Hey!!! I'm on TV!!!!

Not really me, But this artwork was. It is a page I'm working on for an upcoming coming comic from Imagination Comics called The Legend of Boudicca. It aired tonight on Attack of the Show on G4. I'm going to try to get a copy of the show for the site so you can check it out later. But for now bask in the glory of my brush with notoriety. The truth is anyone could have faxed anything into the show tonight, and by the looks of things, they did. But Mine was the first piece on the show and I thank them for their kind words in regards to my art.

Hey, Joey, We're FAMOUS!

The Flash

As a kid The Flash was another favorite of mine. I can't really say why, There are cooler characters out there, but in elementary school, if I had a red shirt on I was the Flash during recess. So should The Flash be essentially a kids movie that retains the charm I saw in it as a child or should it make the same leap as a lot of other comics and present itself to an adult audience? Most often studios seek to compromise and make a movie somewhere between adult and child. Too often this leads to mediocrity . It is a priority for the producers and director to be on the same page about this and decide what kind of movie they want to make.

I prefer the Bartholomew "Barry" Allen days, but I am admittedly nostalgic. This would require an origin rewrite because I don't see anyone buying the lightning bolt striking a bunch of chemicals on a shelf crap. But I have already had an idea that would be a better substitute. For those of you who may not know, Barry Allen stores his costume in a ring he wears. Once he opens the ring and the costume fibers are exposed to air the costume expands to normal, wearable size. So Barry is a chemist by trade, in my version of the origin he is working on a protective suit for soldiers encountering different environments. The suit is actually a series of nanobots stored in a ring to expand over the soldiers body once the ring is activated. But for the purpose of this story the nanobots spread over the body too slowly, he is looking for an instantaneous effect. To overcome his quandary, Barry invents a synthetic gas that accelerates the nano-technology...an accident occurs...aaaaand you see where this is going.

Now my redesigns for the Flash uniform have reasons behind the redo. First I think it should look more like a runners outfit and this is one of the few times I forgo my aversion to spandex. aerodynamics would be important so to this one I'll turn a blind eye. I based my design on an old Cadillac style and you can see I've skipped the gold and replaced it with chrome. Much more sleek and modern in my opinion.

The director of this film needs to keep in mind that the old fail-safe of just running the actor in fast forward is not going to work anymore. We are going to need some truly sci-fi worthy special effects to show The Flash's amazing powers. It would be wise to assign a concept art team that only works on those effects.

I'll add more to this post concerning the main villians but I want to have some casting in mind before I write those parts.

The Avengers

I suppose this one is the most debatable, so I'll start here.

The characters I am most insistent upon seeing are as follows:

• Captain America
• Hawkeye
• Vision
• Wonder Man
• Iron Man
• Thor
• Henry Pym (as any hero)
• Wasp

My selection of minor characters is sparse but worth mentioning:

• Scarlett Witch
• Tigra
• Marvel Girl
• other

As far as the main villains are concerned I have been on and around the fence. I have considered HYDRA, Skrulls, a combination of the two and even heard they were considering using the Hulk as the villain. I'm fine with anything, I think as long as HYDRA is involved. Ultron would be a great possibility to get Hank's storyline going quickly.


Here is where everyone is going to groan but these are my choices for actors playing certain roles. No one likes to complain like a fanboy so with full warning here is what I would like:

• Captain America= Josh Brolin
• Vision= Hank Azaria
• Hawkeye= Matthew Lillard

I know, I know, sssshhhhhhhh... be calm. How could I possibly cast these two comedic hams in these oh-so important roles. I'll tell you. But first, Brolin.

Cap really needs to be confident, have swagger, and a strong sense of honesty, one that comes through the eyes. Josh Brolin has these things and for that reason I think Johnah Hex is a total waste of his ability. I really don't know of an actor who can pull it off better than he.

Azaria I cast for two reasons, with a shaved head and some pasty makeup he could really look the part. Throw some all black contact lenses on his eyeballs and he could be downright creepy in the role. I picture the Vision as almost a cenebite, like a artificial human experiment gone nearly wrong. Also, he could invent the voice of an android with no sfx.

OK...if you think Lillard can't act go see SLC Punk and call me in the morning. This kid just can't get a role to suit him. So I say, give him Hawkeye. Make the role funny and offensive. Clint could almost be a redneck, but a complete baddass. But one thing the writers absolutely must do is change his M.O. He can't just have a bow and dumbass trick arrows. We know we are getting a Green Arrow movie so why compete with that. I say change Hawkeye to an expert marksman with ANYTHING. Give him throwing stars, darts, a gun even. I say don't break out the bow untill the last fight scene in the movie, right at a highly climactic moment. Audiences will cheer and no one will leave angry.

There are also certain plot elements I have to be insistant upon.

How can all of this action in New York happen without some cameos? First and foremost, Spider-man. Even just crawling on the side of a building. Or even pitching in for a second. The beauty of this is that in full costume, Maguire doesn't have to show up.

Also the Hulk or Bruce Banner should have SOME involvement. To what degree I'm not certain but the set up in the Incredible Hulk pretty much demands it.

Also in need of a change up is Wonder Man. WAAAAAYYYYYY to Superman. The glowing eyes will help but certain things have to go including the flying. That's right Wonder Man no fly. Also it would be helpfull if he had to power up before he can use his strength and such. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

That's all for this one. I'll add more as it comes to me.
Also, look for pics, coming soon


12-1-08

Got two new thoughts for this posting. First Thor, with no doubt in my mind should be Sean Bean. And I'm leaning towards Drew Barrymore as Wasp.