Comic Book News
A Comics Odyssey -- Issue #9
By Wayne Hall May 6, 2011, 6:37 GMT
A leaked script from a Marvel movie and a respected actor from the Superman franchise of films dominate this week’s news, so let’s get into this week’s “comics in the headlines” items, all taken from the recently revamped scifipulse.net website:
‘Superman’ Actor Jackie Cooper Passes
Jackie Cooper, best known to genre fans as Perry White in the Superman series of films, has passed away at the age of 88. The cause of death isn’t known yet, although it is said he had a “sudden bout with illness,” according to movieweb.com.
“Jackie Cooper was born on September 15, 1922 in Los Angeles and broke into show business at a very young age,” the site reported. “He became the youngest actor to receive a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the title character in Skippy at just nine years of age in 1931.”
Cooper was a highly respected director in his adult years — winning two Best Directing Emmy awards for his work on M*A*S*H and The White Shadow.
But he’ll likely be remembered for his role as the editor of the Daily Planet in ‘Superman,’ ‘Superman II,’ ‘Superman III,’ and ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.’
‘Avengers’ Movie Not Affected By Script Leak
Recently it was widely reported that Samuel L. Jackson’s script for the ‘Avengers’ movie had been stolen. This caused mass media speculation in regards to how it would affect the movie, and what changes would need to be made.
Last week numerous websites were contacted by an anonymous source offering to sell them parts of the script. And the website Obsessed With Film were provided with photos of the script, which are authentic, but it has recently been revealed that though authentic the photos were somewhat dated.
The IGN site learned that the script in question was an old draft of the movie, and not the shooting script that the actors are using on the set.
The leaked script included a sequence where Bruce Banner transforms into Hulk in front of Black Widow was from a very early draft.
Speaking in interview Chris Hemsworth, who is bringing the hammer to the European and Australian Box Office in the role of Thor confirmed the leaked script was old.
“My start date is still the same. I think it was a pretty old script, though,” Hemsworth, who will reprise the role of Thor, told The Wall Street Journal.
Giffen, DeMatteis And Maguire Return To ‘JLI’ In One-Shot
It was one of the most unusual … and successful … incarnations of the Justice League in DC Comics history. And many of the heroes in that group starred in the recent bi-weekly ‘Justice League: Generation Lost’ comics, which also did very well. So it should come as no surprise that DC is bringing back the team that brought fans Justice League International for a one-shot.
Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis will script, and Kevin Maguire will provide the art in the upcoming ‘DC Retroactive: Justice League of America – The ’90s’ #1, according to digitalspy.com.
“DC Retroactive reunites writers with characters they are best known for working with, setting the single-issue stories in the decade in which the scribes were working on those titles,” the site explains.
The DC Comics official solicitation reads: “Writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire are one of the most classic creative teams in the Justice League’s history. In this issue, they reunite to tell the story of the Injustice Gang gaining access to a device they should never have been allowed to have, causing potentially disastrous results. It’ll be up to the Justice League of America to put a stop to their dastardly deeds.”
The Comics Of The Week
This time I want to focus on two comics, and they are Archaia’s ‘Mouse Guard: Black Axe’ #2 of 6 and Image’s ‘Gladstone’s School For World Conquerors’ #1.
Here’s the basic storyline for ‘Mouse Guard: Black Axe’ #2: “The new volume of the Eisner Award-winning Mouse Guard series continues! Celanawe, honor-bound by his loyalty to his Guard Matriarch, accompanies Em, his only living relative, to Port Sumac. There they find a mouse just brave (or crazy) enough to take them across the sea and beyond the record of any map. This long sea voyage gives Em the time to explain to Celanawe about her instance for the journey and how their fates will forever be tied to the Black Axe.”
I continue to marvel at how well-crafted this comic is. The story’s great, the art’s spectacular and the production values are superb. The characters live, act and breathe so completely that I’m sure they’re real. Petersen makes this a must-have each and every time it comes out.
It’s fantasy, adventure and fun all wrapped up in one excellent book. It’s buckle-that-swash derring-do, and I love every page. Yes, this is the second of six parts, but ask your store to get the first issue if they don’t have it in stock. It’s that good!
If you aren’t buying ‘Mouse Guard,’ you should be!
Regarding ‘Gladstone’s School For World Conquerors,’ here’s what that comic is about: “Welcome to Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, a top-secret academy for the children of the world’s greatest super villains to learn the trade. Join us as Kid Nefarious, Mummy Girl, Martian Jones, Ghost Girl, and the infamous Skull brothers unearth the School’s and their parents’ hidden past.”
Frankly, I’ve read many teen groups who were heroes, including ‘The New Teen Titans,’ for instance. And we’ve seen Xavier’s School For Gifted Students in many of the X-Men titles.
This book by Mark A. Smith and Armand Villavert shows the flip side of that coin.
The good news is that, even though these kids are being trained to be villains, they’re still teens. They have crushes on each other (though they are rarely reciprocated). They have classes to attend and homework assignments. They interact with teachers and other adults at the school. They simply have a more nefarious purpose.
The part that intrigued me the most was Ashu Gladstone, who created the school and yet cannot participate because he’s encased in iron. It’s something to see a statue cry. On the other hand, they are all baddies, so we shouldn’t expect them to act with any scruples.
I enjoyed the book a lot, but I’m left with several questions that I hope will be answered in future issues. Will we see Ashu Gladstone again (encased in iron, he could still be set free)? What about Ironsides (Is the narrator actually that villain)?
Guess I’ll have to keep reading to find out the answers to my questions.
Wayne Hall is co-editor and a news writer for SciFiPulse.Net. He also serves as a host for the SFP-Now podcast and also the Wayne’s Comics podcast. You can check both of them out at http://www.sfp-now.com.
