DC Entertainment: We Can Be Heroes – teaming up with indiegogo.com to raise money for good cause

DC Entertainment has a campaign called “We Can Be Heroes” which focuses on hunger in the Horn of Africa. Late last year the campaign offered a “We Can Be Heroes” Justice League 7 pack action figure box set that I scooped up. Then I learned that the“We Can Be Heroes” campaign had teamed up with indigogo.com to raise money.

The campaign’s perks seems to focus on Batman. In fact, on the standard “We Can Be Heroes” Justice League logo, Batman is highlighted while the rest of the team is faded. This says to me that DC Entertainment will have upcoming campaigns featuring each member. I contributed $25 for the Batman/Superman #1“We Can Be Heroes” variant cover by Jim Lee.

If I’m right, I’m looking forward to more campaigns featuring each character. Ever since their relaunch, DC has been my favorite comic book company and I really enjoy the stories and this commitment to a worthy cause. It’s like the entire company has been reinvigorated and re-inspired since the relaunch - it’s like they are a brand-new company.

PS: I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the title of this article, but I’m a huge 3.75” action figure fan and can’t wait for the Injustice figures coming out this year.

Star Wars & Dark Horse Comics: going out on top

Ever since the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, I knew that the Star Wars license would go to Marvel Comics eventually. It makes sense; Disney also owns Marvel Comics. Back in, I think, December it was announced that the license would revert to Marvel either in 2014 or 2015 (I’m still not clear on that).

Then Dark Horse Comics went back to basics for their new Star Wars title by Brian Wood was announced – then I read it – and I couldn’t imagine a better book at another company. The new Star Wars series is fantastic and I can’t wait to get two years into it and reread them.

Dark Horse Comics announced this week, on April Fools’ Day no less, that they were publishing a book based on Lucas’ original screenplay for Star Wars. The series will be titled, “The Star Wars” because that was the title of the original screenplay and the first issue is scheduled to come out this September. As someone who’s seen those concept action figures that Hasbro put out a few years ago, I know the original script and the final script were very different and I’m excited to see what could have been.

According to NBC New York: “Written in 1974, the original draft of what ultimately became the epic franchise's first screenplay is quite a different adventure than the one from the galaxy far, far away that was immortalized on screen. Luke Skywalker is an older Jedi general, while charismatic smuggler Han Solo is a lizard-type alien. The story’s main protagonist is named Annikin Starkiller.”

I know that it makes good business sense to not license your property out and to create new stories in-house, but I’m good to miss Star Wars being done by Dark Horse Comics. There was a time when there was nothing new that was Star Wars – no action figures, no novels, nothing. Then came that first great Timothy Zahn novel, then a line of re-sculpted action figures (that were unrealistically buff but the fans were super excited because they hadn’t seen anything Star Wars in a long time), and then Star Wars re-exploded into pop culture. And Dark Horse Comics was in the mix publishing new stories and giving the fans something to look forward to every month.

As a fan, I just need to sit back and really enjoy the last few years of Dart Horse Comics’ books. And I have to keep in mind that Marvel Comics has access to a lot of great writers and artists who are probably chomping at the bit to get a hold of Star Wars and put their mark on it. Now that Episode 7 will be made and released in a few years, there’s a great opportunity to dig into the story of those characters and to keep creating new characters.