a Hulk remake, and a whole bunch of Samuel L. Jackson cameos at the end of the credits, The Avengers shall hit theaters next year. Recently at a sales pitch someone snagged a quick photo at a poster of the superteam, and although it may just be conceptual at this stage, it's still our first look at the film itself. Take a look.

The Avengers featured on the poster are Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye (who had a cameo in Thor) and Black Widow (who had a cameo in Iron Man 2). Nearly all of the actors who played these characters shall return to reprise their roles, a huge endeavor and success on Marvel's part.

Marvel Anime Coming to G4

Alright. So, as some of you may know, the company Madhouse has teamed up with Marvel to give you what appears to be a truly spectacular experience: adapting some of your favorite Marvel characters into a unique anime spectacular. The project is called Marvel Anime (don't ask me where they came up with that), and from what I've seen this is something to really look forward to.

It's apparently not an ongoing series, which I'm a little saddened by (I need something to replace what I lost now that Smallville is over), but not disappointed. It's said to be a four-part series, much of which has already been released weekly to Japanese audiences. The four parts will follow Iron Man, Wolverine, the X-Men, and Blade, in that order, each part being 12 episodes. As only the first three parts have been aired in Japan, all I can say is Wolverine makes plenty of appearances throughout.

What will the story entail? Not sure. You can look it up if you wish to spoil it for yourself. OR you can wait until July 1st, 2011 to see it air on G4. Your choice. Oh wait, there's a third option. Watch it in Japanese with subs? Nah.

Anyway, I look forward to this and so should you. Let me know your thoughts!

Green Lantern to Be the Truest Comic Book Adaptation Yet

Well, I hope so anyway. There are a few things that seem to be off from the comic book lore of Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), as we've already seen in the trailers, but not much. At worst, the greatest change is Hal Jordan's personality. He's a very serious character. Very very serious... But it wouldn't hit home very well if he was serious on the silver screen, sooo they got Ryan Reynolds to say a few jokes. But from a story standpoint, from a mythos standpoint, to Corps. members, to origins, to Parallax... They're doing a fantastic job. At least from what I've seen anyway. So, today HitFix.com has released 8 brief scenes from the coming movie that prove it may just be the best adaptation of a DC Comics movie to date, BUT I feel as though it may be truest in both the DC and Marvel universe. I'm really excited about it! I'll post them in future updates to the blog.

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In other news, along with the upcoming reboot that DC has in store is Batgirl #1. This will be the first time that Barbara Gordon will appear as Batgirl since the late 80's. Being someone who's grown up in the post Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe, I've known Barbara Gordon only as the Oracle; a crippled hacker in a wheelchair who's saved more lives from that seat than she ever has before the Joker shot her spine as Batgirl. Hopefully DC has something big planned for her.

It's Time to Catch Up

So, what I plan on accomplishing with this blog is the chance to explain and review comic books to the best of my ability. You see, I Dakota Lopez, a young guy at the age of 19, have pretty much been collecting comic books on and off my entire life.

I remember, I was about 7 or so and my dad had brought me this really crappy free Batman comic book, and although I would view it as a crappy one nowadays, it really uhh... opened my eyes to the medium. I don't have that particular issue still, but it began my urge to collect them. I grew up in Miami, so it wasn't the easiest place to find comic books, especially at the age I was (probably about 8 or 9 now). There was this new mall that opened up, though, called Sunset mall, but I called it Sunset Place for some odd reason, and right next to the mall was this really cool, really geeky store. For the life of me (and this kills me) I can't remember the name of it. Well, they sold really cool action figures and ugly geek shirts and posters, and, in the back, a whole room dedicated to comic books... This was my first real encounter with a comic book store.

This place eventually closed down, or moved to a different location (I'm actually not quite sure), but I ended up being unable to find comics within a reasonable driving distance, so my collection grew a bit of dust. Oh, by the way, even at that age I had all my comics bagged and boarded, and I pride myself on that knowledge.

Anyway, I moved to Redondo, California when I was about 13 and I found this awesome store in Manhattan Beach called the Comic Bug. It rekindled the fire within me, and it was the first official comic book store that I went to regularly. Throughout high school I went through periods of time where, I'd be in and out of comics. In fact, I joined the Comic Book Club (Comic Book Union at the time) at Redondo Union High School in my freshman year, and I met some of the best group of friends I could meet. The Comic Bug ended up moving two times during 2007-8 but it was still in the general area it is today. This is one of the best comic book stores I've been to in my life, very cosy, very roomy and if you're ever in the area, do visit it.

I actually went to a lesser comic convention out there in California, Wizard World '07, and I brought a bunch of comics from my collection to be signed by my favorite cover artist, Michael Turner. I got him to sign 15 to 16 of them, and those are my pride and joy. He was going through chemotherapy at the time, as the picture below shows :( But hey, look at that smile on his face.

Anyway, I moved to Scarsdale, New York at about the age of 16, and have been here since. I found the nearest store, Phoenix, and that's a nice place, with great owners. But, as sometimes happens, I've lost interest in the hobby. So, for the past 2 to 3 years, a lot has happened in the comic book world. DC, Marvel, and other. My favorite cover artist, Michael Turner lost his battle to cancer. I didn't know this until about a month ago... You see, I was planning on selling each and every one of my comic book collection on Ebay, but it wasn't until I actually looked at them again that nostalgia hit me. Hard. I sat on the floor that night, next to my long boxes and just read comic books all night. A friend of mine told me he started a booth at the New York Comic Con, and he gave me and a few friends free passes.

Well, that was the key to the unlocking for my hobby of collecting and reading comic books. A lot has happened. Blackest Night, Brightest Day (someone explain this to me...), in the Marvel universe there's a vampire resurgence and an attack on all mutants, and Spider-Man is no longer unmasked. Follow my blog as I recount how I've been getting back into comics, review them, and discuss them.