Nope, not Marvel’s Captain Marvel. They haven’t even figured out when his book’s going to come out. Instead, we’re talking DC’s Captain Marvel, whose mini-series from Jeff Smith is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the new push for the character. With the script underway for the movie (which has not cast Jake Gyllenhaal in the role, despite what rumors may be telling you), it looks like they’ve got big plan for the character… In fact, a movie pretty much is the big plan for the character.

The upcoming SHAZAM! animated series is all part of the push, according to the latest Lying In The Gutters, and they’ve got the promo image to prove it (image mirrored on the left). Looks like the new standard animation style from The Batman and Legion of Super-Heroes holds through for Billy Batson too. Those shoulders look lumpy.

Update- Look like this is a fake, as Micheal G in our comments section pointed out: Its a an orginal work, and some fankid photoshopped out Jim Zubkavich’s signature. LITG has corrected their article.

It was annouced today on Nausicaa.net and Ghibliworld.com, that world famous animation genius Hayao Miyazaki has announced his newest creation, “Gake no ue no Ponyo” (Ponyo On A Cliff)”. After what seems like a long stint of making wonderful classics such as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky, Miyazaki tried to retire, but finds it “unbearable”.

In this newest piece, Miyazaki has written a story which revolves around a 5 year old boy Sosuke and the Princess goldfish Ponyo who wants to become human. He’s also choosen to model the character of Sosuke after his own grandson, Goro. The film will be done in a freehand pastel-like drawing scheme, and will feature the majority of the film with a sea background, which will prove to be an interesting task for the director to animate. The film itself is scheduled for release in 2008.

It would be fair to say I’ve been mean to Sony in the past year. It would be more fair to say I’ve been mean to them for the 5 years before that. Ever since the PS2 killed my beloved Dreamcast, Sony has been on my bad side. But something changed.

Theres always been a slew of games I’ve wanted to play on Sony systems. Though I picked up a GameCube and an Xbox, it was pretty clear I was missing a LOT by not grabbing the other console. With the PS3 losing exclusives and the Xbox 360 so far ahead this time, I thought maybe I’d made a solid choice and wouldn’t be missing much. Now it looks like I’ll be missing a lot.

Watch the trailer for Ratchet & Clank. Even if graphical advances are all Insomniac has to offer in their newest game, the advances are significant. And it just looks fun.

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DC and Marvel scrimped on the news today (what, tired of talking World War Hulk, Amazons Attack, and World War III already?), but some interesting news did surface about IDW’s Scarface prequel, Gene Simmons diving into the comic scene, and some great Heroes DVD (and HD-DVD) news. Read on!
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Note: Despite the similarities in gameplay (the charging attacks and command ring menu system among others), this game is not in any way related to Square’s Seiken Densetsu series (speaking of which, I featured the third game on last week’s column), nor is it meant to be any kind of sequel or spin-off to Secret of Mana. However, those who played the game will discover that there are plenty of differences which will make this game stand out on it’s on, even if it isn’t mentioned in the same breath as Final Fantasy or Secret of Mana.
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The Legacy of Kain series was one of last generation’s most prolific franchises. Ever since Blood Omen on the original Playstation, gamers everywhere enjoyed the exploits of Kain, the nobleman who was unjustly killed and turned into a vampire. Being able to kill enemies by drinking blood and using an array of evil powers provided a refreshing change of pace from usual action games of it’s time. However, each succeeding entry in the series, from Blood Omen 2 to the Soul Reaver games, would have a few little things holding it back from being on the level of Castlevania and Mega Man in terms of gaming franchises. 2003s Defiance went a long way to addressing these problems.
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Yes, I realize we JUST had two separate conventions. Clearly, this is nowhere near enough of them. Clearly.

Continue on to read about Avengers Classic, Booster Gold & Infinity, Inc., and 9 new Marvel busts from Bowen Designs. All that, and the rest of the Day 1 roundup after the jump
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Over on Marvel editor Tom Brevoort’s blog, a previously unannounced “Howard the Duck” series was revealed, via the preview page mirrored to the left. If this series is as good as his recent appearance in Civil War: Choosing Sides, it may actually be an interesting read, though the art definitely looks a bit different.

It’s worth mentioning that this is maybe the third time in the last 10 years that Marvel’s tried a Howard the Duck revival… But that this time they may be doing it without original creator Steve Gerber in the mix. At the moment, this page is all we know about the series, but if you’re interested in a quick-n-dirty version of Steve Gerber’s sordid past with Marvel, Tom Brevoort, and creator rights, then read on after the jump.
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