Monthly Archives: April 2017

New Marvel Comic Explores Black Bolt’s Origns

Marvel has revealed Inhumans: Once and Future Kings, a new comic book mini-series that aims to provide the definitive early history of the Inhuman Royal Family. The announcement came at Marvel's Retailer Panel at C2E2 today.

Once and Future Kings is also notable for marking the return of writer Christopher Priest (Black Panther, Captain America and the Falcon) to Marvel after a 12-year absence. Priest will team with artist Phil Noto (Star Wars: Poe Dameron) for the five-issue series. Each issue will also feature a two-page backup story from Ryan North (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl).

Inhumans: Once and Future Kings #1 cover by Nick Bradshaw. (Marvel Comics) Inhumans: Once and Future Kings #1 cover by Nick Bradshaw. (Marvel Comics)

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Game of Thrones: See 15 New Photos From Season 7

Ahead of Game of Thrones' return this July, HBO has released several new photos that provide an early look at the show's upcoming seventh season.

Check out the gallery below for a sneak peek at Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, Kit Harington as Jon Snow, and many more.

Season 7 of HBO's hit fantasy series will premiere on Sunday, July 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In the meantime, read up on everything we know about Game of Thrones' final two seasons. While you're at it, check out these 26 images from the Season 7 trailer.

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The Witness Designer Shows Early Prototype of Next Game

Jonathan Blow, lead designer on The Witness, revealed a small glimpse of one of his upcoming games during a presentation at Reboot Develop.

"This is a work-in-progress," Blow explained. "These are not final visuals, but it's a nice little grid-based game. I've got a guy who can run around and push blocks and stuff."

Screenshot from Jonathan Blow's Reboot Develop 2017 talk. Screenshot from Jonathan Blow's Reboot Develop 2017 talk.

The demo — meant to show off the engine Blow has been building for the past year — showed off a single level from the unannounced project, which Blow described as "not remotely final."

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DC’s Dark Matter Features Superstar Creators

Dark Nights: Metal is shaping up to be one of the most important books in DC's lineup this year. Not only will this event comic reunite Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo on an epic Batman adventure, the series will also serve as a foundation for DC's next wave of Rebirth titles.

Today at C2E2, DC revealed "Dark Matter," a new publishing initiative that begins with Dark Nights: Metal and includes five new series making their debuts in Fall 2017. Each of these new books will feature characters and concepts introduced in Dark Nights: Metal. According to DC, the focus of the Dark Matter line will be on "epic graphic storytelling." As such, the Dark Matter line will be supervised by superstar artists Greg Capullo, Andy Kubert, Jim Lee and John Romita, Jr.

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Whedon Talks Finding the Right Batgirl

Comic book movie fans have been abuzz since hearing that Joss Whedon would be writing and directing a Batgirl movie for DC and Warner Bros. Recently, Whedon spoke about the process of finding the right woman to play Batgirl, and based on what he had to say you shouldn’t expect a big name to step into the (traditionally) purple cowl of Batgirl.

While talking to Variety, Whedon -- who rose to fame thanks to his TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and eventually helmed the first two Avengers films for Marvel -- was asked about the casting of Batgirl. Many a big actor has found themselves taking on superhero roles in recent years, but that doesn’t seem like it will be the case here.

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Amazon’s The Wheel of Time: Everything You Need to Know

It’s official: Wheel of Time is finally being adapted. Almost 30 years after the debut of the series’ first book, The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan’s sprawling fantasy novels have a production studio and a showrunner and will be distributed by Amazon.

And now Amazon has rounded out the main cast as well, casting the five young heroes who will travel with Rosamund Pike's Moiraine on a "dangerous, world-spanning journey." Madeleine Madden will play Egwene Al’Vere, Marcus Rutherford has been cast as Perrin Aybara, Barney Harris will portray Mat Cauthon, Zoë Robins is Nynaeve, and Josha Stradowski plays Rand Al’Thor.

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Star Wars: Who Are the Gray Jedi?

The new trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi didn't reveal much about this hotly anticipated sequel, but it did strongly suggest that the Jedi are on the way out in the Star Wars universe. Luke Skywalker himself claims that the Jedi "need to end." After countless centuries of Jedi and Sith waging war on one another, perhaps the time has finally come for something new.

It sounds like the new movies will begin delving into the concept of the "Gray Jedi." In both the classic Legends continuity and the new Disney-approved Star Wars universe, there are a handful of Force-sensitive characters who don't quite fit into either the Jedi or Sith categories. Check out our guide to the more significant Gray Jedi and what it means to be a Gray Jedi in a galaxy defined by the struggle between the Light Side and the Dark:

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Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Preview

For those who were lucky enough to find a way to play Fire Emblem Gaiden, it soon became apparent what set it apart as the black sheep of the Fire Emblem family. Many new and odd mechanics were added to Gaiden that would either never be seen again, or slowly return as the series finally expanded for release overseas. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia faithfully brings many of these interesting mechanics back - but also tweaks them with new features that seems to avoid some of the pitfalls that Gaiden faced back on the Famicom.

Check out our pictures of the new Alm and Celica amiibo:

In the short demo I experienced, we were able to try out one regular battle map and part of a dungeon. While the battles and maps didn’t offer much variety in terms of topography or objectives, both experiences highlighted some of the more interesting tactical choices Shadows of Valentia has to offer compared to other titles on the 3DS. Like Fire Emblem Awakening, you’re able to traverse a world map between points of interest - enemies on the map will launch you into battles, while certain towns and other places will let you freely explore them from a different perspective.

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Comic Book Reviews for April 19, 2017

It was another big week of comics. DC kicked off "The Button" in Batman #21 and wrapped up a major storyline in All-Star Batman #9. marvel delivered several critical Secret Empire prologues and finally gave Nick Fury Jr. his own series. Elsewhere, Dark Horse published another terrific chapter of Black Hammer and Boom's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers saga continues to unfold.

Scroll down to check out our reviews for these and various other new releases, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.

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