For part 2, I will examine whether or not a Justice League film is creatively viable. Part 1 can be read here.

Don’t forget to read the disclaimer from the first article so you don’t piss off the comic gods and start an epic comments section showdown. Also, like a lot of sequels, this editorial is slightly longer and has more stuff in it. I’m such a sellout.

Would a Justice League movie even work as well as an Avengers movie did?

If we’re going to ask the question as to whether or not DC will make a Justice League movie then we have to ask the question as to whether or not a Justice League movie would even work well, much less as well as the Avengers movie did. And I think that the answer, at least at this point in time, is no, it wouldn’t.

My reasoning is as follows: for a comic book movie to succeed both critically and financially, a filmmaker must find that which is essential to a character or characters and discover the manner in which to translate that into something that is both cinematic and appealing to a wide audience. As comic book fans, we insist that the filmmaker stay true to the source material, but we must always remember that movies and comics are two different mediums. Not everything that works in one will work in the other. Therefore, a filmmaker must find the appropriate balance. Being too faithful to the source material will turn off the casual fan and straying too far will turn off the hardcore fan. Now, when you add to this formula the idea that whatever character you are adapting is already extremely well-known worldwide, all of the above gets amplified to the nth degree.

And what does this have to do with the Justice League and the Avengers? It’s the idea that the Justice League essentially contains all of DC’s biggest characters while the Avengers (at least the film version and the original team in the comics) do not contain Marvel’s biggest characters. Do a Google search on lists of the greatest comic book characters. You may not find a consensus on specific rankings, but you will consistently find that characters like Superman and Batman are almost exclusively in the top 3 while characters from the original Avengers (not counting one-time Avengers like Spider-Man and Wolverine) frequently don’t even crack the top 5. (Mind you, I’m not bashing these characters, I’m merely pointing out what I’ve found in several top 10/25/50/100 lists.) Granted, these lists are purely subjective and are by no means an end-all-be-all, but many of the lists take into consideration a character’s overall appeal to both comic fans and non-comic fans in addition to their longevity. Superman and Batman, and Wonder Woman, for that matter, have been in continuous publication for roughly 75 years. Even Captain America had a near decade-long hiatus in the 50s and 60s before being re-introduced in The Avengers in 1963. And consistently, Marvel’s highest ranking character on these lists is Spider-Man with Wolverine being their second highest (although at some point both characters have been part of the Avengers in their history, so bad on me).

To further illustrate the point, look at the most popular comic book movies of all time. As movies certainly reach a wider audience than comic books do, they would seem to be a better barometer of how wide the appeal for a character is. In the case of comic book films, it makes sense to look at a film’s gross adjusted for inflation, for the purposes of looking through a historical lens. (Please note that these statistics don’t necessarily mean that the movies referenced are critical successes but financial ones. Some of these films aren’t necessarily good movies, to put it mildly.) If you look at the all-time-adjusted-for-inflation chart (domestic grosses at 2012 ticket prices) from Box Office Mojo, you’ll see that the top 5 has two Batman films, two Spider-Man films and 1 Superman film. Furthermore, there is 1 more Spider-Man film and 1 more Batman film in the top 10 (not to mention 2 more Batman films and 2 more Superman films in the top 25). The highest ranked films from the Avengers characters are Iron Man (2008) at #8, Iron Man 2 (2010) at #10 and, with a bullet, The Avengers (2012) at #22 and likely climbing into the top 10 by the end of next weekend.

What is the point that I’m laboring to make? It’s this: with all due respect to fans of the Avengers characters, until Iron Man was a success in 2008, these were essentially B-list characters, at least in terms of wide appeal. And even the success of Iron Man did not elevate these characters on the level of wide appeal of Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. These characters are popular, but Batman, Superman and Spider-Man are the level of cultural icons that Mickey Mouse or Elvis are. The Avengers characters aren’t there. At least, until The Avengers raised the bar. Maybe.

Yes, Iron Man’s popularity and wide appeal certainly elevated considerably after 2008 (not to mention Robert Downey, Jr’s). The level that Iron Man had risen to was just high enough to where his popularity could be a viable anchor for a team-up movie. But it was not to a level of Batman, Superman or Spider-Man. And that worked. Had Iron Man bombed at the box office, the chances of an Avengers movie would have dwindled considerably. But let’s say that Iron Man had reached the grosses of Spider-Man ($400 million domestic) or even The Dark Knight ($530 million domestic). I think an Avengers movie would have definitely been fast-tracked but I also think that it would have essentially become another Iron Man movie. In short, in that scenario, I think that Iron Man would have been too much bigger than the other characters in order for them all to fit in the same film. Make no mistake, Iron Man’s success was the primary reason The Avengers became possible. But one of the things that made The Avengers work so well was that no one character dominated the film. A legitimate argument can be made that the Hulk stole the show, but he didn’t dominate the film, and there’s a difference. In short, the stars had to align just the right way for The Avengers to even get made and then the right filmmaker had to be chosen to take on the task of making it all work. That’s a tall order for those who will tackle the development of a Justice League movie.

How does all this relate to the Justice League? In essence, it would be extremely difficult for Batman or Superman not to dominate a Justice League movie. Yes, both characters are constantly teaming up in the comics and the writers of those projects often find a way to make it work. In fact, the idea that these two characters are virtual opposites creates a natural conflict that can be easily mined. But that is in the comics, which are, as said before, an entirely different medium than film.

For a few years, there was some development of a Batman vs. Superman film prior to Christopher Nolan taking stewardship of the Batman franchise. It never came to fruition, but it makes one think of the idea of two of the most popular and iconic characters inhabiting the same feature film. It would be a daunting challenge for any filmmaker. But, while I’m not advocating a Batman vs. Superman premise, I can see how putting those two characters in the same movie would work. But what I can’t see is throwing in Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter or Cyborg (depending on if they chose to go the route of DC’s New 52 from creators Geoff Johns and Jim Lee and make Cyborg part of the team instead of Martian Manhunter). Again, I go back to the size and scope of how popular these characters really are to a wide audience. How do you put those characters in a movie with Batman and Superman without the film becoming a Batman and Superman movie with supporting nods from other characters? How does it become a team-up? With all due respect to fans of the Avengers, putting Superman and Batman in the same film is not the same as putting Captain America, the Hulk and Iron Man in the same movie.

The Avengers did prove that you could make a team-up movie with balance. Upon closer examination of The Avengers, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is a film with four lead roles (Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor), two major supporting roles (Black Widow and Hawkeye), a lead villain (Loki), the sage “old” wise man (Nick Fury) and a host of other supporting roles. I classify Black Widow and Hawkeye as major supporting roles because they do not have the benefit of their backstories (as they pertain to this cinematic universe) having been fleshed out in a previous film. Captain America is the man out of his time, the fish out of water. Iron Man is his opposite, completely of his time. But both are in their element (one from the militaristic aspects of the fight, the other from the technological aspects). Thor’s stake in the fight is that it is his brother who has become the opposition (but remember, he’s adopted) and that he has vowed to become a protector of this realm due to his relationship with Jane Foster. The Hulk is the x-factor (no pun intended. Really). He is powerful enough to tip the scales in whichever direction he chooses. Fury is the man who brings them together both physically and psychologically.

Now that I’ve finished my incredibly boring analysis of the makeup of The Avengers, I can only give props to Whedon and company for somehow making it work. I am also trying to picture how one can do the same with Superman, Batman and company. And I’m drawing a complete blank. Of course, I’m not Joss Whedon or Christopher Nolan either, but I don’t think that totally disqualifies me. I mean, Joel Schumacher got to direct two Batman films, so expertise isn’t exactly a prerequisite here, is it?

Ultimately, like The Avengers, the creative viability of a Justice League film will come down to the filmmaker. But, also like The Avengers, the stars have to align just right for the world of the Justice League to be built prior to a film even being made. Then the stars have to align again.

(Here is one more sentence in parentheses just so I can prove how parentheses-happy I am, as you could probably tell.)

In part 3 of this editorial, I will examine the likelihood of a Justice League film being made and take a further look at the developmental challenges of such a film.

For further analysis on box office results, go to boxofficemojo.com.

From: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/BatDorkHockeyTeam/news/?a=59458

From: http://comicbook.com/blog/2012/05/08/now-superman-gets-an-annual/

I wrote a recurring skit for the Prime Time Players in which Howard and “the boys,” as we called them, sat in a Monday Night Football-like booth reviewing the nonsports events of the week as sportscasters might.  But the edginess of the parody was blunted by Howard’s new timidity, and the boys got bored.  Soon after our show was blissfully put out of its misery, they joined the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the rightful Saturday Night Live.

But before we got canceled, I got mad at Howard for the first and only time.

Time Warner had announced plans to produce a blockbuster Superman movie.  It was holding auditions for the Man of Steel.  I wrote a skit in which Howard wins the title role, dons the Superman suit and brings on stage Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who as teenagers in Cleveland created the comic hero but never shared in the bonanza.  They were old men now and down on their luck.  In my skit, while Howard, Siegel and Shuster were onstage, the real head of Time Warner walks on to give each of the Superman creators $10,000 a year for life.

A Time Warner executive brusquely dismissed my idea over the phone (“You have to be **** joking, Howard Cosell?“), but I decided to press on, if only to embarrass Time Warner.  With the help of Mickey Kelley, a young researcher who would become Bill Murray’s first wife, I had Siegel and Shuster flown to New York with their families and put up in a good hotel.  Since I was considered Howard’s spy, no one on the staff challenged my orders.

At the Saturday-morning rehearsal, Cosell and (his wife) Emmy, who was never far from his side, decided the two men were “too unattractive” to be onstage with Howard.  Besides, if Time Warner wouldn’t cooperate, why make it look bad?  My entire segment was canceled.  I was furious.  I threw a tantrum.  How could anyone be too unattractive to be onstage with this horse-faced creep with a bad toupee?  And what did Howard Cosell stand for if not righting old wrongs?  I told Howard that if Siegel and Shuster did not appear, not only was I quitting, but I would be writing about it.  In some weird way I think Howard enjoyed my outburst …

We compromised.  Siegel and Shuster would sit in the first row during the live telecast, and Howard would walk down from the stage to chat with them on camera.

That worked out fine, live on Saturday night, and on Monday morning we got a request from the National Cartoonists Society for the phone numbers of Siegel and Shuster.  The Society was going to threaten to strike if Superman’s original creators did not get a piece of the action.  Eventually — and I want to believe Mickey and I had a part in this — Siegel and Shuster each got $20,000 a year for life.

From: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2012/05/the_monday_morning_supermanhow.html

You name it, and Drew Kelly can draw it.

The Dartmouth High School sophomore spent his entire Saturday at StillPoint Comics taking requests for characters like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and other superhero favorites as part of a promotion for Free Comic Book Day. Kelly has been interested in comics his entire life. His favorite character is Spider-Man. He has a talent for drawing these characters and would like to someday be an illustrator or animator.  
“I’ve been reading comics as long as I can remember,” Kelly said. “It’s been a big part of my life.”

Kelly charges $1 per drawing and $2 for a color sketch. He has been participating in Free Comic Book Day at StillPoint for the last three years.
“It’s a good day for him,” said Don Kelly, Drew’s father. “He earns a few bucks and gets some exposure.”

Held the first Saturday in May, Free Comic Book Day is when participating comic book shops around the world give away free books to anyone who comes into their stores. This is the 11th year the event has taken place.

StillPoint co-owner Patrick Washburn said a lot of the major companies like Marvel and DC Comics will produce a book specifically for the giveaway.
StillPoint must purchase these books, but the additional traffic generated by Free Comic Book Day makes it worthwhile. Washburn said somewhere between 400 and 500 people will come in for the promotion and about 25 percent end up becoming regular customers.   

“There is an output for us but we still make money on it,” said Washburn.
According to Washburn, the idea for Free Comic Day stems from a desire by the comic book industry to promote reading among young children. Washburn said each year they donate comics to local libraries, which, in turn, give them away as part of the promotion.

“The actual premise is a literacy program promoted through comic book stores,” Washburn said. “Younger kids have a short attention span. But if you give them something that is only 30 pages with pictures they are more likely to read it.”

Washburn said they also enjoy giving exposure to aspiring artists like Kelly. A couple of local animators have made it to the big time, including University of Massachusetts Dartmouth graduate Craig Rousseau, who is currently working on a project for Marvel Disney.   

“There’s about three or four guys locally who have done work for Marvel, DC and Image,” Washburn said.

Washburn considers it a success if a few kids become avid readers as a result of Free Comic Day.

“We’re always happy to promote literacy,” he said.

Email Derek Vital at dvital@heraldnews.com.
 

From: http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x1266595013/Free-Comic-Book-Day-a-super-success-at-StillPoint-Fall-River-library

Published Sunday May 6, 2012

Yeah, yeah, yeah, “The Dark Knight” is the greatest superhero movie of all time . . .

I’m still more excited about “The Avengers” than “The Dark Knight Rises.”

I’m more excited about the Spider-Man reboot than the Superman reboot.

And way more excited about the next X-Men movie than every other anything ever.

I’m just a Marvel person. Whenever there’s a choice between Marvel and DC Comics, you can make mine Marvel every single time.

(Even when I was 5 I would have picked Hulk Underoos over Wonder Woman. Without hesitation.)

Traditionally, Marvel and DC have been the Coke and Pepsi of the comic book world. (Or the Pepsi and Coke, I’m not trying to pick any fights here.)

Also traditionally, outside of the comic book world, nobody much cared about their rivalry.

That isn’t true anymore. Comic book culture — nerd culture — is, more than ever, mainstream culture. Marvel versus DC isn’t a conversation that Kevin Smith and characters on TV’s “The Big Bang Theory” have down at The Android’s Dungeon Baseball Card Shop.

Marvel versus DC is what’s happening at every movie theater all summer long.

And I’m rooting for Marvel.

In this and all things.

Though, honestly? I’m not sure why I still care. I don’t read comics the way I did in my 20s, when I bought every title even vaguely associated with the X-Men. These days I’m down to one Marvel comic a month.

Jason Dasenbrock, co-owner of Legend Comics on 52nd and Leavenworth Streets, says people like me can’t help but take sides. It’s just how we were raised.

“As our generation grew up,” says Jason, 38, “we were loyal to characters and to companies.”

You were a Batman person or a Spider-Man person. (Or an X-Men person.) You chose your allegiance, Marvel or DC.

It isn’t that way anymore, Jason says, especially with younger readers. The Internet has made it easier for people to find out about smaller comics companies — and much easier to keep track of their favorite creative teams. “People identify themselves as fans of creative teams instead of companies or characters.”

So you’re a Spider-Man person, but only as long as Dan Slott is writing him and Humberto Ramos is drawing him.

Marvel and DC have become less relevant — though not completely irrelevant — because there are still plenty of 30- and 40- and 50-somethings buying comics. People with deep-rooted Marvel-DC affiliations.

And there are still plenty of people of all ages who believe that the Marvel and DC universes are really different.

I talked to Omaha fans of both companies for this column, and it was interesting to me how everyone agreed on how the two worlds were different, at least generally speaking.

Marvel is more realistic. Its heroes are more conflicted. The stories are more complicated and cynical. It isn’t wall-to-wall gods and monsters.

Whereas in the DC universe, things are more black and white. Heroes are heroes, good is good, evil is evil. People spend more time in tights, less time walking around whining about how hard it is to be a superhero.

Marvel and DC fans don’t really argue about this. What they argue about is which is better.

For me, real is better. Complicated and conflicted is better. Some of my favorite issues of the X-Men are when the team members just hang out around the X-Mansion trying against all odds to have normal lives.

Dave DeMarco is with me.

“I like my characters to have real problems and to be good people,” says Dave, 34, another co-owner at Legend Comics.

“One of the things I like most about Marvel is that I’ll read a Spider-Man book, and it’ll be two-thirds Peter Parker trying to get to work on time. I can’t remember the last time I saw Clark Kent in the comic books.”

Every little kid loves Batman and Superman, says Marvel fan Joel Ballard, 33. “And I still do. But I’ve always thought the Marvel characters had more character.”

Spider-Man is a regular guy. He’s got money problems. A sickly aunt. A bad boss. You can identify with Spider-Man. But Superman? As Dave puts it: “He’s a god who hangs out here.”

Well, exactly, says Lee Kolb, 40, manager at Ground Zero Comics at 50th and L Streets. Kolb has read both sides of the superhero divide over the years, but right now he prefers DC.

“In DC, the superheroes are superheroes,” Lee says. “They’re larger than life.”

Gary Beck, 45, a lifelong DC fan, says that DC characters embrace their fates. The whole universe is less dense and tormented.

“I think they’re more optimistic. It’s always been more positive, as far as I’m concerned. Superman is the ultimate Boy Scout.”

All of the Marvel angst can get old after a while, Beck says. “I’m still an X-Men fan, but it just seemed like the same storylines over and over again. Okay, we get it. People are biased, people don’t like mutants.”

It’s worth noting that this “DC is optimistic and old-fashioned, Marvel is gritty and cynical” argument falls apart at the movie theater. The biggest DC franchise — Batman — is an extremely gritty, “dark” take on the character. And the Marvel movies have made characters like Iron Man and Captain America way more fun than they are on the page . . .

Though the Marvel universe is already pretty fun. Traditionally, it’s a much wittier place to be — teeming with smart alecks. While Batman and Superman stand around looking stoic, the ultimate Marvel character, Spider-Man, never stops cracking wise.

Which is, for me, the best reason to read Marvel.

Give me angsty, messy and funny over stoic, heroic and brave every ever-lovin’ day of the week.

Excelsior.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1149, rainbow.rowell@owh.com

twitter.com/rainbowrowell

Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

From: http://www.omaha.com/article/20120506/LIVING/705069976/1199

DC Comics, though, is stepping up its game big time, releasing a brand-new book that is appealing and exciting for new readers and a must-read for loyal DC superhero fans.

“It’s got a lot of story in it and a lot of revelations and a lot of secrets that are revealed both of the past and the future,” says Justice League writer Geoff Johns, who writes the main section of the New 52 special.

“It’s a really important book to what we’re doing with Justice League and a whole lot of other books in DC Comics. And it’s free.”

The issue, which will be available in comic shops all over the USA today (find one close to you at FreeComicBookDay.com), will feature six previews of new DC books including Earth 2, Dial H and Batman Incorporated. (DC also has an all-ages Superman Family Adventures issue out on Free Comic Book Day, and a preview of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo graphic novel from its Vertigo imprint.

The major attraction of the New 52 special, though, is Johns’ story, featuring art by Justice League illustrator Jim Lee, Kenneth Rocafort, Ivan Reis, Gene Ha and others. Lee contributes a gorgeous, action-packed, four-page gatefold spread. “You can’t do that digitally,” Johns says.

The story features Superman and Batman, naturally, but also the mysterious hooded lady Pandora — who was introduced in Johns’ Flashpoint event series — and brand-new characters as well as folks who haven’t been back for a while.

One individual who appears and will play a role in upcoming DC storylines in the newly relaunched universe is Vibe, the old Justice Leaguer from the 1980s who last popped back up — literally, from the dead — in Johns’ Blackest Night series as a member of the Black Lantern Corps.

“I can’t remember the last time someone requested to see him,” Johns says, laughing. “That’s the whole point, though, I like new challenges.

“It’s fun to see a mix of some of the classics, some of the obscure and a lot of new stuff.”

Introducing new heroes and villains, and those who haven’t been around for a while, allows a wider breadth of readers to meet characters for the first time. That’s the key for accessibility and avoiding regurgitation that Johns wants in the Free Comic Book Day issue as well as his monthly book.

“I thought battling Darkseid was great for the League’s first mission, and that’s what Graves is for the second arc,” Johns says of Justice League. “For me, it’s all about progressing the characters forward with these new takes, new mythologies, new ideas, new everything.”

From: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-05-05/DC-Comics-Free-Comic-Book-Day-issue/54730640/1

I love finding inexpensive silver/bronze age comics at the various shows I go to. I picked this one up at the South Attleboro Collectibles Show a couple of weeks ago.

Title: Superman
Issue: 269
Date: November 1973
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Cary Bates
Artist: Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson
Editor: Julius Schwartz

Evil circus own BB Farnum (no, really) creates seven Superman puppets each one with the ability to steal one of Superman’s powers.

Meanwhile Clark Kent picks up an assignment from Morgan Edge to do an in-depth story about a local sports hero who’s a bit of an egotistical jerk. While Clark enjoyed showing up the dumb jock with some sneaky application of superpowers, the puppets begin their work of stripping those very powers away.

The story, although a bit slow in its pacing, does a nice job of showing how Superman remains a hero as his powers diminish, even taking on Farnum and the super-puppets in a seemingly unwinnable final battle.

In the end, we get to see Superman bust out that most classic of Silver Age powers: The super-ventriloquism! Totally makes the ridiculously contrived ending worth it! Gotta love the super-ventriloquism!

I’ll also add that the cover is absolutely awesome.

Rating: 7/10

Read all of my comic book reviews here.

From: http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981308574

From: http://comicbook.com/blog/2012/05/02/black-superman-story-hints-at-obama-birther-controversy/

By Brian Moylan, Hollywood.com Staff

It’s impossible to leave one midnight screening of a superhero movie without hearing some costumed fan boy tsking, “”Well, that’s not how it was in the comic book!”" Sometimes that is a really annoying criticism. After all, we have to keep in mind that screenwriters have to re-imagine broad material for the big screen and take shortcuts to filter a lot of story into a less-than-two-hour movie. Still, there are some liberties that have been taken with our favorite caped crusaders over the years that are completely inexcusable. Here are nine cardinal sins filmmakers committed adapting comics into movies.

NEXT: He’s Not Dead Yet[PAGEBREAK] Cyclops Never Died: One of the major plot points of Brett Ratner’s rather disappointing X-Men: Last Stand was that the superhero team’s leader, Cyclops, gets killed by his girlfriend, the Dark Phoenix. Wrong! Anyone who reads the comic will tell you that Cyclops is still alive and well and running a colony of mutants that lives on a fallen asteroid floating in the Pacific Ocean. (No, for real.) Also, he is actually the one who killed the Dark Phoenix in the comic. Talk about a role reversal.

NEXT: He Shoots, Doesn’t Score[PAGEBREAK] Spider-Man Can’t Shoot Webs: Director Sam Raimi said that in his 2002 adaptation of Spider-Man he gave the character the ability to shoot webs out of his hands because it was easier than the real explanation. In the comic, Peter Parker is a science nerd who comes up with a formula for creating liquid webbing and shoots it out of bracelets that are around his wrist. Raimi said that the audience wouldn’t believe he had super powers and was smart enough to come up with this device. Really? If we’re going to buy that he scales buildings thanks to a radioactive spider, is there that much more we won’t believe? Apparently Mark Webb (ha!), the director of this summer’s Amazing Spider-Man, disagreed with Raimi, because his hero has the old-fashioned shooters.

NEXT: Who Closely Watches the Watchmen?[PAGEBREAK] Where the Heck Is the Squid?: Among comic book fanatics, there is no more sacred text than Alan Moore’s Watchmen, so naturally there was a huge kerfuffle when Zack Snyder changed the ending for his movie version. Moore has Ozymandias unleashe a nasty squid creature on New York City, so that the world will have to unite to defeat the monster. In the movie, there is no squid. Ozymandias gets Dr. Manhattan to create nuclear explosions in a number of metropolitan areas, hopefully also causing the world to reunite. What, does Snyder have a problem with calamari?

NEXT: A Hairy Situation[PAGEBREAK] Lex Luthor Has Hair: Sure, getting Gene Hackman to play the bad guy in Superman was a brilliant idea, but letting him do so with a full head of hair was a big mistake. Everyone knows that Luthor has a much hair as Captain America’s chest. (That is to say, absolutely none at all.) What, Hackman, are you too vain?

NEXT: He’s Dead to Us[PAGEBREAK] What Did They Do to Deadpool?: Anyone who had read an X-Men comic will tell you that Wade Wilson, the super-powered killer otherwise known as Deadpool, is the “”merc with the mouth.”" His character never shuts up. He also has a healing factor and no other power except his disgusting skin, which is why he covers his entire body in Spandex. In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, they got the entire character, played by Ryan Reynolds, wrong. Suddenly he had all these extra super powers, retractable blades built into his arms (how does he bend his elbows?), a shirtless costume, and (most disturbingly) no tongue. No wonder Reynolds dropped out of a proposed Deadpool movie to play the Green Lantern instead.

NEXT: Holy Exposure, Batman![PAGEBREAK] Seriously, Joel Schumacher, WTF: There are nipples on the Bat Suit. I repeat, there are nipples on the Bat Suit!

NEXT: Baby Momma Drama[PAGEBREAK] The Kid Is Not His Son: Superman was doing his best Billie Jean impersonation in Superman Returns because, as far as we know, Superman has never had an super spawn. In the movie, when Superman returns (duh) from a self-imposed exile in the stars, he learns that Lois Lane had his baby, a kid named Jason. Superman is no one’s baby daddy. Well, unless you count Superboy and no one really does, because he is lame.

NEXT: Hulk, Smashed[PAGEBREAK] Hulk Has Daddy Issues: Director Ang Lee tried to get all deep with the superhero in Hulk, giving Bruce Banner a backstory that includes a father with a genetic mutation who eventually becomes a character similar to the comics’ Absorbing Man. While the character may have a pulpy precedent, he certainly wasn’t Bruce’s father. In the Hulk comic, Bruce’s father Brian is also an abusive villain, but one with no super power other than an above-average intellect. It’s funny that when Lee tried to make the movie more intellectual, he ended up making it more muddled.

NEXT: First Class, Last Place[PAGEBREAK] Just About Everything in X-Men First Class: Don’t get me wrong, X-Men: First Class was a very good and very enjoyable super hero movie. One of my favorites, in fact. However, everything about it is completely opposite from the comic book, except for the initial friendship between Professor X and Magneto before they became rivals. Actually, most of the characters in the movie were introduced in more recent years than in the past when the action takes place. And Moira MacTaggert wasn’t a CIA agent, but a scientist who was also Prof. X’s lover. That’s just one of many quibbles the die-hards will have. Still, I can’t wait for the sequel.

From: http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2012/may/02/the-most-egregious-comic-book-adaptation-changes/

Earth 2, penned by James Robinson with art by Nicola Scott, presents an alternate Earth to the main DC Universe, with different versions of DC characters, different costumes, different personalities and different origins.

So Robinson has all that to do, plus building similarities of that Earth to the one current DC fans know and love, making tweaks and creating a history of Earth 2 that led to those changes.

“There are some books that you get where you feel it’s worth the time and it strikes a chord with you creatively that you want to invest that much time,” Robinson says. “It’s a wonderful opportunity and something I’m very happy to be a part of.”

The concept of multiple Earths has been a part of DC lore for decades. While the Justice League of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman has long been the main superhero team of Earth 1, the Justice Society of America — a group that first debuted in comics in 1940, predating the Justice League — was the major heroic force of Earth 2 before various story lines brought them all together.

When DC relaunched its superhero books last fall, a JSA title wasn’t in the first wave — Robinson instead had more time to work out Earth 2 and craft a book that featured a whole heap of alternate heroes, the main ones being Jay Garrick, the Flash, and Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern. (Plus, Robinson says, it would be better to spring a new Earth on new comic readers after getting used to the main Earth.)

That pair have been linchpins of the Justice Society for years, but this is a definite reboot of that world and those heroes, Robinson says.

“These are characters who are very different, but at the same time I’ve really tried to take pains to distill the personality of the original version of the Jay Garrick Flash and Alan Scott Green Lantern and bring them into the present day as younger guys.”

As fans will see beginning in the first issue (available in comic shops and digitally Wednesday), Jay Garrick is an “honest, open, likable everyman” who will be the readers’ point of entry in Earth 2, the writer says. He gets greatness — in this case, the powers of the Flash, who on the main Earth is Barry Allen— thrust upon him, and transitions from having a comfortable existence to entering the “big scary, crazy world of Earth 2.”

Alan Scott, though, was always a more dynamic figure. “He was this green knight who stood up to protect the people, this gallant hero,” Robinson says of the counterpart to the main Earth’s Hal Jordan.

“The Alan Scott of Earth 2 is a type-A personality, a go-getter,” he adds. “When the decision comes, ‘Do you want to be Green Lantern?’ he’s like, ‘Hell yeah! I’m going to save the world! If the world’s in danger, I’m that guy.’ “

Robinson is taking his time to show the origins of the two while also introducing other characters yet keeping their backgrounds a mystery for now. All the main heroes from the Justice Society of before will appear, including shrinking do-gooder Al Pratt (aka The Atom), winged warrior Hawkgirl and master pugilist Wildcat.

“I enjoy writing those characters,” Robinson says. “Hawkgirl, too, has a distinct personality, and a brusque, fun way of handling situations and handling Jay’s lack of experience.

“We’ll actually get the fine points of her origin and some of the other characters a little bit down the line as flashbacks and revelations.

Earth 2 also features a version of DC’s trinity of major superheroes — Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are all featured on the cover of the first issue. They’ll have more supporting roles, but more importantly they act as inspiration for the other heroes, Robinson says.

“They aren’t going to be at the forefront of this book but you will definitely get the sense of them in this world in one way or another.”

The first five-issue arc of Earth 2 will feature a major DC bad guy, whom Robinson teases as “instantly recognizable and equal parts a Justice Society villain and an Alan Scott Green Lantern villain.” And in the first year, the writer will introduce a brand new Earth 2 heroine, some new Earth 2 villains and a fresh supporting cast.

Robinson doesn’t want to just rely on rebooted versions of old Earth 2 characters, though. “What’s fun is to try and create some new characters you haven’t seen before that hopefully readers will respond to. We can build on that and make the Earth 2 universe exciting and diverse as well as having those elements that are familiar.”

Earth 2 will tie into another of the second wave of new books, Worlds’ Finest. That title, written by Paul Levitz, features two heroines from the alternate Earth, Huntress and Power Girl, stuck in the main DC Universe. There will be an acknowledgment of them in Robinson’s title, though, with flashbacks of their time as the Robin and Supergirl of Earth 2.

There will be other easter eggs, hints and clues of the relationship between both universes seeded in Earth 2, and in this bit of epic world building, it was also important to Robinson that he not create something so “science-fiction different” that it seems completely alien for readers.

“There is definitely aspects of it that are very familiar — familiar in terms of our world and familiar in terms of the main DC Universe,” the writer explains. “However, there are other things that happened in the past that have changed that world and made it distinct and different, both in terms of its landscape, countries that might not be there anymore, areas of the world that are changed and different, and also just the way people go about their lives in the day-to-day comings and goings in America and civilized countries.”

Robinson has talked with Levitz as well as Justice League scribe Geoff Johns about planning large-scale crossovers between worlds, but that will all come later, Robinson says. First, he wants to focus on Earth 2 and build up his Justice Society there — even though it may be that only in concept for now.

“The name will take some time,” he says. “I want to really have readers get to know and like these characters and really see the formation of this team and how it comes together so that hopefully they’ll be invested in it and this new Justice Society will be something they feel a part of.”

From: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-04-30/Earth-2-comic-book-series/54642260/1