Spider-Man 3 Swings Through Box Office Records

Not only did Spider-Man 3 break box office records in South Korea and Tokyo, but it smashed the previous US opening weekend record set by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last July. It's already been estimated that in the US, Spider-Man 3 brought in $148 million USD in three days, topping $135 million USD by Pirates 2. With Pirates 3 opening later this month, it will interesting to see if the next movie will steal the crown from Spider-Man 3. I'm sure Pirates 3 will come close, but $148 million USD in one weekend will be a tough one to top. Spider-Man 3 is a very fun, entertaining, action-packed, and even comedic movie. I was surprised that they had more humor in this one than Spider-Man 2. Some of those scenes with Peter Parker (like when he started wearing the black costume under his street clothes) were hilarious. And there were some cool surprises in the plot. One can only wonder if visions of Carnage are dancing in the heads of the creators of Spider-Man 4.

Incredible Hulk Casting News

Actress Liv Tyler has been signed on to star as Betty Ross in the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie to be released June 13, 2008. Tyler is best known as Arwen, Aragon's love interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tyler will play opposite Edward Norton (Bruce Banner) in next year's summer blockbuster. In the comic book, Betty Ross made her first appearance in Incredible Hulk #1 as she crossed paths with Bruce and the Hulk for the first time. She eventually became Bruce's girlfriend and then wife. This upcoming Incredible Hulk movie will be a relaunch of the Hulk franchise. Marvel's head of movie productions Avi Arad stated recently: "It's a new Hulk, new direction, new size, new color, new attitude. Anything that was done before is not in this movie. It's a very different kind of Hulk. It's more of a love story, it's more of a heroic Hulk. It's a kind of Hulk we loved in the show, so it's kind of more influenced by the show than anything else. It's very human, very touching, and huge action." Nuff said.

Random Comic Book Photo

Naughty Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) appears in the new Spider-Man 3 movie. So this is what we don't see when Spidey swings on home. Click here to view a much larger photo

Amazing Spider-Man #298 & 299 (Venom Cameo)

2 cbr files | 10 & 7 Mb | 22 pages each

These comics are extremely popular at the moment. It's the first two issues that artist Todd McFarlane ever drew of Spider-Man and Venom also makes a cameo in both issues. Venom's cameo is so brief in #298 that it's almost not worth mentioning. It wasn't until #299 that we actually get a full look at Venom. The storyline for #299 is a continuation of #298 so you'll probably want to read both of them. The amazing thing about issue #298 is that McFarlane's penciling style looks very basic in this issue. If it didn't say "pencils by Todd McFarlane," most people probably wouldn't be able to identify that Todd drew this issue. He begins to develop his own unique style in #299 in a few panels, but basically continues to stick to the typical Peter Parker and Mary Jane look. It's not until issue #300 that we see the true flashy McFarlane pencils that made Todd a Spider-Man fan favorite. The story of issue #298 and 299 is about the villain Chance and how he's blowing things up, stealing guns, and being followed by Spider-Man. Spidey makes some mistakes in these issues that are probably the result of past dealings with the symbiote costume messing with his head. Here's some interesting trivia. In the movie "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark," one of the lead characters actually rips a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #298 in two. I can hear Spider-Man fans screaming "Noooooo!" Enjoy! Bauer out.

Amazing Spider-Man #298
Amazing Spider-Man #299

Random Comic Book Photo

Spider-Man dresses up as a wizard for Wizard magazine's 50th issue. Click here to view a large scan of this photo

Spider-Man: Blue Complete Mini-Series

One rar file containing 6 cbr files | 45.7 Mb total | 23 to 30 pages each

It's the complete Spider-Man: Blue mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale from 2002. Look for Spider-Man characters such as the Green Goblin, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, the Lizard, Mary Jane, the Vulture, Flash Thompson, Aunt May, and Kraven. There's 6 issues to this mini-series and they're all here in one file. Make sure to bookmark Jack Bauer's Headquarters or subscribe to the blog for future Spider-Man mini-series and also make sure to check the archives for posts that you may have missed from past months. You can use a simple free program like WinRar to open rar files. Enjoy! Bauer out.

Spider-Man: Blue Complete Mini-Series

Free Comic Book Day!

It's that time of the year again and selected comic books will be free at US comic book stores on this upcoming Saturday, May 5th. To get the list of all the titles that will be free and for comic book store locations, check out Free Comic Book Day Homepage. Get high on free comics! Bauer out.

Random Comic Book Photo

Captain America, Bucky, and the Red Skull by painter Joe Jusko. Click here to see a larger size photo

Bone Issue #27

One cbr file | 7.6 Mb | 23 pages

It's the final part to the Dragon Slayer storyline! So what's going to happen when Phoney Bone has the townspeople travel with him to capture a dragon? Will Phoney run out on his cousins Fone and Smiley? Also Thorn seems to realize in this issue that with great power, comes great responsibility. It's only fitting for the week of Spider-Man 3. Enjoy! Bauer out.
Bone Issue #27

Star Wars Issue #9

One cbr file | 9.4 Mb | 20 pages

It's a "Showdown on a Wasteland World!" Solo and Chewie continue their thrilling adventures on foreign planets. Cocky Solo saves a woman's life and decides that he enjoys the planet's scenery. Meanwhile, Luke and the droids split from Leia, which could turn out to be a bad idea. Also look for that giant rabbit again. He's back, he's green, he's armed, and freakin' mean. Enjoy! Bauer out.
Star Wars Issue #9

Random Comic Book Photo

Sometimes we just buy comic books for their covers. They can be deceptive at times. Jim Lee draws the cover for Infinite Crisis #2 and you might expect that he drew the entire issue. I don't particularly care about the content of this issue, but the cover with Power Girl and Superman is pretty sweet. You can open a full screen scan of this cover here.

Gen 13 v1 Issue #1 (1st J. Scott Campbell Pencils)

One cbr file | 10 Mb | 30 pages

Imagine a time when penciler J. Scott Campbell was unknown. He broke onto the comic book scene with this issue of Gen 13 as he drew Fairchild busting out of her clothing. Before the first issue of Gen 13 was released, this series was stuck in limbo for almost a year. Originally Jim Lee titled the series Gen X. Marvel comics was already planning to release a new title by the name Generation X, so Jim was forced to change the name of the series. This #1 issue was sold out before it even hit the shelves. It was so difficult to find any copies from this original miniseries until Image got wise and started printing extra copies for issues #5 and #0. So this is the issue that provides us with the origin of the superhero team Gen 13. Who are these teens? Where did they come from? Caitlin Fairchild is the main character of focus in this issue and we're also introduced to Grunge, Roxy, and Bobby. Wizard magazine has practically always had a monthly "Top 10" hot comic book list, and Gen 13 #1 was on that list for almost 2 years. At least you don't have to scramble to find this issue. Enjoy! Bauer out.

Gen 13 v1 Issue #1 (1st J. Scott Campbell Pencils)