#SNL - Andrew Garfield makes surprise appearance

Here's a little segment from a recent Saturday Night Live show that The Amazing Spider-Man star Emma Stone hosted.
It also features a random guest appearance from Andrew Garfield!

Check it out:




"America's suffering record unemployment, and we outsource Spider-Man!!" XD

For reminder, Marc Webb's reboot will be out on July 3rd!

CBR Kevin Smith's Green Hornet Vol. 1

 

Time for a look into one of the genre's most famous and oldest proprieties, who after several lives throughout various medium is back in comic book form under the fresh look of movie director and writer-Kevin Smith!

Comic title: Kevin Smith's Green Hornet volume one: Sins of the Father
Art by Jonathan Lau with breakdowns by Phil Hester
Scripts by Kevin Smith
Covers by Alex Ross

Published by Dynamite
From 2010
Lineup The Green Hornet
Format: Trade paperback collecting the first 5 issues of the new Green Hornet on-going series.

I've always been a big fan of the Green Hornet!
Created originally for Radio serials by George W. Trendle, James Jewell and Fran Striker, in 1936.

It told the adventures of Britt Reid who assumed the superhero persona of the Green Hornet alongside his friend and partner Kato who served as the Hornet's chauffeur and occasional teammate. Driving the Black Beauty in the streets, they decided that in order to get rid of the crime in Chicago, they had to become criminal themselves and get a hold of the various corrupt families and gangs controlling the city.

It quickly became a hit, being declined into several other mediums.
The radio show itself inspired such comics as Fox Comics' own Blue Beetle (hence the similar title), who went on to become a radio show as well.
That is when the Green Hornet became a comic book series as well, his first series was released on 1940 by Helnit Comics.
The title went on to be published by several others during the following century, never getting the same popularity as DC or Marvel Comics' own takes on the genre.

But the character finally became a success when he was resurrected and adapted for television in 1966.
The show became huge quite quickly, getting various translations and releases across the world.
The cult TV show starred Van Williams as The Green Hornet and the soon to be famous-Bruce Lee as Kato.

The show went through several reruns over the years, which is why that is the most famous incarnation of the Hornet. Though the character kinda disappeared from the public's view these recent couple of years...
That is...Until...

In 2009, Dynamite Entertainment was able to get the license of the Green Hornet...which - as perfect timing goes - worked great with Michel Gondry & Seth Rogen's own attempt of a revival of the character.
Instead of simply working towards the 2011 Hollywood movie, and simply serving as a movie tie-in, Dynamite decided to have their own take on the Hornet simultaneously.
Kevin Smith had actually worked on another take, trying to bring back the character a decade before for the theaters. Since that original script was scrapped for the big screen (Smith didn't want to direct it at the time, the screenplay was sort of forgotten over the years), the comic book format was perfect to produce that story!

The comic sort of continues the original TV serial, only taking place in modern times instead.
Five years have passed since all this began.
The story opens with the original Green Hornet Britt Reid and Kato finally rounding up the remaining crime families under one roof....and making a stop of the organized crime once and for all!

It is all over!

Finally! The Hornet can finally hang his hat in the closet for good. Kato decides to go back home and take care of a family of his own. And Reid is finally able to get back to his own son Britt Reid Jr. alongside his spouse Janet.
The rest, the usual crimes and shenanigans, that the police can take care of.

It is now 2010.
Britt Jr. has grown to be quite a spoiled brat. He is now in his 20s.
Our retired original Green Hornet has been a successful editor at The Sentinel's.


But organized crime his back.
While Britt Sr.'s friend, the ex-D.A., his trying to run for mayor, a party organizy at the Britts is crashed by... The Black Hornet!!

Is the original Hornet finally back, and has he turned to crime now?

Britt Sr. his killed trying to save the future mayor.
Junior discovers the truth about his dad from the old Kato returned in this time of need.
That's a lot to take in.
His whole life, he barely knew, or liked his father. And now he learns he actually was a vigilante.
And things could be better timed, a yakuza mobster died supposedly in his cell, as his son comes back from China to clean the reputation of his family.

Now assisted by Mulan Kato, the "new Kato" and daughter of the original, Britt is thrown right in the middle of a life he never knew his father lived in. It's a whole new world!

Well, "assisted by Kato". More like trying to follow around, Mulan seems to be the one who was supposed to take over in case an enemy of the Hornet killed him in his Britt Reid life.

It's a very fun story!
There's a lot going on, even though it clearly feels like an introduction, the beginning of new adventures!
The story mixes lots of fight scenes (1 per issue at last!), well choreographed for a comic if I may say so, gadgets, explosions and car chases!

It was originally supposed to be just a 12-issues limited series (this volume offering the first half), but due to an excellent reception and very good sales, it was turned into an ongoing series.Kevin Smith's story presents itself rather well in this format, as if originally written for it (I can't even begin to imagine him directing this...).
His long time pal, comic book artist and partner-in-Green Phil Hester worked the breakdowns of the comic. Which is excellently rythmed and punctuated.
Guest-artist Alex Ross did the these gorgeous covers for each issue, giving the book this tone and look.
And the artwork of  Jonathan Lau his simply fun and stunning. It really suits the modern/pulp-ysh vibe of the series.

Overall, it's great!
Really!
Part-pulp action ("normal" heroes, martial arts, car chases, gunfire, etc.) but it is also like a big bright and entertaining blockbuster, which is definitively the tone Smith was aiming for with this revival.
There are lots of car chases, explosions, kung-fu around for fans of the genre!

Dynamite did great by taking Kevin Smith unused screenplay and turning it into this revamp of such a classic hero for modern day readers!

I give it:

2.5 / 3 FlamingCarrots!

Comics NEWS! DCnU Captain Marvel

...and by DCnU Captain Marvel I mean Shazam!
That's right, there's going to be a name change.

Shazam! With one lightning-infused magic word, DC Comics has relaunched one of its most iconic characters, reviving the superhero known since 1939 as Captain Marvel and renaming and supercharging him with a heavy double dose of mysticism and magic.
“We changed his name [to Shazam] for a lot of reasons,” said Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns. “One of them is that Shazam is the word most associated with the character, so we just felt it made sense — a lot of people already thought that was his name, anyway.”
With a new origin, a cowl, a lightning bolt on his chest, and a penchant for causing electrical appliances to explode, Shazam still bears similarities to the original hero, including the power to change from feisty teen Billy Batson into a superhero by uttering the magic word that is now his name.  

The new Shazam debuts March 21 as a side story in Justice League No. 7.
“His place in the world will be far more rooted in fantasy and magic than it ever was before,” Johns said.

Since I'm a big fan of the character, I thought I had to make a comment regarding this new direction for the character.

Well, first off the new spine, with the play on electicity seems like a nice move.
...and that's all the good I can say about this reimagining.

This is the new
Captain Marvel
, excuse me, Shazam?!
Bleh... too much Assassin's Creed in the hood, not enough old school flying mystery man with a cape anymore...

And I'm not talking "nerd continuity" and stuff.
I don't need to know much about a character (which in this case...I'm mostly familiar with Jeff Smith's recent interpretation) to know you should always respect a minimum of its look and design before revamping him :/ 

But here...the more I look at it, the less I like it...
Look, Billy Batson's not supposed to be gritty, badass or any of that. Just a good hearted clean superhero.

This fancomic page summarize what i mean and is a lot more in-character than that pic released by DC officially -> http://1.bp.blogspot...tain-marvel.jpg

Anyways, here's two drawing I just did today (one for my "Daily Sketch Challenge").
Since I'm not digging the new gritty/mature/badass look, I decided to go full-cartoon here

I remade my original sketch (today's DSC), which was New 52-Billy, with the classic Billy Batson I like over it!

(if you want to see this and even more, check out my deviantArt gallery!)

Movie NEWS! new pics of DREDD

Here's another reboot.

They just released some new screenshots of the upcoming new Judge Dredd movie, simply titled DREDD.
It shows our main cast played by Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby.

It's not as explicit as an actual trailer, but it does give an idea of the movie's tone.
Check those out:

Click on the pics for larger resolution!

I dunno for you, but it looks like Urban's wearing the too-big-for-his-head-helmet Sylvester Stallone used in the original back in 1995...
That or they planned to have another actor originally, with a much larger head and went ahead and built that helmet for another guy...
A bit awkward. I mean, check it back, above!

The movie's expected for a September 21st release date.

Marvel NEWS! AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Trailer

Sony Pictures just released the official trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man movie reboot.

Up until now I had my doubts about this whole thing (I'd rather see Marvel have the rights to Spidey back)..
Don't mistake me, I still think the tone is overly serious and the visual waaaay to gritty for the web-crawler.
But this is looking a bit better now.

Wise-cracking Spidey? Hunted by cops? A Spectacular villain?
Check this out:



I'm still not a big fan of this whole movie's casting, but it looks like Mark Webb did a great job!
This will be on July 3rd.

ComicPageOfTheWeekend: Aw Yeah, New 52!

DC Comics fans were trying to understand the ways continuity in the rebooted universe "New 52" worked and who was that mysterious purple hooded figure for so long... it was about time we got some answers.

Well, not "answers" answers, but at last some recognition, even coming from the high quality fun title Tiny Titans.
Enjoy all we can, guys, DC announced the book will end early next year.

(Click for bigger pic)

(Click for bigger pic)

So...joke or no joke, does this mean Ambush Bug's taken the role of Johnny DC, "continuity cop", under the reboot?
(wooah! they're following a plotline left open by a previous Ambush Bug comic??)

Tiny Titans © DC Comics

Blog - DC's "New 52" designs and opinion

I'm not enjoying a lot of the revamped designs Jim Lee & co did for DC Comics' reboot "The New 52"...
Too much "EXTREME!! 90s"-ness overall.

On the other hand I would have preferred if someone like Art Baltazar did all the redesigns instead.
For one the designs would have been more tasteful and suiting the characters.
And two, there would be room enough for artists interpretations.
(unlike the messy busy designs everybody, from George Perez to Dan Jurgens, have to work with now...)

So here's two Teen Titans gals I tried to base the looks on their Tiny Titans incarnations.

Might pick up one of those two to ink/color...

Random? Yes!
Enjoy anyway!

ComicPanelsOfTheWeek: Darkseid "New52"

So, here's the big baddie of the DCU redesigned by Jim Lee.

(Click for bigger pic)

Aww man...that's kinda bad.... I prefer the classic old school skirt wearing Kirby-esque Darkseid over this mess X__X
Call it Silver Age or silly, but it was much better than...this!

Justice League © DC Comics

Mr. Scott Lobdell answers some of my Teen Titans/Outlaws-related questions regarding Arsenal and more

Scott Lobdell (writer of the current Superboy, Teen Titans and Red Hood & The Outlaws titles) took the time to answer once more to answer various (and sometimes annoying) questions on ComicVine.

Check his answers here.

Why am I mentioning it? He even answered some of my own questions!
Woah! How nice, thankies for pickin' mines!^^

Thank you very much Mr. Lobdell!

Roy Harper still was GA's sidekick and Raven will be back soon! Yay!

AwesomeCosplay Pic of the day: Solomon Grundy @ NYCC

'nuff said!

Outcast Studios - LIVE DRAW NIGHT September 2011

http://outcaststudios.com/forums/

Hey folks!
This weekend, with the crew at the Outcast forums, we had yet another one of those so called "Live Draw Nights"!
I tried to keep the rhythm, 4 hours of drawings sketches, while keeping my Twitter account updated during the night.
So, there's that. (if you want to follow me there!)

Like the previous times, we had a great time. Various characters and fun ideas during the night.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about... It's a art jam challenge, a sort of "drawing practice session" if you want. Divided in 4 hours, we received various characters ideas to draw under a specific time.
Lots of participants this time around.
The four hours got progressively more demanding and challenging.

Here's last session in case you want to check it out.

Let's check out my entries, if you please~
First Hour
The first hour consisted in a series of 5-10 minutes sketches done back to back.
Nothing much challenging, it was just about keeping the rhythm and entering the challenge with straight quick sketches.

We started simple enough with Nova.
A character I think I never doodled before.
Since I was quite quick on this one, I decided to add-in a bit colors...thing I kept for all the following sketches as well!

Deadpool!
A favorite of mine, so I knew exactly how to draw this one without references :P

HEY BUB!!!
Wolverine, The best at what he does! Whatever it is that the guy does for a livin'~

'nuff said!

I'll say it right away, I don't like at all how Magneto came out like..

[BREAK!! BREAK!!]


2nd Hour
Hour two was only one big sketch-long.
Meaning, a 45 minutes sketch!

Red Sonja.
Not much a fan of the character though.
The subject was actually featuring her facing a random enemy (or this Death-something guy) or the after-battle.



[BREAK!! BREAK!!]


3rd Hour
HOUR THREE!!
2 25 minutes sketch featuring a group/montage of a selected bunch of characters.

Group shot of a those characters.
I went for something kinda JLI-esque.

Same group as before, but this time the montage had to feature a gender switch (I picked Iron Fist) and an age switch (Spider-girl here).


[BREAK!! BREAK!!]


Final Hour
The 4th and last hour of the Live Draw Night!
The final challenge of the night!
Took me a whole fulll hour and a half.

The goal was to recreate a classic comic book cover - as a tribute - but featuring DCnU "The New 52!" redesigned characters.
So I did the only thing I could do...
The famous JLI group shot (original by Kevin Maguire)!

Pretty fun :'3

In the order, from left to right, top to bottom: Godiva, Vixen, Fire, Ice!Tora, Blue Beetle!Jaime Reyes, Booster Gold, August General in Iron, Batman, Green Lantern!Guy Gardner and Rocket Red!


And that is all for this LIVE DRAW NIGHT session~
Thanks for checkin' out my stuff ;)

ComicPanelsOfTheWeek: Batman and Sons

One panel is only what's needed to reintroduce familiar characters.
Though I think Greg Capullo kinda did Dick a tad too short in here (specially compared to how he looks in his own title..).

(Click for bigger pic)

Characters © DC Comics

ComicPanelsOfTheWeek: DCnU Supes and Wolverine

Here's a fun panel-parody drawn by comic book artist Phil Noto (Birds of Prey, Batgirl..)
Funny and oh, so appropriate. Spot on! ;)

(Click for bigger pic)

Characters © DC & Marvel Comics

Booster Gold comparision - Smallvile/New 52

Woow! Call me slow or whatever, but I just noticed Booster Gold's appearance in the "New 52" relaunch-thingie is pretty similar to his Smallville interpretation!

See?

Shouldn't we start calling him Booster Blue now instead?
(a little line mentioning Ted Kord!Blue Beetle as inspiration for the new look wouldn't have hurt either!)

Drawing - The end, for now.

'nuff said.

"DC The New 52!" logos

 The guys over at the comics alliance had a lot of fun going through and reviewing each of the logos from DC's upcoming revamped lineup.

Check it out! It's pretty funny :P

Man..are some of those logos pretty bad.. And I'm speaking as someone who's had graphics & visual communications lessons (and the diploma that goes along).
Funny though, the Superman and Green Lanterns family of logos won't be changed! ha!

The DC Relaunch

Here's a funny video about DC Comics' reboot/retcon/relaunch/whateva~



At least not all the fans are taking this seriously :P

Movie NEWS! First pic of Superman

And here's our first look at the new Superman/Henry Cavill in the role:

Click for bigger pic!

So, what are you guys expecting of Superman: Man of Steel?

Positive feeling? Wrong direction?
I for one love the big S-shield logo! It was so small in Superman Returns (and let's not even mention the deceiving Smallville glimpse in the lackbuster ending).
The cape's huuuuge too!

The texture of the clothes kinda annoys me though (Hollywood designers sure do love to add all these sorts of useless details...)

The question now is.... red underoos or not??

Deleted Scenes - DC Reboot: Part VIII: What might had been...

DC Reboot: part I

DC Reboot: part II

DC Reboot:: part III

DC Reboot: part IV

DC Reboot: part V
DC Reboot part VI

DC Reboot VII

Enough with the actual reboot/relaunch/revampe/whateva of the DCUniverse!
Let's check out some of the designs sketched by Jim Lee that might had been...

Some differences might not be that evident... But others on the other hand...
Funny enough, I find some of these concept arts much better than the actual costumes we'll get in September.
So let's check 'em out:

They even redesigned Jonah Hex and the DC old west universe? I mean, really??
At least with Jonah Hex serial style it won't be that apparent and most artists will skip Jim Lee's suggestions...

O...kay... Animal Man doesn't have a "costume" anymore but this strange look? (3rd pic)
Why didn't they pick the above revamps of this costume?

Nope...still not a fan.
And this above look was too much Stephanie Brown anyway...way to disappoint more fans in one costume.

BOP Black Canary in a new costume closer to the original one (unlike the final version)...Okay...

Katana in her all-new tenth billion variant costume.

'nuff said!

Okay, I like how it looks here, the drawing itself, despite the useless new details added to his classic look.

Aaaah!! Green Arrow all Smallville-ified!!! °___°
The horror! The ugly douche beard! Ahhh!!

This one screams EXTREME!!!90s!!!WOLVERINES!!!

I, Vampire!! Turned all emo/Twilight...
Blah :(

[ Not fan enough of the Legion to add smart comment here]

This trio is so...random.
Anyway, kinda like and hate those.
Jason Todd's official DC's Deadpool now. (have you seen the covers? The mask moves and smiles and stuff...)
Roy Harper looks great!
Starfire's sluttier now...but I love the magma hair in this pic!!

Haaaa!!! Deadshot!! Not you too!!
Harley?! What did they do to you? They replaced you by your evil slutty twin, right?? Right??

Superboy finally gets a costume after a decade of casual superhero-ying.
Supergirl doesn't have Peter Parker skills to make costumes..she even missed a whole spot at knees level.

Okay~
Beside, we can't have a good look at Superman's complete costume here.
The collar.....aah!!

Is that Wally West? Bart Allen? Anyway the above picture could have a good costume if colors were reversed (Red on the top, Yellow bellow). Not a fan of his mohawk on the second one though~

Much better! Much classier! Love those two iterations of Wonder Girl's costume here.
The above one has a sort of Greek/Mythic vibe to it, though not really superhero-ysh. The second one is great and does look Wonder Girly enough. Why did they end up making her into a thief/gypsy take on a Donna Troy-fancharacter??


And that is all~
Source: DC's blog The Source