All The Rage: New Rage Order

New Rage Order

Welcome to the sixth year of All the Rage.

ATR began back in 2000, when Rich Johnston brought his long running rumor column to SBC. After about two years here, Johnston moved over to CBR and began writing Lying In The Gutters. However, ATR has continued to this day with a secession of hosts, including Ian Ungstad, Alan Donald, J.hues, Markisan Naso and yours truly.

As your current host, I’d like to thank all of you, especially those of you who have been following ATR from the beginning. This column wouldn’t be possible without your continued support.

Now then, on with the show…

Get Your Speed Force On

I’ve been told that DC may be in pursuit of Steve Skroce for the upcoming Flash relaunch. If true, that would be an interesting choice, given the sporadic release of his latest project, Doc Frankenstein. Of course, those delays may not have been Skroce’s fault. The Wachowski Brothers may have been unable to keep up with the scripts while working on V For Vendetta.

Now here’s where things start to get weird. So consider this your SPOILER WARNING, as inviso-text follows:

The other Flash rumor going around states that the lead character of the new series will be a “newly rejuvenated” Jay Garrick. Previously it had been rumored that Bart Allen (Kid Flash) would step into the role for a depowered, Wally West. It’s interesting to note that when talk of a new Flash movie first came up, it was said to focus on an “aspiring athlete Jay Garrick”, so if it happens, this could be bringing the comic and movie incarnations into sync. Not that this choice would be without it’s own problems. In the current DCU, Garrick has a wife in her late fifties or sixties. I suppose they could deage her as well, or play with the age disparity between them. But that would still complicate things…

This Has An “Archrival” Factor of Five Out of Ten

Night’s Bringer of War

The rumored Midnighter series is one of the hot topics across the comic world. Some of the latest rumors have Midnighter’s book (inviso-text for those who dislike SPOILERS) crossing over into the main DC Universe.

But far more interesting is the rumored creative team: Grant Morrison and Adam Kubert. The duo has been previously rumored to be working on Detective Comics, so it’s not clear if there are wires crossed or if this is the real deal. Though I suppose we’ll know soon enough…

This Has A “Where’s The Sun God?” Factor of Five Out of Ten

Bantha Tracks

Among Star Wars comic fans, word of TOKYOPOP’s new two volume series has been generating a great deal of excitement. The books are color and B&W anthologies featuring several top Japanese manga creators (manga-ka), including Kia Asamiya, Shin-Ichi Hiromoto and Makoto Nakatsuka. So far, they are only out in Japan, but I’ve received word that TOKYOPOP will put out English language versions of these books exclusively for the UK market, and that there are also plans to bring them out in other European countries. As for a US release… that’s a little trickier. Dark Horse has the domestic rights for Star Wars comics. In the past, they’ve published manga adaptations of the Star Wars films, but there’s no indication yet as to whether they will be bringing these books over as well…

This Has A “Tao of Vader” Factor of Nine Out of Ten

From The Land of The Rising Sun

Over at his blog, C.B. Cebulski has been revealing some interesting info gleaned from his trip to Japan. According to Cebulski, a Witchblade manga is planned to coincide with the upcoming anime series. The manga will be debut in Champion Red this March and the artist will be Kazuasa Sumita. Cebulski also states that some of Square-Enix's manga titles will be published in English some time this year, as will Kia Asamiya’s Junk.

Cebulski also displayed the work of manga-ka, Nigo (Bathing Ape) who has produced the artwork for a line of limited edition Marvel Comics sneakers and t-shirts.

This Has A “Hulkback Mountain” Factor of Eight Out of Ten

Flying High

Athena Voltaire is a comic I’ve been supporting for a long, long, long time. And for good reason. There’s not a lot of great adventure comics out there, but this is one of the best. Even Warren Ellis likes it. And later this month, it will finally make the leap into print. So, to tide you over in the meantime, here are some fresh pages by Steve Bryant and Chad Fidler.

This Has An “Air Raid” Factor of Ten Out of Ten

The Spirit of The Law

Speaking of former web comics, Gary Chaloner is doing a new Will Eisner’s John Law four issue miniseries for IDW, which should be out in April. Here’s a sneak peak at the cover and some of the interior pages.

This Has A “Devil’s Dust” Factor of Eight Out of Ten

The Last Days of Disco

After working on comics set during the forties, fifties and sixties B. Clay Moore is said to be working on a new project set in the 1970s. Not much is currently known about it, but I’ve been told that the book will have a “unique format.” Moore’s collaborators on this project are said to be writer Seth Peck and artists Ed Tadem and Tigh Walker.

This Has A “GvsE” Factor of Nine Out of Ten

A New Regent

I’ve heard that are still comic companies reeling from Lamp Post Publications’ abrupt decision to stop printing any books not coming from Alias. However, I’ve been told that a number of companies have now found alternatives. Some have opted for Quebecor and Brenner. But for those companies without deep pockets, I’ve heard that Regent Publishing Services is quickly rising in popularity…

This Has A “Magic Kingdom” Factor of Six Out of Ten

The Two Stephies

Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis’ Hero Squared is graduating to ongoing status this March from Boom! Studios. Now, I ask you, how can you not love a book with this cover?

What? You want pages? Well, okay… Here’s a few by Joe Abraham:

This Has An “Only Sloat Knows” Factor of Nine Out of Ten

A Storm of Swords

Confirming our story from three weeks ago, it was officially announced this week that Kurt Busiek has signed an exclusive deal with DC. In an interview on Newsarama, Busiek said that he is still working on Marvels: Eye of the Camera. But he didn’t mention his previously announced crossover project for Dynamite. Last I heard, that’s still going to happen, but what it will be remains in question. Most fans assumed it would be a Red Sonja/Conan book, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Nor was it the previously announced Red Sonja/Claw (John Layman’s writing that one). So, if it’s not one of those, it stands to reason that the project is related to one of Dynamite’s licensed comics. Red Sonja does seem like the natural choice, but I also think a Busiek penned Lone Ranger or Highlander story would be fun…

This Has An “Age Undreamed of” Factor of Seven Out of Ten

Alright people, that’s a wrap. Special thanks to John Voulieris, for filling in last week.

Happy New Year!

Blair

PS If anyone has any rumors, stories or news to share, please email me at blairm@silverbulletcomicbooks.com. Thanks to everyone who has been sending stuff in. It’s greatly appreciated.