BKV is Big Screen Bound, and He's Bringing His Runaways

Brian K. Vaughan's hot Marvel book is headed to the big screen.
by Danger

According to Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios is going ahead with a Runaways film. Even better news is that the screenplay is being penned by co-creator, and original writer, Brian K. Vaughan. No word on who'll direct but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige will produce.



The Runaways is a story of six teenagers who find out that there parents aren't exactly who they say they are. In fact, they are all part of a secret group called 'The Pride' who quietly run all of Los Angeles. After being bomb-shelled with the news the kids do what they think is best for them and run away from home, hence the name. The book's beautifully written by Brian K. Vaughan, who is also a co-producer and writer of ABC'S Lost, and with him at the screenplay helm there can be no wrong.

A possible movie comes as great news to all Runaways and BKV fans around the world. Runaways has been one of Marvel's greatest written books in the past few years, and it can only mean good things for the book to get the movie treatment. As a big fan of the series, I am stoked to hear this wonderful bit of info, even if the movie won't be out for a few years. Still, if the film is anywhere as good as Iron Man, then this will be an enjoyable movie for both the hardcore and new-school fan alike.

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Amazing Spider-Man #555-557 Review

Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo deliver a three-issue Spidey treat.
by Danger

The current Amazing Spider-Man storyline helmed by both Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo is a continuation of the no-strings-attached, Brand New Day Spider-Man. Sometime in the later half of 2007 Marvel announced that their Amazing Spider-Man title would hit the shelves three times a month. Four different creative teams were brought in with a month each to tell their story. Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo make up the final team to deliver their take on a post-One More Day Spider-man.



Amazing Spider-Man #555 kicks off the three issue arc and sets the story off strong. New York has been overrun by a freak snow storm, but is it of natural occurrence or is something else working behind the scenes? Can Spidey find out the real reason behind the frostbite-inducing cold that has taken over his city? Will Spider-Man be enough to save the day?

Zeb Wells, known best for his Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways tie-in, is a writer who understands what Spidey is all about. Wells' Spidey is a loudmouth but easy to relate to, he makes mistakes and shows weakness but is heroic when need be. It appears as if Marvel is breeding Wells to be one of their top new writers and have decided to test his chops with his turn on an A-list character book. I for one, believe that he's done a great job on the book and look forward to seeing a lot more from him.



Canadian artist Chris Bachalo is no stranger to Marvel Comics. After getting his start on DC's The Sandman, followed by some other collaborations with Neil Gaiman, Chris was hired by Marvel. Chris co-created Generation X with Scott Lobdell, later moving on to do a plethora of X-Men books. It's hard to find artists that 'get' Spider-Man but Bachalo knows what he's doing with the character. His expressions are wild and his Spidey is very well defined.

Spider-Man has gone through some tough times over the year. Flip-flopping through two sides of a war, losing friends and allies, and losing the love of his life. Thanks to the controversial One More Day story arc he has a chance to start things fresh. But is this a good or a bad thing for Spider-Man? So far I'm enjoying most of what has come out of it, but I do hope that things do get better for both Peter and the readers.

One Sentence Review: Quite possibly my favourite storyline out of the first four creator groups. | 8.0/10

Larry_Chimp_Man's Second Opinion: The past three issues of Amazing Spider-Man deliver one of the best Spidey arcs within recent memory. Spider-Man should be, above all, about fun and over the past year we've seen all of that stripped out of the character during the Back in Black and One More Day storylines. Brand New Day was a chance to rectify the Wallcrawler and return him to his roots. The first three arcs were hit and miss, unable to bring back the Spidey we all know and love. This fourth arc, however, is right on the money. Zeb Wells writes a Spidey that is witty yet human. Wells shows Spider-Man's vulnerability but doesn't dwell on it, allowing the character to remain light in dark situations. Chris Bachalo is perfect for Spider-Man and his work feels like a taste of a more mature Humberto Ramos. He's characters are very well animated and his panels are extremely detailed yet beautifully composed. One can hope we see Wells and Bachalo back on a Spidey book in the near future as they have found a way out of the mess that is Brand New Day and delivered an excellent Spider-Man arc.

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Drillbit Taylor Review

Drillbit Taylor falls flat.
by Mikie

With Seth Rogan co-writing the film, and Judd Apatow getting a producer credit, one would think that Drillbit Taylor would be somewhat enjoyable. It almost is. Using a familiar formula, this story involves a tall-skinny kid, a fat-loud kid, and a smallish-uber-dork kid and how they deal with the start of their high school 'careers'. Only this time, instead of raunchy talk about girls and sex they're dealing with something every Hollywood high school has: the bully.



I found the movie somewhat enjoyable as it has its funny points, however they come too few and far-between and weren't able to keep me interested in the flick. The movie drags on for 100 minutes and continually slows down during its runtime. Once you figure out how it will conclude, which most could solve in the first 10 minutes, you'll want to speed to the end ASAP and head home.

Drillbit Taylor doesn't provide a new role for Owen Wilson as it feels quite a bit like a character we've seen before from the actor. Wilson’s character appears confused for most of the film, using nothing but lies and luck to get by. His performance really sags and he fails to carry any weight in the movie.



However, Drillbit Taylor does have its redeeming qualities. The scenes where Wilson and the kids are paired together is where the movie shines the most. The Mexican Judo, hold-back technique, and mind-over-pain training scenes all end with humorous results. The three kids who play the main targets of the bully do show some promise in future movies, especially Troy Gentile who plays the overweight kid. Drillbit Taylor does try its best to make you laugh, and there are a few good jokes found in the film.

One Sentence Review: The movie's tag-line is, "You get what you pay for" and I'm glad I watched the movie for free. | 6.1/10

A Second Opinion - larry_chimp_man: As much as I tried to enjoy the Steven Brill-directed Drillbit Taylor I couldn't buy into the poorly done cookie-cutter of a film. I found myself hating the majority of the film's characters the more I got to know them and Owen Wilson is garbage with one of his most disappointing performances. However, Leslie Mann is fun to watch as always. The film's plot points are obvious from the get-go but feel cheap and poorly executed when pulled off later in the flick. Drillbit Taylor is also severely lacking the funnies. The one or two laughs that escaped from my mouth while watching this flick were more out of pity than amusement. Avoid Drillbit Taylor at all costs. One of the worst of 2008 so far.

Have you seen Drillbit Taylor? Post a comment with your review.

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