San Diego wins, I loose!

-A couple of days ago, I foolishly promised some SDCC coverage every day. That was before the internet started vomiting announcements every 10 minutes. So......yeah. You'll get a recap of all the BEST stuff, along with my wishlist scorecard on Monday. Until then, stay tuned for some other fun stuff.

My 2015 SDCC Wishlist!!!

Yes, it's that time again. Time for the San Diego Comic Con!!! Each year.........wait, you know what it is, why should I explain it to you? Every year I do my wishlist of announcements, comic and otherwise, that I HOPE get announced at the show. Some years, I get lucky and a couple of them get announced, sometimes I get zero. Here's hoping this year, I get at least 1. So, here we go......

5) Jonny Quest!

-One of the most characters that's SO overdue for a new comic is Jonny Quest. He's also due for a new cartoon, toys, a live action movie, ect. but we won't get into that. He actually just appeared in an issue of Scooby-Doo Team-Up, and while that was awesome, I want an ongoing, monthly "serious" comic.
4)Big Trouble in Little China Toys!

Yes, we got these Reaction figures from Funko, and they're awesome, but I want some awesome, articulated 6" figures from NECA. Because you can never have enough Big Trouble in Little China stuff.
3) MASK!!

I don't care if it's comics or toys, actually, I want BOTH! But I need some new MASK stuff. If you don't know what MASK is, it's like GI Joe and Transformers had a baby. And it had the most AWESOME theme song of any cartoon EVER!!

2)FLASH GORDON!

Yes, we've had a series of mini-series from Dynamite, and they've all been pretty great, but I'd like an honest to God ongoing series. Is that too much to ask? I hope not.

1)INDIANA JONES!!!

To say Marvel hit a home run with the Star Wars comics would be putting it mildly. I believe the same thing could be done for Indiana Jones. I'm sure they're waiting for the next movie, but why? Through Disney, they own all the likeness right, so just go ahead and do it all ready!!!

-So there you go. Tune in one week from today to see what, or any, thing of my wishlist come true. And get back here tomorrow for some SDCC coverage, cause even though the con floor doesn't open until Wednesday, the cons all ready started!!!!!

KITT, Mark Waid and a Fashion Model walk into a bar.....

I don't know what the rest of the joke is, but I bet if I had more time I could actually come up with one. This is going out tonight, because I won't have time tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know about 3 comic hitting tomorrow that you should REALLY buy. You can get lost in Secret Wars and Convergence, but at least grab these and give them a look-through.

Scarlett Couture #2: Des Taylor is on a roll! Two AWESOME issues in a row! It's got everything that made the first one great; action, spies, gorgeous women, an intriguing story, I could go on and on.

Justice Inc: The Avenger #1: Dynamite + Mark Waid + Ronilson Freire = Another great pulp title! I'll be honest, I hadn't even really heard of The Avenger before, but after reading this, I can't wait to find out more about him. Fantastic book!

Knight Rider Volume 1

Yeah, I know. You're thinking "Good God, here's Jimmy with another 80's TV show comic!", but here me out. This is REALLY GOOD!!!! This is most definitely NOT the Knight Rider that I grew up with, it's 180 degrees in the other direction, and that's what makes it good. Everything is totally unexpected, new and fresh. Yet, there's enough their to get across what made the original show so appealing in the first place. 

-There you go! Make sure and give these a look tomorrow. Also, anyone going to San Diego? I NEED this figure!!!!

Comic-Con Day 3!! And the winner is..........

MOVIES!!!!! Now, while movies win, I'm gonna have to call this a tie between DC/Warner Brothers and Marvel/Disney. BOTH had HUGE announcements that rocked the comic world when they unveiled some pretty surprising stuff. Let's start with Marvel.....

During the final moments of the Marvel Studios panel, Joss Whedon came out to announce that the next Avengers movie would be called....Avengers: Age of Ultron!!! There was even some footage shown. Here, is a description, courtesy of Super Hero Hype:

"It begins outside an alien temple. A man approaches. The Avengers footage is super quick, featuring lines from the first Avengers. Slowly, CGI images form of Ultron's face. Then the title comes up. THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON."

WOW! I can't wait!! Now, this does bring up some interesting questions. We saw Thanos in the first Avengers movie, will he play into this movie at all? How are Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch going to fit in? And what about Hank Pym? With what happened in Iron Man 3, I can easily see Tony Stark creating Ultron. I guess we'll find out in about 2 years!!

-Earlier in the day, at the DC panel, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder took to the stage to talk about the Man of Steel sequel. He revealed that the Man of Steel will costar none other than.......BATMAN!!! He then revealed the logo for the film:

Shooting is expected to begin next year for a 2015 release. No real details were revealed except that Batman WILL be recast and that the supporting cast of Man of Steel will return for the sequel. 

-Boy, between Avengers 2, the Sueprman/Batman movie and Star Wars Episode VII, 2015 is going to be one hell of a summer!!!

-Besides the movie announcements, there were some great comic announcements that were made. Here's links to just a few of them.

-Top Cow revealed some big plans for their company, including a Darkness film. You can read all about that over at Comic Book Resources.

-Robert Venditti spoke about the direct that the Green Lantern books are going to take, go here to read what he had to say.

-Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo spoke about Batman: Year Zero. Check that one out at this link!

-Join me tomorrow for SDCC wrap up day 4!!! 

Comic-Con Day 2 wrap up! The winner is...

These 2 guys!!

That's right kids, Challengers Comics + Conversation won the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing award for Best Comic Store Friday night at the VERY end of the show (dear Eisner guy, would it kill you to announce this award earlier in the evening? I was REALLY freakin' tired by the time the award was presented) !!!!! A HUGE congratulations go out to owners Patrick Brower & W. Dal Bush!!! These two guys literally built this store with their own 2 hands, (OK, 4 hands) and have over the last 5 years that Challengers has been in business taken the city of Chicago by storm. Also, they are two very close friends of mine, who have helped and supported me greatly over the past 20 years. I've been a part of the Challengers team for a little over a year, and it's been an honor and privilege to work with them, just like old times. But now, in a HEALTHY work environment. Again, congratulations to them, and all my fellow Challengers!!!
-Now, beyond that, after reviewing the news coming out of SDCC yesterday, I have to declare the (2nd) place winner of the day..............................

BY. A. LANDSLIDE!!! First, Mattel held it's Mattypalooza panel, focusing on it's Masters of the Universe Classics, Ghostbusters, DC Comics, Watchmen and more. Revealed on the panel were some long awaited MOTUC figures, including the Horde Troopers!!!

And PLUNDOR!!!

Moving on to Ghostbusters, the best toy EVER was announced-An Ecto 1 that is in scale with the Matty Collector 6 inch line that comes with Ray and Peter figures with removable backpacks!!

But later on, the BEST TOY EVER was announced at Mattel's DC Panel. Ladies and Gentlemen........................MICHAEL KEATON BATMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I have been waiting for a Michael Keaton Batman figure that actually LOOKS like Michael Keaton since 1989!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOO F'ing excited for this!!!
-So, there you have it. Day 2's winners were Challengers and Mattel. What if they joined forces? Hmmmmmmmmmm.
-No time for a recap on other stuff today, but I'll be back tomorrow with coverage of day 3 (and it's gonna be pretty damn awesome). See you tomorrow!!

Comic-Con Day 1-the winner is......THINGS?!??!?!?!??!

OK, everybody know the big comic announcements don't come until Saturday, so Thursday was a lot of showoff from Toy Companies and Hollywood. On the plus side, we're getting some really cool things to watch and play with. Let's take a look:

Ninja Turtles 1990 Movie figures: FINALLY!!!! Figures based on the Ninja Turtles from the classic 1990 film! All Playmates showed was Leo, but I can't wait for next spring!!

Caity Lotz cast as Black Canary in Arrow Season Two: I've only seen her in a few episodes of Mad Men, but she's a good actress and that body combined with this outfit:

 And I think we have a winner!
Batman New 52 figures based on Greg Capullo's designs: SCORE!!!! I LOVE what Capullo's doing on Batman and am over the top excited to get actual toys based on his artwork in the book! They look awesome!!

Gina Carano cast as Avengelyne: Ummmm. I'd be a little more excited if the movie had a studio or a script or any other confirmation besides Rob Liefeld saying "We're gonna do this!". So, take it with a grain of sale, but she certainly looks the part:

 POWER LORDS: No, you don't know them. They were a toyline in the 80's that lasted only 1 wave. They didn't have a cartoon, but they did have a 3 issue comic book mini series from DC. Bottom line, they were AWESOME toys and now the Four Horsemen have the license and are doing incredibly awesome new toys!!

Other news of note: IDW announced a Hellboy Artist Edition for next year. Fox provided a first look at the Sentinels for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past movie...Marvel announced that starting in Superior Spider-Man #22, Spidey will be going up against Flash Thompson Venom in "Darkest Hour"...OK, I'm out for today!! See back right here tomorrow!!

Comic-Con Day Zero-Dynamite Wins

Well, Comic-Con is underway and the clear winner yesterday was Dynamite Entertainment!! While there were some announcements by other companies, but with all the new properties, titles and creators that DE revealed yesterday, they were hands down the winner. Here's a recap:
Heroes: Based on the hit TV series, writer Cullen Bunn will pen this series, which he calls "Heroes Season 5". The series will focus on Claire, Hiro and Sylar.
The Twilight Zone: Long time TV and comic writer, J. Micheal Straczynski will write this series featuring stories based in science fiction and the supernatural, just like the popular television series.
Bob's Burgers: While no creative team has been announced yet, Dynamite says they're working closely with the creative team of the show to bring the style of the show to comics.
The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow: HOWARD CHAYKIN returns to The Shadow!!!!!!! This mini focuses on The Shadow's disappearance in 1949.
Untitled Projects: DE recruited some GREAT creators for original series, James Robinson, Peter Milligan & Duane Swierczynski all have titles lined up Dyanmite..
Legends of Red Sonja: After the GREAT numbers for Gail Simone's Red Sonja title, Dynamite will launch an anthology series with some fantastic writers like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marjorie Liu, Lea Moore and others.
Ash & The Army of Darkness: Dynamite is relaunching their Evil Dead inspired series with writer Steve Niles and artist Dennis Calero. This series will pick up after the ending of the 1992 film Army of Darkness and take the franchise down a different and darker path.
Voltron/Robotech: Tommy Yune is behind this crossover mini series. The best part?? After the crossover Dynamite will be publishing a solo Robotech series!!!

-.Congratulations to Dynamite on all of the great announcements yesterday and congratulations to US, because it looks like we're getting some great new kick-ass comics from Dynamite!! These, plus the fact that DE is ALL READY knocking things out of the park with it's current comic line-up, is going to make this once small company HUGE!!!