The car has been the talk of the auction world this week as some experts predicted the ride would go for a few million dollars. When the gavel finally landed, the car sold for an astounding $4.2 million.The car was brought out and followed by what can only be described as a mob trying to get close to the famous auto. Bidding hit a million as soon as it started, with the action going on for several minutes. George Barris was on hand to help entice bidders as well. Before the final bid was placed Barris took the Batman jacket off of his back and offered it to the winning bidder as an added incentive. The man who won the auction was Rick Champagne from Arizona. He said he would put the Batmobile in his living room and display it proudly.

The winner, his lady friend, and George Barris posed with the car shortly after the auction ended (via Barrett On Speed’s Twitter page). The Speed channel also posted a video chat with Barris about the famous car earlier today. Check out pictures from the auction and the video below. I was watching on TV and the whole thing was a pretty amazing sight. What do you think? Is the Batmobile worth $4.2 million to you?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Holy Car Auction Batman! Original Batmobile Fetches High Price

Work on Marc Webb’s Spider-Man sequel is coming along nicely. It seems the majority of the cast is in place and filming will start soon. Two of the new additions to the movie were out and about promoting their movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Shailene Woodley, who will be playing Mary Jane Watson, and Dane DeHaan, Harry Osborn, talked a little about the upcoming Spidey movie.

Woodley spoke with MTV about joining the cast and how excited she was about the film. The actress couldn’t reveal too much, but she said she’s a fan of the character and really enjoyed the reboot:

Spider-Man has always been my favorite super hero dude, since I was a little girl. I think there’s something really special about flying. When I watched the previous Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield, he made me feel invincible. I think Marc Webb is amazing. I’m so stoked to work with Andrew and Emma [Stone], they’re the best of the best.

She went on to say that she didn’t know any real details about the film, but she assumes she’ll be part of a love triangle if the comics are anything to go by. Woodley also hinted that she’d be making the transition and become a redhead soon. You can watch the full video interview by clicking here.

Chronicle break-out star Dane DeHaan also chatted about The Amazing Spider-Man sequel while on the red carpet for his film with Daniel “Harry Potter” Radcliffe called Kill Your Darlings. The actor remained tight lipped on what he knows, but he did confirm that he will be involved in a love triangle. Is it with Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane, Aunt May? We’ll have to wait and find out. The director of Darlings may have spoiled a big plot point for the film though. HitFix reports an incident that occured during the cast introductions:

[Director] Krokidas introduced the cast of “Darlings” which includes Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Foster and Michael C. Hall. When he got to DeHaan he said “He’s the Green Goblin.” DeHaan just smiled, but it didn’t seem like Krokidas was kidding.

Is this a case of a director who doesn’t know a lot about comics or is Webb planning on skipping Norman and having Harry don the Green Goblin gear? I would say it’s the first, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the second happened. The Green Goblin was used in Sam Raimi’s first film, so it would be a little too soon to simply rehash the character. What do you think? Would you be pleased if Harry is the first Green Goblin?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Amazing Spider-Man 2: Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, And A Possible Villain Spoiler

I am Yumi Sakugawa and I am a comic book artist and illustrator based in the Southern California. I am a regular comic / illustrator online contributor to Sadie Magazine and Wonderhowto.

Most recently, my comic zine “Mundane Fortunes for the Next Ten Billion Years and Other Stories” was selected as Notable Comics of 2012 by the Best American Comics anthology editors.

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Muy Mareado!, Indie Spotlight: Yumi Sakugawa

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Brad Bird Shows Off An Amazing Unused Incredibles Poster

If you read Frank Cho’s Dynamite book Jungle Girl, you already have an idea of what to expect here.  It takes place in the Savage Land, and all hell breaks lose rather fast.  Cho hasn’t hidden his love of Shanna the She-Devil, and it shows in his writing.  She gets some good dialogue compared to the other characters in this book. Granted, most of her dialogue is explaining the trip that the reader just saw themselves.  Savage Wolverine #1 isn’t written well, but it shows a lot of potential.  It could be a fun and outlandish book.  Cho misses a great opportunity for humor, instead going for straight seriousness.  The recent Avenging Spider-Man arc in the Savage Land used the absurdity of the land rather well.  Wolverine can’t stay in the Savage Land forever, so Shanna will have to make a trip to the Jean Grey School sooner or later, which is a situation ripe with humor.

Wolverine doesn’t fare well in this issue.  It’s clear from the start that Cho wanted this book to be a Shanna ongoing, but Marvel thought it wouldn’t sell. So Cho threw Wolverine into it so that it would sell.  He barely speaks, and narrates every little thing he does.  The reader doesn’t need to be told he just killed someone when we saw the head flying across the panel.  The narrations go away once Wolverine bumps into Shanna, which betters the issue.  If the next few issues have the same problems, maybe Marvel should bring a cowriter aboard for a while.  Help Cho get his ideas out more effectively.  If I had any control over the books Marvel published, they would have turned this into a Shanna book instead.  Wolverine has enough books, and Marvel has been succeeding recently with B and C lister books.  If the book is good, it will sell.  Also, this would be a MAX book.  Cho could pencil the nudity that he terribly wants to pencil.

At this point in Frank Cho’s career, everyone knows what to expect from his books.  Lots of dinosaurs, cavemen, and scantly clad women.  Every other shot of Shanna has her standing in a provocative position with her boobs almost hanging out.  With the story being serious in nature, the amount of boobs sticks out that much more (no pun intended).  If Savage Wolverine had been more lighthearted and over the top, the boobs would have felt natural (I seriously didn’t mean that pun either).  Savage Wolverine is one great looking comic though. Every character is very expressive and detailed, and the lush jungles are beautiful.  The contrast of wide screen panels and small panels is used well to convey the fighting.  Cho’s amazing art is going to be the big draw on this book for some time.

Savage Wolverine is going to be a bubble book for some time.  If the writing can improve, and the tone can shift a little bit, we have ourselves a great book.  But if not, we have a dud.

Savage Wolverine #1 gets 3/5.

MrComicBook, Review: Savage Wolverine #1

This series, a collision of comedy, sex, and violence, follows the misadventures of America’s most dysfunctional family as they go head-to-severed head with an Oprah-loving ax murderer, a cult-crazy soap opera star, and a neo-Nazi prison gang.
First issue: Todd wants desperately to make friends, but every kid he approaches winds up decapitated. Or worse. Meanwhile, Todd’s mother is on a mission to get even with her husband who she believes is having an affair.

Todd, The Ugliest Kid On Earth is a new four issue series with a story by M.K. Perker and Ken Kristensen. The issue is written by Kristensen with art and letters from Perker. Cemal Soyleyen joins the duo by providing colors. Todd is an odd new book, but is it worth checking out?

A new family is moving into their new home when Todd, the ugliest kid on Earth, comes over to try and make friends with the nice little Korean girl. Todd frightens most other children his age because he walks around with a giant paper bag covering his face. But Todd is a nice, sweet kid who just wants to make a friend. That’s hard to do when Mike, the neighborhood bully, and his gang roll up on the scene to harass Todd and cause him to get into trouble. Mike is the little devil that bullies everyone but uses his silver tongue to talk his way into the good graces of the adults. Back at home Todd has to deal with his drunken father and inattentive mother. While watching the news, the family learns of an axe murderer on the loose who targets children. While the news report tells parents to keep their children inside, Todd’s mom wants him to take out the trash…in the rain…with an axe murderer in the area. You might be able to guess what happens. That sets off the comedy of misunderstanding that ensues.

Perker and Kristensen have a truly unique story on their hands. This odd, politically incorrect, and wacky story features a cast of messed up characters and humor that should hook any reader. While it’s hard to say there’s anything quite like Todd, the nearest compression would be something along the lines of The Maxx and The Oblongs. The art is absolutely amazing. Perker along with Soyleyen’s colors make a beautiful book. I mean this as a huge compliment, but it looks similar to what you would see in a children’s book. You have some cartoony looking art with bright and vivid colors. The backgrounds are fantastic and the characters are slightly exaggerated in their face, size, and features.

Bottom Line: Todd, the Ugliest Kid on Earth is a fantastic book like no other. This oddball story features slightly risqué humor with fantastic art. Perker and Kristense have a lot to live up to with the remaining three issues. If it’s anything like the first issue, we’re in for a great ride 5/5

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Advance Review: Todd, The Ugliest Kid On Earth #1

• It’s off to Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants as Bruce Banner and his lab team embark on an all-new secret mission for S.H.I.E.L.D! Caught trespassing by the local natives, they’re going to need the help of the mighty Avenger, Thor!

Waid is excited to get Simonson on the book and having the legendary artist draw Thor again. While Thor will be showing up, the question should be which Thor is showing up? Waid makes an interesting  statement about the Thor we’ll be seeing:

Why on Earth would you have the amazing Walt Simonson aboard and NOT ask him to draw Thor? The teasing question is–which Thor will we be seeing? Banner and his team of assistants build a portal to Jotunheim, land of the Frost Giants, in order to obtain a rare metal there–but in doing so, they may have accomplished something totally unforeseen!

While we’ll have to wait and see exactly what Waid means, Simonson touched on revisiting the world of Thor and how he goes about tackling the Hulk:

It’s been interesting drawing Thor and not writing him. (laughs) I like what Mark’s been asking me to draw a lot, and he has kindly allowed me to kibitz a little. My earliest work on Thor was done pretty much the same way when I did layouts for Len Wein to write on the Thor title in the 70s. I also got to draw Thor in some of the Brian Bendis Avengers recently. I’ve found it’s been a lot of fun for me to go back and revisit the old boy again.

Regarding the drawing the Hulk and Thor, there’s an essential difference in their natures I try to reflect in the figure work.
I’ve approached drawing the Hulk with a certain ‘wildness’, since he is essentially a ‘monster’ who is the unfettered version of a mortal. The shapes that make up his figure as well as the actual lines used to define those shapes can be far less restrained that they might otherwise be for a more ordinary character. In other words, the drawing technique itself is meant to suggest the limitless quality of the Hulk’s fury and power. And because of his ‘monstrous’ nature, the Hulk’s figure and face don’t require the kind of symmetry that a character like Thor needs in order to be handsome within the context of the comic. I’m also inspired by the earliest versions of the Hulk by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko where there seems to me to have been a nod to the Karloff Frankenstein monster of the early Universal horror films. All of which means I can pack a lot into my drawings to try to capture some reflection of the Hulk’s wild nature.

If you want to check out the full interview with Waid and Simonson click here. It will be exciting to see Simonson taking on Thor again. The artist did some incredibly work with the thunder god back in the day, so having him return to draw again mixed in with it being a Hulk book makes this a must get. What do you think about Simonson’s return? From what Mark Waid said do you think we’ll get a big twist with the Thor story?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Waid And Simonson Talk Indestructible Hulk

Ralph is a very simple movie at heart, but has plenty of deeper messages.  Kids will see what they want, and so will adults.  Kids will see a man who thinks he is bad be a good person.  Adults will see a complex film about heroes and their somewhat ambiguous morality.  It’s amazing how easily the movie balances these two extremes.  Never does the audience feel like these plot twists are forced or shoved in for the sake of it.  Everything feels natural for the story.  The plot does a great job of giving the audience to care for each and every character.  Even a character like King Candy, who turns out to be a villain for the movie.  The rules of the world are also stated nicely.  The audience doesn’t have to sit through some long exposition scene about how and why they game jump.  The rules are brought up naturally, or in a funny way.

Yes, there are video game references a plenty.  They go from obscure arcade games like Tappers, to main stream characters like Sonic.  The majority of Ralph takes place in a Mario Kart knock off, with plenty of jokes at that series.  It should take a couple viewings to get all of the hints and nods to games.  While many movies have tried to have their setting be a video game, none have succeeded.  But Ralph soars in this setting.  It’s clear the creators have a love for video games, and know what they are about.  There are plenty of jokes at modern and classic video games, but there is a respect behind those jokes.

The special effects are on the same level of Pixar.  8-bit characters move in quick motions, as they would when playing the game.  If something in an 8-bit game splashes, the puddles are squares.  It’s a small thing, but goes a long way to help sell the world that these characters are in.  Another big thing is having every character react as they would in their game.  On a small scale, this is to be expected.  But when there is a huge scene, filled with hundreds of characters, every character acts accordingly.  Sonic is in the background of one of these scenes, and we see him get hit with debris.  Naturally, he starts blinking and shoots out coins.  He was so far in the background, I almost missed it.

Wreck-It Ralph isn’t perfect though.  While the writing is great in most scenes, occasionally the writing gets a little on the nose with their message.  The movie treads the line well of adult and kid content, but the script creeps into preachy territory every so often.  It’s jarring, considering there are a few scenes that are quite dark emotionally, and filled with subtlety.  Then we go to a scene that lays everything out on the table.  It doesn’t ruin the movie by any means, but it could have been changed.

The voice actors create a great team.  No one steals the show, but they all work together to create a better movie.  John C. Riley makes Ralph lovable, and instantly the audience feels for the guy.  Sarah Silverman makes Vanellope annoying as hell, then the audience’s heart just breaks for her.  Her voice is one of the few who can’t be picked out right away.  Jane Lynch plays the tough as nails commander well, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.  Jack McBryer was hysterical as Fix It Felix.  But the biggest surprise was that Alan Tudyk played King Candy.  He sounds nothing like Tudyk’s normal voice.  And as I have always said, “Putting Alan Tudyk in your movie ALWAYS makes it better.”

If Wreck-It Ralph proves one thing, it’s that kids don’t need a movie that coddles them.  Ralph deals with some heavy emotions that are accentuated by some perfectly voiced scenes.  It seemed almost un-Disney to have these characters so sad.  But it works.  Kids loved the movie, and many were screaming that they wanted to see it again.

Wreck-It Ralph gets 4/5.

MrComicBook, Wreck-It Ralph Review

Yes, he is wearing Nike shoes. Personally I would have gone with ADIDAS but oh well. Thoughts?

Columbia Pictures and director Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters July 3rd, 2012 starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, and many more.

Agent Burgos, New Pic Of The Amazing Spider-Man!