Welcome to Friday’s… uh.. scratch that.. it’s Saturday’s Mega Comics Group Updates!

Taking A Break!

Hiatus Time! We did this last year, about this same time of year… I think. We need to get caught up on a few things like the production on the long time promised and forthcoming graphic novel Epoch 2012 A.D., The Precession of the Equinoxes and the next installment of Tess for  Mega Tales #2. No, we have not forgotten the Amalgam Agents either, so fear not! All in good time, young padawans! Also at this time of year we have a bit of Spring Cleaning, repairs, updates, and corrections to make to this and all our web sites. There may be a brief posting here and there but we need a little break from the Weekly Schedule. We probably won’t post anything else this month and we’ll not set a date just now for our return. We’ve got plans but we’re fine tuning those as we go! Of course, everything will still be here… All the Project: New Man and Humants comics we’ve already posted as well as the preview of Mega Tales #1. The Archives Spotlight will be taking a break also but we’ll get back to updating that when we return. So don’t wander too far away, web wayfarer, because we’ll be back before you know it! Salaam!

A couple of reminders:

Check out the second, still not final, version of our 1st Comic Book Trailer for Mega Tales! Again this is NOT the final version but it’s somewhat better than the last. The final will use the same graphics, music and pacing as this one but we hope to have the graphics tuned up in quality quite a bit. We are looking at a couple different video editors. Once we get the final, we would like to do  a couple alternate versions as well,  then  really start promoting Mega Tales #1 more. Stay tuned!

Where to get printed copies of Mega Tales #1: The 32 page full color, printed addition is available online at IndyPlanet.com and for Comic Shops at ComicsMonkey.com! We also have copies available from ComiXpress.com! If you enjoy this 10 page preview, which you can go to right now by clicking on the cover image to your right, certainly you’ll want the printed addition or 2, or 12, right? Of course you would! Well,  here’s your chance to get your own printed copy for your hot little comics collection! After the preview you will see the above links again, so just click and go!

WHAT? You say you don’t need the book because it has no collectible value being a POD (Print On Demand) book. Well now, we certainly see your point but here’s ours: Certainly we understand that what makes a book a collectible in part is the length of the initial print run. And since POD books are always on sale  then the print run is near infinite, as long as their is a demand. But we’re tossing a new wrinkle in. Using variant covers and other special features to mark when one Print Run ends and another begin! So then! You will want to get your hands on the 1st print run as you see to the left before they are all gone and our next variant is available! Sure you do, that’s what we thought!

All kidding aside… if you enjoyed this preview or if you were one of the ones who got to read the whole 1st issue in it’s entirety,  in it’s world wide web premier right on this very site when we released it a few pages a week, please consider purchasing the issue. We’re a young independent company and can only survive with the help of our fans. These first offerings, we’ll admit, are not as great as we would like but we think they show great promise in where we’re going. It may be an old, tired cliche’ but we really do believe the best is yet to come.

Now for the obligatory recap/intro for Mega Tales #1 : This first story does not start at the beginning. We join an established cast with Tess, Theo, Nostradamus, the 4D Cocker Spaniel, Anamanda, General Bohannon and many more we’ll clue you in about as we go along. There is a lot of mystery surrounding these characters and how they all came to be friends and what the is mission which they share with Tess and Nosey. Some of the answers will be in this first 32 page story. Tess lives on her 4D Star Ship which orbits and monitors the earth for any extraterrestrial and extra dimensional activity. As we join the story another star ship bursts into earth orbit which begins this adventure. Tess and her friends encounter a threat, which is at first glace is very disarming, however before the end of this issue we will see how very dangerous these aliens can be.

Tess, is short for tesseract. If you don’t know what a tesseract is Wikipedia defines it as: In four dimensional geometry, the tesseract, also called an 8-cell or regular octachoron, is the four-dimensional analog of the cube, which is in turn the three dimensional analog of the square. Tess is a young lady who is a living tesseract. She comes from another dimension and in our dimension she can teleport herself or just about anything else just about any where. She manifests the power in a number of ways other than teleportation and she has a cute little 4th dimensional dog with a very high I.Q. named Nostradamus. In short: we are 3D beings, Tess and Nostradamus are 4D beings.

Please share it with everyone you know. Thanks!

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

______________________________

Archives Spotlight

This section is where we look back into our own web comics archives. In 2008 we started posting our previously printed works from the ’90′s under the Legacy Comics Banner and added a lot we never got to publish with Legacy as well before it’s demise. Along the way we added new material and repackaged each story from it’s original format more like what was originally planned for these books, but due to the lack of funds was never carried out. Each Friday we will review a page from Project: New Man and Humants! We are also adding new comments and insights into these treasury editions. Enjoy!

Project: New Man #2 – Page 23 - Here begins The Experiment that transforms David “Killer Kane” into New Man. Of course any good superhero origin tale begins it’s scientific projects in the lab surrounded by mad scientist types, ya know! Baw-HaHaHaHaHaHa!

Mark’s Remarks: As you may have noticed… The art has undergone a slight transformation in the past few pages. These are all mine, pencils & inks, in my John Byrne period of expression! Well, at least me doing my best to do art work like Byrne!

Humants #1 – Page 22 - ZOW! Sojourner Martial Arts Mayhem as you like it!

Freazie had a blast doing these panels and it shows! Cool stuff, Mr. White! Take a bow!

Mark’s Remarks: Like I told you last time, here’s where the action starts!! Our resident Humants creator, writer, penciler and sometimes inker, Freazie White, Jr. was a big fan of Master Of Kung-Fu published by Marvel back in the ’70. Paul Gulacy did most of the art back then. Freazie got a lot of inspiration for his art from those Master of King Fu days and it also inspired him to take Martial Arts classes himself. At the time Paul’s style was developing and like a lot of young artists starting out, it was some time before he found his niche. It was a thrill to watch his talent mature every month back in the day. Yep! Those were the days!

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

CU Soon!

Images and information for conventions and signings, see convention sites for copyright and trademark owners information. Fair Use reference to intellectual property of other companies are intended for historical and informational accuracy only. Mega Comics Group™ or Mega Graphics, LLC™ does not represent or have any relationship to any other company or entity or their intellectual property unless otherwise clearly noted. Ghost Owl, The Guard, Ghost Woman, Blackout, The Conqueror, Amazona, ArchAgent, Atomaster, Medicine Man , Black Fury , Lady Patriot, Madame Strange, Black Lion, Atlas the Titan, Iron Lady, Atomoro, Mega Tales, A-1 Comics Spectacular, and the Amalgam Agents and all contents ™ and © 2010 Mega Graphics LLC, unless otherwise noted herein. Epoch 2012 A.D., The Precession of the Equinox ™ and © Freazie White, Jr. and Shawn Decker.  Project: New Man™ and  Humants™ and © 2010 Freazie White, Jr. D.B.A. Legacy Comics. Tess, the Living Tesseract™ and © Stephen Greg Legat and Mark Poe. All rights reserved. Mega Graphics LLC, licensor.

Welcome to Friday’s Mega Comics Group Updates!

Photos From The Front Lines!

Cap's Movie Website

If a picture is worth a thousand words, just think how much all these are worth! Did you see the official movie trailers for the movies Thor and Captain America on last Sunday’s Super Bowl? Both movies certainly appear to be winners! Could the latest hero flicks from Marvel be as good as Iron Man? As alluded to above, if these photos from the movie trailer are any indication… well, in the words of Stan Lee, ’nuff said! It’s something to look forward to this Spring and Summer, for sure!

Private Steve Rogers

Volunteer Guinea Pig

Project Rebirth

Hook Me Up!

Into the Rebirth Chamber!

Bombarded by Vita Rays!

Reborn!

This Is A Test!

Motor Bike Action!

Leader of the Free World

Red Skull!

Leaping Into Action!

So instead of filling the page with type this week we decided to let you soak in these still photos from the Captain America movie. If you have not already, check out the official website where you can see the trailer, download the movie poster for your computer wallpaper on your desktop and download the free digital comic book tie in! It’s the official Marvel Studios Captain America: The First Avenger movie site: www.captainamerica.com.

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

______________________________

Archives Spotlight

This section is where we look back into our own web comics archives. In 2008 we started posting our previously printed works from the ’90′s under the Legacy Comics Banner and added a lot we never got to publish with Legacy as well before it’s demise. Along the way we added new material and repackaged each story from it’s original format more like what was originally planned for these books, but due to the lack of funds was never carried out. Each Friday we will review a page from Project: New Man and Humants! We are also adding new comments and insights into these treasury editions. Enjoy!

Project: New Man #2 – Page 22 - Dave is shaken by Max’s comparisons. Isn’t that always the case, here we are going about our business in the real world and suddenly we hear something, or see something that arrests our attention and causes our thinking to dive deeper, below the surface. Up to this point, Dave was thinking maybe he’s been set up by the CIA and Max knows something. Then he realizes this guy is speaking of his faith but it’s parallel to what’s happening to him now. Hmmmm….

Mark’s Remarks: I got a little criticism from certain folks on my use of floating heads in the first panel. At the time I drew this, my intent was to focus attention on the expression on the faces, particularly Dave’s. But looking back at it now I can see the point of  the critique. I should have either made the shot closer, so all we would see is the faces, or else added the two characters necks and shoulders. Oh well, live and learn!

Humants #1 – Page 21 -  Okay now for Chapter 3 of Humants # 1! We met this guy a few pages back. The name’s Sojourner, and he’s from some exotic location near Egypt. He’s also a master of Martial Arts, a subject which Freazie has had more than a passing interest in his own life. The little guy getting beat up is Scamp. He plays a role in all this as we will soon see.

Mark’s Remarks: All the introductions have been made so now we can get into the story! Hang in there folks it all starts to gather steam and make sense from here on out. Really.

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

CU Next Friday!

Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Red Skull, Bucky Barnes and related characters are TM & © Marvel Entertainment, Inc. Images and information for conventions and signings, see convention sites for copyright and trademark owners information. Fair Use reference to intellectual property of other companies are intended for historical and informational accuracy only. Mega Comics Group™ or Mega Graphics, LLC™ does not represent or have any relationship to any other company or entity or their intellectual property unless otherwise clearly noted. Ghost Owl, The Guard, Ghost Woman, Blackout, The Conqueror, Amazona, ArchAgent, Atomaster, Medicine Man , Black Fury , Lady Patriot, Madame Strange, Black Lion, Atlas the Titan, Iron Lady, Atomoro, Mega Tales, A-1 Comics Spectacular, and the Amalgam Agents and all contents ™ and © 2010 Mega Graphics LLC, unless otherwise noted herein. Epoch 2012 A.D., The Precession of the Equinox ™ and © Freazie White, Jr. and Shawn Decker.  Project: New Man™ and  Humants™ and © 2010 Freazie White, Jr. D.B.A. Legacy Comics. Tess, the Living Tesseract™ and © Stephen Greg Legat and Mark Poe. All rights reserved. Mega Graphics LLC, licensor.

Welcome to Friday’s Mega Comics Group Updates!

The Living Legend of World War 2!

Don’t miss Super Bowl XLV this Sunday on the Fox Network! It has been announced  the official movie trailers for both movies featuring Thor and Captain America will be aired during this weekend’s Super Bowl. Of course the match up of The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers might be worth watching too.

We have some new photos and info for the Captain America movie! More and more is coming out about the new movie which is  officially titled: Captain America: The First Avenger. The title itself is revealing to sharp eyed Marvel Comics fans! As we understand it, this is to be the first of 3 movies which lead to the climatic introduction of the Avengers movie.

In the latest issue of Empire Magazine there’s a lot of new images from the movie. Check out the cover here on your right. Photos in the magazine include Chris Evans as Captain America, Hayley Atwell as Cap’s girlfriend Peggy Carter, Tommy Lee Jones starring as Col. Chester Phillips and many more.

We are not sure if this is the Official teaser copy, but this seems to be slightly edited versions floating around the web at various places. Regardless of the source it a good read!

Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment…Operation: Rebirth.

After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the Super-Solider Serum and bombarded by ‘vita-rays.’ Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and battle savvy, Captain America wages war against evil.

There will be an eight issue limited comic book series tie-in. Cover artist Paolo Rivera, known for his work on Spider-Man, revealed his latest work for Marvel’s new digital comic book series for the anticipated movie. The eight-part series is titled Captain America: First Vengeance. Written by Fred Van Lente with a rotation of artists doing a story set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each  issue showcases a specific character from the movie, both heroes and villains. The stories act as a back story prelude for the movie. A pre-production copy of the cover can be seen here.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a shared fictional universe, much like the Marvel Universe in the comic books. Developed by Marvel Studios for the superhero films based on the Marvel Comics characters, it features shared plot elements in the films, settings, and characters much the same way Marvel Comics have been done since their beginnings. Contrary to what you might think, only three films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been released. These were Iron Man, the 2008 version of The Incredible Hulk , and Iron Man 2 in 2010. The Spider-man, Fantastic Four, X-Men and first Hulk movies are not a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is actually a rebooting of the Marvel Movies going forth. Four additional  planned films are in the works which include Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. The Avengers is in pre-production and Iron Man 3 is still in early development. Reboots of Spider-man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men are also in the works.There is also talk of films featuring S.H.I.E.L.D., Ant-Man, Black Panther, Ka-zar, the Punisher, Cable, Iron Fist, Nighthawk, the Vision, the Black Widow, Dr. Strange, Luke Cage, Dazzler, War Machine and Power Pack.

So Captain America: The First Avenger is just 1 part of a much larger whole. Long time comics fans will recall Bucky Barnes was Cap’s sidekick back in WW2. In the new movie Bucky has not been forgotten, although he might not be recognizable to some fans. Actor Sebastian Stan is to portray a “dark” Bucky Barnes in the film.  Not many details are available concerning the movie version of Bucky that we’ve been able to find so far. A photo showing Cap and Bucky together can be seen here.

Some Captain America movie concept art.

Now here’s the lowdown on the cast courtesy of  Wikipedia:

In December 2009, director Joe Johnston indicated he planned to start filming in April 2010. In a separate interview that month, he described the film’s pre-production: “Rick Heinrichs is production-designing and we’re set up down in Manhattan Beach, California.  We have eight or ten really talented artists, and we all just sit around all day and draw pictures and say, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we could do this?’ It’s that phase of the production where money doesn’t matter: ‘Let’s put all the greatest stuff up on the wall and then later see what we can afford.’ ” The film,” he said, will begin “in 1942, 1943″ during World War II. “The stuff in the ’60s and ’70s comic books we’re sort of avoiding. We’re going back to the ’40s, and then forward to what they’re doing with Captain America now.” Johnston confirmed that the Red Skull would be the film’s primary antagonist. In February 2010, he stated that the World War II-era super team the Invaders will appear in “the entire second half” of the film, though in November he shot down speculation that the Sub-Mariner, an Invaders team-member in the comics, would be included.

Variety reported in March 2010, that Chris Evans was cast as Captain America, and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull.

Party cup using Cap concept art which will be available from Simply Superheroes.

In April, Sebastian Stan, who had been mentioned in media accounts as a possibility to play the title role of Captain America, was cast as Bucky Barnes. Stan is contracted for multiple films. Also in April it was announced that Hayley Atwell had been cast as Captain America’s girlfriend Peggy Carter as well as the changing of the film’s name from The First Avenger: Captain America to Captain America: The First Avenger. The next day it was reported that Joss Whedon would be re-writing the script for Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger as part of his negotiation to write and direct The Avengers. However the extent of Whedon’s polish on Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script remained unknown. Whedon later clarified in an August interview that “I just got to make some character connections. The structure of the thing was really tight and I loved it, but there were a couple of opportunities to find his voice a little bit — and some of the other characters — and make the connections so that you understood exactly why he wanted to be who he wanted to be. And progressing through the script to flesh it out a little bit”. Samuel L. Jackson revealed in an interview that he will reprise his role as Nick Fury in the film. Kevin Fiege later confirmed that Fury’s elite special unit of US Army Rangers, the Howling Commandos would also appear.

In May, Marvel Studios confirmed Hugo Weaving will play the Red Skull. Toby Jones entered final negotiations to play Arnim Zola. Iron Man director Jon Favreau said a younger Howard Stark would appear in the film, played by Dominic Cooper. Tommy Lee Jones will have a role in the film. By June, Neal McDonough was in talks to play Dum Dum Dugan. Four days later, McDonough confirmed he was taking the part. On the same day, Stanley Tucci joined the cast as Dr. Abraham Erskine, the scientist who created the Super Soldier Serum.

Like the photos and art? There are plenty more to be found from: www.comicbookmovie.com. After the Super Bowl checkout the official Marvel Studios Captain America: The First Avenger movie site: www.captainamerica.com

A blast from the past! Take a look at these clips from  YouTube. Originally aired on the Marvel Superheroes animated show way back  in the ’60′s. This animated feature was made directly from the comic book art by Jack “King” Kirby.

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

______________________________

Archives Spotlight

We continue our look back at our previously posted web comics. We’ll be looking at all that’s come before with this feature and adding new comments as well. This month we are reviewing Project: New Man #2 and Humants #1! Stay tuned to this section every Friday for more of our archived titles.

Project: New Man #2 – Page 21 - Don’t worry. This isn’t a Christain Pamplet and we’re not trying to convert you! One thing we like to depict in our stories is diverse characters. Hey! That’s reality. We all know people like these, right? So we have some characters who are Christian, some who are not religious at all, some who are Atheist or Agnostic. You really never know what kind of character will show up in our tales just like you never know what kind of folks you will meet in real life. But isn’t that the spice of life? Wouldn’t things be boring without it?

Okay so now let’s get our focus back on the story here. Dave is a little surprised at how close Max’s comparisons match up with his conversation with the Warden. It makes an impression on the guy. One that will have some bearing later on in the story.

Mark’s Remarks: As the story unfolds you may notice some similarities in New Man’s origin to that of a certain red, white, and blue Avenger! That’s because Captain America’s origin tale was a great inspiration for our hero.

Humants #1 – Page 20 -  Now here is a nicely done page. One of Freazie White, Jr.’s best and that’s saying some! Actually Freazie got even better with his pencils and storytelling as we progressed in the series. Just wait until you see issue 2!

Billy Leavell, our ace letterer, came up with the spooky way of doing Megaddon’s word balloons. It really adds to the mood of the scene, eh?

Now we have introduced the team and the villians, time for some action… on the next page!

Mark’s Remarks: Now, I like this page! I thought Freazie did a great job penciling this one as did Al inking it. I added some tones to give it an even more serious feel!

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

CU Next Friday!

Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Red Skull, Bucky Barnes and related characters are TM & © Marvel Entertainment, Inc. Images and information for conventions and signings, see convention sites for copyright and trademark owners information. Fair Use reference to intellectual property of other companies are intended for historical and informational accuracy only. Mega Comics Group™ or Mega Graphics, LLC™ does not represent or have any relationship to any other company or entity or their intellectual property unless otherwise clearly noted. Ghost Owl, The Guard, Ghost Woman, Blackout, The Conqueror, Amazona, ArchAgent, Atomaster, Medicine Man , Black Fury , Lady Patriot, Madame Strange, Black Lion, Atlas the Titan, Iron Lady, Atomoro, Mega Tales, A-1 Comics Spectacular, and the Amalgam Agents and all contents ™ and © 2010 Mega Graphics LLC, unless otherwise noted herein. Epoch 2012 A.D., The Precession of the Equinox ™ and © Freazie White, Jr. and Shawn Decker.  Project: New Man™ and  Humants™ and © 2010 Freazie White, Jr. D.B.A. Legacy Comics. Tess, the Living Tesseract™ and © Stephen Greg Legat and Mark Poe. All rights reserved. Mega Graphics LLC, licensor.