A review of the DVD for the pilot episode of Blade the Series.

Thanks to Janine for getting bit to make this video better.

The longstanding rumor that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will play Black Adam in the upcoming Shazam! movie has finally been confirmed. It appears that it was really up to Dwayne, if he wanted to play Shazam or Black Adam, so he talked to fans and did a little research and chose Black Adam. The overwhelming majority of fans’ feedback apparently leaned this way, heavily influencing Johnson’s choice.

It was also mentioned that Corpse Bride screenwriter, John August, submitted a revision of the film’s script on November 2nd, ahead of the current Screenwriters’ Guild strike. Filming is said to begin in late 2008.

Did you know that the modern X-Men logo was originally designed by Jim Steranko and made its debut in X-Men 50 in November of 1968 (as seen in the above post banner)? In a surprisingly interesting series of articles, Todd Klein, who has done a wide variety of work as a letterer and designer, has assembled an exhaustive analysis of logos for the X-Men related books going as far back as issue 1 of X-Men from 1963. You can see his blog here and for the specific articles, see the direct links below.

Part 9 was particularly interesting because it shows the most recent iteration of the X-Men logo and many of the other designs that were submitted with it all mocked up on the same cover for issue 233 (I suspect this is just filler numbering and lettering because we are currently only on issue 203 at retail and Whedon and Cassaday have never been revealed as the creative team for X-Men that I am aware of. Not sure what the cover art is from or will be.) I kind of liked this one:

Throughout the series, Klein offers up glimpses of logo art samples that could have been. See below for an example of that for the X-Factor logo.

I should also note that Klein designed several X-Men related logos himself, including an X-Factor logo and an Excalibur logo. I found it interesting he noted in several places that when given a choice of logos, the editorial staff often chose the one closest resembling the original Steranko logo.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Update

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been cast to play Mandrake the Magician in the Chuck Russell directed Mandrake.

Whats that? Who’s Mandrake the Magician?

I’m glad you asked. Mandrake was a comic strip from the 30’s featuring a magician that fought the good fight. It generated plenty of spin-offs in other media formats including serials and books. In the 80’s the heroic magician starred in a cartoon alongside other classic comic strip heroes including The Phantom and Flash Gordon. You may remember this cartoon as Defenders of the Earth.

The new film, featuring Meyers, is set to shoot next year, both in the USA, and in China.

Source: Blogs@Newsarama

Joshua Middleton gives us a look at his cover for JLA Classified 52 at several different stages of its development. From concept sketch to final coloring, Josh has explained the process behind the art in brief detail (is that an oxymoron?). You can see the article on his blog here.

I have posted things from Josh’s blog in the past. He is among my favorite artists and its nice to see him give background on stuff like this. You can check out his site here.

The first spinoff of the X-Men movie series will be titled “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and will star Hugh Jackman in the role that made him famous. The release date is currently set for May 1, 2009.
Variety reports:

“Wolverine” is expected to feature many other mutants — some new to the film franchise and some from one or more of the three “X-Men” films. Liev Schreiber is reportedly in final talks to take on the role of a younger version of nemesis William Stryker, played by Brian Cox in “X2.”

Filming will begin later this year with Director Gavin Hood in Austrailia and New Zealand before moving to New Orleans, leading more than a few comic fans thinking the mutant Gambit may play a role. Victor Creed is mentioned, but no announcement has been made if Tyler Mane would reprise the role of Sabretooth from the first X-men film.

David Goyer’s “Magneto” movie should follow soon after. Its not known at this time if an “X4” will happen, or if the franchise will continue to spin off characters into larger roles.

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Keep reading for the show notes which include the corrected version of page 12 as well as Greg Weisman’s comments on the problems.
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Today Marvel unveiled the new Captain America, designed by renowned painter of super grandpas heroes; Alex Ross. While the design shares much with the classic Cap design there are some notable changes such as the black pants, the lack of chainmail, and the gat. Writer Ed Brubaker states that this new Cap isn’t Steve Rogers and indeed all signs point to Cap’s former partner and the Winter Soldier; Bucky Barnes. We’ve got more pictures after the jump.
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