VIDEO: Bowie backs up the Guardians

The latest commercial for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is set to David Bowie's Suffragette City to amazing effect.It's brief, but it has some new footage too. Enjoy!

   

You only get one chance 

to save the galaxy--TWICE.

TRAILER 2: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Super Bowl video (EXTENDED!)

If catching up to Starlord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot wasn't enough--we get several new members of the team in this extended cut of the super bowl trailer.

But first, an awesome new poster that captures the essence of the GotG movies. A selection of mix tapes!

Baby Groot there is full-on rockin' out. What? Okay, okay, here's your stinkin' trailer:




Groot and the gang are back in theaters May 5, 2017, just in time for fans everywhere to loose their damn minds over Free Comic Book Day weekend. Which, by now, should be a freakin' national holiday!

And you can bet your Infinity Stone we'll be playing some sort of Marvel space game that weekend!

VIDEO: Vintage VHS treatement for this new X-Men Apocalypse ad

This viral ad for X-Men: Apocalypse is an inspired piece of marketing. It appears as a warped VHS recording of "In the Footsteps Of..." a fictional supernatural TV documentary program, in the style of real ones like In Search Of--which I used to watch with rapt elation/horror/wonder as a kid. Heck, they even got George Takei as a stand-in narrator, a la Leonard Nimoy.

This one gives a glimpse to the background of the new film's main big-bad, Apocalypse himself, En Sabah Nur. 



Advertising can be a lot of fun, when cleverly done!

Luke, before the Awakening...

by Adam Hughes

by Stuart Immonen

by Terese Nielsen

TRAILER: Some real chemistry going on in Fantastic Four

Somehow they snuck this one in over the weekend, amidst all the Star Wars and Bats v. Capes trailers out there. This looks much improved over the previous trailer that really didn't seem too connected to the famous quartet.

This new trailer though has some real spark to it--and while I won't say it makes me think of the comics, the characters seem to have something driving them, other than scenery this time. Maybe going younger with the main characters wasn't such a bad idea after all.

We get a glimpse of their powers, the Thing in full rocky-regalia, and finally a peek at Dr. Doom!

TRAILER: Comic "Dark Matter" turned into space opera thriller for SyFy

Wow! It's literally RAINING SPACE OPERAS TODAY! At least I'd heard about this one. Dark Matter is based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name by writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. I've got the entire series (stored somewhere!) and thought it was...okay. The concept was pretty awesome, but the comic didn't hold my interest over time (I probably should give it a re-read). But I have to say, this trailer breathes new life into that initial concept, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Synopsis:

In Dark Matter, the crew of a derelict spaceship is awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets.  

"Their Memories are Gone, but the Truth Survives."

As with Killjoys, the show's cast looks to be largely Canadian. It seems SyFy is (smartly) relying on our neighbors to the north for fresh faces and likely huge production discounts. They're also heavily promoting that it's from the producers of Stargate--another smart move to woo back SG-1 and SG-U fans, in particular.

And is this show also gameable? Yes, totally! In fact, I've run something with a similar hook, a few years ago at Con of the North. Same basic concept: a team of specialists awakens aboard a spaceship--stocked with massive firepower--already en route to an unknown planet. Though, for mine, I gave them a captain who knew what was going on. :) (What do you want, we only had a 3 hour time slot!)

Dark Matter premieres Friday, June 12 at 9pm central.
That makes me wonder actually if Killjoys and Dark Matter going to be back-to-back space opera anchors (!!!) 

Another unanswered question--does this mean Dark Horse is continuing the comic (which was initially a miniseries)?

• Official SyFy page
• IMDB listing 
• Wikipedia entry (warning: SPOILERS)

Add a few more to the pile: previous articles on space opera projects (at SyFy, other networks):

• Killjoys, space bounty hunter series
• Farscape return still possible
• Star Wars Rebels, The Expanse, Ascension

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TRAILER 2: OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

Post by Guardians of the Galaxy.

SO. AWESOME.

It's already my favorite movie ever. Even though it hasn't even come out yet. Shut up. You love it too!

Guardians of the Galaxy Poster is pure space fantasy!

I'd posted this earlier today on Google+, but it's just too cool to resist. That is some sweet space opera art!

Comics Pull List Revised!

For the last few months, I've been whittling my pull list down and now I've only got two titles.

One hasn't even started yet, the new Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and artist Mike Allred. It looks like Allred is the perfect fit to illustrate this character! I loved his take on FF (somtimes called "Fantastic Faux"), which were basically replacements for the Fantastic Four. I still love that series, but stopped picking up individual issues and opted for the trade pub version, mostly to save some scratch, but I also prefer reading complete storylines in big books. I'll miss those individual covers though!

Allred's art has a carefree, joyously colorful look to it that I just relish. And judging by the cover, it'll be the kinda' fun that the surfer should be having.

The other is a title I've blogged about previously, and the first issue didn't disappoint--Rick Remender's return to space-fi in Black Science! It's dripping with the cool, unmerciful and cosmic setting you're used to finding in an H.P. Lovecraft tale, but with a little gonzo/wa-hoo in the mix.

I'm technically also signed up for The Star Wars, that "rough script" version of George Lucas' original screenplay for the eponymous film. The art is really fantastic. The story is just okay. The actual layout--how the story fits together panel-by-panel--is terrible. So much so that I basically bought the last issue in my pull file out of guilt, which makes me feel terrible. If it didn't have "Star Wars" on the cover you'd think it was just a poor imitator not worth reading.

Flash Gordon turns 80 today!

It was on January 7th, 1934 that Alex Raymond's FLASH GORDON first appeared in newspapers to the delight of pulp adventure fans and readers of funny pages. It should go with saying just how much Mr. Raymond's hero has influenced modern popular culture.

Whether he was reappearing throughout the years in his own strip, comic, TV show or movie serial or acting as the zeitgeist behind even bigger mythologies (*cough*, STAR WARS), the other-worldly escapades of Flash Gordon have given us decades of epic entertainment.

Happy Birthday Flash!

Click to embiggen. Image: King Features Syndicate 2014, all rights reserved.

To commemorate the occasion, Flash Gordon's publisher, King Features launched a new website www.flashgordon.com with comics from the most recent artist to steward Flash's newspaper appearances, Jim Keefe. 

Jim's been a fellow Twin Citian now for a number of years and I've been lucky enough to bump into him from time to time at local comic conventions. Besides being the nicest guy this side of Mingo City, he's an unabashed Gordon fan himself, with a real reverence for Raymond's original imaginings. 

From primeval monsters, to swashbuckling sword fights, and swooshing rocketships, to finned spacecraft, sleek cityscapes, and elaborate costumes--Keefe's Flash hearkens back to the early Raymond adventures and planetary romance themes. But he's also put his own unique spin on the Mongo universe, including updating a few characters.

From time to time, he's even turned the pencil work over to a few guest artists, including Al Williamson himself!

Longtime readers Exonauts, know that Flash looms large in my geek psyche. To kick off Flash Gordon day here on Exonauts, here's a few of my favorite renderings of Flash. I've noted artists/sources in the file names when known. Click to embiggen. 

Probably my favorite though is this one:

For more art, check out this Flash Gordon Pintrest board I put together. 

We'll have a little Flash Gordon Fest here on the blog throughout the month. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Check out Comic Kingdom's post on Flash's anniversary.

UPDATE 2: Jim Keefe has posted an excellent snapshot of Flash's career in comics, check it out!

New Guardians of the Galaxy image with ROCKET RACCOON!

Feast your eyes on the Guardians of the Galaxy cast as their characters (click image to embiggen). And we finally get a look at Rocket Raccoon as he'll be realized on screen!

Via Newsarama



Via io9

YOUR MUST GET COMIC: BLACK SCIENCE!!

YOU GUYS! Remember when I told you about Black Science, Rick Remender's new weird science-horror comic? Well I picked up the first issue last week and it's awesome! It has everything you could want in a scifi pulp adventure. Here's a few quick snaps from my phone (sorry if the quality isn't great when enlarged):

Primitive fish folk riding land eels!

Ancient temples spewing eldritch energies!

Frog gods and the evil bullywugs who worship them!

Who hasn't mistakenly stumbled into a bullywug shaman lair and made a few new friends, am I right?

These are some of the wonderful splash pages from the book. The cover art by Matteo Scalera and Dean White is--to my eyes--evocative of those old pulp fantasy novels from the 70s. And there's more here to help fuel your RPG game:

• Cosmic Cthuluesque horror!
• Tragic consequences for practicing forbidden science!
• Hero loses initiative roll at least twice!
• Creative problem solving to get out of--not one, but two--jams!
• Dimension hopping gone awry not once, but twice!

Note: Black Science is rated "Mature".

Rick Remender returns to space comics with "Black Science"

One of my favorite wa-hoo, space comic creators Rick Remender (Fear Agent) is coming out with an all new sci-fi comic November 27. His stories tend to have a strong pulp influence and it looks like his latest titled Black Science will likewise cling to that mode. Remender is teaming up with artists Matteo Scalara and Dean White on what looks to be a gorgeous series...

(Click images to embiggen) 

Comic Book Resources did a Q&A with Remender, here's what you need to know about the Rickster's approach to writing:

CBR News: Rick, your body of work has been fairly pulpy, and it seems like a mode you've been really successful in. What do you love about the world of pulp meeting the world of Sci-Fi?

Rick Remender: The basic recipe I follow is taking a Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic and mixing it with true science and adult themes for a fully realized cast with identifiable motivations. I love to focus on wild ideas, and in a visual art form, such as comic books, it's mandatory to give the reader and artist a visual story. Lester Dent-style structure, pulpy sensibilities and classic Sci-Fi aesthetics deliver that when done right. This sensibility allows me to delve into big crazy ideas with a seedy underbelly, which I then decorate with fully realized characters with big hearts. When those things come together in the right balance I feel that's when I'm at my best.

I've always been drawn to science fiction with a touch of horror because it allows for an infinite amount of possible dilemmas for your characters, dilemmas that carry huge consequences, which is why I like to include a horror aspect. Peppering horrific fates throughout an adventure leaves you on pins and needles for the fate of the characters, which you hopefully have come to care for, and are rooting for.

The story itself is set to focus on a morally gray scientist, traveling parallel dimensions, who will come face-to-face with the consequences of his work. He sounds like the polar opposite of Heath Hudson, the gruff and slovenly, ray gun slinging protagonist from Fear Agent, Remender's previous space pulp series. It also sounds awesome!

Check out the full CBR interview with Rick Remender!

MTV Geek (now defunct) did a preview story with more images back in September.

UPDATE: CBR has just posted some new teasers. These look like they could be covers for some weird science horror RPG! (Click them to enlarge.)

Images: Comic Book Resources

Heading to FallCon!

I'll be out at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds tomorrow (Saturday), braving the rain and cold with all manner of geekdom to get into FallCon, the "one day wonder" comic book extravaganza. 

I'm a big supporter, espescially since there's a really strong community of creators here in the Twin Cities. If you're local and outand about and can spare $8 ($7/ a food shelf donation) you should come check it out!

More details...

Clandestinauts comic is coming to a close

Minneapolis-based comic artist and dungeoneering raconteur Tim Sievert announced earlier this week that his beloved Clandestinauts web comic would be wrapping up this week. If you've not read it, or it's predecessor The Intrepideers mini comic (which I believe was only in print) you're in for a treat. Update: I was able to track down Intrepideers online, thanks mwschmeer!

Clandestinauts is about as wild, wooly, weird, and bawdy as it gets when it comes to killing monsters and taking their stuff. It began as a tale of made-up adventures using the PCs from his circle of friends' D&D group.

I've crossed paths with Tim over the last several years and picked up the print copies when available. Tim's truly a great guy and one of the most original young illustrators working in indie comics today. I'm excited for him to be finishing an epic adventure that's run since 2010.

I'm also looking forward to his upcoming project (which I can't recall if he's made widely public yet, but you likely could figure it out if you visit his website). It's been another labor of love, years in the making and all I can say is bring it on Tim!

Stop by his site and get caught up for the big finale which is coming this Thursday!

Post also posted to Spellcard.

Getting ready to raise a geek girl

Back in July my wife and I welcomed our first, completely new person--a baby girl. Those of you with kids already know what I'm learning--what an incredible experience it is to be a first-time parent--and that the human body begins to fall apart without sufficient sleep! (Actually, she's let us sleep a lot more than we expected.)

Anyway, in the last several months--including many leading up to her arrival--I've spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of media (okay, geek stuff!) we'll expose her to and, of course, when and how much. We've made a conscous descision to try to stem the pink princess tide as much as possible. If it happens it happens, but we're not inviting it (try having that conversation with an overly-exhuberant grandma!).


Truth is, geek girls have it a bit rougher since a lot of this stuff has historically been geared towards males. It's worth noting that there's a lot I thought would be "fine" for a boy, but the second I found out we're having a girl, I seemingly became very sensitive to what's "appropriate." My own definition of that is still evolving. Thankfully, websites like A Mighty Girl and Star Wars Parenting have certainly helped to give me ideas for content and activities. That said though, we hope to get her interested in "the basics" as it were.

A Classical Geek Education

Star Wars is a given. Original Trilogy all the way! And we'll only bring up the prequels if we have to, like when

One of a select few approved princesses....

some kid talks it about it at school and then we'll talk about in hushed tones with heavy guilt and embarassment. And then, when she's a bit more savvy: Star Trek (maybe closer to 9 or 10 years old?).

Of course we'll introduce comic books, but with a heavy dose of regular books as well. Wonder Woman can sometimes be complicated, but ultimately she's the most reconizable heroine.

My personal favorite: Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld. Yeah, I know, trading purple for pink, isn't much of a stretch! But Amethyst can hold her own and she's a truely original warrior princess--2 years before She-ra arrived(who was based off a boys' toyline) and long before Xena.

And I'll introduce her to my passion for Ray Harryhausen films. Too bad there's no girl-centric films in that vein. But I also want to be able to experience games and fun projects where she (and I) might actually learn something!

I know there will be some beloved games I'll teach her my favorite, Dungeon!* when she's old enough to grasp dice without swallowing. But it had me thinking, what about other family-oriented games, like the Munchkin series from Steve Jackson? (Frankly, I'm not too familiar with those games.)

Eventually we'll try some RPGs, X-plorers for sure, but also Marvel Superheroes (FASERIP Forever!) and yes, even D&D. Probablly one of the Mentzer or Holmes box sets to start.

This is where you come in...
I know there's also plenty of homebrew or retroclone games specifically for kids--what I don't know is how many of you have played or with what level of success.

I've got my list of nerd stuff, but I'd like to open it up to readers. And not just game stuff--if you're a parent (or an aunt or an uncle) and are charged with nerding up your ward--what's been the most fun/rewarding stuff?

List your favorite geek activities and recommendations in the comments!




*Of which I currently possess 3 different versions! 

COMICS: A snapshot of my pull list...

With SpringCon comic convention in Saint Paul this weekend, I thought I'd spill what comics I'm reading in print these days, here's a list of my regular titles:

Dark Horse

Star Wars - Brian Wood's story takes place after New Hope and Empire as Vader hunts down Skywalker to redeem himself for the Death Star's destruction, Leia struggles with losing Alderaan and finding a new home for the rebels

DC

Sword of Sorcery (just ended with issue #8) - Great series that lives up to it's namesake, stars Amethyst and her diverse Gemworld kingdom; post-apocalyptic Beowulf mini-series is pretty good too

Prophet (Vertigo label) - Really out-there sci-fi that's truly imaginative, unrelenting and also unsettling at times

 

Lot's of ideas to plunder for games...

Dynamite

Flash Gordon - Classic Flash in the 1930s with a hefty coat of the 1980 film's flamboyance

IDW

Godzilla: Half Century War - Tracking the big guy through the jungles of South East Asia. Art by James Stoke is...I don't even...just look (you need to right-click these to really appreciate):

The High Ways - John Byrne hard sci-fi adventure about a cargo crew. I'm amazed at how hefty these issues are--lots of story packed in!

Mars Attacks - After being repelled by Earthlings 40 years ago, the Martians are back. ACK! ACK!

Image

The Activity - Excellent, modern-day, action comic about an black ops military unit, illustrated by our own local-boy-done-good, Mitch Gerads

 

Marvel

Hawkeye - Seriously one of the best-written comics right now. Fantastic art as well.

FF - Second string Fantastic Four babysits the planet while Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny leave for a quick "four minute" trip. Lots of charm and just plain fun--love the Mike Allred artwork!

Fearless Defenders - Good start with great character writing for Marvel's first, official all-female super team. Wonderfully inventive covers too!

 

 

And anything with a cover by Francesco Francavilla...

 

Trade paperbacks
I love single issue comics, there's just nothing like holding one in your hands--and I especially like supporting writers/artists who's work I enjoy during the run--but it does get expensive. Plus, friends want to borrow, and I'm sorry, but I'm NOT giving out my single issues! So trades are a great alternative...

• Adventure Time (Boom Studios) Too hard to find all the singles, but I'll pick up the trade
• Avengers Asssemble (Marvel) I have most of these, but stopped until the trade comes out
• Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel) - I'm a sucker for talking racoons so I've got the first single, but I'll wait for the trade
• Jupiter's Legacy (Image) - Mark Millar and Frank Quitely team up to write about second gen supers living in their parent's shadow, have the first single and now waiting for trade
• Nova (Marvel) - Looks like good fun with a GotG tie-in, but again, waiting on the trade
• Hawkeye (Marvel) Have first vol. will likely pick up a few more singles
• Mars Attacks (IDW) Have first vol., just dropped single issues to order vol. 2
• Prophet (Image) I've recently been unable to get the last 3 issues due to shortages so I'll now have to switch to trades
• Saga (Image) Have first vol., I'm waiting on vol. 2, only first single collected
• Warlord of Mars (Dynamite) I have up through the first two dozen or so issues, just dropped to switch to trades
• Young Avengers (Marvel) - A new Avengers team for modern times, great stuff, but again--it's almost always sold out, so gotta get the trade

And this doesn't even count the other anthologies, graphic novels, and an omnibus or two that I've got on my wish list! I'll do a web comic list in an upcoming post.

 

So what are you reading in print these days?