DC’s first Zoom and Ink titles have arrived and they’re here to shake up readers’ expectations of comic books and superheroes! The young reader and young adult lines reimagine classic DC characters for a new generation. In the lead up to Free Comic Book Day on May 4 we sat down with writer Michael Northrop to chat about his book with artist Gustavo Duarte and colorist Marcelo Majalo, Dear Justice League. The original graphic novel is loosely based on Northrop’s own experience as a journalist for Sports Illustrated Kids and focuses on DC heroes answering queries from young fans. Take a look at our trailer reveal for Dear Justice League, and exclusive pages below.

How did you come up with the idea for Dear Justice League?

At Sports Illustrated, I’d interview athletes and I’d ask them, you know, sort of the standard sports questions, and they would give sort of the standard sports answers. But sometimes we’d have questions from kids, and it was just really amazing to see how the athletes would respond. They would sort of give me as a reporter just…the standard kind of cliche answers. But as soon as they heard it was a question coming from a kid, their guard would come down. And they answered really earnestly in a way that was almost sort of shocking. It was awesome to see that sort of armor come down. And, you know, of course, who has stronger armor than a superhero?

As a lifelong comics fan, what was it like to get to tackle some of the most iconic DC characters?

It was honestly a little bit of a head trip initially. The first section I wrote was due to Superman. And there’s this moment where it’s like, wait a second, I’m writing dialogue for Superman. It just seems astounding. But on the other hand, it’s something that we’ve all sort of been preparing for our whole life. I mean, I’ve known Superman, since I was a little and have been learning about Superman. So, in a sense, it was really daunting to think, you know, I’m writing Superman, but in a sense, it was also really natural. It’s like, I’ve known him almost longer than anyone else, except for my immediate family. So, when you try and think, “What would he think and do?” You feel like you know these characters—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman—so well already.

What was your experience of working with Gustavo to create the visual world of the story?

I honestly think Gustavo is a genius. It’s interesting, because Gustavo grew up in Brazil, and I grew up in northwestern Connecticut, but we have such a similar conception of these heroes. And a lot of that is due to Super Friends. We both grew up watching Super Friends, so it’s so funny how similarly we see these characters and the personalities. He’s a great artist, and he’s great with action and all these things, but I feel like the thing he does absolutely best is expressions. And so that was something where—I wrote this script basically in four parts—so by the final installment, I was incorporating a lot more expressions.

A Dear Justice League sampler is being released as part of Free Comic Book Day, that must be super cool for you as a comic book fan?

It is! And I do feel like these books [DC Zoom] is sort of going back to that earlier era of comic books were they were really, primarily, first and foremost for kids. This is very much a kids’ title. I think that adults would enjoy the humor too, but it’s written for kids. And I think it’s awesome that DC, on Free Comic Book Day, is giving away a kids’ title, an all-ages title, and it feels awesome to be a part of it because it also feels like this great opportunity to say that young readers are a priority.

Dear Justice League is out in shops on August 6, but you can get a sampler for free from your local comic shop this Saturday, May 4th on Free Comic Book Day!

Images: DC Comics

The post DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE’s Michael Northrop on Getting to the Heart of Superheroes (EXCLUSIVE) appeared first on Nerdist.

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg / Artist: Pere Pérez /Marvel

“No one is coming. Asgard has fallen.”

No one is safe from a publisher-wide event, not even the X-editorial office. Despite being midway through the”Age of X-Man” splinter universe, the “War of the Realms” storyline (spearheaded by the long-game plotting by Jason Aaron in the pages of Thor) finally makes its way to Uncanny X-Men. Excessive tie-ins assemble!

For the collectors and habitual Uncanny X-Men readers, this will be a bit confusing and (definitely annoying). The previously released issues of Uncanny X-Men were numbered 15 & 16, with Legacy numbering at 634 & 635. In order to make these “War of the Realm” tie-ins feel relevant and possibly marketable, they also carry the Legacy numbering so that they can be catalogued alongside the Uncanny reboot. The real confusion begins when you realize this initial “War of the Realms” issue carries the exact same Legacy number as Uncanny X-Men #16 despite the events of the issue taking place directly after Issue #15. In terms of release schedule, the issue feels like bad timing in favor of company synergy. The heavy cliffhanger in last week’s #16 in which Dani Moonstar collapses in agony as she senses the death of Wolfsbane now feels a bit odd. Rahne is very much alive in this War of the Realms tie-in, and it will only get more confusing moving forward. For example, if Wolfsbane lives throughout the planned three issues of the series, how will they fit numerically within the legacy sequence? If she is dead in the next two issues of Uncanny but alive in the War of Realms mini-series that that places immediately after Issue #15, how ill the numbering system resolve this discrepancy? Narratively and logically, shoving Uncanny into this multi-realm battle only takes away from the strong work going on in the flagship title.

The issue starts not long after issue 15. Cyclops’ bandaged eye is evidence, since his loving granddaughter Hope shot it out. In the midst of a mission to stop Orphanmaker from kidnapping mutant children, the X-Men take an uncalled-for beating when Mirage (Dani Moonstar) and Magick (Ilyana Rasputin) take off without warning. Unbeknownst to the others, Dani hears the cry of the Odin’s warrior Valkyries.  When Magick returns, she immediately teleports the remaining team to Manhattan to face the sieging hordes of Malekith.  Unable to find Moonstar, the team decides to remain in the battle in anticipation of coordinating with the Avengers or Thor.  Midgard is home to human and mutant alike, so the X-Men are more than willing to join the battle.  After battling generic Malekith forces and angry flying alien dog creatures, the X-Men find Dani alone and without any hope for reinforcements.

“War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men” continues for two more issues.  Aside from the hope that the series continues to explore Dani Moonstar’s inner journey as both a mutant and Valkyrie, not much helps this book stand apart among other strong X-titles on the market.  All in all, it’s a completely skippable tie-in between release weeks of the flagship title.

Rating: 5 out of 10 Synergy Traps

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Source: Leon Bennett / Getty

Last week, we reported that director John Singleton had suffered a stroke. Afterward, the story got a little muddled. While Singleton’s mother claimed his situation was dire and she needed to take over his finances, his daughter told the media that her father’s stroke was mild and his condition was improving every day. She said that he was not placed in a coma.

Apparently, Singleton’s mother was correct and the director has been on life support. Recently, according to TMZ, the family has decided to remove Singleton from the life-preserving mechanisms.

In a statement obtained by TMZ, the family wrote:

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that our beloved son, father and friend, John Daniel Singleton will be taken off life support today. This was an agonizing decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John’s doctors.”

The statement also shared that Singleton “quietly struggled with hypertension. More than 40% of African-American men and women have high blood pressure, which also develops earlier in life and is usually more severe.”

The family encouraged Singleton’s fans to recognize the symptoms of hypertension and visit heart.org to learn more information.

As everyone is now prepared for battle in season 3 episode 8 of Game of Thrones, not only Winter is Coming, but so is the Night King.

Last week’s episode of Game of Thrones gave us kernels of moments between our faves and now reality has hit that all good things must come to an end. Spoilers ahead…

Yet another leak happened this evening, this time leaked photos of the Battle of Winterfell emerged on the net. If you wanted a sneak peep of this great war, you certainly got it. Now let’s dive into one of the most epic battle episodes in the Game of Thrones series.

The entire episode was dedicated to the impending battle between the armies of Winterfell and the White Walkers. As Winterfell’s enemies descend on their territory, several Dothraki soldiers are killed and they are nearly annihilated. Luckily, Greyworm stayed behind and was safe from harm. However, we don’t quite know his fate, since he didn’t appear in the last scenes of the episode. Since we didn’t see him die, it’s safe to assume he survived the battle.

Melisandre makes her first appearance this season and ironically uses the same fire spell she used to kill young Shireen — an innocent and defenseless young girl — to save the lives of hundreds. She sets the swords of every soldier on the battlefield with flames of fire. As the theme of redemption lingers on from each episode this final season, Melisandre also pays penance to her past sins. However, her fire spell is still not enough to subdue the army of white walkers which have them all outnumbered.

Samwell Tarly tries his best to play a part in the battle, but is more of a liability than an actual warrior, getting himself nearly killed at every turn.  Unfortunately, his lack of experience and just simply being in the way, caused the death of Edd who risked his life to save Sam’s.

What is remarkable about this episode is that the women have full autonomy and take control as true warriors prepared to fight and destroy. Brienne of Tarth, who is now a knight of the seven kingdoms, fights aggressively, enduring several moments where she is nearly killed.  Thankfully, she survives this episode, but just barely.

Daenerys and Jon Snow look off into the distance as they see the chaos happening all around them, and each grabs a dragon to use as a weapon to fight. However, when Dany corners the Night King and yells “Dracarys” to him, expecting him to be extinguished, he emerges from the flames unharmed. This is now confirmation that the Night King too, is a Targaryen.

Sadly there were some deaths that occurred tonight. After Edd dies, Beric was also was killed sacrificing his life to save Arya’s. Then there was the most gangsta moment in the episode when Lyanna aka Lil Bear runs directly to the giant white walker, to which he picks her up and crushes her little body. Before she perishes, she manages to stab him in the eye which slays the giant and she dies a victorious death.

In the #ThronesYall recap of episode 2 of the BGNPodcast, I predicted that Theon Greyjoy would die tonight. The writing was on the wall since episode one and this season was Theon’s redemption tour. His debt was paid in death and it was a sacrificial one indeed. Bran’s last words to him were, “you’re a good man Theon”.

Jorah’s death was quite poetic because he died saving his one true love, his Queen Daenerys Targaryen. There’s a long history between these two and Jorah always was willing to risk everything he had for his queen, and he did so in death. With both Lyanna and Jorah gone, it’s safe to say this brings an end to House Mormont.

The Night King is finally defeated and it was a defeat that we didn’t see coming this soon. As the Night King approaches Bran, and Bran sits there unbothered and expecting that he will be protected, Arya descends onto the Night King and kills him instantly.

Melisandre foresaw her own death and tells us at the beginning of the episode of her impending demise. Her watch is now over, the Night King is dead, and her mission is complete. She takes off her necklace (which keeps her youthful and full of life) and slowly disintegrates as she walks off into the distance.

The haunting score filled with a compelling melancholic rhythm was perfect with the tone of this episode. This episode wrapped up beautifully some of the deceased character’s story arcs and now we anticipate what is to come next week.

Stay tuned for our breakdown of episode 3 of the #ThronesYall Recap Show this week and we will catch you next Sunday to live-tweet episode 4!

Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9pm ET on HBO.

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