Get excited! We’ve got some great comics bending over the examination table this week!

Starting with Kick-Ass #8

Every time I pick up a new issue of Kick-Ass no matter how wrong I’ve been every other time, I say to myself, “This one can’t possibly be as good as the last one.” And I’ve been wrong every single time. This last issue didn’t let me down in any way. I thought I wanted to see the movie before, but I have to say before reading this issue, I never knew what it was really like to want to go see a movie. Kick-Ass is easily on my list of favorite comics, and Mark Millar’s best to date. This issue was so gory, and so hilarious, read it before the movie comes out! It was worth the wait!

If I had to choose between life, and Kick-Ass, I would choose life. But only because then I couldn’t appreciate Kick-Ass! -Slugtron

Overview: I creamed in my pants from a mere glance of this ass-hole, and not just a little bit. It’s like concentrated anti-Medusa.

Prognosis: It’s bloody, hairy, leaky, and spongy, and I love it!

Next on the list, Siege #2

There has been quite a bit of hype going on with Siege, and when I read the first issue I didn’t think it was bad, but I didn’t think it was as good as the raves going on about it. I sensed it would get better and better for every Marvel comic you’ve picked up for the last five years, but I haven’t been reading that many. I was still versed enough to understand what was going on, but save to say, I was asking a lot of questions.

As for the second issue, I thought it was way better than the first, and in fact it was better than most comic books. But at the same time I felt there were a lot of things that didn’t hold as much weight without the back story. I think a dead give away of this fact is the roll-call page they put into this issue. Then there were some things that held just as much weight, (like the sentry ripping Ares in half.) That’s right, spoiler alert sucka’s! And I thought the ending was cool, but I don’t think Bendis brings the majesty to Cap the way Mark Millar does. I’m just sayin’.

Overview: If I had to pay for ass, (which I don’t) I would pay for a slice of this one. (Although you’ve got to hate the 4 dollar price tag on popular comics.)

Prognosis: Safe for banging.

Last up, Ultimate Enemy #1

Another Bendis title, one that proves he’s stretched a little thin. This was essentially an issue of Ultimate Fantastic Four after Ultimatum, with a few other cameo rolls granted. The thing is, Bendis has written UF4 and it was much better than this. I’m not a Bendis fan but I know he can do much better.

It’s issues like this that make me wonder why they even bothered with Ultimatum. I’ll admit I’ve liked all of the Ultimate titles since Ultimatum, but this issue was bad. It was literally flashing around the world to different super heroes, capturing a boring moment of their lives right before a mysterious explosion goes off, five times in a row. Ultimatum was so confusing I don’t know what’s what in the universe anymore, I need some more exposition to be entertained.

Unfortunately just because this issue was bad it doesn’t mean that the next one will be. That means we still have at least four more dollars to gamble on Bendis, if he lets us down again I think we need to start an ass e-mail campaign. (Which is similar to a normal e-mail campaign.)

Five explosions! -Slugtron

Overview: This title worries me about the future of the Ultimates universe, especially with the news that Jeph Loeb is writing New Ultimates.

Prognosis: This ass-hole is as shriveled as an eighty-year old’s and it’s brand new! It’s the Benjamin Button of ass-holes.

Off the heels of last years Hulk vs. animated movie from Lionsgate (who were kind enough to provide BSR with a review copy) comes the much anticipated Planet Hulk, a thrilling animated adaptation of the Gladiator-esque story arc that put The Incredible Hulk on the top of sales charts a few short years ago.

For those who who are unfamiliar, Planet Hulk begins with the Hulk, restrained in a ship bound for a young green world devoid of intelligent life courtesy of Tony Stark and friends who feel they are finally giving Bruce Banner what he’s always wanted. Solitude. None too pleased with the kiss off, Hulk proceeds to do what he does best and after smashing up the better part of the ship’s guts he finds himself on a new course to the savage planet of Sakarr.  Upon landing the Hulk finds himself enslaved as a gladiator play thing for a cruel Emperor along with a rag tag group of natives, soldiers and aliens like himself who are fighting for their freedom.

Planet Hulk provides a rare, almost “what if” scenario where the Hulk is not feared and reviled as an unchecked force of destruction but revered as a champion and savior.

Expertly rendered and ample fight scenes, along with a substantial cameo appearance by one of my favorite Marvel B-Listers (easily my favorite part of the movie) give the movie a brisk pace while still taking the time to develop scores of character’s that are completely new to the Marvel Universe, cramming but not cluttering the narrative with a balance of action and story.

As adaptations go, Planet Hulk demonstrates the if it’s not broken, don’t fix it storytelling model with flying colors, relying largely on the strength of the original vision while taking enough liberties to keep those of us who have read the comic on our toes.

The disk includes a glut of extras, many of which are to be expected but some that were pleasant surprises, namely issue 1 of  The Astonishing X-Men and Spider-Woman motion comics. Highly skeptical of the whole concept of motion comics (which are exactly what you imagine them to be) I gave both of them a watch. I wish I could sit here and tell you otherwise but I really dug them both and at $0.99 a pop on iTunes I could actually see myself getting into them.  I think the concept is really in the testing phase from a market perspective but so long as the price is right, I could see it taking off based on the strength of what I’ve seen so far.

All in all I’m excited to see how well Lionsgate is treating their Marvel properties and Planet Hulk is no exception, on par with their previous Hulk releases for sure.  I’m just crossing my fingers that they’ll continue this Hulk yarn into World War Hulk territory.

Planet Hulk is in stores today.
Planet Hulk (Two Disc Special Edition)
Planet Hulk [Blu-ray]
Planet Hulk

Diamond Select has finally revealed their entire line of Iron Man 2 Minimates (almost)! These little guys should be coming to retailers shortly before the movie hits theaters, so be on the look out for them because there are of course some “chasers”!

From diamondselecttoys.com:

Iron Man 2 Minimates – The Reveal!

Fans all over the world are gearing up for Marvel Studios’ next sure-fire blockbuster Iron Man 2 and at Diamond Select Toys we are excited to reveal details surrounding our previously Top Secret Iron Man 2 Minimates! Due in stores this March, two new assortments of Minimates are sure to thrill fans of all ages!

While one particular high-flying armor-clad character will remain hidden until the March release date, we can now reveal the full contents of our upcoming Marvel Minimates Series 35 Assortment and Iron Man 2 Single Pack Minimates Display. Rounding out the cast of Series 35 is the high-tech army builder paired with Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan – Hammer Industries’ Hammer Drone! Glimpsed only briefly in the Iron Man 2 trailer, not much is known about the Hammer Drones – except that Iron Man and War Machine will apparently square off against an entire squad of them at some point during the film!

The biggest reveal comes in the form of our Iron Man 2 Single Pack Minimates Display, a special set of individually boxed Iron Man 2 Minimates limited to only 500 cases. This set was under complete lockdown, however now we can reveal the full contents!

Each display will include 12 individually packaged Iron Man 2 Minimates, including:

• Air Assault Drone
• Ground Assault Drone
• Sea Assault Drone
• Tactical Assault Drone

Plus limited short-packs found in every case featuring:

• Battle Damaged Hammer Drone
• Justin Hammer

Styled after the four branches of the US Military, exact how these high-powered armors will come to exist and what their creation means for Iron Man remains to be seen – but we can’t wait to find out! Retailers can still order this limited set as part of their January 2010 Previews orders, so if you want these Iron Man 2 exclusives to become a part of your collection make sure you let them know before it’s too late!

So, any guesses as to who the unrevealed figure is? Perhaps Iron Man Mark 4? You can check out the full line at Diamond Select’s website!

It has been confirmed that (500) Days of Summer director, Marc Webb will direct a reboot of Spider-Man.

As much of a bummer as it is that the same creative team that helmed the first three films won’t be back for a fourth, at least the franchise is in good hands. Webb should have the ability to bring a great amount of humanity to the beloved Marvel characters.

It might prove to be interesting to see a retooled version of the mythos in film, perhaps this reboot will be what Ultimate Spider-Man was to The Amazing Spider-Man books and even integrate the characters in Marvel Studios’ interconnecting Iron Man, Thor and Incredible Hulk. Hell, if the studios were smart they’d have Brian Michael Bendis either write or produce the damned thing.

Though, with only one flick under his belt, does Webb have the experience to pull it off?  Let’s hope so, no one wants another Spider-Man 3.

For those unfamiliar with the press release Hitler is referencing, I will include it below.

MARVEL OFFERS RETAILERS COMICS FOR COMICS

In an effort to provide assistance to comic retailers in 2010, Marvel is offering retailers an opportunity to turn unsold comics into an extremely rare Siege #3 Deadpool Variant!

Retailers – for every 50 stripped covers of the following comics sent to Marvel, you will qualify to receive one FREE Siege #3 Deadpool Variant. The 50 stripped covers can be any combination of the comics listed below and all submissions need to be received at the Marvel office at the address below by Tuesday 2/16/2010. Also included with the stripped covers must be your store contact information including Diamond Account # and email address.

Stripped Covers To Be Sent:

Adventure Comics #4

Booster Gold #26

Doom Patrol #4

Justice League Of America #39

Outsiders #24.

R.E.B.E.L.S #10

Address To Send Submission:

James Nausedas

Marvel Entertainment, LLC

417 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Information To Be Included With Submission:

Store Name

Store Address

Contact Person

Email Address

Phone Number

Diamond Account #

List of stripped covers being returned and their quantities

All the directions above must be adhered to in order to receive the free Siege #3 Deadpool Variants and the submissions must be received by Tuesday 2/16/2010 in order to qualify.

Please note that this is not a Diamond-affiliated promotion and Diamond should not be contacted. Retailers will be contacted via email once Marvel receives the submissions. Retailer with further questions should contact helpme@marvel.com.

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook or visit www.comicshoplocator.com

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation) and publishing (via Marvel Comics). Marvel’s strategy is to leverage its franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world, including feature films, consumer products, toys, video games, animated television, direct-to-DVD and online. For more information visit www.marvel.com.

Of course since the news dropped Big Shiny Robot -just like all the other nerd and geek sites out there- has been a buzz about the cancellation of Spider-Man 4. Some are happy about the announcement of a reboot, some are upset, some are right down the middle.

A regular reader of ours, “Jerk-Bot” sent us an e-mail the other day. The e-mail included a link to an article on moviehole.com that talks about the reasons behind the cancellation, the direction Spider-Man 4 was heading, and the fact that a reboot was already on deck in the event that this breakdown happened. I really encourage you to go read the rather lengthy article over at Moviehole; essentially all of these “rumors” about The Vulture, The Vulturess, Pete and MJ having a kid – they may have actually been true after all. I’m not quite sure who or what this guy’s sources are, but he seems to have some insight.

“Jerk-bot” was nice enought to list the main points of the article that you can check out right below. You can read the full thing at Moviehole!

*Raimi, Maquire, and Dunst were all on-board and committed to the fourth movie. John Malcovitch and Anne Hathaway were already cast as the father-daughter villains of Adrian Toomes and Felicia Hardy respectively.

*Raimi believed he was allowed to have complete creative control and Sony apparently agreed.

*However, the studio then insisted that Anne Hathaway’s character of Felicia Hardy be “The Vultress,”–yes, that was indeed true, apparently–even though, by this point, Hathaway already walked out of the project.

*There were FIVE different writers working on this script.

*Peter and MJ were, I guess, married and have a baby when the film begins.

*Adrian Toomes, as the Vulture, was going to be the new Editor at the Daily Bugle.

*The reboot script was already written (apparently more “Dark Knight” and without “the fluff”) and was part of Sony’s back-up plan, especially since they believed Raimi, Maquire, and Dunst were still uncertain about returning for a fourth film. Not to mention that, according to Sony’s contract, if they do not continue to make Spider-Man movies, then those rights immediately go to Marvel and also Disney.

*Raimi walked once he realized he wouldn’t make the deadline for the 2011 release (due to all the “creative differences,”), so Sony went ahead with their “Plan B reboot” option.

BSR followed a lot of these rumors but none of them ever got as far as to be “confirmed”. If even half of this is true, then I am that much more glad that Spider-Man is getting the reboot. Seriously?! MJ and Pete have a baby?! Guh.

You know the drill, sound off in the comments!

This week, Clang! Boom! Steam! takes on the first issue of The Siege in the weekly comic column for IN magazine.

To read the online version, click here. Otherwise, click the image to read it how it appears in the magazine.  And if you’re in the Salt Lake City/Park City  area, pick up a copy!

Boxoffice.com spoke to The Wolfman director Joe Johnston about his upcoming film. Just like every other director that is attached to a comic book film and has a movie coming out, the subject turned to his Marvel Superhero project. In Johnston’s case, he’s set to direct The First Avenger: Captain America. Here’s what he had to say:

What can you tell me that people might not have already heard about Captain America?

It’s not going to be a Captain America that you expect. It’s something different. It is influenced by the comic book, but it goes off in a completely different direction. It’s the origin story of Captain America. It’s mostly period—there are modern, present-day bookends on it—but it’s basically the story of how Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. The great thing about Captain America is he’s a super hero without any super powers. Which is why this story, among the hundreds of super hero stories, appealed to me the most. He can’t fly, he can’t see through walls, he can’t do any of that stuff. He’s an every man who’s been given this amazing gift of transformation into the perfect specimen—the pinnacle of human perfection. How does that affect him? What does that mean for him emotionally and psychologically? He was this 98-pound weakling, he was this wimp, and he’s transformed instantly into this Adonis. You’d think he got everything he wanted. Well, he didn’t get everything he wanted. The rules change at that point and his life gets even more complicated and dire. For me, that’s the interesting part of the story. It’s got some great action sequences in it and some incredible stuff that we’ve never seen before. But at the heart of it, it’s a story about this kid who all he wants to do is fit in. This thing happens and he still doesn’t fit in. And he has to prove himself a hero—essentially go AWOL to save a friend. Eventually at the very end, I don’t want to give away to much, but he does fit in. But it’s the journey of getting him there that’s interesting. And it’s a lot of fun.

I for one was hoping that Captain America would be a period piece and a lot of what Johnston said really gave me some confidence that just like Iron Man with Favreau, Captain America is in good hands. The only point of concern is when he said, “It is influenced by the comic book, but it goes off in a completely different direction.” But, of course, that could mean one of a million things so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.

Johnston also skirted around some Jurassic Park questions and you can read the full Q&A over at Boxoffice.com.

As almost the entire nerd and geek community are aware, yesterday Sony dropped a bomb. They announced that Spider-Man 4 has been cancelled and that Sony will move forward with a reboot of the franchise, aiming for a Summer 2012 release.

Probably more than most of the bots on this site, I have invested quite a bit of time keeping up with the development of Raimi’s fourth installment of the series – from the resigning of the cast to villain speculation, and more recently, the production hold and Malkovich’s confirmation of the Vulture being Raimi’s villain of choice. Upon hearing the news of the cancellation, I have mixed emotions about it. I’m going to break down my thoughts for you and I want you to share what you think in the comments below.

I want to start with the bad, so hopefully I can end on a fairly positive note. And let me be clear, overall, I do think this can be a positive thing.

So, let’s face it, while Spidey 3 wasn’t fantastic, most fans of Raimi and the franchise seemed to be willing to give it a pass in hopes of a better 4th installment. There were several stories wrapped up in Spider-Man 3, but it also left a lot of things open. A few things I would have like to see come to fruition at the hands of Raimi:

1. Peter and MJ’s relationship status was questionable at best at the end of 3, we will never get a resolution to how bad Peter screwed the pooch on this one.
2. Would have liked to see The Lizard character take form
3. Over the course of three movies, we never got to see Peter truly be Spider-Man. He was always just learning to use his powers, questioning them, or falling to a “dark side”. Aside from the end of Spider-Man 2 I feel we never got to see a confident “I’m Spider-Man and I’m going to fight the bad guy” Peter Parker.
4. Finally, on my abbreviated list, we never saw a good ol’ fashioned purely evil villain. All of the villains from the films had some sob story about them to try to make you feel bad. Not once did we see a villain bent on destroying Spider-Man that didn’t care who or what got in his way. I would have loved to see some villain show up and truly go toe-to-toe with Spider-Man, with Spidey having no choice but to kick his ass into next week.

Perhaps had Spider-Man 3 been better and wrapped more things up I would be a lot more excited about a reboot, but I feel a lack of closure with the current series that even perhaps one more entry from Raimi could have remedied.

Above everything else though, the most negative part about this is this little tidbit from the press-release from Sony:

“Now everything begins anew, and that’s got us all tremendously excited about what comes next. Under the continuing supervision of Avi and Laura, we have a clear vision for the future of Spider-Man and can’t wait to share this exciting new direction with audiences in 2012.”

If any Spider-Man fan could only name one person to blame for the bad of Spider-Man 3 I think most would agree on one man: Avi Arad (now, not to say Raimi wasn’t 100% excused from being part of the problem). Essentially, he forced Raimi’s hand into putting Venom in the film among other aspects. The sheer fact that the reboot is in the hands of Sony and this man makes me weary. Just when I think a lot of people breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Riami will have more control over the major decisions of the fouth installment we hear that Arad and Sony will be again at the helm for a reboot. I doubt even the biggest haters of Spider-Man 3 are at least a little weary about this fact of the reboot.

And finally, just today, EW has published news/rumor/specualtion that Sony may be wanting to go for a more gritty reboot like Batman Begins. Let me be clear, Spider-Man is not that gritty. Spider-Man 2 had just enough light-heartedness and reality to keep it balanced. You turn Spider-Man into a Batman and you will lose some of what’s so great about Spidey.

Now, for the positive.

The set-up. For as much of a lack of closure there is after Spider-Man 3, there is a fact that the writers had kind of written themselves into a corner. Were they going to flesh out the Stacy’s? What kind of leap of faith would MJ have to take to stay with Peter? While there are a lot of directions we would have really liked to see the next installment go, realistically there were only a few roads they could take without asking the audience to either just ignore some of the movie’s continuity or take a leap of faith with some plot holes. So with a reboot, we have a fresh start to hopefully learn from mistakes and create a continuity and story that can feasibly be carried across multiple movies.

The cast. I really like the idea of a new cast. I’ve never been a huge fan of Toby being Peter, I hated Dunst as MJ, and the fact that Franco went back to do some soap opera episodes says a lot. In fact, I think the best casting that was done was JK Simmons in the part of J. Jonah Jameson – and he was at best a supporting role! So bring in a new cast, do a better job at casting the parts. I am actually excited about this.

A new beginning. Sony explicitly stated in their press release they want to explore Peter’s roots. I would love to see perhaps a little younger Peter, perhaps Ultimate Spider-Man style? Keep him in high school longer, let him deal with that aspect of beeing a teenager, high school student, and superhero. I would also love to see Gwen Stacy played out and have MJ come in later.

Finally, fanboy speculation. Remember before the first movie came out? All the excitement and wonder about how Spidey would be handled on the big screen? Well, we get to experience that again. All the hopes, ideas, fanboy lists of demands – it’s all back at square one and even with all of the concerns from the first time around, anything is possible at this point!

Overall, while I would have liked to see some closure and another entry that was more in Raimi’s control, this reboot will probably have more positive than good. Hopefully, Sony will see the success Marvel has had with their own movies and allow for more input from them. There are a lot of good up and coming writers and directors out there that I’m sure will be able to do this franchise justice, and I for one am looking forward to the next interpretation of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler! If anything, we not longer have to be forced to watch Kirsten Dunst’s horrid interpretation of MJ anymore! Rejoice!

Now that we can lay all of this Spider-Man 4 drama to rest, start watching for Spider-Man reboot news and rumors!

Sound off in the comments! What are you all excited/concerned about with a reboot!?

Deadline Hollywood has run a press release from Sony saying that Spider-Man 4 is cancelled.

Here is the press release:

Culver City, CA (January 11, 2010) — Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.

The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.

“A decade ago we set out on this journey with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire and together we made three Spider-Man films that set a new bar for the genre. When we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box-office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise. Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans. We’re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter’s roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning,” said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

“Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job,” said Sam Raimi.

“We have had a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration and friendship with Sam and Tobey and they have given us their best for the better part of the last decade.This is a bittersweet moment for us because while it is hard to imagine Spider-Man in anyone else’s hands, I know that this was a day that was inevitable,” said Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures, who has served as the studio’s chief production executive since the beginning of the franchise. “Now everything begins anew, and that’s got us all tremendously excited about what comes next. Under the continuing supervision of Avi and Laura, we have a clear vision for the future of Spider-Man and can’t wait to share this exciting new direction with audiences in 2012.”

“Spider-Man will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures and a fresh start like this is a responsibility that we all take very seriously,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures. “We have always believed that story comes first and story guides the direction of these films and as we move onto the next chapter, we will stay true to that principle and will do so with the highest respect for the source material and the fans and moviegoers who deserve nothing but the best when it comes to bringing these stories and characters to life on the big screen.”

The studio will have more news about Spider-Man in 2012 in the coming weeks as it prepares for production of the film.

This should be pretty upsetting to a Spider-Man fans in a lot of ways. It was that different direction the studio wants to take that forced Sam Raimi to ruin the third Spider-Man picture. With the 2nd film we got to see what Raimi wanted to do and it was perfect, the 3rd film showed us what studio meddling can do and now, this 4th outing of the franchise (in reboot form) will show us how bad things can get.

You can see in the press release a few things that should have us scared as well. The biggest red flag?

“Spider-Man will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures and a fresh start like this is a responsibility that we all take very seriously,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures.

I’ve been saying this for a long time, but Sony is never going to let Marvel regain control of this property. They’re going to reboot it over and over and over again, like James Bond. Hopefully, we’re not entering a Roger Moore-like era for the character.

If they were smart, they’d join forces with Marvel studios, keep Raimi on and let him do what they want.

Unfortunately they’re not, and this press release is what we get.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter is reporting it, as is everyone else.  Looks like this is the case.