THE RETURN OF THE JOKER

I know i’ve been slacking on the posts lately (Thats what happens when you work 60hrs a week) but after reading this news i had to post it right away. Scott Snyder who has become everyone’s favorite Batman writer after “Night Of The Owls” is set to tackle The Joker once again in Octobers issue #13 of the new 52 and he says he plans to top the work he did in “The Black Mirror”. Here’s the official press release from DC

This October, one of the most notorious villains in comic book history is making his return to DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. In the new storyline, “Death of the Family,” The Joker will come out of the dark in a horrifying, unnerving, and huge way. And the grave consequences of his reemergence will be felt by not only the Bat-family, but by all of Gotham City.

He crippled Batgirl. He killed Robin. What will The Joker do next? And what must Batman do to protect his secret identity and that of those who fight alongside him? The adventure begins in BATMAN #13 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion.

“Joker is my favorite villain of all time,” Snyder told THE SOURCE. “Not just in comics. In everything - film, books, TV. He’s the greatest, hands down. So this story is something extremely important and personal to me - something I’ve been building in my head ever since I started working in Gotham. Basically, this is my big exploration of the Joker, my ARKHAM ASYLUM or THE KILLING JOKE, only bigger in scope. Bottom line: it’s the biggest, baddest, most shocking Joker story I could tell. This is Joker completely unleashed. He has been away for a full year planning this revenge, watching, plotting, setting things up. And now he’s back. He has his traps set, his knives sharpened… And wait ‘til you see him. Greg’s sketches literally gave me chills. Point blank: This is Joker like you’ve never seen him before. He has a mission. He has a secret. And he has a serious axe to grind with Batman. It isn’t going to be pretty, but it’s going to be a wild ride. Thanks for taking it with us.”

“When Scott told me that he’d written a Joker story for our next arc, I couldn’t contain my excitement,” added Capullo. “Talk about a dream come true! For me, the Joker is the ultimate rogue and the villain I most wanted to draw. I gotta tell you, after hearing what the story is about, this isn’t a dream come true. It’s a nightmare! A macabre and bloody, flesh crawling nightmare. We hope you’ll have the nerve to face what’s coming. Warning: It ain’t for the faint of heart!”

“VENOM” MOVIE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED 

Today it was announced that there is in fact a VENOM movie being made. Today “Amazing Spiderman” producers Matt Tolmach & Avi Arad said that the movie will focus on the Symbiote’s first host Eddie Brock and that it will intertwine with ASM which debuts in theaters July 3rd. I would’ve liked to see them skip Eddie & Mac and go right to Flash Thompson because he’s got such a compelling story, but the fact that Venom is getting his own movie is enough for me. “Chronicle” developer Josh Trank is rumored to be writing the screenplay, the only question now is who will play Eddie Brock?? At least we know one things for sure Topher Grace won’t ruin this movie with his shitty acting. What are your thoughts? Who should play Venom?

AVENGERS VS X-MEN #9 & #10

Today @Marvel released the covers for Avengers Vs X-Men #9 & #10, as well as the synopsis for both books. All I can say is that I can’t wait to see how this plays out, AVX has been great so far and every issue in the crossover has been filled with surprises. If you’re not reading #AVX go pick it up and if you’re a fan of the series make sure to go back and read House Of M, Messiah Complex, & Second Coming to see where Avengers Vs X-Men really started. #WelcomeToTheFREEWORLD

AVX #9

• Their numbers dwindling, the Avengers stage a daring raid on the X-Men’s prison to rescue their captive members—and you won’t believe where it is! 
• Alliances begin to change as the nature of the Phoenix becomes apparent! 
• And in the end, it all comes down to Spider-Man!

AVX #10

• Time is running out as the Avengers are cornered in their last stronghold! 
• But the stakes change when Hope and the Scarlet Witch join forces! Why?! How?!

AVENGERS MAKES $1 BILLION DOLLARS WORLDWIDE

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you know Marvel’s “The Avengers” Movie is the biggest summer blockbuster ever. The toys are sold out in every store you go to, the dvd’s of the previously released films are flying off the shelves, and anything & everything having to do with the movie is selling out as well. Well today after only being in theaters for 10 days, The Avengers hit the $1 billion dollar mark for worldwide ticket sales putting it #2 all time second only to James Cameron’s Titanic. #WelcomeToTheFREEWORLD

AVENGERS VS X-MEN 2ND ACT TEASER “NO MORE AVENGERS”

Today Marvel Comics released a teaser for Act II in their smash hit Avengers Vs X-Men crossover series. Act I will conclude at the end of this month and Act II will start in June. The synopisis for this act is that Cyclops changes the game with 3 simple words “No More Avengers”. What we do know is that this will be the turning point in the battle where the X-Men start winning and take the Avengers as prisoners leading to Hawkeye and a small team breaking them out. What we don’t know is if Scott ends up making a deal with Scarlet Witch (Pretty much the cause of this whole entire dilemma) or not. Things are about to pick up this June and I strongly urge you that if you’re not reading AVX you better start. #WelcomeToTheFREEWORLD

RICK REMENDER LEAVING “VENOM”

Today fan favorite writer Rick Remender stated during Marvel’s Next Big Thing press conference that he would be leaving Venom after issue #22. Remender is responsible for taking what Dan Slott started in Amazing Spiderman and turning Venom (Flash Thompson) into everyones favorite superhero. Taking over the writing duty’s will be Cullen Bunn who has been co-writing the last couple issues with Remender. Rick said he was able to do 93% of what he wanted to do with Flash but that there will be a lot more in store when Bunn takes over in issue #23. Remender also said that he will continue writing Venom as part of his Secret Avengers book. What are your thoughts? Are you sad to see Remender leaving Venom behind??

BOOK OF THE WEEK 5/2/12: EARTH 2 #1

Very rarely does a book come across that can take the 3 most iconic characters in the history of comic books and kill them off in the very 1st issue. By those standards alone Earth 2 gets book of the week treatment. I like the fact that DC revisited Earth 2 as part of the Second Wave in the New 52, all to lead into Grant Morrison’s highly anticipated “Trinity War” crossover early next year. This issue also finally gave fans an explanation of how exactly Huntress and Power Girl came to be on our world. I look forward to seeing the debut of the New Flash and other characters that Earth 2 will debut in the upcoming issues. If you haven’t picked up this issue yet make sure you do and grab DC’s Free Comic Book Day issue along with it. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK 4/25/12: Avengers Vs X-Men VS #1

If you’re reading Marvel’s Avengers Vs X-Men crossover event then you were sure to pick up AVX VS #1. This is the book in the series that’s billed to be all action and it did not disappoint. In this issue we got to see the 1st round of Magneto vs Iron Man and the 1st round of Namor vs Thing & Luke Cage. The Magneto vs Iron Man scenes were the main focus as we saw both men look to outer space to provide them with leverage in the ensuing battle. We also saw Magneto have an epiphany, and realize that this battle might be bigger then all of them. He also seemed to realize that his daughter Wanda (Scarlet Witch) might be the key to saving everyone. As the series continues we’re expected to see more battles unfold such as Gambit vs Captain America and Rogue vs She Hulk just to name a few. If the rest of the series is as good as the 1st issue then this might very well be the best event Marvel has ever done. 

♚ The flawless cast of Game Of Thrones

BOOK OF THE WEEK 4/18/12 “RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS #8”

I know what a lot of you are thinking,No it’s not AvX , It’s not Batman & Nightwing, or even Uncanny X-Force or Wolverine & The X-Men. This week Red Hood And The Outlaws gets “Book Of The Week” treatment. In this issue we saw a little more of Jason’s backstory, filling in the blanks between “THE LOST DAYS” & “UNDER THE RED HOOD” which Scott Lobdell does beautifully. We also got to see exactly how Jason managed to piss off Suzie Su and the former Robin’s return to Gotham City. This was the beginning of Red Hood’s tie in to Scott Snyder’s “Night Of The Owls” crossover. The last couple of pages were simply amazing, showing the least unlikely member of the Bat-Family answer Alfred’s distress call and a meeting between Red Hood & Tim Drake (Red Robin) that their “Father” wouldn’t exactly approve of. If you’re not currently reading Red Hood or you’re just picking it up as part of the crossover, make sure you add it to your pull list and pick up the 1st 8 issues of the series. Trust me you won’t be disappointed. #WelcomeToTheFreeWorld

DISNEY’S “LONE RANGER” IN PRODUCTION

Above is a picture of Johnny Depp in costume for his role of Tonto in Walt Disney Pictures adaptation of “The Lone Ranger”. After being on the shelf for a while and concerns over budget restrictionsthe movie has finally started filming. It’s currently being shot in New Mexico and features a cast of incredible actors such as Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter,Barry Pepper, Tom Wilkinson, James Frain and Ruth Wilson. There’s no word on a release date yet. 

JULY “AVENGERS vs X-MEN” SOLICITS

Along with our First Look at the New Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants yesterday, we also got a bunch of AvX tie in’s which to me kind of spoil the ending of the “Biggest Event Ever”. From the July solicits we see that at some point Mister Sinister will return and reveal his big plan that was 1st shown in the post-Schism Uncanny X-Men #1-3. So from that we can pretty much gather that at some point the Avengers & X-Men will be teaming up once again to take down Sinister. The question that now comes in to play is what will Sinister’s connection to Hope be?? Could he possibly be her biological father?? or is he just trying to get a hold of the Phoenix?? For fans that have read Second Coming & Messiah Complex you know that Sinister has been after Hope since she was born, now we’ll find out why. Another interesting thing from these solicits is the tease of the end of the Red Hulk & Numerous heroes switching sides in the battle. To view the full Marvel solicits for July check out www.BleedingCool.com 

FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW BROTHERHOOD FROM UNCANNY X-FORCE

As I reported a couple of weeks back, Rick Remender stated that in the giant size issue of “Uncanny X-Force #25” we would be seeing the debut of an all new Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. The July solicits for Marvel were released today & from the cover of “Uncanny X-Force #27” we get our first look at who the group consists of. The new Brotherhood will feature Sabertooth, Mystique, Age Of Apocalypse Blob, The Skinless Man, & Shadow King. Check out the synopsis below and leave your comments. What are your thoughts?? Do you like the New Brotherhood??

UNCANNY X-FORCE #27 & 28

DAN ABNETT & ANDY LANNING (w)
LEANDRO FERNANDEZ (a)
Covers by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER

X-Force land themselves somewhere you’ve never seen them.
A new member joins the team!
Rising star Julian Totino Tedesco (VENOM: CIRCLE OF FOUR, JOHN CARTER GODS OF MARS covers) joins the best creative team in comics for two issues!

DC JULY SOLICITS BATMAN INC. #3, BATMAN, & DETECTIVE COMICS #11

BATMAN, INCORPORATED #3
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
Variant cover by JAY FABOK
1:100 B&W Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
On sale JULY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• The DC COMIC – THE NEW 52 debut of…MATCHES MALONE??
• BATMAN is hot on the trail of whoever is trying to kill DAMIAN – and he’s not going to like what he finds!

BATMAN #11
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Backup story written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IV
Art by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
Backup story art by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
On sale JULY 11 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
• The stunning conclusion to “THE COURT OF OWLS” epic!
• All is revealed in “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF WAYNE.”

DETECTIVE COMICS #11

Written by TONY S. DANIEL
Art by ED BENES and ROB HUNTER
Backup story art by SZYMON KUDRANSKI
Cover by TONY S. DANIEL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by TONY S. DANIEL
On sale JULY 4 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
• The connection between HYPNOTIC and the attacks on Wayne Enterprises is revealed!
• Plus, the latest chapter in the TWO-FACE backup story.

DC JULY SOLICITS AQUAMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, & FLASH #11

AQUAMAN #11
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS
On sale JULY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• “THE OTHERS” part five!
• AQUAMAN and THE OTHERS catch up with Black Manta – but are they really united as a team?

JUSTICE LEAGUE #11
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
Backup story art by GARY FRANK
Variant cover by BRYAN HITCH
1:100 Variant cover by JIM LEE
On sale JULY 18 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Combo Pack Edition: $4.99 US
• “The Villain’s Journey” part three!
• Batman , Cyborg and Aquaman battle Element Woman!
• Continuing the origin of SHAZAM!

THE FLASH #11
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
1:25 B&W Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
On sale JULY 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• The New 52 debut of HEAT WAVE!
• THE FLASH is on a crash course with THE ROGUES!