norby ela

July 27, 2008 - Though DC and Grant Morrison have been a bit evasive about the outcome of the Batman RIP arc, one thing seems to be… almost certain - Bruce Wayne will not be Batman afterwards.

During Comic-Con, DC ran a teaser image entitled “Battle for the Cowl”. DC’s Executive Editor Dan DiDio suggested later that the caption wasn’t supposed to be there, but happened to repeat the phrase during a Sunday panel anyway.

The image basically speaks for itself, so let’s get to it. Be sure to leave your ideas, hopes, fears and predictions in the comments thread.

Stay tuned to IGN for some more DC teaser images as well as the latest from Comic-Con. The convention ends later today, but there will be news trickling in over the next couple of days.

Straight out of San Diego Comic-Con 2008’s Image Comics Show, six of the Image Founders—Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino and Whilce Portacio—join forces on a brand new comic book project tentatively titled Image United.

“You know how we do those jam pieces all the time and I’m [drawing] Savage Dragon and Todd’s [drawing] Spawn,” explains Image Comics Publisher Larsen. “We’re going to begin working on a six-part crossover event in which we do the same thing—everyone draws their own character throughout the six issues.”

Meaning whenever Spawn and Savage Dragon appear on the same page, McFarlane pencils his character and Larsen draws his. Each of the six lays out one of the issues, but the character specific penciling extends to the famous images of each creator—Cyberforce returns with Silvestri at the helm, Liefeld rejoins the Youngblood, and Valentino dons the ShadowHawk armor once again. Portacio created an all-new character named Fortress for the crossover.

Newly appointed Image Partner Robert Kirkman brings his invincible writing style to the new project—a sensible addition considering his new position and his insanely popular Image books such as Invincible and The Walking Dead.

“There have been plenty of crossovers and team-ups from Image and every other company, but I believe that this is the first time that every creator is drawing his own character in each and every book,” says Valentino. “So, as much as this is a character crossover (old hat), it will be a creator crossover (new ground). I find that to be a unique and challenging experiment—the kind Image loves to do.”

The announcement comes as the surprise cherry on top of a sundae of recent activity by the Image founders—from their reunion last year at Comic-Con 2007 all the way to the recent first-ever signing by all seven founders during Free Comic Book Day 2008.

“If we were a rock band and were touring, it was like we had no new material,” says Liefeld. “Now we’re saying, ‘Here’s some new material.’ And we’re doing it in such a way that no one has ever done it before.”

For many in the group, this project brings everyone together in a way not seen in over 15 years, since the very first days of Image. Any bad blood has long since evaporated and the tribulations of youth are now long forgotten.

“It’s a nostalgia thing,” admits Silvestri. “These days, you get your yucks where you can get them. For me, as a fan not only of these guys’ works, but of Image and its ideals and what we did 16 years ago, it almost celebrates that in a way. I think it means something to all of us.”

Stay tuned to WizardUniverse.com and check out Wizard issue #203 for more on the Summer 2009 project.

By Kevin Mahadeo

July 27, 2008 - Though DC and Grant Morrison have been a bit evasive about the outcome of the Batman RIP arc, one thing seems to be… almost certain - Bruce Wayne will not be Batman afterwards.

During Comic-Con, DC ran a teaser image entitled “Battle for the Cowl”. DC’s Executive Editor Dan DiDio suggested later that the caption wasn’t supposed to be there, but happened to repeat the phrase during a Sunday panel anyway.

The image basically speaks for itself, so let’s get to it. Be sure to leave your ideas, hopes, fears and predictions in the comments thread.

Stay tuned to IGN for some more DC teaser images as well as the latest from Comic-Con. The convention ends later today, but there will be news trickling in over the next couple of days.

by Richard George

If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they’d probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn’t explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis/Jackie Chan/Will Smith would most likely be in a coma after getting kicked in the head. Some movies, though, put science front and center in the story and more often than not the science proves to be head-slappingly bad. Here are some of the worst offenders

10. Armageddon
We could put together a long list of all the things wrong with Michael Bay’s feel-good ode to global destruction, but NASA has already and they counted at least 168 mistakes. But perhaps the biggest problem is that the plot itself — splitting a Texas-sized rock in two with a single nuke — has a Texas-sized hole in it. We don’t have a nuclear bomb anywhere near powerful enough to do the job. As strange as it might seem, this is a case of a Michael Bay movie not having a big enough explosion.

9. Independence Day
That mammoth mothership hovering over the earth in geostationary orbit would be doing more than just freaking out the world’s population. Because of its close proximity and mass — 1/4th that of the moon, according to the film — the flying saucer’s gravitational pull would cause massive tidal waves, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The aliens wouldn’t even have to roll out their anti-matter ray to blow up the White House — it would already be underwater.

8. Starship Troopers
Could a band of cave-dwelling, preverbal giant insects really have the sophisticated mathematics and technology to hurl a rock millions of miles through space to crash into Earth? Plus, 70% of the planet’s surface is covered in water, so they only had a 3 out of 10 chance at even hitting solid ground, let alone a major city like Buenos Aires.

7. The Day After Tomorrow
Roland Emmerich brought his trademark academic rigor to the realm of climatology and the result proved to be so silly that NASA refused to help with the filming of the movie. For one thing, it would require most of Antarctica to melt in order to submerge New York City to the level it is in the movie. If all the rays of the sun were directed at the South Pole, its ice would melt in about two and half years. This ridiculousness drove Duke University paleoclimatologist William Hyde to publicly state, “This movie is to climate science as Frankenstein is to heart transplant surgery.”

6. The Core
In the movie, the Earth’s inner core — a nickel-iron mass about 1500 miles in diameter — stops rotating, causing the planet’s magnetic field to collapse and microwave radiation from space to blast through the atmosphere. But microwaves aren’t affected by magnetism, and the radiation that comes from space is too weak to damage anything here. What’s more, if the core did stop rotating for whatever reason, we’d have more to worry about than that. The energy stored in the core would have to go somewhere, and the effect on the planet would be equivalent to five trillion nuclear bombs going off at once.

5. The Matrix
Much in the way of physics in the Matrix — like dodging bullets and running up walls — gets a pass because it’s all within a massive virtual world. But in reality, our supposed robot overlords are a bit dim. Humans are a remarkably inefficient energy source. Instead of turning the human race into Duracells, the machines would probably get more energy just setting those goopy people pods on fire.

4. Jurassic Park
Having a wildlife park full of dinosaurs would be a really cool idea if it weren’t for a few problems. No, not imperfect security or the possibility of spontaneous lizard sex changes. The problem is that it would be almost impossible to clone the dinosaurs based on DNA pulled from the guts of a 25 million-year-old mosquito. The dinosaur DNA’s double helix most certainly would have been broken down into individual chunks, mixing together with whatever else the mosquitoes might have eaten along with some of the insect’s own genetic material. Any creature constructed from that mess might be the stuff of nightmares, but probably wouldn’t look like a T. Rex.

3. Total Recall
The red planet’s gravitational pull is roughly 1/3rd that of the Earth’s. So if, for example, an Austrian bodybuilder were to visit Mars, he would be bounding across the room like Michael Jordan. Another problem: when exposed to the thin atmosphere of Mars, like bad guy Cohaagen at the end of the movie, you would likely suffer from a raging case of the bends and you would asphyxiate — both of which are plenty lethal — but your head wouldn’t bulge out and explode like an overused stress toy.

2. Outbreak
A monkey threatens a small town with a virus that kills everybody in less time than your average DMV visit, and only Dustin Hoffman can stop it. The trouble with a disease that virulent is it kills the host too fast to spread. Otherwise, we would be dead from the Ebola virus. Also, it generally takes longer to make a cure from monkey serum than it does to make a latte. Dustin Hoffman does look great in a hazmat suit, though.

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones has survived a lot of improbable adventures, be it fleeing ancient spherical boulders or fighting off cult members while dangling off a rope bridge. But few scrapes have tested the bounds of believability more than Indy’s escape from a nuclear bomb blast thanks to a lead-lined fridge. The problem is that, even if he didn’t get flattened, horribly burned or suffocated (kids, don’t hide in refrigerators), Indy almost certainly would have gotten a lethal dose of radiation from the fallout. And that’s a lot scarier than snakes.

by Jonathan Crow

We all accept that movies stretch the truth in the interest of building drama. The following ten flicks, however, treat the truth like it was Silly Putty — pulling and twisting it until it’s unrecognizable.

10. 10,000 B.C.
Director Roland Emmerich is usually a stickler for realism (see: sending a computer virus via Macintosh to aliens in Independence Day). So we hate to inform him that woolly mammoths were not, in fact, used to build pyramids. Heck, woolly mammoths weren’t even found in the desert. They wouldn’t need to be woolly if that were the case. And there weren’t any pyramids in Egypt until 2,500 B.C or so.

9. Gladiator
Emperor Commodus was not the sniveling sister-obsessed creep portrayed in the movie. A violent alcoholic, sure, but not so whiny. He ruled ably for over a decade rather than ineptly for a couple months. He also didn’t kill his father, Marcus Aurelius, who actually died of chickenpox. And instead of being killed in the gladiatorial arena, he was murdered in his bathtub.

8. 300
Though this paean to ancient moral codes and modern physical training is based on the real Battle of Thermopylae, the film takes many stylistic liberties. The most obvious one being Persian king Xerxes was not an 8-foot-tall Cirque du Soleil reject. The Spartan council was made up of men over the age of 60, with no one as young as Theron (played by 37-year-old Dominic West). And the warriors of Sparta went into battle wearing bronze armor, not just leather Speedos.

7. The Last Samurai
The Japanese in the late 19th century did hire foreign advisers to modernize their army, but they were mostly French, not American. Ken Watanabe’s character was based on the real Saigo Takamori who committed ritual suicide, or “seppuku,” in defeat rather than in a volley of Gatling gun fire. Also, it’s doubtful that a 40-something alcoholic Civil War vet, even one with great hair, would master the chopsticks much less the samurai sword.

6. Apocalypto
This one movie has given entire Anthropology departments migraines. Sure the Maya did have the odd human sacrifice but not to Kulkulkan, the Sun God, and only high-ranking captives taken in battle were killed. The conquistadors arriving at the end of the film made for unlikely saviors: an estimated 90% of indigenous American population was killed by smallpox from their infected livestock.

5. Memoirs of a Geisha
The geisha coming-of-age, called “mizuage,” was really more of a makeover, where she changed her hairstyle and clothes. It didn’t involve her getting… intimate with a client. In the climactic scene where Sayuri wows Gion patrons with her dancing prowess, her routine - which involves some platform shoes, fake snow, and a strobe light - seems more like a Studio 54 drag show than anything in pre-war Kyoto.

4. Braveheart
Let’s forget the fact that kilts weren’t worn in Scotland until about 300 years after William Wallace’s day and just do some simple math. According to the movie, Wallace’s blue-eyed charm at the Battle of Falkirk was so overpowering, he seduced King Edward II’s wife, Isabella of France, and the result of their affair was Edward III. But according to the history books, Isabella was three years old at the time of Falkirk, and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died.

3. Elizabeth: The Golden Age
In 1585, when the movie takes place, Queen Elizabeth was 52 years old - Cate Blanchett was 36 when she shot the film - and was not being courted by suitors like Ivan the Terrible (who was dead by then). And though the movie has her rallying the troops at Tilbury astride a white steed in full armor with a sword, in fact she rode side saddle, carrying a baton. She was more of a regal majorette than Joan of Arc.

2. The Patriot
Revolutionary War figure Francis “The Swamp Fox” Marion was the basis for Mel Gibson’s character, but he wasn’t the forward-thinking family man they show in the flick. He was a slave owner who didn’t get married (to his cousin) until after the war was over. Historians also say that he actively persecuted and murdered native Cherokees. Plus, the thrilling Battle of Guilford Court House where he vanquishes his British nemesis? In reality, the Americans lost that one.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
According to this film, in year 2001 we would have had manned voyages to Jupiter, a battle of wits with a sentient computer, and a quantum leap in human evolution. Instead we got the Mir Space Station falling from the sky, Windows XP, and Freddy Got Fingered. Apparently the lesson here is that sometimes it’s better when the movies get the facts all wrong.

by Jonathan Crow

July 23, 2008 - BOOM! Studios and Disney Publishing Worldwide announced today that they will bring brand new stories from beloved Pixar properties to the comic book medium. Comics will feature characters from the groundbreaking TOY STORY franchise and blockbuster FINDING NEMO film, as well as this summer’s box office success WALL*E.

BOOM! Studios is also proud to announce Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid will be writing THE INCREDIBLES comic book, featuring cover art by DC: THE NEW FRONTIER writer and artist Darwyn Cooke!

“Today, American comic books are aimed primarily at an older readership. Comics produced for an upcoming generation of readers are scarce - and BOOM! Studios aims to do something about that,” said Waid. “There will be comics for kids again!”

To commemorate this historic partnership, BOOM! will be releasing a special preview book featuring sneak previews of upcoming projects using the characters from TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, and MONSTERS, INC. Featuring commentary by Waid, this preview will give comic fans and interested parents a look at the quality comics BOOM! will be producing for a younger audience by the end of the year.

Following on the heels of THE INCREDIBLES comic book release, BOOM! will be publishing all new stories featuring favorite Pixar characters from TOY STORY, CARS, FINDING NEMO and MONSTERS INC. New stories featuring this summer’s blockbuster hit WALL-E will follow shortly thereafter.

“It’s nothing short of an honor to work with Disney Publishing Worldwide and Pixar for this project,” said BOOM! Studios co-founder Ross Richie. “We found kindred spirits in the creative counterparts we have at both companies, and have just really had a fantastic time finding the right writer and artist combinations to do the source material justice. I think young and old alike are going to love these books!”

The Pixar preview book will be available $5 during San Diego Comic-Con at the BOOM! Studios booth (#2543).

Most comic historians consider the 1960’s to be the silver age, but for Marvel Comics it was definitely golden. Even though the label of “Marvel” first appeared as early as 1946, the first official publication labelled “Marvel Comics” was the 1961 publication Amazing Adventures #3. [1] Although science fiction Comic books proved popular, Marvel titles suffered. With the early success of DC Comic’s superhero revival in the late 50’s, Marvel was inspired to follow. That was about the limit of Marvel Comics’ imitation.

Coming from a cold-war society, Marvel Comic creators wanted their characters to redefine the superhero by eliminating pre-existing conventions. Marvel Comics under the creative drive of Stan Lee, started to feature a strong line of anti-heroes. [5] These characters didn’t typically have greatness “thrust upon them,” but grabbed it from the depths of their suffering. The first of such super heroes was the Fantastic Four; which debuted in 1961. The Lee and Kirby story involved a group of four characters who acquired their powers amidst a space trip “that went wrong.” Marvel Comics, through its characters, combined science fiction, fantasy and sometimes horror genres.

One of the characters, known as the Thing, was permanently altered into an orange, monstrous form. Besides the DC Comics character the Martian Manhunter, who appeared in 1955, there were few characters that appeared non-humanoid. That clearly changed as Marvel Comics continued to “roll out” their characters.

In 1962, The Hulk and The Amazing Spider-man were released. The Hulk, a victim of a gamma radiation accident, was a tortured soul trapped within the body of a green behemoth. Spider-man, which was the most popular of these new heroes, was a teenager who, upon being bit by a radioactive spider, gained powers. The core of Spider-man’s appeal didn’t come from his powers, but rather from his alter-ego Peter Parker. Parker, being a teenager, was often filled with self-doubt. This perfectly captured the persona of the average young person during the 1960s who lived among such controversy as the civil rights movement, the destruction of segregation and the advent U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Even though Spider-man became the figurehead of Marvel Comics, it is the X-men that remain the dominant force in Marvel diaspora. The Uncanny X-men, who came out the following year, presented an even more powerful platform for the complex nature of self identity. For the first time, Marvel Comics introduced the concept of mutants, people who achieved their powers genetically from birth. This group of teenagers had a “strangeness” to them that seemed to distance them from other Marvel superhero groups. The leader of the X-men was an adult named Charles Xavier who possesses a mutant power of manipulating thoughts. Since the ability to control of his powers was self-taught, Xavier acts as a mentor and teacher to the young mutants.

Their arch rival was another mutant named Magneto, whose was embittered by those who hated him because he was different. Years later, Marvel Comics added more depth to Magneto’s past by including that he spent time as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Unfortunately, most of the situations stemming from confrontations with the ignorant didn’t start to occur until the mid-1970s.

The Avengers contained a patchwork of characters including Ant-man, Thor, Wasp, Iron Man and briefly the Hulk. The fourth issue marked the return of Captain America to the Silver Age. Daredevil, a blind superhero seemed to be another anomaly. Just as DC Comics super heroes formed an industry archetype (handsome, perfect, and mentally stable), Marvel Comics characters formed an archetype of their own. Most of these early characters possess similarities.

Most of these stories involved very intelligent people such as Reed Richards (Fantastic Four), Peter Parker (Spider-man), Hank McCoy (X-men), Bruce Banner (The Hulk) and Henry Pym (Avengers). Most character’s suffered an accident of some sort involving a little-known circumstance (radiation being the foremost culprit). Marvel characters were clumsy, awkward, sensitive and prone to becoming angry. Thus these traits made Marvel Character more relative to the psyche of modern people.

Equally worthy of mention are other colorful characters such as the Silver Surfer. First appearing in the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer was an intergalactic traveller. Another character that came out of a Fantastic Four story was the Black Panther. Being the first character of Negroid descent, The Black Panther was an African prince named T’challa. He would not be the last African superhero to emerge from Marvel Comics. X-Men #6 marked the Silver Age debut of The Submariner. He, the Silver Surfer and Iron Man were to have individual titles in 1968.

Stan Lee perpetuated a different routine for making comic books that would be called the “Marvel Method.” Traditionally a writer would separately draft a script and then an artist would render drawings to accommodate it. Under Lee’s direction, an artist and a writer would together oversee the art and then the writing would be added to it. [1] Under this method, artists and writers would be in greater relation with each other.

First Generation Animation

A superhero animation explosion occurred in the mid 1960’s. By 1966 several titles became animated under a small Canadian company by the name of Grantray Lawrence. The company, founded by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson and Robert Lawrence, had little money and limited budget. Because of Canadian law, broadcasting regulation guaranteed that animation by Grantray Lawrence would be aired continuously on Canadian television. [6] This allowed the company to produce low budget animation whose quality lacked little discretion.

The company came out with six Marvel Comic titles in 1966 alone. These included Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Submariner and The Marvel variety show. [7] At times these cartoons look as though images were cut directly out of comic pages, pasted unto cells and added with voice. Only the 1967 production of Spider-man stood out. This was mainly due to the theme song, which to this day has a strong cult following. The following year Grantray Lawrence Productions went bankrupt and Krantz Productions took over the series. In New York, a young Ralph Bakshi, the famed underground animator, was put in charge of the series. [7] Bakshi gave the stories a slightly darker façade and focused more on Peter Parker. Hanna Barbara Animation Studios released The Fantastic Four.

Despite the growth of Marvel Comics, superhero comic books were once again on the downside. Marvel Comics had to redirect their focus. This was first seen in the form of a barbarian by the name of Conan. The rendition of Robert E. Howard’s character was illustrated by a British artist named Barry Windsor-Smith. [2] Its success resulted in three other barbarian titles (including the female barbarian Red Sonja) by the end of the decade.

In 1971, Stan Lee was approached by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare to make a comic book about the negative effects of drug use. [1] In the aftermath of the turbulent 1960’s, drug use was on the rise in America. This would be the first time since the formation of the Comics Code that comic books would be used as a method of education. Although Classic’s Illustrated, comic book renditions of classic novels, published reprints during the 1960’s, this would be a new step for the industry. The Spider-man story, not bearing the comic books code because it included drug use, was successful and gave Marvel Comics a little more freedom. [2]

The result was the release of two horror titles Werewolf by Night and Tomb of Dracula. This trend would continue with seven more titles (four in magazine format). [2] By 1972 Marvel’s sales were surpassing DC Comics. This success led to a failed attempt to buy DC Comics later that decade. [1]Also, Goodman retired and Stan Lee took his place as publisher.

In the cinema, a new movement was emerging that involved African American heroes who hustled, fought crime and took revenge on those that “kept them down.” Because of the low budget quality, lewd language and behavior and often repetitious storylines, many have labelled this movement “blaxploitation.” Amidst the growth of this movement, Marvel Comics released Luke Cage: Hero for Hire. Luke Cage, the first African American superhero, combated criminals in their urban element. Equally important to mention, is that many of the villains and background characters were also African American as well.

The early 1970’s also saw the explosive popularity of Kung Fu. Bruce Lee’s death in 1971 led much of the world to focus on films that involved this relatively unknown martial art. Marvel Comics took advantage of this trend with The Deadly Hand’s of San Chi: Master of Kung Fu. This title led to another the creation of another character known as Iron Fist. Later Luke Cage (who would change his name to Power Man) and Iron Fist would join forces in their own title. Power Man and Iron Fist became the changed form of the Luke Cage title.

Marvel Comics released another Ghost Rider series in 1973. Although the original was a clever combination of a Western and Horror theme, this new one involved a motorcycle and a modern theme. Two major super heroes had their debut in 1974. Amazing Spider-man #129 featured a hero known as the Punisher. In the spirit of Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson, the Punisher was a vigilante embittered by a crime committed against his family.

Hulk #180 and 181 starred an obscure Canadian mutant named Wolverine. This superhero was unique in the fact that he was not only endowed with genetic power (super healing ability and heighten senses), but was physically altered as well. As a result of an operation, Wolverine’s body was laced with a fictitious, indestructible metal called adamantium. He was also given metal, retractable claws. Although his popularity was just beginning to grow, he would become a dominant, franchise figure by the end of the next decade.

Soon X-men would continue from issue #94 with Chris Claremont writing. Giant Size X-Men #1 presented a new international group of mutants consisting of Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Thunderhawk and Banshee. Colossus, a Russian farmer, could turn his body into steel. Nightcrawler, a German sideshow performer, had dexterity and could teleport short distances. Storm, an African weather witch, could control the weather. Thunderhawk, the first Native American Superhero, had superior strength. Banshee, an Irishman who first appeared in some early X-Men issues, had a supersonic scream. Along with Spider-man, these new X-Men would be the dominant, driving force behind Marvel Comics for the next 20 years.

By Frederic Haddox

The June 2008 data is out from Diamond Comic Distributors. The Market Shares are below; check here for historical market shares both recently and back to 1998. More to come…

DIAMOND REPORTED DOLLAR SHARES
Marvel • 41.74%
DC • 29.45%
Dark Horse • 7.52%
Image • 4.30%
IDW • 3.10%
Viz • 1.47%
Dynamic • 1.30%
Tokyopop • 1.26%
Wizard • 0.92%
Digital Manga • 0.54%
Avatar • 0.46%
Random House • 0.41%
Udon • 0.36%
Gemstone • 0.34%
Devils Due • 0.31%
Archie • 0.31%
Fantagraphics • 0.28%
Boom • 0.27%
Zenescope • 0.27%
Virgin • 0.25%
Other • 5.14%

DIAMOND REPORTED UNIT SHARES
Marvel • 48.39%
DC • 29.56%
Dark Horse • 5.42%
Other • 3.58%
IDW • 3.28%
Image • 3.08%
Dynamic • 1.67%
Viz • 0.79%
Wizard • 0.72%
Avatar • 0.63%
Tokyopop • 0.54%
Zenescope • 0.43%
Archie • 0.42%
Virgin • 0.28%
Devils Due • 0.27%
Boom • 0.27%
Digital Manga • 0.20%
Gemstone • 0.17%
Random House • 0.15%
Fantagraphics • 0.08%
Udon • 0.07%
Other • 3.58%

Written by: John Jackson Miller

Title: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Seth MacFarlane
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro, based on a story by Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola and on the Dark Horse comic by Mike Mignola
Director of Photography: Guillermo Navarro
Edited by: Bernat Vilaplana
Production Designer: Stephen Scott
Creature and Makeup Effects by: Mike Elizalde
Produced by: Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, and Lloyd Levin
Genre: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Horror, Thriller, Adaptation and Sequel
Release Date: July 11, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and some language.
Distributors: Universal Pictures Distribution

If you saw 2004’s Hellboy, then you saw Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The plot synopsis is very simple: Hellboy fights monsters. Throw in a little anti-authoritarian attitude, a craving to go out in public, some trouble in his love life, and a fatal choice that must be made. The plots are virtually indistinguishable. But plot is not what makes this movie franchise interesting. It’s the magical vision of director Guillermo del Toro, the talents of Ron Perlman, and the non-stop comedy that make Hellboy II such an enjoyable escape from the heat of summer.

Casting Ron Perlman as the swaggering, gravelly-voiced, cigar-chomping Hellboy was genius. Just when we thought that the “greatest generation” of silver screen alpha males had passed away for good, along comes Perlman with fists and jaw writ large. Confident, wise-cracking, and fearless, he relishes a good fight, and shows off with bravado. Take Lee Marvin out of his foxhole, paint him red and give him a tail, and set him loose on New York’s crazy streets. The result is Hellboy, the sexy Teamster of superheroes who loves his job. Stomping through a battleground, tossing off one-liners, laden with prosthetics and yellow contact lenses, Perlman lets us into Hellboy’s heart, and asks us to love him. We do, with all our hearts.

Writer-director Guillermo del Toro seems to treat the Hellboy movies as an opportunity to relax and have fun. His original scripts ( The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth) use the horror genre to explore the genuinely terrifying historical phenomenon of fascism. If you haven’t seen these movies, you must. They are scary and deeply moving films. Hellboy II: The Golden Army lets this most unique director give his imagination free reign unburdened by a concern for deeper meaning. This isn’t about anything more than having a good time, and what a good time it is!

Every frame seems to deliver a new wow. Monsters and demons, fairies and trolls, and unknown creatures galore abound amidst gizmos, gadgets, contraptions, and thingamabobs. The colors are lush and powerful. And in what is fast becoming a signature aspect of del Toro’s work, there is no separation between the supernatural and mundane worlds. All exist together, seamlessly, and all are just as real. Mignola’s fascination with gears is here in abundance as well, reminding us that the secular, the supernatural, humans, machines, and nature all share a common reality, in uneasy terms and rapidly escalating crisis.

Luke Goss’s villainous elf prince is unusual in that we are tempted to root for him, because has a point. He warns Hellboy that there is an ultimate decision to be made, because humanity and nature are on a collision course. And if the movie falls down anywhere, it is here, because that decision is deferred to an uncertain future (presumably in four more years in Hellboy 3). In 2004’s Hellboy, our hero was made to decide, and he did. In this sequel, our hero is told he’s going to have to decide, but later. Hellboy II: The Golden Army is not a complete film in itself, but actually a setup for its sequel. The dramatic heart of the film was deferred, and I felt set up.

Hellboy is not a reluctant superhero, and he doesn’t brood about his calling or let on that he gives much thought to the extent of the evil in the world, or the reasons for it. This is refreshing, and joyful, and highly entertaining. But there are ominous signs in Hellboy II that this quality may not survive the next sequel. Sitting in that theater, a deeper meaning starts to emerge, as the movie stirs your unease, and makes you wonder just why it is so hot outside.

Rating: 9/10

By Beth Davies-Stofka

The megalith known as Marvel Comic books has been a key catalyst in the preservation of comic book culture in mainstream American society. Characters such as Spider-man, Hulk and the X-Men have not only become household names, but are well known throughout the World. Though prolific as this empire seems, like any other, it had humble beginnings.

The Golden Age

Marvel Comics was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman under the name Timely Publications. Previous to Timely, Goodman published his first western comic book as early as 1933. Three years later, he published a comic book featuring a jungle lord similar to Ka-zar (who would appear years later). [1] Their first publication Marvel Comics: Action, Mystery and Adventure, which formally debuted The Human Torch and The Sub Mariner. The Human Torch, created by Carl Burgos was an android and The Submariner, by Bill Everett was an undersea prince by the name of Namor. Interestingly enough, Namor was an anti-hero whose appearance predates DC Comic’s anti-hero known as Batman. Namor, an often disgruntled character who struggles to do what he feels is right, represented the direction Marvel Comics would take their characters in during the sixties under Stan Lee.

Jack Kirby and Joe Simon’s Captain America arrived unto the comic scene in March of 1941. Having a centralized theme of American patriotism, Captain America was an instant hit. The Second World War definitely helped the success of Marvel Comics. Alongside The Human Torch and The Submariner, the “big three” were involved in numerous stories battling Nazis and the Japanese. Together they formed a strong combination that would survive until 1954. [1] With the enormous popularity of Disney and Warner Brother’s animation studios, comic book publishers strived to tap into this resource. Marvel Comics’s attempt came in the form of Super Rabbit and the duo of Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal. Plus, Basil Wolverton’s Power Pepper was featured for some flavoring. [2]

During the 1950’s, Marvel Comics went under the name Atlas Comics. With the Second World War ending at least five years before, the super heroes that were once revered were declining in popularity. The U.S. involvement in the Korean War only resulted in a popular surge of war Comic books. Marvel Comics’ Battle No. 1 came from this popularity. [2] It wasn’t long before superhero comic books were falling being not only war titles, but Western, crime, humor, romance and spy fiction Comic books as well.

Marvel Comics tried to make adjustments by publishing many Romance titles. By the end of the 40’s, many Marvel titles, such as Human Torch and Submariner changed into romance titles. The foremost being My Romance which featured writing by Stan Lee. Soon Western titles such as The Two Gun Kid, Annie Oakley, Tex Morgan and Kid Cold Outlaw emerged.

In 1950, Entertainment Comics (formerly Education Comics) began to lead the horror Comic book movement. Proving very popular, most publishers in the industry wanted to take advantage of this. Marvel Comics’ effort came in the form of Strange Tales in 1951. Unfortunately, due to the advent of the Comics Code of Authority in 1954, the entire industry suffered.

In 1950, a Senate Committee released a report connected comic books and delinquency. Soon afterward, parents and educators began to ban comic books from schools and homes. The Comics Code was the ultimate goal of the psychiatrist Dr. Frederick Wertham. Having started his anti-comic campaign in the late nineteen forties, Dr. Wertham believed comic books were the main cause of the deterioration of young people. The former Yale professor lecturer released his book, The Seduction of the Innocent in 1954.

In this book, Dr. Wertham states that comic books are responsible for almost all juvenile misbehavior from racial hatred to petty crime. Soon, the U.S. Senate ordered that a set of standards be made in order to minimize the negative effects of comic books. Many newsstands were thrilled to not carry comic books that didn’t have the comic code seal on them (comic books were often tedious to inventory due to their smaller size and large numbers).

Even though the contents of the code were created by a union of comic publisher as a means of self regulation, its effect proved disastrous to the industry. [2] Under the code, comic books had to display limited violence, sexual contact and negative language. [3] Changes could be seen in almost every genre of comic.

In Western comic books, there were fewer gunfights. In romance comic books , there was less romance. Even Funny Animal titles were forced to “curb” their violence. Horror comic books nearly suffered extinction. Science fiction titles seemed to survive this baptism. The recent creation of the atomic bomb combined with UFO interest (stemming from the Roswell incident in 1947 and numerous pulp literature that followed), brought out a surge in science fiction Comic books. To appease this interest, Marvel Comics brought out World of Suspense, World of Fantasy, Mystical Tales and World of Mystery.

By Frederic Haddox