NYCC 2011: Hasbro's 2012 Preview, Part 1

Kicking off the convention weekend right with a "Preview Night Party," prolific toymaker Hasbro offered journalists a sneak peek of their 2011 and 2012 product lineups from iconic brands like Transformers, Marvel, G.I. Joe, and Star Wars.

OTF was graciously invited to attend the party, and the little kids in all of us are actually pretty excited!

First up: the robots in diguise!  Hasbro introduced us to the upcoming Transformers lineup in classic action figure scale. Scheduled for a release scheduled sometime in 2012, these figures are based on the recent Transformers Prime television show on The Hub network.

Hit the jump for more Transformers, G.I. Joe, and The Avengers! Also, stay tuned for Part 2 for details of their newest Star Wars products!

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Avengers Assemble!

It seems that ESQ spotted an Avengers promo poster at the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas. Let's take a look shall we?

Click for full size. Courtesy DailyBlam.com.

Well then, I'm pretty sure that that could not have gone any better. This poster is the first time we have seen all of the heroes together, even if it is only rendered. The Avengers assemble May 4th 2012.

First Official Pic of Chris Evans as Cap!

I think it's safe to say, anyone who was worried about Chris Evans being able to pull off Captain America can now relax. Entertainment Weekly via io9 has brought us our first official look at Chris Evans as Captain America. It's only from the chest up, but man that costume is perfect. It mixes 1940's textures and style with the original costume concept. We still have to see the cowl, but if they go with the helmet look the final product will be stunning.

Update on October 29, 2010 at 2:22 PM by Rob "T3k" Piontek

Additional photos from inside this week's edition of Entertainment Weekly have surfaced, showcasing Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Stanley Tucci, and Hugo Weaving.  Click the image below for more.

The Avengers Assemble at NYCC!

Marvel unveiled the first two episodes of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! at NYCC this past weekend, and I was amongst the crowd that got to check them out! So, do we have our selves the next X-Men, or are we just getting another Avengers: United They Stand? Read on!

The Avengers is the first project to come out of Marvel's new TV division headed by the venerable Jeph Loeb, and, for a first outing, things couldn't have gone better! Rather than providing us a show with a pre-assembled team, we get to see the team come together piece by piece. The pilot provides us with the original Avenger's line up, as seen in Avengers #1from way back, consisting of Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Wasp, and Ant-Man. The pilot does a great job setting up each character, especially The Hulk. The creators are taking the Hulk in a slightly different direction then we have seen before and it really has the chance to give us some exciting stories down the road. The only gripe I have with the team is The Wasp. It seems the writers read a few too many of the old Avengerscomics and decided to make her the overly perky, sometimes useless, and definitely annoying character she was back in the 60's.

The Avengers would be pretty useless without some awesome villains to fight, and this is where the new show shines. The pilot takes a pretty obscure Avengers villain and turns him into a force to be reckoned with. Match that with the villains new and old that get teased in this pilot and we have enough material to keep The Avengers running strong for seasons to come.

At the beginning of the panel, Jeph Loeb spoke about how Marvel comics have a certain look and feel to them that separates every one of their books from the others and how they wanted to bring that to their new TV projects. I would say they succeeded at that. The Avengers' animation style is very unique, and, while some may be put off by the sharp edges of the characters, it really works for the show. The whole show feels "Marvel," and its style sets it apart from all the other superhero shows currently running.

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! debuts next Wednesday, October 20th at 8:30pm on DisneyXD. After what I saw this past weekend, any fan of The Avengers would be doing themselves a disservice by not checking this out!

Review: Secret Avengers #1

I wasn’t even going to buy this book. The team seemed cool, but I figured one Avengers book would be enough for me. This was all until I read an interview on io9 with Ed Brubaker, the writer for Secret Avengers. In the interview, Brubaker described a pulpy super spy style book with Lovecraftian themes. I couldn’t dial the phone fast enough to have my shop add this to my pull list. I suggest you all do the same, because Secret Avengers could be the best thing to come out of the Heroic Age.

Let’s start with the team. You’ve got Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, Beast, Moon Knight, Black Widow, War Machine, Valkyrie , Ant-Man, and Nova . It seems like Brubaker used a dart board to select this team but it if you look closely you’ll see that all the members have some sort of military or espionage experience.  The odd ball out is Beast, but every good team needs a tech and science guy. The reason they are “secret” is because they are a covert ops group whose mission is to make surgical strikes to bring down threats that the general public should never know even existed. It’s a great concept made even greater by the team that has been assembled.

A team as colorful as this one needs one hell of a story to back it, and Brubaker delivers.  We start with a snatch and grab op in Dubai, move to a covert infiltration of a Roxxon facility, and end up on Mars. The story moves at a breakneck pace and it all revolves around what seems to be a powerful artifact. This is where the Lovecraftian themes come in to play. This is a very ancient artifact, and it seems to move and not move all at the same time. There is, of course, a rival group attempting to acquire the same artifact and the reveal of their leader floored me. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

The book’s art is provided by Mike Deodato and he does a fantastic job. He works wonders with shadows in his frames. Every image bleeds with attitude and atmosphere. It kind of reminds me of Mike Mignola in some cases, which is perfect for what this book is trying to achieve. The scene where Beast is examining is wonderful. Beast can be a tough character put on paper but

If you are only going to pick up one book this month, make it this one. This is a breath of fresh air in a Marvel Universe dominated by Brain Michael Bendis. The story is fantastic and you couldn’t ask for a cooler cast of characters.  

Assemble!

Marvel is only a few months away from the beginning of their Heroic Age.  Following their current Siege event, the Marvel Universe will be brought back to a time when men and heroes wore tights.

Well, maybe not that old school.  But for the past few years, the Marvel Universe has been brought down by one game-changing, traumatic event after another.  You have Avengers dissassembling, mutants being brought to the brink of extinction, a Civil War, a Skrull invasion, a war with the Hulk, and, oh yeah, the death of Captain America.  That doesn't even include all the little stuff that has happened to each character.

Marvel has decided that enough is enough.  The "House of Ideas" had this to say in a press release from February:

The Heroic Age ushers in a brighter Marvel Universe and a bold new era for the world's greatest super heroes as they emerge from darkness with a renewed sense of hope and optimism, leading to the formation of all new teams with new members...and brand new characters!

One of the most important things to come from this new age will be a reboot of The Avengers!  Marvel has been teasing us with the new Avenger teams for a month or so now, but this past week, they revealed the line up for the New Avengers, while still dangling the identities of the Secret Avengers in front of our noses.  I'm not going to lie: I feel like a five year old again. And in case you were still unsure, the plain ole' vanilla Avengers will be starring the names you all know and love: Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor.

There will be a lot more news coming out as Siege draws to a close, so keep The Fridge open and we'll be sure to let you know when Marvel decides to add some tasty tidbits to our shelves!