NECA UNVEIL NEW NINJA TURTLES RANGE

HEROES IN A HALF SHELL GO BACK TO BASICS


Cowab- okay, I won’t scream it from the rooftops, sorry! NECA have revealed the first images of their brand new officially licensed range of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES action figures. Following on from their recent regular release of standard packaging Turtles figures, NECA now offer up the range in brand new Tubular packaging, which, while they will be a nightmare for us to display in the store, will look fantastic on display at home. Due for release at the back end of May in the US (Meaning we won’t be that far behind that here in the UK), these editions of the figures will feature just the basic weapons for each character. To be honest, fans don’t want anything else do they? We want the Turtles as we remember them, Sais and Katanas and whatnot. Who gives a monkeys about masses of pointless additions? These stripped- down figures should be very popular with fans old and new, and despite their design leaning heavily towards their original comics incarntaions (remember Eastman and Laird’s ass kicking comics of the 1980s, before the TMNTs went kiddie friendly?), fans of the recent CG movie should love them too.

Images of the range have been posted over on the NECA website and are looking awesome. Seeing the Turtles all wearing red bandanas again is very cool indeed- back to their roots! Seeing the Turtles all wearing red bandanas again is very cool indeed- back to their roots! The original version of the green foursome were vicious ninja warriors who would hack, slash and mutilate their way through as many bad guys as possible. It is heartwarming to see them revisiting their days as insane mutant killers with a penchant for pizza and kicking vast quantities of rump.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: REMAKE GOES WRONG ALREADY!

Excuse me while I scream a second. AAAAAGGGH!!!! Thanks. Appreciated. I just read AICN’s report on the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, which is now shooting in Vancouver with Keanu Reeves in the lead role of Klaatu. According to this report, there’ll be no Gort onscreen, and nobody even says ‘Klaatu Barada Nikto’ once! This really isn't on, guys. Come on. Look at the original. Rarely has such an image lived on for so long in so many minds and on so many shelves. This is the real thing, and it shouldn;t be messed with like this.




Right, how in the name of our lord, George Lucas, can you remake this film without those two elements? You can’t! I’m really getting sick of classics getting screwed up when they are remade. You can bang on all you want about ‘updating’ or ‘reinventing’ but when you take away something as fundamental and iconic as Gort, you pretty much rob the movie of its links to the original.

Yeah yeah, Gort and the ‘Klaatu..’ phrase aren’t what the movie is totally about, but those two things are amongst the most important things in the entire science fiction pantheon. To do away with them is to do a massive disservice to the original and the fans of the genre. Don’t rob this generation of their Gort, and please, please don’t screw up The Day The Earth Stood Still. Its like remaking Star Wars and not putting Darth Vader in it! The classics attain their status for damn clear reasons, and when these remakes get pitched, these elements should be first and foremost in the makers’ minds. Please, do us all a favour and respect the giants of the genre. Do them justice.

WHY THE WORLD NEEDS TANK GIRL

Comics have been a dull place without Tank Girl. When she finally returned with The Gifting (Out now in trades from IDW), it was like a breath of foul-mouthed air. We went for far too long without her raucous, obnoxious and incredibly sexy self adorning pages and shelves, and it is fantastic to have her back where she belongs. The art may have changed, but its still the same oddly-dressed punk freedom fighter with a penchant for Kangaroo men and tiny shorts.

While it may be difficult for old fans to take with the new art style (which is pretty cool, if a bit too messy and chaotic), the writing, by Tank Girl co-creator Alan Martin, is top notch and well in keeping with the character's past.



The comics industry needs Tank Girl. Why? Because she comes across as a very real person, who is both easy to relate to and incredibly likeable in a potty-mouthed antiheroine way. Comics have become far too safe of late, and the return of Tank Girl will hopefully inspire the return of other similar ass kickers. I nominate Marshall Law, Death's Head (I mean the REAL Death's Head), and Spider Jerusalem. lets shake things up a bit shall we people? We're sick of spandex again.

TRANSFORMERS 2: CONSTRUCTICONS TO APPEAR?

Right, we know Michael Bay has gone on record to say that he'll be leaking fake news surrounding Transformers 2, but a rumour that we are to see the Constructicons in the next movie, and they are indeed going to join together to become Devastator, has been floated online. The problem is, even though we know all manner of tidbits are going to be put forward about the film, this one makes sense. Devastator would be incredible onscreen, especially as a major foe in the climax. I like this idea much more than the rumours of Dinobots showing up really...

NEWSFLASH- ANOTHER TRANSFORMER SPOTTED

Another vehicle has been spotted being shipped to the same place as the Barricade cars last week! Superhero Hype have posted an image of none other than Optimus Prime's vehicular incarnation being shipped by truck across America. Now, are the vehicles just being shipped into storage or to have work done on them? The fanboy in me wants to go with last week's rumours that tyhe sequel may already be shooting soon, but right now we can't be sure. Transformers 2 is going to be a huge release, and we literally can't wait to get our hands on any bit of news regarding it. Let the madness commence!

To refresh yourself, check out our review of the first movie.

SECRET INVASION – MARVEL COMICS UNIVERSE INFILTRATED!

Marvel’s latest universe-spanning crossover is set to be a doozy. The Skrulls have been a presence in the Marvel Universe for decades, and are well integrated into continuity, but they’ve never seemed that much of a threat to me. Granted they can shapeshift and are capable of extremely brutal acts of violence, but for the most part they just came across as a generic alien-of-the-issue bad guiys with bumpy chins and pointy green ears.

It seems that my opinion of them is about to change with this forthcoming crossover. Commencing this month with Secret Invasion 1, Mighty Avengers 12 and New Avengers 40, it looks set to send some considerable chaos out across all of Marveldom, and will do so in a rather exciting and original way. The Marvel Universe has been infiltrated by the shapeshifting aliens, who have worked their way into all the major parts of major characters’ lives and homes. Every superpowered organization has been affected, and it is going to leave the heroes wondering exactly who they can trust in the battle against this secret invasion.

Marvel have released an animated webisode trailer for the crossover, which gives you a taste of the paranoia and action to come…

I must say I’m into the whole idea of alien infiltration like this in comics. Instead of a whacking great battle from the start, there’s going to be some genuine drama and mystery before the chaos kicks off, and that can only be a good thing in an age where many superhero titles are beginning to stagnate again. This is one crossover to get genuinely excited about. Now then DC, when’s your next ‘Crisis’ eh?

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Andy