Worlds of Wonder

Here's the first pic of Wonder Woman from the upcoming TV series. The costume is a mixture of classic elements and the designs by Jim Lee for the present JMS run on the title. My daughter loves it but my wife hates it. Actually my wife dislikes the actress, Adrianne Palicki, as well, not just the costume designs! :)

In other news, Marvel just announced the creative teams for the new monthly Daredevil, Punisher and Ghost Rider series. Mark Waid will mark his return to monthly writing for Marvel with Daredevil and Greg Rucka, who's been missing since the end of his run on "Batwoman" will be writing the monthly Punisher. Rob Williams will also be writing the new Ghost Rider monthly series. I'm very happy with the choices and am really looking forward to both monthlies later this year. It's about time that these three street-level Marvel icons get the creative teams that they deserve.

Finally, I just finished watching "Beast Stalker" - the film that made Dante Lam a household name and allowed Nick Cheung and Liu Kai Chi to nab the "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actor" awards respectively in the 28th HK Film Awards. The film was banned here in Malaysia so I didn't get to see it when it was first released. I became a huge Dante Lam fan after "Fire of Conscience" and "Stool Pigeon" so it's great to finally see where it all began. In fact, the three films should be watched back-to-back as a kind of Dante Lam trilogy. Beast Stalker contains all the elements that we love Dante Lam for: crazy gunfights and car chases, gritty gangsters, ultra shocking violence, cops seeking redemption, Liu Kai Chi, the darkness in the heart of man, and an extra bonus in the form of Zhang Jingchu (who spoke really bad Cantonese but who cares?). I told my wife that the DVD was for my research in my Evidence studies. It's really just a very cool HK movies featuring cops, kidnappers, gangsters, and Liu Kai Chi. Anyway, did I mention that Liu Kai Chi is in it? For my money, nobody plays the lowlife cop/gangster/informer better than Liu Kai Chi. The ending feels like the recent "Cable" series featuring Nathan Summers protecting the girl Hope from Bishop - except we get Nic Tse protecting a small girl from Nick Cheung.

Upcoming Marvel Spotlights

While everyone is waiting expectantly for Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen's "Fear Itself" event sweeping through the 616-Marvel Universe in the upcoming months, I am actually more excited about some other important announcements about upcoming storylines and titles:

The former Fantastic Four book ended with the death of Johnny Storm and will be relaunched as "FF #1" - also by the creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting. Only thing is, the FF now stands for the "Future Foundation" and apparently, Spider-Man will take the place of the Human Torch on the team. In addition, the team will also sport brand spankin' new white costumes. Colour me excited!

Speaking of Spidey, Dan Slott will be writing the next Spidey-event entitled "Spider-Island" and it all begins with "Infested" in issue #659. I've read the first several issues of Dan Slott's "Big Shot" with art by Humberto Ramos and liked what I saw so far. Will definitely keep a lookout for this upcoming tale.

Lastly, the piece of news that got me most excited about reading Marvel comics again is the announcement of "BIG SHOTS"! I believe the big shots refer to both star creators on star characters. So far, we know that Bendis and Maleev will be on "Moon Knight". I am still eagerly waiting for the news on who will be responsible for the "Daredevil" and "Punisher" relaunches. These are the most interesting characters that Marvel has and they deserve the best. I'm hoping that we see the sort of energy on these books to match the "Marvel Knights" launches of the titles back in the late 1990s. :)

[Is it too much to hope for Frank Miller and Klaus Janson to take on the Punisher?]

Punisher: Franken-Castle

Punisher: Franken-Castle Hardcover
Written by RICK REMENDER with DANIEL WAY & MARJORIE LIU
Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR., TONY MOORE, JAMES HARREN & STEPHEN SEGOVIA
Cover by DAVE WILKINS
The Punisher is dead, so who, or what, is the giant patchwork monster skulking through the tunnels under New York? And what do those strange armored Japanese hunters tracking him want? Criminals are no longer being killed; they are simply vanishing into thin air. Listen closely, you can hear their pleas far below the streets. Those forgotten by society have a new protector. The Legion of Monsters has found a new leader. Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster... Collecting DARK REIGN: THE LIST - PUNISHER, PUNISHER #11-16, FRANKEN-CASTLE #17-21 and DARK WOLVERINE #88-89.
338 PGS./Parental Advisory
 
This book is finally here in stores. Probably check it out this weekend. :)

The Dream Team Is Finally Here!!!

Marvel released a couple of teaser ads earlier this month showcasing Elektra, Punisher, etc. with the tagline, "______ For Hire". Finally, we know what those ads were all about - the new HEROES FOR HIRE book debuting in December 2010 written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA, to their fans) and drawn by Brad Walker (in short, the creative team from "Nova" and "Guardians of the Galaxy").

I predict that this will be the sleeper hit of 2011. After all, DnA could get you excited about a book featuring a talking tree, a gun-tottin' raccoon, an insane woman who may by the Celestial Madonna, Bug and... err... Star-Lord (?!?). Imagine what they could do with Ghost Rider, Punisher, Elektra, Iron Fist and Moon Knight! This is the dream team in comics working on the dream team of characters. I'm definitely reserving my ticket! :)

Updated (22-Sep-2010): Interview with DnA at CBR!

In the meantime, read this interview at Newsarama with the new creators of "Black Panther: Man Without Fear" - David Liss and Francesco Francavilla. I don't really know why people are complaining about "Shadowland" and this book. Marvel is trying some great new stuff and thankfully moving away from event-driven books for a while.

Archie/Punisher Crossover

You've heard the rumours over the years of a comic so outrageous that it's never been reprinted. If you're anything like me, you'll probably sell your left kidney to get your hands on this fantastic piece of pop-culture history. Yes, I'm talking about the justly-classic "Archie Meets Punisher" crossover. Enjoy the pics below (click to enlarge):