Comic Creators You Should Follow On Twitter

Ever wonder what your favourite comic book creators are really like beyond the pages? Do you have questions about their creative processes ? Twitter is the best to find your answers!

These are some of the creators I follow.

The frist creator I believe you should be following is Greg Capullo (@GregCapullo). Greg has just recently finished a five-year run drawing Batman For DC. Greg first and foremost is hilarious. Fair warning if you can’t take a joke or are easily offended this account is not for you to follow. If you think you can troll Greg, you are wrong he is a master troll slayer. Besides the entertainment factor, Greg interacts a lot with his fans and regularly shows art progress for his current projects. I met Greg at the Fanexpo Canada convention fours years ago (plan on meeting him again this Sept at Fanexpo Canada) and I have to say he is one of the nicest and coolest creators in the business.

Todd Nauck (@ToddNauck) is another comic book artist who has worked for Marvel And DC, as well as Image. Todd will do a periscope broadcast of him drawing while interacting with viewers as best he can. He will also usually do a Q&A with the viewers after he is finished drawing. The coolest thing is when Todd goes to a convention he holds a contest on Twitter. Todd will post commissions he does for fans on Twitter and to enter you just retweet one or all of the sketches he posts during the three or four days of the convention. Once Todd is back from the convention, he uses a random number generator to determine the winner. The prize is an original head sketch of a character of your choice personalised to you. For more specific details check the link in his bio.

Ryan Stegman (@RyanStegman) is a Marvel comic book artist who is currently drawing Uncanny Avengers. Ryan a daily sketch warm up usually every morning from Monday to Friday. About an hour, before he broadcasts on periscope, he sends out a tweet asking for character suggestion. Once the broadcast is over, Ryan puts the sketch up for sale on his site and is usually gone in a matter of minutes.

Jim Zub (@JimZub) Is a comic book writer who has worked for Marvel (currently writing Thunderbolts. get it if you can ) and has two creator owned books through Image (Skullkickers available in trade paperback and Wayward available in trade paperback and currently ongoing. Also recommend getting it). Jim interacts quite a lot with fans and has a website full of priceless advice for becoming a professional writer in the comic book industry, as well as some business and networking information.

These are just a few of the creators I follow. The chances are high your favourite comic book creator is on Twitter; it seems to be the preferred social media platform. Give them a Google or Twitter search to find out.

My article output will be slowed down for a little bit in the coming week or so. I will be moving my family to a better living situation, and Canada Day is right around the corner.

I do have some articles and ideas in the works. I plan on reviewing All-Star Batman #1 by Scott Snyder, John Romita Jr,  Jock, Sean Murphy and Kill or be Killed #1 by Ed Brubaker And Sean Philips shortly after their respected releases in August. These two books, in my opinion, are going to be the biggest releases for the mainstream and creator-owned markets this summer.

 

Cancelled Figures From ‘Disney Infinity’ Revealed

It was only last month that Disney confirmed that not only would they be cancelling their popular video game series Disney Infinity, but that they were pulling out of video game publishing entirely. Since then, details have been coming to light about the future of the series and the plans they had – which is just salt in that Disney Infinity sized wound.

In a report on Kotaku, they revealed plans were being made for the next installment of the game series to include Star Wars: Episode VIII, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Cars 3 and some others.

Even more content for 3.0 would have been released later this year, including a Doctor Strange figurine that would be based on Benedict Cumberbatch’s appearance in the upcoming movie (releasing November 2016) and the first wave of premium 12″ figures, including Darth Vadar, Jack Skellington, Hulkbuster Iron Man, The Hulk and Buzz Lightyear.

To add further salt to the wound, Infiniteer Adventures on YouTube has revealed further information, including what the Doctor Strange and 12″ Hulk figurines would have looked like, and revealed that Disney Interactive were working on figurines for Peter Pan, Jafar from Aladdin, and even an amazing Spider-Gwen(!!!) from Marvel Comics.

The first version of Disney Infinity was released in 2013, and featured playable favourites such as Sulley from Monster’s Inc., Mr Incredible from The Incredibles, Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas and many many more. Whilst the first installment focused primarily on classic Disney characters, Disney Infinity 2.0 released the following year focusing largely on the Marvel superheroes, such as Spider-Man, Captain America and Star-Lord. The third, and now final release, launched last year, based primarily on the Star Wars franchise, with play sets for throughout the series from the original trilogy to The Force Awakens.

Disney Infinity is a popular franchise, even if just for their unique and detailed figurines, and it will be sorely missed by children and adults alike (though maybe not parents!)

 

Marvel & DC Vs Everyone Else

With  superhero movies dominating the box office, and their comics now in the forefront of mainstream media are there any alternatives to spandex, super strength and speed?

Many people’s first comic was a superhero comic. Whether it was a Marvel comic like Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, X-force or Avengers, or a DC comic like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Justice League, Wonder Woman or Green Arrow. Chances are we all started out with one of those titles.

Depending on the time in your life you discovered comics you may or may not feel that the current state of superhero comics in 2016 is a bit stagnate and somewhat frustrating. In the past five years, alone Marvel and DC have rebooted and relaunched their universes numerous times. Countless #1 issues have been appearing on comic shop shelves, which for the most part is to increase sales and to attract new readers.

With superhero movies making big money at the box office this makes sense from a business standpoint. The thing is that rebooting an entire universe messes with some 30-75 years of history depending on the character. This contradicting information can confuse new readers as well as longtime fans, and unfortunately, can anger them to the point of uttering death threats. (Sigh…which is a topic for another article)

The significant events that Marvel and DC have every summer have been criticised as a cash grab. Many Events required you to buy books outside of the main storyline to get the full story. Thankfully recently that has started to change.

That being all said there is a certain predictability to superhero stories. We know when a Character is “killed” off they are never really dead for long. The many crossovers with other books in the universe, with minimal new characters created, makes for a not so bright future for superhero comics.

What I believe we should consider and support are creator-owned comic books. Creator-owned comics are original ideas and intellectual property owned by the creative team. The creators do not answer to a corporate overseer, they have complete control and say in their creation.

Image Comics is a publisher that releases 100% creator-owned comics. In the past four or five years, Image Comics popularity and sales have grown significantly. Thanks to comics like The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman Tony Moore and Charlie Adler, Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark and East of West by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta. Many of these creators made their name with their work at Marvel and DC, which helped them sell their projects at Image.

Comics publisher IDW has the comic book rights some of the 80’s and 90’s biggest tv shows and movies such as Transformers, G.I Joe, Ghostbusters, Back To The Future, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and My Little Pony. They have also brought back older ones like Godzilla, Star Trek and the Rocketeer. IDW even had the 10th season of X-Files before its recent return to tv back  in January.

Other smaller publishers like Boom Studios, Comix Tribe, Oni Press, and many others offer original comic properties. While it may seem like a risk to invest in non-superhero comics, it’s worth it for the variety available today. You also have countless free webcomics and Kickstarter campaigns from amateurs and professionals.

Don’t get me wrong I still pick up a few superhero titles; I’m not saying there aren’t any good superhero titles at all, just not nearly as many as there used to be. So if you find yourself like me lacking a choice in mainstream comics take a chance with creator-owned comics. When you support them, the creators get the money directly allowing them to help themselves and continue to create great content. Many creators have had some awful experiences with Marvel and or DC so supporting their dreams, in turn, gives you new, exciting comics to read.

It would be great to see creator-owned comics surpass Marvel and DC in sales. Hopefully, that day is soon the odds are in their favour.

 

Sir Patrick Stewart Confirms Role In Wolverine 3

So it has now been confirmed that Sir Patrick Stewart will be reprising his role as Professor X in Hugh Jackmans final outing as James Logan Hewitt aka Wolverine.

 Stewart announced the news via his Twitter account calling it the ‘worst kept secret’ because over the last year Stewart and the producers have been talking about his involvement.

Producer Hutch Parker confirmed the casting a day earlier to Collider after Jackman has previously given details about the plot.

“I’ll be really honest with you, the actual script in it’s full form we’re up to about Page 60” Hugh explained.

“Obviously there’s a treatment, so it’s not fully done yet, we’re not fully there. Patrick does figure in it that’s for sure. I think it’s a really important relationship but I want to see signs of that quasi-father/son sort of relationship that has not been seen before, and sides of particularly Professor X that have not been seen before. So we have some really, really cool ideas.”

We are still unsure to actually what time frame the movie will be based in as we have been teased with an old man Logan timeline further along in Logan’s life where he has a family and the world is broken into territories run by super villains or the latest one where the title of the film was leaked of Weapon X which may mean the story takes place sooner than we had thought.

This film could also be the last time we see Stewart take up the role as Professor X as he does not appear in X-Men Apocalypse.

As always for all your Adimantium laced movie updates stick with @Deadpool_1984 only at skatronixxx.com

Sharon Stone Confirmed for “Wee” Marvel Movie Role

Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct, Total Recall) has been confirmed for a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

According to an interview for AARP Magazine, Sharon Stone has confirmed that she has a “minor role” in an MCU movie. She hasn’t revealed much, simply that it will definitely be a superhero and that they have “heat powers.”

Stone had already spoken about this before, on the chat show The Late Late Show with James Corden (where she also got mighty close to longtime fan Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The First Avenger, Political Animals, Once Upon a Time);

“I’m just doing a wee part in a Marvel movie, upcoming, and I can’t tell, because you know, you have to sign confidentiality agreements. But I’m going to do a wee part in a Marvel movie now. That’s it.”

Marvel fans are now speculating on who she could possibly be in the realm of female superheros, and plenty are landing on the theory that she will be Janet Van Dyne – former wife to Hank Pym and mother to Hope in the MCU’s installment of Ant-Man.

In the movie, it’s revealed that Janet sacrificed herself by going sub-atomic as The Wasp, presumably fading away as she shrinks forever. However, given that Scott Lang was able to come back from going sub-atomic, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest Janet could have managed the same thing. We never saw her face in the movie either, so it’s left the MCU a lot of room to play with that.

It also makes sense because whilst Janet doesn’t have “heat powers”, she does use stinger weapons – which could be perceived as a type of heat.

However, there are plenty of other superheroes in the Marvel universe with heat abilities, male and female, and movies are very adaptable. Not to say she’ll shout “FLAME ON” and shoot up into the sky in her part, but there are other options – for example, Gaea, who would be a fitting role in Thor: Ragnarok. She’s an incredibly powerful God with multiple, powerful abilities – and top it off with her very odd connection to Thor, it could make for an interesting character addition.

However, Marvel are keeping a very tight lid on this, and also appear to have Stone under lock and key. So for now, the internet continues to speculate, until the faithful day that they officially release word, or until someone else who knows at Marvel accidentally lets it slip. We’ll keep you updated…

 

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Casts Michael Barbieri

Michael Barbieri (Little Men, The Dark Tower, Killer) has been cast in Spiderman: Homecoming.

The up-and-coming actor has been rumoured to be based on Ganke Lee, best friend to Miles Morales (a Spider-Man from another universe.) However, there has been backlash to this rumour due to the fact that Ganke is an Asian character. This comes not all that long after the recent Doctor Strange issue of whitewashing by casting Tilda Swinton, and the massive backlash towards Marvel from fans.

However, this is just a rumour, and no official word on who he’s actually playing has been released by Marvel.

Barbieri is known most for his role of Tony Calvelli in Little Men and is currently cast as the role of Timmy in The Dark Tower, the TV adaptation of the Stephen King series by the same name.

Spiderman: Homecoming is due for release on July 7th 2017, with Tom Holland (Captain America: Civil War, In the Heart of the Sea, Billy Elliot the Musical) set to star as the web-slinger. He’ll be reprising the role after the characters debut in Captain America: Civil War. 

Other actors to star in this movie include Zendaya (K.C. Undercover, Black-ish), Marisa Tomei (The Big Short, The Wrestler), Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The 5th Wave), Michael Keaton (Birdman, Batman, Batman Returns) and Laura Harrier (Unforgettable, 4th Man Out) with Robert Downey Jr. (The Judge, Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man) set to feature in the movie as Iron Man/Tony Stark.

 

Norman Reedus As Ghost Rider

If there’s one thing Norman Reedus is known for, besides starring in AMC’s The Walking Dead, it’s his ability to ride a motorcycle. Thanks to this bad-ass ability he has had the opportunity to have his own show titled Ride with Norman Reedus.

While he won’t be shooting walkers with his crossbow, he had the chance to do an interview with Uproxx about motorcycle-related topics. When asked by Uproxx if he would be down to play Ghost Rider if Marvel came calling, his response was pretty much what we’ve come to expect and love from Norman. A hell yeah! Seriously, this is what he says:

“Hell yeah. It would be a blast. Do I get a skull face that’s on fire and all that stuff? Fuck yeah. I’m down.”

So who is Ghost Rider? A stunt motorcyclist named Johnny Blaze who sold his soul to Satan in order to save his father’s life (crossroads Demon anyone?). Every night Blaze’s flesh becomes consumed with hellfire with a flaming skull atop his head. The motorcycle he rides is also fiery, and Blaze has the power to make his chain a weapon of fire.

Norman also acknowledged that he liked Nicolas Cage‘s version of Ghost Rider which included Ghost Rider (2007) and the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012). After the sequel, Nicolas Cage said he was done with the Ghost Rider films, and the film rights have returned back to Marvel Studios. With this in mind, it definitely seems possible for Norman to snag the role (and he’d be damn good at it).

Here’s a short clip of Nicolas Cage’s version of Ghost Rider. Keep in mind with the new CGI effects of 2016, Ghost Rider would look even more amazing, plus Norman Reedus starring? Hell yeah. We are so on board with this.

What do you think about Norman as Ghost Rider? The perfect fit? Worried about how it may clash with his TWD schedule? Or maybe you think a Ghost Rider remake shouldn’t happen and Norman has a better Marvel/DC role suited for him? Whichever the case let us know. Comment, share and like below, or tweet me @SohoDoll.

Marvel Animation Has Confirmed Short Series For ‘Ant-Man’ And ‘Rocket & Groot’

Marvel Animation will be working on a pair of TV short series, titled Ant-Man and Rocket and Groot.

This information came from Variety’s article regarding international projects that will be made in France (due to their tax rebates on animation work). Both series will be made by French filmmakers.

Rocket and Groot will be directed by Arnaud Delord. His work mostly consists of music videos, but the visuals are wonderful and outlandish. This direction will be more than enough to showcase the adventures of Rocket Racoon and Groot themselves.

The team being Ant-Man consists of Kevin Manach and Ugo Bienvenu. They have a more retro-graphic style, which is going to be absolutely perfect for a comic adventure, especially a hero as crazy and fun as Ant-Man.

So far there’s no word on when productions beginning (hopefully soon!) and when we can expect to see the series, but for now, know that something awesome is in the works for Marvel Animation!

New Wolverine Film Gets Interesting Title

So news broke today that the next installment and Hugh Jackmans final appearance as Wolverine may have finally been given a title – Weapon X now those of you who know and love Wolverine as much as me knows that this title ties into the experiment that gave Wolverine his Adamantium skeleton.

Now this throws in a curve ball to the mix as there have been a fair few rumors around the film being linked to the Old Man Logan story from the comic books. This could just be a title that may mean Logan finally finds closure of what was done to him as we saw at the end of X-Men Days Of Futures Past Wolverine was taken away by a young William Stryker who we know was responsible for enlisting Logan into the Weapon X program. But this could also make a lot of sense as it has been rumored that X-23 a female clone of Wolverine (Has the Weapon X program been started up again?) it may fall to Wolverine to be the only one capable of stopping this.

Once again this give us more questions than answers to exactly what story line the film is actually going to be following or it could mean that they will be taking influences from a few of the different story arcs and then tying them together. It appears we will have to wait and see until the next batch of rumors to see if any of the information coming out can be cleared up.

As always for all your feral mutant needs stick with @Deadpool1984 only at skatronixxx.com

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – Villain Revealed

As always, Marvel is quite adept at keeping revealing plot details of their movies to themselves —characters included. However, thanks to some detective work by JoBlo, we now have the suspected role of a new villain narrowed down to one cast member.

Here’s a main cast list:

• Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord
• Zoe Saldana as Gamora
• Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer
• Vin Diesel as Groot
• Bradley Cooper as Rocket
• Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta
• Karen Gillan as Nebula
• Sean Gunn as Yondu’s first mate in the Ravagers
• Glenn Close as Irani Rael / Nova Prime
• Pom Klementieff as Mantis / Celestial Madonna
• Chris Sullivan (role unknown)
• Kurt Russel as Peter Quill’s father
• Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha 

Ayesha

Ayesha’s list of aliases is rather long: Her, Paragon, J’Ridia Starduster, and Kismet, to name a few. Thanks to JoBlo’s independent sources we know with certainty that her name in GOTG 2 will in fact be Ayesha. Who is Ayesha? Basically a bunch of scientists came together and created “the perfect human.” She has kick-ass superpowers, and her ultimate goal is to find the perfect mate.

Elizabeth Debicki

So who is this actress, Elizabeth Debicki, and why is she getting the role of such a kick-ass villain? While she certainly looks like a promising Ayesha, with her beautiful golden skin and blonde hair, she has years of experience starring in major stage performances, films and TV series. Her accredited stage performances include the productions The Gift and The Maids, at the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company respectively. Some of the major films she has starred in are The Great Gatsby (2013), Macbeth (2015), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), and Everest (2015). Most recently she has caught the eye of the public with her performance in the TV series The Night Manager.

So what are your opinions on this casting? If you’ve watched Debicki act before, do you think she suits the role well? Or would you have preferred a different casting? Comment, share and like below, or tweet me @SohoDoll. And as always, “I am Groot.”