This Week in Comics – October 29th

Marvel’s Phase 3 Unleashed!

     So yesterday in L.A. Marvel Studios revealed their scheduled movies for the next 5 years, commonly referred to as Phase 3.  Some films like Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 aren't huge surprises, but a few are surprising and/or about-dang-time titles.  After rumors of the 3rd Avengers movie being themed around the Civil War comic storyline we've learned that it’s actually Captain America who gets the Civil War treatment and Avengers 3 & 4 (yes it’s getting split) will follow the Infinity War story.

The other exciting movie slated for the future is Captain Marvel featuring the Carol Danvers version of the character.  In the about-dang-time part of this news story was that Black Panther has been slated for November 3rd, 2017 and has Chadwick Boseman cast as the titular character.  Here’s the link for everything for phase 3!

By the Vishanti!

     Spinning off of the above entry, we more or less may have a definitive casting for the Master of the Mystic Arts, a.k.a. Doctor Strange.  It appears that Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Hobbit villain Benedict Cumberbatch is in final talks to take up the role of Sorcerer Supreme.  Based on the couple of episodes of Sherlock that I've seen, he can easily pull of the aloofness of the good doctor.  Hopefully we will get to see him in the costume soon! View the news here.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

This Week in Comics – October 22nd

There’s a Juggernaut Heading for Arrow

Mockingbird

Vinnie Jones is probably best known for his Juggernaut role in the X-Men movie that actually doesn’t exist thanks to Days of Future Past.  You may ask yourself why I’m bringing up this giant of a character actor.  You may also be asking yourself how you got here, but I digress.  Anyway Vinnie Jones will be appearing as a DC Character known as Danny “Brick” Brickwell, who has invulnerable skin, in the CW’s Arrow.  For whatever reason the show runners are going to have it that he isn’t powered, but instead is said to be invulnerable because he survived being shot several times.  I’ve loved Vinnie Jones in everything he’s been in, so I can’t wait to see this one! View the announcement here.

When There’s Trouble You Call DW!

In January we will be lucky enough to see a collection of Boom! Entertainment’s full run Dark Wing Duck in comic form from publishing company Joe Books.  This was one of my favorites of the Disney revival books from Boom! I’m surprised that Marvel didn’t take up doing collections for this.  To be titled Disney’s Darkwing Duck: Definitely Dangerous Edition, just remember to look out for this one in January! Read the solicitation here.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach


Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

This Week in Comics – October 15th

Hot Off the Presses!

     There is so much that came out of New York Comic Con this past weekend that it’s nigh impossible to get all of it in one weekly entry. So I will be putting one or two of the stories into the next few blog entries. The first I’d like to bring up is the epic cross over story of Archie Meets Predator! The story sounds a lot like Final Destination with Archie and the Predator thrown in. Basically, from what I’ve managed to hear, is Jughead wins a trip to Costa Rica and Predator begins taking out the Riverdale crew. This will be the most ridiculous story involving Archie since his crossover with the Punisher. More details to be announced for release dates and the like for this one! In similar ridiculousness news Jem and the Holograms will be receiving their own comic as well. Read the Archie news here.

To Quote Scarlet Witch…

     …“No More Mutants!” At least for a little while with Marvel anyway. Hot off the heels of the cancellation of Fantastic Four we've gotten some pseudo-news involving the X-Men, or at least mutants in general. All we know so far is that in January 2015 we will be seeing some sort of X-Men related event centered around Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. As far as further details go there isn't much more other than the Witch and Quicksilver are involved. We’ll have to wait a month or two for more info and see exactly what the No More Mutants event does to the Marvel Universe! View the teaser here.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach


Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

Rebeckah’s List of Awesome

Hail and well met, Readers!

Don't forget, there's more to comics than DC and Marvel, and when you think 'Indie' there's more to it than Dark Horse and Vertigo. IDW gives us the best of integrating pop culture into the graphic novel/comic format with fantastic crossovers like Star Trek and The Planet of the Apes (It's a thing you can read, honest! Check it out in December) or--better yet--the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles combining forces with the Ghostbusters for the most epic team-up ever (also readable beginning now, October)! And it's not just your favorite TV Shows (X-Files, anyone?) or games like ye olde D&D Tyranny of Dragons tie-in at the end of October with Legends of Baldur’s Gate #1. Shadow Show (slated for Mid-November) is a compilation of short stories by a host of phenomenal writers including--but not limited to--Neil Gaiman and Harlan Ellison. All in honor of the late science fiction master, Ray Bradbury. So if you're a fan of classic sci-fi or the thought provoking (sometimes bizarre) tales in The Sandman, check it out.

December, meanwhile, gives us the Debut of Image’s They’re Not Like Us. With the Nowhere Man team (Eric Stephenson and Jordie Bellaire) linking up with artist Simon Gane, you can bet this is going to be a title worth waiting for. So far the solicitation gives us just a hint as to what to expect from the plot- For as long as anyone can remember, the younger generation is always toted as selfish, arrogant, reckless but now they’re changing. As the tagline goes: “They look the same, but they act different, think different, and have abilities we can only dream of.” I’ve always been a fan of unique takes on the superhero genre (aka Black Market--Selling the blood of superheroes for a profit!) so this is a must read on my list.

Also a must: Tooth and Claw #1 from Image (early November). At first glance it might seem like The Island of Doctor Moreau meets Game of Thrones but what awaits in its pages is an experience beyond the fantastic. Society is crumbling, the summoning of an ancient hero is a disastrous failure. Prepare to be launched into the rich, complex story of T & C where animal people thrive, heroes fight gods and explore the outer limits of their world and nothing is censored from readers who dare to partake. This comic comes with a Mature rating and writer Kurt Busiek intends to take advantage.

Boom! Studios gives us Eternal #1 in December. Total Recall lovers (yes, that movie with Schwarzenegger) don’t let this one get away because when death is all in the past, you’ll want to see what that means for the future. In early November, Boom’s also giving us the first release of Capture Creatures! This one’s for you, Pokemon fans. When a mass of strange, colorful creatures arrive on earth, two teenagers must find a way to figure out where they came from, why they’re here and how to protect them. It’s super colorful, super fun and definitely liable to give you a cuteness overload.

Finally, readers, I’ll let you go with one last recommendation and the tagline: “And the meek shall inherit the earth.” Do you like squirrels? Do you really like squirrels? If you’re not planning on reading Squarriors--Kickstarter funded and published by Devil’s Due Entertainment--you’re missing a beautiful, violent, post-human apocalyptic, rodent vs. rodent free-for-all. Just in time for the holidays (Mid-December), Squarriors is ripping into the comic scene with a riveting tale of rivaling clans of the furry and the furious.

Happy reading!

Rebeckah

Comics Coordinator
Gamer's Gambit
Danbury, CT

This Week in Comics – October 8th

A Fantastic Cancellation

Fantastic Four #1 by Ross

     After months of speculation in regards to the future of Marvel’s flagship family, the Fantastic Four, we learn that yet again their series is getting cancelled. The last few years have not been friendly to the First Family of the House of Ideas, going through cancellations, roster changes galore and a few deaths and returns. I’m sure most of us are thinking that it has something to do with the movie rights to the FF and unfortunately we may just be right.  In 2015, The Fantastic Four will be cancelled again on issue #642 with a triple sized issue! View the article here.

Iron Man 4 is a Go?

     This isn’t exactly a confirmation from Robert “I-actually-am-Tony-Stark” Downey Jr., but he did make an off handed remark during a Reddit AMA about donning the armor again if Mel Gibson were to direct. That could make for a hell of an Iron Man movie. Seeing as how the cinematic version of Tony has successfully run his course in terms of story in the three films, it’s a bit questionable as to what they would use for Iron Man 4 in terms of story. As far as villains go, most are the usual steal Stark tech armor and use it for their own terms, and seeing as how they used that basic frame work for the first two (Iron Monger & Whiplash) and basically used his big arch-nemesis (The Mandarin), they could have quite the interesting choice of villain. I personally hope they go with MODOK, especially with their introduction of AIM in Iron Man 3. Read the interview here.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach


Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

This Week in Comics – October 1st

Gotham Academy #1

  Welcome to the first Weekly Comics Blog Entry, as opposed to the e-mail you've all become accustomed to!  This will be the general format with some slight changes in the near future!

  As I stated in last week’s e-mail it’s a pretty big week for Marvel. Thor #1 with the new female wielder of the enchanted hammer Mjolnir making her first official appearance is released today. The other huge change from Marvel is Captain America #25 with Sam Wilson donning the shield and red, white & blue.  Of course, we’ve got Bucky taking up Nick Fury’s role as intergalactic/pan-dimensional super spy in Bucky Barnes: Winter Soldier #1 and the continuation of the Spider-verse story-line in Edge of the Spider-verse #3 with B-Movie Man Spider!

  On the DC front we've got Gotham Academy #1, a new series that imagines a CW style high school drama set in Gotham City.  We also have the start of DC’s Monsters of the Month variant theme for October with Grayson #3, Detective Comics #35, Action Comics #35, and Green Lantern #35.  Granted it’s not as big a month for DC, but we are just coming off of September which tends to be the biggest month for DC.

That’s about it for the inaugural Weekly Blog Entry, mainly because of the pre-Comic Con news drought, so until next time…

Stay Classy Denizens!

Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby

Comics Manager

Dragon's Den

Characters Wanted!

Wednesday, August 27 at 6 PM is another chance for you to create your character and pick a faction for the new D&D Encounters featuring the fifth edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rules. For the Tyranny of Dragons storyline, you get a neat folder featuring the faction insignia to keep your character creation sheet in and which contains what you need to know about the faction you select.

There are five factions to choose from: The Emerald Enclave, The Lord's Alliance, The Harpers, The Order of the Gauntlet, and last but not least, The Zhentarim. You will further your faction's aims within the Forgotten Realms setting while adventuring with your group. In return you'll gain renown and ranks within your faction that will further benefit you.

Be warned. The five-headed dragon known as Tiamat is a most lethal adversary among a host of villains plotting their own malevolent agendas. Dragons, demonic fiends, and undead all strive toward their own evil aims. You and other adventurers throughout the Realms must join forces to contain these threats and ultimately to face Tiamat, destroy the Cult of the Dragon, and prevent the rise of a new dragon empire.

You don't need to have ever played Dungeons & Dragons or a role playing game to join D&D Encounters. The first weekly campaign is scheduled for 6 PM Wednesday, September 3. You have until then to come into our store and create a truly memorable character for what will be a truly exciting adventure. Join a motley crew of 3 to 6 players in action-packed play experiences that is sure to delight you. Get more details on this D&D Encounters at the Wizards website by clicking here (link may open a new window).

Weekly Comics Update - July 9, 2014

A Couple of Marvel Villains Return to the Mini-Series Scene!

The upcoming Marvel event called AXIS, involving a group of villains and claiming to throw the Marvel Universe for a loop, will have at least 2 spin-offs centered on members of the central villain team. Those two villains are Carnage and Hobgoblin. Carnage has been quite the mini-series darling as of recently and Hobgoblin hasn't had anything recently. It seems that the Spider-Rogues are starting to gain the public love that their enemy has had since his inception. Here's the article in regards to said mini-series.

Could Guillermo Del Toro Be Returning to the Mountains of Madness?

Back in 2011 reports were abound that Hellboy and Pacific Rim director Guillermo Del Toro was mounting his multi-million dollar R-Rated adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. Unfortunately Universal cancelled the production due to fear of the film failing because it was set to be rated R and horror movies with said rating don't preform well. Recently, Del Toro has come out and said that he's currently working on a PG-13 version of the film. He said that he could easily tone down the gore without changing much else of the film. I'm a huge Lovecraft fan and Del Toro is a perfect director to adapt this story to film. Here's the article.

Apparently Falcons Are More Patriotic Than Eagles!

So Marvel more or less said that Sam "The Falcon" Wilson is becoming the new Captain America with their teaser image for Time Runs Out. They've now definitively said that Sam is picking up the shield with Steve sans Super Soldier Serum. If there were anyone in the Marvel universe to done the suit outside of Steve or Bucky, Sam is it. In continuity I believe he's been a crime-fighting partner to Steve longer than Bucky was, and I'm fairly certain that in printing history, he and Cap have been teamed up longer than Steve and Bucky were. Here's the article about the replacement.

Stay Classy Denizens!

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

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