Hawkman The Movie!

Check it out, DC is looking to develop Hawkman into a film!

http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/dc-comics-developing-hawkman.php

Personally, I don't agree with whoever wrote this article, and I guess that is because I am such a huge fan of any of the Golden Age DC characters from the JSA on up. Hawkman does have HUGE potential. For god's sake, Marvel managed to turn Iron Man, I mean the dude that used to have transistors on his armor as part of his then "high tech" gadgetry, into a crazy HUGE franchise. It looks like Marvel is going to be doing the same thing with Thor amazingly enough, so really, why shouldn't DC take a crack at bringing a second string character to the big screen in a big way? I would personally love for Geoff Johns and/or James Robinson to be in on those script development meetings. And I would love to see Hawkgirl on the big screen too! The on again/off again romance between these two characters has been one of the great love stories in comic books. They were destined to be together, whether they like it or not, or so the history of these characters go. There is something rather romantic about the idea of there being someone out there that you are "meant" to be with, and that is an element of the story that DC can play up a bit to get more women in the theatre. Plenty of women saw Iron Man, and I'm sure plenty of women (including myself of course) would see a Hawkman movie with or without a gushy love story, but think of the potential! This movie could have all the action and special effects we have come to know and expect from big Hollywood blockbusters along with a little romance, could mean a big payday for DC Entertainment.

It would be awesome if they could somehow show the Golden Age JSA in this movie, even if just for a flashback scene, ala the Watchmen film. I'm thinking a Hawkman/Hawkwoman film could be the start of something special at DC Entertainment! Am I wrong? In addition to this movie talk, I hear that Hawkman will be appearing in this next season of Smallville, they have even posted some pictures of this version of Hawkman online. Not really working for me, BUT if they introduce Hawkman on Smallville, that will raise his brand awareness level with the masses. You know what would be beyond cool imo? A Golden Age tale of each of the Golden Age JSA members: The Spectre, Hawkman, the original Starman, the original Sandman, and more. That would be fantastic, but.... I somehow doubt that that would EVER happen, but stranger things have transpired in the recent past as far as comics and comic book characters being transformed into movies. Who the hell ever thought that we would see a V for Vendetta, Watchman, Ghost World, or Hellboy movie? If you had asked me 15 years ago what the odds would have been for all these to have actually been made, I would have bet my life on NO. Just goes to show you, how wrong I can be. I'm only human, and can't tell the future.

New Editions of the Sandman GN's!

It's about time I would say!! After releasing the entire series RECOLORED in Absolute Editions, Vertigo has announced that they will be re-releasing the entire series of 10 Sandman Graphic Novels in paperback, all using the recolored art from the Absolutes. I can't tell you how excited I am by this! Sandman suffered from the lack luster coloring of the 90's that many books did at the time, through no fault of the colorists I might add, they did the best they could with the tools available. Now, with the advent of digital coloring/painting the look of standard comics have changed dramatically. I am so excited to see Vertigo releasing the Sandman paperbacks with the new coloring. To be quite honest, Sandman can be a hard sell these days to the average person on the street, because of the flat colors. Now with these new editions I can go back to pimping the hell out of this series. I guess this means I will be giving Neil Gaiman MORE money sometime next year. I swore up and down that I would NOT contribute ANY more cash to his wallet as far as Sandman is concerned, but damn it now I have to go back on my word. See, back in the day, I bought every single one of the floppy issues of course. Then they started releasing the graphic novels in paperback, which I bought of course so I could spread the joy of Sandman to my friends and family, and then they released th GN's in hardcover, which I had to buy to put on my book shelf. When Vertigo released the Absolute Editions, I swore up and down that I would NOT buy the same damn thing AGAIN, especially for the price and the size of the books. I really have no where to put Absolute Editions, my place is just not big enough for books that size. NOW with the re-release of the newly recolored paperbacks, I guess I will have to give Neil money ONE MORE TIME. Sigh....I hope he has enjoyed all the cash he has made off of all the crazy Sandman fans in the world, that just keep buying and rebuying the same material over and over again. I'm sure he makes more cash off of his NY Times Best-selling novels, but still, I'm sure those royalty checks from DC don't hurt. I really don't have space on my book shelves for another set of Sandman graphic novels, but I will find somewhere to put them.

I can only hope that some day Vertigo goes back to recolor other series. I would love to see the Grant Morrison Doom Patrol run recolored, and just about any other Vertigo series from the 90's. Don't they know that new fans today have a tough time stomaching the old colors? I know, both Marvel and DC could recolor their entire libraries. Some fans would applaud this move and others would bitch and moan that that would be sacrilege of the worst order. It's sort of like George Lucas going back to redo effects shots for the old Star Wars movies. He did the best he could at the time, so unless he wants to reshoot all three films, he should leave well enough alone. 9 out of 10 times the coloring matches the art of the time period so they should leave it alone, but every once in a while, a series is SO good it would be nice to see it recolored. Time will tell if DC considers doing this with any other series in their library.

So, if you don't already own Sandman 3 times, you may want to consider picking up the recolored versions. If you already own all 10 Sandman GN's, why not pick up the new versions for yourself and then give away your old editions to a friend to get he/she hooked on comics. That is most likely what I will be doing with my old editions. (On second thought I only have the hardcover editions still on my book shelf, I already gave away my old paperback editions. Not sure if I will ever part with my original hardcover editions. I like having the original editions right next to the new editions. I did this back in the day with the original Star Wars trilogy, I had to own both the new Special Editions and the original theatrical releases. And yes, I did the same damn thing with all three LOTR films. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. It's the collector within, she never rests.)

Iron Man 2 Trailer!!

I'm sure by this time, everyone has seen this, but just in case you haven't, here is a link to the amazing looking Iron Man 2!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid16681868001?bctid=57699172001

Not only is this movie going to make tons and tons of cash, but shit it looks SO good. Wow. Marvel somehow managed to pull off the first Iron Man film, but this looks like it will surpass it quite easily. Can. Not. Wait. Geez, I got goosebumps while watching this trailer. All I can say is: more Nick Fury and more War Machine please! This is the type of movie that might make me go buy a BlueRay player and a new flat screen tv, because you know when this comes out on dvd it's going to look just gorgeous! Damn it. Stupid Hollywood making cool movies, screwing up my budget for 2010 already.

Two Great Gift Ideas!

Wow, check it out, even Hello Kitty is getting in on the multi-colored Lantern action!

The JLA Green Lantern Rings Prop Replica came in today, see picture above. It's just beautiful and it lights up! Limited edition made of resin and metal. Retails at $250.00. Check it out next time you are at the Frankfort Amazing Fantasy. Believe me, this the ULTIMATE gift for the Green Lantern fan on your list!

Coincidentally, Sanrio released this plush assortment of colored Hello Kitty plush today. The picture above does show the five kitties included in the set, what it doesn't show you is they are stacked in a pyramid in the box, and the box is similarly sized to the Green Lantern Ring Prop box. And each Hello Kitty represents something different. Green=Wishes (but we all know it's really Will), Pink=Cute (but again, we all know that it is really Love), Yellow=Compassion (hell no, we know it means FEAR, get a clue Sanrio!), Purple=Sweetness (No it doesn't, it means Compassion doesn't it? Because the Pink looks like the Lantern Corps Violet and the Lavender sort of looks like the Indigo ring), and Red=Friendship (but in the DCU it means RAGE baby!). This lovely 35th Anniversary Hello Kitty Colors set retails at the low, low price of $29.99. I say, if you have a Green Lantern Corps member on your list, get them this instead, it's the same basic idea as the Prop Replica, just pick up some extra colored Lantern rings and put them on the plush Hello Kitties and you will be all set. Really.

There you go, two more GREAT gift ideas courtesy your friendly neighborhood comic shop.

More BIG DC Announcents!

Over at Comic Book Resources, Dan Didio talks about the new 10 issue Legacies mini-series:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23996

Also, at the bottom of the article they mention a NEW History of the DCU (finally) and a NEW Who's Who in the DCU (again, all I can say is FINALLY!)

Legacies looks to be pretty damn cool, very much in the tradition of Marvels. As good as Legacies sounds, I am way more excited about the NEW History and the NEW Who's Who. The last Who's Who was ages ago (early 90's) and the last History was around the same time (DC did recently reprint that mini-summery-series in GN form, as much good as that does considering how different the DCU is now compared to then). As a retailer, I can always use a fresh edition of both of these books, just to field various DCU-related questions. Granted, I know a lot, but it's nice to have an authoritative version of these things that I can fall back on, especially since my memory isn't what it used to be, a serious side-effect of getting older.

Midnight Madness This Weekend!

So, what are you doing this weekend? Did you say you would be attending "Amazing Fantasy's Annual Midnight Madness? Damn straight! We better see you at your local Amazing Fantasy! Friday night from 8pm-12 midnight, visit the Frankfort and Tinley Park locations for fun and savings. Saturday night from 7pm-11pm, visit the Calumet City and Lockport locations for more fun and more savings.

We only do this mega savings spectacular ONCE A YEAR for FOUR HOURS ONLY. You really, really, really don't want to miss this. If you for some reason, you are unable to attend, you will cry like a little girl when you hear about all the deals you missed. Seriously, come in on the Sunday after the sale and the shelves will be close to empty. THIS is the weekend to shop at Amazing Fantasy, THIS is the weekend to SAVE at Amazing Fantasy. There will be snacks, there will be trivia, there will be Christmas music! (We only play Christmas music in honor of the annual sale, we don't pipe it in 24/7 from Halloween to New Year's, like SOME chain stores). And our Christmas music is much cooler, and sometimes borderline offensive. Richard Cheese has a wonderful Christmas album that I very much like to play at the Frankfort store every year, and this year I have two new additions to my Christmas play list, both being punk rock Christmas albums.

So come on out, so you can save money on your favorite comic-book related gifts for yourself or your friends and family. Don't be shy, ask for help, if you are trying to find that perfect graphic novel for your buddy or loved one. All Amazing Fantasy employees are personable and full of comic-book-y knowledge and we always have a list of great recommendations at our fingertips. You won't leave the store empty-handed!

Hope to see you all there! Be extra cool, and drive to all four locations! Each store will be doing something EXTRA, maybe cookies, maybe punch, maybe raffles, you never know!

Bruce Wayne RETURNS

Well, well, well. USA Today interviews Grant Morrison about the RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE in April 2010. Read all about it here:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2009-12-09-morrison-bruce-wayne-st_N.htm

See, I told EVERYONE Bruce wasn't dead! Ha, I was so totally right!!! (Mike says I'm still wrong, but read the interview yourself, I was right!) So the basic gist is that Bruce has been tripping through time, making his way to the present. In this aptly titled "Return of Bruce Wayne" storyline we will thrill to the exploits of Pilgrim/Puritan Batman, Pirate Batman, Pulp/Noir Batman and more. Thanks Grant, for bringing Elseworlds back to the DCU, and making it part of continuity no less. 2010 is shaping up to the year of the Bat, (oh and the year of the Man of Steel if Robinson has anything to say about it, and hopefully it will be the year of Girl Power. Important things are in the works for my gal in 2010, I can feel it, after reading Blackest Night: Wonder Woman.)