Darick Robertson posted this image on his Facebook account, with a caption saying that it’s a team he’d like to do a miniseries about. I don’t know about you folks, but I’d be a subscriber.

Some great news from DC: I was really excited to see this post on DC’s Source blog, hyping Ralph Cosentino’s upcoming picture book Superman: The Story of the Man of Steel and Art Baltazar and Franco’s  upcoming Tiny Titans picture books. If you’re reading this, then you hopefully already read Tiny Titans or, at the very least, know how much I love Tiny Titans. As for Cosentino, he’s an incredible artist who has previously produced a pretty brilliant biography of Batman in Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight and at least one other book that should appeal to comics fans. I just sort of stumbled upon his Batman in the library one day, so I’m glad to DC giving their fans a heads up on the Superman book.

“Titles of the pieces include ‘Jesus and the Bear,’ depicting Jesus sitting in the woods with, well, a bear”: Here’s a nice long feature about Jim Woodring, prompted by his month-long residency at the Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska.

“Does SCOTT PILGRIM Signal The End Of Comic Book Movies?”: On Obsessedwithfilm.com, Ray DeRousse asks if Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and Kick-Ass might mark the beginning of the end of the current boom of comic book-based movies. Some elements of Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s comics series do seem risky—particularly the Adam West’s Batman-like sound effects—but I think it’s going to take several huge-budget would be blockbusters tanking before Hollywood decides there’s no more gold in those thar hills. Like, Iron Man 3 losing money, or Green Lantern being laughed out of theaters.

Maybe someone should go ahead and try making a New Gods movie after all: Even in these days of absolutely every comic book being optioned or at least thought-about in terms of whether or not it could be made into a profitable movie (You just know there’s a spec script for a Jack of Hearts moviei n someone’s slush pile somewhere), I’ve remained fairly confident that we’ll never see a film based on Jack Kirby’s Fourth World mythology. Not only is it extremely weird, and obvious in the  sort of way that is fine in a printed comic book but can sound goofy spoken out loud, but any version produced now will at least scan a little like warmed-over Star Wars, regardless of whether The Source was actually around before The Force or not. But after reading the results of Tom Spurgeon’s  latest “Five For Fridays” feature —“Name Five Sound-Effects, Sounds or Noises From The Comics You’d Like To Hear In Person, Or That You Were Happy To Hear In A Movie”—I’m having second thoughts. A whole lot of comics people really wanted to hear what a Boom Tube sounds like, and the more I think about it, the more I realize the Fourth World is probably full of neat sounds, from the pinging of the Mother Boxes to the krackle of Kirby dots.

News has spread fast that legendary inker, artist, and editor Dick Giordano has passed away at the age of 77. When one thinks of legendary personalities in this business, Giordano quickly pops up in the top three. Hired by Carmine Infantino in the late 60′s as an editor and if not for him, we would not have had the Charlton Comics characters over at DC, and some may theorize without that, we may never have had Watchmen since Giordano also had a helping hand in creating the Vertigo imprint.

His style defined the Bronze Age of comics and served as mentor to some of the greats we have today such as Terry Austin and Bob Layton. His team ups with Neal Adams are stuff of legend and, to some, helped create the definitive Batman of that time.

I had the pleasure to have met Giordano on a handful of occasions at several conventions in Florida. And honestly, could not have been nicer.

Rest in peace, sir.

It looks like Bryan Singer won’t be directing the X-Men prequel, X-Men: First Class, but still have a rather have a role as producer.

Indie Wire reports that 20th Century Fox wants to proceed with “First Class” with such haste that Singer will have to produce it as he directs Jack the Giant Killer for Legendary and Warners.

It seems like a rather hasty decision and irrational way to treat such a franchise, in my opinion. It’s been 4 years since an X-team had an adventure on the silver screen, and I think they are going in the right direction with this First Class idea instead of everything revolve around Wolverine. Plus, X-Men: First Class was such a good read.

So now that the director’s chair has a void, who do you think should take the reigns of Marvel’s mutants?

The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the role of Shane has been cast for the forthcoming AMC pilot based on “The Walking Dead”. Rick’s fellow police officer will be played by Jon Bernthal, known for “The Ghost Writer”, “Eastwick”, and playing Al Capone in the second “Night at the Museum” film.

More on Feiffer’s memoir: Backing Into Forward continues to generate coverage, like this piece in the Dallas Morning News and this one in The Jewish Daily Forward.

“A fine effort it is, at least considering the writing”: This review of the new First Second graphic novel Booth is interesting, moreso because of where it shows up than because of its quality —Geoff Elliott’s blog The Abraham Lincoln Blog. Now do Time Lincoln!

Obama comics have jumped the shark and the trend is over…or is it?!: Mike Rhode on the Comic Book Guest Star-in-Chief.

“While setting up for his appearance in the cafetorium, he noticed his former lunch lady, Jeannie, was still there”: Lunch Lady creator Jarrett J. Krosoczka gets profiled in this feature in The Republican.

Never say never…they made Watchmen, after all: “Five superhero movies that should (but never will) be made”

Geoff Johns vs. Charles Darwin…?: John from Living Between Wednesdays takes some time to rant about the latest chapter of Blackest Night, this week’s Green Lantern #52. Specifically, the way it seemingly rewrites everything we know about evolution and the universe.

Cartoonist Mike Dawson (Freddie & Me) is trading in his sequined rock star outfits for boy scout colors in his new webcomic series Troup 142. The comic, which has been serialized for a few months now,follows the fictitious Boy Scout Troop 142 as they spend the week at summer camp. And if you’ve ever been to summer camp — especially a boys’ summer camp — you might have an idea what to expect.

Mature readers only, for sure. The third chapter, “Tuesday”, was recently completed with four more planned in the run. Fore more, visit the Troop 142 website.

WORLD OF HURT – The Thrill-Seekers – Episode 35: “Fire and Desire”

It’s good to be back on the brand-spanking new Blog@Newsarama!  You may not see the changes from your end, but let me tell, you dear reader, the upgrades they made behind the scenes are hotter than fish grease.

I was pretty nervous about the response I would get to this one, but the feedback was all quite positive.  It’s a common lament, but culturally, I think we’ve become more accustomed to depictions of violence than sex.

New strips of WORLD OF HURT – The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomicare posted every Wednesday at www.worldofhurtonline.com.

- JEP

Editor’s Note: This “issue” of WORLD OF HURT is NSFW and can be found after the jump.

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And DAMN is it cool.

I know Michael Cera has sort of found a niche playing these awkward teen roles, but at the same time, I see him taking this role to the next level. I have to be honest, I didn’t know that much about Scott Pilgrim until right before the movie was announced, but this trailer has me thinking this could be the sleeper hit of the year.

So what say you, Rama readers, does this trailer make you rock with anticipation?

Even with her lengthy resume, Angela Bassett may still be a bit of a lightweight for her latest role — Amanda Waller, better known as the harsh backbone of the Suicide Squad.

Variety has reported that the star of How Stella Got Her Groove Back has signed onto the film as the large-and-in-charge government-sponsored mastermind, starring opposite Ryan Reynolds. I believe that this is her first superhero film (since I don’t think Masked and Anonymous would quite fit in with the rest of your superhero DVD collection), although she does have the dubious credit of Vampire in Brooklyn, so take that as you will.

For one, I’m interested to see how Waller will impact the storyline, and what DC’s goals are for the character. Comics Alliance, for one, is speculating that Waller will act as a Nick Fury-style character across DC’s future offerings, but I gotta throw out a challenge flag on that one and say that’s putting the cart before the Suicide Squad-murdered-horse — currently, there’s been no word about a shared universe for future films, and Chris Nolan already has spoken for DC’s Big Two by saying they would be “the only superhero” in each of their respective worlds.

This Tuesday Marvel released their solicitations for comics shipping in June of this year, and among them was this:

MARVELMAN CLASSIC PRIMER #1
Written by JOHN RHETT THOMAS
Cover by JOE QUESADA
Variant by MICK ANGLO
MARVELMAN COMES TO MARVEL! Who is the mysterious Marvelman? The answer to that question is one of the most mysterious in comics lore. Created in 1954 by writer/artist Mick Anglo, the character enjoyed a long run in the British comics market as one of its most powerful heroes. A few decades later, the character was revived with a dark, moody, deconstructionist bent, and produced one of the most important works of comic art in the medium’s history. But now, miracle of miracles, Marvel has stepped up to the plate to deliver on the promise of Anglo’s incredible characters. The MARVELMAN PRIMER will help readers unfamiliar with that character get up to speed on the past, present and future of Marvelman stories. We’ll check in with Mick Anglo, Neil Gaiman and others who contributed to this character’s history over the years. It was the news that swept the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con and the Marvelman Primer explains why! Featuring six all-new pinups of key Marvelman characters by superstar artists Mike Perkins, Doug Braithwaite, Miguel Angel Sepulveda, Jae Lee, Khoi Pham and Ben Oliver!
32 PGS./One-Shot/Rated A …$3.99

Well, it’s nice to hear that Marvel is finally doing something with the character after announcing they had bought the rights to him from creator Mick Anglo at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con. At the time the publisher, which has been synonymous with hyperbolic promotion since Stan Lee was E-I-C, claimed that the announcement was “The biggest news of Comic Con International in San Diego” and that “jaws are still on the floor—the world-renowned super hero MARVELMAN is now part of the Marvel Comics family!”

And it was kinda sorta exciting, or at least it would have been, if Marvel had actually announced anything other than the fact that they would maybe announce future Marvelman comics of some kind at some future date. Since then, all they’ve produced is a poster version of Marvel’s current E-I-C Joe Quesada’s drawing of the character (which looks like it will be one of the two covers shipping on the Marvelman Classic Primer #1) and a T shirt with the Marvelman logo on it.

Unfortunately, this “primer” doesn’t sound like it’s going to contain any actual comics work, but be closer to Marvel’s occasional comics-shaped magazines about Marvel comics, with the only artists credited being those submitting pin-ups and covers (Although I suppose fans can scrutinize who’s submitting pin-ups for clues of who might potentially draw new Marvelman comics if Marvel ever publishes any). And this 22-page, mostly prose, non-comics book will run you…$4? And there’s a variant? Yeesh.

Things sound better in July of 2010, which is when Marvel plans to publish a couple of Marvelman reprint projects which, of course, aren’t the comics most people want to read when they think about Marvelman comics nor are they new material with the character, but they are comics, so Marvel’s getting warmer and warmer.

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I just learned about this guy around October of last year, and has never ceased to amaze me.

Over at Smith’s blog, you’ll find recent sketches of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Jack Staff, John Constantine, Hellboy, and Lobster Johnson (featured above).

He has a sneak peek at his Magdalena cover that he’s doing for an Albany Comic Con exclusive, his Dr. Who work and much, much more.

Also, an interesting note: I didn’t know Smith helped design Lobster, until I read a note from his twitter: “When we were designing Lobster Johnson, I intended the claw on his leather jacket to be red. Mike made it blue. Probably avoided a lot of Red Lobster jokes because of that. Proving once again that Mike Mignola is WAY better at this than I’ll ever be.”

His style reminds me a lot of Mignola with a bit of Kevin Eastman (co-creator of TMNT).

Be sure to check it out yourself.

Details are still in flux, but Olivia Munn’s status in Iron Man 2 is as solid as one of Tony Stark’s armor-plated suits.

Complex Magazine has an interview up with the G4 correspondent, where she mentioned that she had to fly in for some last-minute reshoots for the Jon Favreau flick.

“As they started to edit they realized it was becoming darker than what they’d expected and what my scenes had allowed for. My parts were lighthearted and comedic,” Munn said. “Jon Favreau called and was like, ‘I’ve got good news and bad news: This is what’s happening in editing but we all really like you.” Marvel and Jon had to add another character from the Marvel universe to keep me included.’”

There’s been a bit of speculation as to who Munn might play, ranging from the Wasp to the Iron Maiden. I’m more leaning towards one Tony Stark’s lengthy, lengthy, lengthy lists of flings and one-night stands, unless word comes out that Munn is shooting for a multi-picture deal. Thoughts?

Ready to see Adi Granov’s art blast off the page? You can, with the upcoming Iron Man: Extremis motion comic, by Granov and writer Warren Ellis. Entertainment Weekly has a preview for the motion comic. This book comes after recent forays into the motion comics field such as Spider-Woman and Astonishing X-Men on April 16.

Personally, I think it’s fascinating to see which styles work and don’t work for this motion comic paradigm — ultimately, I think what will end up happening is certain tricks will work with certain artists, while other books are going to have to resort to different tactics (and perhaps not as ambitious of effects) to get the movement across.

What say you, Rama readers? How do you feel this first look at Extremis measures up? What sorts of books do you think should be up next for the Marvel slate? Sound off!

Well, circa 1993 anyway.

Over at Ron Marz’s blog, you’ll definitely find a blast from the past when he talks about an Hourman pitch he wanted to do with artist Cully Hamner.

Marz states on his blog, “Back early ’90s when Cully and I were eager, young know-it-alls (as opposed to the jaded, older know-it-alls we are now) we got it in our heads to pitch an Hourman revamp. I truthfully can’t remember the specifics, like which editor it was for, or even if it was intended to be a stand-alone mini, or maybe part of an anthology series. Hell, I don’t even remember if we ever officially pitched it or not. But I did save the faxes – yeah, this was before e-mail – of Cully’s character designs, which you can see here. Still pretty damn cool, huh?”

The most interesting part of the book would be the concept would be the fact that each issue was going to take place over the course of an hour, with a countdown of the Miraclo pill-induced powers. Of course as Marz also stated “Imposing that kind of storytelling structure would have been a real pain in the ass, but worth it.”

Think about that. “24″ meets super-heroics. Interestingly enough, DC revamped the character in the late 90′s as an android. I still have my sketchbook promoting the character. I still would have liked to have seen how this would have played out in a comic, it’s still an interesting idea.

Are you itching to see green tights and borderline masochism hit the big screen? We’ll bet you are. Which is why our good friends at Lionsgate and Special Ops Media have sent us even more clips from the upcoming movie Kick-Ass:

Boy, this movie looks like it’ll more violent than Tarantino, yet even more awkward than a Ben Stiller flick. The movie, starring Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Mark Strong, is due out April 16.

SOTA (State of the Art) Toys is proud to announce the Humping Robot! This rascal will be arriving in fine retailers later this year.

We’ve got it! We’ve done it! Robot Chicken’s Humping Robot is on its way! This Articulated Humping Robot Keychain/Action-Figure can be dangled from keys, purses, backpacks, or whatever you darn well please. And when he’s not dangling you can pose him however you like. We’ve collected a few images of him doing what he does best. You should be seeing him in fine retailers in the 3rd quarter of 2010.

The Humping Robot Articulated Keychain/Action-Figure is SOTA Toys first product released under the Robot Chicken license and is retailed at $12. Many more images of the Humping Robot Articulated Keychain/Action-Figure are available here and here.

Pre-Orders will be available within 30 days of the ship date.

Mysterius the Unfathomable
Written by Jeff Parker
Illustrated by Tom Fowler
Colored by Dave McCaig
Lettered by Saida Temofonte
Published by DC/Wildstorm

This book is a blueprint nearly for what I want in escapist adventure fiction.  Curiously, it also enforces a theory that has developed in my mind in the ten years since I phased out the monthly grind in favor of more digestible, more convenient trade paperback-sized chunks.

Namely, my theory is that finite stories are significantly better than open-ended, forever-running serials.  Mysterius the Unfathomable’s tight plotting reminds me (and probably many people my age) of Back to the Future, wherein every scene, nearly every minor reference, comes back to influence the main plot or become at least a side joke.  It’s the type of plotting that ongoing serials attempt, but rarely pull off because the original writers didn’t actually intend what later writers are grafting into the canon, and because the back story becomes too stretched out, too arbitrary, for each reference to take on the necessary import.

Which isn’t to say that open-ended serials are a bad thing.  For publishers and creators, it’s a steady revenue stream.  For fans, it’s a safe bet and a comfortable purchase.  In theory, though not so much in practice, characters can evolve in a more organic manner.  But I believe that for story, for the purposes of plot, a finite format gives each individual story a sharper focus, a more cogent through-line.  I guess that’s pretty obvious, but given the red-headed stepchild treatment of miniseries in the comics field, it’s something that’s flickered through my mind more than once: “I’d read this if it weren’t so damn long.”

And there’s always the possibility of a sequel.

Anyway, Mysterius the Unfathomable, the book that spawned this unlikely tangent, is pretty damn entertaining.  Mysterius’s narrator, dubbed Delfi by her boss, finds herself as the latest aide to the long-lived mystic known only as Mysterius.  Opening with a parallel story that explains how Delfi became associated with Mysterius, while also chronicling their latest case together, Jeff Parker introduces two disparate storylines, establishing the tenor of Mysterius’s personality and his modus operandi.  That Parker is able to dovetail the two cases together only ices the cake.  While investigating on behalf of a cursed business man, Mysterius and Delfi run afoul of a mystic with ambitions of godhood.

The story’s appeal is based in Parker’s ability to keep the plot racing forward, creating dire consequences, while still maintaining a sly sense of humor.  Mysterius’s dour disposition creates a perfect straight man for most situations, and Delfi’s wry observations highlight the delightful absurdity of, for example, rhyming children’s books as a means of summoning demons.  The heroes have a mission to accomplish, but Mysterius is not a book to take too seriously; it’s having fun with itself.

Because the plot is tightly wound and supporting players from minor scenes recur throughout, Mysterius does require considerable attention.  Though a fairly minor nit to pick, several of Parker’s secondary characters don’t have the weight they should possess, and their reappearances (or offhand references to them) are sometimes difficult to place.  Added to the relationships between dimensions, the flashbacks, the surprising twists, and the emotional journey of Delfia and Mysterius, it’s sometimes a little bit much.

Tom Fowler, the illustrator, matches the material perfectly.  A humor cartoonist in the best sense, Fowler’s pear-shaped figures are exaggerated and distorted caricatures, marked by distinct characteristics, mannerisms and, of course, Mysterius’s bulbous red nose.  Handling everything from Suessian demons to Central Park, Fowler packs every page with details, gags and creative modeling, all of which builds the atmosphere and tension of Mysterius.

In short, Mysterius the Unfathomable attains the frothy fun of the best light-hearted adventure fiction.  It’s a romp, a good time, a little silly, a little scary, with a title character who needs to learn a little humility, and a true protagonist learning to take control and use her own wits.  Parker keeps you guessing until the end, and Fowler makes it look great.  If you want a fun adventure comic, Mysterius the Unfathomable is a terrific one.

Glenn Beck is smarter than Norman Osborn: That’s one of the conclusions Tom Crippen comes to in this amusing review of Marvel’s Siege: Embedded #2 on The Comics Journal website. Well, he’s not talking about our Glenn Beck, but the barely-veiled version of him that they’ve got starring in Embedded (What’s his name again? Is it Ben Gleck?) Also amusing and also written by Crippen on TCJ’s  website is this piece, which includes too much thinking of what exactly Pat Oliphant was thinking about when he made that Sarah Palin-sleeping-with-a-moose-man cartoon recently.

“Mark Millar’s Work is Sexist and Racist. So How Come He’s So Famous?”: So asks Erin Polgreen in a guest post on Spencer Ackerman’s blog. If you’re read just about any Millar-written comics, particularly the creator-owned stuff, you can probably guess just about everything Polgreen brings up. I suppose it’s worth noting that while Millar is famous, he’s only comic book writer famous, which is a fairly specific and qualified form of fame, far below that of politician or reality television star.

God I love the Internet!: Jacque Nodell devotes an entire post on her blog Sequential Crush to the appearance of squirrels in the panels of old romance comics.

“A lot of comics —like sitcoms and sailors —age terribly, but this one holds up far better than most”: That’s the LA Times’ Geoff Boucher on Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali. Mike Sterling is also something of a fan of the book…and the statue.

“There are plenty of actors who have range… but when it comes to that iconic hero or heroine, should casting directors look for someone who has not yet been tapped for another project or another big role?”: This column by Naomi Creason brings up some interesting points, prompted by word that the former Johnny “The Human Torch” Storm has been cast as Captain America. I suppose the fact that the Fantastic Four movies aren’t widely acknowledged as modern classics plays in Chris Evans’s favor. For example, when one sees Evans in a movie these days, one’s more likely to think of him as actor Chris Evans rather than as Johnny Storm, as opposed to the way, say, it’s often hard to see Mark Hamil and not think of Luke Skywalker.

Julia Wertz and Johnny Ryan vs. The Babysitters Club: Having never read the Babysitters Club, I have no idea how much of a parody this strip is. But I sure like looking at Johnny Ryan drawings.  (Via Flog)

I’m not sure what this article is about: I keep trying to read it, but end up forgetting what I was doing and staring at the pictures. Okay no seriously it’s about the London premiere of Kick-Ass, which was attended by Brad Pitt and his weird beard, among others. The ICV2 write-up ends with a paragraph including this: “Expect Kick-Ass to create some blowback from the conservative end of the critical spectrum here in the U.S.” I thought that was interesting, because most of the objections I’ve heard about the comic —including the many I myself have made!—have come from the other end of the political spectrum, regarding the comics’ anxieties about people of color and homosexuality.

Aliens: More than Human: After giving their licensed comics adaptations of the sci-fi horror film franchise a bit of a rest, Dark Horse brought the aliens from the Aliens movies back last year with this miniseries by John Arcudi, Zach Howard and Mark Irwin. Now that miniseries itself is back, in the form of a $16, 96-page trade paperback. Preview here.

Animal Crackers: A Gene Luen Yang Collection: If you’re anything like me (you poor devil), then for a split-second you thought this was a graphic novel adaptation of the early Marx Brothers play and got super-excited…only to have your hopes dashed a split-second after that, when the sub-title revealed that it’s not…and then you got super-excited again when you processed that sub-title and realized this meant more work from the author of American Born Chinese and The Eternal Smile. This is a collection of Yang’s early work, in the form of a $15, 215-page trade paperback.

Avengers: The Initiative #34: Plenty of Siege tie-ins available this week. Taking them alphabetically, there’s Christos Gage, Jorge Molina and Brian O’Dell’s story of Taskmaster versus a Captain America in Asgard, plus Dan Slott, Khoi Pham and Nestor Pereyra’s Mighty Avengers #35, Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen and company’s New Avengers #63, Kieron Gillen, Billy Tan and Kirk Jarvinen’s Thor #608 and Jeff Parker and Wellinton Alves’ Thunderbolts #142. Whew! NA is a $4 book, the rest are all $3.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #15: I hate to ever bet against Batman, especially in his own book, but his chances of winning this particular match-up don’t seem all that great.

Maybe Batman can take advantage of some sort of tortoise-and-the-hare situation?

Black Blizzard: Drawn and Quarterly continues their collection and republication of gekiga in general and the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi in particular with this $20, 155-page graphic novel-length story from the young Tatsumi (circa the late‘50s). It’s a crime story about a young piano player accused of murder and handcuffed to a career criminal.

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