Sad News for Sonic The Hedgehog Comic Fans

Some of the characters from the Sonic The Hedgehog series from Archie Comics will not likely to return at all when it moves to IDW Publishing.

In the Q&A portion of the Bumblekast Podcast, Ian Flynn, former chief writer for the Sonic The Hedgehog comic books for Archie, has confirmed that characters that were originally made in the Archie comics will not transition to the IDW version. Flynn reprises his role as chief writer for the IDW series.

Released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, Sonic The Hedgehog was a huge success and launched SEGA into a leading video game company, rivaling Nintendo throughout the 1990's. Sonic became the company's official mascot and numerous video games of the character have been released. The most recent entry, Sonic Forces, came out for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch in November of 2017.

Running from 1993 to 2016 at 290 issues, Archie Comics's adaptation of the Sonic The Hedgehog video game franchise by SEGA was formally recognized by the Guinness World Records as the longest running series based on a video game. In 2013, former writer Ken Penders filed a lawsuit against Archie Comics for ownership of the characters he created in the comics. 3 years later, a similar lawsuit was filed by Scott Fulop, also a former writer for the Sonic series in the comics.

Following these lawsuits, SEGA, which owns the Sonic franchise, announced in July 19 of 2017 that it's ending its partnership with Archie Comics. IDW would be announced as the new publisher of the comics 2 days later and the IDW version will be a reboot of the series. The first issue of IDW's Sonic The Hedgehog will be released in April of 2018.

Quick Thoughts on DBS's Aniraza from Episode 121

Aniraza is a unique case in Dragon Ball wherein his brief, yet incredible performance raises a lot of What-Ifs. In context, the remaining fighters of Universe 3 fused to form the giant Aniraza. Despite his incredibly huge size, Aniraza is shown to be so powerful that it required team effort from everyone in Universe 7, including Frieza, to take him on. Goku and Vegeta activated their Super Saiyan Blue forms while Frieza used his Golden Form in this battle, along with Gohan who used his Awakened/Ultimate/Mystic form. In addition, it was Android 17 who figured out Aniraza's weakness that turn the tide into the Z Fighters' favor.

Given the fact that Aniraza is partly mechanical, he has the same attribute as the Androids in which he has a virtually infinite amount of stamina, allowing him to fight for long periods of time without ever tiring out.

Knowing that, questions arise if anyone could defeat Aniraza in a one-on-one battle without discovering his weakness. Would Goku be able to defeat Aniraza on his own if he were to use Ultra Instinct? It's certain Goku using UI can dodge all of Aniraza's attacks even if the latter uses wormholes to throw punches from a distance in various directions. But because the UI technique doesn't give Goku any kind of power boost, he may not be able to knock out Aniraza using pure melee or using a Kamehameha.

Would Vegito Blue be able to defeat Aniraza? Given that Goku and Vegeta already used their SSB forms and it was still insufficient to knock Aniraza out, this is a strong suggestion the two fusing to Vegito wouldn't make much of a difference. Even Kefla may not be powerful enough to defeat Aniraza on her own.

Which leaves the question if Jiren would be able to defeat Aniraza, as he, Toppo, and Dyspo did not particilate in the battle. Given that we don't know the full extent of Jiren's power, and that he is reserived to give his all exclusively to Goku, we honestly do not know at this point.

We can say to date that Aniraza is the most powerful opponent Goku has ever faced that is not a God of Destruction, and we may never see such a character again for the remainder of the show's lifetime.

Mob Psycho 100 Webcomic Finale This Week

ONE, the creator of One Punch Man, has announced on Twitter that his other series, Mob Psycho 100, is complete. The final chapter of the webcomic series will be released this week. Due to ONE focusing his work on Mob Psycho 100, the original One Punch Man webcomic has been placed on hiatus for several months.

Published in Ura Sunday as a digital webcomic series in 2012, Mob Psycho 100 is of the title character Mob, a naive teenager who happens to be the world's most powerful esper. Mob keeps his emotions in check to prevent his psychic abilities from being unleashed to its full potential as they extremely powerful and destructive. The webcomic was adapted to an anime series by Studio Bones (My Hero Academia) that aired in Japan in 2016. An English-dubbed version was produced by FUNimation that same year. A live-action adaptation of Mob Psycho 100 is planned for release on Netflix in 2018.

One Punch Man is an ongoing, self-published webcomic series in 2009. It depicts Saitama, an overpowered superhero who, after defeating his enemies with one punch, grows bored and seeks to find an opponent worthy of him unleashing his full power. It was proved to be so popular that in 2012, it was adapted into a manga series with illustrations by Yusuke Murata and published in Young Jump's Web Comics site. The manga remake would serve as the basis for the anime series produced by Studio Madhouse (Daeth Note, Black Lagoon, Hunter x Hunter) in 2016. The second season is planned for release in 2018 and will be produced by JC Staff (Food Wars, A Certain Magical Index). English versions of the manga and anime adaptations are available by Viz Media.

Some Cartoon Network Rumors

A little bird told me about these, but take them with a grain of salt as they are all unconfirmed rumors:

- Infinity Train is greenlit but production will not occur until creator Owen Dennis finishes his contract with TBS as he is working with JG Quintel on Close Enough.

- Pilots for Infinity Train as well as Victor and Valentino are said to be being done in the same office that developed the CN Minisodes.

- There is a delay in producing the Apple and Onion series due to conflicts of interest with its creator.

- OK KO is now producing episodes for Season 2.

- Despite the hate towards the PPG Reboot, it is well received in other countries and merchandise sales are said to be satisfactory, which is enough to give it a 2nd Season. The same goes with the Ben 10 reboot.

- Production on episodes for Steven Universe is on halt for a time due to a plan on creating a Musical-themed TV movie. Sugar and the staff are back at work. The series is said to last for a grand total of 9 seasons.

- CN is planning to be more active in social media by making deals with content creators and fandoms of various series. So expect Youtubers making promotional content for Steven Universe, of which CN will be prioritizing.

Again, these are UNCONFIRMED rumors.

Megaman in Super Robot Wars?!

Just woke up this morning to find out about this: Rockman (Megaman to you 'Murricans) is officially added to the Super Robot Wars X-Omega game and will make its debut in January.

FYI: Super Robot Wars is a crossover video game franchise featuring various mecha anime that spans from the 60s until today. Notable mecha anime included in the games are GoLion (Voltron), Macross (Robotech), the Gundam franchise, Code Geass, The Big O, Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann. More recently, the franchise expanded itself to include mecha featured in games, manga, toys, and even live-action. Series such as Virtual-On, Xenogears, Zyuranger (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers) and even Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla are officially included. Despite the franchise being exclusively available in Japan, Super Robot Wars has an international fanbase.

A few days ago, Super Robot Wars X is announced for the PS4 and PS Vita to be released in 2018 and will feature characters from Gundam Wing, Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, Cross Ange, and Buddy Complex, among others. And English version of the game is announced for Asian countries.

Super Robot Wars X-Omega, which will feature Megaman in January, is available only in Japan for the iOS and Android.

Official English Trailer for SRW X for the PS4/Vita

Venom Inc. Alpha Review

The classic team-up of Spider-Man and Venom returns in the 6-part crossover series! Venom Inc. is part of Marvel’s Legacy event that celebrates various characters taking up the mantle of Marvel’s iconic superheroes through the generations.

The story is set after the events of Venomverse and The Fall of Parker. Eddie Brock, the original Venom, now has the symbiote under his possession. However, their bond is not what it was before as the symbiote craves to kill its victims, conflicting with Brock’s desire to be a crime-fighter. Brock seeks help from the Alchemax Corporation in keeping the symbiote under his control.

After being forced to shut down Parker Industries thanks to Dr. Octopus, Peter Parker is left penniless and both he and Spider-Man are viciously hated by the public. Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, took Peter under her wing and the two are in a relationship. Peter slowly works to rebuild his life by returning to work for the Daily Bugle as a science editor, while still patrolling the streets as Spider-Man…

After learning that Eddie Brock now has the original symbiote, Andrea “Andi” Benton, who possesses the Mania symbiote (a clone/spawn of the original Venom symbiote), aids Flash Thompson in finding him in an attempt bring the symbiote back to Flash, so the latter can once again become Agent Venom. Andi was suddenly ambushed by Lee Price, who previously bonded with the original symbiote. Lee and his men forcefully separates Andi and the Mania symbiote and captures the latter.

With Andi hospitalized, Flash seeks help from Peter Parker and informs him of the situation, hoping the message will be passed to Spider-Man. However, Flash backs off upon knowing that Spider-Man may attempt to destroy the symbiote instead of helping it return to Flash. Flash is unaware that as Peter leaves, a Spider-Tracer is placed on him to track his movements.

Meanwhile, Eddie Brock continues to struggle keeping the symbiote under his control as its desire to kill intensifies, nearly killing The Looter, a low-end criminal. Eddie decides to return to Alchemax for a new treatment to keep the symbiote under control, much to the protest of the latter. Flash sneaks into Alchemax and finds Eddie, and demands that the symbiote be returned to him, leaving the symbiote conflicted as to which host to bond with. As the two engage in a tug of war, Spider-Man crashes in and douses the symbiote with the new treatment compound, thinking it would destroy the symbiote for good. Instead, Flash then re-emerges as the new Anti-Venom.

At an underground bar, Lee has bonded with the Mania symbiote and assumes the name “Maniac”. He infects The Looter with the Mania symbiote and recruits him to his army.

1993’s “Maximum Carnage” was one of the most memorable arcs of Spider-Man as it featured the team-up between the web-slinger and his arch-enemy Venom. Indeed, Maximum Carnage helped raise Venom’s profile to being a fan favorite that continues to this day. With the Marvel brand now running its Legacy series, Venom Inc. is an attempt to re-ignite the spark that made Maximum Carnage memorable – just without Carnage, and maybe not so much with the team-up part.

What I enjoyed when I first started reading Venom Inc. is how easy it is to get into the story without having to backtrack to reading past arcs. The first few pages with the visuals by Ryan Stegman provides a quick, easy to define memo that a lot of stuff happened, but none of them too important in getting into Venom Inc.’s plot. Even though I never read how Andi, Flash, and Lee became Venom/Venom spawns, just knowing that they had was more than enough.

The issue focuses so heavily on Venom that Spider-Man can be seen here as a bit of a nuisance. Indeed, Peter is totally out of the loop on what the symbiote has been doing for these past few decades, and still thinks of it as a threat that must be disposed of. This results in unintended consequences as Peter is the one responsible for turning Flash into Anti-Venom, which may affect not only relations with the major characters involved in this arc, but themselves moving forward.

The absence of Cletus Kassidy/Carnage in this arc meant that Lee Price/Maniac would have to fill in as the main antagonist. Those are indeed big shoes to fill given that Carnage, like Venom, has made a name for himself over the years. Only time will tell if Venom Inc. pushes Maniac to a status that will make him likable and memorable by comic book fans, or be left out as a mere footnote like The Looter.

All-in-all, Venom Inc. is off to a good start. Peter and Eddie are once again back in the mix, along with several characters old and new coming from Venom line to form what may be an interesting story arc. With part 2 being just around the corner, you don’t have to wait too long to see what happens next. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Venom Inc. Alpha, a 3 out of 5.

Alita Battle Angel Trailer Released

The first trailer for "Alita Battle Angel" is finally made available on Youtube.

The movie is an adaptation of the manga series "Battle Angel Alita" (known in Japan as "Gunnm") by Yukito Kishiro in 1990. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it depicts a female cyborg brought back to life by a scientist. Having no memory of her past, the cyborg Alita becomes a bounty hunter in hopes of finding clues as to her origins.

A two-episode OVA (Original Video Animation), incorporating elements from the first two volumeso of the manga was released in 1993. Both the manga and anime received critical praise when released in the US. James Cameron, famous for directing movies like Titantic and Avatar, has long been a fan of Battle Angel and has acquired the rights to produced the live-action film.

Cameron serves as co-producer for the film, while Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) serves as director. The film stars Rosa Salazar (The Maze Runner, The Divergent Series) as Alita, and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Spectre) as Dr. Ido. Other notable actors includes Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross from Ang Lee's Hulk), and Mahershala Ali (Cottonmouth from Netflix's Luke Cage). The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in the Summer of 2018.