Tag Archives: Marvel

Agents of SHIELD at San Diego Comic Con

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Picture from @AgentsofSHIELD

We learned Monday that Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has scored Bear McCreary of Battlestar Galactica to compose the music for the upcoming show but that doesn’t mean that they had nothing left to share during today’s panel at San Diego Comic Con.

Producer Jeph Loeb, Executive Producers and Writers Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tanchareon, and Jeffrey Bell, were all in attendance as were actors Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Brett Dalton, Ming-Na, and Clark Gregg, all led by, of course, Joss Whedon.

Marc Storm and Ryan Penagos liveblogged the entire panel which you can read here.  Highlights from the panel are beneath the cut in case of spoilers!

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Awesome Con Costume Round Up

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One of the best things about conventions is undoubtedly the variety of costumes you see throughout the weekend.  Last weekend’s Awesome Con was no different.  Downtown Washington DC was quickly filled with costumers representing a variety of fandoms, undoubtedly leaving many a metro rider very confused as to why these people in catsuits and Jedi robes were sitting beside them.  (Superheroes are people too!)

Even though this was Awesome Con’s first year, the costumers definitely brought their a-game.  It was also wonderful to see how many children (and sometimes even their parents) decided to embrace their (for many) first convention experience and throw themselves into it headfirst and come in costume.  Everywhere I looked, I saw yet another person looking great in costume and definitely looking like they were having the time of their life.  I only wish that this Round Up post could highlight all of them.

As always, we’ll start off with the Star Wars costumes.  There’s nothing better nor more adorable than costuming children check out this tiny Ashoka and Captain Rex, this pair of Jawas, and a tiny Boba Fett with a more experienced Mandalorian warrior alongside.

Clone Wars Jawas Mandalorians

Mandalorian Warriors were the most popular Star Wars costumes spotted that weekend followed closely by Jedi Knights.  There was, however, a Princess Leia too!  (Look out, Leia!  That’s Boba Fett behind you!)

Leia Star Wars
Star Wars 2 Jedi1

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Tosche Station Radio #55: Summer Movie Extravaganza

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On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by Bria and Shane from the blog to take a look at the summer’s movie offerings!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog this week. It’s pretty much been a Bria show as the Waru Express continued on its the journey through the NJO and reviewed Legacy #4. She was also at AwesomeCon in DC over the weekend and had a Convention Report.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci took advantage of her Orlando resident status and took a trip to the Magic Kingdom. On the film side, she saw 42. Meanwhile, she read trhough Dragonpocalypse #2 by Matthew Bowers. It’s got dragons! IN SPACE! What more could you possibly want? Brian’s still reading through “Season of Passage” by Christopher Pike and is having a hard time sleeping as a result. For convention season, he got a shiny new camera that should come in handy for costume shoots. Bria attended AwesomeCon in Washington DC and is still motoring through the Waru Express. Shane’s been keeping busy with League of Legends and also watched the Abrams Star Trek to gear up for Into Darkness.

Deak’s Dirt starts with Kathleen Kennedy discussing Episode VII and Star Wars spinoffs at CinemaCon. Variety mused that she might also be in the running to take over Disney. In EU news, Vader’s Little Princess was released on Tuesday. Go pick it up! Star Wars: Legacy #2 was released Wednesday. Head to the blog and check out Bria’s review. In that other Star franchise, a Star Trek Into Darkness teaser clip was released. Over on the Marvel film side, a Thor: The Dark World teaser dropped. Film rights for Daredevil have reverted back to Marvel from Fox

This week on Camie’s Concerns, Bria and Shane from the blog join the hosts to take a look at the new films due out this summer. What are the hosts and guests looking forward to? What can they do without?

Wrapping up the show, the hosts field questions from listeners in Ask us Anything.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook  and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com. 

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com                    Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

So You Want To Read Marvel NOW!

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So you’ve heard about the Marvel NOW! initiative and now you’re curious about the books and want to start reading.  We’re a couple of months into the initiative and it has been an overwhelmingly great ride.  Unlike DC’s New 52, Marvel hasn’t rebooted their continuity.  It’s better described as a shift in the universe.  Creative teams have moved around and characters and teams have changed after the events of Avengers vs. X-Men.  In short, it’s been a good jumping on point for new readers without tossing years of continuity out the window.

With the relaunch of Marvel and Comixology’s promotion that will offer 700+ #1 digital titles for free, now seems as good of a time as any to sample the comic book world.  If you haven’t yet, go sign up for the promotion now as sign ups end April 9th at 11:59 EDT.  Over 700 titles is a lot to choose from.  In the past, I’ve written about some good jumping on points for the Marvel universe.  Many of those books’ #1s will be a part of the promotion and I definitely recommend snagging them along with any one-shots, especially the character focused ones.  However, if the current Marvel universe is something that you’d rather dive head first into, the Marvel NOW! movement is definitely perfect for that.  Here are some of my personal recommendations about what books you should give a shot.

Avengers
Avengers_1_CoverAvengers and New Avengers  [CMX – CMX]
I’m writing about these two titles together because they are the opposite sides of the same coin.  To quote the writer himself, Avengers is about life and New Avengers is about death.  Jonathan Hickman pens both and has thus far been doing a masterful job of it.  Both are books that I’d recommend to someone who is already familiar with the universe especially New Avengers since it features the Illuminati group.  Regardless, they’ve been fantastic so far.  Hickman is the master of the long game writing style but it always pays off.  If you like the Avengers, give these books a try.  You’ll get to see some of your favorite characters along side some new ones.  It’s all about making the Avengers bigger (and hopefully better) then they’ve ever been before.

Uncanny Avengers  [CMX]
Spinning directly out of the Avengers versus X-men event of last summer, the two groups have joined together to create one team.  The first arc of the book was a “the team assembles” story, making it ideal for newer readers.  It’s also something that readers haven’t really seen before which makes it intriguing.  (Captain America taking orders from Havoc? That still has me blinking in surprise some issues.)  Some of the characters definitely have some history but it’s nothing that a quick Wikipedia search won’t solve for you.  Alternatively, you can think of this as the book to read if you can’t decide between the Avengers of the X-men as your favorite team.

Secret Avengers  [CMX]
This is definitely a title that’s a bit off the typical Avengers path but it’s one that could easily be accessible for newer readers especially those only familiar with the film.  It features well known badasses like Black Widow and Hawkeye and other SHIELD agents and a black Nick Fury and Phil Coulson.  616 fans might be scratching their heads at those last two but film fans will be just fine.  It’s all about SHIELD and its missions and looks like it’s going to be a fun book.

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ComiXology, Marvel team up to give away first issues

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Kate sassWant a bunch of free gateway drugs comics? Good news! Marvel and ComiXology are giving away the first issues to over 700 comics. All you have to do is go over to the ComiXology promotion page and sign up to get a promo code.

Once you’ve signed up, what should you get? Well I’ve got a pair of suggestions.

  • Hawkeye by Matt Fraction – This might be my favorite series out there right now. Follow the misadventures of Clint Barton while he’s not doing Avengers-y things. 
  • Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue DeConnick – Looking for a well-developed, kickass female lead? Carol Danvers is right up your alley.

The site is getting slammed, so you might need to refresh your browser a couple of times to get it to resolve. Once you’ve signed up, ComiXology will send you a date when you can start downloading your comics. From that date you’ll have 48 hour window to get them.

Star Wars, Marvel, and the Multiverse

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In the Star Wars fandom, there’s always some war of words brewing between fans. We’ve seen the Ship Wars, the Prequel Trilogy consternation, the Clone Wars skirmishes. One that has been on slow simmer for years is cold war between Expanded Universe Completists and Film Purists. Countless words have been written defending the merits of one and tearing down another.

To say things have blown up since the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney and the announcement of the Sequel Trilogy would be an understatement. There seems to be a belief among the most ardent of Star Wars fans that the Expanded Universe and the Sequel Trilogy cannot exist simultaneously. One has to vanish in order for the other to thrive.

To borrow a phrase from Nanci earlier this week, I say bullshit.

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Katsucon Cosplay Round Up

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This past weekend was Katsucon, an anime convention held just outside of Washington DC in National Harbor, MD.  In addition to being a great anime convention in general, Katsucon also has the distinction of making its home in the Gaylord, one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing which makes for some wonderful photos.  It’s also a nice sized convention that feels neither small nor overcrowded.  (Yes, walking is totally possible here!)  From the panels to the maid cafe to the artist alley and dealer room to simply people watching, there was something for everyone last weekend.  If you live in the area or simply want to check out a fun convention at the most gorgeous hotel of all time, I absolutely recommend checking it out next February.

One of the wonderful things about conventions is the variety of costumes that convention goers (and the innocent people who wander into the hotel) get to see.  Despite being an anime convention, Katsucon boasts a wide variety of costumes from every anime and manga imaginable to western television shows and comics.  Obviously, anime and manga costumes ruled here but there are some fandoms that will always have a presence such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Disney, Homestuck, and both Marvel and DC comics.  This year, I also noticed a solidly large gathering of costumes from last fall’s Rise of the Guardians film and Adventure Time along with a ton of Kid Loki and Korra cosplayers.  And, of course, Sailor Moon continued to have a solid presence, something that is likely to only increase with the anime’s return this year.

(Just as a note, please let me know if you recognize yourself or others in any of these pictures.  Unfortunately, my plan of trying to get cosplayer names mostly backfired due to being in costume myself for much of the convention and touchscreen phones do not work with gloves.  Please feel free to comment though and I’ll be more than happy to edit credit into this post!)

Because we are primarily a Star Wars blog, I’m going to start with some of the great Star Wars costumes I spotted this weekend.  (I did my best to sprint down the corridor after most of the ones I saw but undoubtedly missed a few.)  Check out these Star Wars costumers (and many more!) after the jump! Continue reading →