NETFLIX drops HD Trailer for The Magic Order by MILLAR + COIPEL

Netflix is in comics game now, and here's the new trailer for their first original series The Magic Order, by Mark Millar and Olivier Coipel

Kick Ass 2 Int'l trailer. Complete with cussin' and stuff...

I don't really have anything to say about this Kick Ass 2 trailer, but I felt like I was being selfish by not posting it...

PREVIEW- "Super Crooks" by Mark Millar and Leinel Yu

I can almost guarantee I'm not gonna buy this, BUT it does look pretty awesome. So here's a preview...

PREVIEW: ULTIMATE BLADE vs AVENGERS

I'm not exactly sure why Marvel has such a hard time with Blade. Seems to me, all they need to do is make people watch the trio of films headlined by the Wu-tang-inspired Wesley Snipes (although that last one makes me dry heave, but I won't go there...) and copy what they see. Easy. Whatever the case, perhaps they will finally get it right THIS time, as they're taking another go at it with the 6 part story arc Blade Versus The Avengers over on Ultimate Avengers 3... but I'm not holding my breath.

Free Previews of Comics in stores NOW!

Whaddup, Niiiinjaaaah!? I was on Daddy Day Care detail all day, so no new comics for me today, but i still got dope previews of comics in stores now for you, so click on any pic for a preview courtesy of CBR!

Kick Ass #8 by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.

THIS IS IT!!! The final confrontation as KICK-ASS and HIT GIRL test their mettle. Bodies will fly and bad guys will die as the biggest surprise hit super hero comic of the twenty-first century reaches shocking new heights! Who will live? Who will be morally outraged? MARK MILLAR (WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN) and JOHN ROMITA JR. (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) know the answers—and they hold NOTHING BACK in what’s sure to be the most talked-about single issue of the year!

If you like to relieve stress by reading about kids in silly costumes committing acts of violence that would make a Tarantino film look a Disney straight-to-video sequel (who doesn't?), click here.

Donald Duck and Friends #350 The stakes get higher as Donald, in his new role as “Double Duck,” is drawn further into the Agency’s world of shadowy intrigue and danger! This is Donald Duck like you’ve never seen him, as only BOOM! Kids can deliver. 
if you don't click here to preview this, I question the basis of our relationship...

Irredeemable #10 Story by Mark Waid, art by Peter Krause and Diego Barreto

Revealed at last–the secrets behind the Bette/Gilgamos/Plutonian triangle as we learn just what brought Gilgamos to the Paradigm team originally–and why he may never trust any one of his former friends ever again! An apocalyptic superhero ongoing by the author of multiple Eisner Award-winning KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE! To peep a SWEET preview of this joint, click here.

X-Babies #4 (of 4) Story by Gregg Schigiel, Art by Jacob Chabot, Colors by Emily Warren, with cover art by Skottie Young...

The gloves come off! The X-Babies are in way over their heads as they're overwhelmed by adorable-ness. Can they, even with the help of the Star Heroes, survive? And when the dust settles, control of the Mojoverse goes to...?????? The X-Babies status quo changes forever in this issue! Plus, a Star Comics reprint! to preview X-Babies #4, click here. of course, you might wanna peep the book that started it all for the X-Babies X-men Annual #10 (it's a mother effin' CLASSIC!). just sayin'...

yeah, you're welcome... so anyways, expect reviews and comments about some of these when I get around to it, but for now they all pass my smell test! get at your local comic shop, and get you some...

Holla!

-samax
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the New Kick-Ass Trailer is HOT!

Here's the latest preview for Kick-Ass, the adaptation of the ultra-violent action comic of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. It will debut at SXSW in Austin in March with wide release in the middle of April. read more about Kick-Ass here (or just buy the graphic novel on Amazon, at your local comicshop or book store).
holla!
-samax
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Maybe I WILL attend SXSW this year...

Greetings party people! I just found out yesterday that the movie version of Millar and Romita's ultra-violent action comic Kick-Ass will be debuting at SXSW (read 'South By Southwest') in Austin this March a full month before the nationwide release April 16th. If the budget permits, maybe i will attend this year... (in case you missed it, peep the redband NSFW trailer here)

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this little girl will Kick your Ass...

yeah, the entire thirty-something comic nerdiverse that I live in is already fired up about the big screen adaptation of Kick-Ass, the comic by Mark Millar & John Romita Jr that asks what it would be like if a normal dude became addicted to roaming the streets as a masked vigilante. I think once non-comics readers get a look at this ultra-violent redband trailer featuring the foul-mouthed little sidekick Hit-Girl, the world will catch on fire for this movie as well. so anyways, put the kids to bed or wait till your boss goes to lunch and watch this trailer. Kick-Ass is scheduled to hit theaters in April of 2010. if you can't wait until then to get more of this high octane goodness, cop the trade paperback here.
holla!
-samax
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whatchu mean by BLACK Ops?!

there is zero action in this 5-page preview to the redundantly titled Ultimate Comics Avengers #1, but if you're like me, you may find it valuable for info purposes. i mean, it won't explain why Marvel decided to reboot its entire line of Ultimate books, or why they decided to turn ultimate Hawkeye into ultimate Grifter, but i did learn that Mark Millar is back writing the Ulitimate Universe's premier super-team, this time 'longside veteran penciler Carlos Pacheco (Avengers Forever). click the pic to find out why they're bringin' number one negro Nick Fury out the crates to lead a black ops... er um, covert team of heroes against one of the Ultimates who went rogue (and why). i have no intention at all of buying this comic, but it does look like it will be pretty good... may get the trade when it drops!
holla!
-samax
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Open up a CAN on 'em...

of all the comics i forgot to nominate for a ghettoManga Award, Mark Millar and JR,Jr's Kick Ass is the illest! if you don't know, ask somebody (or read my previous post about it). anyways, click the pic for a preview of KickAss#6, which drops April 22nd.

holla!

-samax

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the Sound and the Fury

The Hollywood Reporter says Sam Jackson has been signed for appearances in nine more Marvel comicbook movies- including Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers, possible sequels to these and, perhaps most interestingly of all, the lead in their in-development S.H.I.E.L.D movie. for those who never heard, fans geeked out so hard over SamJack's post-credit shout out because we were CALLING for Sam to play the character, who was reimagined black (and in his likeness) by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch in The Ultimates. anyways, i'm sure some of these will amount to cameos like he did in Iron Man so he'll still get to curse people out in other universes as well...
uno.
-ghettoManga.com
comics.hipHop.news.art.culture

Santa Claws is a little late...

but better late than never, right?
okay, lame Christmas jokes aside, Wolverine is shifting into high-profile in preparation for that movie he got comin' out in OH NUEVE (are YOU the last person not to see that new trailer? peep it here... y'welcome), Marvel got mad attention on Logan, includin' superstar creative team of Mark Millar and Steve Mcniven (Civil War) on the killer canadian's book craftin' his future history! here's the sales pitch: Fifty years ago the heroes of the Marvel Universe were massacred and as far as Old Man Logan is concerned, WOLVERINE died with them. During that final battle, something happened to Logan…something so traumatic that he hasn’t popped his claws since. Now Logan lives out his days a shell of a man, his warrior spirit long since crushed by the horrible weight of the secret he carries with him. What happened? Finally, the darkest chapter in Logan’s history can be told! MARK MILLAR and STEVE MCNIVEN’s character defining run continues!
Click the cover above for a preview of the January issue, a flashback to Wolverine's Final Battle... or click the cover below to sample Wolverine: Old Man Logan pt 1.uno
ghettoManga.com

the OTHER dynamic duo joining the cast of Iron Man?

word has it Hawkeye and Black Widow will be appearing in Iron Man 2, and if that doesn't make you geek out, you clearly haven't read The Ultimates, where Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch made the duo look like Neo and Trinity! in this version of the Avengers, Nick Fury uses Clint and Natasha as a secret black ops team that shoots first and asks questions later, if at all! they pretty much take out a whole building full of office workers (you later find out they were world-conquering aliens in disguise... but they were just as dead!) on their own, in a hail of arrows and bullets that has to be seen to be believed!
-gM

Can I Kick It?

for some reason, the modern comic book has been running around in circles trying to make superhero comics more "realistic" for decades. and while i would argue that it has resulted in some pretty stupid comics, every now and then something truly awesome arrives on the scene. enter comics giants Mark Millar and John Romita Jr's straight-faced action comic, the aptly entitled Kick-Ass, the laugh-out-loud story of Dave, an extremely regular kid who becomes addicted to doling out ultra-violent, costumed vigilante justice.
which is not to say he's especially good at it! the kid who inadvertantly becomes the YouTube sensation called Kick-Ass takes as much and as good as he gives, but even when it lands him in the hospital, he just can't get enough!
the funniest thing about Kick-Ass is that it became so popular, so fast that the movie adaptation (did i mention they're making it a movie? oh... they are.) may come out before the book story it adapts is finished! isn't life something...
one.
-gM

try me and wa-da-da-DANG!

you've heard it all before: the government has a secret project that creates ultra-violent super-soldiers (i believe Mark Millar coined the term "persons of mass destruction") that can be pointed at our enemies... what writer Hector Lima and artist Irapuan Luiz manage to do is breathe life into their action/conspiracy comic The Major by the virtuousity of execution alone! that means it's good... DAMN good...

The Dark Wolverine Returns...

cover to Wolverine #67, by Mark Millar and Steven McNiven
50 years in the future, after the heroes took an L and the villains carved up America for themselves, an old mutant farmer named Logan gets roped back into the game by an elderly blind archer named Hawkeye... only he doesn't come looking for Logan, he wants Wolverine! anyways, i haven't read "Old Man Logan: Part 1" (Wolverine #66), but IGN.com has a preview of Part 2, due out July 30th here.
peep it!
-gM

Killer Instinct

okay, finally got outta the house and saw Wanted, the action-packed adaptation of the Mark Millar and J.G. Jones coming-of-age supervillain graphic Novel of the same name... and i'm convinced that i kinda need to write two reviews, evaluating it separately as a comics adaptation and a summer blockbuster action movie, but alas, i am not that dedicated, so you'll only get one review...
and if this was pass fail, it'd pass as an action movie. the story, which follows Wesley Gibson's transformation from spineless loser to gun-clapping badass thanks to his recruitment into the Fraternity of Assassins, is executed neatly in the American directing debut of hotshot russian filmsmith Timur Bekmambeton (NightWatch, Daywatch). Wanted's action sequences are fun, fast and so abundant you barely have time to ask yourself if you can believe them. Jolie is convincing as Fox, Wesley's mentor and trainer, and Morgan Freeman is even better as Sloan, the ice-cold patriarch of the Fraternity. Wanted packs more than enough punch for any action movie fan... Jolie brings to mind Charli Baltimore's stone-grilled killing machine, with a hint of depth we see very little but can tell is there (please tell me you guys have seen Long Kiss Goodnight written by the immortal Shane Black?), and her chemistry with McAvoy is good, too.
i would probably gush more over the casting if the comic hadn't cast the characters so well to begin with! i mean, who wouldn't LOVE to have seen Eminem as the clueless Wesley Gibson, transformed by the Fox (played by Hallie Berry, of course) into the murderous savant The Killer, following in the footsteps of Tommy Lee Jones, his dear old dad!? sure, McAvoy is probably a better actor, but nothing i saw leads me to believe Em couldn't have pulled it off just as well. having Eminem in the film would have likely helped the film's box office (which came in second last week to Wall-E, and will pro'lly not come in on top this week either), and contributed to at least a few hipHop songs being added to the soundtrack (no hip hop on the soundtrack? BOOOO!)... but unfortunately, some kinda beef between Mark Millar and Eminem's people killed that likelihood...
anyways, i understand why filmmakers would shy away from the silver-age parody elements of the comic (not to mention characters with names like Shit Head and Fuckwit), but there are tons of ways they could have stuck closer to the source material, and most of them would also have made for a better movie. i mean, the Pseudo-religious cult of Assassins whose victims are chosen by Fate is pretty cool, but not nearly so much as an omnipresent league of superhuman killers who are able to rule the world in secret because they have collaborated to systematically murder all the good guys who might have opposed them!
most of the changes were motivated by the desire to make this film appeal to as many people as possible by not offending anyone, and that's why it doesn't work as an adaptation. the story suffers because it needs to keep Wesley redeemable: he can't kill his ex, his best friend or his boss (even though we, the audience, want him to) because this popcorn film needed him to become a hero by the end. the comic pulled no such punches. Millar's Wes kills, rapes, and pillages at will. Millar was not planning on redeeming Wesley, and as a result, created a more interesting and attractive character who makes no apology for becoming a villain... in fact, only the horrific Mister Rictus made Wes look halfway human by comparison in the comic! the edginess of the comic is one of the things that makes it hot, and i don't think enough of that heat makes it onto the screen.
so anyways, to summarize, Wanted the Summer Action Film gets an A- for dope action and good pace, acting and overall direction. but Wanted the Comics Adaptation gets a C because it just doesn't bring as much punch as the comic. the missteps come from trying not to offend, which totally abandons the spirit of Millar's writing. Overall, Wanted gets a B. if you are a comics nerd who just NEEDS it to be up to the standard of the comic, skip it. people who hated the comic may actually enjoy the movie (i can elaborate if you want...), so they should check it out. everyone else who isn't feelin' anything else out, peep it. it's good ignorant fun!
holla!
-gM

what do you think about Joe Mad's Ultimates?

click to enlarge I'm not sure what to say about Ultimates3. after two "Seasons" (because THAT'S what we need: comics imitating television) of the Mark Millar brand of widescreen superhero action with consistantly breathtaking (and consistantly late) art by Bryan Hitch, the new creative team of Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira have taken over the Ultimate Marvel Universe's version of the mighty Avengers. but even though they are set firmly in regular Ultiverse continuity, this is an Ultimates team that just seems unfamiliar...

Although they are every bit as much a superstar team as the previous duo, and they are employing the sexy, monumental, fast-paced model that made the book a hit, Loeb and Mad have created a vibe that feels very different. and i'm not sure i like it. i mean, there's all the eyebrow-raising plot/bullet points (incest: check, body count:check, superhero voyeur porn: check...), but it's certainly not the same as what i'm used to...

it's almost like the original Ultimates team was making an HBO series, and this team's making one for Cartoon Network. the writing's a little less engaging, or maybe i was just mesmerized by the realistic art of Hitch (not to mention Laura Depuy's sublime colors) into thinking Millar was writing great superhero drama. i mean, in the first issue of Ultimates3, the heroes are standing around in their Mansion base in full superhero costumes watching teevee... what is this 1985? and why are they fighting Venom? ugh...

Despite all that complaining, i have bought both issues so far... i'm trying to see if it gets better. Joe Mad is one of the biggest stars comics have ever seen, and it looks like he is still warming up. anyways, check out the preview pages from issue #3 on CBR... what do YOU think?

"Wanted" Movie trailer

Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common.

based on the comic by Mark Millar and JG Jones

holla!
samax.
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Fantastic Four, done Right...

the monster writer-artist team of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (The Authority, The Ultimates) is taking the reigns to Marvel Comics' flagship book:
"[Non-Fans] associate Marvel with Spidey, but as fans we know it all started with Fantastic Four!" explained the highly renowned writer at Wizard World Chicago.
Millar (who passed on taking over the X-titles with Hitch and two other artists) said of the Fantastic Four, "It was probably the most radical of all the Stan and Jack collaborations in that we had a superhero cohabiting with his equally super girlfriend, the world's ugliest superhero, a super-hedonist, and with no masks or secret identities. It was the book that broke all the rules, which is something we take for granted."
read more about Millar's plans for Marvel's First Family on CBR
holla!
samax.
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