Tag Archives: Superman

What Does “Man of Steel” Mean for a Flash Movie?

Superman vs the Flash

With Man of Steel opening this week, it’s no secret that the future of DC Comics’ super-heroes on screen is tied to the success of the new Superman film. The question, of course, is what form might that future take? With the success of The Avengers, there’s been a lot of talk about a possible Justice League movie, but of course Marvel didn’t launch the Avengers on its own: They launched four solo films featuring different heroes, then brought them together. If “Man of Steel” does well, DC could jump straight into the team movie, or they could do a Marvel-style slow build — and Mike Ryan at Huffington Post suggests that Flash might be the ideal viewpoint character to tie them together.

DC has had a Flash movie officially in development for almost a decade now. Back in 2004, Warner Bros. announced David Goyer was writing a script and would direct. It’s since been through multiple directors and writers. Early treatments would feature both Wally West and Barry Allen, while later treatments focused exclusively on Barry Allen. The last real news came in 2010, when DC announced the Green Lantern script team would be writing a Flash film based on Geoff Johns’ work. Of course when the Green Lantern movie performed less than WB had hoped, everything non-Superman or Batman went on the back burner again. We’ve heard a few rumblings since then, but little else. Everything’s riding on “Man of Steel”: If it succeeds, we can count on more DC movies. If not, we can expect more years of development hell.

But if it does succeed… Continue reading

Bart and Clark Come Face to Face With The Black Racer! (review of Smallville Season Eleven #11)

Smallville black racer 3In Smallville Season Eleven, issue 11 we follow Bart and Clark’s efforts to track down the elusive Black Racer, to see if there is a way to end its threat to speedsters past and present.  This issue treats us to a meeting with the Smallville version of Jay Garrick, the original Flash…but is he still ready to run?  Can he help…or is he even willing to try?  This issue of Smallville Season Eleven collects the digital editions (chapters 33 through 35) as we attempt to answer these questions and more…

SOME MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD – PLEASE READ THE ISSUE BEFORE CONTINUING! Continue reading

Making Sense of Smallville’s “Haunted” Digital and Print Editions

For DC Comics’ same-day print-and-digital releases (i.e. most of their line), the print and digital editions line up exactly. But things get a bit confusing with their digital-first comics, because they run smaller weekly chapters online, then collect them together for the print editions.

In the case of Smallville Season 11, currently running a storyline guest-starring Impulse, every three digital chapters are collected in a print issue the following month. Each digital page is the top or bottom of a print page, run landscape to make it easier to read on a desktop screen or a small tablet.

The numbers get a little confusing because, starting with #28, instead of taking one week off each month to keep the print and digital runs in sync, DC started running a side story during those formerly-skip weeks, which is being collected separately.

Here’s how the digital and print chapters of “Haunted” line up.

Digital Chapters Print Issue
Chapters 25-27
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 25
Issue #9
Smallville Season 11 #9
Chapters 29-31
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 29
Issue #10
Smallville Season 11 #10
Chapters 33-35
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 33
Issue #11
Smallville Season 11 #11
Chapters 38-40
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 38
Issue #12
Smallville Season 11 #12

Two things stand out about the different covers that suggest different target audiences:

  • The digital covers by Cat Staggs go for a realistic look and focus more on the TV show’s cast.
  • The print covers by Scott Kolins go for a more stylized, comic book look, and focus more on the guest star and super-heroic elements.

This suggests to me that DC is aiming the digital editions at fans of the TV series and the print editions at more traditional comic book fans. It certainly makes sense — by numbers alone, a lot of people who watched Smallville don’t read comics, and it’s going to be easier to get them to buy online than walk into a comic store. I really wonder what DC’s market research has turned up as far as the digital/print audience breakdown.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Gets A Release Date and Two Collector’s Editions

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Hey Speed Readers,

Some exciting news coming down the pipeline from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment this yesterday afternoon concerning DC Comics latest video game venture, Injustice: Gods Among Us. Injustice is a fighting game developed in the same vein as Mortal Kombat and in fact is being produced by the studio who brought us Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, NetherRealm Studios (formerly known as Midway). The game is now set to be released on April 16th, 2013 here in the states for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii U game consoles. European gamers will have to wait 3 more days.

Continue reading

Review: The Law of Superheroes

The Law of Superheroes Cover

Could Batman patent the Batmobile? Is it murder if you kill Wolverine, knowing he’ll regenerate? Does Superman need a warrant to use his X-ray vision on your house? How much trouble can Stark Industries get in if one of Iron Man’s fights levels your business?

James Daily, J.D. and Ryan Davidson, J.D.’s The Law of Superheroes answers these and more questions about the legal implications of super-heroic tropes. You may recognize the names or the concept: The pair of lawyers and self-described comic-book nerds also write the blog Law and the Multiverse.

You’d think a book about law would be a dry read, but it’s actually a lot of fun. That’s sort of the point: some land dispute might not grab the average reader’s attention, but Superman’s troubles with the IRS? That’s something anyone can relate to. More than a “what if?” collection, the book works as an overview of U.S. and international law, told through the lens of comic books.

Examples

Some of the implications are kind of surprising. For instance: Music from a parallel universe where the Beatles never broke up (New Excalibur 4) might not be protected by copyright, because Earth-2182’s U.S. and U.K. never signed our universe’s Berne Convention. On the other hand, the surviving Beatles might still be able to control distribution through trademark law.

Another interesting thing to think about: if Commissioner Gordon calls Batman in on a case, he’s legally required to follow the same rules as the police regarding search warrants and the like, or else evidence may not be admissible. But if Batman goes after the Riddler on his own, he can probably sneak into the villain’s hideout looking for clues and not jeopardize the case (although he’d technically be guilty of breaking and entering). Continue reading