In #Trending I’ll highlight and offer my opinions on any comic-related news that occurred during the week. This will included news about comic books, comic-related movies, TV shows, video games, etc. I’ll also give a shout-out to some favourite comic blog entries and have a social media section involving Twitter. Let’s begin:
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NEWS
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DC Comics: Changes
DC Comics revealed quite a few changes in regards to their comic book line. First came the cancellations: Fury of the Firestorms, Ravagers, Savage Hawkman, Deathstroke, Sword of Sorcery, and Team 7. I’ve personally only picked up an issue or two of Deathstroke, Firestorm, and Ravagers so I’m not heartbroken over any of these series ending. I’m more excited for their replacements. Man of Steel? JLI? Shazam? Young Justice? A solo Damian Wayne Robin book? Let the speculation begin. Also came the announcement that many books would be getting creator changes: Suicide Squad (they better keep Deadshot and Harley), Supergirl (good news), Superboy (great news), Batwing, and Legion of Super-Heroes. The times they are a changing!
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Casting News
After countless actors trying out for the role, Marvel has finally found their Star-Lord in Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Everwood). I’ve never actually seen him in anything so I can’t really offer an opinion one way or the other but I’m sure if he beat out such a lengthy list Marvel must have seen something special in him. Also, Marvel found their leading lady for Captain America: The Winter Soldier in Emily VanCamp (Revenge). Though unconfirmed, many believe she’ll be playing Sharon Carter, a role that she’ll do just fine with if her character in Revenge is any indication. Honestly, I always imagined Yvonne Strzechowski (Chuck) as the perfect Sharon Carter, but alas it is not to be.
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Amazing Spider-Man Sequel News
A lot of info concerning this movie sequel was found out this week. First off was the title: personally I was hoping for Spectacular Spider-Man or Sensational Spider-Man or Web of Spider-Man but the studio decided on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (how original). Secondly came the official plot blurb: “The sequel to last year’s critical and box office hit The Amazing Spider-Man, the film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field. In The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.” No news on if Giamatti is actually playing the Rhino or who Colm Feore is going to be though the leading candidates batted around ranges from J. Jonah Jameson to Norman Osborn himself. Thirdly, speculation is abound after Director Marc Webb posted a cryptic photo of a locker with the #14 on it. The significance? In the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series this was the same locker number where Peter Parker and Eddie Brock found the Venom suit. Interesting…
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Marvel Movie News
This week, Mark Millar confirmed the presence of Sentinels in the X-Men: Days of Future Past movie: “I don’t really want to give too much away but the Sentinels are a big feature of this story. They will be cool and this will deliver on all of the teasers. We’ve all been waiting for this ever since X-Men: The Last Stand showed us one of their heads” and that Kitty Pryde will have an increased role: “Kitty Pride fans will not be disappointed”. In other news, rumors are swirling that part of Marvel’s Phase 3 plan of movies will include adapting the “Planet Hulk” and “World War Hulk” storylines. I take these as just rumors and don’t really expect anything more to come from these.
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Infinity
Marvel revealed their next big event/crossover entitled “Infinity”. The event is going to written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Jim Cheung and it is going to be kicked-off in their FCBD offering in May. Marvel revealed, and I quote: “The biggest super heroes in comics today – the Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Inhumans, Superior Spider-Man & more! The most dangerous threat in the Marvel Universe – Thanos! The grandest Marvel Comics event of all time – INFINITY! This May for Free Comic Book Day, prepare yourselves for the greatest battle for survival ever waged in the Marvel Universe as Marvel marches towards Infinity! In this all-new story by the blockbuster creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Jim Cheung, witness the opening shots of the war that will be heard around the galaxy. Plus, get a sneak peek behind a major Marvel release that hasn’t been announced yet and relive Thanos’ first solo story. With the entire Marvel Universe on the brink of intergalactic war, no fan can miss this year’s Free Comic Book Day!” I’ve made it know that I’m not a fan of cosmic comics but with Hickman and Cheung I may just give it a try.
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In this section I’ll highlight the various WordPress based blogs that I recommend:
House of Flying Scalpels – http://houseofflyingscalpels.com/
Cover of the Week, Iconic Panel Art, and awesome reviews.
Sci-Fi Jubilee – http://scifijubilee.wordpress.com/
Really nice in-depth reviews from a perfect gentleman residing in the UK.
Sidekick Reviews – http://sidekickreviews.wordpress.com/
Blog I go to for excellent The Walking Dead and Arrow episode reviews.
The Indigo Tribe – http://indigotribe.wordpress.com/
A blog about all things Green Lantern including reviews and musings.
Arousing Grammar – http://arousinggrammar.com/
Great reviews that are a nice hybrid of commentary and full-page comic art.
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Recommended People To Follow On Twitter
@Comic_Maven
@tommylutz
@AUDone44
@Kooliebear
@TweetsoftheBat
@paul_bowler
@Superherologist
@JulzHendricks
@BlueJaigEyes
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And that concludes #Trending. Thoughts on any subjects discussed? Other Blogs you enjoy? Anything else worth mentioning? Comment below!
The Speech Bubble 
Last month you announced that some writer changes were about to take place in the lower selling DC books, and I commented:
“I think it’s a tardy and useless move. After 16 months, readers’ pull lists are written in the stone, and a simple change of the creative team won’t widen them. A lot of readers could give a chance to a brand new series, but far less ones would try an “old” series just because it has a new writer. In fact, every time that DC changed the creative team of an iffy New 52 series, that series closed anyway some months later.”
That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. That’s why I think that the last, desperate attempt DC is making to save Batwing by changing the creative team won’t get any result.
As for Shazam, they dedicated him an entire issue of one of the most sold DC titles (Justice League # 0), and I think they didn’t do that without a reason: they wanted to know, from the sales and the reviews of that issue, whether a Shazam solo series could work.
As you know, I’ve always thought that the hype about the WildC.A.T.S. title was pure invention, but, since a Wildstorm title just closed (Team 7) and another one is on the chopping block (Stormwatch), a WildC.A.T.S. title would be a good chance to prevent the fall of Wildstorm characters into oblivion. Anyway, it is crystal clear that most readers don’t give a damn about them: Voodoo’s series closed after 13 issues, Grifter’s one closed after 16, Team 7 ended after EIGHT issues, Stormwatch is getting closer and closer to the bottom of the sales chart… I appreciate that DC is giving those characters a try, but unfortunately they are hopeless, they are a lost cause.
It surprises me that Justin Jordan, whose most recent works are a complete commercial failure (Deathstroke and Team 7), instead of getting fired, got a promotion, and is the next writer of Superboy. Maybe DC likes him because he doesn’t say a word when the editors turn his scripts upside down? Anyway, the preview of Deathstroke # 16 we talked about some days ago proves that he has some potential, so probably DC did the right thing giving him a second chance.
“That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. That’s why I think that the last, desperate attempt DC is making to save Batwing by changing the creative team won’t get any result.”
Exactly. They’re even going that extra mile by having a new costume and a potenitally new character as Batwing. I’m really surprised they didn’t cancel this one along with the others but your right in your assessment that this is the series’ last gasp.
“As for Shazam, they dedicated him an entire issue of one of the most sold DC titles (Justice League # 0), and I think they didn’t do that without a reason: they wanted to know, from the sales and the reviews of that issue, whether a Shazam solo series could work.”
I hope so and a great strategy by DC. Introduce a character in a back-up, keep them wanting more, and then pow! release his solo series. I hope Johns carries over with him…
“I appreciate that DC is giving those characters a try, but unfortunately they are hopeless, they are a lost cause.”
The right team just needs to come along, with the right story. Until DC finds that, maybe it’s best to spread them over the other books?
“It surprises me that Justin Jordan, whose most recent works are a complete commercial failure (Deathstroke and Team 7), instead of getting fired, got a promotion, and is the next writer of Superboy. ”
Well the majority of Superboy has been pretty bland so I’m happy they’re handing it off to a new writer. If he fails, maybe they should just feature the character in the Teen Titans book.
“The right team just needs to come along, with the right story. Until DC finds that, maybe it’s best to spread them over the other books?” I agree, to make Wildstorm characters successful DC must build an appealing story around them. As you pointed out, before that, Wildstorm characters must gain some popularity by appearing as often as possible in as many DC books as possible: the more known they become as supporting characters, the more they could sell if DC decided to give one of them a solo series, or to put all of them in a team based series. I would buy any series starring Grifter as a supporting character, even if he appears in Superman as Krypto’s dog sitter.
“Well the majority of Superboy has been pretty bland so I’m happy they’re handing it off to a new writer. If he fails, maybe they should just feature the character in the Teen Titans book.” I think Superboy’s solo series won’t close, too many people are buying it. At present I’m not one of them, but in the past I appreciated many issues of this series: the very first ones, published in the 90s, and the first story arc written by Jeff Lemire. Now that I think about it, Superboy passed from Lemire’s hands to Lobdell’s ones, and now his next writer will be Jordan: it’s like passing from a 5 stars hotel to a 3 stars one, and then ending in a motel. Thank you for your reply! : )
“I would buy any series starring Grifter as a supporting character, even if he appears in Superman as Krypto’s dog sitter.”
“Now that I think about it, Superboy passed from Lemire’s hands to Lobdell’s ones, and now his next writer will be Jordan: it’s like passing from a 5 stars hotel to a 3 stars one, and then ending in a motel.”
Oh, not one but two awesome lines provided from wwayne! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you as well for your compliments and for your reply! : )
Lots of great things about Amazing Spiderman 2, I really hope Venom features in it as well, that would be great! I think he got a bit of a raw deal in Spiderman 3, so think he would be great in the new film.
The Infinity event in Marvel sounds great, lots of changes for DC this week as well. I am a bit gutted that Firstorm has been cancelled, as that was one of my favourite books. Dan Jurgens has done great things with the character, such a shame his run will end like this. I hope we get to see more of Firestorm in JLA or maybe another team.
Think its good that Superboy and Legion of Superheroes are getting new creative teams, I like both titles, but think they need a revamp. I’m also really pleased about the news on Star Lord and that the Sentinels will be in the new XMen film. That is going to be so awesome!
Thank you for all your support, as well as the great tweets and RT’s, and for including my blog in your Trending section.
Cheers and have a great weekend!
“Lots of great things about Amazing Spiderman 2, I really hope Venom features in it as well, that would be great! I think he got a bit of a raw deal in Spiderman 3, so think he would be great in the new film.”
A raw deal is an understatement. Rushing him like that was crazy and you could tell Raimi’s heart wasn’t into the character. He needs a nice story progression over 2 or three movies and I think Webb is going in the right direction.
“I am a bit gutted that Firstorm has been cancelled, as that was one of my favourite books. Dan Jurgens has done great things with the character, such a shame his run will end like this. I hope we get to see more of Firestorm in JLA or maybe another team.”
I knew you’d be saddened by that. It’s only a matter of time before he’s on JLA or the rumored JLI relaunch. You’ll get your Firestorm fix one way or the other! 🙂
“Think its good that Superboy and Legion of Superheroes are getting new creative teams, I like both titles, but think they need a revamp.”
Superboy is in desperate need of it for sure.
“Thank you for all your support, as well as the great tweets and RT’s, and for including my blog in your Trending section. Cheers and have a great weekend!”
Same to you. Enjoy the weekend and thanks for commentating!