Much more polished trailer  than the one we saw from comic con. The scene at the tank was a nice surprise towards the end.  It’s good to know that it won’t be lifted directly from the books and long time readers might have something new to experience.

Ok, major news on a show we haven’t heard much about. If you watch the video below you’ll here a couple of key things:

• Robin will be the most experienced of the group
• The JLA will be mentoring their protegees throughout the series, even showing up in a few episodes
• Sex!
• Someone will die!

So far this show sounds amazing. I really like the inclusion of the JLA and its possible mature themes.

There have been a fairly good number of first looks yesterday, none of which I find more interesting–aside from the new screenshots/drawings of the upcoming Superman Batman movie–than AMC’s TV adaptation of The Walking Dead. Granted, I haven’t read the comics, yet I suppose, but you can never pass up a good show of zombies.

Here we see the first cast photo, though no list of names followed in the quick article at Comic Book Resource other than Andrew Lincoln will star as Rick Grimes, which we already knew. The show will have a pretty big spot at Comic-Con International next week where the cast will have a panel, an autograph session, and we’ll see first merchandise in the form of posters and buttons. Lastly, a few of the zombies themselves make an appearance and will be seen wandering around the convention center for your viewing pleasure (if you could call it that). Just don’t get to close.

Last week Marvel named long-time comic writer Jeph Loeb to the position of Executive Vice President, Head of Television for Marvel Studios. Loeb has been the writer of some of my favorite stories across Marvel and DC. Spider-Man:Blue, Batman:Hush, and his run on Superman/Batman are some I hold close. On the other hand Loeb has also spearheaded somethings recently that were not all that great in my opinion. Red Hulk and Ultimatum fit the bill for that. So I have to say my feelings are mixed when it comes to Mr. Loeb being in charge of putting some of Marvel’s characters on the small screen in drama on ABC Family.

One of the things that will be Loeb’s biggest hurdle is the fact that a great number of Marvel characters’ film rights have already been sold. With the reboot of Spider-Man coming we know that’s off the table, as well as a good portion of the Avengers. I’ve always wanted an Alias series, but I’m not sure Disney is all that interested in that story. Reading through an interview with him over at CBR I think that he is missing the mark on somethings already. Things like this:

“This is the challenge of finding the right property. There are somethings that are best done on a big budget. Marvel has a vast library, and we’re confident that there are characters and stories that lend themselves better to live television. ‘Smallville’ is a great example of how to do a Superman television show that doesn’t rely on being a big budget movie.”

The thing with Smallville is that it’s still essentially the origin story of Superman, who is for all intents and purposes the biggest superhero ever. It’s going to be incredibly hard for them to put out a tv show that is going to be successful with B list characters and a Disney muzzle on.

Andrew Lincoln  as Rick Grimes (Pretty great casting I think)

Random Zombie

and writer Robert Kirkman surrounded by his undead creations come to life.

On the DCU Blog this little nugget was found. A few stills from a screen test confirms how awful the live action Blue Beetle show will be. I hate to bitch about something that hasn’t come out yet but GOOD GOD, that render looks terrible. I’m all for a new superhero show but why did they choose a character that will require so much SFX?? I can’t imagine the show pulling high enough ratings to pay for all the animation that costume requires.

Thanks, but no thanks.

As a DC fan I’m all for seeing the characters make the jump to the small screen, but is Blue Beetle really the best they can come up with? While I am a fan of the character it has such a small following that it’s comic series was canceled after 36 issues due to poor sales. Not to mention that his powers themselves are derived from a special suit that morphs into various implements,which would be no small feat to animate well on a tv series budget.

I find it amazing that out of the entire DC stable of characters they chose Blue Beetle. Not Flash,Green Arrow, or Wonder Woman? Why not a Zatanna series for that matter? She’s already been introduced in Smallville and seems to be a fairly well liked character by the fans. I’m not privy to the rights involved but why not a Teen Titans series if they were dead set to using Blue Beetle? Maybe they wouldn’t use Superboy because of the copyright issues, but why not Robin, Wonder Girl, Cyborg,Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy? Smallville has proven that the teen superhero dynamic can work well so why not give it a try. They could probably pull the powers off on a show like that with half what they would pour into the CGI for a Blue Beetle show.

What characters would you prefer over this?

Looks incredible. Possibly the best zombie I have ever seen.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/X-Men-Volumes-Announced/11203

I’m b0th excited and hesitant about this. In my mind it has always been ridiculously awesome but the few times I’ve caught in reruns as an adult it was less than stellar.