The results are in and yes, the Phoenix Comic Con is a force to be reckoned with. This year featured booths by Dark Horse Comics, Boom Studios, Archaia Entertainment and many many more. In addition to that, there are a ton of panels and signings, from some heavy hitters in Hollywood and the comic book world, alike. I, unfortunately, won’t be doing the whole weekend, but I did manage to checkout a few of the booths and take some pictures of some really “well-dressed” and “totally committed” cosplayers this year.
By the way, the uber-popular anime, Attack on Titan, is clearly a hit this year. Everywhere I turned ,there was another member of the illustrious “Survey Corps”, the army responsible for protecting humans from these enormous monsters. Anyway, you’ll see a few of them in this album, along with images of Star Wars people, Resident Evil so on and so forth. I hope you enjoy them and if you get a chance please go the the Phoenix Comic Con, this year is going to be epic!
Man of Steel is truly gearing up to be the summer phenomenon of phenomenon’s and despite this, I still get naysayers coming up to me like “what do you think of the Man of Steel trailers?”, not as a believer ,mind you, but as a skeptic. That’s just goes to prove we’ve truly got our work cut out for us Hollywood. If you can stand there after having watched the latest MOS trailer, knowing the cast, knowing the director and producer of Dark Knight and 300 are attached and still say something that crazy…you’re out of your fucking mind. Course I could be wrong and this film could be a total flop, as a fatalist I must resign to that probability, but I really…really fucking doubt it, especially not after looking at these wonderful production stills. The artistry that went into making this film is so tight it nearly makes me cry, they’ve given Superman the much needed makeover it deserves and with all the films out there getting the reboot gloss Star Trek, The Dark Knight, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I dare someone to say to me they don’t like the direction this is headed. Frankly it’s the most logical and relevant direction it could go. The whole “man falls from the sky and we act like he’s the second coming of Christ” isn’t going to work in this age of paranoia and I love that Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan have taken it upon themselves to think outside the box. Let me stop babbling, enjoy the slides.
Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fisburne, Antje Traue, Russell Crowe and opens worldwide in 3D on June 14
Photos provided via Collider.com
The annual pop culture event of the southwest, The Phoenix Comic Con, just wrapped up over memorial day weekend and man was it filled with a shit ton of craziness. Let’s begin with my day one. The showroom floor was set up slightly different than last year, but the exhibitors were in the same hall. Artists, comic book vendors and fanboy/girl merchants abounded.
There was ,however, one booth that caught my eye the moment I walked in. It was the Anomaly booth. Anomaly is an augmented reality graphic novel about greedy corporations and our role as interstellar ambassadors, none of which are doing too well when the story starts. The intense art is only half the fun with this book. The book is equipped with augmented reality technology. You download an app and point your ipad or smart phone at the pages and voila, the Anomaly world pops out at you in 3D. We are currently working on the full review of this amazing novel…stay tuned!!
EARTH 2717: THE 3RD GOLDEN AGE BUILDING A BETTER TOMORROW TODAYThe planet we call home slowly dies beneath us.Most humans now live in teeming surface “Terrarium Cities”, off world colonies or orbiting space stations. All of earth’s resources have been depleted.All corporations, nations and technologies have merged into THE CONGLOMERATE whose Enforcer Battalions now conquer whole planets to feed Earthlings insatiable appetites.THE CONGLOMERATE which began with the spirit of the best mankind had to offer, saved humanity from itself by taking us to the stars has become the most ruthless profit machine to ever exist.
While there I also got a chance to checkout a few panel discussions with some amazing people like Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) from the original Star Trek series. Timothy Zahn author of Heir to the Empire and Dark Force Rising and J. Micheal Straczynski, screenwriter for Babylon 5 and the soon to be released, Wachowski television series, Sense 8. The discussions were surprisingly well organized and highly informative. On the down side, some panels promised exclusive images from upcoming films that they weren’t able to deliver on, instead giving us footage from previous Blu-Ray releases that had special behind the scenes footage. Most of which, the guest in attendance had already owned and had watched.
There were also a number of very talented artist and writers in attendance such as Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Eric Esquivel (The Blackest Terror), Radi Lewis (Tech Watch) and uber artist Geof Darrow (The Shaolin Cowboy) and they were all gracious enough to spend time talking to their fans and taking pictures, evidenced by some of the ones I took of them below.
The event went off without any hitches and we were able to make a few contacts and take pictures of some amazing cosplayers. The event seems to be gaining steam and having spoken to a few writers/artists, they seem to be all in agreement that a more toned down con that focuses more on the craft is in order and the PHX CC is among one of the best in that capacity. Can’t wait til next year!
COPLAYERS of the Phoenix Comic Con 2013
I think it’s pretty safe to say the composer Hans Zimmer can do no wrong when it comes to giving us the Epic. This new track off the Man of Steel soundtrack has a slight Dark Knight vibe, but the strings in the background give it a more upper and less downer cadence, which fits in well with the all American aesthetic of the film. All I have to say is thank G-d for Soundcloud! Ever since it’s inception, we’ve gotten many gifts, in the form of, exclusive tracks from blockbusters like The Cloud Atlas, The Great Gatsby, Oblivion and now The Man of Steel. It has always been MITNG’s mission to try and give you the best in entertainment news, but with a minor on music and with Soundcloud, this allows us to follow through with it.
Where was I? Oh yeah, this is what Hans Zimmer had to say to Rolling Stones about composing the soundtrack for Man of Steel.
“My inspiration for the music came from trying to celebrate all that is good and kind in the people of America’s heartland, without cleverness or cynicism. Just from the heart the music is less about the icon that Superman is, and more about the outsider with extraordinary powers and his struggle to become a part of humanity.”
So they are going hard with this “guy from another planet” idea…good. It didn’t make that much difference to me when I was young, but now that I’m older, it just stands to reason that we would treat “Supe” with about the same level of respect we would give anything that could be a threat to homeland security. I love it!!! Thus begins a new era for the Superman franchise!
You can pre-order the Man of Steel soundtrack now. Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th
In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.
It pains me to know how much time must’ve went into this project. The attention to detail is pretty exquisite. This is relatively a new thing for fan boys in that many have taken their knowledge of graphics animation and used them to create these demo reels/tributes to films. I’ve seen several over the past few years and all of them I would’ve considered for contracted work. It’s pretty clever when you think about it, but what director would hire someone whom he knows just splashed his surprise opening credits across youtube. Imagine going in to see Man of Steel and being like “oh wait…didn’t I see this before?” But I do believe this is a fine way for these artist to get their work out there, maybe not for “that” particular gig, but perhaps for another.
Just so you know what I’m talking about I’ve taken the liberty of posting a few more fan made trailers of note. Enjoy.
Man of Steel, the new DC Comics Superman reboot, is being directed by Zack Snyder, of Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen & Sucker Punch previously. Christopher Nolan is producing, and co-wrote the story with David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Unborn, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), who wrote the script. Warner Bros is bringing Man of Steel to theaters everywhere on June 14th this summer. Check out the full trailer HERE.
Superman is among us. An unofficial title sequence for Man of Steel created by WILL & TALE.
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Written, Produced, and Directed by WILL & TALE.
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Chills chills and more chills after watching this, oh so glorious trailer, for Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel. This is a wonderful trailer that gives you so much of what I feel will be a “super” character driven tale the likes of which no super hero film, outside of The Dark Knight, has ever received! I’m not going to say much more about this absolutely stunning glimpse into what will most certainly be the ultimate return of Superman. Now let me be, I have a Biblical amount of re-watching to do.
Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Lawrence Fishburne and Michael Shannon and comes to theater in 3D June 14, 2013.
A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
The first in what’ll be a lot of viral promotion for the new Man of Steel movie was posted this weekend and although it has a serious “We Are Anonymous” vibe, it’s still pretty creepy and worth watching. In the video General Zod played by actor Michael Shannon, is delivering a scrambled message. His face can’t be seen, but his words are loud and clear…turn over Ka El (Superman) or it’s curtains I tell ya…curtains. It’s a sinister and haunting message and great at setting the mood for the rebirth of this new and highly anticipated franchise with Zack Snyder (300, The Watchmen) as director and Christopher Nolan (INCEPTION, The Dark Knight Trilogy) producing. June 14 could not be further away!!!!!
You can find out more about what ZOD has up his sleeves here at iwillfindhim.com
The Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, and Russell Crowe. Man of Steel opens in 3D on June 14th.
Synopsis: In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.
These groundbreaking images of heroes doing the mundane came to us via Juxatapose magazine and boy are we ever thankful. Illustrator Gregoire Guillemin drinks from the 1960′s pop artist Roy Lichtenstein cup, in this hilarious group of images of famous super heroes engaged in some not so superhuman behavior. It’s not like comic book illustrators haven’t been trying to break the third wall for years, but it’s always been “the comic book” that made most feel you weren’t really seeing anything they didn’t want you to. What Gregoire Guillemin has done is completely taken them out of their environment, by doing these extreme closeup images, so you don’t see the Batcave or The Invisible Plane, but instead you just see them, chowing on a donut, disrobing, taking a dump or rolling a cigarette. This is classic pulp and a wonderful spin on fan art!
Gregoire Guillemin’s images are available for purchase HERE.
As I make the hour-long commute to Seattle, my mind begins to tangle.
“What do I do to get my badge? Will there be a huge line at registration? How do the autograph sessions work? What about the panels? How on Earth will I be able to find everything?”
These are all valid questions, I’m told, especially for a comic con virgin such as myself. So, I’ve arrived in Seattle much too early but wholly intent on getting to the bottom of it all.
As I sit in Rococo, I check the ECCC schedule over and again and make a realization. The schedule, events, guests, panels – the lot – are smaller parts of a much larger, more complex living organism. One that is constantly shifting and morphing as guests cancel and others join. Carrie Fisher is ill and can’t make it. Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) has also canceled.
Even with the perfectly serviceable mobile app developed by guidebook, there’s just no way I’m going to be able to do and see it all. As an aside, guidebook, which is a great little app for staying on top of your schedule during the con, could be so much better if it would show you the location of your next event on the map. I’ll go a step further – paired with google nav and step-by-step walking instructions, guidebook would be an indispensable tool for traversing the world that is the Emerald City Comic Con.
There’s so much awesome it barely fits under the roof at the Washington State Convention Center. Autograph sessions with the iconic Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), a panel with Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead, workshops on creating content for graphic novels and understanding contracts. Holy crap! That’s just day one. And did I mention DC Comics revealed some nuggets about upcoming projects and trends?
The DC: All Access panel unveiled preliminary graphics for a sequel to the popular “100 Bullets” series written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso, titled “Brother Lono“. Information is being closely guarded, but members of the panel were happy to quip, “the guy you love to hate is back.”
Scott Snyder was also on hand to talk briefly about his upcoming “The Wake” which is even more sci-fi and horror driven than his past work (Swamp Thing, Batman, and American Vampire). Snyder seemed especially excited about the upcoming “The Wake” saying that it draws heavily on ocean mythology and that “it’s different from anything we’ve done before”. “The Wake” is coming in May.
By the end of day one, there are a few certainties. First, expect lines. Second, wear loose, comfortable clothing and walking shoes. Third, bring cash, folks.
Were you there today? Show us your pictures!
On Twitter: @emeraldcitycon or
Dec 28
This gallery contains 6 photos.
It goes by many, many names—names designed to strike terror into the hearts of those who’ve had the displeasure of meeting it, “but fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony” (Morpheus said that…not me). Meet Dancy Flammarion, your average southern teenage girl, except that she’s an albino and she’s followed/protected by a terrifying Seraph, […]
