Numerous sources confirm that the unattractive and untalented Gwyneth Paltrow will star as Iron Man’s love interest Virginia “Pepper” Potts opposite on again off again drug addict Robert Downey Jr. Some people consider this stain on the film industry to be talented since winning an Academy Award for her performance in the unforgiveably bad Shakespeare In Love. This does not change the simple fact that with nearly 40 sub par film performances under her belt she has only managed to make a single good movie.

Here’s hoping for #2!

Who the hell calls their kid Apple? Seriously?

In this review Batman himself talks about the Batman Begins HD DVD as well as some features of HD DVDs in general.

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #9
written by Jeff Parker, art by Juan Roman Cano Santacruz, cover by Cameron Stewart

Holy. Crap. Look at that cover, man.

Now, to be fair, the Avengers aren’t fighting your traditional M.O.D.O.K. They’re fighting M.O.D.O.C. This is because the K in M.O.D.O.K. stands for Killing – as in, Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing – and the Marvel Adventures line is supposed to be more kid-friendly, so the words “kill” aren’t allowed. So the C stands for Conquest. I guess it’s alright if the kids lead lives dedicated to conquest, then.

For those of you out of the loop, the ‘Adventures’ line is like the Ultimate line: It’s a separate continuity from the main Marvel U, allowing for more accessible, less continuity-intensive storytelling. The lineup for the team (in case the picture is a little unclear) includes: Captain America, Iron Man (on the same team? gasp!), Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, the Hulk, and Giant-Girl (as I understand it, it’s Janet Van Dyne, AKA the Wasp, but she uses her powers for BIGNESS).

The writer also happens to be Jeff Parker, the writer of the excellent Agents of Atlas, and the successful X-Men: First Class. I’m not as familiar with Santacruz, but I’ll say this about him: He draws a GREAT Avengers-as-M.O.D.O.C.s (see the preview pages).

For more M.O.D.O.K.-related reading and links, go here and enjoy – And definitely continue after the jump for that 6 page preview!

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Marvel just released covers for April issues today, and as you can see on the cover on the left, Black Panther #27 features Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Storm, and the Black Panther riding in a FantastiCar. The previously touted image (featuring Ben and Johnny with Stardust and the Silver Surfer) is going to be the cover to the same month’s FF issue #545. And, a little more research says that the original leaked cover was just the cover to issue #544, which conveniently remains unviewable on Marvel’s website. So, it seems the team WILL consist of Storm and T’Challa, for at least a month, though the Ben and Johnny rockin’ duo may start playing russian roulette with the two open spots left by Reed and Sue. And, if the original leaked cover really is just FF #544, and the new space one really is the cover to #545, then this also tells us that Marvel’s putting Turner on FF covers. Which I guess is newsworthy to some. All in all, Marvel’s clearly playing the hype game they play whenever they leak something on accident, but history tells us that initial reports do tend to have it right. So, hopefully, that’s the end of that.

Thunderbolts #110
written by Warren Ellis, art by Mike Deodato

As Civil War trudges along, it’s finally time for the much-hyped new Thunderbolts lineup launch! While I’m a longtime fan of the group under Fabian Nicieza’s excellent pen (and I question the decision of taking the book out from under him – again), I won’t deny that the different approach Warren Ellis is bringing to the table has caught my interest.

In the new lineup we have cold-blooded killers mixed in with former, more heroic Thunderbolts. With the psychotics being controlled by nanites, and unwilling holdovers being forced on the team for yet unexplained reasons, things are no doubt going to be tense and violent, and with the ever-brilliant Mike Deodato (ever-famous for his work on the Hulk – where he even drew the Thunderbolts’ first appearance, in Incredible Hulk #449) on pencils, they should also look fantastic. Keep on reading after the jump for 5 preview pages – you really don’t want to miss it; Bullseye show off the different facets of his crazy while never lifting a finger – and also for our quick ‘n dirty rundown on the characters involved.

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In the ongoing saga of Marvel teasing the FF’s new lineup, there’s been a couple new hints this week. For starters, you might want to catch up on the previous teaser image we showed you, featuring Storm and Black Panther with the Human Torch and the Thing. Rich Johnston’s Lying In The Gutters reports that this pic originally slipped through the cracks as “a ‘Civil War’ variant cover”. Makes sense – That’s about all Michael Turner does for Marvel. So what about the new space-themed image that Marvel sent out today? Read on after the jump for answers.
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Manhunter #27
written by Marc Andreyko, art by Javier Pina and Robin Riggs

Manhunter launched in the aftermath of Identity Crisis (was it really two years ago???), and I ignored it, because books that launch from events have a bad habit of being rushed to market, capitalizing on the event’s success instead of being carefully crafted. As a result, I missed out on what has turned out to be a surprisingly excellent book. And, it turns out, so did most people, as the book was slated to be canceled at issue #25. Fortunately, the powers that be at DC have given it a 5 issue stay of execution, starting with #26!

To be honest, I only started picking it up at the previous arc, which ended with Kate Spencer (Manhunter) driving an electric blade into Dr. Psycho‘s forehead and snapping the blade off, for the sole purpose of (effectively) shutting down his mind-control powers. This actually took place in the middle of a courtroom too, as she happened to be the lawyer DEFENDING HIM. Interestingly, the verdict had just come in, but hadn’t been read before he went bananas – she managed to get Psycho a “not guilty” verdict!

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So 2006 has come and passed, and that means it’s time for retrospectives. In the world of comics, it’s been a busy year, and while everyone’s going to tell you what was the best and what was the worst, what I want to look at is what books surpassed their hype, and what books made you regret (or at least SHOULD make you regret) forking over your hard-earned cash. So here they are: Five books that made me look forward to the next issue and everything that the creative team will ever produce in the future … and five books that might make me wish I’d just set my money on fire instead, because at least my brain wouldn’t have those abominations permanently etched into its squiggly wrinkles.

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