Marvel, and toy makers at large, have taken some heat lately due to the lack of representation of girls and for girls in the toy aisle as well as for perceived slights against the handling of their female characters. Perhaps the disproportion of product and distinct pink and blue segregation worked in decades past but sentiments evolve and it’s clear that consumers want the business to change with them.

Shifting the status quo is like having a tug of war but everyone is blindfolded and have their own ropes. We’re all just sort of stumbling around not quite sure exactly what needs to be done to win or how to pull it off practically, but maybe if we all sort of try to move in the same general direction we might gain some ground. We might each individually make some mistakes along the way, in fact we’ll definitely make mistakes along the way, but we can move in the right direction.

That’s why the announcement of Marvel’s “Ant-Man Micro-Tech Challenge” makes me so happy. While this may have no direct impact on the toy aisle, it is Marvel telling young girls that they’re invited to the table, that their input is valued, more importantly, that their minds are valued.

The challenge is open to all girls aged fourteen to eighteen that are currently enrolled in grades nine through twelve. The challenge is to a DIY project that utilizes at least one cheap and readily available “micro-tech component.” The projects can have a scientific function or can be artistic or entertaining. The idea is to use parts that anyone could easily get a hold of. Repurposing and recycling are encouraged.

Marvel has partnered with Raspberry Pi, along with Dolby and VISA, for the challenge and presumably, though not directly stated, you are encouraged to use Raspberry Pi devices, small, affordable computers, as a starting off point.

Applications must be in by 9:00 PM Pacific time June 11. You are encouraged to apply as early as possible because all projects must be completed and video uploaded by the same deadline. Time is short but prizes will be awarded quickly. Winners will receive the following prizes:

• Receive a trip to Hollywood, California for the winner and her parent to walk the red carpet at the World Premiere of MARVEL’S ANT-MAN on June 29, 2015.
• Attend a special “The Evolution of Technology” workshop on June 30, 2015 at the Disneyland® Resort where they will meet Walt Disney Imagineers who will introduce them to the broader scope of technology and how innovation is inspired during a behind-the-scenes tour of the Disneyland® Resort.
• Receive a tour of the Walt Disney Studios.

Never have I wished more that I was a teenage girl than when reading about going to the workshop at Disneyland and meeting Imagineers. There has been plenty of precedent in recent years for teenagers developing breakthrough technologies and making discoveries. More important than convincing toy makers to stock the shelves with Black Widow toys is the task of convincing young people, specifically young girls that they have a seat at the table. Showing them that they can call the shots and in a few years they’ll be making the toys, or the movies, or the spacecrafts to other worlds, and that’s something worth encouraging. 

There has been a lot of ink spilled, both digital and actual, in the past few weeks about the lack of Black Widow on Avengers 2 merchandise, in the toy aisle, and general questions about gender equity in Marvel’s House of Ideas. Joss Whedon even quit Twitter after a barrage of angry tweets that he had somehow maligned or marginalized Agent Romanoff in her big screen role in the year’s biggest movie.

But, if you’re like me, you took one look a those critiques that she was “damseled” and said, “She drives a motorcycle out of a moving airplane. Your argument is invalid.” It’s been hard trying to thread this needle of defending Marvel for doing great things like renewing Agent Carter and what’s happening in Thor #8 this week and the general way Joss Whedon writes his female characters, while also seeing some problems with the execution of parts of Age of Ultron and major missteps in the marketing and merchandising of the film. It simply feels like the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. 

And then, this happened:

Are you serious? Are you seriously serious?

You take one of, if not the single, coolest moments in the movie and you erase the female character and replace her with Captain America? Let’s remember what that looked like again:

Not cool, Marvel. Not cool, Hasbro.

First of all, I REALLY want a toy of that. 

But I’m not going to purchase it if it’s Captain America. Simple. Why? Because it wasn’t Captain America. I saw the movie. Next you want to get me Thor in the Hulkbuster suit?

You want to give me Captain America on a motorcycle? Great. That toy exists. Like a billion different versions of them. I own a couple of them.

You want to make a cool Age of Ultron Captain America motorcycle toy? Do one where he flips the bike and then throws it. THAT’S what I saw in the movie. He does not ride out of planes on them.

Don’t get me wrong: I love Captain America. So much I’ve written extensively not just once, but twice on WHY I love him so much. I’ll buy me the hell out of some Cap toys. In fact, I have a Black Widow toy from last year’s Legends Winter Soldier line. But at $20 a pop, these weren’t for our average kid who just wants a to play with. 

There is also tons of pent up demand for Black Widow toys. Somewhere someone got it through their heads that a) girls don’t play with action figures (they do. As a father of a 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy, they like playing with dad’s Star Wars and Avengers toys exactly the same amount) and b) adult collectors don’t buy female characters.

It’s the sad truth that in America today, nowhere will you find more strict gender norming and segregation than the to section of your nearest big box retailer. Boy toys go here, full of action and adventure, and the girl aisles are filled with pinks and purples and taffeta dresses and dolls and domesticity.

Even Lego is segregating their toys for boys and girls now. Even DC is marketing a specific line to girls. One one hand I’m glad that Legos and DC superheroes are getting to girls. But they shouldn’t have to be marketed in pink hearts and flowers, and they shouldn’t be ghetto-ized (in the original sense of the word– to segregate and put in less desirable location) and marginalized. 

But here’s the problem– is everyone keeps blaming the next guy. And so Marvel points the finger at Hasbro and the toy manufacturers, Hasbro points the finger at the retailers who they say won’t stock toys that don’t fit their segregated toy aisle schemas, and the retailers say they are simply responding to what sells to us, the consumer. 

So the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our toys, but in us. We’re the reasons we can’t have nice things. 

But it’s also hard to break this cycle if we’re never given the opportunity to go out and buy these figures. 

Hasbro seems to have taken the wrong message in the fact that their Slave Leia Black Series figures didn’t sell as well by pulling a future Leia figure, never considering that for maybe some of us, we didn’t want to buy a Leia action figure not because it was Princess Leia, but because it felt icky and weird to buy an action figure that is literally a sex object. And let’s not forget the difficulties in finding Hera or Sabine action figures for Rebels. . .

So, there it is. The problem is endemic. And this is simply the most recent, and most egregious, case of it. 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (8 out of 10); Directed by Joss Whedon; Starring Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, James Spader, et al; Written by Joss Whedon; Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments.; 141 minutes; In wide release on May 1, 2015.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” starts with a bang, picking up immediately in the middle of an action sequence. They’re after Loki’s sceptre from the first film and they’ll stop at nothing to get it back. The plot of the film kicks into high gear when Tony Stark and Bruce Banner use Loki’s staff to develop an artificial intelligence to take over for the Avengers. 

This plan goes immediately south and results in the creation of Ultron, who believes that the best way to create peace is to kill the Avengers, as well as most of the population of Earth.

The plot is standard comic book fare and you’ll find no surprises in that regard.

As for what makes this outing different than the last film, is that Whedon has introduced a variety of new elements. First, you have Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) who are orphans who underwent genetic modifications at the hands of Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) in order to get revenge on Tony Stark. Then you have Hawkeye, playing a much larger part in this film. And Whedon also manages to juggle characters from across all the other Marvel films, from War Machine (Don Cheadle) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) and Heimdall (Idris Elba), they’re all in this film. The film has a lot of moving parts and the pace is such that it doesn’t let up on you in any way.

Each grouping of characters has a small arc through the film that ties into the plot and, for the most part, the screenplay is incredibly economical and manages to give everyone something to do. And in what seems to be Whedon making amends to Jeremy Renner for making him a bad guy through most of the first film, Hawkeye is given the biggest backstory treatment and probably a few of the best lines in the entire movie. 

The film is loud and fun and doesn’t seem like it’s well over two hours long. Whedon manages to keep you involved and keep you laughing nervously as you wait for the team to save the world from total destruction at the last second, just like the first film.

Perhaps the best addition to this film was James Spader as Ultron. As an entity who has learned to speak and quip from Tony Stark and the Internet, Spader takes Whedon’s dialogue and just runs with it, imbuing it with a menace and humor and realism that I simply wouldn’t have expected. I was dreading a boring and monotone take on Ultron, the way Christopher Nolan might do it, but Spader’s take was a breath of fresh air.

My single largest problem with the film (and it’s a minor one for all the time I spent enjoying it) is that the last act of the film is just a mess. There are so many characters off doing so many things in such a close proximity aimed toward the same goal that their screen time just isn’t balanced properly. The different goals of each of the disparate groups of Avengers were too disconnected from each other. 

Whedon, who seems as into George Lucas as I am, would have done well to take one more page out of the George Lucas playbook. I can’t think of another filmmaker who so cleanly and capably tells multi-situational climaxes across different goals that interconnect while constantly raising the stakes. In Ultron, none of the pieces feel like they need to fall into place in any particular order, there’s no incremental victories or losses to make us invest more fully. There’s just not a whole lot of structure to the ending and it could have used it.

Other than that, I had a fun time watching this movie. It’s not a masterpiece and probably won’t be remembered as the greatest filmed adventure of the Avengers, but it’s definitely worthy of Marvel and will certainly make boatloads of money back.

I give this film an 8 out of 10.

It comes into wide release May 1, 2015.

Marvel Games has partnered with Telltale Games and are planning on bringing us a game for consoles and PC in 2017. Which was predicted on the EID podcast…just saying.

Executive Producer Mike Jones said “It takes a long time to find the right partner. We have one special game we’re excited about.”

Other than the partnership we don’t know any other details yet. We don’t even know what heroes we will see. The game is slated for 2017. In my opinion the game that makes the most sense for the “Telltale” style of gameplay would be “Civil War.” With the movie “Captain America: Civil War” coming out in May of 2016 releasing a game that centered around that plot would make sense. Having players make choices which would lead them to either Cap or Iron Man’s side would be awesome. This is exactly what “Telltale” did with the “Game of Thrones: Iron from ice” game which by the way you should start playing if you haven’t already.

I can’t wait to hear what the partnership between “Marvel Games” and “Telltale” will bring. Keep checking back for all the details surrounding this future title.

Tom, Randall, Steve and Vance jump in to shoot the breeze in video game land. They’re fresh out of ideas so they chat more about Mortal Kombat, Heroes of the Storm, The Avengers, Comics, Jurassic Park… and you know.. stuff.

Straight from PREVIEWSworld itself is the list of new releases of comic books and comic related merchandise you can expect in shops this Wednesday. Anyone interested in what was in shops last week can find that list here.

PREMIER PUBLISHERS

DARK HORSE COMICS

DEC140107   –   ART OF THE UNCHARTED TRILOGY HC   –   $39.99
FEB150055   –   BTVS SEASON 10 #14 MAIN CVR   –   $3.50
FEB150091   –   CREEPY COMICS #20   –   $3.99
DEC140093   –   CRIMNIAL MACABRE THIRD CHILD TP   –   $17.99
NOV140120   –   FRANK FRAZETTA DEATH DEALER STEIN   –   $19.99
FEB150071   –   FRANKENSTEIN UNDERGROUND #2   –   $3.50
OCT140149   –   GAME OF THRONES FIGURE JOFFREY BARATHEON   –   $24.99
JAN150181   –   GAME OF THRONES PLAYING CARDS 2ND ED   –   $4.99
DEC140091   –   GRINDHOUSE DRIVE IN BLEED OUT #4   –   $3.99
FEB150107   –   HALO ESCALATION #17   –   $3.99
OCT140141   –   LEGEND KORRA AANG MEMORIAL STATUE   –   $149.99
FEB150018   –   MIND MGMT #32   –   $3.99
FEB150026   –   MISTER X RAZED #3   –   $3.99
DEC140084   –   STRAIN HC VOL 02 THE FALL   –   $29.99
FEB150108   –   TOMB RAIDER #15   –   $3.99
DEC140071   –   WITCHFINDER TP VOL 03 MYSTERIES OF UNLAND   –   $19.99
DEC140119   –   X TP VOL 05 FLESH AND BLOOD (MR)   –   $14.99

DC COMICS

FEB150240   –   BATMAN 66 #22   –   $2.99
DEC140386   –   BATMAN 66 HC VOL 03   –   $19.99
JAN150377   –   BATMAN 66 TP VOL 02   –   $14.99
FEB150238   –   BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT #3   –   $3.99
FEB150146   –   CONVERGENCE #3   –   $3.99
FEB150194   –   CONVERGENCE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #1   –   $3.99
FEB150196   –   CONVERGENCE BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #1   –   $3.99
FEB150198   –   CONVERGENCE FLASH #1   –   $3.99
FEB150200   –   CONVERGENCE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1   –   $3.99
FEB150202   –   CONVERGENCE HAWKMAN #1   –   $3.99
FEB150204   –   CONVERGENCE JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1   –   $3.99
FEB150206   –   CONVERGENCE NEW TEEN TITANS #1   –   $3.99
FEB150208   –   CONVERGENCE SUPERBOY & THE LEGION #1   –   $3.99
FEB150210   –   CONVERGENCE SWAMP THING #1   –   $3.99
FEB150212   –   CONVERGENCE WONDER WOMAN #1   –   $3.99
FEB150281   –   EFFIGY #4 (MR)   –   $2.99
JAN150372   –   JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 TP VOL 02 THE CAMELOT WAR (N52)   –   $14.99
FEB150272   –   MAD MAGAZINE #533   –   $5.99
FEB150287   –   SUICIDERS #3 (MR)   –   $3.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

NOV140348   –   BATMAN ANIMATED NBA CREEPER AF   –   $24.95
NOV140356   –   BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE BY IVAN REIS   –   $79.95

IDW PUBLISHING

FEB150335   –   ANGRY BIRDS #10   –   $3.99
NOV140487   –   BEST OF EC ARTIST ED HC VOL 02   –   PI
DEC140593   –   BORDERLANDS FALL OF FYRESTONE #8 TANNIS & THE VAULT PT 4   –   $3.99
JAN150503   –   CARTOON NETWORK ALL-STAR OMNIBUS TP   –   $24.99
DEC140589   –   COMPLETE LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE HC VOL 11   –   $49.99
JAN150552   –   CREEPLE PEEPLE #3   –   $3.99
FEB150450   –   DRONES #1   –   $3.99
FEB150325   –   EDWARD SCISSORHANDS #7 WHOLE AGAIN   –   $3.99
FEB150345   –   EMPIRE UPRISING #1   –   $3.99
FEB150353   –   FLY OUTBREAK #2   –   $3.99
FEB150327   –   GALAXY QUEST JOURNEY CONTINUES #4   –   $3.99
FEB150379   –   GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #213   –   $3.99
FEB150433   –   GODZILLA RULERS OF THE EARTH #23   –   $3.99
FEB150348   –   INFINITE LOOP #1   –   $3.99
FEB150332   –   LITTLEST PET SHOP SPRING CLEANING (ONE SHOT)   –   $7.99
FEB150333   –   LITTLEST PET SHOP SPRING CLEANING (ONE SHOT) SUBSCRIPTION VA   –   $7.99
DEC142561   –   MACHI KORO GAME MAT   –   $19.99
FEB150423   –   MAXX MAXXIMIZED #18   –   $3.99
FEB150372   –   MIAMI VICE REMIX #2   –   $3.99
FEB150321   –   MY LITTLE PONY FIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #4 NIGHTMARE MOON   –   $3.99
FEB150453   –   POPEYE CLASSICS ONGOING #33   –   $3.99
FEB150343   –   POWERPUFF GIRLS SUPER SMASH-UP #4   –   $3.99
FEB150440   –   ROBERT HEINLEINS CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY #3   –   $3.99
FEB150418   –   ROT & RUIN TP WARRIOR SMART   –   $19.99
JAN150504   –   SAMURAI JACK #18   –   $3.99
FEB150339   –   SKYLANDERS #8 RTN OF DRAGON KING   –   $3.99
OCT140520   –   STARLING HC ASHLEY WOOD BOOK 01   –   $17.99
FEB150404   –   TMNT COLOR CLASSICS SERIES 3 #4   –   $3.99
DEC140535   –   TRANSFORMERS CLASSICS TP VOL 08   –   $29.99
FEB150398   –   TRANSFORMERS WINDBLADE COMBINER WARS #2   –   $3.99
FEB150309   –   UNCLE SCROOGE #1   –   $3.99
NOV140416   –   WILD BLUE YONDER HC   –   $29.99
FEB150415   –   WINTERWORLD TP VOL 02 STRANDED   –   $17.99
JAN150548   –   WORMWOOD GENTLEMAN CORPSE HC THE FIRST FEW PINTS   –   $49.99
FEB150361   –   X-FILES SEASON 10 HC VOL 04   –   $24.99
FEB150427   –   ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS #4   –   $3.99

IMAGE COMICS

JAN150576   –   BEYOND BELIEF #1 CVR A HESTER   –   $3.50
JAN150577   –   BEYOND BELIEF #1 CVR B WU   –   $3.50
JAN150578   –   BEYOND BELIEF #1 CVR C CAST PHOTO   –   $3.50
FEB150597   –   CHEW #48 (MR)   –   $2.99
FEB158277   –   CHRONONAUTS #1 2ND PTG (MR)   –   $3.50
FEB150518   –   CRIMINAL TP VOL 04 BAD NIGHT (MR)   –   $14.99
FEB150510   –   DEADLY CLASS #12 CVR A CRAIG (MR)   –   $3.50
FEB150511   –   DEADLY CLASS #12 CVR B OPENA (MR)   –   $3.50
FEB150605   –   EMPTY #3   –   $3.50
FEB150611   –   INTERSECT #6 CVR A FAWKES (MR)   –   $3.50
FEB150612   –   INTERSECT #6 CVR B ZDARSKY (MR)   –   $3.50

FEB150614   –   INVISIBLE REPUBLIC #2 (MR)   –   $2.99
FEB150480   –   KAPTARA #1   –   $3.50
FEB150615   –   LAZARUS #16 (MR)   –   $3.50
DEC140742   –   MANIFEST DESTINY #14 (MR)   –   $2.99
FEB150530   –   MPH TP   –   $14.99
FEB150623   –   POSTAL #3 CVR A SEJIC   –   $3.99
FEB150624   –   POSTAL #3 CVR B GOODHART   –   $3.99
FEB150629   –   SATELLITE SAM #13 (MR)   –   $3.50
SEP140760   –   VELVET #10 (MR)   –   $3.50

IMAGE COMICS/MCFARLANE TOYS

DEC140788   –   HALO 4 SERIES 3 AF   –   PI
DEC140789   –   HALO 4 SERIES 3 CMDR PALMER AF   –   PI
DEC140791   –   HALO 4 SERIES 3 JUL MDAMA AF   –   PI
DEC140790   –   HALO 4 SERIES 3 SPARTAN THORNE AF   –   PI

MARVEL COMICS

FEB150820   –   ALL NEW X-MEN #40   –   $3.99
FEB150724   –   AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17.1   –   $3.99
FEB150824   –   AMAZING X-MEN #19   –   $3.99
JAN150836   –   AVENGERS MAGAZINE #1   –   $9.99
FEB150696   –   AVENGERS MILLENNIUM #4   –   $3.99
FEB150687   –   AVENGERS OPERATION HYDRA #1   –   $3.99
FEB150717   –   AVENGERS WORLD #20 TRO   –   $3.99
FEB150809   –   BLACK WIDOW #17   –   $3.99
FEB150741   –   GOTG AND X-MEN BLACK VORTEX OMEGA #1 BV   –   $4.99
FEB150746   –   GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #26   –   $3.99
FEB158110   –   HOWARD THE DUCK #1 QUINONES 2ND PTG VAR   –   $3.99
FEB150795   –   HULK #15   –   $3.99
JAN150909   –   HULK FUTURE IMPERFECT TP NEW PTG   –   $19.99
FEB150673   –   INHUMAN SPECIAL #1   –   $4.99
DEC140977   –   LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD TP VOL 02 I CANNOT TELL A LIE   –   $17.99
FEB150757   –   MARVEL UNIVERSE GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #3   –   $2.99
FEB158128   –   PRINCESS LEIA #1 DODSON 2ND PTG VAR   –   $3.99
FEB158109   –   SILK #2 JOHNSON 2ND PTG VAR   –   $3.99
FEB158104   –   SPIDER-GWEN #2 RODRIGUEZ 2ND PTG VAR   –   $3.99
JAN150908   –   SPIDER-MAN COMPLETE ALIEN COSTUME SAGA TP BOOK 02   –   $44.99
FEB150684   –   STAR WARS #4   –   $3.99
JAN150888   –   SUPERIOR IRON MAN PREM HC VOL 01 INFAMOUS   –   $24.99
FEB150767   –   TRUE BELIEVERS ARMOR WARS #1   –   $1.00
FEB150760   –   TRUE BELIEVERS INFINITY GAUNTLET #1   –   $1.00
FEB150779   –   UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #4   –   $3.99
JAN150895   –   VISION YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW TP NEW PTG   –   $19.99
FEB150828   –   WOLVERINES #15   –   $3.99
JAN150898   –   WOLVERINES TP VOL 01 DANCING WITH DEVIL   –   $15.99

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

JAN151588   –   12 BEAST GN VOL 01 (MR)   –   $12.99
FEB158329   –   ADVENTURE TIME #36 (2ND PTG)   –   $3.99
FEB151188   –   ADVENTURE TIME #39   –   $3.99
DEC141575   –   ADVENTURES OF BASIL AND MOEBIUS HC VOL 01 (MR)   –   $19.99
FEB151740   –   AKAME GA KILL GN VOL 02   –   $13.00
JAN151673   –   ARMOR HUNTERS DLX ED HC   –   $49.99
JAN151088   –   BALLISTIC TP VOL 01 (MR)   –   $14.99
FEB151741   –   BARAKAMON GN VOL 04   –   $15.00
FEB151096   –   BART SIMPSON BLASTOFF TP   –   $15.99
FEB150976   –   BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #233   –   $6.99
FEB150956   –   BLACK HOOD #3 REG FRANCAVILLA CVR (MR)   –   $3.99
FEB151216   –   BLAKE & MORTIMER GN VOL 20 SEPTIMUS WAVE   –   $15.95
JAN151393   –   CAPTAIN KEN GN VOL 01   –   $13.95
JAN151596   –   CAPTAIN STONE #5 (MR)   –   $3.99
FEB151477   –   CARTOON INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY TP   –   $17.95
FEB151784   –   CHARMED SEASON 10 #7 A CVR SEIDMAN (MR)   –   $3.99
JAN151305   –   CHASTITY TP VOL 01 LIFE DEATH   –   $19.99
JAN151584   –   CLAY LORD MASTERS OF GOLEMS GN VOL 01   –   $12.99
FEB151156   –   CLIVE BARKERS NIGHTBREED #12 (MR)   –   $3.99
FEB151133   –   CURB STOMP #3   –   $3.99
FEB151147   –   DAWN OF PLANET OF APES #6   –   $3.99
FEB151680   –   DEATH DEFYING DR MIRAGE TP   –   $9.99
SEP141395   –   DF ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 GOLD ED ROMITA SR SGN   –   $299.99
OCT141448   –   DF AVENGERS X-MEN AXIS #1 DF EXC ROMITA SR SGN   –   PI
NOV141411   –   DF DAWN VAMPIRELLA #1 MIDTOWN EXC LINSNER   –   $15.00
NOV141404   –   DF JUSTICE #1 BCC ARTBOARD EXC ROSS SGN   –   $49.99
DEC141472   –   DF STAR WARS #1 REMARK HAESER JANGO FETT SKETCH   –   PI
DEC141480   –   DF WOLVERINES #1 REMARK HAESER SABRETOOTH COLOR SKETCH   –   $81.00
DEC141559   –   DISNEY 101 DALMATIANS CINESTORY TP VOL 01   –   $14.99
DEC141560   –   DISNEY PHINEAS AND FERB OMNIBUS TP VOL 01   –   $14.99
JAN158294   –   DIVINITY #1 3RD PTG   –   $3.99
FEB151664   –   DIVINITY #3 CVR A KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC (NEXT)   –   $3.99
FEB151665   –   DIVINITY #3 CVR B MULLER (NEXT)   –   $3.99
JAN151116   –   EVIL EMPIRE TP VOL 01   –   $14.99
FEB151010   –   FATHOM KIANI VOL 4 #3 DIRECT MARKET CVR A   –   $3.99
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SUPPLIES

JAN151891   –   MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD SEASON ONE T/C ALBUM   –   PI

The latest trailer from “Fantstic Four” launched during a weekend full of fanfare for two other fan favorite properties trailers. This is the second time a trailer for the movie was launched under seemingly quiet circumstances. 20th Century Fox has had some public missteps for the film and no small amount of fan disappointment before a single preview frame was released. Like the previous trailer though, this one has me very excited. Perhaps it’s because I am a huge fan of the Ultimate version of the “Fantastic Four” and how closely this trailer seems to portray that imagining. One thing is certain for this movie whether it is a roaring success or not, it will be full of Doom! “Fantastic Four” opens in theaters nation wide August 7, 2015.

Just. . .just watch this:

You’ll remember we got a pretty awesome teaser trailer back in January, but this one really takes it to the next level.

We finally see Corey Stoll (House of Cards, Non Stop) as Yellowjacket, and Evangeline Lillly (Lost, The Hobbit) as Hope Van Dyne. For those of us who think this means a possible introduction of The Wasp into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s some “hope” here, especially after that scene where Evangeline Lilly is showing Paul Rudd how to punch.

Rudd is on full display here with his comic timing and sense of fun that is going to be key to selling “Ant-Man” to mainstream audiences. But we also see some of his heroism and a darker side as well, meaning this will hopefully not just be a straight camp adaptation.

But then, speaking of camp and silliness. . .that train. Seriously, did you see that train?!?!

Marvel has been knocking them out of the park recently. We hope you all binge-watched “Daredevil” this weekend. Age of Ultron comes out at the end of the month, and we’ll have reviews for you likely the evening of March 27th. And Ant-Man hits screens July 17. Can’t wait.

From Marvel.com’s official rundown of the trailer:

Watch the New Trailer for Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’

Scott Lang sets out on the heist of his life in the latest trailer for Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’!

The latest trailer for Marvel’s “Ant-Man” has landed, and we’ve got it for you right here Marvel.com!

Check out all the action directly below as Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) enlists Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) for the heist of the century, along with your first full look at actor Corey Stoll in action as Yellowjacket!

Get all the latest updates on “Ant-Man” by following @AntMan on Twitter and like “Ant-Man” on Facebook and see the film in theaters July 17!

The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a founding member of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time with Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man.” Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Doctor Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Marvel’s “Ant-Man” stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket, Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, Michael Peña as Luis, Judy Greer as Maggie, Tip “Ti” Harris as Dave, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, Wood Harris as Gale, Jordi Mollà as Castillo and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.

Peyton Reed directs Marvel’s “Ant-Man” with Kevin Feige producing and Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Edgar Wright and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. Marvel’s “Ant-Man” delivers a high-stakes, tension-filled adventure on July 17, 2015.

Every week we’re bringing you recommendations for great movies or TV shows streaming on Netflix. This week’s selection is…

“Daredevil” (9 out of 10) Based on characters created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett; Adapted for Netflix by Drew Goddard; Starring Charlie Cox, Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Vicent D’Onofrio, Rosario Dawson, and Toby Leonard Moore. Rated TV-MA.

Finally the first of the Netflix Marvel television series has arrived. “Daredevil” began streaming yesterday and if my sphere of the world is any indication, people are gobbling it up. I didn’t have a chance to start watching it until almost ten last night, I watched two episodes and then got up early to watch more and if I didn’t have plans for most of today, I’d probably finish the season before the sun sets.

There’s no point beating around the bush on this one, it’s good. Surprisingly good.

I’ve been pretty skeptical of this series leading up to it. Despite Marvel’s proven track record with their characters’ adaptation since “Iron Man” I was a little let down by “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” and the last time Daredevil came to the screen it was lackluster. Full disclosure, I kind of enjoy the Affleck “Daredevil” movie. If I were to rank all comic book movies by quality it would be somewhere near the bottom but when all is said and done, I like super hero movies, even bad ones. Guilty pleasure.

Despite the free hallway pass I give to the live action movie I wondered how they would get past that stigma, how they could reinvent the character so as to not conjure images of a movie that the fanboys almost universally hate.

They pulled it off. What Christopher Nolan did for Batman, Drew Goddard has done for Daredevil.

They found a way to express Matt Murdock’s heightened senses without resorting to the radar vision of the previous film, Murdock’s movements don’t feel the slightest bit campy, rather they are the movements of a finely tuned and highly perceptive human being. The costume is subtle and seemingly easy to recreate. I predict it will make many appearances at conventions through the rest of the year.

Four episodes in and I’ve lost any doubts that I once had. I’ll gobble up all thirteen episodes in the next few days, then wait impatiently for what comes next. Daredevil precedes his comrades Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist to the small screen. Once they’ve all been properly introduced to the masses via individual series, they’ll all team up in a final Marvel mini-series “The Defenders.”

In the very first episode there are subtle allusions to the events of the MCU. While looking for office space, Matt and Foggy Nelson are told by a realtor that this particular building was barely touched by “the incident” a reference to the events of “The Avengers.” Core characters of the MCU are also mentioned as asides, though not by name.

It’s worth noting that while the Marvel movies have, so far, been pretty family friendly for the most part, this series is not. Though it exists in the same universe, these characters live much closer to the earth, the creative team doesn’t have the luxury of hiding the violence behind blue energy or comedic beats.

Hell’s Kitchen is a dark city and the series is equally so. In the first few minutes you’ve got a pretty good idea of what kind of show you’re watching and while Murdock does live by a moral code, he’s not above breaking bones and creating fear to get the information he needs.

The violence culminates into a spurting but beautiful blossom of blood in the third episode, without giving spoilers, there are two deaths in that episode that you won’t soon forget, you’ll know them when you see them. While the peak violence is implied rather than shown explicitly, it leaves a small enough gap for your imagination to fill in, horribly.

When a comic book adaptation fails it hurts more than an original work. When a character has decades of material already at your disposal, with proven arcs and elements you can only blame yourself if it fails. It’s clear that Drew Goddard and his team have mined the territory, found what makes the character most interesting, most believable, and most worth caring about, and put it on the screen. They pulled it off. What Christopher Nolan did for Batman, Drew Goddard has done for Daredevil.

While I haven’t yet finished the run, and there’s plenty of time for the tide to turn, if it maintains its course it will change the way the public sees the character, I’d anticipate a rise in the sales of Daredevil books in the coming months.

I’m also excited to see Marvel successfully creating a universe this expansive, when all is said and done we’ll have 21 movies and 7 live action series essentially telling the same incredibly detailed story, and to my knowledge nothing like that has ever been done on the screen before.

This series also gives me hope for what Goddard has planned for the future, he penned the script for “The Martian” and he wrote and will direct DC’s “The Sinister Six.” In addition he’s attached as writer to the screen adaptation of the novel “Robopocalypse” as well as a heretofore untitled Spider-Man reboot.

In short, this is the Daredevil we didn’t know we needed. It has taken what DC has done with their live action television series, and improved upon it. It’s well written, well acted, and intense. It’s everything that keeps you clicking that next episode button. I can’t wait to see what Netflix and Marvel have in store for us next.

Marvel’s first Netflix original series, ‘Daredevil,’ drops in just a little more than a month (April 10^th). A brand-new, extended trailer hit the Interwebz earlier today. The newest of the new reveals a bunch of footage, Karen Page, Wilson Fisk and a tone that some are already dubbing ‘Ultra Grim’ & ‘Nolan-Y’.

Take a look for yourself

A couple of things here.

-The fact is that this show has to instantly, and completely distance itself from the Affleck movie, playground fights and campy one-liners. There will always be a subset within media criticism that bemoans any trace of dark-n-gritty in genre entertainment, but it seems like a very wise direction here, when the non-comics-reading public is most likely to associate this character with a famously ridiculous, haphazard attempt.

-This is a new, low-powered facet of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which means it has to sell the audience on the appeal of watching unpowered people duke it out over issues that would seem weirdly petty in any other MCU property. That’s a tricky thing to pull off. Do you really think it makes sense to introduce a light-hearted tone to what’s basically a crime show? If we’re starting from the beginning, and trying to get people who don’t know Daredevil to give a damn, of course you play up the angst and the drama. You can’t assume that a general viewership is going to have the luxury of decades of backstory and familiarity. Start with the Miller version (which I’d argue really isn’t much different from Batman, except insofar as he lacks gadgets and resources), make crime scary, and go from there.

That being said, Daredevil has always been in my top five.

Daredevil is a guy who refuses to give up — or even ask for help — regardless of how many lumps he’s taken is a huge part of the appeal. I’m fine with dark. I’m down with grim and grit. However, I also like it when superheroes can crack a smile on occasion. Fingers crossed, I hope they can balance it with some of the wit and humor Marvel has put into their tent pole films.

Right now Mark Waid is writing the character (in the comics that is), and I think it might be my favorite run of Daredevil yet. There’s still the elements of dark and grit. The character still gets beat up pretty badly. The people in his life still suffer for knowing him. However, all that darkness is mitigated by the fact that Daredevil occasionally gets to put a solid win up on the board. His friends and family are put in danger, but he’s able to save them. Or, sometimes they’re able to save themselves. THAT is what I love about ol’ Hornhead.

The joy of Daredevil is that he keeps getting back up.

The appeal of Daredevil, at least one take on his metaphorical resonance, is that life is sh!t. For some people, it never becomes easy. It never becomes Hollywood. It doesn’t reward the deserving. It is grueling, grinding, and, yes, gritty sh!t. Certainly for those struggling in big urban settings.

But you keep getting back up. You get in that ring. You take your lumps. And maybe, just maybe, you pull out a win, now and again. You find friends, you find support, you find love, you even find joy. Some people read comics or watch movies/shows to escape (and there still is escapism in the DD mythos). Sometimes, though, you like things which reinforce your own struggle, or validate the tougher times you’ve had (perhaps, some would say, the escapism is in the infusion of a victory into a victory-less life).

However, what I see in the trailer is the beginning of the mythos. That beginning, and the way it is positioned to people new to the Daredevil story, necessitates this darkness being in the trailer and (I would argue) most of its first season. I think the joy will come.

And when Daredevil proves to be a success (a HUGE boon to the brand)…who’s thinking a Netflix/Marvel re-telling of The Punisher? Because, I’d be so in.

-Dagobot



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