Archive for July, 2012


DC Comics And Beyond: ‘National Comics: Eternity’ #1

Filed Under: Comics, DC Comics And Beyond by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 25, 2012

Jeff Lemire is certainly one of comics’ rising stars. He can write and draw compelling tales, and this week, he struts his stuff in several new releases. Sadly, I didn’t get to the store in time to pick up The Underwater Welder, but I did get the rest of the books he worked on that came out this time.

National Comics: Eternity #1. “An exciting new series of stand-alone comics that feature unique takes on classic characters! JEFF LEMIRE (ANIMAL MAN) and CULLY HAMNER (RED) bring a contemporary approach to the hero we used to know as KID ETERNITY! Can introverted medical examiner Kid Eternity solve a deadly crime in just 24 hours?”

So, just what is National Comics? Here’s what dccomics.com has to say: “NATIONAL COMICS, a new print comic series, will debut this July and feature a series of stand-alone stories built around some of DC Comics most intriguing characters.  The first four key characters that comprise NATIONAL COMICS include ETERNITY, MADAME X, ROSE AND THORN, and LOOKER.  Each character will have a stand-alone issue.” It’s something like Showcase used to be, a place for interesting characters to get their chance before a wide audience.

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Comics Portal: ‘Hoax Hunters’ #2 Preview

Filed Under: Comics, Comics Portal by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 24, 2012

I’m a big fan of Hoax Hunters, a great Image comic that’s described this way: “Cryptids. Aliens. Monsters. All the world’s bizarre secrets–what if they were real? Their existence would be debunked by a reality TV show! HOAX HUNTERS is that show, publicly disproving all variety of lore. But their real goal is the opposite: as the world’s dark corners surface, the HOAX HUNTERS cover them up. They demonstrate that the truth isn’t out there.”

I wrote a preview of the number zero issue here, and the first issue at this location. You can check out their website as well! I interviewed creator Michael Moreci during the 42nd episode of my weekly Wayne’s Comics podcast, which you can find at this link. Also, USA Today covered the book, and you can read that article on their site.

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Movie Review: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Filed Under: Batman, Television/Movies by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 20, 2012

First off, I’m glad I went to the The Dark Knight Rises on Friday AFTER the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. I would hate for this film, with its strong anti-terrorist message, to suffer at the hands of a real-life terrorist. Secondly, the latest word is that, during the midnight showing on late Thursday/early Friday, it nearly outpaced The Avengers by 10 million to set a new record!

Okay, now on to the film. Here’s the official description: Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham’s finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

From the beginning until the last sequence, this film is a worthy successor and satisfying finale to the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman trilogy. There are so many interesting story lines taking place that my attention was gripped the entire way through. Even the “slower” character parts contributed to the movie in significant ways, so I’m sorry it’s now a part of history (in a good way)!

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DC Comics And Beyond: Two Great ‘Star Trek’ Issues!

Filed Under: Comics, DC Comics And Beyond, Star Trek by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 18, 2012

 We’ve still got months to wait for the next Star Trek feature film to warp into theaters, but until then, IDW is making some great Trek comics, and two of them arrived in stores this week!

1. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who Assimilation2 (Squared) #3. Scott & David Tipton with Tony Lee (w) • J.K. Woodward (a) The two greatest science-fiction properties of all time cross over for the first time in history, in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/DOCTOR WHO: ASSIMILATION2! The true horror of the Borg-Cybermen alliance has been revealed, but what course of action will Captain Picard and the Doctor agree upon? And will the Doctor’s recently resurfaced memories shed new night on the dilemma? FC • 32 pages • $3.99

It’s still great to see all the members of the Enterprise D team interact with the folks from the Tardis. However, the most fun part of this issue for me was a flashback when the Doctor (Tom Baker) works together with Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of that Enterprise crew. Even the art style changes, from painting to a more standard comic-book look. It’s a very well done sequence. I laughed when the Doctor asks Kirk to distract a Cyberman, and Kirk uses one of his trademark techniques! The last page has an interesting development that makes perfect sense given that the universes seem to be changed somehow! Excellent book, as usual!

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Music Review: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Soundtrack

Filed Under: Batman, Music by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 16, 2012

Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy of films has been a blockbuster one, breaking records around the world. Now the finale, The Dark Knight Rises, is about to swoop into theaters on Friday, July 20, and the soundtrack is widely available as of Tuesday, July 17.

One of the components that has made the movies so successful has been Hans Zimmer‘s dynamic scores. His “Mozilla” from Batman Begins still gives me goosebumps. And the music from the final film is just as moving, if not more so.

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DC Comics And Beyond: ‘Batman,’ ‘Hoax Hunters’ And ‘The Walking Dead’

Filed Under: Batman, Comics, DC Comics And Beyond by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 11, 2012

I just couldn’t decide which of the three top books that came out this week to highlight, so I’m going to review them all in alphabetical order!

1. Batman #11. The Court of Owls epic building for the past year comes to its stunning conclusion as Batman brings to light the mad machinations of the mysterious organization.

Batman finally faces his “brother” (Owlman?) and then has to pick up the pieces before moving forward. At the end of the issue, Bruce has a great discussion with Dick Grayson, and they talk about what’s been revealed about them. Great job!

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Comics Portal: ‘Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight’

Filed Under: Batman, Comics, Comics Portal by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
July 9, 2012

With digital very likely to be a major player for comics in the future, many comics companies are getting an early start on the entire “revolution” that may see us downloading issues from an FTP site rather than going to our local comics shops … sooner than we think!

DC Comics has been putting their toe in the water a lot recently, with some books like Batman Beyond Unlimited and Smallville Season 11 appearing in digital format before they are collected into a monthly comic. (I do love that first one especially, by the way!)

Recently, the company revived a previous Batman title with Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight, which can only be purchased online … so far. Here’s the description: “On Thursdays beginning in June, a new digital Batman series will showcase stories of the Dark Knight outside of regular DC Comics continuity and feature artists and writers such as Ben Templesmith, Steve Niles, B. Clay Moore, Nicola Scott and Joshua Hale Fialkov. One all-star issue teams writer — and Lost co-creator —Damon Lindelof with artist Jeff Lemire (Animal Man, Sweet Tooth).” Each chapter retails for .99 cents.

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