Cameron Stewart is set to finish his cover run on Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin series with issue #7. DC posted a glimpse of the cover, and it’s interesting to see a glimpse of characters that played a key role in the Morrison Batman run make an appearance in the series.
For five months, Batman and Robin has been on the Must Read First list of Major Spoilers own Stephen Schleicher and Matthew Peterson. In what we hope to be a new feature on the site, the founder and second in command sit down to take a peek under the hood of the Batman and his possibly slightly insane sidekick.
This week, on the Major Spoilers Podcast, the crew takes a crack at Grant Morrison’s three issue mini-series WE3.
The story follows the journey of We3, a squad of three prototype “animal weapons,” as they flee captivity. The group consists of a dog, “Bandit” a.k.a. “1″; a cat, “Tinker” a.k.a. “2″; and a rabbit, “Pirate” a.k.a. “3″, who were all kidnapped from a nearby city and encased in robotic armor. They were also given a limited ability to speak through skull implants. Their body armor fields numerous weapons, including mine laying devices, machine guns and razor claws.
As always, the Major Spoilers Podcast is nothing without comments from great readers and listeners like you. You can use the comment section below, drop us a voice mail by calling (785) 727-1939, or record your comments and send it as an MP3 file in an email to podcast@majorspoilers.com.
Here’s your chance to be heard on the show! Give us your thoughts on this trade paperback, or if you want to share your thoughts on the state of the comic book industry, or anything else that might be on your mind drop us a line. Only the most awesome comments (good or bad) make it on the show, so get your stuff to us right away!
Here’s something that is sure to get everyone talking at the San Diego Comic Con, DC scribe Geoff Johns has been named the producer for the live action Flash movie currently in development. Those that paid close attention to the news last year when Warner Bros. and DC were in conference about setting a direction for all future superhero projects may remember Geoff Johns, Marv Wolfman, and Grant Morrison were hired as consultants and writers. With Johns being named producer of the Flash, does that mean a Teen Titans and Superman producer announcements can’t be far behind?
The studio is taking pitches on sci-fi hero Adam Strange and the underwater-breathing hero “Aquaman,” to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and his Appian Way shingle.
The rumor of the Aquaman project have been floating around since Entourage mocked the film some three years ago, so it will be interesting if that one lands in the pool of films coming out of the WB.
Also in the pipeline: “Bizarro Superman” being written by “Galaxy Quest” scribes David Howard and Robert Gordon; a sequel to “Constantine,” with Goldsman and Erwin Stoff producing; two concurrent Green Arrow projects, an origin story and a prison-set one titled “Super Max”; and “Shazam,” which was set up at New Line but has moved to Warners, with Pete Segal attached to direct.
The Hollywood Reporter article goes on to suggest that with all the DC Comics properties in development and production, that it might be a good idea to put all the DC properties under the direction of one super-executive, somewhat like Avi Arad and Marvel.
The top comics for June 2009 have been released, and it’s nice to see Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Batman and Robin #1 hit the top spot for the month.
Marvel Comics took the top publisher spot in June, leading both Unit Market and Dollar Shares, with a 50.91% Unit Market Share and a 45.09% Dollar Share for the month.
VendorName | Unit Share | Dollar Share |
|---|---|---|
| MARVEL COMICS | 50.91% | 45.09% |
| DC COMICS | 28.51% | 27.13% |
| IDW PUBLISHING | 3.80% | 4.27% |
| DARK HORSE COMICS | 2.99% | 3.85% |
| IMAGE COMICS | 2.64% | 2.85% |
| DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | 2.47% | 2.28% |
| BOOM! STUDIOS | 1.17% | 1.27% |
| VIZ MEDIA | 0.80% | 1.65% |
| WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT | 0.59% | 0.79% |
| ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT | 0.54% | 0.62% |
| ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS | 0.52% | 0.39% |
| GEMSTONE | 0.52% | 0.30% |
| EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS | 0.42% | 1.76% |
| DEVIL'S DUE PUBLISHING | 0.38% | 0.34% |
| AVATAR PRESS | 0.32% | 0.35% |
| ASPEN MLT | 0.29% | 0.27% |
| BONGO COMICS | 0.28% | 0.24% |
| RANDOM HOUSE | 0.24% | 0.80% |
| BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS | 0.23% | 0.24% |
| TOKYOPOP | 0.17% | 0.45% |
| OTHER NON TOP-20 | 2.23% | 5.07% |
Take the jump for the complete rundown of the top sellers.
The second installment of Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin hit the stands today. Now that the euphoria of the first issue has worn off, how well does this issue hold up?
In this issue: The Major Spoilers Crew talk Thor, Gotham City, Grant Morrison’s New X-Men volume 1, run through a Poll of the Week, and read listener e-mail.
Show Notes after the Jump!
This week on the Major Spoilers Podcast, the Major Spoilers Crew is taking a peek at Grant Morrison’s run on the New X-Men series.
From Amazon.com
Sixteen million mutants dead – and that was just the beginning! In one bold stroke, writer Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman, Batman) propelled the X-Men into the 21st century, masterminding a challenging new direction for Marvel’s mutant heroes that began with the destruction of Genosha and never let up. Regarded as the most innovative thinker of the current comic-book renaissance, Morrison proceeded to turn the mutant-hero genre on its ear. Gone were the gaudy spandex costumes – replaced by slick, black leather and an attitude to match. Now, his entire Eisner Award-nominated run on New X-Men is collected across three titanic trade paperbacks! Collects New X-Men #114-126, and Annual 2001.
As always, the Major Spoilers Podcast is nothing without comments from great readers and listeners like you. You can use the comment section below, drop us a voice mail by calling (785) 727-1939, or record your comments and send it as an MP3 file in an email to podcast@majorspoilers.com.
Here’s your chance to be heard on the show! Give us your thoughts on this trade paperback, or if you want to share your thoughts on the state of the comic book industry, or anything else that might be on your mind drop us a line. Only the most awesome comments (good or bad) make it on the show, so get your stuff to us right away!
We record the new show Tuesday night, so make sure you have your contribution to us by 5:00 PM CST Tuesday evening.
Today, we’re taking the Art Appreciation Moment and giving it a unique twist. Instead of featuring sketches, or finished pieces from previously published work, we’re taking a look at Sean Gordon Murphy’s work from the upcoming Joe the Barbarian series by Grant Morrison and published by Vertigo.
or – When G-Mo got his caps back
I picked up Batman and Robin #1 today and sat down to read it with great trepidation. I haven’t been the greatest fan of what has happened to the Batman titles over the last three years (as evident on the site), and certainly was not a fan of the person behind the curtain pulling the strings to shape the DCU to his world view.
I made sure to only drink water throughout the morning to keep the body and mind pure, and ate a light lunch so as not to upset my constitution. I took my time reading the first issue that features Dick Grayson as the new Batman, and Damian Wayne as the new kid-side-kick.
I’m done reading.
I don’t feel like throwing up.
In fact, to borrow a phrase from Rodrigo – “I liked it.â€
I like the second to last sentence in this quote from the IGN interview with grant morrison. It sounds like he’s finally figured out what fans want in their Batman stories.
IGN Comics: It sounds like that goes back to what you were trying to do with Final Crisis, where you cut out all the quieter moments and just got down to “the drums and the bass”, as you called it – the meat of the story.
Morrison: Yeah. I went to see Crank: High Voltage when we were in Los Angeles. I had just watched that, and I thought everything else just looks like slow motion, really. I wanted to get that effect into the comics as well. To me that was just a great action film, and every action film after is going to have to try and move at that speed. I really wanted to get that into Batman and Robin. Again, the stories are really easy. There aren’t big multi-layered Gnostic parables this time around. Like I said, it’s like a really bad trip cartoon. [laughs]
We’ll see if it holds true in the series, although I’m still not sold on Quietly’s art for the series.
For all of us who are not on the grant morrison band wagon, this upcoming documentary might clear some things up.
For the rest of you who already know every minuscule part of grant’s life, this will probably not be new to you. Of course there’s always the chance the documentary won’t agree with your world view of the comic book creator, in which case you’ll probably insult the intelligence of the film makers.
Sequart and Respect! Films are prodcuing a documentary about legendary comic book writer Grant Morrison. Morrison has written virtually every major comic book franchise, from Batman to Superman to X-Men, and created many new properties, including the seminal comic book series THE INVISIBLES. This documentary is the first in depth look at his life and work in film, and features unresricted access to the man himself.
A significant amount of material has already been shot, with more shoot dates to come. Look for the film to be released sometime in 2010. It is directed by Patrick Meaney, shot by Jordan Rennert and produced by Amber Yoder.
If you would like to become a producer on this project, send an inquiry to sequart@gmail.com
YouTube via The Beat