August 2010 ~ The Blog of OA

8/31/10

DC Beyond Launches Green Lantern: Emerald Adventures in 3D

8/31/2010

DC's family friendly game portal, DC Beyond, has launched a new Green Lantern game called "Green Lantern: Emerald Adventures" that fans of all ages can play online for free.

Like many of these kinds of games, it is flash based and you may need to download the player that is needed in order for the game to load. Emerald Adventures puts you in control of Hal Jordan as he tries to rescue a princess from the evil clutches of Despero. Gameplay features both space warfare flying missions and ground based 3D platform action, and an xp system allows you to power up Hal and give him more constructs to choose from during his ground based missions when you encounter the save points disguised as portals to Oa.

The Brightest Day Cover Puzzle Final Image Revealed

8/23/2010

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Today the DCU Blog posted the completed image made up from the Brightest Day variant covers done by Ryan Sook, with a bit of help from DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee and artists Fernando Pasarin and Joel Gomez. Along with the completed image DC has teased that the completed puzzle is an indication of things to come in the future of the DC Universe.

Of particular note in the image is the inclusion of the mysterious being who has been kidnapping the various entities of the emotional spectrum (who I think is either Sayd or Appa Ali Apsa) holding on to the white lantern and being surrounded by white energy. It's also interesting that Jade has a white lantern symbol over her head.

You can see the complete image by clicking the "read more" button.

Green Lantern Corps 51 Review

8/21/2010

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I was pretty harsh in my review of issue fifty of Green Lantern Corps and my opinion changed considerably after chatting with Sean Whelan and Jim Segulin over on the Raging Bullets podcast, so before sitting down to review the latest issue I decided to wait a few days and read the issue a couple more times before writing this review. While I still think that issue fifty was rather lackluster for a "milestone" issue, the fourth chapter in the "Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns" arc is in my opinion the best issue in Tony Bedard's run thus far.

8/21/2010

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Pietro Filipponi published eight more images of possible designs for some of the alien Green Lanterns appearing in next summer's movie. Again, I caution you that these are not the final images, nor are they high resolution images. They appear more to be photos, and sometimes blurry ones, of concept art or early two dimensional renders of the characters taken by someone in the art department who Pietro knows. I don't question their validity and it seems that within 24 hours of posting on his site he's taken them down at the request of Warner Brothers, which adds a degree of credibility to say the least.

As before, click on the read more button to see the images.

More Green Lantern Alien Images Hit the Net

8/20/2010

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Pietro Filipponi over at Comicbookmovie.com strikes yet again with more images that may very well represent the final designs for several of the alien Green Lanterns we will see in the upcoming live action motion picture. Recently Pietro released an image of Bzzd and Kilowog that lit message boards up all across the Internet. Tonight's pictures represent some of the best known and loved members of the Corps.

Realize that while these images are not high resolution renders, they do represent a very good idea of what these characters may look like in the finished film. It is notable that there is black in most of these Green Lantern uniforms, so it is likely that Hal's uniform will as well, hopefully putting to rest some of the concerns that have arisen amongst the fan base about the look of Hal in the movie since the Entertainment Weekly article hit the stands weeks ago.

In order to preserve the integrity of the movie for those who do not want to see them, I am putting them directly after the jump, so do not click on the button to reveal more if you do not want to see the images. I'm also including the previously released images and a few concept images of Oa and the Central Power Battery.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 1 Review

8/19/2010

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I've been looking forward to this first issue of Peter Tomasi's new assignment since he left Green Lantern Corps and especially since the preview pages in Green Lantern Corps #50. The first issue is out and the book doesn't fail to keep it interesting as the mystery of uneasy alliance between Ganthet, Guy Gardner, and Atrocitus continues to develop. And we get a new antagonist who's identity is also a bit of a mystery.

The Story - The first several pages of the book are what comprised the sneak preview found in a number of DC's titles the week before, so I won't rehash the events here other than to say that Guy Gardner really shines here during his rescue of some alien physicists. The captives, however, are none too happy with what they feel was a heavy handed job by Gardner which placed them in jeopardy.

8/19/2010

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Last week I mentioned an ever-growing puzzle made out of the variant White Lantern covers that Ryan Sook is doing for a number of the Brightest Day bannered books. This week saw three more pieces of the Ryan Sook puzzle released with the variant editions of Green Lantern Corps, Justice Society of America, and Brightest Day. That gives us seven of the pieces and revealing more of what seems to be an image of a cosmic time line.

With Hawkman's wings covering up a good portion of Ophidian, I think we're likely to see the interior image turned into a pin-up of its own at some point. See the revised puzzle image after the jump:

First Look at Bzzd and Plot Spoilers for Green Lantern

8/15/2010

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Bzzd is sure to create a buzz among fans

Poni Boy has struck again with an exclusive behind the scenes image from the upcoming Green Lantern film. This time Pietro Filiponi from ComicBookMovie.com gives us an exclusive look at Bzzd, the diminutive Green Lantern that director Martin Campbell professes to be his favorite member of the Green Lantern Corp. While not playing a major role in the film's story, Bzzd is one of hundreds of cameos of familiar characters from the Green Lantern mythos we will be seeing in movie. Pietro says that this isn't quite the finished CG render for Bzzd, much like the image of Kilowog that debuted earlier in the week, but it gives us all an idea of the great care that seems to be going in to this film.

Ric Reitz as the US President

The original first draft of the script didn't feature a role for the President of the United States, but had the story framed by an appearance of a certain Golden Age character. However, Pietro this week released a photo of actor Ric Reitz from the set of the movie playing our Commander in Chief in the DCU. It's very likely that his scenes appear in conjunction with the final battle between Hal, the Green Lantern Corps, and Parallax on Earth and Oa as addresses to the news during the attacks.

Recently a number of plot points have also been leaked and this new information lends some rationale for the inclusion of Krona, a rumor that came out not too long ago. In order to preserve the story, these spoilers will immediately follow the jump, so don't click on the "read more" button.

What Do the Brightest Day Variant Covers Reveal?

8/12/2010

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So yesterday I was picking up my comics from Heroes Your Mom Threw Out Comics and, as always, chatting with the owner, Jared, about DC and Green Lantern. I tend to buy the variant covers of the Green Lantern related books and he was asking me about the Ryan Sook variant cover to Birds of Prey #4 and last week's Brightest Day #7. As we were talking we noticed that parts of Nekron featured in both of them and that the covers interlocked - so of course we both began to wonder if the rest of the Sook variants were all part of a larger image, but Jared didn't have the other books on hand for us to look at.

Doing some surfing, I found that John Babos over on the Comics Nexus site had discovered the same thing and he had all four of the first covers put together to reveal what does indeed amount to a larger image. When this is DC trying to drum up some buzz or if they are trying to be sneaky is anyone's guess, but it is pretty intriguing none the less. Here's the image they put in their article, however I've rotated it a bit so that the background image is right side up. Click on the image for a better view and after the jump I'll share my speculation about the image.

The first four Sook covers

8/12/2010

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Courtesy of Collider

DC Secret Origin Set for November 9th Release Date

8/11/2010

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Warner Brothers sent out a press release about the upcoming documentary on the history of DC Comics as part of their 75th anniversary.

Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics

Riveting Documentary narrated by Ryan Reynolds celebrates the creative talent behind the world's greatest super heroes.

Warner Home Video to Distribute on DVD Nov. 9

Warner Bros. Pictures presents an enthralling examination of the creative forces behind the World’s Greatest Super Heroes in Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, an all-new documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes of the iconic company with unprecedented access to the Warner Bros. and DC Comics archives. Narrated by Ryan Reynolds, Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics will be distributed by Warner Home Video on November 9, 2010 on DVD for $24.98 (SRP). Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics will also be available On Demand and for Download.

Behind the amazing tales of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and a host of other well-known characters is the equally impressive story of the challenges, creativity and triumphs of the company that brought those characters to life. Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is both a celebration of the best writers and artists in comics and a thoughtful exploration of 75 years of DC Comics history.

First Look at GL Movie's Kilowog

8/09/2010

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Behold the Wogster!

A while back some early concept art was leaked on the Internet, including some pretty good quality renders of Tomar-Re and Kilowog, the two main alien Green Lanterns getting a lot of screen time with Hal Jordan and Sinestro in the upcoming movie. With principal photography wrapped, the movie moves to the post production phase, which will be rather intensive considering the sheer volume of CG work that needs to be done. Today ComicBookMovie.com put out an image direct from one of their contacts in the art department showing a more or less finished version of everyone's favorite Green Lantern Drill Instructor.

While the image is not a good quality high resolution image, you can clearly see that there's been some changes made since the early concept art, which is to be expected as the crew begins to finalize the character designs for all the Green Lanterns we are going to see in the movie. It also would be absolutely no surprise if this is not the final look since we are still almost a year out, although one would expect some of this to be finalized sooner than later given that Geoff Johns said we'd see something more official looking than the teaser footage shown at this year's San Diego Comic-Con by the end of the year. I would not be at all surprised to see an official teaser trailer precede November's part one of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and you'd expect to see some of these characters appear in that footage. There's a side by side comparison after the jump.

8/09/2010

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Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg

Variety is reporting today that Michael Goldenberg has been hired to write the screenplay for a Green Lantern sequel. Goldenberg wrote the script for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and worked on the rewrites for Green Lantern, which just wrapped principal photography in New Orleans last Saturday.

It was originally reported that the team of Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim would be submitting treatments for both Green Lantern 2 and the Flash movie under a deal that would allow them to write the script for one of the two projects. If that deal holds true then this announcement would mean that the trio will be writing the script for the Flash movie.

8/09/2010

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Last week I was honored with the chance to chat about Green Lantern on the Raging Bullets podcast, hosted by Sean Whelan and Jim "Sensei of the Whatnot" Segulin, for a couple of hours. I was fortunate enough to have spent some time with the guys during Blackest Night for a few episodes and they were kind enough to ask me back for more now that the universe has survived Nekron's attacks. In this episode we talk about Green Lantern issue 56 and Green Lantern Corps issue 50. We shared some speculation about the identity of the mysterious being capturing all the entities and what that person's motivations might be.

Green Lantern Wraps Shooting

8/07/2010

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This morning Geoff Johns twittered that the Green Lantern movie had wrapped photography in New Orleans. Meanwhile, Poni Boy from ComicBookMovie.com indicated that he'd seen footage of Bzzd and that Chaselon, Isamot Kol, Rot Lop Fam and Galius Zed would be among the Green Lanterns we'd see in the film. He has also claimed to have seen storyboards of Oa and commented that they were spectacular.

Ryan Reynolds has also gone on record to state that the Green Lantern oath was botched during one rewrite and that he caught the mistake himself and had it corrected. It's this kind of dedication and caring for the character that has me overlooking the loss of the white gloves and it makes the costume issue a pathetic thing to complain about at this early juncture when you see the great reverence that the cast and crew seem to have for the source material.

Help Get Ring Capacity in the GL Movie!

8/05/2010

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Kirby Krackle is in my opinion the best band in the "nerd rock" genre, with songs inspired by everything from comics to video games. Their latest CD, "E is for Everyone", is really, really good and features a song entitled "Ring Capacity" about a battle in space between Hal Jordan and Sinestro. The song is currently in play testing to be released on Rock Band's Rock Band Network very soon and you can listen to it for free on the band's website or by watching the video in our Video Spotlight section at the bottom of the page.

With things really coming to a fever pitch with the upcoming movie, fans (myself included) are joing efforts to get the song included on the soundtrack and/or during the end credits. To join the effort click on this link to go to the Facebook page and help get it done!

You Tip the Scales in DC Universe Online

8/04/2010

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The CG trailer that was released last week has fans salivating for the upcoming November 2nd release of DC Universe Online. In the trailer the Lex Luthor from the future comes back to the present day warning the DC Trinity of the future. At one point Lex puts his hand up and a shockwave is seen on Earth, but the trailer doesn't tell you what exactly is happening.

Machinima.com has a video interview up on You Tube that delves a little deeper into the trailer to reveal that at that moment nanobytes, containing powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, are released and people become infected with them. It's at that point that you pick up the controller (or mouse and keyboard) and enter the DC Universe as a new character that you create, deciding your powers and alignment with either the heroes or villians to alter the future that is revealed during the trailer.

8/04/2010

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Concept art for Kilowog

Poni Boy once again comes through with more inside information from the set of Green Lantern in New Orleans. Today Poni reports that the recent filming of crowd scenes involving mass panic by the residents of Coast City is the setting for the final battle in the film between Hal and Parallax with Earth being the battleground. The battle rages on to OA as well and filming included full scale cardboard cutouts of Kilowog (at seven feet tall) and Tomar-Re.

The description of Parallax is similar to what we've become familiar with in the comics, however the costumes for Kilowog and Tomar-Re are said to be different from what we've seen in the concept art, with them being described as being more "organic" looking.

Sinestro Corps Confirmed for DCU Online

8/03/2010

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We've been hearing a lot about the upcoming DC Universe Online game and we are apparently only days away from the beta being available to people who signed up on the official website. Over on Facebook there has been a series of videos by the games developers and today Jens Anderson, the game's director, posted a video talking about an in-game event that brings the Sinestro Corps to the game.

Anderson comments that members of both the Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps are on Earth and are having problems with their rings, and of course they each blame each other and the mayhem begins. Anderson mentioned Kilowog and Arkillo by name, so we can look forward to seeing them and more of our favorite characters when the game comes out on November 2, 2010.

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights Will Be An Anthology

8/02/2010

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It was reported a while back that, in addition to the Green Lantern CG animated series on Cartoon Network, there would be another Green Lantern direct to video project timed to be released with the upcoming live action film. Toon Zone contducted and interview with Bruce Timm during the San Diego Comic-Con and released part of the interview today, confirming that the project would not be a sequel to "Green Lantern: First Flight" but more of an anthology film similar to "Batman: Gotham Knight" called "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights".

8/02/2010

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Image via Wikipedia

Pietro Filipponi, or Poni_Boy on Twitter, has been doing a great job on getting behind the scene information on many of the comic book to film projects, including getting all the great behind the scenes stuff on Green Lantern that we've seen over at ComicBookMovie.com. Today, however, Poni has some exclusive news that is catching us all by surprise.

It seems that there is some location shooting for the movie this evening and several streets will be off limits while the filming takes place. While that isn't news, the fact that the movie will also include Krona as well is what's startling. This is the first time we've seen Krona's name attached to the movie, but I have to admit that the potential is exciting for what it might bring to the film. Poni has gone on to say at least of part of the reasoning for the inclusion of Krona is to explain that there is a DC film multi-verse.

Green Lantern Corps 50 Review

8/01/2010

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Mayor's cover to GLC #50

Green Lantern Corps hits a milestone this month with its fiftieth issue. This month continues with part three of the "Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns" and the first arc by new writer Tony Bedard. As nice as Ardian Syaf's cover is, if you can pick up the variant cover by Randy Mayor I think it's a bit better, showing Cyborg Superman as the puppet master of the Alpha-Lanterns.

I have to admit going into this issue that I had some expectations since this issue was a big number to hit for a new series. But I should have realized that even though DC noted the milestone by putting a big "50th Issue!" on the cover, this wasn't going to be a bigger than normal issue with extra pages or anything. If I had to surmise this issue I'd have to say it's just business as usual for our cast of Green Lanterns, and actually I was more impressed with the teaser for Green Lantern: Emerald Warrior than I was with the issue itself.

8/01/2010

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After several years of Hector Hammond popping up here and there, the big headed one moves to the forefront just as we begin to gear up towards next summer's big budget movie. That and a visit to Larfleeze's new digs leads to more delightful creepiness - oh, and we finally find out who the voice is in Hector's head that we've been witnessing for a while now.

Special shout out to Doug Mahnke's cover this month as well - the lazy eyed look for Hector is particularly weird as Hal tries to keep himself from being symbolically swallowed by Hammond. The variant cover by Art Germ is also spectacular featuring Saint Walker coveting the orange lantern, proclaiming "All will be MINE!" - if you can pick it up it's worth the extra money even though the Blue Lantern doesn't go anywhere near the power of avarice in this issue.