NEWS EDITION #24 - DC CREATIVE TEAM SHUFFLE, TOP COW'S PILOT SEASON WINNER CROWN AND THE END OF INCORRUPTIBLE & IRREDEEMABLE

Welcome Ladies & Gentlemen to another edition of CBC NEWS!


MORE OF THE DC CREATIVE SHUFFLE

by Frankie Rodriguez

    The more things change . .. the more change comes about it seems. With all the recent looks at sales from DC and Marvel Comics since the New 52 came out, DC has been determined to make sure that they and their readers are not complacent. 2 weeks ago, Hector Ramirez reported about the 6 titles that will be ending in April and their 6 replacements premiering in May. Yet, DC is still making more changes with certain titles, hoping that the new creative teams will have readers staying and bring in new ones.

   So what else is changing? Prepare for the breakdown.

 Batwing's sales have been doing extremely well. Yet, there will be an artistic change as of issue #9. Ben Oliver's last issue of Batwing will be issue #7; tying Gotham City into his current Massacre storyline while also setting up a crossover for the Bat-books dealing with the Court of Owls, called "Night of Owls", that has been prominent in Batman. And while issue #8 will have a fill in artist, Marcus To, who was regular artist on Red Robin Pre-New 52 & artist on the Huntress miniseries, will be taking over art chores. To nearly everyone's delight (and to some's disdain) Judd  Winnick is still writing the book.

Marcus To commented on his approach to his new job:


Actually, at first, when I was approached to draw the book, it took me a second to think about my approach to this book, because he is a different character from the traditional Batman look. So I had to think, how am I going to do this? Ben Oliver did such a great job on launching the title. So I looked at the art and thought to myself, how can I put my own spin on this?

I think readers are going to see a different aspect of my art. That's the great challenge of this job, figuring out how I want certain angles to look, how I want his armor to look, but how to keep it in the vein of Batman. Just like you said, you can use the silhouettes that Batman has, with the wings and the symbol and the ears and everything, to really pull it together, and associate the Batman look with Batwing. . . we're actually starting my run in Gotham, which is where my attention is concentrated right now. But Batwing will be back in Africa soon, and I've talked to Judd about some ideas we have. He's sending me a movie that has a style that's related to the story he wants to write next. So we're communicating about the direction the book is going and where we want to take it visually.

But once we get back to Africa, and once I know what the location is for the next story, I do intend to use references to do my best to make it accurate and pay respect to what is real.

 Meanwhile, Rob Liefield was slated to take over 3 books after finishing Hawk & Dove with #8. Which 3 books? Rob Liefield will be co-plotting both The Savage Hawkman and Grifter. His co-writer on Hawkman is none other than Mark Poulton, who currently also writes Avengelyne over in Image Comics. And former Deathstroke artist Joe Bennet will move to take over art duties on The Savage Hawkman.

 Co-writing Grifter is writer Frank Tieri , who recently wrote Marvel vs Capcom 3, with Stormwatch's very first artist Scott Clark will stay on as artist. And finally, Liefield will be taking over the Deathstroke book, handling both writing and art chores on the book.

 Over in Batman: Dark Knight, Gregg Hurwitz takes over completely as full writer while David Finch steps down from writing chores to just draw the Batman book.

 Peter Milligan steps down as writer for Justice League Dark yet he ends up taking another popular team book; Stormwatch. The writer decided to jump over after 2 fill in issues by Paul Jenkins and seems to be enjoying the book and making it fit into the DC Universe.

Peter Milligan joins regular artist Miguel Sepulveda as the new creative team as of issue #9 this May. And while he did confirm that he will keep the roster as is for the time being with 1 possible edition, Milligan teased his direction for the book:

I want to dig deeper not only into the characters themselves but also the history and meaning of Stormwatch. The strange strategies they’ve employed to do what they do and remain covert.
Before I start throwing people off of the team I want to get deeper into them. However, we will have an appearance of a character who was around long before this team was formed who throws a different light on the life of a Stormwatch agent.


My first story deals with an intruder on earth from the planet Ysmault — he’s red and he’s got a lot of rage — and also a former Stormwatch member. We’ll also get deeper into the mind of Midnighter.

And finally, fan favorite writer of the one of DC's highest selling titles, Animal Man writer Jeff Lemire, will be taking over for Milligan on Justice League Dark. Calling the title his dream gig, Lemire is more than happy to dive into several of his favorite characters: Deadman, Shade - the Changing Man, Zatanna & John Constantine. He promises to bring a true connection to the Justice League to answer why they have the name with a few other surprises: 

One of the things I’m anxious to explore is just why the name “Justice League” is in the title of this book. I want to explore and create new connections between this team of mystical misfits and Geoff and Jim’s big guns in the Justice League. On that note, Geoff and I have had many discussions on how to link our two books and make the Justice League franchises connect in new and unexpected ways.

With that, Lemire also promises two new members, one guy and one girl to this already seemingly stacked mystical team and plans to have John Constantine emerge as the leader of this group. Mike Janin will stay on as artist for the book.

 With all these changes, DC hopes to keep readers. Will this work? I am sure it will to some extent but there will be a lot of competition. While all this is happening, Marvel will be knee deep into Avengers vs X-Men event, Extreme Studios relaunch will be in full steam with all 5 titles will have debuted and Valiant Entertainment returns with X-O Manowar debuting during the first week of May. The gauntlet has been thrown and we will see if these changes will help or hurt DC's books.


WINNER OF TOP COW'S PILOT SEASON WINNER IS . . .
by Frankie Rodriguez 

  Over the last few years, Top Cow has used the pilot season , a contest with several different one-shots where the fans choose the winner, in order to set up new miniseries with concepts and ideas you may not see anywhere else. This year, there were 8 different one-shots of all kinds but only one emerged as the winner. And the 2011 Top Cow Pilot Season Winner is The Beauty.

   The Beauty was created by writer Jeremy Haun and artist Jason Hurley. The Beauty is about a sexually transmitted disease that has people become nearly irresistibly attractive. So much so, there are scary consequences and implications because of this STD. It is up to two detectives to stop the people who are infected by it.

Jeremy Haun talked about the upcoming series:

Now that we've won we're going to be able to finish the story. I'm really excited to do that. It's exciting to be co-writing and drawing something like this. The process is surprisingly fast and a hell of a lot of fun. The trick of it is going to be balancing work on The Beauty with my regular art duties on The Darkness monthly book. Luckily, they're both books that I absolutely love. It also doesn't hurt that I just love to work. As crazy as it may seem, drawing two books is kind of my idea of fun.

And while artist Jason Hurley added: 

Winning Pilot Season is easily the biggest moment of my career so far, and I couldn't be happier. It was a hard-fought battle, but thanks to all of the fans of The Beauty, we came out on top. I can't wait to get back to work on the book. We've got a lot of exciting stuff planned for the future of The Beauty, and since we've won Pilot Season, we'll be able to share all of that with our fans. More than anything, I just want to send a huge thank you out to all of our family, friends, and fans for their support throughout the entire voting process. It's thanks to them that we're able to continue The Beauty.

The Beauty is set to debut later this year. 

IRREDEEMABLE & INCORRUPTIBLE SAY GOODBYE 
by Frankie Rodriguez 

   As recently stated by writer and creator Mark Waid, he is ending his cult following books: Irredeemable and Incorruptible. The BOOM! Studios comics have been hit with fans since shortly after their release and have won multiple awards and grabbed fans. Waid stated that while he knows he has dealt with all the darkness within him, he felt that it was time to end both series.

Okay, really, truly — I’m just stretched thin right now both personally and professionally, and I live in mortal fear that I’m going to overstay my welcome on these books. Moreover, I feel that Max Damage’s character arc is reaching its end in Incorruptible. And in Irredeemable, I’ve long known what the end of that series is, and lately, it’s as if all the characters are moving into position for it whether I want them to or not. So let’s go out big and grand, I say.
 
The final arcs of Incorruptible will be played out from issues #27 to #30. Meanwhile, Irreedeemable's storyline will reach its climax in issue # 34-#30.  Fans will miss these series but everyone can understand. Between all that Waid has been doing in Marvel along, the man needs a breather.



FAN REVIEW OF SUPERGIRL 

By Brickie Bowman 

it's not much but I have read the first 3 DC 52 Supergirls and so far I am impressed with the story thus far for one she not some sniveling teen but a confidant young adult she hasn't quite got the hang of her power here on earth but she has a good teacher after she beat the crap out of him for a minute.  
 
I did notice that as with Kal El in his book the take a interest in the costume and it is just as indestructable as they are and that goes back to the original story that his cloth that his cape was his baby blanket he was wrapped in when he got to earth.
 

it       It was well drawn. The artist did his homework on the character to give the right look for her. She is s a young adult and the art is also close to the look for Action Comics and Superman which is good so if the stories cross the art won't throw you off. 

 I like the the look she has in this and the writing would hold you if they keep this style going but if they change the formula it will fail add all that.

I like the ideal that she already has some people trying to capture her and had her for a moment but she got away and she is also dealing with the fact that Krypton is no more but if this story keeps going like it has so far the book 4 and 5 should keep me roped in I have always like her but this to me is a better portrail of her in the DCU and should go a long way.This Supergirl is a better version in my point of view. She is more sure of herself than the teenage one and more assertive. She is a serious minded person that is wanting to learn why Krypton is gone.

 
 
 
I give it thus far it's 4 out of 5 Superman Shields. 


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NEWS EDITION # 13 - NYCC COVERAGE: EXTREME STUDIOS RETURNS, SHAOLIN COWBOY, THE NEW SECRET AVENGERS TEAMS, THE DARKNESS WITHIN HINE & HAUN, ASPEN 1st ONGOING AND CURSE OF SHAZAM

This week's news edition breaks down the news we've heard this past weekend at the NYCC. And boy there are some BIG announcements.


EXTREME STUDIOS COMEBACK IN 2012 WITH  SEELEY, MCLAUGHLIN & MOORE (& MORE)


     Rob Liefield mentioned this some time ago: that Extreme Studios was going to come back to Image. Yet, there were little to no details as to which titles and who would be attached. Well, this past weekend at the New York Comic Con, we got those answers . . . in spades. Extreme Studios will be bringing back a slew of their old titles; not only bring them back with new creative teams and stories but actually continuing on with their original numbering. Liefield went on about how excited he is about Extreme Studios coming back alongside Image mainstay, Eric Stephenson as they gave a slew of titles to hit sleeves in early 2012, just in time for Image's 20th Birthday.
     The following are the titles that will be surfacing next year with their creative teams and boy . . . the star power with these titles will ASTOUND you.
 
  Prophet will return this January with issue #21, being the first title brought back from Extreme Studios. Yet, it will be written by Brandon Graham, the creator and writer for hit King City. Art duties will be handled by Simon Roy. Liefield went on to say that this series will be the one with the biggest change, saying that John Prophet has now woken up to a harsher new reality.

 Glory is next as the female powerhouse gets new life in with a tweaked origin and will be written by Joe Keantinge, known for his work in the anthology "Popgun" with art by Ross Campbell.

Bloodstrike gets back to its glorious, goriest duties when the team returns compliments of fan favorite writer Tim Seeley and art by Franchesco Gaston. And Seeley will be making sure this team is as dangerous as ever.

Youngblood, the flagship title of Image & Extreme Studios back in the 90s, returns with a vengeance with Youngblood #71. Why #71? According to Liefield, the previous Youngblood minis will now count as one volume instead of Volume 2 and so forth and Liefield promises that the 75th issue of Youngblood will be full of excitement and surprises. Yet, what fans will really drop their mouths at are the creative team for Youngblood . . . art by Jon Malin (whose done work with Liefield before in NitroGen & worked on New Warriors and Cable/Deadpoo) and writer John McLaughlin (Writer of the Academy Award Winning movie Black Swan!). Liefield stated that McLaughlin has returned Youngblood to a more serious government group yet filled with new ideas and concepts including  . . . a sex change for Proton?!

And Finally, Supreme, the ultimate super man of Extreme Studios, will return with issue #57.And for the ride .. . we have artist and Image founding member Erik Larsen and written by the legendary Alan Moore. Yes, the final scripts of Alan Moore during his landmark run with his character will finally reach its conclusion as Liefield,  Stephenson and Kirkman were able to convince Larsen to work on finish the work that Alan Moore began. And once those scripts are done, Larsen will stay on as writer and will have art by Cory Hamscher; and Larsen will tie up the visions of the arrogant superman that first appeared alongside Moore's retro version once they are done the Moore Scripts.

Extreme Studios seems to be aggressively coming back into the comic world. Let's see how the fans will respond. We will find out as Extreme Studios returns starting this January.


DARK HORSE BRINGS BACK SHAOLIN COWBOY


 Geof Darrow's original Shaolin Cowboy featured the main character in a world of violence of his own making in a world where yesterday, today and tomorrow collide. And it was under an independent press which had printed it 5 years ago. Now Dark Horse and Darrow bring back Shaolin Cowboy for new adventures in 2012.


SECRET AVENGERS' FACE LIFT  AS REMENDER & HARDMAN ENTER

   Rick Remender has become one of the go to guys in Marvel when it comes to writing covert ops groups within the Marvel Universe. Holding such acclaim with his work on Venom and Uncanny X-Force, he will now embark in a new adventure; as he and artist Gabriel Hardman (known for his recent work on the Hulk) will unite to take the reigns of Secret Avengers after Ellis's run is done.
  Remender comes in with issue 21.1 issue, with art by Patrick Zicher, as Captain America Steve Rogers has a talk with Hawkeye. And that starts the many changes with the group as Hawkeye becomes the new leader of the Secret Avengers, personally passed command from Cap. Remender comments on Hawkeye's entrance to the group:

"I think what you've got in Hawkeye, because of his childhood, is somebody who is roguish and a little unpredictable. He's got a real sense of responsibility and a solid ethical compass, but he's also willing to go to lengths that maybe Steve Rogers isn't. That's one of the reasons that Steve chose and one of the reasons that we chose him for this book. Now they're operating with a no kill rule, but we're going to put that to the test. For me there needs to be a difference between 'X-Force' and 'Secret Avengers.' This is the brighter, shinier covert operations team whereas I think 'X-Force' is a little dirtier. The fun of it is that you've got to cook up threats of such a grand scale that haven't yet boiled over and must be dealt with before they do. They're dealing with dire straits and something that they're potentially in over their heads with, but on top of that they must maintain their anonymity. They can't be seen so the team is still a secret to the villains of the world.


And Hawkeye isn't the only new edition as the team goes through a line up change. While Beast, Black Widow and Valkyrie are all staying, the team gets other new members such as Giant Man Hank Pym; who is also running the Avengers Academy . . .and first time Avenger, UK hero Captain Britian. Remender promises that Hawkeye will be dealing with issue with the UK hero as their personalities and backgrounds will clash. And promises that many of the fixtures in Captain Britain's life, such as Otherworld, Jamie Braddock and his twin sister Psylocke (who Remender writes in Uncanny X-Force) and connecting them into storylines for Secret Avengers while dealing with what its like being an Avenger.

And while Remender is well versed in Brain Braddock and his mythology, artist Gabriel Hardman is entering new territory as he commented:

Captain Britain is almost entirely new to me. I may have read a couple issues of 'Excalibur' in the '80s, but I don't think I've ever drawn him. It will be a challenge to find an angle on this character."

And Captain Britain as a character will not only be explored but Otherworld, the dimension Brian Braddock rules will also have major storyline implications in Secret Avengers. And thus having Captain Britain on the team will open unlimited possibities for stories for the covert team remarked Remender. Remender says that he is also picking up the plot line dropped from Uncanny X-Force 5.1, where Lady Deathstrike downloaded herself and how that connects to the first threat the new team faces, the mechanical beings known as the Descendants. After that, the team will face the emergence of an all new Masters of Evil and how they are connected to the Shadow Council.

Adding new concepts and visuals are just one of many reasons why Remender and Hardman are happy to be working together again; as Hardman states:

"I had a great time doing flashback sequences on the late lamented 'Doctor Voodoo' and working with Rick again was a big factor in me deciding to take this book. Anyone who's read his work knows he's full of huge, inventive ideas and his 'Secret Avengers' scripts are no exception."




With two jump on points, #21.1 or #22 of Secret Avengers is a perfect time to get a taste of the where this new Secret Avengers team is going and work from Remender and Hardman. Secret Avengers #21.1 will hit stores in January while Secret Avengers #22 hits stores in February.


VIDEO OF THE WEEK: 

Premiered this past weekend during NYCC . . . the upcoming DC Animated movie: Justice League DOOM.


HINE & HAUN TAKE OVER THE DARKNESS

   The Darkness seems to be enjoying a new surge of popularity again with the new game to be released and his roles in the Top Cow Universe. And as of issue #101, there will be a new creative coming in and taking on Jackie Estacado in the forms of writer David Hine and Jeremy Haun. The new creative team jumps in to bring The Darkness more in touch with both his horror and mobster roots.
   Hine commented on how the powers of The Darkness are mixed between that of Spawn and Green Lantern and will be testing those powers through out the story while testing visuals for Haun to render for the reader. Hine also commented on how he is using of the events of recent issues of The Darkness and Artifacts that will help him set up his new direction that starts in #101.
    Hine hinted at what he plans on doing:

"There are some fiendish twists coming, but I don't want to give any of them away, which leaves me with very little I can say specifically, except to say that I'll be taking Jackie in a very different direction to what has gone before. I think readers will be pleasantly surprised -- no scratch that -- there's nothing pleasant about what we have planned. In fact, I've been giving myself nightmares. I had one last week that had me waking up in a cold sweat and gave me the opening scene to the third issue of my first arc. It involves cats, and I apologize in advance to all the cat lovers out there. Honestly, I love cats. I have two of my own. But when a scene comes to you in a dream, you just have to go with it."

 Hine also hinted that an Eastern European Mob are trying to move in on Jackie's turf during his first arc; where Jackie is back to being a gangster himself running his own mob. And all this will be rendered by Haun as Hine stated that he wanted to make sure that a horror element was very much a part of the book. So, it will be a mix of mob crime dramas and horror in which Hine will drive the Darkness during his run; picking up on elements that current scribe, Phil Heister, will produce during the issues leading to #100.

The Darkness #101, written by David Hine with art by Jeremy Haun will hit stores in March 2012. .



JOHNS & FRANK ADD A CURSE OF SHAZAM TO JUSTICE LEAGUE

  The convention has definitely been filled with surprises and exciting announcements. This one is no different.  Starting with January's Justice League #5, there will be a back up story that will run through the ongoing dealing with Captain Marvel. Curse of Shazam will beginning its backup run on the Justice League book, running along side the Steel back up on Action Comics.
    Justice League scribe Geoff Johns works with Gary Frank again to give us a brand new rendition of Captain Marvel in this DCnU. Johns and Frank come with a fresh, new perspective as they give Captain Marvel and many of his long time characters a modern update . ..  including a new costume.

Frank commented on the look of Shazam:

"Both Geoff and I were keen that our costume should look different to the rest of the Justice League's costumes since it comes from a different place. We're still ironing it out but, whereas the other costumes feel very modern and cool, ours needs to feel timeless and, hopefully, cool. We are dealing with magic rather than tailoring, so this has to be in there somehow."

Another change that may stick is that the hero may longer be referred to as Captain Marvel . . . but as Shazam as many fans already use that name Shazam to differentiate him from Marvel's Captain Marvel; let alone the legal ramifications. Yet, we will not find out for sure till the back up premieres. And note, this project was finished after the recently finished but yet to be printed Batman: Earth One graphic novel, which will also hit stores in 2012 which Frank stated:

"I enjoy working with Geoff so much that he was always going to be my first choice as a collaborative partner. When I first suggested finding another project, it was in response to the fact that there was going to be such a long time before Batman[: Earth One] hit the shelves. I wanted to get another project going so that I would have something out there."


Justice League # 5 written by Geoff Johns with art by Jim Lee with the Curse of Shazam backup also written by Johns with art by Gary Frank will hit stores January 18th, 2011.


ASPEN'S FIRST ONGOING SERIES

  Aspen has been notorious for several things: books that seem to have a very dubious, sporadic schedule; a wide variety of books in their line; multiple miniseries starring their properties like Fathom and Soulfire; and finally, the founder being the late Michael Turner.
    Well, things are about to change in Aspen as it announced its first ongoing series this past weekend. With the success of their weekly, summer crossover event known as Hit List Agenda, Aspen fixed their scheduling conflicts. And now, they will unleash their popular property, Executive Assistant: Assassins, created by David Z. Wohl, in 2012.
   Executive Assistant: Assassins deals with women who take up roles as Assistants, Bodyguards and Assassins for their high-powered Chinese superiors. Oddly enough, it is not Wohl but Aspen EIC Vince Hernandez himself who will be scripting the ongoing comic. When asked to why this title being the first given ongoing status:

The Executive Assistant property has been great for us. David Wohl, Brad Foxhoven and Michael Turner created not only a wonderful first two volumes containing a rich storyline and a diverse cast of personalities, but also an entire world filled with possibilities for future stories and new characters. We felt it was time to tap into that and explore different takes on the concept.

Executive Assistant:  Assassins will allow for that with the ongoing format and the open-ended nature of it. For instance, there are several fan-favorite characters from the first two volumes and the crossover that didn’t get as much time in the sun as the primary cast, and this will be an opportunity for fans to see them in more expanded tales and adventures.

The choice to do this particular title at the point is really just a matter of timing in our production schedule. We’ve discussed the ongoing format plenty of times before for different properties, and actually, there will be more upcoming announcements involving the ongoing format with our other popular titles that I think people are gonna get really excited about.

Hernandez also stated that the books will have clear arcs to follow with a beginning and an ending; and to note that there will be cast changes to follow other EX:As depending on the arcs. Many characters that we did see before, who are still alive anyway, will return during the ongoing. The first arc will be 3 issues entitled "Life After Death", featuring volume one veteran, Iris. After that, there is a 2 part arc with another EX:A.

The espionage, action pack femme fatale fest will begin in 2012.

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THIS WEEKEND IS TAKII: AN ANIME CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA

AND AT THE CONVENTION IS . . ..EVE OF CHAMPIONS

On Sunday, October 23rd, J1 Studios in conjunction with The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational will be hosting the Eve of Champions tournament!!! Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is the game, $10 to enter, and there's prizes in store for everyone.

 ___

And that is it for this week. More news next week. See ya then.