Top Comics to Buy This Week: April 19, 2017
With dozens of comic books to choose from, let us show you which are the best coming out this week. Take a look at this list spotlighting our favorite comics that we know are money-well-spent and new books that look cool and are backed by some top-tier talent.
Check out our picks, then head to the comments to let us know what you’ll be buying this week!
By writer Nick Spencer & artist Daniel Acuña | Marvel
Opinion: What Nintendo Can Learn from the NES Classic’s Failure
Last week, Nintendo discontinued the NES Classic after just six months of availability. The decision to kill off the beloved little retro box leaves it with an odd legacy. It was a neat system, but awful supply issues never allowed it to reach its potential and supply shortages left customers who wanted to buy one understandably frustrated.
Despite not being able to keep it on store shelves, Nintendo reported it sold 1.5 million NES Classic systems worldwide as of January. But it could have absolutely sold even more. Clearly, there’s demand for a Nintendo-sanctioned retro gaming console. The product grabbed the attention of lapsed gamers, the kind of people who aren’t interested in buying a Nintendo Switch, New 3DS, or a 2DS. But let’s face it, even though it was popular, the NES Classic was not as cool as it could have been. It was a good first draft, but Nintendo can (and I believe inevitably will) improve on it. And the company isn’t done trying to sell devices like it.
Mark Hamill on Force Awakens’ ‘Great Missed Opportunity’
Not having Luke Skywalker and Han Solo reunite in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a "great missed opportunity," according to Mark Hamill.
Warning: Spoilers for The Force Awakens follow.
In an interview with Fandango, Hamill said he was dissapointed that Han, Luke, and Leia didn't get to share one last scene together before Han's untimely death at the hands of Kylo Ren. The only ones to witness Han's death were Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca, with Luke being absent for nearly the entire film.
When Hamil was first reading the script for The Force Awakens, he suggested director J.J. Abrams include a scene where Leia would either contact Luke to try to save Han or rush Han's aid by herself, which would put her in danger and as a result require the help of Luke. "I save her life and then we rush to Han and then we are in the same position that Rey and Finn and Chewie are; too late to save him," he said.
Star Wars: Director Settles Who the Last Jedi Is
Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson says "the last Jedi" of the title is singular not plural and, to him, refers strictly to Luke Skywalker.
"It's so funny when people started asking that," Johnson told ABC News while promoting The Last Jedi at this past weekend's Star Wars Celebration. "I had never even pondered that question."
Johnson added, "In my mind, it's singular. In my mind it is. ... As to whether Luke is the 'Last Jedi,' they say in The Force Awakens he's going to find the last Jedi temple and Luke is the last Jedi."
Top 10 Global Box Office Opening Weekends of All Time
Over the weekend, The Fate of the Furious raced out to the biggest global box office opening of all time, meaning Star Wars: The Force Awakens fell behind to second place.
The Fate of the Furious earned an estimated $532.5 million worldwide this past weekend. That means the eighth installment in the Fast franchise broke the two-year-old record by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed $529 million over its opening weekend. The Fate of the Furious actually saw slower sales domestically — $100.2 million compared to Furious 7's $147.2 million — but the overseas market delivered a monstrous $432.3 million for the film.
Carrie Coon’s Fargo Heroine ‘Just Doesn’t Know the Rules’
Carrie Coon has enamored TV viewers for three seasons as Nora Durst on The Leftovers, and now she's about to do the same in Fargo: Season 3.
This new year of the FX anthology series jumps forward in time to 2010, and introduces Coon's police chief Gloria Burgle as our central hero, like previous years' Molly and Lou Solverson. She's a woman who feels invisible, who is so out of sync with technology that there's a running gag where objects like automatically opening doors don't respond to her presence. She's struggling with her personal life when she finds herself caught in a murder investigation of a killing that, in true Fargo fashion, went horribly awry.
3 Walking Dead Actors Promoted to Series Regulars
A few The Walking Dead actors have gotten themselves a promotion heading into the eighth season of the popular zombie drama.
According to TVLine, three actors, Steven Ogg, Katelyn Nacon, and Pollyanna McIntosh, have all been made series regulars for next season, making them all bigger pieces in the puzzle of the AMC hit.
Ogg plays the right-hand man of main villain Negan portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Nacon, meanwhile, plays Enid, a Hilltop resident and love interest of Rick's son Carl, while McIntosh plays Jadis, the leader of the mysterious Scavengers.
Valiant Comics Reveals Massive ‘Icons’ Relaunch
Valiant Entertainment held their Valiant Summit event in Los Angeles today, where they shed light on "Icons," a massive, line-wide relaunch of the entire Valiant line.
Technically, Icons began with the debut of X-O Manowar #1 last month. However, the publisher revealed a number of new projects today that will be debuting between now and the end of the year. That includes new series for familiar Valiant heroes like Bloodshot and Ninjak and a new event series starring Faith. We've put together a gallery breaking down all of these new titles, their creative teams and when you can expect them to hit stores.
We had the scoop on Bloodshot Salvation earlier today. Check out our reveal for more information on that new series and to see commentary from writer Jeff Lemire on the new series' change in direction.
Bloodshot Salvation Writer Drops White Supremacy Angle to Explore Faith, Revenge and Parenthood
During today’s third annual Valiant Summit, the upcoming comic series Bloodshot Salvation by writer Jeff Lemire and artists Lewis Larosa and Mico Suayan received the spotlight, and one topic of note was how the comic originally set out to tackle the issues of the alt-right and white supremacy but Lemire decided to change course and go in a different direction.
“The more I worked on the book, the more the political aspects I had planned just started to feel obvious and forced,” Lemire told IGN. “So, Bloodshot will not longer be going up against the alt-right or any white supremacists in this series. That stuff was feeling very heavy-handed. And I also felt that including the white supremacist/alt-right angle was just distracting from the story I really wanted to tell with Salvation. So I have removed many of those elements from the series altogether. That's the joy of working really far ahead, it allows me to get a sense of the series as a whole and shift things.
Microsoft Details Xbox FanFest for E3 2017
Tickets for Xbox FanFest: E3 2017 will go on sale this Wednesday, April 19, Microsoft announced today.
The three-day event will grant 500 people entry to Microsoft's E3 press briefing, which will be held on Sunday, June 11, at 2pm PT, according to Xbox Wire. FanFest ticket holders will also have the opportunity to get hands-on with Project Scorpio and upcoming games at a private event on June 12.
The first 400 tickets will go on sale April 19 on a first-come, first-serve basis. They'll be available online in several waves throughout the day, with the first beginning at 6am PT. The remaining 100 tickets will be offered through various promotions and giveaways. Microsoft notes you must be 21 or older with an Xbox Live gamertag to complete the transaction.