Coming Soon to a Rack Near You

The latest issue of Wizard (it's a comics magazine) came out today and had a huge fall preview issue and I just thought I'd go over some of the comics and comic-related stuff that was previewed in the book:

Mighty Avengers: This series will be taking place after the Civil War crossover (in which the Marvel Heroes are split into two warring factions over the issue of superhuman registration) and looks to be focusing on the pro-government heroes. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Frank Cho (who likes to draw the boobies), this looks to be much more upbeat than New Avengers, but since there's a good chance these guys are the winners of the Civil War I don't blame 'em for being upbeat. The 7-page preview looks really good, particularly the Mole Man's monster army, and it looks to be a return to the classic "Avengers vs. world-threatening villain" stories that have been missing for quite a while in the other Avengers series. Plus, it's good to see Wonder Man on a team again. I keep thinking that writers forgot he existed.

New Wildstorm: I've never been a big fan of the "Wildstorm Universe" (though there are a lot of great series within that continuity), but Grant Morrison and Jim Lee's new take on it sounds like it's going to be a great read. Mixing the flash of the early Image comics with the substance of Vertigo comics, the new Wildstorm books sound clever, fun and, as one expects from Grant Morrison, crazy. Basically the idea is that while most hero comics are accused of being an adolescent power fantasy, Wildstorm will represent an adult power fantasy.

The headlining series will be WildC.A.T.s written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Jim Lee and will be about the Halo Corporation, the first alien corporate machine, run by the alien robot Spartan who has humanities' best interest at heart, whether we want it or not. He gives a cyborg in every home and all sorts of advances in technology but will Spartan and his WildC.A.T.s (who are a group of Covert heroes) give the world fatherly love or a cold iron fist? Or will it be a bit of both?

The other huge series will be the Authority by Grant Morrison and Drawn by Gene Ha (Top Ten). The Authority is a super hero team who plan to change the world for the better regardless of what any government says. Basically, if they existed in our world they would have taken care of Bin Laden, Kim Jong Il and George Bush in the cleanest way possible. The original series was good but failed to deliver on the title characters changing the world, despite overthrowing a few corrupt governments. Creative teams tried to make it work, but it never felt... right. This version will feature the title characters lost in the Bleed (a sort of field where all universes meet), trying to get home and changing every universe the meet along the way.

Gen13 features over-sexed super-powered teens who are on the run from the government. Sounds generic enough, but Gail Simone is one of the wittiest writers in the industry and the promise that she'll give us the sexy humour that made the original so popular is promising, since she handles that stuff pretty well. The artist's name is Talent Caldwell, who I've never heard of. Still, his name sounds talented. Now if only there was a writer named Plot Goodscript.

The other series (StormWatch, Midnighter, Deathblow and Wetworks) don't sound all that interesting, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them turns out to be a sleeper hit of some sort.

Richard Donner on Superman: Yeah, that Richard Donner will be writing Superman quite soon. Apparently, this is what Superman III was supposed to be until it became a shitty Richard Pryor vehicle. Plus, it will greatly involve Bizarro, who is always one of my favourite villains. Frankly, I don't know how much Donner will actually write as he's co-writing with Geoff Johns (they worked together on conspiracy Theory), whose writing approximately 50 books a month right now. This is definitely the most-hyped book write now, but I'm still not quite sure what to expect. Still Richard Donner has directed some fun flicks before (Maverick, Lethal Weapon, Scrooged) despite some stinkers (The Toy, Timeline) and I'm pretty hopeful for his run on the series.

Heroes: Coming to NBC this fall is a series about people all over the world from all walks of life gaining different super-powers. Apparently, they will have to save the world from an apocalyptic threat but that won't be for a few more seasons yet, assuming the show lasts that long. For the first few episodes, it's just the characters exploring the possibilities of their powers, so for that alone, the first few episodes should be worth checking out. The characters include a Japanese Otaku/salaryman with teleportation and time manipulation powers, a flying congressional candidate, an inmate who can walk through walls, a cheerleader with a healing factor and a mind-reading cop. I hope it turns out to be good, as it has been a long time since I've watched a weekly program that I can look forward to.

Also, this isn't comics related, but I'm thinking that if I get a next generation system, it'll be the Wii. It sounds as though it will be less expensive than the PS3 and just more imaginative.