November 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Film & TV News |
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The Marvel Comics superhero Moon Knight is coming to television. The character has been around since the ’70s and is currently experiencing an upsurge in popularity thanks to the top creative team working on the book. Acclaimed novelist Charlie Huston is the writer of the ongoing comic with fan favourite David Finch handling the art.
No doubt attracted by the popularity of the comic, production company No Equal Entertainment has made a deal with Marvel Studios to produce an ongoing series. As the ink is still wet on the agreement, no cast or production personnel have been decided yet.
Moon Knight is a hero in a similar vein to DC Comics’ Batman; he spends the night hours looking for evildoers and bringing them to justice. His secret identity is Marc Spector, an ex-mercenary forever changed by an encounter with the Egyptian god Konshu. Unlike Batman there is often a supernatural nature to his foes.
Television seems an ideal home for comic heroes, with the ongoing storylines more easily translated to a weekly TV format than a two hour motion picture. If this venture is successful it could lead to more of Marvel’s less well known heroes making the transition.
Hopefully the TV show will keep the dark and macabre atmosphere that has been a constant throughout the characters existence, never more so than in the current incarnation.
November 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Film & TV News |
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In an unprecedented move, Marvel Comics has teamed up with Procter & Gamble Productions – the producers of long running daytime soap opera Guiding Light – in an attempt to attract new readers to the comics and new viewers to the show.
A new superhero is introduced on the Guiding Light episode airing November 1, 2006. This new costumed vigilante, along with other characters from the soap, made their first comic appearance in Civil War: Choosing Sides and will appear as a backup story in a further twelve titles.
This isn’t the first time the show has had a Marvel connection. A few months back, the series’ costume designer Shawn Dudley created the X-Men’s Storm’s wedding dress for an issue of the monthly comic, Black Panther.
While there has always been a soap opera nature to many comics, one has to question the logic of associating some of Marvel’s most famous creations (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, and Wolverine all interact with the residents of Springfield in the comic) with probably the lowest form of American TV drama.
With Spider-Man and Wolverine already having made several highly successful movie appearances and Iron Man coming sometime next year, can this venture really reach a potential audience who would otherwise be unaware of them? Is Marvel trying to attract the housewives of America to comics? And will comic readers really be interested in the goings on of the little community of Springfield? I personally have my doubts.
November 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
TV Reviews |
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After the conclusion of last week’s episode, Hiro is more certain than ever that it’s his destiny to become a superhero. Using his powers and the comic book he brought back from the future, he convinces his friend Ando of this and the intrepid pair head to the US. Hiro still provides most of the laughs, but after the apocalyptic climax of the previous episode there’s also a desperate urgency about him. After all, he only has five weeks to save New York.
This week Peter Petrelli also provides a lighter moment as his attempts to fly result in not only a bruised body, but a bruised ego as well. On a more serious note, there’s a rift between him and his brother after Nathan informs the press that Peter’s jump off the building was a suicide attempt brought on by depression. All of this improves Peter’s character to no end. He’s getting much more interesting, and even punches Nathan out. I didn’t think he had it in him. He also hooks up with Simone after she breaks up with junkie precog artist Isaac when he refuses to get treatment for his addiction.
