New Age News: Capullo to Haunt, Avengers Cancelled, Birds of Prey Returns and Video Games!

Since early last week there have been a few announcements I didn’t foresee being announced. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing another New Age News so soon. Trust me. Now sadly for all you JLI fans I don’t have anything to say on the Generation Lost bi-weekly or really much else from DC with the exception of Birds of Prey. This will be a somewhat light edition but I haven’t been able to write much all weekend thanks to hurting my wrist so I’m just glad to be writing something at all! Now lets get to the news.

Capullo the Official Haunt Artist

Birds of Prey Reboot

Avengers Cancelled

Video Game News

Greg Capullo is Haunt’s new Artist

This one blew me away when I read it this morning. I honestly didn’t believe it when I saw it, but I read it right, Greg Capullo is the official artist of Haunt as of issue #6. Awe damn. Seems Ottley was getting a little torn between both books and when he knew he had to choose one he chose Invincible, a smart choice I figure.

So then Capullo was given an alternative as well, return to Spawn or draw Haunt. To be honest I loved Capullo’s run on Spawn but I can totally support why he’s not drawing the comic that helped make him famous. He drew Spawn longer then anyone else has I believe, and he turned in amazing work, but even legends like Kirby an Romita Sr. moved on from the books that made them famous.

So Greg Capullo drawing Haunt is excellent news for me. Now mind you I’ve loved Ottley’s work as of recently, he’s really grown to the book and he fits it beautifully so seeing him leave is sad. Hopefully he’ll still do a random one-shot every once in a blue moon and turn in some covers because his art works well with the series.

Still he left on his own decision which I totally respect. Not to mention I’d hate to see him leave Invincible even though I’ve enjoyed his work so far on Haunt. So at least I’ll still be getting my Ottley greatness, even if not twice a month.

All that and Greg Capullo is drawing a monthly again! YES! Capullo has done a random comic here and there, covers for Spawn and now layouts for Haunt but as far as a monthly gig he hasn’t had that in years. Seeing him drawing the book he’s helped make popular with his strong lay out designs is excellent.

I love Capullo’s art so seeing him on a monthly basis is great. Exactly what I love and I’m more then certain he’ll excel on Haunt. He’s already done a couple of great covers so seeing him tackle the interiors and pencils will be excellent, I can’t wait to see him on a monthly basis again after all these years.

So yeah I’ve been loving Haunt and this announcement just furthers my excitement for the series. Kirkman’s excellent and fun writing along with Capullo’s great pencils are sure to make a great comic each month and while I’ll miss Ottley the sheer fact that I’ll be seeing Capullo every month just fills me with so much joy.

Birds of Prey Returns

Silly DC, thinking you could keep a good team down. Now in all honesty I never read the last series of BoP. I heard good and bad things about it. Most of the good I heard was from Gail Simone’s writing so I figure that’s a good sign for this series since she’s the announced writer.

Then there’s Ed Benes on art…I just…I don’t know to be honest. I equate him to the typical bland DC artist. The style DC so boringly sticks with and never tries to change with new and exciting artists. He’s everything I don’t like about DC art that was left over for the 90’s. But at the same time I cant’ deny that as far as artists are concerned he can turn in good work, even if it’s not to my tastes.

Still I think I may check this out. It’s written by one of DC’s best writers and it stars some of their best characters in Gotham. Also seeing Black Canary there on a regular basis is really cool as well as seeing Oracle and Huntress along with her should be a lot of fun.

Now as for the shaded in characters my guess is that the bat-shaped girl is either Cassandra Cain (would be nice if DC didn’t pretend she no longer exists) or maybe Stephanie, but I don’t know why the hell they’d black her out when everyone knows she’s Batgirl.

Still this is a really cool reboot and when this new volume debuts, if I can afford it, I’d love to check it out.

Avengers Cancelled

All Right Marvel, I concede that I did not see this one coming. I expected that the main Avengers title would return with either a new #1 or renumbering, and I knew that Dark Avengers was doomed by issue #1 but I concede that I did not see you canceling all 4 titles. Touché, you win this one.

Now if there isn’t going to be a Mighty Avengers reboot, then I’ll be pissed. It seems Dan Slott has just really started hitting his stride with it. It’s taken some time but Slott really has engrossed me in Mighty Avengers and for Marvel just to cancel it and with the possibility of them not giving Slott his Avengers still really bugs the hell out of me.

I can understand why they made Dark Avengers an ongoing just for the Dark Reign Status Quo, but Mighty Avengers is the Avengers book fans have been clamoring for as it’s fun super heroic so to see it end and get no reboot would really be a jackass move on Marvel’s part.

I do sort of wish Initiative wasn’t getting canceled. Even though I stopped reading it long ago I still have a place in my heart for that series so seeing it get canceled is sad.

New Avengers getting canceled honestly shocked me. I never thought Marvel would even consider canceling New Avengers, easily their most popular of all the Avengers titles. Hopefully Marvel doesn’t shoot themselves in the foot with this one.

Now there’s also the idea of who could write the latest Avengers ongoing that everyone speculates will happen. My best guess is that it will just be more Bendis only with the core 3 heroes, Cap, Thor and Iron Man in an Avengers ongoing and hopefully leaving Slott to do his own thing with his original team still. That’s what I hope for.

Kevin brought up Ed Brubaker and I think that one could work but at the same time Brubaker’s been a pretty busy guy and I don’t think he’s ever handled the full roster of Avengers yet. Still he’s a great writer so maybe he could do it.

Speaking of Avengers, I hope that once Heinberg and Cheung wrap up their run of the Young Avengers that we’ll finally get a damn ongoing. My writer choice is Paul Cornell with art by none other then Mark Brooks. That to me is my Young Avengers dream team, make it happen Marvel!

In the end this is a pretty big move from Marvel and I’m interested to see where it all goes in 2010.

Zero Collection, Sonic, Megaman 10

Just some random Video Game News I wanted to quickly mention my glee over. Sorry for no links, but with multiple announcements it’s better just to mention the news this time around.

First my most anticipated announcement being a Megaman Zero Collection coming in April to Japan on the DS. I absolutely loved the Megaman Zero series, easily some of the best games out there on the GBA so seeing them all together in one DS cartridge has me super excited.

It’s also funny since just the other day I was figuring I should track down 1 and 3. I have 2 and 4 and I’ve played 1 and 3 but never owned them. Now Capcom is giving us a real treat with this collection. Anyone who missed this and has a DS owes it to themselves to get 4 of the best GBA games of all time in one place…assuming it comes to America that is. Makes it happen, Capcom! Or you’ll crush my heart…

Then there’s the announcement that Sonic is the only character in his upcoming 2D side scrolling HD adventure, Project Needlemouse (Mr. Needlemouse being Sonic’s original name from creator Yuji Naka…but I’m a nerd so I remember that crap) which is easily another highly anticipated game of 2010 for me.

Now I’ve come to like a lot of the characters in the Sonic cast, Tails, Shadow, hell even Big the Cat has a place in my heart. So seeing them all get ignored like this is a little sad but at the same time I’m just excited for a console 2D sonic game so as long as it’s the blue dude with ‘tude and no one else that’s just fine with me. Can’t wait to hear more on this game.

Then finally there was the reveal of the Robot Masters from Megaman 10. Now most of them turned out pretty good, even Pumpman (the name irks me but whatever) and especially Sheepman. The only one I don’t like is Strike Man. I expected something odd, but…a baseball? I had a hard time accepting Dustman as it is, but a baseball, that’s just stupid.

Still I’m excited as all hell for this game especially in the Robot Masters department, they all look really cool and it’s going to be exciting seeing them and what they do. Can’t wait to see more for this game.

So ends the latest New Age News. It’s been nice writing again but my wrist is still acting up so I’m not sure if I’ll be writing my usual long reviews for a little while. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, everyone!

Comic Reviews - January 8th 2009

I’ve got 5 comics to review but not enough time to review all 5 in one day. So we’re going to split this up into 2 parts. 3 reviews today, 2 tomorrow. It will be 2 posts which usually I wouldn’t do but this is much easier. So today we’ve got the other 2 comics of this week as well as my most anticipated comic of December. Let’s get to it!

Haunt #4

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

Opening Comments: Kirkman really amps up Haunt by giving us some real exciting stuff this issue but also gives us a great character read. Making this the best issue of Haunt yet.

Story Comments: Let’s start with my one big problem with this issue and it’s that we never see anymore discussion between Kurt and Daniel. I was expecting some follow up from last time but really all we got was Daniel saying they’ve made up for now. After such a powerful moment last issue I expected some follow up.

Though this issue was much more jammed with stuff going on to actually have that follow up so for now I am fine. This issue had a great blend of action, character work and lots of solid moments.

I was glad to see Amanda again. Seems she’ll be an important character to the cast and seeing her actually get some use in the story again was nice. I especially loved her interactions with Haunt after he saved her. Though I do think it was rather typical to have her get kidnapped, it worked well still.

Amanda is an interesting character. We see she’s clearly a strong woman (perhaps she secretly knows what Kurt was?) and it was nice to see Kirkman use her for something at least. I’m hopeful she’ll appear soon though and actually stick around more often though because I want to know more about her. She could be an essential side-character and Kirkman hopefully will have her play a more important role later on.

I did like seeing the experiments that the Dr. had been working on and getting some follow up on that. It’s a typical “good science used for evil” type of thing. Still we at least know what he was working on and that’s another piece of the puzzle. Also seeing the mutated boy was rather heartbreaking.

Seeing the mole in the agency walk around right by Daniel is worrying. I’m curious if she’ll be a major villain through the story since right now she’s doing a good job at playing nice guy.

The best part of this issue was of course when we see Haunt in action again. I absolutely loved his interaction with the director and Daniel’s reactions where priceless. Probably my favorite part had to be Daniel shouting if the car can fly (it is a spy car after all) and Daniel mentioning it’s better that the director not knowing how they are getting through traffic so fast when we see they are doing all kinds of crazy  things. It was hilarious.

Kirkman is doing a great job adding his own level of strong writing and influence into the story now. It’s feeling more and more like a Kirkman comic with the strong dialogue and fun moments. Even if it’s still a violent and gritty story Kirkman is really adding that extra layer of personal touch that makes it so much fun to read.

Really this comic is turning into the perfect Robert Kirkman comic. While at first the comic lacked his style in the first issue as time goes on it feels more and more like his personal touch and it really brings Haunt to life like no other writer could making it a really unique and enjoyable experience.

Then there’s Haunts interactions with Amanda. I really like how we see the caring side of Daniel and Kurt in the more quiet moment between these 2. It’s only 2 pages but it’s really effective. We see that clearly they both still care a lot about her so this one moment really is enjoyable for it. I hope Amanda either finds out who Haunt is soon or that she and Daniel interact more real soon.

The action is a really powerful part of Haunt right now. Kirkman can write really cool action and the short fight with Cobra was much better this time then it was in issue #2.  Here Cobra felt like a bit more of a real threat and the way the fight is choreographed is really impressive.

My only real complaint with the action is how they beat Cobra. They slice open his face and he runs away. The way Kurt talks about Cobra you’d think this is the guy who’d keep fighting until he’s nothing but a bodiless head so I felt that was a cheap way to wrap up the fight.

Though still the action was excellent and it was cool seeing someone who is just a normal guy (or so it seems for now) take on Haunt and is a viable threat to him. Also we get a little mention that Cobra has killed “his kind” before. Does that mean that Haunt is indeed in the larger Image universe (Kirkman himself said he’s not sure if it is yet) or maybe there are other Haunts out there? I’m curious to know.

Then there’s the reveal that Haunt’s powers weaken Daniel. I really liked this twist for the character. It means we can’t exactly have him going on a stake out and be like this all night without putting Daniel in serious danger. It’s a really interesting twist for the character and I’m hopeful that Kirkman uses it well in later issues since it is our heroes one major weakness.

On another complaint about the story I was disappointed that the assistant director Beth didn’t really have any lines or do anything in this issue. I was half expecting her to confront Daniel about Kurt or something but not seeing her do anything, just show up ina couple of panels, was rather disappointing.

I have to mention our villain, Mr. Hurg. (who I swear has Atom Eve for an assistant) we see more of him and it seems he’s a bit of a health nut. Scolding the near dead Cobra as he lays in a hospital bed about his dietary choices. It was funny but I’m not sure if this is the characters quirk or Kirkman was just writing him like this for a moment. It seems like a small insight to the character in showing he may be an old man but he’s healthy, meaning he could be a viable threat in battle to Haunt.

Then there’s the cliff-hanger. Damn, that left my jaw on the floor. It was so awesome. So yeah I called it Mirage took the Dr.’s notebook and is now looking to sell it to Hurg. Oh damn. This could give the bad guys a huge advantage and seeing that left me dying for more (bad pun I know) but I am seriously psyched for next month’s issue.

Overall this was an excellent issue of Haunt. It had everything, great action, solid character work and from page to page it was a great read that left me fully satisfied as well as excited for more next time.

Art Comments: Ottley has come a long way in these prior 4 issues. Seems he was just getting his groove and now totally has Haunt down. Every panel contains that greatness he’s always conveyed over in Invincible and even has a new level of awesome thanks to the way he handles the action.

Of course the best part though is the way he draws Haunt. He really cuts loose with Haunt and goes wild with the character and it looks absolutely awesome. I’m loving the art on Haunt.

Final Comments: Haunt is on it’s way to becoming one of the best Image comics out there just as Invincible has become. If you’re looking for fun violent over the top heroics with some excellent action and great characters then Haunt is that book and this issue is the best yet so far.

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Art Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #5

Written: Brain Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

Opening Comments: Ultimate Comics Spider-man closes it’s first arc with a bang (literally) and all the while gives us an exciting run read with Bendis’ usual great use of dialogue and fun character work. Oh, and there’s lots of pretty art too!

Story Comments: the opening spread of Peter narrating all about his life was an interesting idea. I don’t think we see this in many comics but it was a nice way to get out all the Bendis monologue with it getting all over the gorgeous 2 page spread by Lafuente but it is a massive load to read still.

The opening dinner table scene with our cast was a ton of fun to read though. I especially loved how Gwen mad a point that she’s dating Peter so she’s off limits and Aunt May telling Johnny no hanky panky in the house was just hilarious. Really this was an all around hilarious and fun way to help us get used to Peter’s new family situations and it was just tons of fun.

Then there was the hilarious scene of Johnny and Bobby changing their looks so no one would notice them as they go to school. That was just hilarious and I loved Bobby’s reaction, and yes I agree with many people, he now looks like Bobby Hill.

The scene between Aunt May and the principal was very interesting to read. Last time they met he had Aunt May arrested (Ouch, awkward…) so seeing some follow up to that was great and I loved the principal’s new mindset on possibly having Spider-man come to their school. Another solid excellent scene that Bendis handled really well and felt like a real conversation between 2 adults.

Aunt May is such a great character and as I’ve said in the past she must have the heart of a saint. Forget Mother Theresa, Aunt May is the real pure hearted person in the world. She’s just so great and seeing her really go out on a limb, putting herself at a total risk taking these boys in and all is just so amazing and fits her character so perfectly.

I loved how MJ reacted when she saw Jonny and Bobby. She recognized them right away and it was so awesome seeing her have a mini panic attack about it and it was just so great. Also I’m really glad to see MJ get more attention and being integrated back into the cast as I was really worried she’d become a minor character.

Also Johnny hitting on MJ was priceless. Though maybe this could actually go somewhere and if it did that would be hilarious. God knows it would put Peter through a meat grinder of emotions.

I liked seeing Peter’s Spider-sense really build up. It was a really intimidating moment as we saw the tension rise and then  bam it was excellent. A perfect build up to debuting our Spider-slayer who was just awesome to see Ultimized finally as Spider-slayers are classic to Spider-man so seeing this one with the Mysterio touch was awesome.

Bendis really excels with the action here especially with how Spider-man struggles to fight the Spider-slayer while trying to keep it from destroying his school and saving his principal. It was a ton of fun to see this part as bendis really showed what a major threat the Spider-slayer here was.

Then of course the Shroud shows up and the ensuing moment of how she (yes, it is a she, more on the reveal in a moment) just totally desolates the Spider-slayer was hilarious. Also seeing Johnny show up and ruin the evidence and then the little side-joke about the Shroud person moving in with them had me chuckling.

Really this issue was just tons of fun to read. Sure the action was excellent and it got intense for a few moments but overall it was jut a lot of fun to read and I enjoyed every page of it.

Then there’s the reveal of who the Shroud is. Turns out it’s  Kitty as many people speculated. I wasn’t really sure nor did I want to spend too much time speculating on it since I knew Bendis wouldn’t Loeb us (that’s what I call when you are going to reveal a big identity then totally bullshit the audience and never reveal it and just keep stringing them along) and would reveal her.

The reveal was nicely done and I’m excited to see where this goes with Kitty. We can assume she’s hardening herself as a hero and trying to be more tough, possibly like Wolverine, and it’s really exciting to see where Bendis will take the character with her new persona.

Then there’s the excellent ending. For now Mysterio has to go back into hiding but he’s got Spider-man in his sights. I’m really excited to see what Bendis does next with the excellent recreation of this classic villain.

Overall I loved this issue. All the characters where great the action was tons of fun to read and it was just everything I want from an Ultimate Spider-man comic.

Art Comments: Lafuente continues to impress. While last time some of his stuff looked a little rushed here it’s all gorgeous and that is undeniably partially thanks to a strong work from the colorist. Though really this is some excellent art and it fits both the character driven scenes and the action perfectly.

Though I’ll admit one major problem with the art is that it does sort of get lazy with smaller figures. Actually blacking out the bodies of some characters though still showing the clothes is a real lazy way to not draw the faces smaller. So while I loved the art, it wasn’t perfect.

Final Comments: Ultimate Spider-man is back on top as one of the best ongoings each month. With closing his first arc of the Relaunch Bendis has reminded everyone why this is the comic to watch and should be on everyone’s list.

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Art rating: 4 out of 5

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Angelus #1

Written: Ron Marz

Art: Stjepan Sejic

Opening Comments: My expectations where fairly simple for Angelus #1, I wanted a good setup with lots of strong character work and a good set up for the entire mini-series as a whole and luckily Marz didn’t disappoint on that. He gave exactly what I knew he would and it made for an great read.

Story Comments: As one would figure, Marz opens with a good little explanation of the Angelus to catch up new readers on the characters so they are aware what it is and he does a good job of doing so while also showing the character Sabine who narrates this part is clearly plotting to take down Dani.

Seeing Sabine’s preparations for defeating Dani was interesting as we actually see Hell and Angelus elite warriors taking out Cerberus. It’s a really cool moment and it shows that Sabine is clearly up to something nasty if it involves going to hell for some kind of force to take down Dani.

Also I loved seeing this twisted version of hell. It just looked so awesome and of course I loved the more creative version of Cerberus. Rather then the typical 3 headed dog it’s a 3 headed monster of sorts and it looks absolutely awesome and I loved the creativity put into this scene.

We get caught up with Dani, who she is, her past and everything when we see her moving in and it was a very efficient way of showing new readers who Dani is while also giving us some nice insight to the character that older readers can still enjoy as Marz really excels at making these scenes that normally would be boring explanation into a still interesting and enjoyable read as well as making it seem like a real important part of the characters discussion and that they are saying it for a real reason, not simple to provide exposition.

Another part I’m really interested in with this mini is the Dani/Finch relationship. By now Dani doesn’t know if there really is a relationship whereas Finch seems head over heels for Dani. I can’t help but figure this is going to go down a nasty road with one of these 2 getting their hearts broken by this mini-series’ end.

Though the moment between them shortly before a monster attack was really heartfelt and Marz has been doing an excellent job building up this possible relationship. He’s not making it feel forced or rushing it like so many other writers would and that makes it feel so much more plausible and compelling and a lot more interesting to read then a random love interest for the sake of having a love interest.

Also Finch’s little line about not hurting Dani was a nice throw back to a previous issue of Witchblade. Dani had been contemplating how it seems every relationship she’s ever been in hurt her so see Marz sort of follow up with that little comment was a good moment for the character.

But of course we’ve got to have at least a little action and Marz really does a good job of giving us a fun action scene even if it is a little too short. It was nice getting to see Dani cut loose with her new Angelus powers and it was also excellently well choreographed in the layouts.

It was interesting seeing Sabine and the warriors save Dani. We know that Sabine is up to no good and wants Dani out of the picture but we don’t know if Dani knows that and will be able to outmaneuver her. I’m hopeful she will be we don’t know yet.

Then there’s that cliff-hanger. Absolutely excellent and it did a great job of really showing this mini has big plans of shaking up the Angelus status quo and character leaving me really excited to check out more next time.

Marz does a strong job of making a lot out of enjoyable reading out of not much to read. Really with the first issue he couldn’t really put it all out on the table otherwise he’d be wasting his time for future issues so clearly his main goal was just to set things up and he would have been fine just to do the bare basics and continue from there.

Though Marz doesn’t stick with just the  basics and he really goes that extra mile to make Angelus #1 a worthwhile read that while it doesn’t do much other then set up the story, it’s still tons of fun to read and really well done. Marz has a great talent for making what would be a boring read into an enjoyable read as he gives the characters and their interactions a really unique voice and makes it fun as all hell to read.

Overall this was a strong debut issue though it sadly didn’t’ get to do too much. It did it’s job and a little more by perfectly setting up the story and leaving more to excite me for next time.

Art Comments: Sejic’s art here was absolutely stunning. I’ve always loved his art but I’d go so far to as to say this is the best looking art from Sejic yet. There’s so much incredible detail here and it really adds a powerful layer to the already excellent read as this is some gorgeous work all the way.

Final Comments: Angelus is shaping up to be a really fun read and I’m already excited for more. Fans of the Top Cow universe should absolutely not miss this and anyone interested in checking out the Top Cow comics and their characters should definitely start with Angelus, it’s an excellent beginning.

Story Rating: 4 out of 5

Art Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Must Read

The Week Begins - January 5th 2009

A pretty big week for comics this week. Let’s check it out and hope I can review them all. A note though, my comic reviews will be broken up over the next few days, I have a lot of comics to review.

Haunt #4 *Most Anticipated*

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

While this is a pretty big week for comics I’m really excited for more Haunt goodness. Last issue was a big step up as far as setting up the emotional resonance with our hero, now it’s time we really get back and have some fun action along with our newly added character developments.

While the character of Cobra was a boring villain in issue #2 I’m hopeful Kirkman can at least make him a credible threat. So far Haunt has been a real badass so getting to see a fair fight with him would be really cool. Overall I’m really excited to pick this issue up.

Siege #1

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: Olivier Coipel

I’d been debating if I would or would not get Siege for a while now, but with the event here and it now in my pull list I guess I’m ready to see what Bendis has in store for us. I’m hopeful for something at least halfway interesting, but at this point I expect Siege to be a fun epic battle and not much else.

Secret Invasion’s biggest problem was that it was far too stretched out. Had Bendis condensed the event, it probably would have been better. Not by a lot, but still. With Siege being only 4 issues it feels like a much safer event investment as it will be done just as soon as it started.

So I’m not really expecting a lot. Maybe a character death here or there, not what I really want but eh. I’m mostly expecting fun super heroes fighting super villains and not much else. You can’t expect much more out of these events these days after all.

Blackest Night #6

Written: Geoff Johns

Art: Ivan Reis

I already know what happens in this chapter of DC’s epic thanks to the magic of the internet but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in actually reading it in my hands. Sadly my LCS delayed it by a week, not sure why, but oh well. Just something else to read tomorrow and even though I know what happens I’m really looking forward to picking it up and reading it in person.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #6

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

I’m really psyched to see how Bendis ends the first arc on Ultimate Spider-man as Mysterio tracks down Spidey and attacks his school. I’m hopeful that Bendis can wrap up the Shroud’s identity as well and do a good job of giving us some closure as we move onto the next arc. All around though I’m expecting another great read.

New Age Ideas: Bendis Teach, Dracula Sucks, Thor and Haunting Marvel Man

New Age Ideas finally returns after a brief hiatus, just in time for Christmas for all you good little girls and little boys. Back and better then ever we’re tackling some good stuff and a bit of negative ranting I’ve been wanting to get out of the way.

I want to be taught by Bendis

So for those who don’t know, I live in Oregon. I am just a 2 hour drive from Portland, where the writer Brian Bendis lives. Apparently he’ll be teaching a class about graphic novels at Portland State University.

I was going to try and go to the University of Oregon, but all of a sudden, Portland here I come!

Well probably not, but it would be awesome to say “Yeah, Brian Bendis is my teacher” and every day after class have him sign a new comic. It would be awesome. I may not like everything Bendis writes but I’d suddenly have the urge to buy everything he writes just to get it signed.

I actually have met Bendis, in late 2007 at a convention in Portland. He’s a really nice guy and I bet he’ll make a great teacher. If there are any of his future students reading, do me a favor and get a me a signed copy of Ultimate Spider-man #1.

Who to write Marvel Man?

There’s been a lot of speculation since Marvel announced that they own Marvel Man as to who would write and draw it. Well I’ve got know idea who would draw it (Jesus? Allah? Vishnu? Some holy figure I’m thinking) but there’s been tons of speculation on who would write it.

One of the most recent speculations is Bendis writing Marvel Man. At first I hated this idea, but now that I think about it, it just may work. My only problem is Bendis is stretched pretty thin nowadays, with Siege, Spider-woman, New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate Enemy, the new Powers reboot, a new Alias mini-series, the dude is just way too busy to take on something as big as Marvel Man I figure.

My vote is for Neil Gaiman to finish his run on the series. Gaiman himself said he’d love to finish the Silver Age story that he never got to and Marvel knows he’s a popular writer. I myself didn’t become a fan of Gaiman until Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader but I would love to see him finish his story with Marvel Man.

Some people are saying Mark Millar, and I can’t think of anything else that would make me cringe in frustration. Millar is in no way a bad writer, but at the same time I think he should stick to the over the top insanity driven stuff we’re used to from him. I just don’t know if he could handle something like Marvel Man with the respect and care it deserves. I’m not calling him out on anything, just saying I’m not sure he’s the right guy for the job really.

There are other writers like Brubaker or Ellis but I just don’t know. In the end the only writer off the bat I trust to handle Marvel Man would be Gaiman. Either way I’m going to read it of course, but still. Let’s hope Marvel makes a smart choice.

Frank Miller a hack? Seriously?

All right, mini-rant time here folks.

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Frank Miller, DKR, Sin City, Ronin, Daredevil, even his recent stuff such as Dark Knight Strikes Again and All Star Batman. A lot of people hate these 2 stories but I think their great.

But hey, because Frank Miller has written and done a couple of things that people don’t like, he’s gone from legend in most eyes to hack in many others. I can’t see that, here’s the guy who helped reinvent Batman (as did Denny O’Neil mind you) and all of a sudden he’s a hack for a few stories you don’t like?

Stan Lee has written some stuff today, I’ve read some of it and you know what? It wasn’t good at all. Does that make Stan Lee, the father of Marvel comics, a hack? Not at all. He’s still just as much a legend no matter what.

But hey, it’s the “in” thing to hate on Frank Miller. He made 300 and The Spirit and those are just so horrendous, right? No one could like those.

Except for me and tons of other people who didn’t hate them like everyone else did. 300 was my Movie of the Year with 2007. And Spirit, while not perfect, was still a great movie experience for me.

Now look, if you don’t like Miller and his writing, that’s cool. We’ve all got different tastes and opinions and I can respect that. But just because you don’t like his work, don’t go acting like he’s a hack when he’s done more in the last 30 years of comics then most people could hope to do in a life time.

In short, show some respect.

Haunting Frustrations

This isn’t so much a rant as me just coming out and saying one of the reasons I think so many people hated Haunt right off the bat.

Todd McFarlane.

Yep. Todd McFarlane.

Now I already mentioned how unfair it is to hate Haunt for his look when Batman was already inspired heavily by something. So saying something isn’t 100% original is a bullshit argument when it comes to things like that. Because as I said, everything is inspired by something.

But I think a lot of the hate for Haunt comes from the fact that it’s Todd McFarlane and a lot of people (not saying names) have a stigma against him because they read an issue of Spawn 10 years ago and didn’t like it.

What’s funny is I see a lot of reviewers complain about it having “gritty dark violence like 90’s Image did” when these same reviewers praise Invincible. A comic that just recently had it’s main hero beat a man *nearly* to death with his FOREHEAD. That’s not gritty violence? 

In the long run the only real reason people will hate Haunt so much more then Invincible is simple.

Invincible doesn’t have the name Todd McFarlane attached to it.

Now I’m not saying that if you don’t like Haunt for legitimate reasons that you’re wrong. Not at all. If you have your own reasons for not liking Haunt that’s understandable but it seems a lot of people just complain about it being 90’s Image when that’s not really an insult since 90’s Image had some awesome characters and stories.

I guess what I’m saying is you’re entitled to not like Haunt, but just because it’s co-created by Todd McFarlane is a weak excuse.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Omnibus

I’m stealing a New Age Idea from my good buddy Kevin.

I recently watched Turtles Forever, an absolutely awesome movie that rekindled my love of the TMNT. While it wasn’t perfect I still loved it and even more so it reminded me of the awesome original comic.

I’ve read some of the original comic online and I’ve read the very first issue thanks to a Free Comic Book Day copy and I really do love this comic so I’m surprised there’s no big Omnibus to celebrate the awesome series.

There was a big collection collecting the first 11 issues, I saw an add for it in the FCBD comic but I can hardly find that online at book sellers let alone actually get a copy. Why not release a massive Omnibus that the fans could all enjoy? I’d buy it for sure. That along with that DVD of Turtles Forever that needs to come out!

Todd McFarlane not feeling the Marvel Man love?

I wrote that part about Marvel Man a week ago, just recently I saw a video of McFarlane and Robert Kirkman on CBRTV talking about some things and McFarlane said he’d be having a chat with his lawyer. UGH.

I really hope McFarlane isn’t the reason we’re not getting anything done with Marvel Man at Marvel. McFarlane NEVER used the damn character when he had rights to it with the exception of a damn toy. Gee. What a great use of your character property.

Also Man of Miracles does not count, that turned out to be a totally different character.

Maybe if McFarlane was publishing a Miracle Man (Marvel Man’s other alias) comic I could understand but he’s not. He did nothing with the character so some petty legal fight over it is just denying the fans who want to get to read new material with the character and that’s just annoying in every way.

Now maybe McFarlane isn’t what’s keeping Marvel from using the character but if it turns out he is, I may just have to hit my head with a phone book.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the movie) fails with Mina

I made a comparison to this film as well as the old Black and white Dracula film starring Bela Lugosi. I was going off my opinion of the film when I saw it many years ago and I confess I liked it more then when I was younger since I hadn’t read the book then. Though I remembered how they ruined Mina.

I recently rewatched this film and I forgot how much they ruined Mina. They don’t just ruin the character, they take one of the best characters in the story and turn her into a total moronic incompetent love sick idiot and every scene she was in made me cringe at how badly they’d done such an injustice to the character.

Now as I said the movie in it’s own right isn’t really bad. The plot is nice for the most part and other then Mina and Jonathan, the characters are all done well. Oldman is a great Dracula and Sir Anthony Hopkins steals the show as Van Hellsing. Though all other characters are just well done and nothing special.

But Mina, my favorite character next to Dracula and Van Hellsing (in the book she’s just as brave if not braver then Jonathan) is totally ruined. She’s more then a love sick puppy in this film, oh no. I’d kill for stupid love sick puppy Mina right about now. If they’d gone that far maybe I could tolerate the film but they take her idiocy to a very tall height.

A perfect example of her idiocy is her reaction when Dracula admits he killed Lucy to her. Mind you there in bed and half naked but that’s aside from the point. Rather then like in the book where mina curses Dracula and calls him a monster saying she hates him, she hits his chest for a minute then say she wants to be with him.

Seriously, Mina? This guy kills your best friend, and you just shrug it off and say you want to be with him anyway? Am I missing something here or is this not the single most idiotic thing any character could do in this situation!

Now there is the idea that Mina is Dracula’s wife’s reincarnaton but that doesn’t fly with me. They totally ruined the character to her core and made her an absolute joke. They wanted a stupid little love story so they decided it was cool to take a great character and ruin everything about her. As I said, every goddamn scene with Mina makes me cringe!

Now to be fair I recently rewatched the Bela Lugosi film and it takes just as many liberties with the story. Changing Mina to Dr. Seward’s daughter which was just a weird and dumb change. Also explaining Renfield’s madness a little better but replacing his character for Jonathan when meeting Dracula. Also Jonathan and Mina are more sub-characters compared to Renfield, Dracula and Van Hellsing.

Even with that though it’s still a great movie and it still does the novel and it’s characters justice. Mina is still loyal and strong for Jonathan and it works well. Unlike the 90’s film which totally disregards the great character of Mina and turns her into an idiot who I was rooting for to get eaten by a wolf.

Fraction on Thor

I have mixed feeling about the announcement that Matt Fraction will be writing Thor from now on, with John Romita Jr. taking on the art duties. On one hand Fraction did an amazing job on the Ages of Thunder mini-series (something I’ve been meaning to pick up in the collections) so we know he can write Thor well.

Though I also heard a lot of negative reviews about his work on Secret Invasion: Thor. Though to be fair that was a tie-in mini-series and those rarely do too well. Sure you have a good mini here or there but often they can’t do much so I’m not surprised the mini didn’t do well.

I wanted to jump on with Thor with #600  but early reviews showed it was really just more of what JMS was already doing with the title and just continuing things along so I couldn’t honestly pick it up feeling I’d just be in the middle of things.

After Siege seems like a perfect time to be reading Thor and I have been considering reading Thor for the longest time. Though another problem is the art. Of all the artist, Djurdjevic and Coipel where 2 great picks for Thor. But Romita Jr? I’m just not feeling it.

When I think of his art I think of street heroes like Daredevil and Spider-man. Not mighty Gods that shake the heavens with a clap. It just doesn’t seem like something his art fits. Though I appreciate Marvel at least trying to take the artist out of his comfort zone and maybe it could pay off.

Another thing is continuity. Fraction did great on Ages of Thunder mostly because it wasn’t bogged down by continuity. It had the freedom of being out of the main storylines and had all the characters to use properly and that made it work. I’m not so sure if Fraction can do the same with the main ongoing though.

Then there’s Fraction’s work on Invincible Iron Man, which doesn’t look bad but at the same time the series looks so painfully like it’s dumbing down Iron Man for the movie readers who jumped on. I’ve heard a lot of praise for the series but from what I’ve seen it looks mediocre.

I can’t help but wonder if Fraction might dumb down Thor as well for a wider audience. I may be fairly new to the God of Thunder but I don’t want a watered down character or book.

Still with all my complaining I won’t deny that I am hopeful that Fraction can do the series justice. I will be checking out the first issue at the very least and hopefully it will be good.

Awe crap I just realized this is a fairly negative edition of New Age Ideas. I don’t want to leave this one off on a sour note. It’s almost Christmas after all! Well to end off this edition of New Age Ideas I’m going to leave you with a Batman themed Christmas picture.

All of a sudden I’m feeling the joy of the season! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all readers of the New Age.

Comics from 2 Weeks Ago Reviewed

Apologies for these 2 reviews being so late (can’t seem to muster up for Ultimate Spider-man so we’re doing an Open Fire!) this is the last week of school before Christmas Break so I’ve been rater tied up with the season and shopping and all that. I got my comics today, hopefully shooting for reviews tomorrow, if not then, Friday. Now onto the 2 reviews!

Haunt #3

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

Opening Comments: Haunt #3 was a good example of just because a comic doesn’t do a lot doesn’t mean it doesn’t accomplish something and still prove to be a great read. Here we don’t get any major event but the moments within still are important and interesting enough to satisfy even more then some big flashy 10 page fight would have.

Story Comments:

Now the high point of the issue is what Kirkman does with Daniel and how he really flips the perspective of how we view his relationship with Kurt. We finally see that Daniel, for all his bad nasty attitude had someone he cared about once and that was Amanda, Kurt’s widow.

At first I suspected as much that Kurt stole Amanda from Daniel but I didn’t expect the actual reveal of this moment to be so powerful or well done. A random side comment about it alone would have sufficed to let the reader know but Kirkman takes what is a simple moment and really milks it for a really important and interesting moment for Daniel.

Seeing Daniel get so upset really was not what I was expecting. I half figured he’d shrug off that and wouldn’t care about it. He seemed to hate Amanda at this point (and I guess for good reason) so him finding out that Kurt cheated on her didn’t seem like something he’d cared about.

But Kirkman gave Daniel a new emotional layer, showing he’s not so cold hearted and uncaring as we believe. We see that deep down he still cared enough about Amanda to be furious at the mere idea of Kurt cheating on her. And his line about how Kurt could have any woman in the world but he had to take Daniel’s love really hits home and makes us feel his pain as we see him recollect his suffering and it all hits home nicely for us readers.

Kirkman is a talented writer and he’s always done a good job of building up his heroes even if some times he’s just setting them up to fall. Here I really liked that he’s making these characters more developed then their 10 second descriptions of “mean priest and nice CIA killing machine” and he’s showing us they are more interesting then just those 2 ideas and that’s a key element to making any character really.

We’re finally seeing that Daniel isn’t this perverse low life like we thought he was and Kurt isn’t some golden hearted nice guy who’s never done a mean thing in his life. I mean seriously, taking your brother’s girlfriend? That’s pretty low and I can’t really blame Daniel for hating Kurt and Amanda over this.

Kirkman has shown there’s a new depth to Daniel. A reason for his hatred and anger and it was nice to finally see that all come out, even if just for a couple of pages and it leaves a real emotional impact on the reader when you can establish a connection with the hero in some way through his own losses.

Though of course there was more to Haunt then just that one moment.

While we didn’t get much action I did appreciate seeing Haunt be all badass as he smacked around Kurt’s torturer. It was a short bit of action but just about every comic needs a little action at least to satisfy that action craving and this comic did a good job at that.

Of course the big reveal was that Kurt’s murder was an inside job. Honestly I can’t say I really pondered much over Kurt’s murder. I figured he got killed simply because he was tied to that doctor after saving those people, and since he didn’t have answers about the doctor’s notebook (which we saw someone steal in issue #1) so he got killed.I knew there was obviously a bigger mystery but at the same time no use over thinking it when all will be revealed eventually.

Still this was a really good twist and a great lead as to what’s going on for Kurt’s murder. We knew he was tied to that doctor as a reason for his murder but seeing this was really cool and a nice twist to leave us curious as to what will happen next. Also this was the first time this larger mystery actually got my attention really.

As to who our mystery man is and what the doctor was doing with those experiments is of course still up in the air. But at least the pieces are starting to fall into place, like Haunt knowing how the 2 brothers are connected and that’s why they can form Haunt so while things aren’t all revealed we are on our way.

It seems Haunt is getting it’s cast extended more. I’m not sure if Beth will be a reoccurring character or not but she obviously had some intimate connection to Kurt and I really hope to find out more about her and that she could return often to the series, maybe as Haunt’s back up or someone who keeps him in the loop of things.

Haunt doesn’t have a real cast outside of the 2 brothers and Amanda right now so it’s imperative that Kirkman add some extra characters for Haunt to interact with and to build upon fast since we’re already 3 issues in.

We did get some little hints dropped at a possible future character when the scientists here talking about Daniel and that was nice. Kirkman hasn’t been one to shy away from foreshadowing so I honesty was expecting some hints to be dropped by now and I’m sure it will lead somewhere sooner or later.

Haunt is 3 issues in and as I said we don’t have much of a supporting cast. I know this is the debut arc to set everything up and while it seems Beth may be a main character I just can’t help but wish we had more depth to the characters around Daniel and Kurt.

Overall Haunt #3 is the best issue of the young series and it continues to get better and better.

Art Comments: I really am loving Ottley’s work here on Haunt, but what adds to it even more is Capullo’s lay outs. Little details like Haunt reflecting on his would be killer’s knife. Some of the perspectives get really creative and it all looks cool and adds to the already gorgeous artwork.

The art did have a few little moments. Nothing major that ruined it but still it had some weird little moments.

Final Comments: If you dropped Haunt after issue #1 and wrote it off as 90’s Image crap then I highly recommend you check again as this series is easily shaping up to be another winner from Kirkman. Sure it’s had some kinks to work out but as time goes on this is looking to be one of the best new comics out there and I give it a high recommendation to all.

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Art Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Now I can’t seem to write up much about Ultimate Comics Spider-man, so we’ll do a quick Open Fire! Review for it.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #5

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

A solid and enjoyable read but mostly held back by some of the lack of major character development. I was really disappointed to see Bendis not follow up on his reveal last month that MJ regrets dumping Peter. A really interesting plot point I wanted to see more.

The fight with Mysterio was great, very well handled and very well choreographed by Lafuente. It flowed nicely and it was great seeing the Hooded stranger thrown into the mix.

Lafuente’s art was good but not his best. He had some little issues here and there where I could tell he rushed it a bit but it was still solid stuff.

Overall this was an enjoyable read though it does develop things more I was disappointed at no follow up from past month’s moments and that Mysterio got his ass handed. Hopefully Bendis can end this arc right next month.

Story Rating: 4 out of 5

Art Rating: 4 out of 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Must Read

New Age News: Nemesis, Batman in Time, Warring Superman and Video Games!

It’s been quite some time since a New Age News. For those unaware, this is me taking a look at and commenting my own opinion on recent announcements in the comics industry. Now with links for all your information goodness.

Millar and McNiven Make Nemesis

So the big announcement of the latest project Mark Millar is working with Steve McNiven is Nemesis. A creator owned book to be published from Marvel’s Icon imprint like the Criminal and Powers books have been.

Now I’ve had some mixed reaction to this. On one hand I’m not the biggest fan of Mark Millar. He’s a solid writer who can do some good stuff but I find a lot of his stuff over hyped and uninteresting when compared to writers who make much more interesting stories.

His first story I honestly can say I loved was Old Man Logan which was absolutely brilliant but mostly for the fact that Millar did something he doesn’t do that often, interjected some real interesting and enjoyable characters. Usually his characters are lacking anything really interesting or something that makes me feel for them, but with Old Man Logan he really made me care about the characters which is partially why I loved it so much more then his usual “over the top” wild stuff.

I love over the top violent stories, that’s all great, but if the characters are all bland just for the sake of getting to do cool stuff then I couldn’t care less about the real heart of the story since the characters drive that story. That’s why I’ve disliked stories such as Wanted.

But Nemesis sounds like a very fun story. A story in the same vein as a What If in a sense that it’s what if Batman where the Joker? A simple idea and the fact that Millar is using this idea as a platform as a creator owned story is really cool and I appreciate that he seems to be focusing more on his creator owned stuff which is always nice to see.

So while I’m not a big fan of Millar’s stuff I know he can do great stuff when he puts forth that extra effort  and the premise is cool enough to where I will definitely be checking this series out, also I know it will look damn good thanks to Steve McNiven.

Bruce Wayne vs. History

Big shocker, Bruce Wayne is coming back. I know, the internet totally split in half over this major shock.

So it’s a 6 issue mini-series written by none other then Grant Morrison with each issue featuring a different artist since Batman will be fighting his way through a different period of history. It’s a nice premise at least and it ties into the whole effect of the Omega Beams.

I like the idea and it sounds like a fun read but I myself won’t be reading it. Mostly for expense but also for the fact that this series is something we all saw coming so I can’t really say it’s going to be anything shocking. Batman will fight history, Batman will win then Dick Grayson will be booted back to his own corner of the DCU as if nothing ever happened, that’s how comics work.

Earth One in Graphic Novels

Announced very early this week was that Earth One would be making a big return in the form of a series of Graphic Novels. The first 2 to kick off this new series are of Superman (written by JMS and with art by Shane Davis) and Batman (Written by Geoff Johns and with art by Gary Frank)

Now my first thought about this when I heart it was “Wait, Johns and Frank aren’t handling the Superman story?” I mean it just seems like these 2 signed some kind of contract to work on Superman forever. When I hear these 2 are collaborating again I instantly think it’s on a new Superman book.

So seeing these 2 handle the last hero I think they would handle, Batman, it just seems like an odd fit. I don’t know if Johns has written a lot of Batman before but something about him handling a Batman series just seems out of place, if that makes any sense. Also Gary Frank is one of the last artists that comes to mind when I think of the dark and disturbing alleys of Gotham City.

Now JMS sounds like a nice fit for Superman though since he’s already handled Gods before over in Thor. Also Shane Davis draws a killer Superman so I think this is still a good team.

I’m also willing to give Johns and Frank a try on Batman since I’ve heard such good things about their prior collaborations.

Though here’s my biggest problem, it’s yet another “year one” style of stories. I’m so tired of these. Sure, Batman: Year One is an amazing story but we don’t need another one of these stories for Batman, his origin isn’t that interesting to keep retelling. Same thing for Superman, we’re not even done with Secret Origin for crying out loud!

Also I hate to say it but this just seems like DC’s desperate attempt at picking up the pieces from their failure to establish the All Star line with all the delayed projects that fell through like All Star Batgirl and All Star Wonder Woman. Just another attempt to have their own “Ultimate” line it seems.

Still I admit I love the idea of these debuting as a series of graphic novels, I’m a sucker for an OGN so seeing something new from DC like this sounds like a bold and interesting idea I look forward to picking up. I will definitely pick up the Batman one for sure.

War of the Supermen

Hey, big surprise, there’s another comic event with the title “war” in it. Because that’s not getting cliché or anything. Please keep them coming as I’m not getting tired of this crap at all. I like companies beating the term to death. It’s cool.

As for the event itself I can’t say I’m interested in it at all. Just seems like more DC Superman crossovers. I feel so bad for Superman readers, you guys can’t even have one title in the whole list of comics that isn’t getting dragged into a crappy crossover every few months. One of the reasons I stick to Indy comics so much nowadays, no annoying crossovers constantly.

Wonder Woman renumbered as #600

Not sure if this is really a major announcement, not something we don’t hear often. Marvel seems to be doing it all the time, any day now I expected Invincible Iron Man to get renumbered and probably a few other comics like Wolverine Weapon X at this rate. It makes sense DC would give one of their most prominent heroes a renumbering eventually.

The question is will this be a real big deal or will DC hype this all up for nothing? I’m half expecting a big anniversary issue but then Wonder Woman returning to business as usual. No real major shake ups.

Andy Clarke on Batman and Robin

Not a real major announcement but still an important one since it’s the latest artist for the series. I haven’t seen much of his work but what I have seen was good looking and I think he’ll be a really interesting fit with the series.

Though really I’m not sure if I’ll even be reading Batman and Robin by this point. I’m debating if I should just drop the series at this rate and stick to Streets of Gotham since it seems all the real important stuff will be happening later after the Return of Bruce Wayne so Batman and Robin feels like a useless series at this point.

The title of the story arc “Batman vs. Robin” implies that the dynamic duo will be fighting. An all right premise for a 3 part arc but honestly I’m just wondering what’s the point of this series now, other then introducing some new villains and plot points that I’m sure Grant Morrison will tackle with his next Batman story after Return of Bruce Wayne.

I want to give the latest arc a chance if only for Cameron Stewart’s art but at the same time it just seems so much easier to drop it at this point.

Megaman 10

Megaman 9 was my game of the year for 2008, so by no shock I’m incredibly excited for Megaman 10 in all it’s 8-bit over the top glory that I’m sure will rock. Capcom has a winning formula with the Megaman series so I can’t see how they would screw it up at this point.

One thing that really excites me is that Protoman is a playable character without that crap downloadable content. It’s really exciting that he’ll be a playable character. As for the secret third character, I’m guessing it’s Bass or Roll.

This game seems like more crazy fun with things like Sheepman and I’m sure all kinds of fun. Possibly a runner for early game of 2010? You never know, either way I can’t wait to play more Megaman greatness.

Spawn 10 to finally be reprinted

Dave Sim and Todd McFarlane’s highly interesting collaboration on spawn #10 will finally be reprinted after 14 years of being left to be found by Spawn fans in back issue bins.

I have this issue, as well as issue #9 (the comic McFarlane refuses to reprint because he’s still bitter) and I can say it’s a worthwhile issue to track down, but now it’s getting reprinted in the deluxe edition Hardcover of Spawn Origins.

At first I was pissed about this since this book is 100 dollars, not exactly something I can afford to shell out but it seems there’s a regular Hardcover for 25 bucks that will include the reprint as well as the first 25 issues so I’m not angry right now.

Spawn #10 was  great read and I’m really glad to finally see it getting reprinted.

Greg Capullo to Draw Haunt #6

Capullo has been a long term collaborator with McFarlane and up to this point he’s just been providing lay outs for Haunt but now he’s taking the saddle of the art and drawing issue #6 which is a one shot story about the former agent Mirage (who got mentioned in issue #3)

My little theory is that Mirage is the woman we saw steal the doctor’s notes in issue #1 and this will fill in the blanks as to what she’s doing and her whole role in the Haunt series.

I love Capullo’s art so seeing him draw an entire issue of Haunt is an absolute treat. Much as I love Ottley’s work seeing Capullo take over for him for an issue is a great thing and I’m really excited for this issue.

Arkham Asylum 2

Not wanting to be outdone by Capcom’s big announcement of a new sequel, Rocksteady released a badass teaser for the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum featuring the Asylum right in the middle of Gotham, it’s inmates over running the city along with Joker (with that awesome Mark Hamill laugh) running the show, and also still seeming to be healing from his last beating.

Damn it feels good to be a gamer right now. As if Megaman 10 wasn’t enough, now another great game is getting a sequel. Though I doubt it will be in 2010 and even if it is, it will probably be late 2010.

Arkham Asylum for me was game of the year and I loved it so seeing a sequel from the same guys behind the first has me really excited. It seems that the gangs all here, Mark Hamill no doubt as Joker and it seems like Paul Dini is in for it so I’m really excited to see this game.

My hopes are that we’ll get a more expansive world, new ranges of enemies and ways to fight them and to take on even more of Batman’s rogues. Hopefully Mr. Freeze and Two-Face will have prominent roles as well.

Either way I can’t wait to find out more about this game and I already have high hopes for it.