Transformers Spotlight: Prowl
Written by Mike Costa
Art by E.J. Su
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Letters by Chris Mowry
IDW
Price $3.99
Release Date: April 21, 2010

I have been a Transformers fan since I saw the TV ads for the very first Marvel Comics miniseries in 1984. I had not been keeping up with their IDW comics continuity, but was intrigued by the storyline “All Hail Megatron.” In that storyline, Megatron takes over the Earth, and the Autobots are forced into hiding. The Autobots and the humans work together and take Earth back, but there is a lot of damage from the battles. Also, the humans begin capturing all robots, which forces the Autobots to go into hiding. That is the Autobots’ current status quo as this story begins.

This issue of Spotlight — Transformers Spotlight: Prowl — focuses on Prowl, the veteran Autobot that transforms into a police car. I’ve been a Prowl fan since grade school, and his demise in the animated Transformers movie saddens me to this day. Autobot leader Optimus Prime instructs Prowl to go undercover as a police car, allowing himself to be driven by a human police officer. Prowl doesn’t really see the point of this assignment and feels that with the humans trying to capture all robots, the risks are not worth the reward. Prime assures him that his assignment is important, and Prowl yields to his command. We see Prowl in disguise mode and mainly observing. Eventually, Prowl encounters a situation where he has to ask decide if he is ready to risk capture and death to save a human.

With the upcoming Jonah Hex live- action film (out in theaters on June 18) starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, it seems like the perfect time to visit some adventures from Mr. Hex’s past. Warner Premiere believes the best way to do that is to buy their 8th motion comic, Jonah Hex Motion Comics.

Based on the comics written by John Albano and drawn by Tony DeZuniga, these new Jonah Hex Motion Comics are perfect for all you western lovers out there. If you recall, Warner Premiere is the same company that brought us both the Batman: Black and White and Watchmen Motion Comics series.

Over the course of 7 episodes, which will lead up to the theatrical release, the Motion Comics specifically cover three archival stories from Jonah Hex’s comics past. The first five episodes are adapted from the graphic novel Two Gun Mojo, which features Jonah Hex seeking justice and revenge against Doc Williams and his gang over a murdered friend. The other two stories are taken from the 1970’s comics The Gunfighter and The Hangin’ Woman. Viewers should be aware these stories are re-colored and animated for the first time.

It’s been no secret that The Twilight Saga wanted badly to be just like the Harry Potter franchise when it began. And while financially they have done very well, the quality of the films have been nowhere close.

Another similarity that they share is that many different directors have been brought in for each installment of the series. Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) got things going with Twilight, Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) brought us New Moon, David Slade (30 Days of Night) was behind the camera on this summer’s Eclipse, and now, Summit Entertainment has chosen the director for their last film.

Bill Condon, who had been rumored as a possible director for a while now, has been officially signed to direct The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, which is based on the last book in the series. It’s expected that the film will actually be split up into two parts in order to stay as faithful to the story and make as much money as humanly possible.

Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios will unveil its take on the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger alien flick Predator on July 9th with Predators. With Fox behind that project, it comes as no surprise that they’re not ready to stop there.

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the studio has hired David Ayer to not only write, but also direct a remake of Commando. If you’re not familiar with the title, Commando is the 1985 movie also starring Schwarzenegger about a special forces soldier whose daughter is kidnapped in an attempt to get him to kill a rival of the man who kidnapped her, ultimately leading him to kill every single man that gets in his way, as Arnie tended to do in the good ol’ days.

The teams behind Halo are no strangers to creating some very cool live-action short movies to promote upcoming game titles. District 9 director Neil Blomkamp made one for Halo 3 that sparked hopes that a movie version of the popular game would finally happen. Then another one was made when Halo 3: ODST was on the way. Both of these videos can be seen here if you’ve never watched them before.

Now a new clip has been released for the upcoming Halo: Reach, which is supposedly to be the last game in the Halo universe that will be made (by Bungie anyway!). The video is very short, only running a little over a minute long, but it is still very much worth watching. It gives us a peek at the creation of a Spartan soldier, which is what our beloved Master Chief was in those first three games.

Put on your helmet, pick up your weapon of choice, and leap over to the other side to check out the new live-action promo for Halo: Reach!