Nerd News: Goblins, Dark Crystals, and Spiders, Outrageous! (Truly)

Nerd News for Friday, October 10th

OK! It's Friday and the weekend is upon us. With so much interesting news coming this weekend from NYCC, I thought it might be good to do a little roundup of today's Nerd-related news.

[caption id="attachment_497" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Goblin King meme created by psbox362[/caption]

First up, news about a sequel to Labyrinth was snuck under the radar in a recent article from Variety.com. The item is literally in the very last paragraph of the article and provides no other details.  The original exclusive article was a feature with Billy Crystal about joining the cast of Which Witch. (Mmm Which Wich... now I just want a sandwich). Anyway, the article reads:

It’s also working on a quartet of legacy titles in the Henson library — a “Fraggle Rock” movie that’s been in development at New Regency; a sequel to 1982’s “The Dark Crystal”; a sequel to 1986’s “Labyrinth”; and a movie based on the Emmet Otter character.

Let's not just gloss over The Dark Crystal either. How have we not heard more about these? Oh my little fantasy loving nerd heart be still. Can we hope for a return of David Bowie as the Goblin King? I don't see HOW they could do the sequel without him.



Moving forward with more 80's nostalgia loveliness, IDW announced a new Jem ongoing comic. With a Jem movie in production for release in 2016, this development is not super surprising. I can't say I'm excited about the movie with what news I've heard, but let's hope the comic will bring more of that truly, truly, truly outrageous Jem that we all know and love. There aren't any details as far as who will be behind the book, but we know it's slated to début in April.

[caption id="attachment_496" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Spider-Gwen Fan Art by Knigge[/caption]

Luckily by February 2015, we'll have another awesome heroine to focus on, Gwen Stacy. That's right, Marvel announced today that Spider-Gwen will be getting her own ongoing series. I think that is a great idea. My love for Spider-Gwen is no secret to regular readers at NerdBinge. I have hoped that Marvel was seriously considering this property. There were lots rumors flying that all the buzz for Edge of Spider-Verse #2 had the studio considering the option. With the news that it's real, I'm a little bit giddy.  The same creative team of writer Jason Latour and artist Robbi Rodriguez will return to create the book.

Spider-Man: A Look at the Two Movie Franchises

My experience with comic books came later in life. Instead, I grew up in the 90s glued to my TV every Saturday morning , watching the cartoon version of Spider-Man (and if I was lucky, and my mom was too busy to notice I wasn't doing my chores, I'd get to sneak X-Men in there, too). It wasn't until I was 18, perusing through a flea market stash of old comics that I realized I could actually read about the character I loved so much, instead of watching reruns I'd seen a dozen times. Who knows why it never occurred to me? Maybe I didn't know they were making new material? I really have no idea.

So forgive this late bloomer.



My love for Spider-Man is real, bordering on obsession.

So when I first heard they were making a movie about my favorite web-slinging hero, I was ecstatic. I donned my appropriate apparel, made sure all my friends, family, and acquaintances knew just how many days were left until the premiere.

Why?

Because that guy up there helped get me through my teens. A no-nothing, invisible guy gifted with special abilities he didn't ask for, just trying to do what's right. Not because of glory, or even appreciation (because he hardly ever gets it), but because it's the right thing to do and because that's who he is. When all the world, it seems, is turning to evil (I mean, seriously, practically every other scientific disaster turns into a villain), Spidey stays strong.

And without a support system. Not even his aunt knew who he really was. And isn't that what it's like to be a teen? You feel like no one, not even (maybe especially not even) your parents, get who you are anymore. And you trudge on, just trying to do what's right. And you feel invisible and unappreciated.

So how did the two movie franchises rank? Did they "get it?"



2002 saw the first installment of Spider-Man, practically riding on the heals of X-Men. It was cheesy, it was visually spectacular, it was hilarious and heartbreaking, it felt like opening a comic book. I was thrilled. Peter Parker stayed true to his no-nothing self. He waged war with his conscience and eventually broke through to become the hero millions have fallen in love with.

That's what 2002's installment did right, and I'd even include the first sequel in that. Sam Raimi "got" Peter Parker.

And then we have the third movie...and everything Sam Raimi got about Peter Parker, he totally missed on his alter-ego. Or maybe Tobey Maguire did. Somebody didn't know what was going on.

Peter Parker's alter-ego was never just a lascivious bastard who wore eyeliner and messed up his hair (while giving creepy, seriously cringe-worthy looks onscreen). He was a direct assault on everything Spider-Man had strove to become. While all the world turned evil, he fought it and continuously saved the people who refused to love him. The alter-ego was, I'd argue, Spider-Man's greatest enemy. It was the only thing that every really came close to destroying him.

For that, I give movie #3 a huge fail, which is disappointing since the first two really seemed to understand what fans were looking for.

Now let's take a look at the second franchise:



I chose these two images from the two franchises for a reason. I think both are indicative of where the stories went. The image from the 2002 movie shows Spider-Man looking off into the distance at a light shining just past his city. His arms are spread out just a little bit, open, and his body is angled toward NY, almost like he's ready to step toward it. He's the watchman, and he's alone.

Now look at the 2012 poster. Spider-Man's back is rigid, his hands and arms tense. He's not even facing his city. He's looking away and angled away from it. He's alone, but his whole stance is rebellious. He's bad-ass, not unappreciated. Or if he is unappreciated, that's not his main worry.

And I'm sorry, that's not Spider-Man.

I'm not going to pretend I liked the 2012 movie. The whole thing ticked me off. The fact that they were re-doing the series at all so close to the last one ticked me off. I'd already expended a huge amount of emotion and time to the first franchise (and I'd loved it). So I may be biassed.

I will say that though they got Peter Parker completely wrong in this movie, what with his bad boy persona that seemed more Batman than Spider-Man, they got some technicalities right. Gwen Stacy, for one. It was nice to see Parker's first love on the big screen. And I liked the angle they went with Pete's parents, which had been totally ignored in the first franchise. And Dr. Connor (another character that had been previously brushed aside) was nice to see. But that's all I can say for it. The whole movie seemed to take on the same feel as all the other superhero movies coming out now. Too much "ooh, look at our special effects" and not enough "here's what a comic feels like on the big screen in all it's glory."

Thoughts? How did you like the two franchises?

Spider Gwen... I Heart You!!!

So, How Would A Guy Go About Getting An Upside Down Kiss From Spider Gwen?

Edge of Spider-Verse continues, and so far it's only getting better. Personally, I don't think I was looking forward to any character more than Gwen Stacy: Spider-Woman or as the Internet has taken to calling her, Spider Gwen.



Spider Gwen feels like the freshest breath of air for the Spider-man concept in a long time. I have so many things to love about this comic that I'll just do my best to keep the gushing to a minimum. One thing I'd like to touch on that I have a unique perspective on as a letterer was the bubble styling on this book. It's not the first time I've seen this style, but it is only the second. I thought it was simply a fluke or a gimmick when I first saw this particular bubbling style in Marvel's 100th Anniversary Spider-Man issue, but now I've caught on to VC's Clayton Cowles. As a letterer, it seems to be a style that he has been using for some time, but I can't say I've seen it often before now. I think as a style it could catch on as a trend, so I'll be keeping an eye out for Clayton. (Although I'm sure some of you might be able to point me to a few things I should have seen already. Please leave any suggestions in the comments!) I also thoroughly enjoyed Clayton's style with the action words having a hand brushed look and gradient overlays. It has a very visceral feel that I think really goes well with feel of the characters.

Staying on the art tip for this issue, I also fully enjoyed the simplicity of the colorist Rico Renzi, keeping with the color immersion trend, and the detail of Robbi Rodriguez on digital illustration. Everything about the style of this book feels young. I think that's quite an accomplishment in the Marvel realm as a lot of the teams based around younger characters have just been garbage (IMHO). As some of you may have read in my previous articles, the All-New Ultimates has been a major disappointment. I loved the initial volume of Young Avengers, but the current books have just fallen flat and I lost interest in that run pretty quickly. The art of this book is crisp and fresh and feels hip. It makes me want to care about younger characters. Whereas a lot of youth oriented books either make me feel old, (like, "Is this actually GOOD to young people, and that's why I don't like it?") or just guilty for reading the books and then hating them.

I could continue to gush about the art, but I think that the writing must be appreciated here as well. I think that for a one-off this is a very bold story arc. I only say this because of the final twist at the end of the issue, which you should just go and read for yourself. The major guts of the story are not that unique in all honesty. We see a super fast set-up of the premise for this book. Then enter bad guy, bad guys loses, enter Captain Stacy. Enough about that though. More specifically, I love the dialogue in this book. The writing is believable and funny. It's so easy get the voice of young characters wrong. I feel that often times the dialogue is just trying too hard to come off as believable, but once again, this book just plain works. Spider Gwen is probably one of my favorite new concepts in Marvel comics and I hope that they consider creating an on-going series out of this concept once Spider-verse is done.

I've see lots of buzz on the Internet for Spider Gwen and even some rumors to take with a grain of salt that all this interest has really been noticed at the creative offices of Marvel. With all that being said, I'll encourage you to go check it out for yourself. And as is abundantly clear here, I HEART SPIDER GWEN!

 

 

 

Spider-Verse, Here I Come!!!

Send me straight to the Spider-Verse, no stops along the way!!!

The Edge of Spider-Verse event has officially begun and I couldn't be more thrilled. With the return of Spider-Man Noir in issue one, Marvel has set us up for a heck of a ride through "every Spider-Man ever." While I can't say this was the alternate Spidey I was looking forward to the most, I thought issue one was a lot of fun. The alternate version of Mysterio was clever and worked as a good one-off antagonist.

I've personally been pretty bored with the big events going on in both the DC (*cough* Future's End *cough*) and Marvel universes, but I really want to believe this one will be good. Personally I am a sucker for alternate universes and timelines, so maybe I should just reserve my judgement for another month or so... With that being said, let's talk more about Edge of Spider-Verse #1.

The best thing about this issue (and hopefully the whole event) is that it's basically a series of one-offs. While, yes, it's planned to lead into something with a slightly more continuity, you don't have to care about that right now. The story opens and throws us right back into the world of Spider-Man Noir. Without touching on spoiler territory, some time has passed and Spider-man hasn't been seen in sometime. While there is a good bit of exposure that feels slightly slow to develop at first, once the main plot kicks in, everything moves real fast.

I won't talk plot anymore because this book is just too quick to get into it without spoiling things. What I can talk about is what I feel this book did right. Within just 24 pages, you get to see plenty of noir versions of your favorite Spidey characters. The elements of this story run their course very quickly and lead into the bigger plot of Edge of Spider-Verse without missing a beat.

The art of Richard Isanove is crisp and believable and sucks you into the past. And then immediately leads you into the far future. If you've kept up with the latest unexpected issue of Superior Spider-Man, then you already know what's going on here. If not, I urge you to jump on board before you miss another installment of this extra-dimensional spider-tale.

I, for one, can't wait to see Gwen Stacy and Spider-Woman in #2!

The Future of Marvel Ultimate Universe

Miles Morales Returns to the Marvel Ultimate Universe Line-Up This Week!

The Marvel Ultimate Universe was in a very precarious place not too long ago, and to much chagrin and celebration (depending on who you are), the end of the world did not occur during the big Cataclysm crossover event. While the Ultimate Universe did survive, the lay of the land will never be the same for the remaining heroes in this alternate timeline.



"The lay of the land" is really different in two major ways. First, in the books, the world is drastically different. Galactus came and destroyed half of Manhattan amongst much more destruction that wasn't geographically specified, but it had to be bad, because he had a giant planet eating machine drilling into the planet's core. On top of that the array of Marvel Ultimate Universe comics is now much slimmer than before. The only books coming out on the Ultimate U side of things now are The All-New Ultimates, Ultimate FF, and Miles Morales The Ultimate Spider-Man. This is pretty slim pickings by comparison to the many other versions that have come before 2014. For me, this only leads to speculation about how much longer this imprint will continue to publish new stories.

Earth-1610 has been through many cancellations and reboots, but it still manages to hang on somehow. If a world-ending crossover event wasn't enough to put this world to rest, then it may have a healthy future ahead of it for sometime. With that being said, I'm excited for the release of Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1 this Wednesday (May 7th). While there will always be controversy over a Spider-Man that is not Peter Parker, I for one cannot get enough of the work that Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez put out together. Don't get me wrong, I've heard all the complaints about Bendis, and they aren't necessarily wrong, but Bendis is the true visionary behind the Ultimate Universe. I think his relationship to this imprint goes a long way toward some great storytelling.

One of the most fruitful of Bendis's creations, in my view, is the new team of youngster Ultimates, aka The All-New Ultimates. This team had been slowly coming together over many issues of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man and with Marquez leading the art on the final issues of that book, it was a really exciting story arc to read. Now that the team has been formalized in its own series, I'm excited to see what will come of this ragtag team of teenagers. Unfortunately, I have not been a big fan of the art on that book, but Bendis and Marquez are back on Miles Morales, and frankly I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="650"] Norman Osbourne returns in Miles Morales #1[/caption]

As for the one remaining book in the Marvel Ultimate Universe that I haven't discussed, Ultimate FF has the most potential, but that can go both ways. This book is based on a high concept that Earth-1610 is in dire dimensional straights. The new team of Iron Man, Sue Storm, Falcon, and Machine Man are working to stop dimensional bubbles that continue to appear from tearing their home dimension apart. While the art style is strong, and the concept is very intriguing, it once again leads to the ultimate conclusion (no pun intended) that this universe is headed to the grave. It has killed nearly all its big heroes and now the dimension itself is falling apart. I really don't know how long you can keep a series going based on the premise that the fabric of reality itself is going to shit. Either the crew wins their race against the dimensional decay and save the universe and the book ends, or they don't and the whole universe ends. The stakes are high either way, but I can say at least, for now, they've got me interested. Here's to new comic book Wednesday!

Catch a preview of the new Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man over at Comic Book Resources: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=21468