Hey Everyone. If you thought last week had a lot of news just wait, this week is just as big…if not bigger and most of the news should bring a smile to your face. Toy Fair 2013 has just started and you may notice that news is not covered here but don’t worry Simon is covering that and will be talking about that during the week. Although I will  say I am very excited to see the Mattel Batman 1966 figures…I want them all.

DC Cleans House Kicks Creator Musical Chairs Into High Gear.

With the May solicitations out next week news broke this week courtesy of CBR of six cancellations and another round of creator musical chairs. First up the six cancelled titles are:

• The Savage Hawkman
• Deathstroke
• The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men
• Team 7
• The Ravagers
• Sword of Sorcery

Next up other books will be getting a creative team shift Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are taking over writing duties on Batwing from Fabian Nicieza and Batwing will be getting a costume redesign. Justin Jordan is taking over Superboy from Tom DeFalco, and Michael Alan Nelson is taking over Supergirl from Mike Johnson. Last but not least Sterling Gates will be taking over Vibe from Andrew Kreisberg starting with issue four.

DC did announce two NEW books The Movement, by Gail Simone and Freddie Williams III which Simone described as,

“It’s a book about power — who owns it, who uses it, who suffers from its abuse. As we increasingly move to an age where information is currency, you get these situations where a single viral video can cost a previously unassailable corporation billions, or can upset the power balance of entire governments. And because the sources of that information are so dispersed and nameless, it’s nearly impossible to shut it all down.”

and The Green Team. Written by Baltazar and Franco and with art by Ig Guara,  Baltazar described the series as,

“If you had unlimited wealth, could you use that to make the lives of people better? Would you help your fellow man? Would you buy powers? You need to read this and find out.”

While the descriptions are sparse on specifics both books will focus on the themes of Occupy Wall Street.

Justice League Film in Trouble??? Will Beall’s Script Scrapped???

According to Badass Digest the Justice League film is in serious trouble. Why??? The script by Will Beall (Gangster Squad) is terrible. Their sources report,

Beall’s script supposedly includes Darkseid and a heavy cosmic threat. But the script has been half-baked from the beginning, with reports saying that heroes (beyond the core five of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern) have been cut and added from the proceedings seemingly at studio executive will. The latest word was that Warner Bros, experiencing real cold feet, had decided to wait until The Man of Steel to really move forward, but it’s possible that moving forward now will mean a whole new script.

With a script in such disarray this puts their projected 2015 release date in question. Here is hoping that Warner’s can get their stuff together and pull this off.

DC Announces an All-Star line up for Digital First Adventures of Superman.

And now for a bit of great news. Courtesy of IGN.  this week DC announced a brand new digital first series, Adventures of Superman.  Available  online starting April 29 the series will follow the current Legends of the Dark Knight model of some all-star talent telling continuity free tales of the Man of Steel. Talent including

• Dan Abnett
• Ed Benes
• Mitch Breitweiser
• Giuseppe Camuncoli
• Nathan Edmondson
• Joshua Hale Fialkov
• Christos N. Gage
• Marc Guggenheim
• Justin Jordan
• Matt Kindt
• JT Krul
• Max Landis
• Andy Lanning
• David Lapham
• Jeff Lemire
• Michael Avon Oeming
• Riley Rossmo
• Stephen Segovia
• Bruce Timm
• Marcus To
• Marv Wolfman
• Orson Scott Card
• Chris Samnee
• Chris Samnee

With names like these I can not wait to read this title. April 29th can’t get here soon enough.

Marvel Unveils the Avengers of the “Age of Ultron” and Next Event, Infinity.

Two teasers this week from Marvel. The first unveiled the Avengers of the “Age of Ultron.” which show Cable in Captain America’s uniform and a cycloped (I am not sure that is a word)  Cyclops. We will of course learn more this May with AGE OF ULTRON #7 

The second teaser, Infinity seems to indicate Thanos proper return to the Marvel Universe. We will get a first look at the Jonathan Hickman, Jim Cheung collaboration on Free Comic Book Day.

Hyperion and Marvel to Produce Rogue and She-Hulk Novels.

Marvel is collaborating with Hyperion Books to produce two novels based on Rogue and She-Hulk. Rouge Touch and She-Hulk Diaries. While I realize these are not targeted for me I really appreciate Marvel branching out to new audiences.

Hyperion Books and Marvel Entertainment today announced plans to partner and publish two action-packed novels featuring popular Marvel Super Heroes. Scheduled for release in June, both novels showcase strong, smart heroines seeking happiness and love while battling cosmic evil.

She-Hulk, Marvel’s much-beloved comic book heroine who shares her cousin Bruce Banner’s ability to transform into a hero of incredible power, comes to life in a page-turning novel. In The She-Hulk Diaries, Jennifer Walters, aka She Hulk, juggles climbing the corporate ladder by day and battling villains and saving the world by night—all while trying to navigate the dating world to find a Mr. Right who might not mind a sometimes-very big and green girlfriend.

The second novel, Rogue Touch, features one of the most popular X-Men characters, Rogue, a young woman trying to navigate the challenges of everyday life and romance—except that her touch is deadly. After accidentally putting her first boyfriend in a coma, she runs away from home where, she meets the handsome and otherworldly James and sparks fly. Like Rogue, however, James’ life is hardly simple. To elude his mysterious and dangerous family, James shaves his head, dons all black. Stealing a car, they head out on the highway and eventually, Rogue has to decide whether she will unleash her devastating powers in order to save the only man alive who seems to truly understand her.

The announcement was made by Hyperion’s Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Dyssegaard. Of the deal, Dyssegaard says, “Marvel has had tremendous success with recent hit movies and we think it’s a great time to explore what happens to super heroines when they are dropped into traditional women’s novels.”

It’s exciting to see Hyperion bring two of our most beloved female super heroes, Rogue and She-Hulk, to life in ways you’ve never seen before,” said Ruwan Jayatilleke, Associate Publishers/SVP, Marvel Entertainment. “Whether you’re a long time fan of Marvel or new to our Super Heroes, these novels deliver exciting stories that will capture your imagination.”

Sony Officially Announces the Start of Production on Amazing Spider-Man 2. 

This week Sony announced in a press release that production had begun production. It confirmed the casting of Paul Giamatti and revealed a new cast member… Colm Feore. (Feore played King Laufey in Thor) Who is Feore playing??? My guess is Norman Osborn which is actually pretty great casting. Check out the press release…with synopsis below.

Columbia Pictures announced today that filming has begun on The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2 in New York. The film is the first in the history of the franchise that will be filmed entirely in New York City and New York State. 

The sequel to last year’s critical and box office hit The Amazing Spider-Man, the film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field. 

In The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past. 

The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner, with a previous draft by James Vanderbilt, and based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are the producers. 

The film’s key behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Dan Mindel, production designer Mark Friedberg, editors Pietro Scalia and Elliot Graham, and costume designer Deborah L. Scott. 

The latest chapter in the Spider-Man story is set for release in 3D on May 2, 2014.

Lakeshore Entertainment to Produce Luna Brothers The Sword. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi of Lakeshore will produce the feature film version of The Sword. If you have not read this fantastic series by the Luna Brothers, read it now!!! It is a fantastic 24 issue mini-series.

Well there you have it guys.

Matt Todd

matthew@comicimpact.com.