Get Up-To-Date on 'Smallville'

Miss last season of Smallville or need a refresher?

Here you go (courtesy of MovieWeb):

Superman Flying Fast At Warners

In what should come as no surprise to anybody with a keyboard, Rob Sanchez over at IESB has some sort of golden ticket to Burbank as evidenced by another exclusive passed on to him from inside the cubicles at Warner Bros. Feeling some heat from the recent lawsuit ruling, the Brothers Warner are moving swiftly towards meeting the mandate set forth by the court of achieving production on a Superman film by 2011. Rob is reporting that the new film will not be a continuation of the middle ground that was "Superman Returns" but an entirely different take. Returns will act as the exclamation point or in some people's minds, the period for the "Donnerverse".

There will also be a new director behind the lense and some names that Rob has been hearing include James McTeigue and the Wachowski's. McTeigue's latest film "Ninja Assassin" is enjoying rave reviews and the Wachowki's were last seen hiding out in Germany costing WB millions with their migraine inducing work on "Speed Racer". It is hard to fathom that WB would hand over the keys to the car to the Wachowski's after they crashed and burned on the race tracks of their last flick. McTeigue on the other hand makes a lot of sense.

There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered. Who will be playing Superman? The studio could certainly still turn to Brandon Routh who seems to have a good relationship with the execs of both WB and Legendary. A search for a new Superman would be a long and arduous process but the studio could certainly go that route. In that case, I think they will go with a virtual unknown, not on the scale of Brandon Routh, but more of an "Oh THAT guy!"

What about a script? TMT is hearing from our guys in the sky that Grant Morrison is involved story wise on one level or another on any new Superman film going forward. It would fit with WB's plan of bringing in a comic book writer to lay out the groundwork before handing it off to a screenwriter or two as is the case with Geoff Johns, who just contributed heavily on the possible new "Flash" movie. In my "Superman Limbo" four part series I put forth what WB is looking for in a creative team and what directors and writers would fit this criteria.

This is just the beginning of the news concerning our favorite blue tighted friend that can fly. This story will surely crack open the gates for even more news and you can be sure the netmasters and forum dwellers will be along for the always bumpy ride.

A Promo for Smallville's Move to Fridays

Action Comics #879 Review

Written by Greg Rucka

Penciled by Diego Olmos

Cover by Andrew Robinson

Codename: Assassin finally catches up with Nightwing(Chris Kent), Flamebird(Thara), Nadira and Az-Rel.  Assassin announces that he is pleased to be dealing with four Kryptonians instead of two and orders his army to attack the suspects.  Nadira and Az-Rel escape as Nightwing flies after them and Flamebird takes on the army of monsters alone.

Tharas protective helmet is shattered in the battle and Assassin is able to purge her mind.  He learns of Chris' origin and tells Thara that he will take pleasure in killing him in front of her.  Thara becomes enraged and turns into an actual flaming bird.  She quickly destroys the army of monsters and hurries to find Chris.

The battle with Nightwing and the sleeper Kryptoninans continues.  Az-Rel reveals the legend of Flamebird and Nightwing, stating that one will die in love of the other.  Chris refuses to hear the tales and continues to battle.

Thara arrives, no longer as a flaming bird, and joins the ensuing fight.  Flamebird and Nightwing give steady chase to Az-Rel and Nadira, only to have them escape again.

At Arlington National Cemetery, Lois stands above the grave of her father.  Substitute Superman, Mon-El, arrives and Lois asks a favor of him.  He scans the grave with his x-ray vision.  Everything appears to be identical to her fathers body.  Lois then inquires about the number of teeth in the corpses mouth, finding that it has too many to be her fathers.  She knows without doubt that her father is still alive.

Sam Lane is disgusted at the events that took place earlier.  No captures and still little information about the subjects in question.  Assassin reassures him that they could never have known about Thara's literal Flamebird transformation.  General Lane reminds everyone that his operation known as "7734" has yet to go public and realizes at that moment Mirabi is nowhere to be found.

Suddenly she appears and leads General Lane to shocking events.  She has captured Az-Rel and Nadira.

Story:

Meh.  What started out as a strong, interesting, action packed story has quickly turned into a snooze fest of confusion.  I had feelings that this would be the one strong comic of the entire World Without Superman series but it is falling hard.  It feels like things are just thrown together for the sake of shock and I can't see where this is all going to fit in.  Also, its quite clever that operation 7734 upside down and reverse spells HELL.

Art:

It works better this issue than in last because I am expecting it.  Nothing spectacular but its not the worst art ever.  Fits the story well enough.

Cover:

Still the strong point of this comic, Andrew Robinsons cover looks very nice once again.  Misleading in that it makes me interested on what's going on inside when I'm really not. 

World of New Krypton #5 Review

Written by James Robinson and Greg Rucka

Penciled by Pete Woods

Cover by Gary Frank

Commander El has been charged with treason and his penalty if found guilty is death.  Kal-El meets his appointed attorney named Dyn-Xe who plans to argue that Zod has held a grudge against the El family for years, and that all charges be dropped.

The trial begins with the introduction of the jurors, one selected from each of the major guilds to be represented accordingly. When hearing Dyn-Xe's argument that he holds vengeance for the El family, Zod withdraws himself from the jury but waits as the trial unfolds.

Nar, the other accused with Kal-El, tries to take the fall for the act of treason but Kal is quick to explain that under his orders, she was only doing as asked.  This allows Nar to be acquitted of all charges. After these events, the trial is given a recess.  Dyn-Xe is appalled at his clients actions, basically giving the case away.  Kal asks Nar to send his troops a good farewell.

Tyr-Van reveals a device that he has smuggled in, that will help Kal escape the prison and leave the planet.  Kal immediately refuses such nonsense, standing firm on his beliefs that he is not guilty and has no reason to try to escape like a fugitive. 

Tyr-Van then returns to Zod and Ursa, revealing that he has been a spy for the two, trying to tempt Kal into escaping.  Kals restraining force field is lowered and he makes no movements for escape as Zod looks on confused by his actions.

Kal arrives at his final moments of the trial, and a split decision is given; guilty.  Kal is allowed last words and pleas his case, standing firm that he did nothing to harm the Kryptonian city.  Zod speaks up to the religious guild, and persuades them that their use of pardon may be used in these circumstances.

We are welcomed to a celebration of the Nova Cycle.  A great celebration on Krypton of birth and rebirth. Zod and Kal walk together talking about the events of the trial.  Zod reveals that he admires Kals stance against fleeing, and that his army is a stronger one with Kal by his side.

The crowd below begins great cheers and chants for General Zod.  He seems pleased at the events just as someone screams a threat of death towards him.  An archer rifle is unleashed at Zod, leaving him severely injured.  Kal-El and everyone else stand in disbelief.

Story:

Another twist thrown in the story, and I like this one so far.  Showing Zod as being a little more understanding of Kals plight and actually admiring his decisions to stay put when given the chance to break free.  Action Comics is suffering and Superman is fairing okay, so its good to have WONK to sort of fill in the ground of the two.  This one feels more cohesive and its good to have a steady build up so far in the story. 

Art:

I think Pete Woods art is steadily growing on me.  As I've said before when he worked on the "Up,Up, And Away" arc a few years back, I really enjoyed that.  Not much has really given me that "WOW" factor but it gets the job done.  Not awful but not great.  Better than some of the other issues in the series.

Cover Art:

This is probably my favorite New Krypton cover since the first issue.  I really like the grays and blues and the obvious reference to Superman: The Movie with the jailing ring.  Compelling and makes me curious to whats happening inside.  Great work again from Gary Frank.