So over on the main site we’ve got the Eisner award nominations, and my first thought was: wow, everyone else been reading totally different comics than I have.

On closer inspection, there’s plenty of stuff I’m reading–Fables, of course, in Best Continuing Series, and Hellboy. I was really thrilled to see Air get a nomination for Best New Series, as I think it’s excellent and underrated, and hope this will bring some new eyes to what G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker are doing with that book.

I loved Comic Book Tattoo, and was happy for that truly gorgeous book (whatever you think of Tori Amos–I love her, but you don’t have to to enjoy the comics), and Kevin Colden’s Fishtown (Best Reality-Based work) takes place in my Philly neighborhood, so I have to pull for it. Swallow Me Whole is a lovely, heartfelt little book that you all should read if you haven’t already, and Nate Powell richly deserves his nominations. I was also pleased to see Amy Reeder Hadley get an art nod (as well as Madame Xanadu‘s Best New Series nom) because while the story in that book has yet to grab me, her art is breathtaking.

There’s plenty in here that was already on my list to check out, and now I have another reminder that I wanted to read Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s Skim, Tamara Drew (by Posy Simmonds) and Alan’s War (by Emmanuel Guibert), and I’m totally checking out the “best digital comics” list.

BUT. (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?) There are two of the biggest glaring omissions I’ve ever seen. And if you’ve been reading my contributions to this site over the past year and a half, you know what they are. Yes, I’m talking about Local and Scalped.

I first learned the Eisners were out because Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly both mentioned on Twitter that they’d never win an Eisner if Local wasn’t good enough. While I heartily disagree with that point (both of them will go on to blow our minds even more in the coming years), I was shocked and went looking for the nomination list. I find it very hard to believe that there are five books better than Local. I’ve spilled so much metaphorical ink trying to tell all of you how wonderful this book is that I don’t know how many new ways to say “This is the best thing I’ve read since Sandman,” but, well, it is. Maybe it got shafted since it’s been around for a while? I seriously can’t figure it out. Maybe I can see passing up writer and artist nominations for Wood and Kelly (though really, I can’t), but this book means so much to me and to most everyone I’ve spoken to who’s read it, I can’t believe it isn’t at least on the list.

And Scalped? Um. Seriously. Once again, it’s hard to find new and better words for “Every month, I wait for Scalped week and then my friend and I excitedly text each other about how Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera have once again taken the series on a twist that we couldn’t possibly have predicted and yet now seems like the only thing that could’ve happened.”  Just yesterday I wrote:

Since I mentioned Scalped, how good was last week’s issue? Jason Aaron simply will not allow me to hate his characters. Each time I think I’ve found one I can despise, he cracks open their skull and lets me see inside and I find pieces of me staring me in the eye.

I’m sure there are other great books that didn’t make the list, or wholehearted defenses of the ones that did. I’m not saying the other books on the list aren’t great–the ones I’ve read certainly are, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the ones that I haven’t already. But Local and Scalped are the kinds of books that are not only standouts in whatever year they came along, they’re standouts in my entire 14 years of comics-reading.

Gizmodo has posted a funny product for the comic book reader who has everything but organization:

That’s right — a shelf in the shape of a word balloon. Enjoy.

Looks like it’s video game movie news day. The latest has the artful epic PS2 adventure Shadow of the Colossus heading to the big screen. The 2005 game was a critical hit but hardly a household name as far as consumer response.

The main feature of the spiritual sequel to equally beautiful Ico had a boy named Wander (sometimes accompanied by his trusty steed) doing battle with creatures that were approximately 800,000x larger than him. This kind of dwarfing should be interesting to see on screen, to say the least. Wander climbs along the behemoths searching for weak spots to attack.

The story will need a LOT of work to be a compelling film. The game’s focus was on the beautiful scenery and characters, and the unique gameplay. Justin Marks, screenwriter of the upcoming Hack/Slash comic adaptation, the upcoming new adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and what looks like a surefire sweeping victory winner at the Razzies (the anti-Oscars) Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li which currently holds an absolutely horrendous 4% on RottenTomatoes.com, will see if his pen can have more success with this game. With this, he becomes the busiest adaptation screenwriter in Hollywood, also attached to DC’s Suicide Squad and Green Arrow: Escape from Supermax, as well as He-Man and Voltron.

Ain’t It Cool News has posted some photos from the new Iron Man film — which only started filming this Monday — and had some nice photos of stars Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow.

But what I think a lot of people have been wondering about is Don Cheadle, who took over the role of James “Rhodey” Rhodes after Terrence Howard was let go from the film under still-disputed circumstances. Cheadle has gotten much critical acclaim for his performances in Hotel Rwanda and the Ocean’s Eleven franchise… but does he measure up for this important role?

So here goes — the first pic thus far of the future War Machine himself:

…Now discuss.

The latest news from the Hollywood Reporter makes you wonder if the Umbrella Academy film is going to be a washout rather than a perfect storm.

Mark Bomback, who wrote the script for the Keanu Reeves/Vertigo adaptation Constantine, has apparently signed on to adapt Gerard Way’s Eisner-winning Dark Horse series. Yet I’m not so sure this is a great idea — while Constantine only earned a 45% Rotten rating from RottenTomatoes, his recent Race to Witch Mountain only got 40%. However, I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention his work on Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard, which received a favorable rating of 81%.

The series, created by the My Chemical Romance frontman, is about the seven superpowered wards of Sir Reginald Hargeeves, who break up traumatically in childhood only to later combat an apocalyptic threat as adults — albeit with a spaceman-gorilla hybrid, time travel, and a music solo to end the world thrown in the mix.

Well, they do kinda look alike, what with the funny little beards and all…

Anyway, after the creative misfire of 2006’s Warlord miniseries by Bruce Jones and Bart Sears, DC is giving the hollow earth fantasy series another shot, this time with creator Mike Grell at the helm. Grell will be writing the new Warlord, and providing its covers, while Joe Prado and Walden Wong handle the illustrations.

What other new comics await discovery on new comics day? Find out, after the jump!

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Via Colleen Coover, of Small Favors and X-Men: First Class fame:

I bring to you… “Tigra! Tigra!”

…Now discuss.

This is what is known in Sarah’s life as a Good Comics Week. Not a Great Comics Week, which would include Scalped and DMZ. But a Good Comics Week brings me Northlanders and Doktor Sleepless, as well as Warren Ellis’s new steampunk-looking miniseries, Ignition City. Also Young Liars, which I am finally caught up on, and which may be the most disturbing yet compelling comic I’ve ever read. It makes me feel icky when I’m done reading an issue, and yet I compulsively want to read more.

Popgun vol. 3 hits this week, too, and budget permitting, I want it.

Since I mentioned Scalped, how good was last week’s issue? Jason Aaron simply will not allow me to hate his characters. Each time I think I’ve found one I can despise, he cracks open their skull and lets me see inside and I find pieces of me staring me in the eye.

So I just don’t know if I even need anything else. But recommendations are always welcome.

Readers of Blog@ will remember that the Hero Initiative released its new Hero Hand program. If you purchase one of these $1 badges and display it proudly during conventions, you may get yourself some free swag.

Well, the Hero Initiative has announced the first two winners, over at the Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle. Conventioneers Paul Kirschner and Bill Nolan each received a bag of comics worth $135! Not a bad return for a $1 purchase, as well as physical proof you support the charitable organization, is it?

But if you haven’t won, have no fear: Hero’s Jim McLauchlin has alluded that these badges may still earn prizes in future cons to come…

If you like what’s you’ve read so far totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

Mighty Marvel EiC Joe Quesada opened his Twitter day with what looks to be a return to Marvel’s scrappy PR days of yesteryear:

G’ morning, Marvel U! Is DC still publishing comics? Just curious.

He may very well have been referring to this week’s New York Times Graphic Books list, where DC still holds a solid grip on the list with “graphic book” heavyweights like Watchmen and the Killing Joke (as well as new releases like Batman: RIP and the Brian Azzarello-penned Joker hardcover).

Yet sometimes semantics — even those from the New York Times — can just get in the way: as Sigmund would have probably said, “sometimes a comic is just a comic…”

But don’t count out the House of Ideas just yet — while DC has four books on both the hardcover and softcover Top Ten lists, Marvel has capped the hardcover list with its graphic adaptation of Steven King’s Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born. Meanwhile, Brian Michael Bendis’ prologue to Secret Invasion, New Avengers: Illuminati rounds out the list at #10.

Although, if history is any indicator, Quesada’s Tweet could possibly be an indication that the Diamond numbers and market share rankings for March have arrived at the Marvel offices, as the direct market distributor should begin dribbling out their information for last month’s sales before too long.

UPDATE: Or the yolk could be on me. Serves me right for trying to use invoke Sigmund Freud, Action Psychiatrist, in a post: if sometimes a comic is just a comic, then sometimes a Twitter is just a Twitter, eh? Via Marvel’s master Twitterer, Ryan Penagos (aka Agent_M):

Oy vey. I lol when I see entire blog posts trying to analyze a single Tweet someone posted. Really? Can’t it just be a random Tweet?

And Mr. Q himself:

Wow when did certain factions of the comics industry lose it’s sense of humor?

Good thing I left my sense of ego in my other pants, eh, Rama readers? But the New York Times list — that’s still accurate!

The Mothership reported today about the latest news regarding the official summer release date of Green Lantern: First Flight on blu-ray and DVD.

Yahoo! Movies now has the first trailer for the animated film, I think it bodes well for the 2010 live-action film.

UPDATE:

Our home base at Newsarama has since added the First Flight trailer.

As you may have read in previous weeks, Sci Fi had given the green light for a made-for-TV film starring the Phantom written by the Knaupfs. If successful, the film could then pave the way for a TV series, not unlike Battlestar Galactica.

Well, get ready to meet the next Phantom…

Ryan Carnes. Better known as Laszlo from Doctor Who, or Justin from Desperate Housewives. The Hollywood Reporter also reports that Isabella Rossellini will play the villainous Lithia.

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on a new Watchmen lawsuit, this time arising from the movie’s coffee.

Yes, that’s right–coffee. The makers of Chock Full O’ Nuts have filed a complaint alleging that Warner Bros. and a company owned by Watchmen: Portraits photographer Clay Enos have illegally copied the coffee brand’s can design.

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Len Wein, creator of X-Men staples like Wolverine, Storm, and Nightcrawler, survived a house fire that destroyed about half of his home, as well as original art from WOLVERINE and GIANT-SIZED X-MEN worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Author Harlan Ellison posted this today on his web site:

EXTREMELY BAD NEWS

Len Wein called this morning. More than half of his house burned down earlier today. Len and Chris Valada and Chris’s son, Michael, got out okay, but their beloved dog, Sheba, ran back inside and is gone. In addition to both bedrooms, the bathroom, and much of the office, what was burned first was the original art for the first Wolverine story, the cover of GIANT X-MEN #1 and other art pieces worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Susan and I will be over there as soon as I pick up my car today, and as soon as I’ve met the dental appointment we have scheduled. This is a major catastrophe for one of my oldest and closest friends. Like your Host, Len is a lifetime freelancer and, even though he remains a star of the comics world, even though he created Wolverine and Storm–among other characters–he goes from day to day earning a freelancer’s living, as do I…and these are frightening economic times for those of us out there, to paraphrase Arthur Miller, “on a few words and a shoeshine.”

Harlan

At the very least, I’m relieved that Len and his family are alive and well. We at Blog@ are wishing for nothing but the best for this seminal X-creator, and will keep you posted on any additional happenings on his part.

At his website, Mark Evanier described the scene:

Harlan Ellison was over there wielding a shovel and he described the loss to me a little while ago on the phone. It sounds pretty total. To those who ask, “What can we do?” the answer seems to be “not much right now,” though Len and Chris must know they have a lot of friends they can turn to. At some point down the line though, when they’re settled into new digs or a rebuilding of the old digs, I’d like to see if we can restore some of Len’s book collection — particularly copies of things he worked on.

Another update from Ellison after the jump…

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DC’s new “The Source” blog posted new info and images on the forthcoming Justice League: Cry for Justice today.

While we’ve heard the team line-up before, this is the first (to my recollection) glimpse of the villains. Can we say “Legion of Doom”, boys and girls? I’d also guess that there will also be a nigh-mandatory Gorilla Grodd vs. Congorilla battle at some point. Writer James Robinson and artist Mauro Cascioli’s mini drops in July.

For a little history – yes, it was announced during convention season last year, and it was originally announced as an ongoing. It’s been trimmed down to 6 vengea…er, justice seeking issues featuring a team headed up by Green Lantern and Green Arrow that are taking a more proactive stance on the villains of the DCU, particularly the ones that killed other heroes, and those the heroes care about.

Although, one does wonder…if (as has been hinted and suggested) the Martian Manhunter’s death is the motivating factor for Green Lantern…when this project was originally announced, J’onn was alive and kicking, and his fate after Final Crisis according to DC was understandably hush-hush. But with this starting up in July, at the same time that…let’s just say someone is coming back from the dead, the Human Flame (the prime mover behind the Manhunter’s death) will be out and about trying to make his name known as a big bag, and J’onn’s actual murderer has long been dealt with…not to mention, we’ve already seen the start of the JLA fallout of some members leaving (in issue #31) – is it possible the original story has been tweaked and updated from its original form?

Over at Mother Jones, there’s an interview with political cartoonist Steve Brodner on illustrating articles, which politicians are the most fun to caricature, and how what’s best for satirists is what’s worst for America.

It’s available in podcast form, or there’s a transcript. Check it out.

“Vin Diesel interested in Namor and Doctor Doom roles”: Or probably any roles at this point, I’d imagine. According to this article, he’s interested in those two FF-related characters, but I’m having a hard time imaging him in either. Actually, I have a hard time imagining anyone playing Namor, except maybe Jason Statham. Wasn’t Diesel interested in, or being considered for, the role of The Flash and Silver Surfer at one point?

“What would you recommend for a child whose interested in super-powered produce?”: A Poughkeepsie area librarian recommends some graphic novels for kids, and it’ s a pretty good list, including Scott Morse’s Magic Pickle and, of course, Andy Runton’s Owly. I’ve never heard of Otto’s Orange Day though, so I guess I better visit my local library.

“Fundamentalist nutjob cartoonist Jack Chick explains the error of fictional holiday figures in a gripping tale of murder and spiraling insanity”: Hmm, based on the headline alone, I don’t think this blogger is terribly fond of Jack Chick’s work.

“127 issues and we get to see the main female lead end things, not in triumph, but awash in self-doubt, self-pity and just before running away”: This long-ish post in reaction to the end of Birds of Prey by comics blogger K.D. Bryan involves some fan entitlement (actually, Bryan says, “I know I’m talking like a crazy entitled fan here”), but it also functions as a pretty thorough summary of what the series was really about, behind the missions and fights. I haven’t been reading the title since shortly after Gail Simone left, and obviously I have no idea what DC has planned for Barbara Gordon and the other characters in the near future, but I wonder, did the team have to break up at the end of their monthly? Like, Robin and Nightwing got cancelled at the same time, and neither of those series ended with the heroes deciding to quit being Robin and Nightwing (Not yet, anyway!).  Couldn’t BoP just sort of stopped publication, implying that the team was still together until there was a reason for them not to be together anymore, like Barbara Gordon getting the use of her legs back and having a sex-change operation and becoming the new Batman? In Battle for the Cowl #1, at least, they’re still together anyway. (Link stolen from When Fangirls Attack).

“New ad from Marvel has fans wondering if Captain America will rise from the grave”: Actually, the white star over black chain mail field had had me wondering Captain America was going to get possessed by Venom.

“This is a delivery system for an expectation that no one but old people had. This isn’t a comic book”: Tucker Stone reviews The Flash: Rebirth as part of his weekly “Comics of The Weak” feature at The Factual Opinion. I would have quoted a longer sentence, but that’s about the only one that doesn’t include a metaphor involving prostitution or a swear word. Stone also makes that Battle of The Cowl: Man-Bat special sound pretty awesome in a “Can the book actually be what he describes it to be?” kind of way. (By the way DC Comics, I’d totally be buying The Outsiders monthly if you’d retitled it Alfred Pennyworth and The Outsiders).

By Lan Pitts

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the WWE’s spectacle of the year. The Intercontinental Title match starts out with the, then, champion J.B.L.. He does a bit of a promo and plug and all that usual stuff a heel does. Heel, being the term us fans use for a “bad guy”. Anyways, his opponent, Rey Mysterio, a veteran to the business comes out from the ring and pyro goes off…and then I notice his attire. White mask, red lips, green “hair”, purple pants and suit. Yep. Rey Mysterio was “Ledgerized”. I have to admit, it was sort of cool looking. Rey walked down the ramp giving out Joker cards to random fans, and even the commentary team were sort of taken aback. Though, they should not have been that surprised: Rey’s done this before. Rey himself is a huge comic book fan and has made several masks and attire in honor of the likes of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, the Flash and Daredevil. There was one hiccup during the aftermath. Jerry Lawler made a comment about how Rey is honoring Heath Ledger’s Joker, but Jim Ross made a VERY snide comment about how “at least Rey’s career is alive and well.” Seriously, bad form there, JR.

The awkward begins around 2:10 and continues for about a minute…

Marvel Comics has announced that Rick Remender, writer of the Punisher, has signed an exclusive contract with the publisher.

“I’ve produced a couple dozen volumes of creator-owned work in the past few years and have scratched that itch fairly thoroughly,” Remender said in a written statement. “I’m in a place at Marvel where I love both the work and the people I’m working with, so it wasn’t a tough decision. All the planets aligned to not only give me a shot at some of the characters I loved as a kid, but to spin them in a way that stays true to my sensibilities.”

Formerly of the animation industry, working on films like the Iron Giant, Remender made his name with creator-owned works like Fear Agent, The End League, and Last Days of American Crime. He has since taken over Matt Fraction’s post as writer for the Punisher.

Remender was mum about the Punisher’s crusade against Norman Osborn, which has already taken him against heavyweights like the Sentry: “The upcoming events in the Marvel Universe crash down on Frank. Hard.”