1. Gore! Gore! Gore!: Over the past couple of years’ worth of DC and Marvel comics, we’ve been treated to delightful scenes like Red Lanterns puking up gallons of blood; Ultimate Blob chowing down on Ultimate Wasp’s Ultimate entrails; a squad of rookie Green Lanterns being showered with hundreds of their dead family members’ detached eyeballs; Black Adam ripping Terra Man apart at the waist; Red Tornado’s arm ripped off by Solomon Grundy; and Wendy and Marvin of the Wonder Twins getting eaten by Wonder Dog, all in varying degrees of graphic detail. And that’s not counting all the limbs that have been ripped off in Geoff Johns comics. I have no problems reading stuff like that in The Boys or the Punisher’s Max series, because those are books and others like them are marketed to adult audiences. But titles like Green Lantern Corps and Teen Titans are ostensibly meant to appeal to readers of all ages. Are these the sort of scenes that should be featured those books? That’s certainly a debatable point, and I’m sure there are numbers of you that would have no problem with that sort of scene. But when I buy a copy of Amazing Spider-Man, I don’t want to get surprised by a panel wherein Venom eats Aunt May’s face; I’d much rather know that I’m laying down $3 for ten minutes worth of fun escapism. Here’s hoping Marvel and DC scale back the violence a little bit in aught-nine.

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Among the many requirements you must fufill in order to keep your comics bloggers license is the compilation of an annual best of list at the end of each year. Here’s mine. For a couple hundred words on my criteria and methodology, the 28 runners-up and a few other categories, including Best Super-Comics That Aren’t On This List, please feel free to visit my home site, Every Day Is Like Wednesday.

Otherwise, here’s my official list of The Best Comics Published During Calendar Year 2008 That I Read Before Calendar Year 2008 Ended…
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I’m a formerly-resistant Twilight convert who’s now seen the movie twice. I’m about halfway through the third book, and having just finished New Moon, I’ve got more thoughts on the film adaptation as it moves forward, with a new director and possible other changes.

The Twilight books are written in first person and read like a teenager’s gushing diary, with little description of action–or even of characters besides hair color, size, and beauty. This allows readers to project whatever they want to see onto them, but makes it hard to create characters for a performance.

But the books get better as they go along–fewer adverbs and gushing descriptions comparing Edward Cullen to male models, and more action. There are motorcycles, cliff diving, werewolves, more evil vampires, and a daring daylight rescue scene where Bella gets to do the rescuing, for once. So New Moon has the potential to be a better movie than Twilight.

(possible spoilers below. Just sayin’)

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Can Iron Man’s Superhero Registration Act be far behind?

ABC and the Times Online have printed stories about a recent trend in the U.S.: home-grown, costume-wearing superheroes. Known as Real Life Super Heroes (RLSH), more than 200 people in the United States and abroad have donned spandex and begun fighting crime in their local areas.

According to the World Superhero Registry, only non-lethal means of subduing criminals are condoned, and small-timers like prostitutes and drug users are “of limited value to society.” Based on the Times article, this new trend has been attributed to causes ranging from 9/11 to the boom in superhero films.

Some have been fairly brazen, like the Ghost and Insignis of Utah’s Black Monday Society, who have taken down drug deals and armed thugs in public parks. Others, however, have been more unbalanced than heroic, as the Arizona-based Black Owl had a brief stand-off with the police after escaping a psychiatric ward.

As for the day-to-day of the superhero life, the anecdotes seen in the Times piece range from hilariously poignant to downright dangerous:

Mr. Invisible is cheered that at least his grey one-piece “invisibility suit” works, proven when a drunk urinated on him in an alley… [meanwhile,] Master Legend of Florida, who arms himself with a pepper-spraying cannon powered by cans of antiperspirant, was attacked by a man with a hammer.

Yet Master Legend, one of the original Real Life Super Heroes, has an even deeper back story, shown in this month’s Rolling Stone. You can check out more of the real-life vigilantes here and here.

[Image from Citizen Prime's MySpace account.]

You know someone’s a great writer when even their quotes in newspaper articles are a pleasure to read: The Los Angeles Times profiles Neil Gaiman, the work he’s still most famous for and his Hollywood experiences thus far.

Africa’s 2008 in just ten political cartoons: Well, an abbreviated version anyway. That continent’s a pretty big place, after all.

Two great tastes that kick-ass together: Gahan Wilson illustrates the poems of Edgar Allan Poe for Papercutz’s Classics Illustrated.

What he said: Tim O’Neil of When Will The Hurting Stop tackles some recent comics, laying into Ultimatum and the “Batman R.I.P.” tie-ins:

Right now, as good as some may argue individual titles to be, the company itself is pushing the DC Universe as the major selling point for DC Universe comic books. The DC Universe is a disjointed, uneven mess, and if they can’t even make up their minds that Detective Comics and Robin occur on the same planet, why should any potential customer believe them when they say that it’s all “counting” towards something?

I’ll second that.

My favorite headline of the week: “At 70, Superman has changed through the years”

This is the first time I’ve seen X-Force on a best-of list: Carlton Hargro of Creative Loafing offers his top five comics from 2008, and they’re all superhero comics from either DC or Marvel. In Hargro’s defense, no one in Bottomless Belly Button ever cut loose and chopped deserving bad guys into tiny pieces.

Warner Home Video has released an interview with the screenwriter for the new Wonder Woman animated movie, Michael Jelenic. Here are some highlights from the conversation:

QUESTION: As this is Wonder Woman’s origin story, what did you know you needed to include and on what did you want to focus?

MICHAEL JELENIC: We had to hit certain elements that are part of Wonder Woman’s myth, and my job was to answer what sort of ramifications her origins would have on her character during her journey to becoming a hero. It’s basically trying to boil down essential Wonder Woman elements into one story. We looked at the stuff that the fans had to see – the iconic things about Wonder Woman – and then tried to put a twist on them. We’ve seen the lasso and the invisible jet before, so what’s another way we could use them? I wanted to incorporate all these iconic Wonder Woman moments into the larger overall story.

As Jelenic continued through the interview, he said that his take on Wonder Woman was “a romantic comedy mixed with “300.”" He explained, “that’s what Wonder Woman really is – a very simple sort of love story that’s frequently comedic, primarily in the pairing of these two key characters, set against a backdrop of so much violence and action.” The comedy, he said, came primarily from Steve Trevor, who became his favorite character.

Perhaps most illuminating about the film is Jelenic’s description of the character development behind the Princess of Themyscira:

Diana had to represent all the feminine ideals and virtues, the things that make women great. At the same time, she’s a very strong female character in terms of both her physical prowess and her personality. So we tried to find a balance to create a character that doesn’t lose her femininity by being a strong action hero.

Ultimately, we wanted to explore her journey of discovery. She’s been raised to believe that women don’t need men, that women are morally better. If there is a message to the film, it’s basically that men and women are not perfect. Men have their problems. Women have their
problems. And when they interact, these problems often grow. But at the end of the day, men and women are actually stronger and better when they work together to overcome these problems.

But wait — there’s more! In addition to the interview, Warner Home Video has also sent new screenshots of the upcoming animated film, which will be premiered at the New York Comic Con and released March 9, 2009.

[Via Warner Home Video.]

While the Dark Knight sequel casting rumors have flown fast and furious, one of the first was the possibility of Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin, after actor Michael Caine said Hoffman and Johnny Depp would appear as villains in the next film.

Of course, that rumor got shot down fairly quickly by Hoffman himself, who told MTV the next day:

“No one has talked to me about it ever — never. It happened, like, five years ago, too. It was a rumor back then and it’s still a rumor. It’s just in the press. It’s funny… I’m more a fan, so the interest of being in it isn’t that great. It’s more the interest in wanting to see the next one. It’s probably better that way.”

While the rumor had been pretty much pronounced dead on arrival after that, Cinema Blend has a new post up about a possible “makeup test” image with Hoffman as the Penguin. Color me skeptical, as I think this is just a Photoshopped image, but I’ll let you see what it might look like if Hoffman has indeed changed his mind on Batman 3.

[Via Cinema Blend.]

MySpace added another of their string of Watchmen promotional videos on Christmas Eve.  Ironically, that was the was the evening of the Ruling Heard Round the Comics World.  Bonus Irony: MySpace is part of the Fox media empire.  Nevertheless, enjoy:

Watchmen Exclusive

The newest round of films to be included in the National Film Registry boasts a couple of familiar genre classics.  According to Variety, The Terminator (1984), The Invisible Man (1933), The Perils of Pauline (1914), and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) are among those enshrined.  The Registry strives to preserve films that have “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant bearing.  Each year, the selections are made by the Librarian of Congress after input from the public (via the Library’s website) and a board that includes the likes of Martin Scorcese and Leonard Maltin.

It’s time to start our monthly walk-through of Diamond’s Previews catalog. As is my preference, we’ll start in the back section of the catalog and hopefully draw your attention to a few projects that caught my eye or that might catch your eye.

Adhouse Books has Ronnie Del Carmen’s (Batman Adventures and Pixar story supervisor) And There You Are scheduled. It’ll be a spotlight on “the life of fan-favorite muse Nina,” who has previously inspired Del Carmen’s Paper Biscuits series. I missed the latter, but Del Carmen’s an excellent artist and well worth paying attention to.

Comics’ greatest star of 2008 carries strong into the new year, as Barack Obama returns for Obama: The Comic Book Inaugural Edition One-Shot from Antarctic Press. Chris Allen writes and draws the latest from comics’ latest great character.

Jamie Delano’s new series, Rawbone, with art by Max Fiumara, debuts from Avatar, along with the usual assortment of violent stuff from Vertigo’s line-up of writers circa 1996.

I’m not typically big on media crossover projects (see my indifference to the Watchmen movie brouhaha), but I noticed that Boom Comics’ partnership with Disney/Pixar begins to bear fruit in March. Mark Waid’s four-issue The Incredibles debuts, with Marcio Takara on art. Since Waid’s humorous jaunt on Impulse is among the best work of his career and I’ve often wished he’d write more comedy, I’ll give it a page-through. Alan J. Porter and Albert Carreres handle the four-part Cars miniseries, if you’re up for more of the worst Pixar movie ever. And coolest of all, the awesome Roger Langridge rocks it on a four-issue Muppet Show serial. I don’t really care what it is, so long as it’s Roger Langridge.

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That’s what they tell me: http://heroinitiative.blogspot.com/2008/12/hero-initiative-is-looking-for-few-good.html.

If you or someone you know understands video production, has interest in interview comic book pros on video, and lives in or near one of the areas seen in the link, drop Brian Pulido and the terrific folks at the Hero Initiative a line.

As the year comes to a close, it’s become clear that in the Marvel Universe, there has been major upheaval from within the company’s heroic pantheon. With a new Captain America leading a band of Secret Avengers, what’s old is new again, with the concept of the legacy hero getting a set of legs at the House of Ideas.

But what is a legacy hero, you might ask? For those needing a refresher in comic book geekspeak, a legacy hero is typically an associate, lover, or sidekick of a fallen hero who assumes their friend’s mantle if he has retired or fallen in battle. DC Comics has made this concept into one of the company’s key pillars, beginning all the way with Barry Allen as the Flash in 1961. The idea of the legacy hero is that it gives a franchise an epic, generational feel, while allowing each generation of readers to adopt their “own” hero to match their own values and storytelling standards. But as 2008 and 2009 — as well as several earlier attempts — show us, Marvel isn’t above adopting a good idea when it sees one.

As if I needed to warn you, there be spoilers up ahead…

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Yes, tomorrow’s what Wednesdays would always be like in a world without comics: Depressing. I don’t even know if I should get out of bed. New comics won’t be out until Friday this week, due to last week’s holiday. So maybe I’ll have to get out of bed and face the new comic-less Wednesday; I might die if I stay in bed for 48 whole hours without water.

Sigh.

At least it’s only this week. It’s not like comics would be two-days late two weeks in a row, right? Right?! RIGHT?!

Anyway, let’s take a look some of the books that won’t be showing up at your local comic shop tomorrow, after the jump…
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MTV Splash Page has a bunch of Coraline movie teaser videos up. I’ve snagged the first one; you can check out the rest of them over there.

But seeing this reminded me of my thoughts on the movie after seeing the preview. For those not familiar with Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, it’s the story of a young girl who finds an alternate family on the other side of a secret door in her house. The film is done in the same stop-motion animation as Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, and the trailer looks like the same kind of thing.

To me, though, it’s hard to see the difference between the two worlds of the film. I would have shot it in live action and then animated the other world with the Other Mother and Father. But no one asked me.

I’m sure I’ll see the movie in any case, and the teaser behind-the-scenes videos are fun to look at.

Hello Newsaramites,

My name’s Jim Zubkavich (most people just call me ‘Zub’). I’m a Project Manager for UDON Entertainment (the gang behind the Street Fighter comic, amongst other things). The crew at Blog@Newsarama have invited me to throw in my two cents on art, animation, comics and whatever else comes to mind.

Over the past five years I’ve been lucky enough to work with a pile of great artists on all kinds of material for comics, video games, RPGs, magazines, toys and other illustration or design projects. At the same time I’ve been teaching in the Animation department at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada. Both sides of my career have been a blast so far and I can’t wait to see what the new year will bring.

In 2009 I’m going to introduce you to a host of artists, some you probably know from their published work and, ideally, a bunch you’ve never seen before. With so much fantastic artwork out there on the web, there is a ton of inspiration to be found. If I can point you towards some hidden gems or direct your attention to a popular artist you may not have known had their own gallery online, it’ll all be worthwhile. I’m going to throw the net really wide to showcase a mix of popular and obscure artists alike.

Beyond that, time allowing, I want to talk about breaking in to the industry, building a portfolio, art tutorials and talk to pros about the artists who inspired them when they were young.

Sound good?
This roller coaster ride will begin on January 1st.

If you have suggestions/feedback, feel free to post below.

Fans anxious to know whether Watchmen will be released in March as scheduled will have to wait a few weeks. The New York Times is reporting that the judge in the Watchmen case has decided to refrain from ruling on the injunction sought by Fox until after a hearing set for January 20, 2009.

For anyone who wants more details on the judge’s 12/24 ruling, I’ve uploaded a set of documents that includes not just the Christmas Eve order, but both parties’ motions for summary judgment as well as fascinating material filed by Fox just yesterday.

These three rulings in particular provide detailed allegations as to how Warner Brothers got into this mess. In a nutshell, Fox claims that it has evidence that Warner Bros. initially relied on an inaccurate chain of title provided by Paramount. Once Warner Bros. was aware of Fox’s documented claims, it nonetheless decided to proceed in a deliberate “business calculation” that it would be more profitable to deal with a court case than clear the rights before making Watchmen.

Fox’s claim that Warner Bros. has an established “studio practice” of bad faith in clearing title is central to its argument that the court should enjoin Warner Bros. from releasing the film.

Besides these documents, I also recommend checking out Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily and Rodney Perkins’ Film Esq., which provide detailed analysis of the latest developments.

A quick editorial addendum to Jeff’s post: On Monday, Warner Bros. issued a statement about the ruling, saying: “We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the court’s ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options,” the studio said. “We continue to believe that Fox’s claims have no merit and that we will ultimately prevail, whether at trial or in the Court of Appeals. We have no plans to move the release date of the film.”

Fox responded with: “We are gratified by the recognition of our rights in the judge’s order, which speaks for itself.”

One of the most dangerous enemies the Federation has ever encountered, the relentless biomechanical Borg are preparing a new assault on the Alpha Quadrant and they’ve got their glowing eyes set on invading your collection!  Plus by collecting six of these deadly drones you will acquire the necessary components to build your own figure-sized electronic Borg Alcove!

The first series of Borg action figures includes a Borg Drone, the Borg version of Seven of Nine as seen in the Star Trek Voyager episode “Scorpion,” a recently-assimilated Half-Borg Starfleet Crewmember and the Previews Exclusive Seven of Nine in her standard maroon Voyager attire.  Each figure will include one of three different Borg Alcove components, with the PX Seven of Nine and the limited Half-Borg Starfleet Crewmember sharing the same component.

Look for more news and images of the upcoming second series of Borg action figures, which will include more of your favorite Borg characters and villains.  This first assortment was sculpted by Rudy Garcia and Jerry Macaluso and is scheduled to arrive in stores May 2009.

Standing approximately 2inches tall, Mezco’s new take the ever popular Hellboy and friends is sure to make even a troll smile. This case of includes twelve 2packs featuring the following figures:
* Hellboy with Big Baby- Whatever you do, don’t make Hellboy wake the baby!
*Prince Nuada- The leader of the elves.
*Hellboy in black shirt- Hellboy ponders his next move.
*Abe Sapian- Hellboy’s aquatic pal.
*Hellboy in action stance- He’s crouched down and ready to fight!
*Johan- Hellboy’s ectoplasmic teammate.
*Wink- Prince Nuada’s troll sidekick.
*Golden Army Soldier- A member of the 49,000 member supernatural army built by goblin metalsmiths.
With BPRD Buddies you relive your favorite Hellboy adventures, or create new ones of your own!

Available for pre-order now at finer retailers everywhere. Appearing in stores June 2009.

As you may recall, I gave Hasbro a little bit of grief a few weeks ago about their (IMO) mishandling of the Marvel Legends line of action figures. Today I picked up a new figure that I like so much I have to give them some props: The Ultimate War Machine figure from the Ares Build-A-Figure line. I have a few minor complaints, like the sloppiness of the paint applications on the turquoise nipples (or whatever those things are), and for the life of me I can’t get the helmet off because it’s wedged on to the head too damn tight. But it’s got a great sculpt; a much better color scheme than the Ultimate Iron Man figure it originated from; and, best of all, the joints all work the way they’re supposed to work. Kudos, Hasbro, for making a great little toy. Now, can we talk about that $15 price tag you’re slapping on all your new figures?

I love Mattel’s DC Classics line. I love this line so much I want to take it back behind the middle school and get it pregnant. The sculpts by the Four Horsemen are awesome; the Collect-and-Connect figures, while not as impressive as some of the better Marvel BAFs like Sentinel and Fin Fang Foom, are still well worth hunting down the individual figures in order to put them together; and the selection of characters has been mind-boggling. Did you ever think we’d see the day when you could drive to Toys R Us to buy Gentleman Ghost and Killer Moth? Unfortunately, I have a major complaint about the line, in that they are ridiculously hard to find. The first series just sat around collecting dust for months. I still see Penguin and Orion sitting on shelves every once in a while. The third series was much more difficult to find. Most of the time, I could only find a few lone Hal Jordans plaintively hoping for someone to come along and take them home like abandoned puppies at a pet shelter. And for some odd reason, series two just now seems to be arriving at stores at the exact same time as series four. WTF? Even the earlier Marvel Legends figures were easier to find. I’m not sure why stores are having such a hard time keeping them in stock. Maybe there’s a distribution problem, or the stores aren’t ordering enough cases, or they’re just so popular the stores are selling through them as fast as they get them stocked. Either way, there has to be a way of solving this problem, right?

I gave her a shout when talking webcomics yesterday because her weekly Comic Attacks are hilarious (new one up today, btw) but Eisner-winner Becky Cloonan’s gig posters are another whole world of cool.

For example.

While we’re waiting for the new DEMO miniseries, Becky has links to where you can get the rest of her stuff up at her website. She’s also got pages, prints, and original art for sale there. You know you want ‘em.