No Doubt (Gwen Stefani, Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and Adrian Young,) is back. They have begun promotion for the new album Push and Shove by releasing a teaser for their new music video to accompany their first single: Settle Down.Zombie Playground: Z World Detroit
My brother, Ricky, has often talked about not being satisfied with the choices out there for zombie survival reenactment (Run For Your Lives, The Walking Dead Escape). He had a whole bunch of ideas, but it looks like someone beat him to the punch. At least as far trying to fund the idea.
Welcome to Z World Detroit. It will be 200 acres of abandoned buildings in Detroit. This land will be turned into a zombie amusement part where you and some friends try to survive an overnight adventure where you hide and scavenge. Sounds like an excellent time, but I wonder how they will actually get this off the ground. They are currently trying to crowd source the funding, but the logistics must be a nightmare. I can not imagine how much the insurance for this place is going to be or who would really want to work a daily job of being a zombie. Either way, if they actually get this off the ground then I may find a reason that I need to visit Detroit.
RoboCop Viral Site Is Up
There is a new viral site up for the upcoming RoboCop reboot at http://omnicorp.com/. If you don’t feel like jumping over to the site, check out this video here.
Not too much in there, but we do get a glimpse at ED-209, XT-908, and a few small glimpses of the RC-2000 aka RoboCop. There’s also some news footage without audio in the upper right of the screen.
Marvel NOW! Presents Uncanny Avengers
Last week we heard about a slew of launches and creative shuffles coming from Marvel under the banner Marvel NOW. Today, Marvel released the cover of the first issue to Uncanny Avengers on Entertainment Weekly’s site.
Uncanny Avengers will be penned by Rick Remender with art by John Cassaday. The creative team certainly looks interesting (I am a big fan of Remender but worried Cassaday will get his work in on time). With a title like Uncanny Avengers, we think it would be a mash-up of Avengers and X-Men. The cover shows the team with Thor, Havok, Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Captain America and of course Wolverine. Definitely an interesting mash-up of a team, half Avengers with half X-Men. There will be interactions that we would not normally see.
Hopefully next week’s reveals during San Diego Comic Con will be just as interesting.
Cheap Date: July 4th
Happy 4th of July to all of you and welcome to this independence filled version of Cheap Date. For anyone new, in the Cheap Date article I will recommend what you should get for your nerdy entertainment. Best of all, my recommendations will all add up to be under $30.
Hit the jump to find all those goodies.
ASM End Credits: Another Take
Okay, a $7 million dollar take on midnight shows alone is a good indicator of how many people have watched The Amazing Spider-man, but on the off-chance you still haven’t, keep in mind there will be spoilers. Hit the jump to read on.
Ka-Pow 101: Intro to Galactic Defense
You’ve heard us talk about them on the podcast, and according to Kevin Feige, they are integral to introducing Thanos as the villain of a future Avengers movie. Variety has confirmed it is one of Marvel’s 2014 releases, so you have to ask yourself: just who are the Guardians of the Galaxy?
The Original Team
Clockwise from top: Starhawk, Martinex, Major Victory, Yondu, Charlie-27
Artist: Pasqual Ferry
In1969, the team was created by writer Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan. As a group of freedom fighters in thirty-first century, Vance Astro (Earth), Martinex (Pluto), Charlie-27 (Jupiter), and Yondu (Beta Centauri IV) faced off against the Badoon, an alien race bent on conquering Earth’s solar system. Traveling back and forth in time, the Guardians would eventually defeat the Badoon and face the galactic threat known as Korvac alongside the Avengers. Members of the Guardians who fought in the twentieth century against Korvac even gained honorary Avengers membership. Team membership would also grow to include characters such as Firelord (a herald of Galactus) and Starhawk. Vance Astro would also recover Captain America’s shield and begin operating under the title, Major Victory.
The Modern Team
Clockwise from top: Groot, Star-Lord, Rocket Racoon, Moondragon
Artist: Alex Garner
In 2008, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning followed the success of two major cosmic events with a new series featuring several characters from the events. Following an invasion from the Negative Zone (an anti-matter universe) and a failed conquest of the Kree by Ultron, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, bands a group together to proactively stop galactic threats. This group consists of:
Adam Warlock – Artificial human with the ability to manipulate cosmic energy
Drax the Destroyer – The spirit of human Arthur Douglas in a new body with the sole purpose of killing Thanos
Gamora – Deadly assassin trained and raised by Thanos; Last survivor of her species
Phyla-Vell – Artificial daughter of Captain Mar-Vell; possessor of the Quantum Bands
Rocket Racoon – Genetically anthropomorphized racoon; space cop
Groot – Alien floral colossus (or Giant Tree Monster); Monarch of Planet X
Later additions include Major Victory (see above) and Moondragon (psionic human daughter of Drax/Arthur Douglas).
What Does This All Mean?
A Guardians of the Galaxy movie featuring this cast of characters allows for both a thorough introduction of Thanos and possibly the items of his desire the Infinity Gems. Drax, Gamora, Moondragon, Adam Warlock, and Thanos have all been possessors of various Infinity Gems as members of the Infinity Watch. Star-Lord, Rocket Racoon, and Groot are simply fan-favorite characters, but Drax, Gamora, Moondragon and Warlock all have pasts linked to Thanos. Phyla-Vell may be a tough transition especially if Marvel ever plans to introduce the Kree and Captain Marvel.
Creative Shuffle Now Called Marvel NOW!
Comic-Con is coming and that means exciting news barreling toward us for comics, movies, and more. So the Marvel creative shuffle we’ve been talking about on the podcast is now a relaunch with a lot of new titles, new costumes, and new #1’s. Entertainment Weekly has revealed this relaunch is titled Marvel NOW!, and here are some details.
Spider-man, Hulk, Jean Grey, Nova, Nick Fury Jr., Captain America, Rocket Racoon, Wolverine, Cyclops, Invisible Woman, Cable, Thor, Iron Man
Image Property of Entertainment Weekly; Artist: Joe Quesada
Uncanny Avengers will be from writer Rick Remender and artist John Cassaday. The series will feature an Avengers team comprised of mainstays such as Captain America and Thor as well as mutants Wolverine (already an Avenger) and Havok (who Remender promises to make a character to watch).
Avengers from Jonathan Hickman will feature a large cast of Avengers at about eighteen and who all are at the moment a mystery, save for one: Shang Chi. Hickman is known for his meticulously plotted stories in SHIELD and Fantastic Four, and I am definitely looking forward to this book no matter what characters are in it.
And Bendis is definitely moving into the X-Men side of the Marvel Universe with All-New X-Men which will feature the original X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, and Beast) time-traveling to the modern day.
And that piece of art shown above features some of the costume redesigns with art from Joe Quesada. Captain America appears to be taking some fashion tips from Ultimate Cap and movie Cap. The armored Hulk begs the question: What the HELL does the Hulk need armor for (aside from Planet Hulk)? Hopes for a new Guardians of the Galaxy series are reinvigorated by the appearance of Rocket Raccoon. And the Cyclops redesign makes me hope for the time-traveling Iceman and Angel to see modern Cyclops and start laughing uncontrollably.
The Clown Prince Returns
He’s been MIA since the DCnU relaunched last August. All we’ve seen of him since the relaunch is his skinned face hanging in the Gotham City Police Department. But now he’s coming.
Artist: Greg Capullo
This October, the Joker returns in a story titled “Death of the Family” starting with Batman #13. That’s right. That Batman book written by superstar creative team Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo who are just coming off the success of their “Court of Owls” storyline.
Real Life Hot Wheels
I meant to put this up earlier, oh well. Anyway, I was out Saturday night and happened to look over my shoulder at a TV that was on SportsCenter at the bar. Apparently Team Hot Wheels decided to set a world record over at the X Games in LA this past weekend. The stuff you can do nowadays is completely amazing.
I mean I never got one Hot Wheel to do that, seriously.
Call Yourself A Nerd 