Why I’m loving Paul Cornell’s ‘Fantastic Four: True Story’

Week in and week out, as comics stream into Wizard HQ, I end up reading quite a few books each week: the good, the bad and the ugly.

So after all that reading, when I end up finding a writer that constantly delivers for me as a reader—in this case Captain Britain and MI 13 scribe Paul Cornell (go read his Marvel Max mini Wisdom for a great intro into the crazy goodness he’s been bringing to the 616)—I get really excited to see their names attached to a new project.

On top of that, I am always drawn into a comic that has an awesome and original premise. Hearing Cornell was doing an FF mini got me pretty psyched. Then I read the solicit text, which explained that the book would be an in-continuity tale where Marvel’s first family has to venture into the world of fiction to battle evil alongside characters from the works of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley—among other famous authors—well…yeah…I’m sorry, do I even need to explain how awesome that is?!

Now, that would normally be enough to have me raving (and so far, it is!), but Cornell’s humor and handle of the FF in this super self-aware tale is just a joy to read. So, here are a few of the moments that led to the gush-fest that is this blog post:

Instead of being yet another writer working with the FF trying to write new—and usually stale—dialogue between Ben and Johnny when they’re fighting/arguing, Cornell takes a completely different and hilarious route and gives a cool nod to anyone who’s ever read a Fantastic Four comic. No need to say what’s already been said 700 bajillion times, ya know?

And six pages later…

Ok, maybe I found this funnier than most as I’m possibly the only comic fan out there who shamelessly has the soundtrack to the Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid-starring “Josie and the Pussycats” on his iPod, but the idea of Earth’s biggest brain being a big fan of that flick is definitely worth a good laugh either way.

Another fun little nod as these “real world” heroes—from a fictional work, obviously—enter the world of fiction and can see their own speech bubbles. It’s the only way—as readers—we’ve ever seen them talk, so just seeing them get a kick out of it is fun (and when was the last time we saw a Reed Richards just having fun with discovery and not fretting about Skrulls or ruining his marriage with too much work? It’s great to see the guy in good spirits again!). Plus, it helps establish how crazy things are set to get if “talk bubbles” are just the tip of the Fictoverse iceberg.

Really, really enjoyable writing aside, how can you not get giddy for some amazing Niko Henrichon covers?!

Not enticed to check it out after all that?

First, that’s crazy!

Second, check out my interview with Paul Cornell for more on the series that should turn you around if I haven’t made a believer of you yet.

It’s my pick of the week and I highly recommend any fans of truly imaginative tales give it a shot. It’d be near impossible to be let down by this story, and it’s only issue #1!

Two days to go till Jim and Josh’s ‘THWACK!’ premieres!

That’s correct, readers!

A while back, I mentioned that WizardUniverse.com assistant editor Josh Wigler and I were going to be the new team putting together Wizard’s letters column THWACK! Well, the wait for lettery goodness is nearly over!

This Wednesday—yes, just a mere two days from now—Wizard #203 hits and a new era for THWACK! begins. Here’s a tiny tease…

Don’t say I never did anything for you guys (and by “you guys,” I obviously mean you loyal readers tuning into my corner of the blogosphere)!

I do love to reward those folks who check out what I’m doing at the Loudest Monkey, Wizard Universe proper and Wizard, so here’s another little taste—that should entice you to go out and pick up issue #203—just because I’m a super nice guy (and a big tease!)…

That should be enough to help you all hold out till Wednesday. Enjoy that plastic crotch action for now and then go pick up issue #203 of Wizard to enjoy it in all its glossy-paged glory (oh, and to READ THWACK! as well).

Well now, isn’t this some interesting ‘Punisher: War Zone’ news…

Hey folks, just got this link from Ain’t It Cool News sent to me about the “Punisher: War Zone” trailer at Comic-Con. Here’s a taste of the juicy gossip/interesting information it contains…

“Well when I posted that Comic Con footage with the sh–ty music and terrible scratches (that otherwise rocked)—a source of mine that I’ve been in contact for years inside Lionsgate contacted me out of sheer frustration, whom I’ll call JIGSAW. It seems that after a summer, where we’ve had incredible success with Superhero properties that were treated with respect by filmmakers that were left to do their thing… that Lionsgate has turned a deaf ear to all of that.”

The article seems to confirm that the ridiculous nature of the Red Band trailer I talked about earlier is likely due to Lionsgate and not the creative minds behind the film.

Now, the dudes over at Ain’t It Cool don’t have a history of making false claims, so I’m taking this as pretty reliable info (as reliable as news can be when delivered by unnamed Hollywood sources) at this point.

I guess the main point of this post was simply to pass that on and say that while the aforementioned Red Band trailer was pretty silly, I could still see a rad movie coming out of that. But now, with rumors/info like this coming out about it, I’m inclined to think ol’ Frank Castle might have some egg on his face come premiere time.

‘Punisher: War Zone,’ my god, what have you done?!

I’m not sure how many of you have caught the new Red Band trailer of “Punisher: War Zone,” but here’s just a list of initial reactions I’ve heard after having the link sent to me and passing it around to some others (friends, colleagues, etc)…

“This is the goriest trailer I have ever seen.”

“This could either be the best movie ever or the worst movie ever…there is no middle ground for a movie like this.”

[In response to above comment] “…or it could be the best movie ever BECAUSE it is the worst movie ever…I could get behind that!”

“If that is the trailer…this is a snuff film.”

I could grab some screen caps of the crazy gore and post them here, but honestly, I don’t want someone to walk into those without some forewarning. So, if those comments have piqued your interest, or you’re the “it mght gross me out, but now I have to see it” type, then click here and watch the trailer. But be warned, it is a gore-fest the likes of which has never been seen in a “superhero” film!

Now, I’m a big fan of HBO’s “Rome,” so hearing Ray Stevenson was going to be the new Punisher was awesome news for me. I’d seen him cut down gladiators, so heck yeah I’d be up for seeing him chop the mob into bits! Early photos from the set had me pretty psyched, as well! It looked good, dark and pretty cool. Then, the first trailer hit and featured far too much chandelier swinging which kinda led me to move from psyched to apathetic about the film.

But now, after this trailer…it’s like…I don’t want to say I want to see it…but, hell yes, I will see it! It might be awful, or it might be surprisingly good…that’s up to you after you watch it.

Me? Well, I can see this movie being a bit like a semi-serious “Shoot ‘Em Up” and just being so much ridiculous fun that it’ll be great. Conversely, it could easily just be too much gore to work, even with the Punisher.

I just hope they aren’t aiming for super-serious, because they’ve already lost that with Frank Castle punching in faces like they’re month old pumpkins.

The New, More ‘Mortal’ Iron Fist!?

So, I just checked out Duane Swierczynski’s first issue of Immortal Iron Fist.

Being a huge fan of Brubaker and Fraction’s relaunch and run on the book, I was as bummed as everyone else to hear they’d be moving on. But, when Marvel announced the Swiercz would be taking the reigns, I had this quiet hope that the book would continue it’s radness. Sure, he only had one or two issues of Cable under his belt when the announcement was made, but something told me he had the chops to rock this chop-socky book in a way that would live up to what came before while taking the book in a whole new direction.

I’m happy to say that after one issue, as far as I’m concerned, the Swiercz is on target and kickin’ this book like a kung-fu foot through a few planks of wood!

Seriously, don’t be deterred by the change of team. If you liked this book before, you’re still going to like this book. There is no drop-off at all, which is saying something as the book was definitely of a high-quality before, and the story is super cohesive with everything that was set up in the previous arc. I don’t want to say to much, because you should really read it…ok, there’s a dragon-man who hunts down and kills Iron Fists, an old west Iron Fist flashback story and some Danny Rand/Misty Knight sexiness! It’s pretty awesome!

My only real gripe is David Aja’s not on art duty anymore. New artist Travel Foreman’s style takes a little getting used to, and while his more talky scenes aren’t really to my liking, when the guy can draw actions scenes like these…

…well, that’s really the most important aspect of drawing Marvel’s Immortal Weapon!

So—as if it weren’t already obvious—my recommendation is to go pick it up!

Also, we ran an interview with the Swiercz yesterday over on Wizard Universe proper, so go check it out if you’re craving more info on the book.

Blogging it up at San Diego Comic Con…well, not me…but other people!

Well hello again, fair readers!

Seeing as you’re here reading this blog, I can only assume that means you enjoy reading blogs (or ended up here accidentally while searching for a fan forum about gibbon monkeys, but I digress). So, with San Diego Comic Con—the Christmas Feast of the comic book community—beginning in only a few hours, and me sitting behind a desk in suburban New York ready to captain WizardUniverse.com through the squall of comic book news of Comic Con from afar, I figured I’d shoot you all some links to two of our blogs that will be posting live from the show floor all weekend.

Staff writers Kevin Mahadeo and Steve Sunu have commandeered The Convention Report in order to post all the breaking news, best stories and fun tid bits from the entire crazy weekend.

Anyway, head over to ConReport.WizardUniverse.com for more!

Also, Indie Jones’ Dave Paggi has headed off to Comic Con for vacation, but that doesn’t mean he’s taking a vacation from his blogging duties! The man with the Indie inclination will be reporting on all the Indie news and general rad news from the show, and likely grabbing some Lockjaw sketches while he’s at it.

So, make sure to check into IndieJones.WizardUniverse.com for more!

Wizard TV’s ‘Dark Knight-Kid’s Edition’ trailer to play on Access Hollywood

That’s right, folks! We’ve just gotten word that Wizard TV’s “Dark Knight-Kid’s Edition” trailer (see it here) has just been picked up by Access Hollywood to be aired tomorrow night (7/18/2008) at 7:30pm EST on NBC. (Check your local listings for more info!)

It’s the best reason EVER to tune into Access Hollywood, so make sure to check it out!

Big kudos and congrats to Wizard TV’s Alex and Jordan, as well as Alex’s little brosephs!

‘Dark Knight’ trailer + kids = hilarious!

Wizard TV’s doing it for the children!

Video Editor Alex Kropinak wrangled up his little brothers to reenact a version of the trailer for “The Dark Knight,” and it’s hilarious! Check out the video here!

It’s darn funny and just more evidence of the great Wizard TV stuff you can see at WizardUniverse.com, so get your butt over there and give it a watch!

My absolute favorite part has to be when Batman rides by the Joker on his tricycle batpod…it’s flawless!

Speaking of THWACK!…

I guess I’ve been a little absent on the blog front and haven’t had a chance to mention some very cool news on the magazine front. Starting with Wizard #203 (shipping at the end of the month), Wizard Universe Assistant Editor Josh Wigler and I will be taking the reigns of THWACK!, Wizard’s new letters column.

Now, I know there’s been a lot of resistance to the changing of the letters column, but Josh and I have been kicking around a lot of ideas we’re pretty psyched about and our goal is to keep it as interactive and as fun as possible. So, head on over to the Wizard Universe Message Boards and submit your questions to THWACK! or just post some comments about your favorite comics that we can grab for the “Trolling Online” section!

I’ve seen the black-and-whites for issue #203’s THWACK! and I think our first attempt at the column’s evolution turned out pretty funny while remaining informative. I think you’ll all enjoy it, but of course we welcome your feedback over on the WUMB, so don’t be shy when the issue hits to pat us on the back or kick our butts!

Weird? Creepy? Semi-flattering? Or, all three?!

Just had the MySpace of a particularly “devoted” Wizard fan brought to me attention. You can check out Ryan “Publish Me Wizard!” from Torrington, CT by clicking the screencap below…

Always nice to have fans! And, fans who pad my ego are always nice as well…

Considering my almost-never-viewed-or-updated MySpace page, I think, only lists Robert E. Lee in the “People I’d Like to Meet” section, I have to say it is a little crazy to think I fall on that kind of list for anyone anywhere…or is it crazy that I don’t fall on that list for everyone everywhere?! Likely the latter, but that’s neither here nor there.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll toss this guy a bone and talk to him for THWACK! I don’t think I’ve ever had the potential to help someone realize their life’s goal before and that kind of power in my hands…well, it may just be the power that corrupts!