Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2224
December 21, 2016
SUPERMAN REBORN Will Finally Answer DC REBIRTH Questions
Welcome comic book fans, to your mid-week edition of Comics Relief! Today we begin with DC announcing that some secrets are going to finally be revealed about the true nature of the Man of Steel in the new Rebirth universe early next year. Read on for all the details!
Superman: Reborn will explore the truth about the DC Rebirth Superman
Ever since DC Rebirth began last May, the biggest question mark has been around the character of Superman. Right before Rebirth began, the New 52 version of Superman died, and in his place, the pre-Flashpoint Superman emerged from hiding and took Kal-El’s place in the world and in the Justice League. But the mysterious Mr. Oz told Superman that he and his family (his wife Lois Lane and son Jonathan Kent) are not exactly what they seem to be, which as far as they know, is refugees from an alternate Earth.
According to DC’s official solicitations for March 2017, a new storyline called “Superman Reborn” will be running through the Superman titles, and will see the origins of both Supermen explored further, and in a way that reveals neither Kal-El is what they’ve believed themselves to have been. In this story, Mr. Oz, whom most fans believe is really Watchmen’s Ozymandias, will reveal the truth.
In Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s Superman #18, one of Mr. Oz’ prisoners escapes, resulting in the revelation of a “shocking truth” that will rock Clark, Lois and Jon’s world. The crossover then hits Dan Jurgens and Doug Mahnke’s Action Comics #975, then back to Superman #19, and then finally concluding in Action #976. All I can say is hope there’s no cloning involved. That’s so very Spider-Man. But speaking of Spider-Clones… [CBR]
Peter David and Mark Bagley will work on a mystery Spider-Man title for 2017
It seems Marvel Comics just stealthily announced an upcoming Spider-Man title, and it looks to be coming from the all-star creative team of writer Peter David (Incredible Hulk, X-Factor) and artist Mark Bagley, who drew over 100 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man for writer Brian Michael Bendis. The publisher teased a new ongoing comic would be coming out of the currently running Clone Conspiracy storyline, and this looks to be it.
In the recently released The Clone Conspiracy: Omega solicit, it included the following phrase when teasing the new title: “the next big Spider-Book by Peter David & Mark Bagley.” Since we are still a few issues away from the conclusion of Clone Conspiracy, Marvel doesn’t all together ready to announce what this book is, but the popular theory is this will be the return of Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, also known as the Spider-Clone. The character recently returned to life as part of this latest event, once again proof that the ’90s are back in full force. Hopefully, Ben Reilly 2.0 will have a better costume than just a hoodie. Because that costume was weak. [Comics Beat]
New Power Rangers movie will get a graphic novel sequel weeks after the movie hits
The Power Rangers reboot is hitting movie theater screens in March, but fans who are waiting for a proper follow up won’t have to wait long. Publisher BOOM! Studios will release a new OGN called Saban’s Power Rangers: Aftershock, which is due to hit on March 29, and which will pick up where the movie leaves off.
Aftershock will be written by Ryan Parrott and illustrated by Lucas Werneck, and the graphic novel will come in at 96 pages and retail for $14.99. It will come with a movie cover as well as a variant cover by artist Greg Smallwood. You can see Smallwood’s cover for the new graphic novel above. [Bleeding Cool]
Valiant Comics’ X-O Manowar to go metal for rare variant cover
Here’s more proof that we really are living the ’90s all over again. Publisher Valiant Comics have revealed that their upcoming relaunch of X-O Manowar will receive an exclusive variant cover printed on an aluminum metal sheet for its new #1 issue. The cover is being created by artist Monika Palosz, and the variant for the first issue of Valiant’s new ongoing series will come printed via a special process.
Every comic book shop that orders 500 copies or more of X-O Manowar will receive only one copy of the brushed-metal variant, so this cover will be exceedingly rare. Valiant CEO and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani said in a statement “As a publisher, Valiant is always looking for new ways to engage fans and retailers. The new X-O Manowar #1 is a milestone moment for Valiant and our biggest character, and we knew we had to put as much magnitude behind it as possible to ensure this series’ place as a centerpiece of the industry in 2017.” The new series by Matt Kindt and artist Tomas Giorello arrives on March 22. [CBR]
John Wick comic series coming from Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment has just announced that it has made a deal with Lionsgate Films to publish a comic book series inspired by the studio’s popular John Wick movie and its upcoming sequel starring Keanu Reeves, about a hitman who comes out of retirement on a mission of vengeance.
“John Wick was such an exciting film, mixing martial arts action with snappy dialogue and smart writing,” says Dynamite CEO and Publisher, Nick Barrucci. “As the credits rolled, you were left wanting more, and it was obvious that they had the makings of a franchise. We were quick to pursue the opportunity to develop a comic book series, and are thrilled to have been granted the rights to tell all-new stories with the character!”
“A comic series is the perfect vehicle to engage in a different way with fans as well as expand the John Wick universe. We found a great partner in industry leader Dynamite Entertainment who shared our passion and enthusiasm for the franchise,” says Sheila Clarke, SVP Global Consumer Products Lionsgate Entertainment. Dynamite Entertainment will introduce all-new comics starring John Wick in 2017, with details on release date and creative team to be announced in the coming months. You can see early concept sketches for the new comic above.
Marvel to celebrate Star Wars’ 40th anniversary in style
Believe it or not, but next year the Star Wars franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary. Marvel Comics is all set to celebrate the big event in 2017 by publishing 48 special edition variant covers, each highlighting scenes from A New Hope. The covers will receive a new logo and border treatment which include a 40th-anniversary branding and images. You can see some of the first released images of the themed variant covers in our gallery below. [CBR]
Which one do you like best so far? Let us know in comments.
Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics / Valiant Comics / Dynamite Entertainment / BOOM! Studios
Watch a Christmas Tree Lit Up by a Record Breaking Rube Goldberg Machine
It’s a tradition for millions of families across the world every holiday season: when the final strand of tinsel is in place, all of the ornaments have been hung with care, and the Christmas tree is lit up for the first time. But lets be honest, you look forward to that moment for 12 months, and then it just kinda comes and goes. It’s very easy to flip a switch, or to plug into a socket, so how can you savor something that happens that quickly? You can’t, but the answer to that problem is easy.
Well no, actually the answer is super complicated, because the way you do it is by building a world record Rube Goldberg machine to do it for you.
We first came across this official Guinness World Record breaking contraption at Sploid, and it was built by the Latvian e-commerce company Scandiweb for the public Christmas lighting ceremony in Riga. It uses a whopping 412 individual parts and was built over two months (and you think your local radio station drags out the Christmas season), all in the name of turning on the lights.
There’s way too much going on here to break down all of it (though all Rube Goldberg machines should utilize rubber duckies), but we’re fairly confident in saying this is the coolest, most unique holiday lighting ceremony we’ve ever seen.
Although to be completely honest, in the name of another yearly holiday tradition, it would have been amazing if just moments after going on the lights flickered and went out.
Images: Guinness World Records
First Image, Concept Art From Wes Anderson’s Animated ISLE OF DOGS
Great news for fans of Fantastic Mr. Fox is nigh–director Wes Anderson is officially returning to that film’s winning combination of stop-motion animation and cartoonish canines. Isle of Dogs, an obvious pun on the phrase “I love dogs,” is currently filming in London with an all-star cast that includes Edward Norton in the lead role of Rex the dog. Above, you can see the very first image of Rex as he appears in footage that has already been shot.
It’s not clear what the story will be: The Isle of Dogs was previously the title of a 16th-century English play banned for being too lewd and possibly slanderous, but no copies have survived for anyone to be sure. We can extrapolate, however, that there will be a Japanese element to the story, as the cast includes Kunichi Nomura. Koyu Rankin, Akira Ito, Akira Takayama, and Yoko Ono–and this is the first piece of official concept art:
As part of a fundraiser for the film foundation, Anderson is auctioning off items like the original artwork above, autographed DVDs, and the chance to win a small voice-over role in the film alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, and Scarlett Johansson (you can also buy yourself a role outright for $50,000). Via Indiewire, here’s a video from Mr. Anderson explaining the whole thing:
Wes Anderson from Crowdrise on Vimeo.
No doubt the movie will not be a radical departure from the quirky non-sequitur humor of every one of the director’s movies to date, but that’s still pretty radical for American-directed animated features. The more distinct voices we have in animation, the better, and if it frees up Anderson to fully create a world from the ground up, that’s cause for celebration.
What do you think the movie will be like? We love comments, so let’s have some below!
Why Anthony Daniels Cursed Out Alan Tudyk Over ROGUE ONE
Last week, the reprogrammed Imperial enforcer droid K-2SO made his official debut in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and stole nearly every scene that he was in thanks to Alan Tudyk‘s hilarious portrayal. Of course, Star Wars has a nearly 40 year history of droid comic relief that started with Anthony Daniels‘ C-3PO. During the production of Rogue One, Tudyk had a chance to meet Daniels before they compared notes on their respective droid experiences.
On a recent appearance on Conan, Tudyk recounted that Daniels “went on about the suit that he had to wear, and that originally they ‘put screws in my head and they closed it,’ and he had to be on this thing. He said ‘wait a minute, are you wearing an actual robot costume or are they doing it in motion capture?'” According to Tudyk, he confirmed that K-2SO was a motion capture performance, to which Daniels responded “you sh**.”
But that wasn’t the only time that Daniels and Tudyk crossed paths. Tudyk told Conan O’Brien that he ran into Daniels again during the Rogue One premiere and asked Daniels to tell him how he did as a droid after the screening was over. “I saw him at the party afterwards, and he came up and said, ‘F*** you.’ And that’s one of the best compliments I got!”
Tudyk and O’Brien also got in a few jokes at BB-8’s expense, including an amusing reference to the droid’s “early work” as the beach ball in Cast Away. But R2-D2 escaped unscathed!
What did you think about Tudyk’s encounter with Daniels? And which droid is superior? Transmit your thoughts to the comment section below!
Image: TBS
We’d also love to hear your thoughts on these…
Inked Wednesday #116 – K-2SO and More STAR WARS Tattoos
It’s official: a new Star Wars movie has arrived. Rogue One exploded into theaters on December 16, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn about fans making appointments with their favorite tattoo artists over the weekend for some additions. Don’t shame anyone who gets a tattoo after his or her first viewing of the film; sometimes certain characters, ships, or quotes just speak to you. Heck, a couple of folks went ahead and got their Rogue One ink before the film dropped.
As a fan of K-2SO, I have heart eyes for this tattoo inked by Kevin Furness:
A photo posted by Kevin Furness (@kevinfurnesstattoo) on Dec 13, 2016 at 10:08am PST
And would you look at this elegant Death Trooper by Jacob Gibb?
A photo posted by @shadow_hand_customs on Aug 1, 2016 at 8:32pm PDT
Do you have a Rogue One tattoo? See the instructions below for how to get me pictures.
Go to the gallery below to go back in time to the original trilogy. You’ll find a stunner of an Obi-Wan portrait, Darth Vader, the Millennium Falcon, and more.
If you have nerdy ink on your skin or you’re a tattoo artist that applies pop culture, STEM, music, or other nerd-inspired ink on a regular basis, then please hit me up because I’d like to highlight you in a future Inked Wednesday gallery. You can get in touch with me via email at alratcliffe@yahoo.com. Send me photos of the tattoos you’d like me to feature (the higher resolution, the better) and don’t forget to let me know the name of your tattoo artist if you have it, as well the name of the shop he or she works out of. If you are the tattoo artist, give me links to your portfolios and/or Instagram accounts so I can share them with our readers.
Featured Image: Kevin Furness
The Top 5 DC Animated TV Series Christmas Episodes
Despite the way it’s presented in recent live-action films, the DC Universe for most of its history has been a cheerier place than the Marvel Universe. So it stands to reason that the animated incarnations of DC’s characters should provide an abundance of memorable holiday tales, including everyone from stalwart icons like Batman and Superman to lesser known champions like Static Shock. So light a fire, pour yourself a cup of egg nog, and settle back in your favorite easy chair as we take a look at the top 5 DC animated TV series Christmas episodes…
Batman: The Animated Series — “Christmas with the Joker”
Sure, he’s a psychotic maniac, but is there a more mirthful character in the DCU than the Clown Prince of Crime, especially when voiced by Mark Hamill in Batman: The Animated Series? The granddaddy of contemporary DC Christmas cartoons is this 1992 episode in which Mr. J escapes from Arkham Asylum and stages his very own Christmas TV special, poking fun at the annual pop culture tradition while holding Commissioner Gordon, Summer Gleeson, and Harvey Bullock hostage. Featuring references to It’s a Wonderful Life, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and, of course, that “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” song parody we all sang as kids, “Christmas with the Joker” is the definitive yuletide greeting cad from what is still arguably the best screen version of the Caped Crusader.
The New Batman Adventures — “Holiday Knights”
While “Christmas with the Joker” focuses primarily on Batman, Robin, and their arch-nemesis, “Holiday Knights” (the premiere episode of 1997’s The New Batman Adventures, which continued Batman: The Animated Series mythology) is divided into three separate stories. Each written by Batman Animated writer par excellence Paul Dini, they shine a seasonal spotlight on some of Gotham City’s other denizens. The first and best of the tales (based on a comic book yarn by Dini and his fellow BTAS producer Bruce Timm) sees Bruce Wayne forced to play sugar daddy to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn when they embark on a holiday shopping spree; the second finds Batgirl confronting Clayface; and the third, a sequel of sorts to “Christmas with the Joker”, features the Dynamic Duo once more engaged with the Harlequin of Hate at New Year’s.
Static Shock — “Frozen Out”
In a very different corner of the DC Animated Universe lies perhaps its most underrated series, 2000’s Static Shock, chronicling the adventures of Milestone/DC’s African-American teen superhero, Static. While it’s disappointing that only the first six episodes of the show are available on DVD, many of its other episodes can be found online, including the above “Frozen Out”. Unlike all of the other entries in this list, this one is decidedly non-secular, honoring not only Christmas but Hanukkah and Kwanzaa as well. Now if only we could get ourselves a Festivus cartoon…
Justice League — “Comfort and Joy”
The most laid-back episode of 2001’s Justice League is the series’ only single-episode story, “Comfort and Joy.” It gives fans an opportunity to see their favorite heroes simply enjoying each other’s company at the most festive time of year. Hawkgirl and Green Lantern’s romance heats up when the two warriors get involved in an off-world bar fight, the Ultra-Humanite learns the true meaning of Christmas from the Flash, and, best of all, Superman brings J’onn J’onzz, who’s unfamiliar with Earth holidays, home to Smallville to spend Christmas with Ma and Pa Kent.
The Brave and the Bold — “Invasion of the Secret Santas!”
Last but by no means least we have what might be the most appropriate entry of all. For Christmas is a time of good cheer, and there’s no DC cartoon brighter than 2008’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The most purely enjoyable screen version of the Dark Knight gave us a typically absurd and inspired adventure in its yuletide saga “Invasion of the Secret Santas!” Here, Batman (voiced as always on the show by the unflappable Diedrich Bader) teams up with Red Tornado, and both the android and his taciturn human ally catch the holiday spirit while battling exactly what the episode’s title promises — a full-scale assault by an entire army of robot Santa Clauses.
What are your favorite DC Christmas cartoons? Let us know below!
Images: Warner Bros.
Half Hour Happy Hour #103: Drunksmas Day 3
Day 3 of Drunksmas is all about the shakes! The crew is joined by the lovely and talented Krysta Rodriguez
Follow @HalfHourHappyHr and hosts @alisonhaislip, @alexalbrecht and Tom “Super Volcano” Krajewski on Twitter
December 20, 2016
Watching a Furby Cut in Half Is Surprisingly Disturbing
Every kid at some point, usually to the chagrin of his or her parents, has broken a toy apart to try and learn how it was made. Sure, such curiosity comes at the expensive of an otherwise perfectly good plaything, but it’s a worthwhile price in the development of a young and inquisitive mind. However, it turns out that doing the same thing as an adult, with the help of much more advanced grown-up toys, isn’t an exercise in intellectual enlightenment. It’s a horrible and disturbing realization that even inanimate objects can arouse empathy from us, like when you slice a Furby in half and it looks like it is suffering.
This toy dissection/snuff film comes from the YouTube channel What’s Inside, and they used a high-powered waterjet to slice straight through both a 2016 Furby Connect and also a 1996 original Furby (which they purchased for 500 freaking dollars just to destroy!). While the newer toy was much more advanced and interactive as a result of it’s advanced chip board, they weren’t all that different in how they were made even after 20 years.
However, the “what” here takes a back seat to the troubling “how,” because the Furby Connect looked like it was actually crying as it was cut in half, with Furby blood pouring out of its eyes and ears in its final moments. That toy was creepy and unsettling when it was working normally, but it really came to life just as it was being brutally butchered.
So even though we cared about our toys way more as kids, and we broke them apart in a quest to learn about the world without worry or concern, we were never troubled by their destruction as we were by this video, because back then the answer to “what’s inside a Furby” was simply some plastic and computer pieces.
Only now do we know the real answer to that question is pain and suffering.
Especially since it cost 500 dollars for an old broken toy to figure that out.
What did you think? Was it strangely upsetting to you to see the Furby cut in half, or are you more upset about the 500 dollars? Tell us in the comments below.
Images: What’s Inside
A PASSENGERS-Like Torpor Seems Possible, and NASA Is Already Funding the Research
The catalyst for the plot of Passengers, which kicks off when Jim (Chris Pratt) wakes up from a torpor facing a lonely 90-year trip aboard an interstellar spaceship, stems from the presumption that when it comes to long-distance space travel, hibernation of the crew will be hugely beneficial. But the technology that would allow people like Jim and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) to make a 120-year journey in hibernation—or even a six-month trip to Mars—is still in nascent stages. The research, however, is moving ahead, and making interplanetary human stasis a reality seems to come down to three things in the near-term future: severely injured people, the Edible Dormouse, and pigs.
In the film, over 5,000 people are placed into hibernation—a word that seems to be interchangeable with terms like “torpor,” “human stasis,” and “suspended animation”—aboard the Starship Avalon. The goal is for all on board to travel in such a state for 120 years until arriving at “Homestead II,” a planet that orbits another star. But hibernation for that kind of trip raises a lot of questions: What would being hibernated for 120 years feel like? How would humans cope physiologically and mentally? And how insanely bad would we have to whizz once awoken?
A glimpse at Jim’s hibernation pod from Passengers. Image: Columbia Pictures
Dr. John Bradford, PhD in Aerospace Engineering, COO of the aerospace company SpaceWorks, as well as a pretty big Star Trek fan, served on a scientific panel in support of the film. In a recent interview with Nerdist, he shed some light on how close we are to achieving the kind of scientific breakthroughs needed to make a Passengers-like journey a reality. And as of right now, it seems that most of the research on the subject of long-term hibernation has either been studied by looking at nature’s own creations, or conducted only when a person has sustained a life-threatening injury.
“If you have an unfortunate incident, traumatic brain injury or cardiac arrest,” Dr. Bradford said, “in many cases when you arrive at the hospital, they [will] cool your body temperature down about 10°F and… basically leave you in [an] unconscious-type state for anywhere from two to four days to a couple of weeks.” What Bradford is describing here is known as Therapeutic Hypothermia (TH) or Targeted Temperature Management (TTM). So far TH has only been used in severe medical cases, like the ones described by Dr. Bradford, in order to “reduce the risk of tissue injury following lack of blood flow.” But even though TH has only been induced for medical reasons, it still demonstrates that a person can go up to 14 days with their body’s metabolic rate reduced by 70%.
A simulated look at one of SpaceWorks’ potential Therapeutic Hypothermia set-ups. Image: SpaceWorks
But 120 years is obviously a challenge on a whole different scale from a couple of weeks. When it comes to making interplanetary hibernation a reality in the near-term, even a single year is too much of a stretch anyway. Right now, a more realistic, yet still far-off, goal concerns missions to Mars, which will be on the months-long scale.
SpaceWorks has received two rounds of funding from NASA to do preliminary research for hibernation on Mars missions, and Dr. Bradford seems optimistic that the technology isn’t too deep in the realm of sci-fi. “We’re trying to advance from what’s well understood at the level of days—or fairly well understood—going to potentially weeks, and ultimately we want to get it to months…” Dr. Bradford emphasized that the goal of SpaceWorks’ hibernation endeavor is not to extend life, as it is in the film, but rather to help with cutting down on resource usage (food, air, water, etc.) during the “transit phase” from Earth to Mars (or Mars back to Earth).
In terms of ideas on how to execute human stasis during a transit phase from Earth to Mars, Bradford said that the animal kingdom yields some pretty spectacular examples from which to draw inspiration; the pinnacle of which is the Edible Dormouse, or what is essentially the Disney version of a rodent. Dr. Bradford says that the Edible Dormouse can remain in hibernation for up to 11 months, during which time its metabolic rates drastically decrease. It may even “cease breathing altogether for periods [of] up to an hour.”
The Edible Dormouse looking Disney AF. Image: Wikimedia / Michael Hanselmann
Testing non-urgent TH on humans, certainly on the months-long scale, still seems like a leap the aerospace sector isn’t quite ready to make, though. And that’s where the pigs enter the picture. “Pigs are a great surrogate and are oftentimes used [for testing]… because their anatomy and scale tend to do very well in terms of translating results,” Dr. Bradford said. He added that pigs are the reason scientists were able to develop Therapeutic Hypothermia for medical purposes in the first place. Which means when it comes to literally saving lives right now, and possibly developing a robust form of hibernation for future space travel, we can thank pigs for saving our bacon.
In terms of saving Jim and Aurora from space-drowning and space-explosions, that’s a whole different boat of space-problems. But as long as everybody else’s hibernation pods continue to work, they should all get to Homestead II feeling youthful, maybe a little sleepy, and probably excited with the thrill of living on a new planet and also finding out where the spaceship toilet is.
What do you think about interplanetary or interstellar space travel and the use of hibernation? Would you let yourself enter suspended animation for years on end only to wake up and find out that The Winds of Winter still hasn’t been released? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Images: Columbia Pictures
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence talk Passengers and robot bartenders
Comic Book Club: 10th Anniversary with Vivek Tiwary and Jordan D. White
It’s Comic Book Club’s 10th anniversary show, with guests Vivek J. Tiwary (“The Fifth Beatle”) and Jordan D. White (Marvel’s “Star Wars” and “Deadpool”)!
Check out the website at comicbookclublive.com to find out how to watch the show live! And follow the show on Twitter: @comicbooklive, @azalben, @jtsizzle, and @realpetelepage
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