Back Issue magazine number 30, from TwoMorrows Publishing, will undoubtedly appeal to Justice League fans as the issue is devoted to television superheroes. Kicking things off is an in depth look at Captain Marvel (as in Shazam!), starting with a look back at DC's 1970s revival of the character. This is followed by a look at an unpublished Captain Thunder story (the thinly veiled version of the good Captain who went up against Superman in Action Comics #576. Which in turn leads into one-on-one interviews with the two actors to play Captain Marvel in the Saturday morning Shazam! television series, Jackson Bostwicke and John Davey.
ABC's 1970s version of the Justice League -- in the form of Super Friends -- is next, getting 14 pages of coverage and looking at the show from the point of view of a Hanna-Barbera (the animation company that produced the series, along with numerous others) 
employee, as well as from DC Comics' perspective in terms of titles based on or influenced by the series. Then there are photos and discussions of an unproduced "fourth wave" of the "Super Powers" action figures -- featuring characters from the show.
Marv Wolfman actually pens a retrospective look back at the 1988 Superman animated series from Ruby-Spears that he produced. "I suggested the title The Adventures of Superman, based on the original live-action show I had watched as a kid," Wolfman revealed. "That show was the reason I got into comics in the first place. I also suggested using the opening from the TV show (and radio show): 'Look! Up in the sky!' etc... but set to the John Williams Superman movie score. The best of all possible worlds."
To give an idea of the kind of stories he relates, Wolfman discusses the writing of the show's pilot episode. "I had a big scene at the end where Superman, using all his powers, smashes through a series of attacking giant robots, destorying them in a big scene. This was back in '88 or so and unlike these days, fighting on cartoon shows was not permitted by any of the networks. In fact, one character aggressively touching another was forbidden. S&P [Standards & Practices] said we had to change the ending. Superman, they said, can't destroy the robots because, and this is a direct quote, 'Even robots have souls.'" Yeesh! His retrospective spans three features and features storyboards and character model sheets.
Other stories in the issue (with absolutely no connection to the Justice League) include a look back at the late Dave Stevens (The Rocketeer) and the Saturday morning cartoons Space Ghost and Astro Boy. To order this issue of Back Issue, go to TwoMorrows.com.
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October 2008
October 17, 2008
FROM THE WATCHTOWER
While reporting that Brad Pitt is looking to team up with director George Miller on a space-set version of The Odyssey, Variety also mentioned the fact that Miller remains attached as director to Justice League. Of course, given Warner Brothers' intention to shoot Green Lantern next year, reboot the Superman franchise and the fervent hope that Christopher Nolan will agree to helm a third Batman film, it would seem that Justice League is a number of years away...The new issue of Entertainment Weekly goes behind the scenes of J.J. Abrams' new take on Star Trek. In that interview, he briefly mentions the fact he had written a draft for the oft-aborted Superman revival project that preceded Superman Returns. Laughing, Abrams said of that effort -- designed to be the first chapter in a trilogy that postulated, among other things, that Krypton survived and Lex Luthor was a Kryptonian -- "It was not well received by the Internet community," he says.
October 09, 2008
RYAN GOSLING AS HAL JORDAN?
According to Latino Review, reliable sources have claimed that Ryan Gosling could be in the running for the lead role of Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. An acclaimed actor, Gosling is known for bringing character integrity to roles in such films as The Notebook, Half Nelson and Fractured. When interviewed about the latter, he discussed a less than heroic hero, which may possibly be similar to the Hal Jordan we meet at the beginning of Green Lantern. “I liked the character," Gosling said of that part. "Willie’s a character that, most movies like this, in this genre, they’re like really virtuous guys - like natural heroes waiting to come out,. And this guy’s not. He’s not good. He’s not a good guy, and he never really is. He’s the good guy in the movie because he’s better than Anthony’s character. But he’s not really that good and he’s not bad, and he’s okay with that. As long as he’s not a bad guy he can live with it. He’s just naturally kind of a narcissistic, self-obsessed, selfish guy with tons of ambition. He’s kind of put in a situation in this movie where if he [spoiler deleted] for a promotion, he’s going to officially be a guy he doesn’t want to be, so he reluctantly does the right thing. In the whole film doing the right thing is kind of a pain in the ass for him, and he never makes some kind of huge moral shift. He just reluctantly walks that line, and I thought that that was probably more realistic.”
Obviously this doesn't have a lot to do with Hal Jordan, but it nonetheless provides an insight into the actor's thought processes.i
October 06, 2008
STAN WINSTON STUDIO ON "GREEN LANTERN" & "IRON MAN 2"
An article in the Los Angeles Times regarding the late Stan Winston and Stan Winston Studio states that the name of the operation is being changed to Legacy Effects, and mentions that one of the projects in the pipeline is the forthcoming Green Lantern.
"The last two major American movies that will have Winston Studios listed in the credits will be Terminator Salvation and then the Cameron-directed 3-D film Avatar, which is fitting considering the importance of both the killer-robot franchise and its original director in the career of the late wizard... The Winston name will also appear on a German film called Pandorum. After that, the Legacy era officially begins (as far as movies are concerned) with the Bollywood production Robot and then, if things go as expected, with Iron Man 2 in 2010. Legacy is doing some early design work for a planned movie for Green Lantern, the DC Comics character..."
In other Green Lantern news, the online io9 commented on the fact that the movie, to be directed by Greg Berlanti and scripted by Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, could go into production as early as Spring 2009. In what could be a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, they describe the film's plot as follows: It "will start with the death of Green Lantern Corps member Abin Sur on Earth after a battle with the intergalactic baddie Legion (the latter will appear as one of the movie's villains). The dying Abin Sur snubs Clark Kent to pass the potent bauble to Hal Jordan, a civilian grappling with the death of his father. Once annointed, Jordan finds himself busy romancing aerospace businesswoman Carol Ferris, all the while gaining an enemy in Hector Hammond, who obtains powers while performing a government sanctioned autopsy on Abin Sur. Facing certain defeat, Jordan journeys to the Green Lantern motherland, Oa, to ask for help in defeating the tenacious Hammond.... The movie looks like it'll be somewhat steeped in space travel and, as such, is a total fanboy pleaser."
October 04, 2008
BULLETS & BRACELETS
Hello everyone, it's Raffy with some updates to share right here on voicesfromkrypton.com regarding the First Lady of Superheroines, Wonder Woman. First off- The Wonder Woman Movie !!
By now, I'm sure many of us have read that the Justice League live action movie is off and that Warner Brothers is now planning to take a similar route as Marvel Studios when it comes to producing Superhero movies. So George Miller is off Justice League and Australian model turned actress Megan Gale will not be playing Wonder Woman after all. Over on darkhorizons.com (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080910r.php), there's news that producer Leonard Goldberg, who is working alongside Joel Silver. is waiting for a new script they can use for Wonder Woman: The Movie. Goldberg describes himself as being "old school" and that he wants to get a completed new script first that can be presented to directors and see who among them has a take on it that blows then away.
The Wachowski brothers, who thought they might have an idea on how to do Wonder Woman ,ended up working on other projects and never followed through. Joel Silver bought a spec script from Matthew Jennison and Matt Strickland, whose setting was World War 2, decided to hire these same two writers to write a new script set in the present and featuring the origin of Wonder Woman. But Goldberg said unlike the spec script, they are not going to use the same plot for the rewritten version (that Steve Trevor crashes on the island and Diana saves him from being executed by the Amazons), but will use a plot we have seen (with the Origin intact). They plan to cast an unknown as Wonder Woman, firmly believing it’s the character and not a particular actress that will draw in the public. When all of this is supposed to happen is anyone’s guess, but maybe there’s some solace in the fact that we have the Wonder Woman Animated Movie to look forward to.
Coming in February of 2009 is that highly anticipated DC Universe direct to DVD Wonder Woman animated movie starring the voices of Kerri Russell as Wonder Woman, Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor, Virginia Madsen as Queen Hippolyte, Rosario Dawson as Artemis and Alfred Molina as Ares, the Olympian god of war. The feature will present for the first time a full length version of the origin of Wonder Woman, exploring the attraction between Diana and Steve Trevor, the Tournament of the Amazons and legions of Ares’ creatures pitted against amazing Amazons. Lauren Montgomery (Superman: Doomsday) directs this movie and even designed the new look of the characters. The story is by fan Favorite and award-winning writer Gail Simone (comic scribe of Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman) and features a script by Michael Jelenic (Legion of Superheroes, The Batman) and is Executive produced by Animation legend Bruce Timm. The movie will be available in both DVD and Blue Ray formats. (source: wonderwomanmovie.com)
Lastly, in about two months, the great six-part story arc saga “Whom Gods Forsake” will begin with Wonder Woman # 26, featuring part one, “Rise of the Olympian”. Written by Gail Simone, the saga will finally answer many of the questions that have come up in the past few months such as where the Amazons have disappeared to, who is the so-called “Male Wonder Woman” and why the Olympian gods have chosen a new champion. We will also see the ramifications of Diana’s new allegiance to Polynesian god, Kane Milohai, and the problems this cause between Diana and her original Olympian patrons as well as the continuing courtship between Tom Tresser (a.k.a. Nemesis) and Diana herself. The entire six part arc will be illustrated by Aaron Lopresti, whose breathtaking art clearly fits the overall theme of this series.
Yes, indeed, it’s great to be a Wonder Woman fan these days. Action figures, animation, film, comics and other merchandise abound. So that’s all for now folks. Feel free to comment or ask other Wonder Woman related questions right here on voicesfromkrypton.com
Raffy Arcega
Phoenixmarvel2002.tripod.com
GOTHAM CENTRAL
Frank Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder certainly made some news recently as DC recalled issue #10 because of a "printing gaffe" where Batgirl and some thugs exchange obscenities (S-words, F-words, C-words and A-words) that were supposed to be blacked out. The series does not have a mature readers warning on the cover. DC caught the problem early in the week of publication and stopped some shipments, but had to request retailers to destroy the rest. Despite the clear request, many issues made their way into the hands of readers. If you must have one of the recalled issues, then eBay should be your next destination (I recently saw 260 listings). The non-recall intended version of issue #10 came out on September 24th.
I wish I could talk about Grant Morrison's "Batman R.I.P." arc more, but that arc is still taking a hiatus this month. So I think I'll wait until next month to talk about it more. Mark Sable's Two-Face Year One #2 has been pushed back until October 8th. I talked to Sable myself online and he is very upset with the delays. I was not a fan of Ra's al Ghul Year One or Scarecrow Year One, but Two-Face Year One is very good thus far. It is faithful to The Long Halloween and does a neat job of laying the early continuity roots for the acclaimed title Gotham Central. Sable knows Harvey Dent and early Gotham well. Fans of the show Dexter may want to check out the story, as Sable openly borrows from it to craft the plot of Two-Face Year One.
In movie news, there still really is no movie news. Aaron Eckhart told MTV that the Nolan brothers have more Batman stories in them (for what that is worth). The Dark Knight is apparently going to be re-released in early 2009 (probably IMAX only) as a means of reminding Academy members of the film for the Oscar race.
Plenty of Batman video games are either released or on the horizon. Lego Batman: The Videogame was released September 23rd and stars almost every Batman character. On November 10th, Midway will release Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which will include Batman and The Joker. Sometime in 2009, Rocksteady Studios (developer of Urban Chaos: Riot Response) will release Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is a single-player game based on the comic book mythos. Head over to IGN to see the few pictures out there for this game; it's the one I'm most excited for.
I leave you with a favorite quote from The Joker in Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum. It's the end of the graphic novel and Batman is leaving Arkham feeling spiritually reborn. Joker says to him as he's walking outside to the cops, "Parting is such sweer sorrow, dearest. Still, you can't say we didn't show you a good time. Enjoy yourself out there... in the asylum. Just don't forget -- if it ever gets too tough... there's always a place for you here."
-- Jeff