The Gunslinger and Guadalcanal

By Blair Marnell

Welcome back to another edition of ATR.

I’m on the run this weekend, so let’s get to it.

Animators Assemble!

There’s a rumor going around that Iron Man and Dr. Strange, the third and fourth direct-to-DVD animated movies coming from Marvel and Lions Gate, have both been moved to a different animation studio for production. Originally, there was talk that each movie would be animated at a different studio, but I’m told that the latest move may have been made to address fan complaints about the quality of the animation in Ultimate Avengers.

Personally, I didn’t have any major issues with the animation in Ultimate Avengers. But pacing, story and character development?

Now, those were problems...

But hey, I’m still going to see Ultimate Avengers 2 when it comes out. In fact, IGN posted a trailer for it a few days ago, which you can see here.

This Has A “Hulk In A Jar” Factor of Five Out of Ten

Nights of Bete Noire

Yesterday on his blog, Peter David announced that DC will be going back to press with the trade paperback of the first few issues of Fallen Angel in August. Which, incidentally, should be around the time that the first trade from IDW’s Fallen Angel revival comes out…

According to David, there is “No word on any interest in collecting the rest of the DC run.”

This Has A “Hey Jude” Factor of Nine Out of Ten

Faster Would Be Better

In a follow up to last week’s story, early indications are that Will Conrad will be the artist for the Serenity: Better Days miniseries, re-teaming him with Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews.

No word yet on the release date, however…

This Has An “Aim To Misbehave” Factor of Eight Out of Ten

Hot Celestial Action

Now, for your viewing enjoyment, here are a couple of pages from Neil Gaiman and John Romita, Jr.’s forthcoming Eternals miniseries:




This Has A “Deviant Nation” Factor of Ten Out of Ten

Face Full of Violence

If you’re not reading Jonah Hex (and why the hell not?!) then this should help win you over. Phil Noto is doing the art for issue 10 (coming in August), and I hear he may be doing some more issues after that…





Noto is, for my money, one of the best artists not currently under an exclusive contract…

Are you listening, Marvel and DC?

This Has A “Two-Gun Mojo” Factor of Nine Out of Ten

Number One With A Bullet

One of our ATR Agents sent me a page from J. Michael Straczynski and Tommy Lee Edward’s upcoming Bullet Points mini.



Now, this page seems to be depicting the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, with the emergence of Iron Man. Keep in mind that this miniseries is chronicling an alternate timeline and Straczynski has already mentioned that the first Iron Man of this timeline was… Steve Rogers.

I’m not sure when this one is coming out, I do have another cover to show:



This Has A “Back In Time” Factor of Eight Out of Ten

Who Is That Masked Man?

There’ve been a few rumors swirling around that Speedball will be the Masked Marvel slated to appear in the back-up stories in Young Avengers #12, X-Men #187 & 188…



Doesn’t look like Speedball to me…

Karl Kesel and David Hahn are the creators on this one.

This Has A “Roll Bounce” Factor of Six Out of Ten

The Scarlet Phoenix

Steve Gordon, one of the character designers for the X-Men Evolution animated series, made the following observation on his blog this week:
    I keep tabs on some of the comic/animation news web-sites and I happened to come across a photo of Jean Grey / Phoenix from X3 and it reminded me of when Boyd and I were doing research for the HarperCollins X3 books. We had to go downtown to Marvel's offices and make sketches from their set and publicity photographs. We weren't allowed to make copies or take photos so we had to sit around for hours sketching and making notes. I guess they were afraid we'd post something on the internet - though it wasn't long before Fox was posting the same images (and better) all over the internet themselves. But not in time for us to incorporate into our books accurately, of course.

    Oh well, but that's all beside the point. What caught my attention immediately was their costume for Phoenix. I thought it was an interesting take on her and then I realized it looked kind of familiar. I pointed it out to Boyd and that was the last time I thought of it. Even while watching the movie in the theater.

    Until I saw this photo on a web-site. I guess it was the torn pants that reminded me of my initial reaction. It's not a very good photo, but I think you'll get the point.



    I included images of Wanda as she appeared throughout X-M:E and in the last episode as an adult... I guess I should be flattered that someone working on X3 was a fan.
This Has A “Rising From The Ashes” Factor of Five Out of Ten



That, as they say, is a wrap. See you next week.

Later,
Blair

PS If anyone has any rumors, stories or news to share, please email me at blairm@silverbulletcomicbooks.com. Thanks to everyone who has been sending stuff in. It’s greatly appreciated.