Forum 2.0

Item! Latest Hollywood news ranges from James Gunn to Venom to Stan Lee

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Aug. 14, 2018 -- It’s the Dog Days of Summer, when news about genre movies and TV and is mostly about the future, not the present. But there is a lot of it, so let’s check the Hollywood teletype:

Photo by Chuck

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'Avengers,' 'Dr. Strange' 'Immortal Hulk' get successful "Fresh Start" re-launches

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

It’s been six weeks since Marvel’s “Fresh Start” initiative began, which is re-launching many of the publisher’s major titles. Here are three of the most interesting:

Art by Ed McGuinness. Copyright Marvel Ent

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DC's Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all in good hands

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

On the eve of Comic-Con International: San Diego, the "Trinity” of DC Comics has already been making news.

But are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman better for the all these changes? The Magic 8-Ball says “Ask A

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'Luke Cage' Season 2 makes wacky comic book characters more grounded, plausible

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Netflix’s Luke Cage Season 2 features a gallery of fascinating characters, most of whom have appeared in the comics. Well, sort of. There have been some changes:

 

BLACK MARIAH

Cover art by Billy Graham. Copyrig

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TV's Alexandria, Argo, Gotham and Kandor cities generate big headlines

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

 June 7, 2018 -- The comics-based TV shows keep making a lot of news as their seasons wrap up. Here are some big “what th-?” reality bombs:

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Andrew Lincoln (left) will leave his role as Ric

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There have been three Ant-Men, and 19 more fun facts about 'Ant-Man and The Wasp'

Photo: Ben Rothstein ©Marvel Studios 2018

In the movies, Henry Pym (Michael Douglas) is so abrasive he’s driven most of his colleagues away. The comics version suffered mental instability that has achieved the same thing.

 

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune

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Twelve things you don't need to know about 'Powerless' (but are fun to know)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

NBC’s Powerless premiered Feb. 2, and it’s based on the same DC Comics universe as TV shows like Arrow and movies like Batman v Superman. It’s just not connected.

Just as the DC superhero movies and DC superh

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History of Krypton? Which one?

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 22, 2018 -- Syfy’s Krypton, which debuted March 12, varies considerably from the comics. But that’s OK, because the comics themselves have never been consistent about Superman’s home world.

Krypton has alw

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'Marvel's Cloak & Dagger' perfectly suited for upcoming TV adaptation

Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani

Freeform's Marvel's Cloak & Dagger stars Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson/Cloak and Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen/Dagger.

 

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

If ever there was a Marvel property suited for adaptation to tel

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Good news and bad news for 'Gotham,' 'iZombie,' 'Lucifer,' 'S.H.I.E.L.D.'

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

May 24, 2018 -- Cable and broadcast networks have announced the annual culling of their TV rosters, and for most genre shows the news was good. However, for four comics-based series it’s a good news/bad news sit

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Here are the reading assignments for 'Avengers: Infinity War'

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

April 19, 2018 -- Avengers: Infinity War is almost upon us – close enough that we can figure out what Marvel Comics it’s lifted from, and to what extent.

As most people know by now, none of the Marvel Cinematic

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'Legion' Season 2 continues surreal, unreal adventures of David Haller

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 29, 2018 -- Legion Season 2, which premieres April 3 on FX, promises time jumps, psychic possession, strange bedfellows and fabulous dance routines. Oh, and possibly the end of everything.

Legion, as surel

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DC celebrates 1,000 issues of 'Action Comics' -- and here are 12 reasons why

Copyright DC Comics Inc.

Action Comics #1 came out in 1938, and by giving the world Superman, transformed the comic book fad into the comic book industry.

By Andrew Smith

Tribune Content Agency

As almost everyone knows, Superman first appeared in Ac

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Captain Comics: The many lives (and many names) of the man called Cable

TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.

Deadpool (left) and Cable are antagonists in Deadpool 2. They began that way in the comics, too, before becoming uneasy allies.

 

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

May 17, 2018 -- If you’re not

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The long, nefarious history of the Legion of Doom before their star turn on 'Legends of Tomorrow'

 

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

So the Jan. 24 episode of The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow filled us in on how George Lucas was inspired to create Star Wars by heroes from other time periods (involving blasters, trash compactors, “You’re our

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'Walking Dead' could be ambling into terra incognita

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 8, 2018 -- Some viewers may be dismissive of the latest casualty on The Walking Dead as just another Sunday in the zombie apocalypse. But it could well be a turning point for the show.

Before we continue,

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From 'The Archies' to 'Blackout,' May is Alex Segura month

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

The Archies is a fun, funny comic book miniseries focusing on the Riverdale gang forming the band everyone knows from the song “Sugar, Sugar,” and the 1960s cartoon from which it sprang. Blackout is a hard-hitt

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Return of Fantastic Four is big news, "Fresh Start" not so much

Copyright Marvel Entertainment Inc.

Marvel Comics has announced the return of Fantastic Four in August, a title that has not been published since 2015. 

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

April 5, 2018 -- The big news this week from the world of

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Who is (and isn't) in 'Infinity War': What we know

Photo: Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2018

Returnees for Avengers: Infinity War include Okoye (Danai Gurira), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) and the former Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan

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Who and what are in 'Black Panther'? A primer

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

If you plan to see Black Panther, you’ll be introduced to an exciting and eclectic group of people, concepts and even geography. Here’s a primer to help you prep, with notes on where the film diverges from th

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