SDCC 2013: Harley Quinn Goes Solo with Palmiotti and Conner at the Wheel!

July 16, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

It needs to be said, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner make the rest of us involved in the institution of marriage look like schlubs. Here they are, teaming up together to put forth great comic books and you know the most successful thing my husband and I have accomplished lately? We picked out a movie to watch together that we both didn’t hate. That’s it. Go us.

Harley Quinn

Palmiotti and Conner however? They are co-writing a new solo Harley Quinn title later this year. Since the launch of the New 52, Harley has been content to stick with the Suicide Squad, but now it’s time for her to shine once again with a solo adventure. This is great news for comic fans, as the duo have done great work together, including one of my favorite books in recent years, Power Girl: A New Beginning. Granted that was with Justin Grey as a co-writer, but you have to imagine the humor and fun found in that Power Girl series will carry over to a character who, at times, is filled with glee like Harley Quinn.

In an interview with CBR (who recently did an interview with Arrow producer, Marc Guggenheim), Palmiotti and Conner talked about Harley’s new story, her costume, and just their outlook on comic characters in general. Some of my highlights are below but you can check out the entire interview with Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner here.

[box_light]Palmiotti: Harley is a complex character and we are going to build on her background, motivations and her home and supporting cast. Sort of what we did with Power Girl but with a mix of a bit more homicidal maniac added in.

Conner: Like Jimmy always says; A villain almost never believes that they are the bad guy. They usually think that they’re doing something for the greater good, or that they’re downtrodden and trying to overcome their repressors, or more than likely, they just want something.

Palmiotti: Amanda has a great gift of creating costumes that you can actually wear in real life. A lot of designs these days are so over the top, they just aren’t realistic on any level for a character to fight or even sit on the toilet with them.

Conner: We want to put her in a new surroundings, with new people, and see how she behaves in that environment. Is she going to try to keep it together, or is she just going to cut loose and introduce her new world to the Harley brand of crazy?[/box_light]

Harley Quinn — Credit to: ComicBookResources

Movie News & Opinions

Rumor Report: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Dr. Strange, and an Indestructible Hulk Movie?

July 16, 2013 Scoot Allan Leave a comment

We have been hearing a ton of rumors for everything related to Marvel Studios recently, whether it’s Vin Diesel’s possible upcoming role in the MCU, or a star for Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man, so today’s rumors can be added to those as possible or possibly not going to happen.

Continue reading Rumor Report: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Dr. Strange, and an Indestructible Hulk Movie? →

GAMING

‘Mad Max’ Drops A New Gameplay Trailer!

July 16, 2013 Dan Woizinski Leave a comment

Oddly enough, Mad Max was one of the biggest surprises of E3 2013 – not so much in terms of impact, but just because so much of E3 was content we’d already known about. When Avalanche introduced the reveal trailer on the Sony stage back in early June, no one had any idea what they were watching until the iconic shoulder pads and sawed-off shotgun entered the frame.

As soon as the novelty wore off though (which was almost immediately), there wasn’t much to be excited about. The premise of Mad Max is one that games have explored over and over and over again: A post-apocalyptic desert wasteland where bandits and lawless savages fight for the last supplies. Hell, you could have replace the reveal trailer’s title card with Rage 2 and no one would have batted an eye. However Avalanche are promising a pretty huge scope with this next-gen title. Here’s the breakdown from SuperHeroHype:

[box_dark]”Become the legendary lone warrior as you craft and upgrade his equipment and weapons in order to survive in a brutal post-apocalyptic world. Fight with savage moves and combos to brutalize the deranged bandits of the Wasteland. Engage in dynamic, physics-based vehicular combat, taking down enemy vehicles with a slew of deadly weapons and customizable parts. Choose from different car bodies and construct the ultimate war vehicle with dozens of upgrade combinations. Explore an immense post-apocalyptic open world full of unique missions and side quests. Scavenge every scrap you can find to build upgrades for your equipment and vehicles. Take down eccentric bandits & gangs that roam the Wasteland.“[/box_dark]

Avalanche released a gameplay trailer which offers another peek at the world of Mad Max:

I think the trailer makes a serious mistake by focusing on the story rather than the scope and mechanics involved in the game. Like I said, we all know what these dystopian-future settings are like, even if the current generation of gamers has mostly likely never heard of Mad Max until a month or two ago. By focusing on the premise (and vaguely, at that), all newcomers see is a re-hashed concept and all of us who know the films are just thinking “movie-game”, a term that often goes hand in hand with “shovel ware”.

It’s too bad, because Avalanche have had major success with Just Cause and they might be able to turn the old IP into something really fun and interesting. We will have to wait and see more of what Mad Max looks like as the game develops.

Mad Max Banner

‘Boardwalk Empire’ Trailer: Gillian Darmody On Trial?

July 16, 2013 Amanda Broyles 3 Comments

It’s no secret I can not stand Gillian Darmody, so seeing her in a courtroom perhaps on trial for the dead dude in the bathtub? Oh how sweet that would be.

Of course the rest of the trailer looks pretty badass as well.

http://youtu.be/ge7MGTo6XVE

We first saw Jeffrey Wright as the newcomer, Dr. Narcise, in this first season 4 trailer. We get a little bit more of him with this new trailer but it’s a little difficult getting a read off the guy. Is he Nucky’s ally? A rival? Much like everyone else in the show, a combination of both? Either way, Dr. Narcise should prove to be quite the interesting character this coming season. Plus, Al Capone coming into his own in Chicago will be incredibly entertaining, and very bloody.

Since Gillian is on trial (or at the very least involved in a court case in someway) it’s obviously shortly after the last season ended so it isn’t the ’30s yet, which means Luciano and his crew will probably still be underlings. You have to imagine they’ll be making some kind of move here soon.

All in all, season 4 is already shaping up to be quite exciting and we’ve still got quite a bit of time before the premiere rolls around on September 8th.

Dexter: 8.03 – “What’s Eating Dexter Morgan?”

July 16, 2013 Michelle L. Mattock Leave a comment

Dexter has been pretty difficult to watch over the past few seasons. It has been hard to keep my attention to the television. Frankly, I think maybe I just have really low expectations, even though I am still excited to find out how this series will end. I felt like this episode was slightly better than the first two, but I attribute that entirely to Debra Morgan.

First things first, Deb gets pulled in to the police station by a cop for a DUI and calls Quinn to come get her. Her reaction to finding out that she knocked down a parking meter cracked me up! Quinn had to lie to Jamie to go pick up Deb, but this whole episode wasn’t littered with his usual level of douchebaggery. Not only did he tell Dexter what was going on with his sister (I am counting it because he thinks she may have a problem) but he also puts himself out there and asks Deb if she thinks she may have a substance abuse problem! That takes serious balls to say to someone.

In a moment of old school Dexter & Debra quality time, Dex took his sister to a restaurant to see a guy whose life she saved while she was a part of Miami Metro. Dexter was trying to get through to his sister that she has done great things for this world. Unfortunately, the incident caused her to get wasted (shocker!) and stumble into the Homicide Department where she confessed to killing LaGuerta to Quinn! When Deb confessed I thought first that OF COURSE she confesses to the most shady cop in the joint! He would cover anything up with no second thought. Second, I felt fury rise up within me and thought that it better not be Joey Quinn, Miami Metro’s frat boy, who takes Dexter down! I will RIOT! Quinn hands a drunk Deb off to her brother and Evelyn Vogel. Dexter takes her back to her house, but only after slipping her the needle! Ooh… phrasing… he dosed her!

Sussman’s body was found in an apparent suicide crime scene, but Dexter knows the truth; he was being forced to do the real “Brain Surgeon”‘s dirty work. With that case closed, Dexter looks for another suspect and came across a cannibal named Ron Galutso. He is not the man scooping out pieces of brain and leaving them for Vogel, but he is eating brains! Gross. As usual, Dexter takes out the trash and continues his search for the real Brain Surgeon.

Dexter 803 Consume — http://reservoir-of-blood.tumblr.com/

Dexter’s new mommy seems to be making a case study out of him. Evelyn sort of drops a bomb on Dexter when she asks why he didn’t kill his sister when she found out what he is. Dexter tried to explain that he loves her and why, but Evelyn insists that his love for Deb is entirely self-serving, and not about her as a person. In the preview for the next episode, Deb is shown the videos of her father with Vogel. Deb asks if Harry killed himself. Dexter also apparently kicks Vogel out of his life. I cannot help but think about what the significance of Vogel is going to be. Maybe she is a psychopath herself and she’s the Brain Surgeon, or at least knows who he is. Maybe she wants to take out Deb herself so that Dexter can be her own personal… ahem… garbage man.

All the small things: In this episode we saw Harrison for the first time in forever, but only for about a minute in the very beginning. Joey Quinn and Jamie Batista had a fight because Quinn keeps rushing to Deb’s side and he lied to Jamie about having to go in on a case when he picked Deb up from her DUI. Also, Angel helps Quinn study because he recommended him for the Sergeant spot.

Overall I would say this episode gets a 3 out of 5. It was more interesting than the first two of this season, but still leaves much to be desired.

ED. NOTE: This pic seems appropriate, for whatever reason you like.

Grizzly Bomb

Daily Archives: July 16, 2013