All the Nerdy News that is fit to know for Friday!
COMICS
DC will NOT reprint Batman: Damned #1
Batman: Curse of the White Knight will have Azrael
Batman Who Laughs #1 will be out in November
DC Comics brings the Question back in Action Comics #1005
Marvel to publish Sleepwalker mini-series
Dark Horse to publish Avatar: Tsu’Tey’s Path
Dark Horse and 20th Century Fox celebrate Alien Day on April 26th. The xenomorph from the Alien series of movies is one of the most iconic monsters of modern cinema. The Alien has been causing screams and hidden eyes ever since the first movie hit the silver screen in 1979.
Aliens is one of the rare movie monsters that has successfully crossed over into comic books. Dark Horse has been printing great stories expanding upon the Aliens universe for years. They have starred in crossovers with other movie monsters like the Predators and the Engineers. They have even been in comics with big time characters like Judge Dredd, Vampirella, Witchblade, Darkness, Superman, Batman, and even Archie.
The reason for picking April 26th might not be apparent at first glance. It is a nod to LV-426, the planet from the iconic ALIEN films.
Twentieth Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox is kicking off the Alien Day celebration with the ALIEN: Ultimate Trivia Challenge on Twitter. Every 42.6 minutes a new ALIEN trivia question will be asked via the official Alien Anthology twitter account (@AlienAnthology). To participate you will need to pre-register your Twitter handle on the ALIEN Anthology website (http://AlienAnthology.com).
Each trivia question will have various prize packages from 20th Century Fox’s ALIEN franchise licensing partners. To qualify to win the corresponding prize you must “Reply” to the initial “video question tweet” with the correct answer to the question. The #AlienDay426 & #Contest hashtags must be used. A winner(s) will be selected for each of the questions.
Complete rules for the ALIEN: Ultimate Trivia Challenge can be found here: http://AlienAnthology.com
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse will release the four issue series Aliens: Dead Orbit. This series starts with an engineering officer trapped in a space station after a horrific accident. The engineer is forced to use all available tools to survive an attack from the deadliest creature known to man.
They will also put out Aliens: The Original Comics Series Volume 2 hardcover. Volume 2 finds Earth overrun by xenomorphs with no hope of saving it for humanity. This doesn’t mean humans are ready to give up their home without a fight. Ripley hatches a plan to capture a “Queen Mother” and bring it back to Earth. Ripley believes the Queen Mother will command the xenomorphs to gather together where she can detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy them.
Avatar, the blue cat looking people not the air-bender, is finally going to get the comic book that was promised way back at New York Comic Con 2015.
Dark Horse Comics and 20th Century Fox have teamed up to put the continuing Avatar story onto the printed page. The comic book will present story arcs from points all over the Pandora timeline, before, after, and even during the events of the movie.
We will see the first issue of this long-awaited series on Free Comic Book Day this year, May 6th, 2017.
The story is set during the events of the film as a “comic book exclusive scene” with Jake preparing for the final battle in the Pandorian War.
Jake Sully strengthens the bond with the Great Leonopteryx by recalling memories of his brother.
The Avatar Free Comic Book Day story launches the beginning of a new line of Avatar comics and graphic novels scheduled to hit shelves in late 2017.
In 2015, James Cameron had the following to say about the partnership with Dark Horse Comics:
“Here at Lightstorm Entertainment, we’re in the midst of a massive undertaking, three new feature films that will take you back to the world of Avatar and reveal more of the mysteries and wonders of Pandora. But even with three sequel in the works, we still have more stories we want to tell. So Lightstorm will be working in partnership with Dark Horse Comics to reveal new storylines from the past, present and the future world of Avatar. Fly with me, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the world of Pandora.”
(W) Sherri Smith, Brian Wood (A) Doug Wheatley, Werther Dell’Edera
Return to the wilds of Pandora and the world of the Nav’i from James Cameron’s groundbreaking film Avatar as Jake Sully connects with the flying Toruk, the majestic Great Leonopteryx, by remembering the depth of his bond with his twin brother and great partnerships of history and legend.
Also included in this issue: Set in a secessionist community in rural America, Grace Briggs is trying to guide her family peacefully through trying times. But when confronted with armed milita running an opioid ring on her land, she must take commanding steps. Briggs Land is currently in development for television at AMC.
World of Tanks started it’s life as a massively multiplayer online game developed by Belarusian-Cypriot company Wargaming. The game featured early to mid-20th century era fighting vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of “premium” features. The focus is on player vs. player game play with each player controlling an armored vehicle. The vehicle may be a light, medium, or heavy tank, tank destroyer, or self-propelled gun.
The player takes control of a single armored vehicle of their choice and is placed into a battle on a random map. The player has control over the vehicle’s movement, firing, and can communicate with other players through typed or voice chat, and several preset actions that give tactical instructions visible to their team only. A match is won either by destroying all vehicles on the opposing team or capturing a base present in some game modes.
There is just something about tooling around in your very own heavily armored tank that appeals to players. The game is so popular they decided to give it the comic book treatment. The writing team (Garth Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra) should be able to develop a story-line within the confines of the game that interests any War Games enthusiast.
Official Press Release
World War II inspired story penned by legendary comic icon Garth Ennis advances to retailers
Wargaming and Dark Horse Comics announced that the highly anticipated first issue of the World of Tanks: Roll Out comic series will hit comic book stores and digital distribution on August 31st. The first ever comic book based on the “Wargaming Battle Universe” brings all of the thrills, tension and armored conflict World of Tanks players demand. Inspired by Wargaming’s massively multiplayer online game World of Tanks, the hard-hitting story written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, War Stories, The Punisher), is a historically based war tale, skillfully illustrated by the renowned Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, War Stories Vol. 2). Each issue is wrapped in the epic cover art of Isaac Hannaford (HALO: Reach, The Punisher) and bursts with the explosive action found in the panels of World of Tanks: Roll Out.
The premier issue of armored combat debuts alongside the first in a series of in-game Premium Tank bundles based on the iconic, “hero” tanks of the comic book’s storyline. Now tankers can read the adventures of the valiant tanks in the comic book and continue the adventure by playing the ‘hero’ tanks in the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 4 versions ofWorld of Tanks.
Set during the epic tank battles of 1944, which proved to be pivotal on the outcome of the war, World of Tanks: Roll Out follows a crew of young British tankers as they push deeper into post D-Day Normandy toward a battalion of seasoned German armored units. Flanked and tracked by the Germans at almost every turn, the inexperienced British tankers traverse a battle scarred France while the danger around them escalates and the outcome of the war hangs in the balance.
“As we explored the idea of a World of Tanks comic book, the first priority was ensuring that we told an authentic and historically based tale of combat that was in line with Warming’s commitment to military authenticity,” stated Erik Whiteford, Wargaming’s Director of Marketing. “Having the leading writer in the war comic genre, Garth Ennis, and legendary illustrator, Carlos Ezquerra, as the creative team behind World of Tanks: Roll Out guaranteed the execution of a story in true Wargaming fashion; gritty and packed with realistic and pulse-pounding tank combat.”
As a part of the release of World of Tanks: Roll Out the World of Tanks premium shop for console will be offering limited time bundles featuring the British tanker’s Cromwell, known as “Snakebite.” Pulled directly from the pages of the comic, the signature Tier VI British Cromwell light tank offers tankers the Snakebite Crew Skill, which improves overall accuracy. Nimble and highly maneuverable, this tank darts across the map trading armor for speed while still packing a powerful punch. Three individual Snakebite themed bundles will be available on August 31.
WORLD OF TANKS #1
Written by comics legend Garth Ennis!
Garth Ennis (Preacher, Hellblazer) joins Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog) to create a tense war story inspired by the massively popular (over 110 million players!) online game World of Tanks. An untested British crew inadvertently commands an unconventional Cromwell tank into France while hunted by a hardened German panzer unit.
* Illustrated by comics luminary and cocreator of Judge DreddCarlos Ezquerra!
* World of Tanks has a global audience of 110 million players!
If you’re like me you like old Western movies. Who doesn’t like stories with gunslingers, crooked sheriffs, and cattle drives. I am also one of those people that enjoy a good fantasy story with mystical items, dragons, and warriors.
Kingsway West is kinda like a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup in that way. You get just enough of each to make the book a really good read. Let me give you a little backstory for Kingsway West.
Kingsway West takes place in an alternate America. In this version of America history took a major left turn in the mid-19th Century. The discovery of a mythical substance called Red Gold has completely changed the balance of power.
It has pitted the US government, Native American tribes, Mexico, and even China against one another in a never-ending battle over this resource. This results in a much different history than our own. It blends fantasy and Wild West genres.
In this world dragons and meta-humans walk side by side with dusty, sharp-shooting cowboys.
The story of Kingsway West follows a Chinese gunslinger named Kingsway Law. After spending thirteen years in a war that made him a monster he just wants to live in peace with his wife, Sonia. But even in a fantastical Old West crackling with magic, a man of his skills can never quite disappear. So when a woman with a red-gold sword brings bloody chaos to his doorstep, Kingsway must fight for his life, his wife, and his very soul.
Kingsway West has been described as Once upon a Time in the West meets Princess Mononoke.
The Strain is a slightly different take on vampires than what we’ve seen lately. These vampires aren’t pretty and they don’t sparkle in the light. These vampires are ugly, vile, killing machines that operate on a hive mind type connection to their Master.
The Strain is a horror/thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather. Ephraim is the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak. The outbreak has hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism.
As the strain spreads, Ephraim, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers wage war for the fate of humanity itself.
The Strain is a very popular TV show. A lot of folks don’t know it started out as a comic book. Like most TV shows based of comics or books, they deviate a bit from the storyline to keep the book readers from ruining it for the TV show watchers. The main characters and plots from the books remain the same. You can pick up any of The Strain comics and find out a lot of backstory on the characters that didn’t make it to the show just yet. One of the more interesting characters will be getting an origin story in the comics September, 2016. Dark Horse Comics will be giving us the history of Mr. Quinlan, the Vampire Hunter.
The Origin of Mr. Quinlan!
This fall Dark Horse Comics invites you to go back to the beginnings of a popular character with The Strain: Mister Quinlan—Vampire Hunter! Renowned comics creator David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Silverfish) and artist Edgar Salazar (Smallville: Alien, Deathstroke) join forces to tell a brand-new tale about the origins of a fan-favorite character: Mr. Quinlan.
A vampiric abomination seeks to destroy the monster that sired him. Born as a mistake of a powerful vampire known as the Master and raised in the brutal gladiatorial arenas of ancient Rome, Mr. Quinlan must survive long enough to carry out his mission when his target begins hunting him.
For five years acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan have published their New York Times best-selling series of novels, the Strain Trilogy, with Dark Horse Comics producing six volumes of graphic novel adaptations. The Strain has also seen a very successful television series on FX now entering its third season premiering in August.
With a stunning cover by Juan Ferreyra and a 30th anniversary variant cover by Paolo Rivera, The Strain: Mister Quinlan—Vampire Hunter is a series fans won’t want to miss!
The Strain: Mister Quinlan—Vampire Hunter #1 (of 5) is in stores September 14.
El Paso Herald-Post El Paso News & Opinion
Dark Horse will release the four issue series Aliens: Dead Orbit. This series starts with an engineering officer trapped in a space station after a horrific accident. The engineer is forced to use all available tools to survive an attack from the deadliest creature known to man.
Wargaming and Dark Horse Comics announced that the highly anticipated first issue of the World of Tanks: Roll Out comic series will hit comic book stores and digital distribution on August 31st. The first ever comic book based on the “Wargaming Battle Universe” brings all of the thrills, tension and armored conflict World of Tanks players demand. Inspired by Wargaming’s massively multiplayer online game World of Tanks, the hard-hitting story written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, War Stories, The Punisher), is a historically based war tale, skillfully illustrated by the renowned Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, War Stories Vol. 2). Each issue is wrapped in the epic cover art of Isaac Hannaford (HALO: Reach, The Punisher) and bursts with the explosive action found in the panels of World of Tanks: Roll Out.
Kingsway West is kinda like a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup in that way. You get just enough of each to make the book a really good read. Let me give you a little backstory for Kingsway West.
