Before he was the Master of Magnetism and the most radical mutant rights activist mankind has ever seen – Magneto was just a boy growing up in Nazi Germany.  In the Marvel Knights tradition of Spider-Man: Reign and Silver Surfer: Requiem comes X-Men: Magneto Testament #1 (of 5)!  Witness the evolution of one of the most popular and controversial X-Men villains of all time!  Superstar writer Greg Pak (World War Hulk, Incredible Hercules) is taking fans back to the year 1935 to show the difficulties and horrors Erik Lensherr faced growing up Jewish in Nazi occupied Germany.  From award-winning artist Carmine Di Giandomenico (Daredevil: Batllin’ Jack Murdock), comes the definitive origin story of the Master of Magnetism!  It all begins with a silver chain, a first crush, and a dictator’s rise to power…

With Iron Man occupied in the Savage Land, the Skrulls may think they’ve eliminated their armored opposition, but War Machine is out to prove them wrong in this must-read Secret Invasion tie-in! Iron Man: Director S.H.I.E.L.D #33, from acclaimed Thunderbolts writer Christos Gage and fan favorite artist Sean Chen (Nova), kicks off “War Machine: Weapon on S.H.I.E.L.D,” which redefines War Machine’s place in the Marvel Universe as a result of Secret Invasion…and setting the stage of his upcoming ongoing series! A major new chapter in Tony and Rhodey’s history begins right here!  With Secret Invasion and related tie-ins selling out quickly at Diamond, and a lead in to the hotly anticipated War Machine series, Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on Iron Man: Director S.H.I.E.L.D #33. It’s time for the Skrulls to say hello to Tony’s not-so-little friend!

The folks over at Marvel.com have posted some nice new poster shots and a trailer from the upcoming Punisher: War Zone movie. The trailer looks really cool, if not a little B "Listy." I’m still not sold on Ray Stevenson as the lead. While watching the clip, I kept thinking, that should be Thomas Jane or even Dolph. "Punisher: War Zone" comes to a theater near you on December 5! Check out the trailer and the other photos Here.

Joss Whedon’s final issue on Runaways is here! Runaways #30, the final issue in Whedon’s and superstar artist Michael Ryan’s time traveling epic ties everything up and wraps it in an antique bow. With our heroes trapped in 1907, they continue to try and find a way back to the future they belong in. But once a super-powered war breaks out on the streets of New York, it makes finding a solution that much harder. This is the arc has everyone talking and raving about Runaways! Matthew J. Brady of Comicsbulletin.com says “It’s all rather eventful, and Whedon makes it enjoyable, delivering the trademark Runaways dialogue that Brian K. Vaughan established” and Daniel Crown of IGN.com states “Rough, yet strangely endearing. And most importantly, at least to me, it feels definitively different from the current Marvel Universe, serving its purpose as a nice break from the status quo.” This series has been a smash hit from the beginning of Whedon’s run right up to the very end. Will our heroes find their way back and will someone else be joining them? Find out in Whedon’s monumental conclusion Runaways #30.  You can see a preview of the issue after the jump.

]]> http://eclipsemagazine.com/comic-books/5826/feed/ http://eclipsemagazine.com/comic-books/5776/ http://eclipsemagazine.com/comic-books/5776/#comments Wed, 28 May 2008 21:12:29 +0000 Michelle Alexandria http://eclipsemagazine.com/comic-books/comic-book-news-mark-miller-brings-fantastic-four-and-wolverine-together/5776

Three universes collide this year during writer Mark Millar’s run on exciting Marvel titles. Beginning with his newest epic tale, 1985, Millar lays down the foundation for things to come as Marvel: 1985, FANTASTIC FOUR and WOLVERINE all intertwine in a very big way. After his run on Ultimates, and his unforgettable blockbuster Civil War, Millar explores remote and familiar corners of the Marvel Universe in ways that only the man behind such past blockbuster series could. Watch as these stories come to life with the help of long time Ultimates collaborator Bryan Hitch, Civil War’s Steve McNiven, and renowned film and comic artist Tommy Lee Edwards.

Don’t miss Marvel 1985 #1, on-sale now!

To see the whole story, follow along in:

May:

Marvel 1985 #1

June:

Marvel 1985 #2

Fantastic Four #558

Wolverine #66

July:

Marvel 1985 #3

Fantastic Four #559

Wolverine #67

August:

Marvel 1985 #3

Fantastic Four #560

Wolverine #68

September:

Marvel 1985 # 4

Fantastic Four #561

Wolverine #69

October:

Marvel 1985 #5

Fantastic Four #562

Wolverine #70

November:

Marvel 1985 #6

Fantastic Four #563

Wolverine #71

Hey there True Believers, here’s your official list of comic books, collections and posters arriving in comic stores on May 29^th, 2008. For more information on any of these titles, and on upcoming mighty Marvel releases, please visit http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?date=2008-05-29 or contact your local comic book retailer at 1-888-comicbook. Stay tuned each week for a brand new list of Marvel releases so that you’ll never miss your favorite heroes in action!

Comics On-Sale:

ANGEL: REVELATIONS #1

DAREDEVIL #107

GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1 WRAPAROUND COVER

GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1 INKED WRAPAROUND VARIANT

HULK #3 MCGUINNESS 2ND PRINTING VARIANT

HULK POSTER BOOK

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #15

KING-SIZE HULK #1

KING-SIZE HULK #1 ADAMS VARIANT

MARVEL 1985 #1

MARVEL 1985 #1 CHEUNG VARIANT

MARVEL 1985 #1 EDWARDS VARIANT

MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #36

MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN #13

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #9

MARVEL ILLUSTRATED: MOBY DICK #4

MARVEL ILLUSTRATED: PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY #6

MARVEL PREVIEWS #58

MS. MARVEL #27 (SI:I)

NEW AVENGERS #41 (SI)

NEW WARRIORS #12

POWER PACK: DAY ONE #3

SHE-HULK #29

THOR #9

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #122

UNCANNY X-MEN #498 (DWS)

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #3

X-FORCE #4 (DWS)

X-FORCE #4 BLOODY VARIANT (DWS)

X-FORCE: LEGACY OF VENGEANCE ONE-SHOT

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #12

X-MEN: LEGACY #212 (DWS)

YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #5

Collections On-Sale:

ESSENTIAL RAMPAGING HULK VOL. 1 TPB

EXCALIBUR CLASSIC VOL. 5 TPB

HULK: WWH - FRONT LINE TPB

IMMORTAL IRON FIST VOL. 2: THE SEVEN CAPITAL CITIES OF HEAVEN PREMIERE HC

THE INCREDIBLE HULK OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC

THE INCREDIBLE HULK OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC ROSS VARIANT

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS VOL. 4 - OUR WAR TPB

X-MEN: THE COMPLETE ONSLAUGHT EPIC BOOK 2 TPB

I love the swashbuckler and there’s no greater story than the Three Musketeers. The folks at Marvel Comics are bringing this classic book to comics and we have some the early pages. It’s brought to us by the team that did their last adaptation - The Man In The Iron Mask, which I started reading on Marvel’s frustratingly half-assed digital comics service. The 6 issue mini-series hits the shelves this month. Take a gander at this beautiful artwork.

]]> http://eclipsemagazine.com/comic-books/5749/feed/ http://eclipsemagazine.com/Movies/5713/ http://eclipsemagazine.com/Movies/5713/#comments Sat, 24 May 2008 13:02:56 +0000 Michelle Alexandria http://eclipsemagazine.com/Movies/movie-games-incredible-hulk-making-of-video/5713

I always said that if you want to get some insight into a popular upcoming film, look no further than the Video Game Tie-In.  I saw The Incredible Hulk Game at New York Comic-Con a few weeks ago and it looks amazingly beautiful - if empty. There are some awe inspiring moments like when you jump off a 30 story building and you see the entire city around you, without any popup or draw-in. Looks gorgeous. But at the same it looked strangely, "antiseptic," with no people or dirt or grime. The game play and design seems to be exactly the same as the last Hulk game, only prettier. But the last Hulk game was pretty darn good for a movie game, so why mess with a winning formula.  Take a look at this latest Making of trailer.

After a year of speculation, spoilers, and marketing hype. The summer film season kicks off, not with a bang and not a whimper. One of my most anticipated films of 2008 - Iron Man is finally here in all it’s technicolor glory!  I liked this movie a lot, technically it’s brilliant, acting is spot on, but it was missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on what.  From the moment this movie was announced every decision by Director Jon Favreau has been spot on. Casting  Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was truly inspired. This film rests squarely on Downey’s shoulders and he takes the ball and scores a touchdown.  He was born to play this part. He’s perfectly sarcastic, vapid, yet brilliant and roguish. Could not have been happier with his performance.  In the Pantheon of Marvel Characters, Iron Man was always a major player in the Marvel Universe, but he’s never been a fan favorite and recently Marvel has turned Tony into a completely unlikable, know it all dick.  The movie version of Tony is more circa 80s Stark - pre-alcoholism.

When I first watched the trailer on my computer, it was the first time where I had concerns about this film. I thought it looked way too fake. But within the context of the film, everything works perfectly. Never once do you not believe that this suit is real. Favreau spends so much time showing the construction of this armor and the entire testing process that when we finally see him take off you buy into it. Stan Winston did an incredible job designing the Mark III Armor. It’s straight out of the comic book and is exactly how I always imagined Iron Man’s Armor in a live action film to look like. It’s a brilliant mix of CGI and practical SFX. But here’s my problem with the film, I kept trying to force a connection to it and wondering why I’m not LOVING this movie. I liked it a hell of a lot but didn’t LOVE it.  I think it comes down to the lack of real tension. Everything felt slightly plastic and a little too technical. With no real peril or villains.

When Stark does his first bit of Super-Hero work it’s against some nameless terrorist group. That is not clearly defined or established enough to make us care. All of the violence is done off camera as well. This leads to several weird edit moments where Iron Man is blowing up bad guys left and right, we see the repulser blasts, stuff getting blown up, but we never really see the bad guys get what’s coming to them, it’s all done off camera. I’m not one who needs to see blood and guts, but in a film like this it lacks an edge that it sorely needs.  It’s interesting the Favreau and his writers decided to go this route instead of using Iron-Man’s signature nemesis The Mandarin. He clearly wanted to focus all the attention on telling us who Tony Stark was before worrying about the villains. Which is where most Super Hero films falter.  Now that we have a clear idea who Stark is, Favreau can use the next film to give us Mandarin.  It’s funny, as an avid Iron-Man fan from back in the day, I can’t name any of Iron’s enemies, he doesn’t have a very good Rogues Gallery. Who would be good in this movie? Stiltman? Stingray?

The cast was perfect, Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes was done really well and Tony’s long suffering secretary Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) was nicely done. Jeff Bridges was barely recognizable as (Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger).  The movie’s only down moment came in final fight between Iron Man and Iron Monger was disappointing at best. Turned into a really lame Transformers rip-off.  Iron-Man is a great kick off to a front loaded Summer Blockbuster season and this is a fabulous start to the Iron-Man franchise. Bring on The Mandarin.

Final Grade A-

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally Posted 5.2.08

Tony Stark [Robert Downey Jr.] is a hedonistic billionaire weapons manufacturer until a trip to Afghanistan for a weapons demonstration ends with him in the hands of terrorists. He builds himself a suit of iron armor to escape and goes on to put together a more refined version to enable him to save the people who have been put in harm’s way by his company’s weapons.

Iron Man is about a lot of things: a modern knight in shining armor; crazed ambition; superheroics; even innovative CGI [check out Stark manipulating CG plans as if they were the real thing]. Oddly enough, despite its political ramifications and good old-fashioned superheroic fun, in the end, Iron Man is about a guy who goes through a kind of reverse mid-life crisis. The hedonistic, irresponsible Stark metamorphoses into a more – dare I say – mature adult by deciding to kill his company’s weapons making business in favor of some thing more planet friendly.

Downey isn’t working in a vacuum, either. It’s been a while since Gwyneth Paltrow has glowed so brightly on the big screen – here playing Stark’s right-hand person with considerable aplomb [watching her keep Stark on his toes is a delight]. Jeff Bridges makes for an affably deceptive villain and Terrence Howard makes his small role as Stark’s best friend shine.

While the action scenes aren’t as accomplished as something by Michael Bay, they come off better because director Jon Favreau understands that it’s the characters that make everything else in the film work. He keeps the pace high enough to prevent lessening of interest and knows how to make the film’s effects serve the story. This is a film with surprising wit and genuine intelligence.

Final Grade: A-

Normally, I’m not into watching clips from films because generally it’s out of context. But I have to say, this Iron Man clip finally has me excited about the film. Check it out.