Friday, August 03, 2007

My Views on Comic-Con News (mild spoiler alert)

Last weekend was the annual grand geek fest of them all, the San Diego Comic-Con. A lot of big news and previews emerged from TV, film and of course comics. Here are the 5 top stories that caught my eye and my subsequent reactions:

Geek Alert #1: JJ Abram’s Gives Answers…sort of
One doesn’t expect to get much news out of the creator of Lost but this year’s Comic-Con was a bit of a surprise. First off, JJ revealed the poster for “Cloverfield” the mystery film he’s producing that had the great trailer ahead of Transformers. While he didn’t give much info we learned it’s not called Monstrous as many web sites were claiming. I love the mystery but I also love that JJ’s keeping the misinformation to a minimum shooting down the Voltron theories and the fake web sites that have nothing to do with this. He also introduced two stars of his relaunch of the Star Trek franchise and they’re both playing the same character…Spock. Leonard Nimoy appeared and noted that he will make an appearance in the new film as will a younger Spock played by…Sylar from Heroes! That’s perfect casting in my book and it actually peaked my interest in the future Trek. To top it off while JJ wasn’t there, the Lost panel revealed some actual news on the 4th season which they had to do to tide us Losties over until February.

Geek Alert #2: Kevin Smith does TV, and he does it well!
One of the most raved about premieres by critics and geeks alike at the Comic-Con was the pilot episode of the WB’s new show Reaper. The show centers around a guy finding out his parents sold his soul to the devil and how he now must work for and against the ultimate big bad. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the success of the pilot is that it was directed by my favorite geek Kevin Smith. As someone who has repeatedly declined to direct other people’s scripts and anything involving action Smith was an odd choice by the studio but it seems to have paid off. Furthermore Smith seems to have enjoyed himself so much he’s agreed to direct an episode of the new Heroes spin-off creatively entitled Heroes: Origins. Smith is keeping busy also prepping two new theatrical films to shoot this year but it will be fun to see how his sensibilities translate to the small screen and other people’s words.

Geek Alert #3: Indy’s Baby Mama
The rumor was confirmed for all to see as Karen Allen joined Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg via video conference from the set of Indian Jones 4. With the rumors that current “it” boy Shia LaBeouf character in the film is Indy’s son then it’s only natural that Marion Ravenwood knocked that kid out sometime after the Nazi’s opened the Ark of the Covenant. Having Indy’s best gal back is an encouraging indicator that this sequel might be worth the long long wait.

Geek Alert #4: DC Comics is heading for a Final Crisis…really this is it…for real this time.
First there was the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths in the 80’s, and then there was 2005’s lackluster follow up Infinite Crisis, now we’ve got the comic event that will change the DC Universe for ever. Yeah I’ve heard that one before. Still the news that writer extraordinaire Grant Morrison is penning the 7 issue series gives one hope that he has free reigns to write something that will be not only memorable but a definitive end story to some of DC’s icons including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Of course he did this to the X-Men a few years back and then Marvel pretty much usurped every change he made immediately after he left the book. The big two comic companies have to learn to stop promising huge changes unless they really plan on making them stick. Has Captain America come back to life yet?

Geek Alert #5: Angel spins-off of Buffy…again
The Buffy Season 8 comic has given us fans a chance to reconnect with characters we miss and the joy of Joss Whedon’s work and now it’s giving us something even more. Due to the success of the series Joss is launching a 12 issue mini season of Angel. Yes folks we’ll finally get a glimpse into what happened to everyone after one of the greatest TV finales ever. Whedon is not penning the series but he is designing the whole arc and has acknowledged that this is not some cheesy comic that has nothing to do with continuity. Oh and the other big news is that Ripper, the once rumored TV show staring Giles the Watcher is now looking to go ahead as a BBC TV movie. Woo hoo, the Buffy-verse is all and well. Enjoy the renaissance.

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