Broken Frontier

Columbia Pictures has debuted the new trailer for Marc Webb's highly anticipated The Amazing Spider-Man today, ahead of its theatrical debut behind Marvel's The Avengers. 

This new trailer shows off a ton of new footage, giving us a lengthy look at the Lizard and plenty of web-swinging thrills. Andrew Garfield seems to be filling the shoes of Peter Parker well, looking more than capable of handling the comedy, drama and action aspects of the wall crawler. 

Is anyone else surprised they are keeping the first-person/perspective shots in? 

Roll on over to Apple to view the trailer, crank it as high-res as you can manage and then get ready for one hell of an awesome 2 minutes. The scope looks massive and the cast seem to have a real grip on what makes Spidey special, July 3rd can't come soon enough. 

"I Am Gotham's Reckoning"

With the table of events for the Bande Dessinee & Comics Passion festival at the French Institute in May now announced it’s worth noting that there’s still time to enter the two fantastic free competitions organised as part of the event.

For school children up to sixth form age submitting an original one-page comic strip by 7th May there’s an opportunity to be published in the June edition of Ici Londres, not to mention a whole host of other great prizes including festival passes, signed comics, art supplies and a London Print Studio workshop. Judges for the competition are the creators of Trolls de Troy Christophe Arleston and Jean-Louis Mourier.

University students in the UK have their own separate contest to create a two-page comic strip before 10th May. Judges for this competition are legendary 2000AD creator Kevin O’Neill, SelfMadeHero’s Doug Wallace and Karrie Fransman, whose The House That Groaned was reviewed enthusiastically here at Broken Frontier earlier this year. First prize is an amazing comic book weekend in Brussels for two!

The last BD Passion during Autumn 2011 was an unmissable event that showcased the incredible diversity of comics as a medium. This year’s festival is a similar feast of graphic novel goodness including the likes of Jonathan Ross, Pat Mills, Paul Gravett, Luke Pearson, Tom Gauld, Karrie Fransman, Guy Delisle and David B. You can check out the timetable of events and availability of tickets at the official site here.

For further details on the competitions and entry forms check out the competition section of the BD Passion site here.

Some of the best costumes of C2E2 2012.

Win everything Image publishes in May

Our Image Month contest stands revealed, and it’s a whopper! Get creative and your chance to win a copy of every single issue and collected edition Image Comics will release in May. That includes the debut issues of Mind The Gap, Dancer, Epic Kill and Grim Leaper, the relaunched Youngblood, the newest issues of Fatale, Secret, Manhattan Projects, Saga, The Walking Dead, as well as collected editions for Elephantmen, Pigs, Haunt, and more!

The Prize

You heard us right the first time: one person will receive a copy of every Image Comics publication released during May 2012. That’s right, everything that ships is yours!

How to participate for a chance to win?

We’re celebrating 20 years of Image Comics, and we want you to do the same. Wish them a happy birthday, sing the company’s praises, let us hear how much you love the big I by way of a creative tribute to anything Image. Write a festive column or celebratory poem or create a cool birthday video or one-page comic story to celebrate this momentous occasion in creator-owned comics history, and this huge pile of printed swag pack just might end up being yourself.

We will publish the best entries on our front page and select a winner on Monday April 30, 2012. All entries should be mailed directly to BF's Editor in Chief, Frederik Hautain: frederik@brokenfrontier.com.

Contest rules

Contestants can submit their texts and/or videos from Tuesday, April 10 until Friday, April 27, 2012. The BF staff will selected one grand-prize winner based on all entries received between the start of the contest and its end date. Participation in this contest is not restricted to the United States residents but allowed worldwide. The prize pack will be sent out at the end of May 2012.

Static Shock’s final issue hits today. Virgil Hawkins’ tragic fate in The New 52 has been decided for a few months – the fate of his title, not of the boy himself – and series artist Scott McDaniel is making sure he goes out with a bang. Or, well, a shock. McDaniel told BF that the eighth and final installment in this short-lived Static Shock run will be a pretty cool story that reveals some secrets of Virgil’s past.

STATIC SHOCK #8
Written by MARC BERNARDIN
Art by SCOTT McDANIEL and ANDY OWENS
Cover by KHARY RANDOLPH and LE BEAU UNDERWOOD
On sale APRIL 4 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • FINAL ISSUE
Static has faced some of the most merciless and deadly villains that both New York City and Dakota City have to offer, but now he finds himself face-to-face with a woman who holds his future in her hands and has the power to destroy it: the school psychologist! In one conversation that covers his new life in NYC and the life he left behind, we’ll get new insights into what makes Virgil Hawkins tick. And maybe Virgil hasn’t been as careful at hiding his secret identity as he thought.

Ultimate Spider-Man swings into your television with his own series, but is his webbing strong enough in this new show?

There have been a plethora of Marvel superhero cartoon series, each one adding (and sometimes subtracting) from the overal superhero experience. I myself grew up with the old-school Hulk cartoons and Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, even though I’m from a later date. In the 90’s, it was X-Men: The Animated Series and the 90’s Spider-Man that cemented their viability for me. Later on, I lost track with superhero cartoons, mostly because I tended to lean towards the more realistic feel and approach of the 90’s Marvel cartoons instead of the more stylized and cartoony looks of Wolverine and the X-Men and other Marvel cartoons that appeared during that time. Not to mention the fact that anime started to attract more of my attention due to some choice series appearing back then.

With The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, I started to gravitate back a little more. It’s not that serious, especially compared to rival DC’s Young Justice, but still enjoyable. With Ultimate Spider-Man though, the first two episodes were aired last weekend, and every form of serious business goes right out the back door. For all intents and purposes (as briefly described above), this cartoon was not something I thought I would enjoy. USM is wacky, it's teenage humor filled with action, but I quite liked it.

We all know that Peter Parker was the original Ultimate Spider-Man before Miles Morales took over in the comics, and fans will be pleased to know that he’s back for the cartoon. His trademark wisecracking is still intact, albeit pubescent, but even to someone who has outlived his puberty, it’s not cringe-worthy. If anything, I managed to crack a smile every now and then. Saying I laughed out loud would be overstating it, though.

The creators incorporated an idea that is reminiscent of other teenage series, namely of Parker talking to the viewers. The fact that Peter breaks the fourth wall to do that could be seen as overdone in the genre, but it’s not diluting the story. It mostly serves as an introduction to newer and younger viewers, so it actually has a purpose. It's also a nice opportunity to look into our hero's head.

Most surprisingly was the introduction of other heroes that will be on Parker’s side, also as teenagers. Well known heroes as Iron Fist, Luke “Power Man” Cage and Nova are joined by the not as famous White Tiger, which might prove to be the biggest gimmick in the series. Although, since Peter is the comedy relief in and of himself, the other heroes could be present to serve a more serious role.

Of course, being in the Ultimate universe, Nick Fury comes along as we’ve seen him in both the comics and the live-action movies, in Samuel L. Jackson style. Though his voice is a bit lacking compared to Mr. Jackson, he’s still the Nick Fury we’ve come to know. The biggest surprise is the return of J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. Fans of the three live-action movies will love hearing his voice again as he continues to rage on with his personal vendetta against the wall-crawler.

Seeing J. Jonah Jameson rant on and on is always welcome, but when it comes to a style to use for a cartoon series, it has to fit the story and possible brand of comedy well. With the latest anime series based on Blade, X-Men and Iron Man, it was quite clear that their stories would be more serious. The previously mentioned Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has a completely different style and subsequently more humour embedded into it.

Ultimate Spider-Man takes its style of animation to a different level. It’s not quite cartoonish, but not realistic either. This seems to be the perfect match for the zany moments Parker finds himself in and makes the first two episodes very much enjoyable.What’s fun is that there are even some cutaway gags in the style of Family Guy and other similar shows.One such gag heralded back to the first season of a certain live-action comedy series that’s also set on a school that fans might enjoy.

Overall, Ultimate Spider-Man is over the top, but not too much. Its wacky humor and fourth-wall breaking narrative fits the character, but hopefully the latter won’t be overdone. The story, which I won’t reveal too much about, can go any way right now as several heroes and villains are introduced in a pretty short timespan. Of note is the inclusion of a certain professor who still uses both his arms and works for S.H.I.E.L.D. A bigger contrast with the Amazing Spider-Man movie that’s also set to debut this year could not have been created.

Ultimate Spider-Man turned out to be a great attempt to deliver an all-ages cartoon through its use of a somewhat quirky animation style and "facepalm" comedy. While some viewers might shy away due to the use of Parker directly talking to them, it fits the style of the series quite nicely. In any case, it's a series to keep your eye on.

20 years ago, six star creators rocked the comics world by leaving behind their comfy positions at Marvel Comics to form a company of their own. The story of the journey Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino undertook has been well documented, and Image Comics has rightfully become the major publisher most synonymous with ‘creator-owned comics’.

Broken Frontier celebrates this momentous occasion in comics history throughout April 2012 with a huge Image Month event: four weeks filled with coverage on Image’s past, present and future. Here’s what you can expect: interviews with founders, creators and retailers, guest features, reviews of some of the classic early #1s, a few neat contests, a walk through the company’s rich history, exclusive previews and more!

Contribute your own guest feature

If you’re a creator , retailer, industry member or fan and you want to get involved in our Image Month by contributing your own guest feature, get in touch with BF’s Editor in Chief Frederik Hautain at frederik@brokenfrontier.com for more details.

Image Month: Content Index

For an overview of all Image Month content, go here.

Sources near Zenescope have provided BF with stunning news, regarding a new crossover, after the success of Dream Eater Saga!

Grimm 52

“ We felt 52 was a unique number to place on this exciting event since it was so unique and rarely used.” – Somebody who doesn’t work for Zenescope but works in the same business complex.

“Grimm! Nobody asked me if they could use my name! I’m about to reduce the average lifespan of comic book professionals! ” The Grim Reaper.

Gregory in Wonderland

“Gregory in Wonderland? Finally!!!” said knife-wielding Mad Hatter.

When asked about the new project, Eric Basaldua simply stated, “Go Ass!”

We’ve had very good things to say in the past here at Broken Frontier about the super-hero universe writer Andi Ewington built in Com.x’s OGN 45 and its recent spin-off BlueSpear. So we’re most intrigued by Andi’s newest project which sees him united with co-writer Matt Woodley and artist Paul Green (Flash Gordon, Starship Troopers) on a new, upcoming 114-page graphic novel Overrun which has a decidedly intriguing premise:

The city is at breaking point. Living space is running out.

Those in power are forced to execute a desperate measure - introduce a poison to wipe out a huge part of the population.

This is no ordinary city, however.

Overrun takes the reader into the heart of their own computer.  Citizens are files. There are .xls business people, sexy .jpegs, hip musician .mp4s.   

The space which is running out is memory - the poison a computer virus.

Political intrigue and epic action scenes take place inside the brilliantly crafted world as we follow a group of friends, forgotten computer game heroes, as they fight their way through the virus infection which is transforming their fellow citizens into memory sucking zombies.

To get a greater flavour of the book’s setup check out this rather cool video trailer:

The Overrun website is now live, with lots more fascinating hints and sneak peeks, and will be running teaser art in the run-up to the book’s launch in Winter 2012. You can also join the Facebook group for regular weekly updates here.