Ultimate Power #1
written by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils by Greg Land

Here at last, it’s the big crossover between JMS’s Squadron Supreme and the Ultimate Universe! It’s a 9 issue series – which is supposed to take place between Ultimates 2 and Ultimates 3 – and it’s being divided into three sections: Issues 1-3 will be written by Bendis, issues 4-6 will be written by J. Michael Straczynski , and issues 7-9 will be written by Jeph Loeb. Er, I guess Greg Land’s onboard for the whole thing.

If you read Squadron Supreme or the Ultimate books, this book is something worth keeping an eye on – At the end of the series, someone from the Supremeverse will end up in the Ultimateverse, and vice versa. Granted both universes have their set of crap characters, but I can’t imagine someone like Ultimate Longshot in the Supremeverse being the gimmick they’re selling. And heck, even if it is, it should still make for an interesting read.

The story kicks off with Reed Richards trying to find a cure for Ben Grimm, and accidentally opening up a connection between the two universes – You’d think after the Zombie fiasco, he’d know better than to poke around like that, but thank God he doesn’t yet! Anyway, while the premise is a somewhat tired story concept in the normal Marvel U, I couldn’t help but notice this page in the previews –

I was moderately interested in the book, but not terribly, until I saw that. This puts a whole different pressure on Reed to find that cure, and while some of the work from these writers has been hit or miss for me lately, I find myself looking forward to this book a LOT.

YoJoe.com is running a story on a pretty rare figure nicknamed “Pimp Daddy Destro”. This version of Destro was originally meant for an exclusive 3-pack with Cobra Commander and the Baroness. He features a leopard print jacket lining and collar. His upper legs also features this interesting pattern. The article gives foudation to the figure’s availability as a loose item and why it is more common to find them as such, instead of in the mock-ups for the three pack. In light of the recent interview with Ron Rudat, I find these types of articles enlightening regarding the creation of what we see in the stores. Give it a look if you have time.

This is gonna be one meaty issue of awesome. Not only do we get the first part of the last leg of Planet Hulk – Allegiance: Part 1 – but we also get a back up story with pencils by the awesome Gary Frank, fresh off his stretch on Squadron Supreme:

This back up story – which will also be written by the main story’s writer, Greg Pak – deals with events from Civil War (specifically, supposedly involving some new info about the Thor clone), and the Illuminati’s role in punting the Hulk into space, and ALSO someone finds out what happened to the Hulk. Gasp!

The super-duper-special anniversary issue will also include reprints of The Incredible Hulk #’s 3, 152 and 300. Issue #3 was chosen because it’s a story where the Hulk tore up Manhattan, which led to Dr. Strange exiling him (actually to space, according to the cover). #300 is a story … well, it seems to be one largely about the Hulk beating the crap out of stuff. Greg Pak hints that it might or might not be a teaser of World War Hulk, but more topically, it touches on the ideas of exile and of the Hulk being a monster. #152 is a story where the heroes of the Marvel U put the Hulk on trial, and try to decide whether the Hulk is hero enough, or too much monster. I’d say the connection’s only marginally less obvious than it is with issue 3.

Also, here’s some unlettered pages from the main issue. Art chores are by Carlo Pagulayan, who did the first arc, and he’s splitting this last arc with Aaron Lopresti, who did the second arc.

Sources – Pak’s interview at The Pulse, Newsarama.com, Marvel.com

Updated – Previous articles indicated it would be issue #143 in the issue, but instead it’s issue #300. Sorry folks. On the upside, it makes previously confusing comments in other articles make a lot more sense, now that we know this. Also – We’ve added new images from the upcoming issue #100, both for the issue, and for Gary Frank’s pages.

Also, the issue will hit stands on November 1st, and it’ll cost $3.99.  I can’t wait!

The title says it all. According to Fwooshnet.com, an excellent source for all your Marvel Legends needs, Toy Biz has cancelled all remaining products for 2006 in Canada and International outlets. This is no small announcement. The Fwoosh lists the following products that this affects:

• X-Men 3 – Series 3
• Marvel Legends boxed set – House of M
• Marvel Legends – Series 14
• Marvel Legends – Series 15
• Marvel Face Off – Series 2
• Marvel Masterworks – Series 2
• Marvel Showdown – Series 4
• Marvel Icons Series 2
• Marvel Icons Series 3
• Spider-man Rotocast figures
• Spider-Man Series 18

If you have any of these pre-ordered somewhere, you should check to make sure that it is still valid.

If I can dig up any more information on this, I will make sure to share it.

That seems like a really long post title, so let me break it down for you. Star Wars came out in 1977. Next year, being 2007, will be the 30th Anniversary of the franchise. To celebrate such an occasion, Hasbro is putting out a special line of 3 3/4 inch figures. They have finally announced the figures in Wave 1.

• Galactic Marine
• Mustafar Lava Worker
• R2-D2
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Mace Windu
• Clone Trooper
• Super Battle Droid (can attach to R2-D2)

You can see pictures and descriptions of these figures here on Hasbro’s site.

Figures.com is reporting that two new figures have been added to the Revoltech lineup.

• Ingram 02
• Soltic

The Ingram mecha hails from the Patlabor series and the Soltic mecha originates from the “Fang of the Sun Dougram” anime series.
Two images are mirrored below. You can see more Ingram 02 images here and Soltic images here.

 

It slipped past my radar, but Round 1 of the FANTastic Exclusive 2007 voting already ended with the 7th Kingdom property coming out on top. The 7th Kingdom is the same property that Xetheus the Minotaur hails from.
From the site:

Proposed line description : The Seventh Kingdom is a classic fantasy/mythology toy line. The story centers around the citizens of six great kingdoms all fighting for an unclaimed seventh kingdom that will shift the balance of power in the victor’s favor. The diverse kingdoms are as follows: animal, humanoid, elemental, alien, mutant outcasts, and machines. The proposed format of the line is six to seven inches tall with well hidden super articulation. Each character would have his or her own specific weapon(s).

The Four Horsemen have put up the second round of voting with eight choices of characters to vote on. The choices are:

• Human General
• Alien Shaman
• Mutant Thug
• Elemental Warlord
• Machine Overlord
• Human Queen
• Elephant Swordsman
• Female Elemental

You can see the designs here and vote on them here.

Being someone who actually purchased the Xetheus figure from the FANTastic Exclusive 2006 voting, I’d really like to see that Human Queen made into a figure followed by the Elephant Swordsman. Take a look and see what you want to vote for and let the Four Horsemen know you appreciate the powet of choice!

If you read the comic sites at all, then you must know by now that there’s a new Thunderbolts team in the pipeline, coming in January. The book will be written by Warren Ellis (recently bustin’ his hump in the Marvel U on Nextwave), and drawn by Mike Deodato (recently bustin’ his pencils on New Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man). Here’s the lineup, according to Marvel –

• Venom
• Moonstone
• Bullseye
• Songbird
• Chen Lu, the Radioactive Man
• Swordsman
• “The mystery man called Penance”
• Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin

You should know most of these guys – Venom, Bullseye, and the Green Goblin are big names, what with one of the goals being to New Avengerize the lineup. Quesada even alluded to the fact that Osborn is supposed to be running the team. Moonstone, Songbird, Radioactive Man, and the Swordsman are all from the current lineup, and it’s nice to see (unlike last Thunderbolts revamp) that the current team isn’t getting stupidly kicked to the curb. But Moonstone’s an odd choice as she’s been brain dead for a while, and Swordsman’s an odd choice, because he lacks much of a discernable personality. And then, Penance? It can’t be the Penance from Generation X, since not only is she in The Loners, but SHE’S ALSO A SHE. I have no clue what’s going on there.

And the second question is, who’s missing? Well, on the last page of Civil War #4, we have Jack-O-Lantern, Lady Deathstrike, The Jester, and the Taskmaster, in addition to Songbird, Venom, and Bullseye. While Jack-O-Lantern and the Jester are probably earmarked for death (based on Millar’s track record), that doesn’t explain what happened to the bigger names – Lady Deathstrike and the Taskmaster.

The “stated mission” of the team – as editor Tom Brevoort told ComicBookResources – is “to protect the public by tracking down and apprehending unregistered superhumans,” a mission that should be pretty enticing to some of these characters. Since this story arc begins before the end of Civil War, that means the Act is in effect when they kick off their gameplan, but post-Civil War, well, that remains to be seen. And because of the “Suicide Squad” nature of the team – though with a main difference that the team will be publicly visible – the lineup can still go through plenty of changes, and no doubt it will over the course of the next year. Beyond that… Well, Ellis says he’s only on for a year so far, so we’ll see what happens past that.

Fabian Nicieza will be following up his current run on Thunderbolts with a mini called “Zemo: Born Better,” and he remains on Cable/Deadpool. He hasn’t been doing interviews about this, but it can’t be that nice for him finally to get the book back, and then get insane crossover sales boosts, but not to get the opportunity to run from there.