Following on the heels of 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Serviceand 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circlecomes a prequel film, The King’s Man, and the second movie trailer has just arrived from 20th Century Fox (we previewed the first trailer here at borg last July). Delayed for re-shoots and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the studio now has its sights set on a September premiere in theaters (we’re not holding our breath). Stepping into an early Kingsman of the type perfected by Colin Firth is the actor who should have played a Bond (but ended up as another M), the BAFTA-winning, twice Academy Award-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes. The young recruit that looks to mimic that series hero Eggsy played by Taron Egerton in the first two films this time goes to Harris Dickinson(Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance).
Following on the heels of 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Serviceand 2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circlecomes a prequel film, The King’s Man, and the first movie trailer has just arrived from the new 20th Century Fox. Stepping into an early Kingsman of the type perfected by Colin Firth is the actor who should have played a Bond (but ended up as another M), the BAFTA-winning, twice Academy Award-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes. The young recruit that looks to mimic that series hero Eggsy played by Taron Egerton in the first two films this time goes to Harris Dickinson, soon to be voicing a character in Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
As with the prior films The King’s Manappears stylish, but with a historical England twist. Expect again wall-to-wall, part dark comedy, and that over-the-top, operatic violence. Series director Matthew Vaughn(Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake) continues to make his mark on the action genre, with his own British spy genre tale mixing the vibe of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Avengers of the 1960s, based on the 2012 The Secret Service: Kingsman comic book series from award-winning creators Mark Millar(Kick-Ass, Old Man Logan) and Dave Gibbons (Watchmen).
Every great British spy story needs a Bond girl, and whether she’s a “King’s Man” or foil, this time the choice is actual former Bond girl Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) to take over where Sofia Boutella left off in the first movie. You’ll also find a familiar face with Captain Marvel and Shazam!’s Djimon Hounsou. The King’s Manreflects a cast list that includes superhero go-to guy Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron),Stanley Tucci(Captain America: The First Avenger),Rhys Ifans (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Daniel Bruhl (Captain America: Civil War, Falcon and Winter Soldier), Charles Dance (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Gosford Park),Watchmen and Downton Abbey’sMatthew Goode, and Pirates of the Caribbean and Bohemian Rhapsody’sTom Hollander as King George V.
Take a look at the first trailer for The King’s Man:
Steve Rogers. John Spartan and Simon Phoenix. Han Solo. Austin Powers and Doctor Evil. George Taylor. Mr. Scott and Khaaaaaan!
Now meet Chen Andalou and Dark Horse Comics’ new mini-series, Astro Hustle.
Not just another Space Station 76, it’s a four-part tale of space pirates out beyond Cosmic Coffee and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It has the space action of Killjoys and the fun of 1980’s Flash Gordon. The lost ship Sinnematica has been adrift in space, and with it one Chen Andalou, preserved for the past 60 years in cryo-freeze. Another sci-fi fish out of water, Chen is unstuck in time, surrounded by a future costumed like Barbarella meets the 1979-81 Buck Rogers, and filled with the more off-the-wall elements of Spaceballs and the animated version of Space Ghost, all thrown in for good measure. And then what? Chen runs right into the cop–Captain Igor, a mix of Javert and Prince Barin who is all ready to arrest him.
Plenty of aliens are around to judge him, too–robots like the crazed guard in Logan’s Run and a mix of everyone else you might find aboard the Fhloston Paradise. Lucky for Chen he meets up with Carbon John the space pirate and his trusty Number One, Svetlana. But he soon learns while he was asleep his brother became President of the Galaxy. Wait–are they going to end up like the princes of England or the Kim Jong brothers?
What’s missing? The Cannon Films adaptation and a soundtrack by MECO (that’s the band with Tony Bongiovi, cousin of the Bon Jovi brothers, and Mr. Fabulous Alan Rubin of The Blues Brothers), and it should ship with one of those MPC model kits of a van with the space logo on its side. Astro Hustle has the crazy/cool of both Vandroid (the comic) and ManBorg (the B-movie), thanks to a creator-owned story by Jai Nitz(El Diablo, Toshiro, Kato Origins, Tron: Betrayal), artwork by Tom Reilly, color by Ursula Decay, and letters by Chris “Crank!” Crank (Rick and Morty, Ciudad, Toshiro).
Eighty years ago Superman first hit neighborhood newsstands in Issue #1 of Action Comics–an issue that if you kept your copy could pay off your house, car, and retirement. The cover was dated June 1938, but it was in kids’ hands first on April 18, 1938. DC Comics is celebrating Superman’s big anniversary this week with a celebratory issue of Action Comics numbered 1000, created by some of DC’s top writers and artists, an anthology of stories just as you’d find in Action Comics’ first 500 issues. The 1,000 issues is spot-on with the number of Action Comics issues released, but those counting the months since 1938 will come up short: Action Comics shifted from a monthly to a bi-weekly once upon a time, and you won’t find numbered issues #905-956, which were replaced by 52 issues of the New 52 reboot numbering 1-52. For American comic book fans, there’s something special about holding this issue in your hands. It’s no small feat seeing such a truly undisputed iconic character get to this point.
The 80-page giant issue is one not to pass up. For current fans, it’s a ramp-up to Brian Michael Bendis’s writing run beginning with the complete issue #1001. For everyone else, it’s a nostalgic trip via variant covers and dozens of classic and modern creators offering up stories about the Man of Steel. The writers? Dan Jurgens, Peter Tomasi, Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, Scott Snyder, Tom King, Louise Simonson, Paul Dini, Brad Meltzer, and Brian Michael Bendis. The artists? Dan Jurgens, Pat Gleason, Curt Swan, Neal Adams, Olivier Coipel, Rafael Albuquerque, Clay Mann, Jerry Ordway, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, John Cassaday, Jim Lee, Norm Rapmund, Butch Guice, Kurt Schaffenberger, Kevin Nowlan, Scott Williams, Hi-Fi Color, Alejandro Sanchez, Dave McCaig, Jordie Bellaire, Trish Mulvihill, Laura Martin, and Alex Sinclair. Cover artists include Steve Rude, Michael Cho, Dave Gibbons, Michael Allred, Jim Steranko, Joshua Middleton, Dan Jurgens, Kevin Nowlan, Lee Bermejo, Dave Dorman, George Perez, Neal Adams, Jim Lee (providing the main cover and two variants), Curt Swan, Felipe Massafera, Nicola Scott, Jock, Oliver Coipel, Jason Fabok, Kaare Andrews, Gabrielle Dell’Otto, Artgerm, Tyler Kirkham, Pat Gleason, Francesco Mattina, Ken Haeser, Doug Mahnke, and Tony S. Daniel. Check out images of all the variant covers below. Our favorite? Danielle Dell’Otto’s take on Christopher Reeve at the Fortress of Solitude, and Pat Gleason’s cover, which includes Krypto.
Some comic book stores are holding events to celebrate the Man of Steel’s big day. This Saturday if you’re in the Kansas City area head on over to Elite Comics, where you can pick up copies of Issue #1000 plus a limited exclusive Superman print (shown above) by artist Bryan Fyffe, a nationally-recognized artist whose licensed works include projects for Disney and Star Wars. Or check out your own neighborhood store.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the sequel to the 2014 spy movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, is coming to the theaters in a few weeks. If you didn’t see the original, it was probably because of its rather uninspired title. But don’t wait any longer. Kingsman: The Secret Service is a blast. And it’s streaming right now. Kingsman: The Secret Service stars Colin Firth as a secret agent in a new brand of 007 series, as he attempts to recruit the next member of the Kingsman organization, the son of a former agent, played by Taron Egerton. It’s stylish. It’s wall-to-wall action. It’s part dark comedy. And its over-the-top violence is operatic and epic. The last time we had this much fun was watching Roddy Piper and Keith David in They Live.
For those hoping Firth would ever be tapped as Bond, this is every bit that, only Firth’s master spy has moves like no Bond ever had. One scene provides so much hand-to-hand combat you’d think you were watching Kill Bill, and the Quentin Tarantino influence doesn’t stop there. You’d almost think the retired director was the ghost director behind the mayhem in the film’s climactic battle. It’s just as well, as actual director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake) proves again he knows the action genre.
Every great British spy story needs a Bond girl, and Sofia Boutella’s Gazelle is up there with the best. Her missing lower legs (no, we never learn why) were replaced with steel blades, blades that can kill–and very much do. Think of Bond girls played by Famke Janssen and Grace Jones, and Boutella fits right in. Every bit the combat equal to Firth and Egerton’s spies, Gazelle is practically a character missing from Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies. Continue reading →
Ten years after Return of the Jedi, Topps trading cards editor and writer Gary Gerani was tasked once again to meet fan demand for more Star Wars trading cards. Many years before he would create photo cards for a new trilogy of prequels, he would team up with Lucasfilm’s Steve Sansweet to showcase Star Wars as interpreted by some of the best artists that contributed to the films or would re-imagine the “Star Wars Galaxy” in their own styles.
The three resulting trading card series have been released in the 2016 addition to Abrams ComicArts successful hardbound series featured here previously at borg.com. Star Wars Galaxy: The Original Topps Trading Card Series includes the works of more than 170 artists in more than 200 card reproductions, plus commentary by Gerani and an afterword by notable poster artist Drew Struzan. Unlike the prior volumes in the series, only the obverse image from the cards, which featured the artwork, is included.
You’ll find an incredible array of imagery by a surprising combination of artists, including rare images you will have seen only if you collected the original cards. So you’ll find the work of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Ralph McQuarrie, Moebius, Drew Struzan, Dave Dorman, Al Williamson, Howard Chaykin, Mike Grell, John Eaves, Mike Zeck, George Perez, Jim Starlin, Dave Stevens, Walter Simonson, Gene Colan, Rich Buckler, Bill Sienkiewicz, Mark Schultz, P. Craig Russell, Dave Gibbons, Sergio Aragones, Boris Vallejo, Charles Vess, and Gil Kane.
The volume includes the entire run of portraits created for Star Wars Galaxy specifically for the Topps cards by Joseph Smith–the original art was later bought by George Lucas for his personal collection.
We’re always on the lookout for the next James Bond. Three years ago we here at borg.com nominated Rufus Sewell here and Paul Blackthorne (Arrow, Dresden Files) and Jason Isaacs (Awake, Harry Potter)here. Fortunately Daniel Craig doesn’t appear to be giving up his Walther PPK or Aston Martin anytime soon. But what about the British number one heartthrob, Colin Firth?
Now we at least have an idea of what Firth’s Bond might look like with the preview to the 2016 release Kingsman: The Secret Service this week. Admittedly we first thought this trailer was for a remake of the classic British spy series The Avengers, with Firth as John Steed. Ralph Fiennes, the newest M in the James Bond franchise, was the latest to don the famous bowler hat and umbrella for that role. Firth would have been a good choice for that role, but he also seems to be summoning a little foppish Peter Sellers from the original Casino Royale, too.
Based on the six issue comic book mini-series Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men: First Class), this latest spy flick has Firth mentoring a street-kid for possible inclusion in a secret spy society. That mentoring makes this movie give off a vibe like another great coming of age flick of years past, The Freshman, starring Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick. If Kingsman is half as good as that film, we’ve got something to look forward to.
Rogue Trooper was originally a comic book strip from the pages of the British comic 2000 A.D, created by Gerry Finley-Day and Watchmen’s Dave Gibbons. Rogue is the name of a genetic infantryman or “G.I.” who is a soldier on a mission along with three dead soldier friends suspended in the form of bio-chips mounted to his equipment: Gunnar (mounted atop Rogue’s rifle), Helm (attached to his helmet), and Bagman (attached to his backpack). It’s a gritty war comic, and a mash-up with sci-fi elements.
A future war has poisoned the entire atmosphere of Nu-Earth, prompting one side to create Genetic Infantrymen: blue-skinned soldiers who can breathe the toxic air, equipped with bio-chips to record their personalities in their final moments for eventual re-corporation. But a traitor sold the G.I.s out, and all but one were slaughtered. Now he stalks Nu-Earth on a mission of revenge, aided by his dead friends now “living” in his gun, helmet and backpack. He is the last G.I.-the Rogue Trooper!
After the break, click this link for a preview of the new Rogue Trooper series courtesy of IDW Publishing:
If you are looking for an introduction to critically acclaimed comics in one volume while also getting a dose of exposure to some newer talents, Atomeka Press has teamed up with Titan Comics to release a new hardcover volume, A1 Annual: The World’s Greatest Comics. With such a loaded title, you’d expect the entries to be pretty powerful stuff. You’ll certainly find a broad mix of story and art styles, but ultimately beauty is in the eye of the reader. Does the volume live up to the title?
No doubt everyone, no matter how critical your eye, will find at least a few gems here. When you realize you’re dealing with the likes of Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Dave Gibbons, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Steranko, Alan Moore, and James Robinson, it’s pretty easy to see why the editors had the chutzpah to come up with such a cocky title.
Their names evoke the best of the Golden Age of comic books. Modern readers can still appreciate that their work stands up against the best modern storytelling. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby hold a unique place in the history of comics, known for creating hundreds of characters, but most notably Captain America. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s and into the 1960s they also put their own mark on the science fiction genre, carrying forward the futuristic vision and stories that melded science fiction and fantasy first brought to comic book form by Alex Raymond in 1930s Flash Gordon strips. Jack Kirby is still king to many comic book readers today.
The volume includes “Solar Patrol,” written and drawn by Simon, and “Solar Legion,” written and drawn by Kirby, both from 1940. Blue Bolt issues 1-10 plant the seeds for elements of modern sci-fi books, TV series, and movies. Spaceships, space cars, rockets, spacemen and aliens all can be found here, with stories reminiscent of The Twilight Zone and Kirby’s classic pencil work. The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction includes stories from several other Golden Age comic titles, including Black Cat Mystic, Alarming Tales, Race for the Moon, Alarming Adventures, and Blast Off.
. With such a loaded title, you’d expect the entries to be pretty powerful stuff. You’ll certainly find a broad mix of story and art styles, but ultimately beauty is in the eye of the reader. Does the volume live up to the title?
and 
. The third installment now available reprints their collaboration in science fiction spanning more than 20 years in 
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