Comics

Maillaro: Hank Pym is Weaver’s favorite character, and with the movie coming up (plus two Ant-Man comics came out this week), we decided to throw a spotlight on him.

Marvel’s Ant-Man Prelude

Written by: Will Corona Pilgrim

Pencilled by:  Miguel Sepulveda

Inked by: BIT

From Newsarama:

 The Avengers may be ending in April, but Marvel's already got a new group on deck to stand in -- and they're from the future.

Marvel has announced a new Secret Wars 2099 series with the never-seen Avengers of the year 2099 stepping forward into what's left of their universe, according to IGN. The book is by the Spider-Man 2099 creative team of Peter David and Will Sliney, and that series will end in April with their storylines carried on in Secret Wars 2099.

David says the Avengers of Secret Wars 2099 will be a corporate-sponsored team under the watch of Alchemax, with the writer noting that it's similiar to his recent All-New X-Factor run but that Alchemax is "more or less running the United States in 2099."

One thing this won't tie into David says is Secret Wars, interestingly enough.

They still haven't shown us Daredevil in costume, but this show really seems to have the tone and feel of the character and Hell's Kitchen perfectly. The more I see of the Marvel shows that will be airing on Netflix, the more impressed I am. They seem to be well cast and put together. At this point, you really come to expect nothing less from Marvel Cinematic Universe.  

All the episodes for Daredevil will be posted up on April 10, 2015, and I am definitely planning to marathon watch them.   

DC posted up a first look at Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer in the Atom (technically A.T.O.M. in the show) costume from upcoming episodes of Arrow.  Honestly, I wasn't sure how this would look on the screen, but they really have made it work!  I really like how all the characters have looked in the Arrow/Flash universe so far, but this might be the best one yet.

I wasn't a huge fan of Brandon Routh in Superman Returns,but so far he's been great as Ray Palmer in Arrow.   He has a little more personality than he ever did in the comics.  It seems like whenever DC wanted to give personality to Ray Palmer, they made him crazy.  But this version is much more nuanced, and he's been a great addition to the Arrow cast this year.   

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it

Spawn #250 – Over the last few months, I’ve become a huge Spawn fan.  I know, I know…REAL LATE TO THE PARTY.  Issue 250 marks some dramatic changes to the series, including the return of Al Simmons (Al Simmons basically killed himself back in issue 185 and the series has been about his replacement).  Issue 250 will also be the first issue of Spawn to be available digitally!  This is a huge relief.  I’ve had to drive all over the place for the last few issues.  Lack of a local comic shop, plus a fairly niche title.  Not a good combination.

Valiant dropped us a line today to tell us about a pretty awesome upcoming mini-series:

When Multiversity Guidebook came out, I immediately thought it would be cool if someone had taken all the information in it and created a online handbook people could use to identify the various universes that made up DC's Multiverse.  Then it occurred to me, we should do it here on Critical Blast!

Thanks to Chris, Patti, and RJ for coming up with the name.  I wanted to give it some kind of name like "Visiting The DC Multiverse for a Dollar a Day" or "DC Travelouge," but we ended up settling with Hitchhiker's Guide to the DC Multiverse. Don't forget to bring your towel!

You will see there are seven universes below listed as Unknown.  I wasn't just being lazy, DC seems to have left these blank for now.  I'm not sure if they were just leaving themselves some leeway if they wanted to add something later or if they were holding back some surprises. My guesses for some of them are:

Spider-Man 2099 #8

Written by: Peter David 

Art by: Will Sliney 

Colored by: Antonio Fabela

Lettered by: VC's Joe Caramagna 

Cover by: Francesco Mattina

Published by: Marvel

Cover Price: $3.99

Note: This is a review of the digital version which can be found on Comixology.

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

By Mike Weaver and Mike Maillaro

Thor (2014) #4

Written by: Jason Aaron

Art by:  Russell Dauterman

Cover by: Russell Dauterman & Matthew Wilson

Over at Newsarama, I saw this:

The phrase "Avengers Assemble!" may never be more apt than when talking about products like these. On Thursday Marvel and LEGO Group announced new products on two fronts -- a new console video game and a lush new S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier playset.

With all the hoopla over the assured blockbuster status of Marvel's upcoming THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, it's easy to forget that another Marvel property is coming to theaters this year as well. Granted, it's a franchise tainted by two previous lackluster releases (three for the purists who pretend the Roger Corman version counts), but Hulk's first two films weren't exactly critical accomplishments, and the big green guy is doing alright for himself in Avengers.

I'd like to say that the Fantastic Four could follow in Hulk's crater-like footsteps, but my confidence level hasn't been high, and this trailer has done little to change that.

Before we discuss that, though, let's take a quick look at the trailer, released today, for FANTASTIC FOUR:

Okay, now, all the non-comics fans only please: What is this movie about?

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Entertainment Weekly has announced:

A Time Lord is coming to the Marvel universe. The studio has cast David Tennant as the major villain in its upcoming Netflix series A.K.A. Jessica Jones. The Doctor Who and Gracepoint star will play Zebediah Killgrave (aka The Purple Man).

The official series description: “After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23) is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City. An enigmatic figure from Jessica’s past, Kilgrave’s reappearance will send shockwaves through the former super hero’s world.”

In the Realms-meshed world that lays the landscape for Zenescope's AGE OF DARKNESS, ordinary humans are completely out of their depth. And when a roving band of survivors make it into Wonderland, now ruled over by the benevolent White Queen, Calie Liddle, the Dark Queen sets a task for Calie: kill the humans while they are lost in Wonderland.

Calie's not one for taking innocent lives, but she's left with little choice in the matter. The Dark Queen has a hold over Calie's daughter Violet (Wonderland's Mad Hatter), and Calie is never out of the gaze of the Dark Queen's minion, Joy the Trickster. Will she do what she's told? Will she stand up to the Dark Queen? Calie and the Cat are left without choices in this first of a three-issue miniseries.

Quantum and Woody Must Die #1

Written by: James Asmus

Art by: Steve Lieber

Colored by: Dace McCaig

Lettered by: Dave Lanphear

Cover by: Mike Hawthorne with Jordie Bellaire

Published by: Valiant

Cover Price: $3.99

Note: This is a review of the digital version which can be found on Comixology.

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

Summary (contains spoilers): This issue starts in the docks of Baltimore, Maryland.  Two female criminals named the Dominos and their crew attack an FDA truck.  Quantum and Woody arrive on the scene to try and stop them.

Powers (2015-) 1

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis

Art by: Michael Avon Oeming

Colored by: Nick Filardi

Lettered by: Chris Eliopoulos

Cover by: Michael Avon Oeming

Published by: Marvel (Icon)

Cover Price: $3.99

Note: This is a review of the digital version which can be found on Comixology.

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

Newsarama has posted the three types of titles that will be part of Secret Wars -  Battleworld, War Zones, and Last Days.  Here's some info on each:

Last Days - 

“What would you do if you learned today was your last day on Earth?” added Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso is a press release. “That’s the question your favorite Marvel heroes are going to ask themselves in their Last Days story lines as they brace for Secret Wars and the end of the Marvel Universe.” 

So, a while back, Robin died, and I bitched about it. I bitched about him dying, even though I had also bitched about comic book characters not staying dead.

Damian Wayne didn't stay dead. And here I am to bitch about it.

Don't misunderstand. Of all the characters in comics to die, Robin -- that is to say, the Damian Wayne incarnation of that character, not the Jason Todd one -- had the best chances for a "Get out of Death Free" card. His mother, after all, was Talia al Ghul, which makes his grandfather Ras al Ghul, who's total "thing" is his regular resurrections via the Lazarus Pit. A dip, a dunk, and voila: Robin Reborn, no muss, no fuss.

But that would have been too easy.

By Mike Weaver and Mike Maillaro

Maillaro:  This week’s column we are going to focus on two “funny” books: The Tick and Groo.  Personally, I think comedy is much harder to write than drama.  Comedy is real hard to find the right balance between clever and silly.  

I saw the following news story over at Newsarama:

Mickey Mouse is returning to comics - and we don't mean Marvel.

IDW Publishing announced Wednesday that the California-based company is launching Disney Comics, a new line of comics featuring Disney's anthromorphic animal characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. It all begins in April with Uncle Scrooge #1, with a Donald Duck series in May and Mickey Mouse in June. September will see IDW resume publication of the long-running Walt Disney's Comics and Stories series with issue #723.

Asked by Newsarama Wednesday afternoon why a Disney Comics line is licensed out to another publisher and is not kept under the Marvel/Disney roof, Marvel declined to coment.