Yahoo! has released the second official trailer for Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern, which will be released on June 17th. The DC Comics adaptation stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgard, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Mark Strong, Geoffrey Rush, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
Following the upcoming debut of Green Lantern: Emerald Knights details are dropping in about DC’s next animated feature Batman: Year One, based off of the comic by Frank Miller which recounted the first year of Bruce Wayne’s career as Batman. The animated feature is already set to carry a PG-13 rating and scheduled to hit this fall, with Comic-Con goers getting a world premiere in July.
the voice cast so far is as follows:
Ben Mckenzie as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Bryan Cranston as Lieutenant James Gordon
Katee Sackhoff as Detective Sarah Essen
Eliza Dushku as Selina Kyle/Catwoman
Alex Rocco as Carmine Falcone
DC isn’t stopping there as, two still images (which can be seen below) came out to promote the animated film. Batman: Year One is described as follows:
In Year One, a young Bruce Wayne is first starting out as a costumed vigilante. He creates an early bond with Lieutenant James Gordon, whose importance in the tale makes it as much as Gordon’s story as Wayne’s.
Upper Deck Announces Plans For Unique Marvel® Comic Book
Card Project Called ‘The Avengers: Kree-Skrull War’
July Trading Card Release Will Reveal Five Untold Tales!
press release
 The Upper Deck Company, in conjunction with Marvel Entertainment, Inc., is announcing plans to produce and distribute a very unique trading card project called “The Avengers: Kree-Skrull War.” Resurrecting a previously published story arc around popular Marvel characters including Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and Vision, the 190-card set will boast one original main story and four original side stories that will share with Marvel fans untold tales from the Kree-Skrull War.
In the early ‘70s, the Marvel Universe released a story arc of nine original comics called “The Avengers” (issues 89 through 97) that followed The Avengers in their daily struggles to safeguard the world against any threat beyond the power that conventional peacekeeping forces could handle. Now Upper Deck is reintroducing some of those characters with an all-new story line complete with original artwork that will be delivered via trading cards. The main story, entitled “Sacrifice” and featuring Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and Vision, will consist of 20 pages that will take Marvel fans and collectors on a unique journey authored by renowned comic book writer Sean McKeever. Story pages turn front to back just like a standard comic book and will consist of nine cards per page. In addition to the riveting main story, four side stories will be launched simultaneously within the same set. Eager fans can read an eight-page story titled “The Debt,” following Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch; an intense six-page story called “The Fall,” following Nick Fury; and two four-page stories titled “Power” and “Soldiers’ Honor” featuring Super-Skrull and Captain America, respectively.
“This is truly a unique comic book story from Upper Deck,” said Bubby Johanson, Upper Deck’s product manager for Marvel. “Never before has a trading card company produced a unique Marvel comic book story line that is delivered via trading cards. Collectors can seek out the entire set and literally put together the comic book pages, including the cover, to capture a very cool collectible.”
I am not getting too excited. Siege started quite promising, as did Secret Invasion, and even the horrible Shadowlands trainwreck had an alright first issue. Then they platter out into nothing more than a ridiculously powered-up punch-fest, devoid of plot, character development, and just about everything else crucial to a good narrative. So. I am not going to get excited just to GET BURNT AGAIN, MARVEL!
That disclaimer aside, isn’t Fear Itself looking kind of good?
Mini-boss Sin, Red Skull’s daughter, awoke the Asgardian God of Fear* and now, they plan on wrecking havoc the World/World-Tree and becoming Queen/All-Father. We haven’t learned yet how powerful he might be, and I think that in part is the appeal. How powerful is Fear? The opening scene had Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter failing to contain a riot over 9/11 Mosque. Steve suspects supervillian foul play, and I did too—seriously, the event is called Fear Itself, and there you go, fear manifested. Turns out, that’s just how things are in the world. Tony Stark sharply reminds Steve—“Captain America doesn’t come with the same cache as it once did. And you’re not even that anymore.”
Which is to say: It isn’t the Golden Age, it isn’t the Silver Ages, it’s not even the Dark Ages where heroes can just get a bit tougher and meaner—and the hero, and how he is perceived as changed. People have not felt secure for a while now and they do not trust authority figures to serve and protect. So here lies the challenge, how will the superheroes protect the people from Fear, when they are already afraid? Fraction has proven himself quite clever in his ability to tie in politics, culture, technology and other dressings of the modern life. I think he could write a smart series that address how superheroes might confront the changes in the world in a way that’s true to their character, and remain superheroes.
And. I think Fraction can do this while writing an entertaining book. Fraction leans towards a thinky-talky book and is not always that great with boom-pow, but given a roster of heavy hitters (this is an Avengers book, folks) and a dangerous situation, the book should automate generate a nice amount conflict and action. Between the good guys alone, we should be able to see different view points emerge and clash. The first issue already gave us a great confrontation between Thor and Odin.
The bad guys aren’t too shabby either. We don’t know that much about the God of Fear yet, but I have enjoyed the mini-boss. Reviewers have criticized Sin as a drag to read, and admittedly, she really isn’t that deep a character—but I find her really funny. She is constantly talking to her dead father, and shooting Nazis librarians, and she literally stated that she wants to be “Queen of the World”—does no one else find this funny?
Did I mention the art is wonderful? Stuart Immonen has this clean, legible art style—with just that tad bit of fantasy and exaggeration to make characters look spectacular. He does a great job with the characters, and with creatures and weapons and castles ruins. And his layouts manage to be dynamic without being complicated—the book moves fast and reads easily. And there’s a certain cleverness in his drawing, I love the panel where Odin shouts at the Watcher for overlooking the All-Father. The positioning, the gestures, the proportions all support the idea of a little-big king shouting at inevitability.
This is not to say that I am sold on the book. For one, I am not loving is the neon-green and black bar that proclaim FEAR ITSELF on all the covers. Marvel has continuously churned out ugly headers—remember the gaudy Heroic Age—and this one is really raising the bar. It’s kind 1999, guys. Let’s try for subtle gradients, maybe some cleaner fonts? And let us not forget Marvel events’ ability to go horrible awry. But for now, I remain optimistic. Perhaps we can read ourselves another Civil War.
* Not Alex Aaron, aka Phobos, Ares’s son, & deceased Secret Warrior. Different pantheon altogether. In case anyone else was confused.
4/13′s got an expensive amount of firsts and lasts.
DC:
 Justice League Generation Lost (#23) is wrapping up its suspenseful bi-weekly run, with JLI facing Max Lord’s ULTIMATE WEAPON. Thunder Agents (#6) concludes its first arc with a giant battle. As there battle scenes thus far has been kind of spread it and spastic, I am curious to see how Spencer will write a continous, extended action scene.
For eventful beginnings, Birds of Prey (#11) has Catman and Huntress going on a first date– the Internet tells me it’s the romance everyone has been waiting for, but I do not believe you, Internet!
Batman and Robin (#22) is a penultimate, and possibly the title I’m looking forward to the most. Tomasi’s idea of a vigilante targetting enemies’ families is refreshing twist on the usual formula, and the psychodelic illusions make for some pretty pages.
Also Picking up Cinderella (#3). The Eurotrashy cover was kind a bummer, Cinderella usually has such cool covers!
MARVEL:
 Captain America Fighting Avenger (#1) begins another Brian Clevinger retelling of a Marvel Classic. Iron Man 2.0 (#3) gives Rodney a new War Machine suit. I am going to try out Hulks (#626). I haven’t read any hulk in months and months, and the idea of “hulks”, red or otherwise, is so displeasing. But this is the start of Hulk’s career as a sexy spy! And Amadeus Cho is his little Asian sidekick!
Secret Warriors (#26) is an ending issue with a title like “End Game”, revealing stuff about Hydra, Shield and probably some other stuff. I like the team issues more than the intridgue issues (boring!), but let’s hear Hickman out.
The X books have some important middle issues where an arc could every will its steam. X-Men Legacy (#247) is now on Part 5 of Age of X, and raising the stakes by introducing Xavier and having him fuck shit up. X-Force (#7) continues Deathlok Nation and reveals Weapon Infinity’s true identity. Truth be told, I don’t remember who that is, but I do remember enjoying that last issue, so we’re good.
IMAGE:
Infinite Vacation #2. Dude, this was supposed to have come out two month ago! 
A nice pull for an early week. Does that mean April is spent?
Taking a break from his many projects, comic book writer/artist Steve Walters sat down with me to talk about those projects, including A.K.A., with fellow artist Rob Reilly, the creative process, and working the comic conventions.
Source: Superherohype
While I can’t say I’m thrilled with the decision to rely on Superman villains we’ve already seen on film, I can’t argue with the casting Michael Shannon, who will be playing General Zod in the new Superman film, now titled Man Of Steel. Shannon’s been praised for his roles in Revolutionary Road, The Runaways, and the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire. I can definitely see him bringing the right kind of menacing demeanor to a character like Zod.
Having only read three books, it’s sad, but not that surprising that there’s no Must Reads, no Good Reads, and two DISAPPIONTMENTS:
Brightest Day (#23) has the once-dead, then-resurrected, then-dead (by the ring that brought them back in the first place) white lanterns are brought back (yep, same ring) as Elementals to save the Earth, from the Earth, as agents of the Earth. You might think this all would be very complicated and confusing, but it’s just cheesy.
House of Mystery (#36) might just have been the push I needed to cut this title from my pull. Apparently now the House belongs to emo-brat Lotus Blossom, who so happens to my least favorite character, not just in the book, but the whole Vertigo universe. The girl wears a bootleg Nightmare Before Xmas baby tee (she used to wear bootleg Emily Strange), has Discord and Harmony tats on her forearm (in addition to a tramp stamp), and is rude to old people. Even the lettering in her dialogue box (the comic equivalent of her voice) rubs me the wrong way.
I do however have a rather unexpected PICK OF THE WEEK:
Fear Itself (#1) was great. Sin (Red Skull’s daughter) awakens The God of Fear and the superheroes must battle him and, possibly his detrimental effects on the population. This premise of Fear as the enemy is hardly new, but Fraction is making efforts to make it fresh and relevant. Fear Itself’s superheroic setting pulls in political issues, culture references, cutting-edge science and all those bells and whistles that Fraction is really good at bringing into his writing. And Imonen’s art is fantastic, fits the book perfectly. It’s starting feels like Civil War all over again, and I mean that happily.
I was even impressed enough to check out the tie-ins. Brubaker’s Book of the Skull was a lot of fun, Sin came off bad-ass. The hodge-podge Homefront was less satisfying—as always with issues containing multiple stories, not all the stories were interesting, and all of them were too short to build much momentum. I recommend readers stick with the main series for now, and wait to see how the Spiderman and Youth in Revolt tie-ins will play out.
The first week of the month is usually small, but my pull this week is embarrassingly miniscule at three books, and none that I going wild about.
Brightest Day (#23) picked up from its slow start, and is moving a little too much in the other directions. Shit’s a-going down in every other panel, and now the life lanterns are turning into… elementals? I hope DC doesn’t think adding in a generous cheese factor magically
House of Mystery (#36) picks up from a cliff hanger kind of conclusion to the last arc where there may be no Fig and no House. I am no longer interested in where this series is headed, but there’s no promising “Gaiman-esque” title to fill its spot either.
We been seeing those awful ads with gaudy CGI neon green circle thing for month… and now Fear Itself (#1) begins ANOTHER Marvel event, woo. Marvel events happen too often, are too hyped, have a million lackluster tie-ins, and tend to collapse into disappointing messes. What are the chances that Fear Itself will prove itself different? The battered wife in me is going to give Marvel yet another chance, but I got enough bruises to be a bit wary.
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PCS WEEKLY PULL is fangirl Sirui reading comics and telling you want she thinks. She makes her list in Weekly Pull List and sums it up in Weekly Pull Scored. Shoot her an email if you got comments or suggestions.
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