Stephanie Cox's Blog
Posted by Stephanie Cox
A judgment came earlier than expected in the latest drama surrounding the long-awaited film adaptation of Alan Moore's classic "Watchmen" graphic novel. Fox Studios originally filed the Watchmen lawsuit after the completion of the film earlier this year.
A court date was originally set for January 20, 2009 on whether or not Fox Studios actually owns the copyright for the movie that Warner Brothers paid for and made to completion. Instead, an LA court judge presiding over the suit issued an unexpected Christmas morning summary of the case.
The result brought a welcome surprise for Fox Studios, which maintains that it owns the copyright to Watchmen even though the film, which went through 4 different studios on its nearly 20 year journey to the big screen, was completely financed and produced under Warner Brothers studio.
Questions Remain After Watchmen Ruling
Despite a definitive conclusion on who owns the film rights to one of the best selling and most critically acclaimed graphic novels of all time, the future of the film is surely as full of as many twists as the epic graphic novel it is based on.
Fox Studios has several options at this point: accept a cash settlement from Warner Bros and proceed with the movie's March 6, 2009 premiere date or possibly upset a large fan base by delaying the release of the movie in order to recover complete control over advertising and distribution. Warner Brothers on the other hand has at this point the only option of appealing the decision.
The real question that many fans are asking is why on Earth this Fox Studios pass on making the movie itself dozens of times and instead wait until the movie was completely done before filing a lawsuit?
Posted by Stephanie Cox
Brian Michael Bendis is really starting to grow on me. I like how he writes Marvel's characters. He's got the talent that bigger names like Jeph Loeb only dream of. Bendis engineered much of Marvel's sucessful Ultimate Universe and he also crafted the storylines for House of M and the Secret Invasion.
Which is why my Pick of the Week, Secret Invasion Dark Realm #1 written by Brian Michael Bendis, is a no brainer.
This Marvel One-Shot is the transition between the *boring* Secret Invasion (I know I just uber complimented Bendis who wrote the Secret Invasion, but alien invasions are just not my cup of tea in the comic world, though the arch was well-written) and what future Marvel storylines are going to be. I love it when Marvel gets all creepy and Forboding! And this issue is full of creeps and foreboding.
Super villian Norman Osbourn holds a meeting with all the other Marvel super villians-- Doom, the Hood, Loki, Namor and even Emma Frost-- and sets up all kinds of potential for the next year of Marvel comics. Back-stabbing and evil scheming are sure to ensue! Pick this crucial issue up or else I'm sure you'll be left wondering 'wtf?' for Marvel comics in 2009.
Posted by Stephanie Cox
*WARNING* This blog contains spoilers about Batman #681
I'm just going to come right out and say it. I can't believe Grant Morrison killed Batman. What a great ending to the twisted, year-long crescendo that was "Batman R.I.P." Grant Morrison has been writing Batman for a little over 2 years and long hinted at the possibility of killing off Batman. It's nice to see a comic book writer have the guts to follow through on such a tantalizing possibility.
DC Comics is slowly pulling itself out of the trench that Joe Quesada and Marvel's recent success has put them in. The Marvel universe has had a lot going on in that past couple years-- the House of M storyline, Astonishing X-Men series and Civil War storyline, just to name a few, have been both crowd pleasers and financial winners for Marvel. The Death of Batman seeks to heat up the competition and I like it.
I also love the irony that it wasn't anyone from the gallery of rogues that killed Batman, nor was it even simply an epic battle like the one that did in Superman several decades ago. Instead Batman was methodically destroyed from the inside out- spiritually, mentally, and finally physically.
Go read it! It's sure to be a collector's item and it leads into 2009's Battle of the Cowl storyline, which supposedly will see Bruce Wayne's family members fighting over his legacy.
Posted by Stephanie Cox
Action Comics #870 "Brainiac Finale", released October 8, includes the exciting climax of the Superman vs. Brainiac story arch. The writing and story by writer Geoff Johns outdoes the art, by Gark Frank and Jon Sibal, but lately Marvel has the talent-heavy art team anyway. The pacing, dialogue and plot elements make the Brainiac story worth a read. Brainiac is proving to be a pretty evil dude-- and Superman takes him down in brute-style in this issue.
Superman's hapless cousin Supergirl is rescued from Brainiac's grips and Metropolis is saved all in one issue! What more could a Pick of the Week have? Action Comics #870 goes even further to include a heart-wrenching ending. It's good stuff. Check it out.
Posted by Stephanie Cox
The "Batman R.I.P." story arch is about as easy to follow as season 3 of Lost. Composed of 6 Batman issues by writer Grant Morrison and artists Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea and a few crossover in the DC Universe, "Batman RIP" is causing fans to turn to Wikipedia and other online forums to figure out just what the heck is going on here.
This week's Pick is the fifth installment in the series involving the an enemy group called the Black Glove, who are intent and emotionally and mentally destroying Batman. The leader, Dr Hurt, is convinced a psychological death of Batman would be far more effective than simply trying to physically kill him. Somehow the Joker is involved and provides clues through enigmatic card hands.
It's not clear what is real and what is a dream in Batman's now-ravaged psyche and this issue gets downright creepy at points Joker splits his own tongue with a knife in one disturbing sequence' while Batman stumbles around in a drug-induced stupor, sporting a hand-sewn purple batman costume.
Check it out this week if you've only got 3 bucks to spend at the comic shop for the eeriest Batman and Joker get, though I won't promise you'll be able to figure out entirely what's going on (though, after reading the series, I'm not sure I've figured it out either).
Batman R.I.P. Checklist:
Batman #676-681
Detective Comics #846-850
Nightwing #147-150
Robin #175-176
Batman and the Outsiders #11-13
