Category: Comic Books

Comics and Comic Book Characters

This Will Be A Day Long Remembered

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Geekville Radio #232: Star Wars Day, Free Comic Book Day, RIP Peter Mayhew

May The Fourth Be With You

It’s May 4th, aka May The Fourth: Star Wars Day. For anybody new to the concept, that means it’s the Unofficial Star Wars Day. Unless you’re in California, where it became a recognized Star Wars Day.

RIP Peter Mayhew (1922-2019)

We can’t mention Star Wars Day without mentioning the sad news of Peter Mayhew’s passing. He of course portrayed Chewbacca in five Star Wars films, and in numerous TV appearances.

According to his IMDB page, he has almost a dozen credits as Chewbacca. If there was Chewbacca appearing in any sort of Star Wars event, chances are it was really Peter in the costume. If not, Peter would often be consulted on how Chewie should be portrayed.

He worked with the fan community up to the very end. He was originally set to appear this weekend at the Dallas Fan Expo. His booth had already been built. Rather than take the booth down, it was changed into a memorial where fans could sign a guest book to give their condolences. One of those “Faith in Humanity Restored” stories.

Lastly, here is the simple but entertaining story of Peter meeting George Lucas for the first time about Star Wars.

Peter Mayhew talks about meeting George Lucas for the first time

Knights Of The Old Republic Movie

Back during Star Wars Celebration, Kathleen Kennedy seemed to confirm that a Knights of The Old Republic movie was in development.

Kathleen Kennedy apparently confirming development on a KOTR feature film

Very little is known about what a Knights Of The Old Republic film would be about, or who is involved. Kennedy herself said she didn’t know what’s in store. Rian Johnson has publicly stated that he is not doing a KOTOR trilogy. It is well known that Game of Thrones creators David Benoiff and D.B. Weiss are developing their own trilogy as well. The presumably mystical setting for a KOTOR film (or trilogy) would seem to be a good fit.

Even George Lucas himself had entertained the idea of a movie about The Old Republic. Specifically, the defeat of The Sith, and how Yoda was instrumental in that role.

Free Comic Book Day

Not only was it Star Wars Day, but it was also Free Comic Book Day.

The complete list of comics that were released is at the official FCBD website.

I can only review two releases, since I could only get two of the titles I was hoping for.

Star Wars Adventures: Droid Hunters – Written by Cavan Scott with art by Derek Charm, Droid Hunters stars Han Solo and Chewbacca and a quest for treasure. The story definitely has that “Saturday Morning Cartoon” vibe to it, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s clearly geared for kids. Nobody dies, and nobody is terribly ruthless. Sure, there’s a double-cross that is fairly obvious, but it’s still enjoyable.

Spider-Man – This one had two stories. The first is by the Venom team of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. Eddie Brock is now Carnage, not Venom. Cletus Kasady is not only back, but he has the original Knull symbiote.

The other story is more of a standalone comedy by Saladin Ahmed and Tom Taylor, with art by Corey Smith and Jay Lester. Peter and Miles compare pizza and then take down Shocker… who also has opinions on pizza.

War Of The Realms

Finally, here is the update on War Of The Realms. A SPOILER ALERT has been pressed

The heroes are organizing Strike Force teams to retaliate against Malekith and his armies. There are currently at least two Strike Force.

Captain America, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Wolverine travel to Jotunheim, where they find a LOT of dead Frost Giants, and a certain one-armed Thunder God. It’s worth mentioning that Spidey, Cage, and Danny are all apparently worthy of wielding Asgard weaponry.

Another team, led by Freya herself, consists of Punisher, Ghost Rider, She-Hulk, and Blade. One of these things just doesn’t belong here. But they will be going to Svartalfheim, the home of the dark elves.

Note: When getting these comics, I didn’t see the upcoming War Avengers Strike Force team of Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Captain Britain, Weapon H, Winter Soldier, Venom, and Sif. So I didn’t touch on them during recording.

That’s it for War Of The Realms news. Is there anything I missed?



Jennifer Morrison to voice Catwoman

She first gained national prominence in the FOX drama House as Dr. Cameron. She played The Chosen One, and The Dark One, Emma Swan in ABC’s Once Upon A Time. She’s even been Captain Kirk’s mother in 2009’s Star Trek reboot.

This summer, Jennifer Morrison will add another geek-cred role to her resume. She will provide the voice of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, in the upcoming animated adaption of the famous Batman story Hush.

Based on the year-long comic story of the same name, Hush will also feature Jason O’Mara (Agents Of SHIELD) as Batman, Rainn Wilson (The Office) as Lex Luthor, and real life husband and wife Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn as Superman and Lois Lane respectively.

Hush was notable for being a fan favorite story written by Smallville co-creator Jeph Loeb, and drawn by comics legend Jim Lee. In it, the mysterious villain Hush sets into motion several actions to sabotage and destroy Batman from afar. It also featured the first “In Continuity” fight between Batman and Superman.

No exact date has been officially released, but previews have been leaked to the internet. Check one out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCbh2LOzWUU

Batman: Hush will be produced by Warner Bros. animation, and will have a PG-13 rating.

Ghost Rider Series Headed to Hulu

One thing Agents Of SHIELD fans liked about the show’s fourth season was the introduction of the Robbie Reyes incarnation of Ghost Rider. Affectionately called “Ghost Driver” by some, this version used a black 1969 Dodge Charger rather than the more common motorcycle.

Gabriel Luna portrayed the character through the 2016-2017 season, which also dropped hints at a previous Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch appearance.

Variety reports that Luna will reprise the role for a spinoff series on Hulu. However, sources say this will be a “new iteration”, without any connection to Agents Of SHIELD. That would seem to imply a different character. Or it could simply mean a reset without a recast, similar to the Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance feature film.

Also recently announced for Hulu have been series for Howard The Duck, Dazzler, and MODOK. With Disney’s recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox, they now own a stake in Hulu. Disney is also of course starting their own Netflix-like streaming service in Fall 2019.

Avengers Endgame Review

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Geekville Radio #231: Avengers Endgame Review

It has finally arrived. The climax of the entire MCU over the last 11 years and 20-something movies is here. Avengers Endgame broke the expected numbers, and unseated The Force Awakens as the #1 opening night of all time.

If you don’t want spoilers, STOP NOW! Go watch Avengers Endgame, and come back. Don’t worry, we can wait.

Still here? Or welcome back, depending on your course of action. Join Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick as the size up what predictions were right, and which weren’t.

What is the state of The MCU? Where do they go from here? Can characters killed off still return? And how does this stack up to the original story from the comics?

All these questions and more are answered in another fun-filled Geekville Radio!

Also, another side item discussed, Thor wields dual hammers, Luke Cage is apparently worth of carrying enchanted Asgard weapons.

You can find all our shows wherever podcasts can be found. Give us a like and a subscribe is you’d like. We welcome any and all feedback!


News from War Of The Realms

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After much anticipation, Marvel’s epic universe-wide story has finally arrived. The gist of War Of The Realms is the ongoing war throughout all the Asgardian realms finally comes to Midgard, aka Earth. I would be surprised if this doesn’t get made into a film within the next decade or so, as the concept is just too cool to not do on a blockbuster big screen.

Here are six noteworthy things concerning War Of The Realms. Spoiler alerts of course.

1) Laufey Is Back

Unless you’re an old school Marvel fan, or remember the first Thor movie very well, you may not know the name Laufey. Well, as depicted in said first Thor movie, Odin adopts Loki. Laufey is Loki’s biological father. It’s not mentioned a ton in the MCU, but Loki does have the last name of Laufeyson. After being deader than dead to the point of being a skeleton, Laufey is brought back from the dead by Malekith. Plus, he is a true Frost Giant and stands probably a good 50 feet tall.

2) Loki is Dead… Again

Speaking of The God Of Mischief and Evil, Loki is literally eaten alive by Laufey. Yep, munched down like a potato chip by his own dad. This is probably the 173rd time Loki has died, but who’s counting? We’ve seen him die time and time again, and he always has some plan for coming back. This time will likely be no different. Plus, just like Infinity War, he dies in the opening act of the story. Not a usual trope to kill a character out of the gate, if he’s going to stay dead. Or stay dead by the comics standards of a few months at least.

3) Valkyrie Is Dead

It was Malekith himself that did the deed in the final page of issue #2. Now, some Marvel fans know that Jason Aaron is penning the new Valkyrie title. And now that the “real” Valkyrie is dead (or at least dead by the comics standards of a few months), it explains why Jane Foster is stepping into the role.

4) Thor Wields Dual Hammers

Of course, with Mjolnir’s destruction last year, Thor has been using different hammers. Now, he openly wields two. One has a very similar shape to Mjiolnir, while the other one has a flat end, while the other has a ball end similar to Stormbearker. Perhaps it was inspired by the hammer Thor made during Infinity War.

5) Luke Cage Is (Apparently) Worthy Of Asgard Weapons

In a teaser cover image for the War Of The Realms tie-in Strikeforce (which sadly does not feature Tito Santana or Rick Martel), Luke Cage is carrying a hammer that looks very similar to Mjolnir. It’s possible it may be in cosmetics only, and not a true mystic hammer, but I think most fans would have no problem seeing Luke as being worthy of picking up an Asgardian Enchanted Hammer.

6) Bog Tigers Are Cool

Malekith has been seen on and around a white tiger that has wings similar to a bat or dragon. The proper name of this creature is Svartalfheim Bog Tiger. If War Of The Realms is ever turned into a movie, the bog tiger will be a new hit sensation with fans. Many stuffed animals would be sold. As big as BB-8 or porgs were to Star Wars? Only time will tell.

That’s only 1/4th of the way through the main story, so there is probably more to come. You can pick up War Of The Realms #1 and #2 now, along with the other tie in issues throughout the Marvel brand.

Anything you liked about War Of The Realms? Sound off below!

Russo Brothers Developing Stan Lee Documentary

With Avengers: Engame looming over the summer movie season, directors Anthony and Joe Russo have revealed they are developing a documentary on none other than Stan “The Man” Lee.

Superhero Hype reports that a project is in the works that will pay tribute to Lee’s time with Marvel.

“We are fascinated by the life of Stan Lee and we are actually developing a little something that has to do with his work in the history of Marvel.”

-Anthony Russo via Superhero Hype

Lee of course passed away late last year at the age of 95, and had over two dozen of his signature cameos in Marvel TV and film projects. He served as an Executive Producer for many Marvel films, most of which were based on his creations. The Russo brothers have confirmed Endgame will be the legendary creator’s final cameo.

Geekville Radio #227

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Geekville Radio #227

Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick return to the airwaves to discuss some of the news topics of the week

Mark Hamill to be in Guardians Of The Galaxy? (1:15)

Since the return of James Gunn to Guardians Of The Galaxy 3, rumors have resurfaced that Mark Hamill may be playing a character in the film. Could he be a hero? Villain? Mercenary?

Emily Bett Rickards leaving Arrow (9:30)

The actress recently announced her departure from Arrow. Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that Felicity will not be appearing in Season 8. Could this mean a return to the comic-based pairing of Green Arrow and Black Canary?

Disney recasting X-Men except Deadpool (16:00)

It had been speculated for years, but Marvel all but confirmed during C2E2 that The X-Men and Fantastic Four will be recast and rebooted for The MCU. The only exception is Ryan Reynolds will continue as Deadpool.

We did predict on Episode 225 that this would happen, because it’s common sense. Though it will likely be several years before we get the MCU Proper X-Men film.

There is the new rumor that Stan Lee cameos may be replaced by Deadpool cameos. Which may be the best option to go with.

It is also worth noting that X-Men material is already available on Disney’s site.

Here is the list of channels and studios that Disney now owns after the merger with Fox.

  • Twentieth Century Fox
  • Twentieth Century Fox Television
  • Fox Searchlight Pictures
  • Fox 2000 Pictures
  • Fox Family
  • Fox Animation
  • FX Productions
  • FX Networks
  • Fox21
  • National Geographic Partners
  • Fox Networks Group International
  • Star India
  • Fox’s part of Hulu

Batman retrospective 80th Anniversary (29:30)

At C2E2, DC Comics held a Batman 80th Anniversary Panel, in which some fun questions were asked.

The creation of Batman has its roots in the pulp crime magazines of the 30s. Several of the panelists mentioned the characters of The Shadow, The Phantom, and Green Hornet as pre-Batman inspirations.

Well, who are three out of the first four entrants in our Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame? The Shadow, The Phantom, and Green Hornet

Is there a favorite incarnation of Batman?

All this and more in another fun-filled edition of Geekville Radio!

Marvel Comics Upcoming Stories

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Geekville Radio #226: Upcoming Marvel Stories

At C2E2, Marvel unveiled their upcoming major storylines that will take place in 2019.

War Of The Realms (1:55)

The major universe-wide crossover is called War Of The Realms. As the name implies, it is all 10 Asgardian Realms. The last one left is Midgard, aka Earth. This may be an attempt to put Malekith on the level of a Dr. Doom or Kang, as he will be the central villain.

Marvel’s teaser for War Of The Realms

House Of X (7:55)

Every few years, Marvel does something to refresh the X-Men franchise. This summer brings two new X-Men titles, House Of X, and Powers Of X. Both set to be written by Jonathan Hickman.

As usual, Marvel was tight lipped over what will happen, but the presentation did have an interesting piece of art showing many characters from, as they put it “Past, Present, and Future”.

Official artwork for House Of X and Powers Of X hint characters from the Past, Present, and Future

Absolute Carnage (14:30)

Yes, Cletus Kassidy is back from the dead… again!

This time around, Carnage is hunting down everybody who has EVER used a symbiote suit. This means not just Peter Parker, Eddie Brock, or the other usual suspects. Even The Guardians Of The Galaxy, Deadpool, and dinosaurs are potential targets.

Admittedly, I could only think of about 20 off the bat, but there were others who fit the bill of using a symbiote

  1. Peter Parker (obviously)
  2. Eddie Brock
  3. John Jameson (He brought symbiotes to Earth in the first place)
  4. Ben Reilly (Spider-Carnage)
  5. Scorpion
  6. Scream
  7. Flash Thompson (dead, but dead characters always come back in comics)
  8. Norman Osborn
  9. Dr. Octopus
  10. Maniac
  11. Toxin
  12. Scream
  13. Punisher
  14. Deadpool
  15. Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel
  16. Hybrid
  17. Silver Surfer
  18. Knull

I’m curious how Carnage would last against those last two, wince their cosmic level characters

The others that I forgot were (and this is by no means a complete list)

  1. Wolverine
  2. Rocket Raccoon
  3. Groot
  4. Drax
  5. Gwen Stacy
  6. Thunderbolt Ross
  7. Tony Stark (if artificial symbiotes count)

Not only that, the special variant covers seem to imply other Marvel heroes may bond with symbiotes. Including Captain America, Black Panther, and Thor.

As discussed, I attended C2E2 with Clint from Geek Dig Podcast, and Joe from Beside The Point.

And Norko from The Wrestling Brethren Podcast did have this unintentionally hilarious post due to Autocorrect.

Can’t wait for that Ryan Rembrandt Deadpool

Mark Hamill’s Role In Guardians 3?

Science Fiction icon Mark Hamill is allegedly back in negotiations to appear in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3. It was widely reported last year that Hamill had talks with director James Gunn, but what role they had discussed remained under wraps.

Of course, Gunn was famously fired by Disney last year over controversial tweets made a decade previously. Gunn was re-hired earlier this month, but no major casting news came about in the interim.

Now the site We Got This Covered is reporting that Hamill may in fact be in talks to play Rocket Raccoon’s creator. This could easily be an original character, or a take on secondary or tertiary characters from the Marvel Universe.

In the comics, Rocket has no specific creator. He came from a planet called Halfworld, in which animals were genetically enhanced by robotic users to have human-like characteristics. Rocket served as a law enforcement officer for the Keystone Quadrant, thus literally making him a Keystone Cop. He and his then counterpart Wal Russ (Yes, a talking walrus) once infiltrated the planet to rescue their friend Princess Lynx from Lord Dyvyne. They battled with Blackjack O’Hare’s Black Bunny Brigade (Yes, a mercenary group of bunnies) while making their escape.

Rocket was also at some point held captive by a villain called The Stranger, and managed to escape his clutches.

To be clear, these are all speculative possibilities based on Rocket’s history. The true role Hamill will play, if hired, has not been publicly discussed.

Hamill is no stranger to the comic book world. He most famously provided the voice of The Joker for many years in various Batman productions. He portrayed James Jesse, aka The Trickster in the short lived 1990 Flash TV series. A role he recently reprised for the current CW show. He’s also voiced various characters including Wolverine and Hobgoblin for Marvel, and Darth Bane for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Currently, he is a regular in Season 2 of The History Channel’s series Knightfall.

So what character could the Jedi Joker be playing on the big screen? Personally, our money is on the mercenary bunny…

New X-Men Titles Due In June

Over the years, Marvel had revamped the X-Men franchise several times. At C2E2, the next X-Men revamp was announced, and it will be hitting shelves this summer.

House Of X, and Powers Of X will launch in June, and will both be written by Jonathan Hickman. The rest of the creative team will be Pepe Larraz, R.S. Silva, and Marte Garcia. It is important to note that the X in Powers Of X is the Roman Numeral 10, so its proper pronunciation is “Powers Of Ten”.

While the entire premise of these new titles was still under wraps, artwork teased at the panel showed several characters from X-Men past, present and future.

Just looking at that image, you can see Mr. Sinister, Wolverine as Weapon X, Wolverine in his 80s brown suit, Apocalypse, Emma Frost as Black Queen, Dazzler in her disco tights, and a ton of others.