Magnus returns

Virgule · Post by **Virgule** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:32 am

i dunno if there's a topic for that but magnus returns this april for a 3 part GN saga

seen on newsarama.

http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread. ... adid=27839

BACK FOR THE ROBOT FIGHTING: MAGNUS IN MAY
by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Russ Manning’s “Tarzan of the Future” returns from iBooks in May. Handling the new Magnus, Robot Fighter series is veteran writer Louise Simonson and artist Damion Hendricks. John Watson will be painting the Magnus covers.

“We were looking for a title that would bring some resonance to fans for the iBooks' graphic novel line,” iBooks president Byron Preiss told Newsarama. “My friends Steve Leialoha and Bil Stout were old Russ Manning fans and fondly remembered the original Magnus comics. My awareness of the fan's love for the character extended to the Valiant version, which was now over a decade old. So it seemed fair to look at rebooting the character again. I also was able to interest my mentor Jim Steranko in doing new character designs for the major characters, a big plus.

“I know Weezie [Louise Simonson] since the early days when I worked at DC Comics. I've always admired her work and after “Death of Superman” I knew she could do a major reinvention of an important character.

“Howard Zimmerman was a fan of Louise's as well so that clinched it.”

According to Zimmerman, who is the in-house project editor, Simonson has written the script for the first graphic novel, which will contain 45 pages of story and art in a 48-page package. The book will be in full color and the first volume is slated for a May release. “Our license is for three 48-page graphic novels,” he added.

“Weezie had done some previous work for us, and when the Magnus license deal was done, Byron contacted her. Fortunately, Weezie is a Magnus fan, and it was easy for her to say "yes" and make room for it in her schedule.”

“I found [Damion] through iBooks' association with Komikwerks. I asked Shannon [Denton] and Patrick [Coyle] to recommend artists they thought could handle the job. When I saw Damion's work, it became clear to me that he could handle both the people and tech aspects of the story. And his storytelling is terrific.”

“I think of him as Bart Sears meets Russ Manning,” Preiss added.

“The Magnus property that was licensed is from the original Russ Manning run on the character. Fans of that series will find many familiar aspects to the "new" Magnus universe, which actually takes place five years after the end of the Manning run.”

The original Magnus, Robot Fighter comics series from Gold Key first made its debut in 1963 and lasted only 46 issues. The classic story of man versus technology was later revived in the early 1990s by Jim Shooter and Valiant Comics. Dark Horse Comics is currently reprinting Manning’s original stories in a series of hard cover collections.

Other than the three Magnus graphic novels, Preiss hopes to do novels as well. “If the book works well, we would like to do novels, as we have done with Rising Stars, Witchblade and Green Lantern, now out in hardcover.”

Also, coming out from the publisher later this year is Stan Lee's Alexa, “a star-studded first graphic novel in a planned series featuring a superb story by Stan, script by Steve Roman (X-Men: Chaos Engine), art by newcomer to the USA Chris Malgrain and award-winners Dan Jurgens, Scott Hanna and Dave Gibbons. I think this is going to be a collectible in the first printing. We've upped the first printing based on orders, but this is Stan's first original print comics series since Just Imagine and it is way cool,” Preiss concluded.

Look for an interview with Louise Simonson tomorrow.

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:56 am

From the interview it sounds like Louise didn't like Shooter's explaination for all of those question she had while reading Manning's run and made her own (though apperantly she did like the concept of aliens who invaded Earth millenia ago coming back, hmmm...). It still sounds awlfully familar (atleast the Traffickers aren't draining humans of ectotheric energy) and doesn't particularly sound or look like Manning's stuff that she's supposed to be so faithful to. Still it has great art (ignoring the cover) and does have good story potential (though I'm still afraid they're going make Magnus into a cyborg or something equally as dumb). I'm crossing my fingers

and waiting for it to hit the dollar bin

.

myron · Post by **myron** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:45 am

still think one of the figures on that cover looks an awful lot like a malev...

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:24 am

Hopefully they will do a good job with Magnus. We all know that there is a lot of story potential with the character. Personally, I hope they don't steer too far from the original tale. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:31 pm

I am going to read those Gold Key Magnus issues I just bought now. This is getting me excited. No chub yet, but excited.

~The Unblessed Soul

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:00 pm

Well, at the very least they got rid of Magnus's " mini-skirt".

Virgule · Post by **Virgule** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:39 am

yeah...the skirt...kinda miss it somehow....

i'll go for the gold key reprints then re reead the valiant, try to complete the acclaim and go for this one...

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:32 am

jedimarley wrote:Well, at the very least they got rid of Magnus's " mini-skirt".

IT'S A TUNIC1!!

~The Unblessed Soul

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:45 am

Yeah the tunic is one of the few things that sets Magnus apart from other sci-fi characters visually. It's a classic design. No redesigned costume has ever seemed appropriate for the character. But atleast I could make fun of the dreadful VH-1 outfits (and I did...a lot

). The outfit he's shown in on the cover here is so generic, I can't even think of a crack on it. But still, a man isn't his clothes so maybe the story will be better than Magnus' taylor

.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:52 am

To me, the tunic and boots are a must for Magnus, it's like Superman and his cape. It's just not the same without it.

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:34 pm

SO, you GUYS are happy with the RED mini-skirt, sorry TUNIC, and the white GO-GO boots

whetteon · Post by **whetteon** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:37 pm

jedimarley wrote:SO, you GUYS are happy with the RED mini-skirt, sorry TUNIC, and the white GO-GO boots

yup. Because the clothes/tunic that makes the man!

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:51 pm

I would much rather see Leeja in this outfit

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:51 pm

Maybe it's time for Magnus to have a different look...

If we're hoping for a "new fan following" then we should note
that Wolverine is a bigger "star" in comics today...
now that he doesn't wear yellow spandex.

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:58 pm

It is. The red mini-skirt and the white Go-Go boots? It's like a episode of Laugh-In.

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:17 pm

Knightt_333 wrote:Since when does Magnus have BLONDE hair ? I mean, damn... when he had the dark hair he was HO... I mean he looked really cool !!! Now he looks like a Backstreet Boy on steroids.

Maybe it's a super-subtle tribute to 1939 New York World's Fair Comics...
when another dark-haired hero was suddenly blonde on the cover.

SiBill · Post by **SiBill** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:09 pm

Help me please people. Is it me or is there no mention of Predator vs Magnus on the valiant.com site?

I have been trying to get some info on that (those?)

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:18 pm

SiBill wrote:Help me please people. Is it me or is there no mention of Predator vs Magnus on the valiant.com site? I have been trying to get some info on that (those?)

http://www.valiantcomics.com/valiant/ti ... ?tc=pr&u=1

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 6:59 am

greg wrote:Maybe it's time for Magnus to have a different look...

If we're hoping for a "new fan following" then we should note
that Wolverine is a bigger "star" in comics today...
now that he doesn't wear yellow spandex.

Bigger than what? Wolverine definately doesn't move anywhere near the amount of comics he used to (I got a feeling the same could be said for merchandising, except for the movie),

Time for a different look for Magnus? I think they already did that. He had atleast four different costumes in the last three years of the series and we haven't seen him wear his orginal outfit regularly since 1993 (not counting reprints). I don't recall him burning up the sales charts with the new outfits once the hype left the book but, like I said before, the story in the comics sells it far more than Magnus' fashion sense (or lack of

).

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 1:10 pm

White Go-go Boots

After reading CBA #22 [The Gold Key Tribute issue], Manning said that he never left a note for the colorist as to what color to color the boots. Manning stated that they were supposed to be brown. But, no note meant no color aka white.

That's why Magnus has white go-go boots.

~The Unblessed Soul

SiBill · Post by **SiBill** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 1:30 pm

Unblessed wrote:
White Go-go Boots
After reading CBA #22 [The Gold Key Tribute issue], Manning said that he never left a note for the colorist as to what color to color the boots. Manning stated that they were supposed to be brown. But, no note meant no color aka white.

That's why Magnus has white go-go boots.

~The Unblessed Soul

The first Metro-Sexual in pop culture.:littlesmile: Future man is "enlightened"

Didn't Jean-Luc Picard also wore a little tight toga miniskirt when he was chilling on that vacation planet with his babe?

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 2:50 pm

Yeah, but Picard was bald. Bald guys can pull that look off

sonicdan · Post by **sonicdan** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:04 pm

The March Diamond Dialogue has a blurb about the ibooks Magnus GN.

DAN

justin · Post by **justin** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:05 pm

So its begun!

-A

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:59 pm

Unblessed wrote:I am going to read those Gold Key Magnus issues I just bought now. This is getting me excited. No chub yet, but excited.

~The Unblessed Soul

I can honestly say, no non-X-rated comic has ever given me a 'chub'.

Am I missing out.....?