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!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAsPtMWul8

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.

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.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDnjWAlwRws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvJ9fB6ARwM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5gUZ-JeFw

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.

Truth, Justice and the Captain America Way!

Cap's Entertainment Weekly Cover

Cap's original shield.

Next up on our look at upcoming super hero movies is Captain America! So far we don’t know a whole lot about this one. It’s suppose to be out in July of this year, but other than a few still photos and the basic premise Marvel seems to be keeping a tight lid on this project. This isn’t the first time they have tried to do a movie about the star spangled World War 2 legend and the previous attempts were met with less than enthusiastic reviews.

As with out previous previews, we will turn this over to Mark Poe, our esteemed Publisher-In-Training and part time Historian.

Like the photos? There are plenty more cool looking wallpaper  for your computer desktop images like you see here from: www.comicbookmovie.com .

Mark’s Remarks

A glimpse of the government project which turns Steve Rogers into a Living Legend.

The Living Legend of World War 2! Stan Lee used that phrase over and over to describe Captain America during the 1960′s Marvel Age of Comics. Along with Jack Kirby and the Marvel Bullpen of artists and inkers, Stan turned a Golden Age character who, after the World War, was all but forgotten into, a household name. Of course, turning obscure characters into cultural icons was what Stan and Jack were all about in those days! They brought a company that didn’t even really have a name, which published movie and TV knock-offs to become the top selling comic book publisher by the end of the decade. This was accomplished in large part due to the marketing savoir faire of both Stan Lee and then Publisher Martin Goodman who never missed an opportunity to merchandise the Marvel Characters. Whether the opportunity was stationary, t-shirts, model kits or the animated series which ran on TV. Stan did not miss a trick. There was movie proposals as well but none ever panned out in the ’60′s.

Then came the ’70′s and Marvel’s first live action attempts. Captain America appeared first in a 1979 made for TV movie on CBS: Captain America, which aired January 19, 1979. Later that same year Captain America II: Death Too Soon debuted November 23, 1979, both starring Reb Brown as Cap. Other than the character names these films resembled the Marvel Comics characters very little. Although not bad movies these still fell short of fan expectations. Neither did the changes made in the characters and story  relate better to the TV viewers of the time who had never read the comic books.

Captain America: The First Avenger 2011

There was also a 1990 film titled Captain America, starring Matt Salinger. This movie was shot in Yugoslavia. It was fairly faithful to the Marvel Comics version depicting the origin of Captain America from the 4-F (rejected) volunteer soldier Steve Rogers. The movie showed his World War 2 missions and his apparent death at the end of the war. Then he is found decades later frozen in ice, and being awakened from suspended animation, he must deal with being a man out of his time like a modern Rip Van Winkle. The Red Skull is in this one too, but for some reason they made him an Italian fascist rather than a German Nazi. Weird. This film itself was never released in theaters in the US, but it was released on VHS in 1992. I saw the previous two movies but I never saw this one. From everyone I’ve talked to or read after who has seen it I’ve not found any positive reaction to it. Apparently after doing a few test screenings, Marvel decided it was not good enough to release to theaters.

Cap in action!

It is worth mentioning the ’40′s serial film about Captain America. I never saw this either but I’ve read the plots, which are very loosely based on the Marvel Cap and I’ve seen still images from the film. From what I’ve seen it doesn’t look like a winner.

That brings us back around to the 2011 Movie.

“In 1942, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is deemed too physically unfit to enlist in the U.S. Army and fight the Nazis in World War 2. Volunteering instead for Project: Rebirth, a secret military operation, he is physically transformed into a super-soldier dubbed Captain America. With sidekick Bucky Barnes, he fights the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Hitler’s treacherous head of advanced weaponry, whose own plan for world domination involves a seemingly magical object known as the Tesseract.“

I have high hopes from the photos I’ve seen. If you notice the uniform Cap wears for this film, you can see the producer is trying to use a more realistic approach and  play down the spandex. The uniform is based off  airmen’s jackets from the World War 2 era and the gloves and boots from some of the GI gear. There is said to be an effort in the script and direction of the story for Steve Rogers to laugh at the costume they want him to wear to USO rallies, which is the comic book version of the Captain America costume. Instead of settling for ridicule of wearing the “Patriotic Pajamas” Steve get’s in contact with Howard Stark, Tony (Iron Man) Stark’s dad, and has him design and make a more battle sensible uniform. This should add a bit of realism to the super hero myth, since most real people would never wear the traditional super hero tights.

Reminder: The folks at comicbookmovie.com has reported official movie trailers for both the Thor and Captain America movie trailers are to aired during this year’s Super Bowl .

Even though there is no official Captain America trailer out YET, regardless of what folks posting to YouTube tell you, there are plenty of fan created teasers. Some are very good, like the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDa2eI1vlXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAAYEUyhxyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9du8Jeuies

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 20 - WOW! Did we tell you New Man had a shady past or what?!

Mark’s Remarks: Once again Freazie White, Jr. Creator, artist and editor of  the Humants title as well as Project: New Man’s scripter, turns in some great work! Very nice, natural, dialog between these two characters.

I was also pleased with the art here, which is now 100% my pencils and inks. Look closely and you will see my artistic influences. There are hints of Jack Kirby, John Byrne, Terry Austin and Joe Sinnott on this page. Still I had room for improvement, as is always the case.

Humants #1 – Page 19 - Mageddon, the Spoiler of Dimensional Integrity! The Dark Lord of the Hecati! Not a guy you want to hang around for sure. Lawthers better find a fast exit while he can!

Mark’s Remarks: No, not a good day for Gregory Lawthers at all! The origin of  Mageddon continues! Freazie and Al turned in another great page here! With just a little inking assist as well as half tone shading from yours truly.

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.

The Mighty Thor In A Theater Near You!

Chris Hemsworth as Thor Wallpaper courtesy of comicbookmovie.com.

The Thor movie poster.

We’re on a roll here! A film roll that is! The last two weeks we’ve talked about the new movies of  Green Lantern and Green Hornet. So since we have nothing better to talk about at this point and the subject is interesting to some of us, we’ll continue with the theme! Albeit, this time around we’ll not be going with the Green motif for obvious reasons. Today we’ll share what we know of the forthcoming Thor movie. What we know could fit in a match box, but that’s never stopped us from spouting off before! So why change now, eh?

By now you know the drill. So here we turn it over to Mark Poe, our esteemed Publisher-In-Training and part time Myth Manager.

Take Note: If you like the awesome wall paper above, get more for your computer desktop at: www.comicbookmovie.com .

Mark’s Remarks

The Hammer of Thor Promo Poster.

The stuff of legends… literally! Chris Hemsworth portrays the mighty but arrogant god warrior whose careless actions re-start an ages old war. Thor is kicked out of the heavenly gates of Asgard by his father Odin played by… gulp… Anthony Hopkins? Forced to live and move among the lowly mortals of Earth he meets a beautiful young scientist, Jane Foster portrayed by Natalie Portman. She, of course, as the old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby story goes, becomes his first love. Here, as is the usual case with a classic love story, is where Thor grows up. He soon learns what it takes to be a true hero when the Asgard’s most dangerous villain sends dark forces to invade Midgard (Earth).

So far so good. Except for casting one of the biggest movie villains ever, Anthony Hopkins, as Odin, it sounds as if we have the making of another great film from Marvel. The sets and costumes look convincing, even if not exactly as Kirby drew it. The hammer is perfect, which will go a long way. Mjolnir of course is no mere movie prop, and it will be interesting to see how they use the Hammer of Thor in the flick. A lot of the props and costumes reflect the work of Walter Simonson from his run on Thor in the ’80′s as well as that of Lee and Kirby from the ’60′s. That’s a nice tribute to Walt who probably did more with the characters than anyone else since Stan and Jack created them.

Anthony Hopkins as Odin.

So why isn’t Hopkins playing Loki, Thor’s evil half brother? Good question. Age, I suppose has a lot to do with it. But to his credit Hopkins seems to do well for the part in the little bit which can be seen in the movie trailer. Still, in my mind at least, Odin should be played by someone a bit heavier, more imposing figure with a deeper voice. Someone like Orson Wells, if he were still alive, would be perfect, but maybe that’s just me.

Chris Hemsworth seems to fit the Thor role to a “T”. This Thor again is more like the character Walter Simonson revamped than does the original Lee/Kirby creation. Donald Blake seems to be no where in sight on the trailer. Maybe the producers thought the timid, Clark Kent type was not right for the movie, but it seems to me to be an interracial  part of the story of Thor’s humbling. For Odin to have forced his arrogant  son to spend time in a weak, crippled body as Blake was portrayed in the comics seems to be the perfect path for the story in my estimation.

Natalie Portman as Jane Foster

Natalie Portman, of Star Wars: Episode 1 fame, is a great pick for the Jane Foster role. But she seems to be a stronger personality than Lee and Kirby’s Jane. Of course the world is a lot different place now than it was in the ’60′s. Watching the trailer we noticed another female role in the film. Could that be Sif, Thor’s warrior maiden girlfriend? Hmmm…

Out of the 3 films I have reported on, this movie looks the most promising. I still have not seen Green Hornet, but some of my friends on Facebook were less than impressed with it. So much so I may wait until it’s released on DVD this summer to watch it.

Something to watch for: The website comicbookmovie.com has reported the movie trailers for both Thor and Captain America are to be two of this year’s Super Bowl commercials.

Again this week as an added treat we’ve linked the Thor Movie trailer to this site for everyone to see.: www.greenhornetmovie.com. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aymaqCbaik4

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 19 - Prison makes for a good backdrop for the telling of a story. And this is some kind of story to tell!

Mark’s Remarks: Ah! Listen to the dialog here. Freazie White, Jr. Creator and editor of Humants as well as Project: New Man’s csripter extraordinare, masterfully used the conversation between Max & Dave to reveal a lot about the Rockwell Prison Holding Facility. Using this device subtly explains why a guy on death row would be in the same joint with someone serving a sentence for a minor offense.

Humants #1 – Page 18 - Yow! Is that guy going into convulsions?! Whoa! What’s with his eyes?! Gulp! He’s being levitated and it seems he is being absorbed by that dark figure. Uh oh…

Mark’s Remarks: It’s alive! The origin of the Humants chief nemesis Mageddon continues! Nice page, Freazie!

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

CU Next Friday!

The Green Hornet, Kato and related characters are TM & © by The Green Hornet Inc. Clark Kent, Green Lantern, and related characters are TM & © DC Comics. Captain America, Thor, Odin, Loki 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.

Green Hornet Buzzes the Big Screen!

Wallpaper image courtesy of entertainmentwallpaper.com.

America and the World must be fascinated by Super Heroes! Why else would Hollywood keep putting out film after film featuring the super heroes previously relegated to comic books? Last week we talked about the new movie of  DC Comics’s Green Lantern which will debut this Spring! So here we are again with yet another Green hero. This one, The Green Hornet dates back to BEFORE the Golden Age of Comics! But so as not to steal our esteemed Publisher-In-Training and resident green bee keeper’s thunder, let’s turn it over to Mr. Mark Poe right now.

Sidenote: If you like the cool wall paper above, you can finds tons more at: www.entertainmentwallpaper.com .

Mark’s Remarks

A Green Hornet TV promo poster.

The Green Hornet is actually one of the oldest comic book hero characters around. He rivals the Shadow and Doc Savage in age and appeared 3 years before the first issue of Action Comics featuring Superman. Originally he debuted as a pulp hero and masked vigilante on radio! George W. Trendle created the character with advice from Fran Striker along with radio director James Jewell in 1936 . Since then, the Green Hornet has appeared in several drama series in various media outlets. There were film serials in the 1940s, a national television program in the 1960s, many comic book series from the 1940s until now and a major motion picture this month. The characters have been revamped many times over the years but for the most part remained faithful to the original concepts.

TV’s Green Hornet & Kato: Van Williams & Bruce Lee

My first memory of Green Hornet was the 1967-68 television show which followed the Batman show on the ABC network. The success of the Batman series inspired Greenway Productions to adapt the old radio and movie-serial masked crime fighter for the ABC network in similar fashion in which they did the Batman series. The show starred Van Williams as the Green Hornet and the young  martial artist Bruce Lee as his sidekick Kato. Instead of the campy approach they used for the Batman series, The Green Hornet was played in a more serious tone. The Greenway style of filming, music, use of gadgets and drama was still there but not treated as a parody of super heroes. Unfortunately, it was canceled after one season. Bruce Lee went on to become a major star of martial arts movies. Bruce Lee‘s popularity in Hong Kong, where he grew up, was so great that the Green Hornet show was marketed there as The Kato Show.

TV’s Kato: The Late, Great Bruce Lee

The TV Green Hornet followed the adventures of man-about-town and newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who was secretly the masked hero the Green Hornet. The Green Hornet fought crime with help of his martial-artist sidekick Kato and his weapons-tricked-out car, the Black Beauty. The series began September 9, 1966, lasting 26 episodes through July 14, 1967 . Although the TV show was not campy it was over dramatized in a few places.

Even though I have not seen it, the movie looks promising. Some of the previews I’ve seen make me wonder if the movie makers did what the TV show producers did not, that is, turn the serious characters into campy parodies of themselves. I certainly hope that is not the case. I don’t think the viewing public would buy that and certainly the age old characters deserve better treatment. The characters and concept have the potential for a great hybrid super-hero/spy thriller storyline. Hopefully the movie producers realized that  fact from the treatments and reception of the major super hero film offerings of the past few years.

As an added treat for today’s blog we’ve linked to a couple edited down versions of the first 2 episodes of the TV show way back from the 1960′s. Find out all about the new Green Hornet Movie from the website: www.greenhornetmovie.com. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LSpmRn2JUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_FxUTTcG68

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 18 - Now we meet a guy who ends of being a prominent character in our little series. We love the exchange between Max and Dave in the last panel! Freazie can come up with some stuff! He da man!

Mark’s Remarks: Now, with this page we begin to see a shift in the art. This page marks where I take over full pencils and inks. That’s a good thing with these layouts, which were mine to begin with, because I needed to correct a lot of my own mistakes. Of course, even with that I made a few more! ARRGHH!

Humants #1 – Page 17 - When we first posted this… We were too shook up over a boneheaded numbering mistake over in Project: New Man # 2 to make any comments on this story! We left out one of the pages and it was like 5 days before we discovered the error. Than we had to go back and fix it. Geeze! Can you believe we did that? ACK!

Okay, let’s see if these page numbers match…hmmmm.. Okay. We’re good! See ya!

Mark’s Remarks: First look at our series bad guy! Well, actually it’s just his helmet and cloak we see, but he shows up for real on the next page! The guys name is Mageddon! And trust me, he’s no gentleman.

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

CU Next Friday!

The Green Hornet, Kato and related characters are TM & © by The Green Hornet Inc. Batman ,  Superman, Green Lantern, Action Comics and related characters are TM & © DC Comics. 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!

Green Lantern Illuminates the Big Screen!

Coming to a theater near you! DC’s Green Lantern movie will debut in the Spring of 2011! It marks the first time the Silver Age character has been on the movie screen in a live action performance. Marvel’s recent success with Iron Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and of course Spider-Man has finally prompted DC Comics and parent company Warner Brothers to extend their Super Hero movie offerings beyond Batman and Superman. We’ve purloined a few still shots and promo pieces here for your viewing pleasure.

SideNote: We’re not sure, in all cases, just what pieces DC has actually released and what fan’s have created. The technology which fans have access to these days makes it hard to tell. These pieces can be found all over the internet. A couple of fan generated YouTube vids we watched looked as good, and some said even better, than what Warner Brothers put out! Of course if you want the actual official Warner Brothers trailer just go the website www.greenlanternmovie.warnerbros.com. Some of it looks promising, while some of it we’re not so sure about.

The Official Press Release:

In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Mark Poe, our esteemed Publisher -In-Training and oft times movie critique weighs in with his two cents worth…

Mark’s Remarks

WOW! The Green Lantern was always one of my favorite characters from the ’60′s and ’70′s.

This, of course, was the second Green Lantern comic book readers were treated to. The Golden Age Green Lantern was very different.

The first GL had a magic ring with which he did his amazing, heroic feats. The second GL had the same shtick with the ring but, as with most things in the’60′s, the rings workings was explained by science or to be more accurate, science fiction. This new Green Lantern did not operate alone either, he was backed up by an entire Green Lantern Corps! This was a really cool idea! GL was like an interstellar police officer! Nothing like this, to my knowledge, had been done in super hero comics. It made for a great springboard for storytelling!

During the Silver Age of Comics GL’s creators John Broome and Gil Kane adapted what Bill Finger and Martin Nodell, had created in the Golden Age. DC creators had used this same formula to revitalize their other flagging characters starting with the Flash, and later on old stand-by’s like Hawkman, and the Atom. They also revitalized the old Justice Society of America to a more modern, for the time, Justice League of America. Editor Julius Schwartz resided over these titles and had a hand in directing the revival of the super hero genre for DC much the way Stan Lee did with Marvel. While Stan and Jack built the Marvel Universe, Julius and company re-built the DC Universe.

Sales were good for most of the ’60′s until a drop off occurred after ’68 which incidentally happened about the same time the live action Batman show was canceled which had brought a mini-boom for all super hero comics while it was on the air. Young talents Denny O’neil and Neal Adams were brought on board the Green Lantern book and turned loose to do very much anything they wanted. New interest was created in the aging title as a hipper, more relevant Green Arrow was teamed up with Green Lantern and stories which were more appealing to the readers of the Woodstock era. Even so the title was eventually canceled, a causality of a changing of the guard in the audience as the Silver Age and Marvel Age drew to a close.

Then came the revivals… Green Lantern enjoyed a one toward the end of the ’70′s as the Green Lantern/Green Arrow team was revived this time by Denny O’neil and Mike Grell. I enjoyed this series even though it was not as relevant as the O’neil/Adams collaboration or as innovative as the Broome/Kane issues. I was not real thrilled with GL’s treatment in the ’90′s and I was not alone in that sentiment. Hal Jordan became the bad guy Parallax and was replaced by Guy Gardner, Jon Stewart and finally Kyle Rayner. I really don’t know what they are doing with him these days in the comic books. Yes, I admit I don’t keep up with the mainstream comics too well these days, I prefer the indys. But I do like to pick up the trade paperbacks, collections and graphic novels form the mainstream publishers.

I certainly hope Green Lantern is a good film and will generate interest in bringing other DC characters to the big screen. There are tentative plans for sequels if this one is successful. I would really like to see that. It would be a treat, if done right, to see a movie of the entire Justice League! It could happen!

More info on the movie can be had from the website www.greenlanternmovie.warnerbros.com.

For more info on Green Lantern the film and the comic book history of the character see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Lantern_(film) .

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 17 - So David “Killer” Kane will take on a new identity as Dave Davison in “Witness Protection” type fashion. He’s sentenced to death, so life even as a genetic Guinea Pig doesn’t sound so bad, besides if things did not go as planned he could always escape. Although conflicted about his own motives he is still very confident in his covert ops training.

Mark’s Remarks: This page has a better flow to it I think… and a little better mix of perspective in an attempt to make “talking heads” a little more interesting.

Humants #1 – Page 16 - Shhh..now listen carefully, reader. Much is to be learned from this conversation between Devlin Delano and his chief lackey, Gregory Lawthers.

Mark’s Remarks: Here’s Freazie White, Jr.’s version of “talking heads.” In scripting this first issue of the Humants Freazie made good use of the conversation between the industrialist Devlin Delano and his chief gofer Gregory Lawthers to give us some vital exposition to the story. But fear not Action Attics! Freazie will be bringing all you can stand in in just another page or two! Plus we’ll get to see the origin of the Humants main bad guy… Mageddon!

Any questions or comments? All are welcome.

CU Next Friday!

Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man and related Marvel characters are TM & © Marvel Entertainment. Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Flash, the Atom, the Justice Society, of America, the Justice League of America, Superman, Batman and related DC Comics characters are TM & © DC Comics. 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.