X-Termination : Q&A with David Lapham, Marjorie Liu and Greg Pak

By Jim Beard (originally posted here at Marvel.com)

Age of Apocalypse #13
 cover by Greg Land
(click to enlarge)

Sometimes X-Men events get so big it takes more than just multiple titles to contain them; it requires more than one reality.

The universe-jumping X-Termination will spill out not only from its own Alpha and Omega bookend issues, but also into Astonishing X-Men, X-Treme X-Men and Age of Apocalypse beginning this March. We contacted Marjorie Liu, Greg Pak and David Lapham—the respective authors of the aforementioned X-titles—and posed a few questions to them about alternate realities, alternate points of view, and lots and lots of alternate X-Men.

Hellblazer - The end of an Era.

First issue of Hellblazer, 1988.

I can say without a doubt that I have read every single Hellblazer comic and every single mini-series and graphic novel that has been put out by the DC, Vertigo Comics imprint. I didn't like the new John Constantine in Justice League Dark, or in DC's New52. Somehow it didn't feel right to me. As a comic reader/fan/reseller six months away from turning 40, I expected to grow old with John Constantine, as he has aged over the past 28 years. Unlike any other character in the comic industry in the last 50 years, John has grown old, going from 35 years old when he first appeared in Saga of the Swamp Thing - created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch - to an old guy in his late 50s.

[BREAKING NEWS!] NYCC 2012: He's Alive!! Agent Coulson Lives in Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.

I want this T-shirt!

At the recent "Marvel Television Presents" panel at New York Comic Con, Head of TV Jeph Loeb announced that Clark Gregg would reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson in the live-action pilot “Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D.” Gregg previously played Coulson in “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” as well as Marvel One-Shots “The Consultant” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer.”

NOTE: If you haven't watched those last 2 videos, go to youtube and watch them now, great little mini's made by Marvel and watchable for free, made to fit in between the other Marvel movies and the Avengers!

- Always Aware Akshay

All the buzz on MARVEL NOW! in one place!

As we move now well past the halfway mark of Avengers vs. X-Men (a.k.a AvX) and head into the final stretch of this marathon of mindless mauling, big news arrives!

The good folks over at Marvel Comics have announced a huge new “game-changing” move they are calling Marvel Now! that will start to build momentum towards what they are calling a “soft” reboot.

What exactly is the purpose and nature of this reboot? Especially now? Is this just a ploy to get back at their chief rival, DC Comics, who had a hard reboot of their whole line and for the first time in ages beat Marvel in the sales numbers? Is it a genuinely thought out, brave and innovative move? Or is it just a hurriedly put-together gimmick because they have nothing else to do?

We don't know all the answers, but we are committed to bringing you as much information as we can so keep going past the jump for everything on this event out in the news thus far – and remember to stick around in the coming weeks for more!

The Future of Marvels Cinematic Universe post-Avengers

With the worlds first ever superhero crossover movie event -The Avengers - set to release tonight here in India (special midnight premier screening, don't bother we tried and it's sold out!), everyone is already talking about future marvel projects

The current line-up for Marvel Studios post avengers are as follows:

Iron Man 3 on May 3rd, 2013

Thor 2 on November 15th, 2013

Captain America 2 on April 4th 2014

Unnamed Marvel movie on May 16th 2014

The only spot left for Marvel Studios is May 16^th 2014 so it would be interesting to see what is more to come up. It may be possible that they go with Incredible Hulk 2 as he is really stealing the spotlight in trailers and other clips.

There are other films in development at Marvel Studios as well - Dr Strange, Luke Cage/Heroes for Hire, Black Panther and of course Edgar Write being firmly attached to an Ant Man movie. Word came out on various websites that Marvel and Disney may go with three films a year, with a two of them releasing in summer and one releasing in the fall. Thor 2’s date was pushed forward because of the same reason and if the experiment is successful they can go ahead with three films per year.

Now let’s talk about the confirmed movies and speculation/rumours

DC universe gets a reboot following Flashpoint #5 in September..

DC comics have confirmed the rumors going about in the comic reading circles... starting September, DC comics is rebooting its entire line with the relaunch of 52 titles with new first issue. Long time readers will understand the significance of the number 52 - the number of parallel worlds within DC universe. If this holds any significance to the relaunch is yet to be determined. 

Apart from these 52 titles , what else will change is not yet clear. 

DC comics is going to ship only two comics in the final week of August ; Flashpoint #5 and a new Justice League of America #1(by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee)

2011: Superheroes on the Screen!

We, at Comic Addicts don't only review, interview etc. but also keep you abreast with the latest happenings in the comic world and 2011 is the year of superheroes on screen, when comic comes to cinema!

2011 started with Green Hornet which released on January 14. The movie was nice, but sadly not awesome. The next big thing came today, Thor and IT IS AWESOME.

Coming to future releases now, the nearest next release is Priest, based on the Korean comic. The comic's good, the trailer's nice and now we have to wait for May 13 to know whether the movie is good or not.

News: Marvel's "Fear itself" Revealed

Today Marvel announced the comic series behind their "Fear Itself " Campaign at here

 

What we know from Marvel:
- Its a seven issue miniseries

- Marvel universe battles a God of Fear

- A Prelude is planned featuring Captain American and Namor, by Ed brubaker and Scot Eaton

- Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen will be the creative team on the main series.

- The story is as ambitious as Civil War

- There is a concealed act at the center of the Marvel universe that was committed a number of years ago. Fear itself brings it out to the open.

-Fear Itself" is an extinction-level event. It's a major event that involves everyone--expect major participation from X-Men

-The first issue of "Fear Itself" will be about 45 pages, and the final issue will probably also be oversized. The price point is expected to be $3.99.

-  The teaser image of Captain America should be used to draw conclusions about Bucky's fate.



Our perspective :
Spoilers below:
-As we thought, Marvel's next summer event has a Fear themed character as as the antagonist. Although Marvel doesn't name the fear god, I am putting my money on Phobos.
For those who came in late, Phobos is the 7 year old fear god, son of deceased Ares ( God of War, killed by Sentry in The Siege) and part of Secret Avengers.

-I am not sure about the team of Matt fraction and Stuart Immonen on a Major Marvel event. Matt fraction is one of my favorite writers of the new breed (Iron Man, Thor etc), however he has proven less adept at handling team titles ( X-men) and a major marvel event means tonnes and tonnes of characters

-Civil War was a huge storyline with innumerable tie-ins and X-men weren't directly involved. Here they are!. So we should get ready for many more tie ins, some superfluous, which means a hole in many a pockets if you want to follow this event fully. Ah , the price we pay for the love of comics..

-A concealed fact at the center of Marvel universe? This smells of retcon.. which are not always pleasant.

-And lastly, Marvel wouldn't be this bold to let the fate of Bucky known so early would they? And if they did m and if what the teasers shows is correctly interpreted by me - DAMN YOU MARVEL!!

We would just have to wait and see, but Marvel sure knows how to get my attention.

Exclusive: Shotgun Sharma and Chappan Churi

Now talking about the third and final series being showcased in the Jump "independent special" - Shotgun Sharma and Chappan Churi by Shreyas Deshpande

                                                       Cover Courtsey of Level 10 Studios

The characters were created by Shreyas Deshpande with creative inputs from Deepak Sharma. Originally planned as a more mature series, the series was rewritten as an action comedy, at the suggestion of Level 10.
Here are the older designs for the characters.

The characters are mainly influenced by Buddy Cop Movies, Looney toons, and the Asterix comics. The artwork, too, is distinct from the other series it is featured with.

“It’s easier for me to draw stylised characters. I think stylised characters are more fun to look at, but more importantly more fun to draw! Making comics should be fun!” - Shreyas

I have to agree ! Looking forward for this action-adventure-humor tale.

Marvel Previews : What do you Fear most?

This week Marvel has released the following FEAR themed teasers. What do you think Marvel is planning? A new series or some new crossover event? Is some FEAR themed villain going to attack our heroes?What is gonna happen in Marvel Universe? Its fun to contemplate isn't it?

Spiderman echoes the sentiments of a normal US citizen - An economy collapse! A terrorist attack! A nuclear fallout... Good thing he doesn't remember Mephisto I say .

Cyclops have done some dubious things within the recent storylines, chief amongst which is no doubt sanctioning murder for wolverine's X-Force. He also has almost the entire mutant species united in his plans, a feat not even magneto could achieve. Magneto also supports cyclops initiatives. This is reason enough for Cyclops to be afraid of becoming another Magneto..

Now this theme has been explored multiple times, the latest one I think was with the CIVIL WAR. Even though CAP's faith in the system wasn't shattered he still considered the superhuman registration law to be wrong. There have been previous instances of CAP losing his faith in the system. Not sure if this is entirely new thing that we are seeing here.

Again, this has been explored multiple times. Losing control has been Doctor Banner's biggest fear since the beginning. Writers have explored this area quite comprehensively. Can Marvel once again revisit this old theme and make it new ( i.e if they are planning to! we still don't know what these teasers are all about!)

Now this is a new one! Thor being afraid of his dad - the allfather ODIN. This has me thinking about Norse mythology and what could Thor possibly have to be afraid of?

whatever the answer to this teaser trailer is, I am sure it would be a fun read if nothing else.. I am interested enough to give it a go , Are you?