SDCC 3: Worlds of DC is Here!

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

Today was the big day for DC fans at SDCC as we got our first look at the future of DC films. With a shake up in leadership over at Warner Bros DC division, tonight was the launch of the 3rd cinematic rebrand: Worlds of DC, and what worlds we got to see. Tonight we got first glimpses at these worlds in trailers for two of their upcoming features.

Aquaman 

Possibly the most anticipated of these trailers, we finally got our first look at James Wan's Aquaman with Jason Momoa reprising his role as Arthur Curry, Amber Heard reprising Mera, and welcoming Patrick Wilson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Orm/Ocean Master and Black Manta respectively. This first look does not disappoint, visually stunning and vibrant colors, Atlantis is next generation Pandora from Avatar. The trailer also promises some fantastical action sequences of sea monster cavalry charges and epic under water duels, and a Black Manta that might just steal the show. All in all a fantastic first step for redeeming the DC brand.

SHAZAM

After so much controversy on "suit padding," it came somewhat of a surprise that the best trailer DC put out this comic con was SHAZAM. Some of you may have remembered that a long time ago I wrote a piece on my hopes and expectations of SHAZAM. Well folks, if this trailer is anything to go by, it has superceded my expectations. This movie just looks great, but most of all it looks genuinely fun. Zachary Levi proves he was the perfect decision for this movie, and it's exactly as I said it should be, Harry Potter meets Big. While it looks like they are double downing far more on the Big aspect, the magic is still there in moments like the train sequence, and him calling down the power of SHAZAM. 

There were some other big announcements for DC's Hall H panel this year. Gal Gadot spoke a bit about Wonder Woman 1984 being it's own film, and not being a sequel. They announced that the next animated feature after Reign of the Supermen will be coming the summer of 2019 and will be the first ever adaptation of the iconic Batman story: Hush. This begs to question on whether this will finally confirm the existence of other Robin's in this New 52 slate of animated features as Jason Todd plays a substantial role to the Hush storyline. 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we will be finishing up the SDCC round up here today as the convention comes to a close! Hope you all have enjoyed! 

SDCC pt 2: Animation Domination

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

While SDCC 2018 had a bit of a rough start, there has been a definite highlight: animation is dominating this convention in full force, and it started off with Dragon Ball last night.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

When it comes to the Shounen anime/manga genre, there is no conversation that can be had without the mention of Dragon Ball. Having been the inspiration to so many other works, Dragon Ball has had quite the legacy with its most recent series Dragon Ball: Super reaching its finale point here just months ago. Akira Toryama and his team have been hard at work readying a movie for us. This movie would bring a fan favorite movie villain an official member of Dragon Ball canon. Broly is coming to Dragon Ball in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Here is the trailer below:

This latest feature promises to give us quite the spectacle while simultaneously improving the experience by adding Frieza to the fight and having Vegeta not be utterly useless. Broly coming to the universe of Dragonball is a very welcome addition as most were less than please with his female knock off from the Tournament of Power.

Star Wars: Clone Wars (The Final Season) 

When it comes to franchises there are few that can come even close to matching Star Wars in its influence. One of the most divisive topics on this franchise are the set of prequel films from the early 2000's. However, while the prequels may not be loved by all, the spinoff Clone Wars, both of its iterations was lauded by all as a fun and complex view into the story taking place in the background of the prequels. When Disney acquired the rights of Star Wars, this show was given a final filler season, but was then brought to a conclusion. Well as of last night, Star Wars: Clone Wars has been saved and will return for a final season with a tagline that is sure to give chills: "A war unfinished... until now"

The first half of this trailer honestly gave me chills. It's great to see that we will get to see the end of the Clone War in the show. While some may feel this may not be needed with the success of Rebels, there is a lot of potential here and the trailer even has a really fun surprise reveal at the end. Either way, Star Wars: Clone Wars' return is much welcome and I am pretty damn excited to see the war's conclusion!

Young Justice: Outsiders 

While Titans has shown itself to be not worth spending 7.99 a month for a subscription to DC Universe, the long awaited third season of Young Justice has certainly made up for it. Young Justice is probably the most known example of a modern cartoon being saved by its fanbase as the show was cancelled at the end of its second season due to a lack of sales in merchandise. After years of petitions and rumor, the show is back and the 5 minute trailer has a lot to show off: 

Where to even begin, so much to love about this trailer. We have a genuinely interesting plot of metahuman trafficing on earth and some really cool looks at some of the new blood for this season. However, for me the highlights are obviously Darkseid, and Orion. Orion is one of my favorite DC characters, and given his status as a B or C list character in the universe, I am very excited to see how the Young Justice creative team handles him as they do an amazing job with niche characters.

While this Convention had a rough start that left me a bit cynical, these three trailers alone have renewed my energy for this convention! We have a lot things to talk about and tomorrow will be a really big day with the Aquaman trailer reveal and maybe even the trailers for Shazam and Wonder Woman: 1984.

Hope you have enjoyed this edition of Comic Relief! we look forward to bringing you more from SDCC this year!

SDCC pt 1: No I Wasn't a Fan of the 'Titans' Trailer

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

Well folks it's here, San Diego Comic Con, the convention of conventions, started yesterday and it kicked off with a bang, and don't get me wrong, there was an explosion, it just was in DC's face. Why is this you ask, because the long awaited show Titans debuted it's trailer, and to be nice we'll just say it's divisive.

Titans is the live action show focused on the fan favorite super team: The Teen Titans. The show stars Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Hawk & Dove coming together to form the iconic team. There are even confirmed appearances by other iconic young characters such as Jason Todd, most know as Red Hood, and Donn Troy, Wonder Girl. There has been a lot of build up and hype behind this show as they have been promoting, in particular, Robin in costume. Before we go any further here is the trailer so that you can have a frame of refference for what I have to say:

Now there are some moments in the trailer I like, but they are VASTLY outweighed by things I very much dislike. There is one thing I want to focus on in particular, and no it's not that Starfire still looks atrocious (really, a fur coat?), its not that beast boy only turns green when he's about to use his powers, it's not even the cringeworthy dialogue displayed at points, it's the shere brutality shown in the trailer, namely from Dick Grayson.

I understand that this show finds Dick in a darker place going between his transition from Boy Wonder to Nightwing. In the books and the animated series this time period shows Dick prone to bouts of angst. However, this first fight shows off Dick Grayson straight up murdering people. He snaps a dudes neck by stomping on it and punctuates the deed with a "Fuck Batman" line. Most obviously the direct thing that should be noticed is this sounds like a great Jason Todd. However, this isn't Jason, this is Dick Grayson. Honestly that's one of the things that stung most about this trailer, Dick Grayson doesn't feel like Dick Grayson at all.

Nightwing Annual 1 

Dick Grayson has a super power, it's not physical, it's not in the mind, it's that his compassion for others brings out the best in the people around him. It's why Batman and him are the dynamic duo, it's why in so many teams filled with super powered people, Dick takes point as the leader. There was a moment in the first annual of the current Nightwing run that teams the character up with Superman, where superman talks about Dick Grayson's approval being worth more than it's weight in gold, and it's all because of how much even Batman respects his opinion. Dick Grayson may be troubled in this time, but to make him cold and ruthless, to have him completely toss out the code enstilled in him after years of training by Batman. However, as out of character as this brutality was, what's even worse was that the violence in this trailer doesn't at all feel organic. It feels completely unnecessary.

There is so much excessive violence in this trailer. Dick Grayson brutalizing and potentially murdering a group of common street criminals, Dove slicing open the back of a guys knees with absolutely no context other than show her being a "badass." Look violence is a great selling point, but the amount of gore in this first trailer honestly makes me feel they werent using this violence to tell a story and show off their characters' abilities, it's actively just there to get an R rating essentially. The fact they thought this was the only way to get a mature rating on a Teen Titans show, it's fucking disappointing. They are TEENAGERS, a good friend of mine came up with a great idea to have the offtime for the Titans feel like an American Pie movie. Like there are so many ways, however, they just wanted to double down on DCEU's dark thematic tone, something it has received a great deal of blowback for. I mean I enjoyed the DCEU's tone, however, this was just ridiculous. What's worse is that it's supposed to be the foundation for a whole new set of shows and along with Young Justice season 3 is supposed to be the selling point of the DC Universe app (which oh by the way, is super over priced at 7.99 a month).

Plus Ultra or Up Up & Away

Welcome Back to Another Edition of Comic Relief! Where we talk about all the goings on in the world of Nerd!

Stories of heroes have been a driving force in civilization since the beginning of time: Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, all are legends that have stood the test of time because of how they represented and inspired their respective cultures. In modern times the comic book super hero has taken the place of it's mythological predecessors, and in the world of comics, none stand as iconic as Superman. However, with anime on the rise of popularity in the west, it's no surprise that eventually Japan would take a swing at the super hero genre. My Hero Academia is just that, and while the show may be about a young hero struggling his way to the top, there is a character that stands above everyone as the show's symbol of Peace and Justice. All Might is the number 1 hero, and watching him is like watching a tribute to some of the golden age of comics greatest heroes. Most notably, there are a lot of comparisons between All Might and Superman.

This post is in response to a claim made by ComicBook.com, in an article titled 7 Ways All Might is Better than Superman. To be frank, this article is garbage. Most of the points made in here are hollow and hardly are enough to even begin a solid argument as it shows a massive lack of understanding of Superman. That being said, I do believe that All Might is a better character than Superman, and while I don't think it's particularly fair to make that assessment, I will be talking about why exactly this is the case.

First of all, there is no point in trying to compare these two's motivations. They want the exact same thing, to provide people with a symbol of hope to believe in. This is actively what makes the audience notice the similarities of these two. So, lets talk origin. Ultimately what this boils down to is the fact that ultimately Superman has always had his powers. While there are arcs where Superman loses his abilities, it is not the same as growing up weak by society's standards and attaining the power out of a desire to help. To quote Abraham Erskine from Captain America: The First Avenger:

Because the strong man who has known power all of his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows... compassion. 

All Might was a quirkless (powerless) kid who just wanted to give people a pillar to hold them up so the can live a life of peace and always smile. While the story of Superman, a god (essentially) raised that would rather be man than a god is certainly a great story, most people identify with the underdog story a lot more.

Second on the table is powers. While Superman has not always been this way, one of his major faults in the eyes of the public is being overpowered. There was a time where Superman could literally have every power under the sun to a ridiculous extent. While at present he has a more streamlined power set, that stream lined set is still obscene. Granted that's kind of the point as DC comics are supposed to be a modern mythology, however, it makes writing him rather difficult as putting him up against physical challenges seems a bit anticlimactic. While All Might is extremely powerful, he is nowhere near the same level as Superman and his some pretty big weaknesses. This isn't what makes All Might's power tree "better" though.

Something that comes up with both characters are that they hold back from going 100 percent very frequently, mainly to keep destruction to a minimum and ensure there aren't civilian casualties from using their abilities. However, what I personally enjoy more about how they do this with All Might is that they show the devastation that can be caused by a single punch very well. One punch with all of Allmight's power builds enough air pressure to level a block. While undoubtably Superman can do the same thing, he has so much control over everything that it's very seldom that we get to actually feel that. It gets annoying sometimes too, as he'll very frequently get beat down by a new villain initially, and then come back a few pages later and practically one shot the villain. It's always explained with: "I was holding back," however, there was no consequence to him going all out. All Might you see and feel those consequences.

At the end of the day, I love both of these characters. Superman is in my top 3 favorite DC superheroes, and All Might is my favorite character in My Hero Academia and is easily in my top 10 heroes of all anime. I honestly don't believe it's fair to compare these two, and the big reason is that All Might is actively an amalgamation of the best traits of some of the greatest heroes of the Golden Age. His motivations, spirit, and symbolism come from Superman. His odd American patritiotism (all of his attacks are named after the states and cities) and origins of being weak before obtaining great strengh to help are pulled from Captain America, and his shape shifting from a weak form to a buff one is pulled from Captain Marvel (Shazam). There are probably even more similarities to other iconic heroes, the point remains All Might is a combination of some of these characters' BEST traits. It's not fair to say he's a better character than Superman, because that's actively the point. He's THE number 1 hero. He embodies the best traits of the best characters in comics and I don't think it's meant to be an excercide of oneupmanship so much as a tip of the hat to the greats.  All Might is a better character than Superman because he IS Superman, but at the same time he is more.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Comic Relief! We'll see you guys next time!

The Crow Remake Plummets as it Loses Yet Another Director and Star

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the World of Nerd!

In the genre of cult classics there are quite a few names that stand out from the 90s era of film, however, none come close to the legendary adaptation of James O'barr's acclaimed comic: The Crow. The film found a similar stigma as Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight due to the death of its star, Brandon Lee (28 year old son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee) on set due to an accident involving a prop revolver. Despite the tragedy of his death, Brandon's performance in The Crow was his most defining one as he brought such intensity and charm to the character of Eric Draven. Since it's release, there have been several sequels (all of which have failed utterly) that have tried to carry on the legacy of what Brandon Lee established so long ago. Most recently however, a reboot of that cult classic has been in production limbo, and yesterday it took a crippling blow when both their second director and star of the film walked from the project.



While, to many fans, this is being hailed as cherished news, as the announcement of a reboot of The Crow has been met with some very mixed feedback, it is honestly a shame that we are getting to miss out on this project. Not only was the actor who departed the role of Eric Draven none other than the great Jason Momoa (who took to social media announcing his departure by revealing some stunning concept art as him in the iconic Crow make up with him hiding in the back corner done up in it as well), but most importantly the screenplay was going to be done, in a great deal, by Jame O'barr himself which means that sadly we have missed out on an opportunity to see a closer vision to his actual vision (this is not to say that the Brandon Lee film butchered source material, so much as that it took some artistic liberties with O'barr's narrative that I would like to see corrected). This is the second time both a director AND a star have walked from this project (the first star being Luke Evans from the recent Dracula Untold), so even though there has been no announcement regarding a full on cancellation here, it's safe to say that best case scenario, it's not happening ANYTIME soon. For those interested and unfamiliar with The Crow, I have included a personal synopsis below:

It's true what they say you know, Love never dies. Shelly Webster and her rock and roll fiance, Eric Draven, were just a young couple madly in love, struggling to make their way in the world. To make matters worse they were living in the absolute wrong neighborhood. Devils Night, a holiday for the low life scum to raise hell across the city, erupts as a group of thugs break into their apartment, rape Shelly, and murder both her and her fiance. A year has passed since the horrific deed, but the suffering they endured has allowed for Eric Draven to come back from the dead. You see there was an ancient belief that the Crow carries the spirits of the dead to the afterlife, but in some special cases, if their death was bad enough, the spirit would be given a second chance in life to come back and exact revenge and gain closure in the land of the living before returning to rest. Bound to this world of the living by the Crow, Draven does just this and hunts down all those responsible for his murder and the murder of his beloved. 

You can check out either James O'barr's beautiful book or Brandon Lee's defining film, either way you can't go wrong. Unfortunately, it appears that you won't be able to see a new adaptation of it here in the near future.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you again soon! 

Despite A Little Promise Venom Will Still Suck

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

One of the most hotly anticipated comic book films to be released this year is the Sony helmed, Marvel film: Venom. With a promising cast and a passable trailer, people are anywhere between cautiously optimistic or hyped for the film which releases in October. However, I have some terrible news, and that is that Venom is probably going to suck.

It's certainly a hard pull to swallow for most people, I have been in numerous discussions about this very topic, and have been labelled a "hater." Well, if having a high standard and expectation for my favorite villain/ anti hero growing up makes me a "hater," than so be it. It still doesn't change the facts, and the facts are that this movie will suck because Sony doesn't understand Venom as a character, and in turn cannot hope to make a successful movie about him.

It must first be stated that this is not Sony's first time at bat with this character. Sam Raimi's third installment of the original Spider-Man trilogy we got to see the character on the silver screen for the first time. However, Spider-Man 3 bombed and one of the chief complaints of the film is the very weak portrayal of Venom in the film. This movie coming out may be the second time Venom makes it to the big screen, but it's technically Sony's third time going at the character. People seem to forget, but Sony had been setting up Venom for the Amazing Spider-Man films, in particular the Flash Thompson, Agent Venom. Luckily, Amazing Spider-Man as a franchise collapsed before it could get to Venom because it just didn't pay the dividends. Now Sony is up at the bat for a third time and right from the start there is trouble. Spider-Man has absolutely no part in this film. The Venom solo movie has no connection to Spider-Man whatsoever and that is a massive problem.

The story of Venom is intertwined with Spider-Man, without that dynamic you lose what makes this character special. Before I go further into this, it's very important to establish how Venom came to be, and this story starts with Spider-Man. While on an intergalactic adventure detailed in the massive crossover event called Secret Wars, Peter becomes bonded to a living organism called a symbiote that manifests as a black and white spider-man costume and is even able to imitate civilian outfits. In addition this suit gave Peter a bit of a boost in his abilities. He was stronger, faster, and could even spin webs on his own without the use of web cartridges. However, when Peter realizes that his aggression has been increased as well, he goes to long time friends the Fantastic Four and Reed Exposes the suit as a living being trying to permanently bond to Peter and take control. Using sonar tech they remove the symbiote from Peter. The symbiote was not pleased being rejected by its host and so it escaped and found a new one.

This is where Eddie Brock comes to play. Eddie is a failed reporter that blames his failures on Spider-Man. Upon losing his job at the Globe, Eddie took up weight lifting to cope, but it didn't help. Eventually he is found by the symbiote, and with Eddie oozing with negative energy, the symbiote chooses him as the new host. The Symbiote reveals Spider-Man to be Peter Parker, and together they will destroy Parker in revenge from what he took from them. Together they are Venom.

The story of Spider-Man and Venom is intimate. Without Spider-Man, Venom CANNOT exist. Even the design of Venom is dependent upon the symbiote's initial bond with Spider-Man. If this is not a part of the story, then you lose the significance of his design. Venom is this warped perversion of Spider-Man, he's everything Spidey isn't: vile, disgusting, brutal, and filled with rage. Without the connection to Spider-Man what reason does the suit have to look the way it does? And it doesn't matter what bullshit the story of this film tries to push to explain this, it will be hollow and will lack the weight that everything down to the design of this character has. Based off of what is shown in the trailer, it's very clear that they are taking away the character's connection to the web head.

All things being said, I'm not omniscient. Venom could be the representation comic fans have been hoping for. If it is, that's great. I would LOVE  for this movie to prove me wrong, this film has a great cast and if they can pull off the film I'll be very happy. However, based off what I have read and seen during this nightmare of a production, from a lack of Spider-Man to Sony's HORRIFIC advertising campaign of the film, there's not a lot of hope to be had for this film.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you've enjoyed and we will see you next time!

White Knight: A Batman Story of A Generation

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the things going on in the world of nerd!

"Iconic" is defined as: widely known and acknowledged for it's excellence. In the realm of comic books it is a rare thing for a character to have an arc that can reach this outstanding hallmark. However, if there were a property or a character that proved to be an exception to this rule, it would have to be none other than Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham City. Generation to generation, the legacy of this character has been passed proudly down from creative team to creative team. Each time the torch is passed we see the character's reinvention.

Dark Knight Returns, Long Halloween, Court of Owls, these are just a few stories of the Bat that have established themselves as iconic Batman stories. Well this year, a story was released over an 8 issue limited series that climbed new heights and attained the mantle of iconic. Sean Murphy's Batman: White Knight is a story set in Bruce Timm's beloved animated universe, and in a way it truly serves as a new final chapter in the story of Batman.

Like so many stories before, the heart of this is a struggle between Batman and the Joker, except that Sean Murphy flips the dynamic on it's head. In this story, the titular "White Knight," is none other than Jack Napier, the man that was before the Joker. Without sufficient evidence to convict Napier, Jack turns his efforts to saving the city he once terrorized. Jack Napier is going to save Gotham, and he's going to do it by saving it from Batman. Establishing himself as a modern day citizen Kane, Jack becomes a social advocate against Batman. Jack uses a soapbox platform to bring to light the wanton destruction that is a result of Batman's reckless methods, and exposes how the Gotham elite have been profiteering off of the constant destruction Batman causes to the slums while chasing down his rogues. Jack finds his greatest ally in his reformed partner in crime from the Joker days, Harlene Quinzel. Together they turn the public opinion against Batman. However, Batman will not take these losses lying down, and while Gotham's knights war with one another, a new evil comes to surface in the background of Jack Napier's making.

From the first panel in it's debut issue, to the last of the finale, this story is a page turner that maintains it's high quality throughout. The stellar writing is only enhanced by the artwork which is also done by Sean Murphy who clearly takes a lot of the spirit of Bruce Timm's Animated Gotham, while simultaneously adding a bit of his own personal flare. Harder lines and even with color, there is a major contrast between light and dark.

I would personally give Batman: White Knight a 9.5 out of 10. All 8 issues have been released and soon the trade paper should be en route. There is even rumor that Sean Murphy is going to release a director's cut that will include parts of the story that were too graphic to be included upon initial release, so keep an eye out and give this story a read!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you next time!