DC Comics New Logo Superman - H 2012
Back by popular demand, Heat Vision’s weekly rundown of what the geek crowd is talking about.
1) The New DC Logo
Comic fans don’t like change and they don’t like when someone messes up logos. There was an uproar when DC change its logo back in 2005 And there was an even bigger one this week when DC unveiled it’s image for the digital generation. The logo has a “peel” aspect to it so it looks like the D is peeling back to reveal the C underneath.
Many fanboys reacted predictably, saying DC stands for “Designed Challenged,” that it looks like a condom package, and spitting out the usual “epic fail.”
Some, though, some took time to be a bit more thoughtful. On Signalnoise, one said “It comes down to those who view branding as the foundation and those who see it as paint. I think a cool new logo should stem from a proven need to rebrand, and it seems to me DC has decided they ‘want’ to rebrand because of a cool new logo.” Said another, “If you take away the copy you have no idea this is comics, or entertainment in general. Whereas all previous logos either built on a legacy and brand recognition, or had enough “pop culture” in their design to indicate what it represented.”
Fans didn’t like the change in 2005 but back then initial complaints eventually turned into love. How long before it happens with this one?
2) Green Arrow gets a pilot order
DC and comics fans got good news this week when CW ordered up to pilot a show based on the green-suited archer. Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, vets of the TV scene who also co-wrote the Green Lantern movie, plus Fringe exec producer Andrew Kreisberg, are behind it.
Now fans are speculating what their take will be and debating the clues. For one, the show is called Arrow and not Green Arrow. And will he still shoot trick arrows like the awesome boxing glove arrows?
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3) The trailer for FDR:American Badass
“F*** polio!” yells one of the most famous American presidents in this loony, profanity-laden red band trailer for a loony, profanity-laden movie featuring Barry Bostwick as Nazi werewolf-fighting Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Actor Ross Patterson wasn’t happy with his acting career so he started making his own comedic videos on YouTube. That led to financing coming his way and now the guy is a veritable writer-producer with several low-budget movies coming this year. (And he still acts, too.)
The first is one is called Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury starring Kevin Sorbo but what has suddenly caught fire is the trailer for FDR, which was released this week and was seen on sites ranging from PerezHilton to Entertainment Weekly.
4) Camelot no more
Warners was gearing up to make a movie on the King Arthur myth, prepping to shoot Arthur & Lancelot in the spring. It had its two leads, Joel Kinnaman and Kit Harrington, was circling around Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, when on Thursday the studio pulled the movie off its 2013 release schedule.
The budget is too high and the studio isn’t ready to bet big on a buddy action comedy take on two guys who are untested on the big-screen. The studio says the movie project isn’t dead but if problems aren’t solved soon, it may lose its actors. Harrington, for example, can only wait so long before he needs to return to Game of Thrones.
5) Comic creators on opposing sides of the SOPA debate
While the federal anti-piracy bill SOPA died in its current form, the online piracy issue did stir up a ton of debate. The issue has been a hot topic in the comic publishing community for a long time. In the days before SOPA was scrapped, Neil Gaiman publicly signed a petition against it, X-Factor writer Peter David spoke against it but also came out strongly against piracy, and veteran writer J.M. DeMatteis likened file-sharing as loaning a music or comics to a friend.
Just because the bill has been tabled doesn’t mean the debate is off.
