Fandom Friday: Random Fandom Thoughts #3

- As much as I love watching the Disney Star Wars sequel trilogy, I do wish the movies had a better connecting story because with two directors it showed how their different visions didn't make for a cohesive story. I just felt like they didn't know what to do with either the characters or the story. In the end, the trilogy felt very jumbled and misdirected and it's no wonder why there were so many mixed reviews from fans.

Comic Book News: A New Kate Spencer "Manhunter" Miniseries

Manhunter (a.k.a. Kate Spencer) is getting a five issue miniseries titled Manhunters: The Secret History. The miniseries which will be written by Marc Andreyko with illustrations by Renato Guedes will explore a conspiracy that dates back tot he earliest days of DC Comics' history. The first issue will be available in comic book stores and digitally on May 13th.

This is such fantastic news, I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this. I will be adding this to my pull list because I can't wait to read the first issue.

General Description:

After the revelation of Leviathan’s true identity in the pages of Event Leviathan, Kate Spencer—an earlier Manhunter—must go on a quest to uncover just how deep Leviathan’s plans go. What Kate didn’t expect is a conspiracy that goes back to the very beginnings of DC history!

Unearthing the past to save the future, this is Manhunters: The Secret History! Eisner Award-winning writer Marc Andreyko returns to his classic crime-fighter, Kate Spencer, in this hard-hitting miniseries that will reverberate across the DC Universe!

Manhunters: The Secret History #1 cover by Renato Guedes

Manhunters: The Secret History #1 variant cover by Jae Lee

Comic Book News #18: Erica Durance Returning for the CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" Crossover + The Schedule

I can't believe I forgot to post the big news that Erica Durance will be reprising her role as Lois Lane from Smallville for the upcoming CW Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. Durance has already appeared on Supergirl as Kara Danvers mother Alura Zor-EL. She took over the role which was previously played by Laura Benanti.

As a Lois and Clark and Smallville fan, it's amazing news that both Erica Durance and Tom Welling will both appear in this highly anticipated crossover. The schedule for the five part crossover is:

Supergirl: Sunday, December 8th at 8 PM
Batwoman: Monday, December 9th at 8 PM
The Flash: Tuesday, December 10th at 8 PM
Arrow: Tuesday, January 14th at 8 PM
DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Tuesday, January 14th at 9 PM

Please note that there is a over month long break before the final episodes of the crossover even air.

Comic Book News #17: Tom Welling, Phil LaMarr, Deja Thoris and James Bond

It's been a while since I've posted a Comic Book News post but I'm going to make sure I do that more especially since there is some really good news constantly being released.

DC Comics

- Tom Welling will reprise his role as Clark Kent/Superman from the Smallville TV series for the upcoming CW Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. Many fans, myself included were excited for this news but we are also hoping that Erica Durance will be reprising her role as Lois Lane as well.

Sharon Carter will appear on the "Falcon & Winter Soldier" Disney+ TV Series

As a Sharon Carter fan, it's still disappointing that she was pushed out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as Steve Rogers' love interest. However, I am excited to hear that Emily VanCamp will be reprising her role as Sharon Carter in the upcoming Falcon & Winter Soldier Disney+ TV series. I can't wait to see what they will do with the character and I certainly hope she doesn't wind up as a love interest to either Sam Wilson or Bucky Barnes. She deserves so much more than that and let's face it, Sam and Bucky are already an old married couple anyway. If Sharon does have a love interest it should be someone new.

As happy as I am about Sharon appearing in Falcon & Winter Soldier, I still wish she had her own ongoing comic book series. Hard to believe that the character has been around for 53 years and has never had a series. Maybe it'll happen one day, as a fan I can only hope it does.

Lucy Hale and Ashleigh Murray to Star in Riverdale Spin-Off "Katy Keene"

I'm so excited to hear that Lucy Hale has been cast to play Katy Keene for the new Archie Comics' Katy Keene TV series on The CW. Joining her on the new series is Ashleigh Murray who currently plays Josie McCoy on the Riverdale TV series.

I'm happy for both actresses for this new series because Lucy Hale's last CW show Life Sentence was really good but it was cancelled. While Asleigh Murray's Josie was being wasted on Riverdale and I thought that Josie & the Pussycats deserved a spin-off series. However, since that's not going to happen, I do hope she will get to shine more on this new show.

It will be interesting to see what tone the Katy Keene series will take, will it follow in the dark, dramatic and comedic tone of Riverdale and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or be something completely different. It doesn't matter, I'm really looking forward to watching Katy Keene.

Comic Book Wednesday: February 20th Picks

It's Comic Book Wednesday, my favorite day of the week. What's not to love? Every week there are new comics to read. And speaking of new comics, guess who is going to have their own comic book series. Did you guess Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen? Then you are correct.

It's been years since Lois and Jimmy had their own comic books series and the first issue for both series will be available sometime in June. The creative team for Lois' series is Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins and for Jimmy's series it will be Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber. As good as it is that both characters are getting their own series, I'm still going to wait until more information about the series is released before I add them to my pull list.

Now for this week's list, I only have one new book, Love Romances, it's a Marvel one-shot with stories that center on love. I do hope there is a Peter Parker and Mary-Jane Watson story in it.


Archie Comics

Book: Jughead: The Hunger #12

Description:

And Bingo was his name-o! Jughead's enigmatic and demented werewolf cousin Bingo Wilkins returns! But where has he been? And what does his return mean for good ol' Jug?

Comic Book News: John Cryer cast as Lex Luthor and a New Image of Lois and Clark from the Arrowverse Crossover

There was a lot of interesting Superman related news released yesterday by The CW.

First is Lex Luthor is finally going to appear on the 15th episode of Supergirl and will be played by John Cryer. I think this is an interesting casting and I want to see how he will portray Lex who is such a deceitful, corrupt and malicious person. I also can't wait to see how Lex will interact with his younger sister Lena (played by Katie McGrath).

I also find it interesting that Cryer played Lenny Luthor (Lex's nephew) in the Superman IV movie.

The second is Entertainment Weekly released an Arrowverse crossover exclusive image of Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) on the Kent Farm. Even though she's a little hard to see, Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) is also in the picture, she's at the back of the truck. I can't help noticing how old that truck looks, well I guess as long as it's still running why get a new one.

With The CW leaning so much into the world of Superman, I can't help wondering if a new Superman TV series will be announced at some point.

(Photo Source: Entertainment Weekly)

Comic Book News #16: Captain Marvel, Lois Lane, Power Rangers and Sabrina Spellman

I know it's been a while since I've posted Comic Book News but there is quite a bit of exciting news floating around and I wanted to post it.


- First, it's recently been announced that Brie Larson will appear on Good Morning America next Tuesday (Sept. 18th) not only for an interview but also to reveal the trailer for Captain Marvel. I don't really watch news shows like Good Morning America or Today Show but I might tune into GMA that day to see the interview but if I miss it I know Marvel will put the trailer on YouTube.

Comic Book News: Dark Horse will be Publishing "Stranger Things" Comic Books

According to reports, Netflix is partnering with Dark Horse Comics to publish Stranger Things comic books. The first miniseries starting this fall (the first issue is scheduled to be released on September 28th) will focus on Will Byers and what happened to him while he was in the Upside Down extra-dimensional world in the first season.

The four issue miniseries will be written by Jody Houser with illustrations by Stefano Martino, inks by Keith Champagne, color by Lauren Affe and letters by Nate Piekos.

This seems like it will be an interesting story and I have to make sure to add it to my pull list. Here's a look at some of the covers for the first issue:

Comic Book News: Pinar Toprak is the Composer for the "Captain Marvel" Movie

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new composer for the Captain Marvel movie is Pinar Toprak. Some of her previous composer work includes the score for syfy channel's Krypton TV series and the video game Fortnite and providing additional musical work for the Justice League movie.

Can you believe it, Toprak will be the first woman to score a movie for Marvel Studios. It's a shame because I always found it weird that there are not more women composers for movies. I mentioned something about this back when I was doing the Wonder Woman Movie Challenge. It's so rare that women are selected to score a movie that only a few come to mind such as the late Shirley Walker who composed several films including the score for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm animated movie which was released in 1993 and for TV series such as Superman: The Animated Series which was released in 1996.

This is good news and now I just have to remember to get the soundtrack next year once it's out. Also, Captain Marvel is scheduled to be released March 8, 2019.

Keiynan Lonsdale is No Longer a Series Regular on "The Flash" and "Legends of Tomorrow"

According to reports, actor and singer Keiynan Lonsdale who plays Wally West (a.k.a. Kid Flash) on The CW's Flash and Legends of Tomorrow TV series will no longer be a series regular. I've mentioned before that his Wally is one of my favorite versions of the character because he's fun and always ready for an adventure.

Lonsdale put out a message June 6th on Instagram to let fans know about his decision to limit his appearance. I posted it below.

As a fan, it's sad to see him go but at least he will still be a guest star from time to time. Besides appearing on The CW, Lonsdale recently starred in the movie Love, Simon.  Here's the message he posted:

Yo! Soo as a lot of you have now read, I’m not returning next season as a series regular for @cwtheflash or @cw_legendsoftomorrow. It’s definitely not a total goodbye or “see ya never” situation, cause Wally West will still be round when you need him the most! :) It’s just that it won’t be full time anymore.

I’ve changed a lot in the past year (as you’ve probably noticed lol), and for infinite reasons my perspective on life & what I want from it now is just completely different. Because of that, my heart told me it was the right time to continue my journey on an unknown path, and I’m so damn grateful to both shows for honouring & respecting that with me. I love Kid Flash, I love the family I’ve made, & I’m absolutely in love with the invaluable lessons I’ve learnt along the way. Thank you for believing in me & rooting for Wally to thrive, you honestly helped me see that i did indeed deserve to play him, & that shit right there made me a stronger actor.  

Anyway, I hope you stick around for the new adventures, the only thing I can promise is Magic.

Love Keiy ⚡️

Comic Book News: Alfred Pennyworth is getting a TV Miniseries

It's being reported that Alfred Pennyworth will be getting a 10 episode miniseries simply titled Pennyworth. The show which will air on the EPIX channel will be co-executive produced by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon with Heller writing the series and Cannon directing it.

Alfred is one of my favorite characters, he's so prim and proper yet sarcastic and witty and when needed he knows how to fight. One of my favorite episodes of Batman: The Animated Series is "The Lion and The Unicorn" because it revealed a little bit of Alfred's past as a British Intelligence Agent. I wonder if the show will focus a little bit on his days as a soldier.

According to reports, the miniseries will follow Alfred Pennyworth who is a former British SAS soldier who forms a security company and goes to work with Thomas Wayne (Bruce’s father), in 1960’s London. Production is scheduled to begin sometime later this year, with the miniseries premiering in 2019.

I can see this show working because Alfred has an interesting backstory but I do wonder how they will cast this. Alfred doesn't need to be too young, he needs a bit of age to him. I certainly would not mind Gotham's Sean Pertwee was in the running for the role. Initially it took a while for his verison of Alfred to grow on me but I think Pertwee has done a great job with the role. Even if he's not even considered for the role, at least Gotham has been renewed for its fifth and finale season.

Comic Book News: Kristen Wiig will play the Cheetah in Wonder Woman 2

It's been announced that actress Kristen Wiig has been cast as the Cheetah in the sequel to Wonder Woman. That's great news, I think she will do an awesome job with the character. Something that I noticed is that there are not enough female villains which is why I hope that the Cheetah will be a dangerous adversary for Wonder Woman.

I can't wait to see how Wiig will portray the Cheetah.

Fashion Meets Comics: Betty & Veronica Hoodie + B&V Comic Book News

I'm a huge Betty and Veronica fan, I've been reading the comics for years. I spotted this Betty and Veronica Hoodie and was thinking of getting it. From the red stripe on the cuffs and hem to the simplistic look. I especially like that there is nothing on the back because sometimes less is more. 

This is so cute, I could really see pairing this with a lot of stuff.

B&V Logo Hoodie by Christian Frances Roth                   $45.00 (sale, regular price $69.00)             Betty and Veronica (bettyandveronica.com)




I have some good news for us classic Betty & Veronica comic book fans, there is going to be a new comic book series, Betty & Veronica Friends Forever. It will be written by Bill Golliher, illustrations by Dan Parent, inks by Rich Koslowski, colors by Glenn Whitmore and letters by Jack Morelli. The series priced at $2.99 per issue will feature a different theme each month with the first centering around being "At the Movies". The first issue will be available sometime in May.

As a side note, I do wish more female writers got the chance to write for Archie Comics.

Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 cover by Dan Parent

Comic Book News #15: A New Clueless Comic and a Steve Trevor One-Shot

- This summer Boom! Studios will be publishing a Clueless comic book series. It will be a follow up to the hit movie that will be co-written by Amber Benson and Sarah Kuhn with illustrations by Siobhan Keenan. I love Clueless, it's one of my favorite movies, Cher Horowitz was such an adorable ditz who was also very wise and compassionate. I can not wait until the first issue is released. Here's the synopsis for the series:

It’s senior year at Bronson Alcott High School, and Cher, Dionne, and Tai find themselves in a bit of an existential crisis: Where are they meant to go, and what are they meant to DO after high school? Luckily they have all year—and each other’s help—to figure it out!

- DC Comics will be publishing a Steve Trevor one-shot titled Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor #1 on Wednesday, June 7th which is surprisingly a few days after the release of the Wonder Woman movie. It will be written by Tim Seeley with illustrations by Christian Duce and cover art by Paul Renaud.

It would be nice if this one-shot turned into an ongoing series for Steve, he's a great character that tends to be pushed to the wayside depending on the writer.

Book: Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor #1

Description:

They have been friends and lovers, but more importantly they have been there for each other over the decades. From Steve’s first moments on Paradise Island to the day that Diana left her home to join Man’s World, they have worked together and fought to protect humanity. But now, Steve Trevor will be forced to face an ancient foe, and he’ll have to do it alone. Where is Wonder Woman? And what will become of Steve Trevor? Find out in this thrilling, action-packed story.

Comic Book News #14: New Series: Batwoman, Miss America and more

Okay, 2017 is shaping up to be really interesting with so many new books. Here are a few to keep on your radar for next year:


- Batwoman is returning with a new series in 2017. It will be co-written by Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV with illustrations by Steve Epting. According to reports, the new series will take place after a two part issue of Detective Comics with Batwoman getting a one-shot issue in February afterward the series will begin in March.

Comic Book News #13: A New Vampirella Series, Comixology Publishing Comic Books and More

I'm happy to post new Comic Book News for everyone, here are some books to look out for:



- Dynamite Entertainment will be publishing a new Vampirella series in 2017. It will be written by Paul Cornell with illustrations by Jimmy Broxton.

According to reports, Cornell said “I’m delighted to be writing a Vampirella that takes onboard everything she’s been and moves it forward into a new setting, where the gothic meets science fiction. I’m also delighted to be working again with my old friends, the incredibly talented artist Jimmy Broxton, and the incredibly talented editor, Matt Idelson."

“I’m hoping especially to find a female audience,” said Cornell. “The character’s often been regarded as a nostalgia item, cheesecake, and we’re building on previous efforts to keep moving away from that to something more interesting. I’m excited to be building a whole new world, I’m loving what Jimmy’s art is doing (Barbarella! Hepburn!), and I hope that excitement communicates itself to the reader.”

I'm not sure how I feel about this new take on Vampirella because I never regarded the character in a bad way. I always thought she needed a new costume which she recently got but I really don't want to see the character turned in a clone of Audrey Hepburn, Barberella (who is also getting a new comic book series in 2017) or some sort of fashionista. She's a butt kicking vampire and I hope that doesn't change.

- Digital comic provider Comixology will be publishing their own comic books. The comics will be co-published with companies such as Boom! Studios and Valiant and the first three digital books to published are Adventure Time Marshall Lee Spectacular (One Shot), Valiant High and Marley's Ghost. Valiant High will be a four issue miniseries follows the characters as high school students and Marley's Ghost is going to be a modern take on Harvey Kurtzman’s unfinished graphic novel of Marley's scenes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Since Amazon.com purchased Comixology in 2014 you can also pre-order (or buy when the comics are available) from the retailer.

I've said this before, I don't really like to buy digital comics (unless there is no other option available). However,  I am interested in reading all three of these books and I already added them to my wishlist.

- DC Comics is bringing back the comic book series WildStorm with an imprint series. Warren Ellis will write the main series but will edit or curate the other books associated with the series.

WildStorm will be published in February 2017 with a monthly comic to be titled The Wild Storm. The series will be written by Warren Ellis with art by Jon Davis-Hunt. The series will reboot the WildStorm universe while also introducing "newly" created WildStorm characters: Grifter, Voodoo, The Engineer, Jenny Sparks and more.

According to reports, The Wild Storm is set to launch several future series: Michael Cray, WildC.A.T.S. and Zealot. So far no creative teams have been announced yet for those books.

- This December Image Comics will be published a new series titled Rockstars, it will be written by Joe Harris with illustrations by Megan Hutchison. Although the series will take place in the present it will focus on the unsolved mystery surrounding the murder of groupies that occurred during the 1970s. The first issue will be in comic book stores on December 14th.

Press Release: The Return of Justice League of America

DC Comics is bringing back Justice League of America in 2017, read the press release below to find out more about it.

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The JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA is back — just when we need it most!

Foes of evil! Enemies of injustice! As it began in DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH, for the mighty heroes of the Justice League of America, all wrongdoing is a menace to be stamped out! Whether it comes from outer space, from the watery depths of the seven seas, or springs from the minds of men, the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA is back — just when we need it most!

Comic Book News #12: Boom! Studios New Miniseries and Hawkeye's New Series

Here are two more comics (and an animated series) to keep to an eye on:


- Boom! Studios will be publishing a new six-issue miniseries of Tom Taylor's The Deep. It's scheduled to be released in 2017. According to reports, the comic which was originally published as graphic novels with illustrations by James Brouwer.

The Deep follows the Nekton family, who have explored the depths of the oceans for generations, discovering the unknown in the Aronnax, a state-of-the-art submarine capable of diving to incredible depths. When an earthquake off the coast of Greenland leads to strange reports of monster sightings, William and Kaiko Nekton, along with their kids Fontaine and Ant (and of course, Ant’s pet fish Jeffrey), dive into the mystery.

The Deep has also been turned into animated series that is currently available on Netflix.

- In November Marvel Comics will be publishing a very interesting comic featuring Hawkeye (Clint Barton) as he travels around bringing justice to all parts of the country. Following the events of Civil War II, Clint has undergone so much that the road trip will give him a way to sort out his life and dole out a bit of justice in the process.

The series will be titled Occupy Avengers and will be written by David Walker with illustrations by Carlos Pacheco.