Last week, reports put the likelihood of Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Jonah Hex) playing Magneto in next year’s Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men: First Class as anywhere from “kinda sorta yes” to “pretty much totally.” Looks like we can now upgrade that to a “for suresies.”

As first reported by Showbiz 411, and later picked up by Latino Review and other notable sources, it looks like Fassbender is officially official to play a younger version of Professor X’s best friend and future arch-nemesis, a role originated on screen by Ian McKellen in the first three X-Men movies. As the story goes, Fassbender had a choice between playing Magneto here or a villain in the new, rebooted Spider-Man franchise, and ultimately chose Marvel’s mutants over Spidey; a pretty sweet position to be in, all things told.

A full look at who’s been cast so far, who’s been rumored and who might join up next — the movie is less than a year away, after all – is right here. Jazzed for Fassbender’s take on the legendary villain? Let us know in the comments.

Just in case you don’t live in Portland: This is what the cover of The Portland Mercury looked like, thanks to Jim Woodring.

FYT!: The “Y” stands for “Yeah” and the “T” for “Tubby.” Um, that’s all I have to say about this news and short preview.

Thomas Jane should totally play the lead in a Wilson movie adaptation: Of course, the part would have to be re-written to make Wilson a lot more devastatingly handsome. Anyway, Thomas Jane is a fan of graphic novels, so much so that he gave a shout-out to Daniel Clowes’ latest in People freaking magazine. He also collects switchblades.

Funky Winkerbean yet to die horribly: In a surprise curveball, Funky Winkerbean, the star of the dour comic strip that bears his name, did not die in a car accident, as June 24’s dramatic, three-panel strip suggested may happen. Yes, Funky survived his brush with death in an automobile…but will Teodor survive his?!

Does the “D” in DC stand for “Dog”?: Matthew Meylikhov examines DC Comics’ anti-cat agenda. (Via The Beat)

“FINAL THOUGHTS ON KILLING TREES TO MAKE GENERALLY LOW VALUE SEQUENTIAL FLOP(pie)S”: Wow, Brian Chippendale makes a hell of a comics blogger. Check out this long, meandering review of the first few issues of Marvel’s recently remodeled Avengers franchise, in which Chippendale provides plenty of classic art examples, blurbs himself, draws his own Ronin variant cover, hypes his garden and gets rid of all the evidence in an amusing unusual manner.

UPDATE: MTV Splashpage has confirmed the news, as well as gotten a bit of casting. Geek entertainment veteran Summer Glau, of Firefly and Sarah Connor Chronicles fame, will be voicing Supergirl! Still no official word, however, if the animation will follow Michael Turner’s art as a template.

Well, this is just Jeph Loeb’s day, ain’t it?

This morning, Marvel announced that Jeph Loeb is now Executive Vice President, Head of Television, and will be in charge of bringing more Marvel properties to TV. Now, according to Superman Homepage, who acquired the cover art for the next DCAU project, we learn that another arc of his Superman/Batman run is coming to small screens via DVD.

After Superman/Batman: Public Enemies‘ success, Warner Home Video will be bringing Superman/Batman: Apocalypse to DVD and Blu-Ray on September 28, 2010. An official announcement is expected at Comic-con International: San Diego this July. The cover art shows Darkseid and the “Evil Supergirl” designed by deceased artist Michael Turner. These were the two key characters in the second arc of Jeph Loeb’s run, used to re-introduce Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El to the DCU.

Also of note is the bottom corner of the case… wherein the next short film, Green Arrow, is also announced.

Bruce Timm did just assure viewers that more DC Animated videos were on the way. What do you think of the next feature?

Superman 700
Cover art by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson, or Eduardo Risso & Trish Mulvihill

I love Superman.  He’s just a great character, yet sometimes he seems to be taken for granted creatively.  This anniversary issue, it seems to do that a little bit.  Sure, Lois and Clark will work out their issues, and it’s nice to see Superman helping Robin, but a little more effort given to delivering these stories in a surprising manner would make for a much more memorable comic book.

“The Comeback”
Written by James Robinson
Illustrated by Bernard Chang
Colored by Blond
Lettered by John J. Hill

Yeah, it’s nice to see Lois and Clark reconciled after his year-long adventure on New Krypton. “I can’t stop kissing you” is a good line, and the final page is a beaut – but it’s a little long in the tooth, with eight pages devoted to Lois and Clark’s mostly predictable reunion.  There’s really nothing in this story that hasn’t been done a thousand times before.  The script is passable, and the art a hair below.  While the page of Superman punching Parasite through several stack of equipment is laid out nicely, the very next panel on the very next page is confusing.

“Geometry”
Written & laid out by Dan Jurgens
Finished by Norm Rapmund
Colored by Pete Pantazis
Lettered by John J. Hill

Dan Jurgens returns to Superman for a charming little “early days” story with Superman venturing out to Gotham to save Robin’s hash.  The story features a cute wrap-up and solid art, but no particular insights into Superman here.

“Grounded prologue: The Slap Heard ‘Round the World”
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Penciled by Eddy Barrows
Inked by J.P. Mayer
Colored by Rod Reis
Lettered by John J. Hill

The set-up for the next year’s worth of Superman stories, and it’s hard to tell what to expect from this.  It feels somewhat emotionally flat.  You can recognize Superman’s feelings, but the delivery comes off trite.  Barrows and Mayer’s art does a passable job handling the emotional range, and Reis does a great job on the pastoral outdoor scene prior to the Flash’s arrival.  There’s promise here, but it’s too early to guess how much will be unearthed.

Previews of Action Comics, Supergirl and Superboy offer your basic teases, villains, crossovers, guest-stars.  None of the three offer much in the way of surprises (the last graph of Sterling Gates’ page gives a suggestion that he’s really thinking about develop Kara beyond the action sets, so that’s promising), and the five-page preview of Action Comics is your run-of-the-mill Lex Luthor smug evilness.  Ooh, look, Lex fires a guy for telling Lex what he doesn’t want to hear, and then wants him killed for reacting poorly – yeah, I’ve seen that one before.

Legion of Super-Heroes #2
Written by Paul Levitz
Penciled by Yildiray Cinar & Francis Portela
Inked by Wayne Faucher & Portela
Colored by Hi-Fi
Lettered by Sal Cipriano

In the first issue of the series, Paul Levitz seemed to dip his toes into the water slowly, focusing on a few central characters and bringing readers into the 31^st century gradually.  An issue later, we’re right into the thick of it, and Levitz’s script actually feels more comfortably and more assured as the cast expands and the subplots mount.

The aftermath of Titan’s destruction dominates the issue, with Levitz balancing some action (clean-up work by the powerhouse members) and the big cultural themes (bigotry against the surviving Titans).  The Earth Man plot builds organically, with the tension between the various Legionnaires and their new colleague playing out effectively without being too heavy-handed.  It’s nice to see a superhero comic book dealing intelligently with the aftermath of major tragedies, and perhaps its due to the increase in graphic tragedies over the last ten years – but it seems very rare to see the cultural and personal effects of a major trauma unfold in this manner.

Saturn Queen’s effects on Ultra Boy seem arbitrary, an effort to introduce some action into the script, but it’s early and we’ll see if more comes from it.  Already Levitz has had Brainiac 5 address one of my concerns with issue one, noting the unlikelihood of Titan’s explosion.

Only the second issue and already DC’s needed a co-artist (Francis Portela) to complement Yildiray Cinar and Wayne Faucher, though the effect isn’t as jarring as it might’ve been. The two styles are complimentary, as both offer solid, exaggerated superhero-style illustrations, though Portela’s layouts are slightly clearer.

But Legion remains Paul Levitz’s show, and the tension of Earth Man’s induction to the Legion, the intrigue of Graym and Garridan Ranzz’s disappearance, and the emotional honestly of Garth and Ayla’s reactions to the children’s abduction – it all rings true and human.  Now if only they could come up with a few better costumes for the ladies on the team…

Showcase Presents DC Comics Presents Superman Team-ups
Written & Illustrated by more than I care to list

This book, a 500-some page collection of the first 26 issues of DC Comics Presents, the Superman team-up title that ran from 1978 to 1986, essentially defines the concept of “for fans only.”

In each issue, excepting the two-part opener, featuring The Flash in successive chapters, Superman teams with another character from DC Comics’ expansive pantheon.  Early stories suffer from the comic book gobbledyscience that prevented me from reading many comics as a child, but the series quickly settles into a heavily plot-driven style with narratives that occasionally require an extreme leap of disbelief, but at least make sense internally.  For the most part.

Professional scripts from creators like Paul Levitz, Denny O’Neil and Steve Englehart, among others, create a scenario, mix in the guest-star in expected fashion, and culminate in a workable finale.  Joe Staton, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dick Dillin are among the artists providing solid illustrations throughout, though many of the pages are clearly designed for color and lack that in this cheap edition.

Nothing’s particularly wrong with most of the stories in Showcase Presents DC Comics Presents Superman Team-ups, but unless – like me – you’ve some innate fondness for Superman or several of his costars, this book isn’t the first I’d recommend either.

Patrick Boivin strikes again.

[Via Action Figure Insider]

Find out more about Global Freezing here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.

Details are still coming, but Little Big Planet, the popular PlayStation 3 game powered by user-generated content, is about to see some additions in the Mighty Marvel Manner.

Marvel Comics announced on their website today themed downloadable content debuting July 7 on PlayStation Network — four “costume packs” for your Sackboys and Sackgirls coming once a week, with five costumes each (that’s 20 total, for the math-shy). As you can see from the silhouettes on the teaser image to the right, they look pretty adorable.

There’s also a “Marvel Level Kit” coming, with Sackpeople running afoul of Magneto, and a healthy amount of Marvel-related material to create suitably superheroic levels. No word yet on if the DLC will be available for the PSP version as well.

Full list of soon-to-be available costumes after the jump.

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The DC Bullets softball team warmed up for Monday’s rematch against the High Times Bonghitters – the only team to defeat the Bullets in 2010 – with a friendly game against Abrams Books Thursday evening.  After jumping out to a quick lead, the Bullet defense seemed to get a little lackadaisical, but the comic book makers held on for a 16-9 victory to run their record to 9-1.

After Abrams staged a two-out rally, scoring once and leaving the bases loaded in the first, the Bullets charged out of the gate. Centerfielder Neil Hiremath (1-2, R) lined a single to left and immediately came around to score on third baseman Mike Lorah’s (2-2, 2 R, RBI, 2 triples) triple to center.  Shortstop and co-captain Adam Schlagman (2-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, triple) scored Mike with an infield single, and Andrew Arnold (2-2, 2 R, RBI), the left fielder, collected the first of two singles on the day.  With still nobody out, LF Jay “J-Koges” Kogan (1-2, R, 3 RBI, HR) crushed a three-run homer to left.

After successive groundouts, RCF Pat Brosseau (1-2, R, RBI, HR) and CF Vince Letterio (2-2, 2 R, RBI, HR) smacked back-to-back long balls, with Pat going opposite field beyond the reach of the right centerfielder, and Vince pulling one over the left centerfielder.  Right fielder and co-captain Sal Cipriano (2-2, R, double, triple) nearly made it three long balls in a row, with a long drive down the left field line, but a quick relay held him to a triple, and he came home on 3B Nel Yomtov’s (1-2, 2 RBI) line single.

The Bullets followed their eight run first with four more in the second. Brian Walters (1-2), playing right field, and first baseman Jerry Cerza (1-2, R) singled, and Brian was erased on C Katie Kubert’s (0-2) fielder’s choice.  Pitcher Larry Ganem (2-2, R), who held the Abrams squad to a single run through three innings until his defense stumbled, singled to centerfield, loading the bases with one away.  After 1B Laura Demoreuille (1-2, R, RBI) scored Jerry and erased Katie with a fielder’s choice grounder, second baseman Joel Press (1-2, R, 3 RBI, HR) belted a three-run homer to left to cap the frame.

Lorah and Schlagman led off the third with consecutive triples, and Arnold doubled, as the DC team put two more quick runs on the board.  Andrew took third on Jay’s fly out to deep left field, and scored on RCF Adam Staffaroni’s (1-2, RBI) opposite field single to right.

In the fourth, Abrams plated two runs, and the Bullets answered with Vince’s single, Sal’s double and Nel’s RBI groundout.  The team wasn’t able to put Sal across, however, as a line out and grounder ended the inning.    Despite two baserunners, the Bullets didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth.

For Abrams, DC’s defensive collapse in the fifth opened the door and they scored five times, and later tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth.  With time running out on the field permit and the Bullets up by seven runs, both teams chose to skip over the Bullet’s at-bats in the bottom of the sixth and let Abrams take one last shot in the seventh.  Larry Ganem induced a couple routine ground balls and a pop out, and the Bullets claimed their ninth win of the summer.

The 16-9 win pushes the Bullets record to 9-1, including a 4-1 mark in the New York Media Softball League.  The Bullets look to avenge their only loss in a rematch against High Times on Monday at 7pm, on Hecksher Field #2 in Central Park.

Game Notes:

Defensive struggles in successive games does not bode well for the Bullets.  Keep your heads (and yes, that includes the third baseman) in the game, gang!

Four home runs in the game is a single-game season high for the Bullets.

Black Bird
Story & Art by Kanoko Sakurakoji
Published by Viz Media – Shojobeat
Review by Julie Opipari

Black Bird is one of those series that I am on the fence about. It’s a fantasy romance with lots of action and magic and a heroine who is constantly in danger, but it teeters on the edge of oh so wrong! Kyo is a tengu, and he is the leader of his demon clan. He is hot. I guess that kind of makes up for the fact that he might or might not be planning to eat the protagonist, Misao. She is the bride of prophecy, and all of the demons want to possess her. Why? Eating her flesh grants eternal life. Her blood gives incredible powers. Just keeping her alive promises whoever has her tremendous abilities, but I guess the allure of immortality makes everyone pretty much forget about that!

Misao is a high school student, and before Kyo moved in next door, she thought she was your typical high school student. Nope, that was wrong, wrong, wrong. After her 16th birthday, a flood of demons starting hunting her, because they all want to live forever. I don’t know much about the lifespan of a demon, but I bet it’s already fairly long without eating all of the helpless young women in the neighborhood. Too bad for Misao that a long time isn’t long enough for some of those greedy demons. It’s a constant hassle for her fighting off the annoying things. Most of them are low level demons that cause grief more than anything else, but after Kyo comes knocking on her door, the stakes are upped considerably. Now it’s the most powerful demons that are after her. Makes it hard to study for exams when you are constantly worried about becoming someone’s dinner.

This brings me to the reason that I have trouble with the series. Poor Misao. Everyone is trying to kill her, eat her, or rape her. I don’t think that’s very romantic. Being brutalized at every turn isn’t something that I enjoy reading about. Look at the cover. Misao is clutched in Kyo’s possessive embrace, and it certainly doesn’t look like she is enjoying herself. She looks terrified and is crying. And, she’s got blood splatters on her kimono. Probably from Kyo, who looks like he’s about ready to maul her. I don’t care how hot a guy is, if there’s a possibility that he might kill you and then devour your corpse, I just have a hard time finding that romantic. Call me weird or something, but I don’t find that very appealing. The level of violence is at times off-putting as well.

When the story focuses more on the relationship between Misao and Kyo, I enjoy the title more. Sure, Misao is a damp rag next to Kyo’s demanding presence, and that is another annoyance, but I can usually overlook that. Strong, assertive men can be appealing, as long that they aren’t trying to eat you. There are times when Kyo’s possessiveness borders on scary, but Misao doesn’t seem to mind. While I would feel as though I was suffocating, maybe some girls like being treated like a treasured jewel. Besides, if you have a guy as hot as Kyo around, it’s not like you would need to have other male friends; he would take up all of your time, so there wouldn’t be a reason to make him feel jealous, and it would only complicate things more.

In between the melodrama and the failed attempts at turning Misao into dinner, Kanoko Sakurakoji throws in some action to keep things moving breezily along. The action scenes are fun, even if Misao usually does something less than intelligent to get herself in to these life and death predicaments. Kyo works hard at saving her from herself, so I am convinced that he’s not out just for her blood and a hearty meal. Even though Kyo and his vassals look silly in their battle gear, the fights convey a convincing sense of movement and suspense.

Though flawed, Black Bird is a title that I find myself following, almost against my will. It sucks me in, admittedly kicking and screaming at times, but once I pick up each new volume, I find myself reading until the end, usually in one sitting. I guess I am invested enough at this point to at least find out how Misao is going to get a happily ever after, without ending up on some demon’s dinner plate.

When Julie Opipari isn’t mucking around the barn, she can be found trying to make a dent in the massive pile of manga that keeps following her home from the bookstore.  Not wiling to admit she has a problem, she blissfully continues to anticipate the latest releases despite the cries of agony from her credit card.  She cheerfully blames her addiction on the stresses of college and post traumatic work disorder, and is grateful that her family grumbles only occasionally about the amount of time she spends buried in her books. In addition to reading Your Manga Minute every week, you can read more of Julie’s work on her blog, Manga Maniac Cafe.

There’s this rumor among non-comic book readers that Batman is the only cool superhero who doesn’t have powers or a suit of armor that allows him to take on a tank. The rest of us, of course, know that this isn’t true. There are several completely human characters out there who rely on skill and athletic ability to hold their own against various menaces, both with and without powers. One such guy has been appearing on the TV series Smallville for the past couple of years and recently got his own comic book series again. I’m talking, naturally, about the Green Arrow, a guy inspired by Robin Hood, Batman and a novel-turned-movie serial called The Green Archer.

His story’s been slightly revised here and there over the years, but here’s the basic deal. Oliver Jonas Queen was a rich playboy with no direction in life. Circumstances led to him being thought dead and stranded on a small island. Alone and forced to learn new skills to survive, he became a master archer, using his make-shift arrows to hunt animals for food and then to combat criminals who were using the island as a base. Local natives referred to Ollie as the “Green Arrow” since his self-made arrows used parrot feathers. After returning to civilization, Ollie was inspired by his experiences and the new rise of superheroes to become a costumed vigilante, modeling himself after Robin Hood and using his fortune to fund the creation of high-tech multi-purpose arrows. Boomerang arrows, explosive arrows, hand-cuff arrows, net arrows, boxing-glove arrows, he had them all.

Eventually, Ollie lost his fortune and found his perspective changing. Now he was more concerned with social injustices and corrupt politicians rather than super-villains and alien conquerors and eventually he set the trick arrows aside for tried and true broadheads. Over the years, he’s gained several allies and apprentices. A young boy called Roy Harper became his first sidekick Speedy (now calling himself Arsenal). His Justice League teammate Black Canary became his love and occasional partner and recently became his wife as well. A former prostitute named Mia Dearden currently operates as the new Speedy. And for a time, Ollie’s illegitimate son Connor Hawke operated as the new Green Arrow.

We’ve discussed Marvel’s Hawkeye, who was a circus performer at heart, but the Green Arrow is an archer of a very different style and mindset. Let’s take a look, shall we?

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Haven’t picked up Superman #700 yet? Well, not only are you missing out on the much-publicized prologue of “Grounded” (and a charming retro story by Dan Jurgens), but also text-heavy sneak previews of the future of the rest of the Superman family of books — Action Comics, Supergirl and the incoming Superboy.

The latter isn’t starting until November, but there’s plenty of lingering questions regarding how Conner Kent will fit into the DC Universe as a whole post-Adventure Comics, post-”New Krypton,” post-War of the Supermen and post, well, everything else. Jeff Lemire’s comments from #700 are reproduced today on official DC Universe blog The Source, with Lemire sharing a few enticing upcoming character guest spots: The Phantom Stranger, members of the Teen Titans, Batman villains and a potential Superboy/Supergirl team-up. Lemire reveals that he’s in close contact with new Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul, and, perhaps most intriguingly, hints that Superboy will be confronting his feelings for his “sort-of cousin,” Lori Luthor. Action Comics #892, shipping on Aug. 25 (exactly two months from today, for calendar-minded types), features a 10-page Superboy teaser story by Lemire and artist Pier Gallo.

Read the post in whole here.

Domino: “What kind of a $#&* cannon is that?”
Cable: “A big one.”

- X-force #8

Oh, Eric Canete you friggin’ mad scientist. He posted this Cable commission on his blog with some interesting words about the character and his approach to drawing him.

I don’t know how the artists who draw this character do it panel to panel. From Liefild to Romita Jr. to whomever it is that’s drawing this big bastard now, I don’t know how they do it panel to panel, issue issue. I mean, look at him. He’s this guy with SO MUCH SH*T on him – so much detail and gear and bullets and guns and grenades and tech and babies and whatever else masturbatory detail you can put on one character - that I don’t know how, by the third page, the book’s artist doesn’t put a gun in his mouth.

I know Canete’s art is, at times, controversial. Not because it’s obscene or anything of that nature, it’s because of how everything is laid out and just the visualization of it all. I, for one and so many of my favorite artists, love what Canete is doing and what he’s done here in this commission. He’s taken Cable’s cyborg concept, amalgamated the notion of Liefeldian over the top machismo and turned into something stunning and a lot to take it. That’s probably the thing I like most about Canete’s style, it’s not clean cut or cookie cutter. It’s not Alan Davis or Doug Mahnke (both superb artists in their own right), but he presents something like this where you have to not just see it, but look at it.

Canete here has turned one of the (in my opinion) most boring characters, into something incredible that is very distinct and very avant garde.

Ward Sutton on Bat-porn: The longtime alt-weekly fixture, best known for his Schlock ‘n’ Roll/Sutton Impact strip, kinda sorta reviews the Batman XXX porn parody that certain elements of the comics blogosphere have been very excited about. He does so in the form of a slideshow comic strip, in which various Batmen gather in a meeting to discuss it. As you can see from the detail above, Sutton was quite thorough in finding Batmen to include (And he deserves one million bonus points for the Infantino/Giella Batman from the cover of Batman #183 in a panel gesturing at a television).

Shocking news!: OC Weekly writer Joe Vince devotes some time and attention to Bluewater’s recent Lady Gaga bio-comic and discovers it’s not very good. He describes it as “a wildly unhinged cautionary tale that reads like a cross between Grant Morrison’s Invisibles and the Gaga-themed episdoe of Glee” which sure sounds like it has the makings for an awesome comic book, but he does present plenty of examples to support his contention that it is, in fact, terrible. I haven’t read it myself, but Vince seems to agree with Comics Alliance’s Chris Sims that it was a terrible, if extremely surreal, biography. Did any of you guys read the comic? What’s the verdict?

USA Today covers The Green Hornet…:…in the auto section? Well, it’s a post about GH and Kato’s ride, so I guess that’s appropriate.

“Superman might visit your hometown, unless you live in the South”: That’s an interesting take on the Superman-walking-across-America thingee that Entertainment Weekly has.

Jillian Tamaki visits Riverdale: Check out the Skim author’s short, sketchy strip. You know, the other day I mentioned my sincere desire that IDW do a Bizarro Comics/Strange Tales-style indie-artists-do-mainstream-properties project at some point. This makes me think how cool an Archie one might be too. Maybe every publisher should do a Bizarro Comics/Strange Tales-style indie-artists-do-mainstream-properties project at some point… (Via The Beat)

So, which publisher has cornered the market on “disaffected 19-year-old kids who hang out at the record store?”: Frank Santoro says Image, thanks to King City, Orc Stain and Bulletproof Coffin. I would have guessed Oni, as that’s who the disaffected 19-year-old kids who hang out at the record store were most into back when I was closer to 19, more disaffected and more likely to be in a record store. Speakng of Oni, in the same post Santoro shares a charming Marvel vs. DC vs. Scott Pilgrim anecdote.

I never knew there was a Nega-Charlie Brown: And he debuted in 1952?! (Via Comics Reporter)

Adventures in Cartooning
Written & Illustrated by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost
Published by First Second

James Sturm started the Center for Cartoon Studies several years ago, so it’s really not a surprise that he teamed up with two former students to create a book designed to teach children how to create their own comics.

Adventures in Cartooning begins with a knight seeking adventure, a dragon to slay, while standing against a blank white backdrop.  With the aid of the Magic Cartooning Elf, the knight quickly grasps the precepts of panels and word balloons, horizontal and vertical movement, and the most basic aspects of illustration.  The pair, with the knight’s sweet-toothed horse Edward, journey forth, overcoming giant walls, impassable oceans, and the depths of a whale’s stomach as part of their quest.  Sprinkled throughout the engaging adventure, the knight applies the principles of cartooning to overcome each setback and continue to the dragon’s island lair.

With an upbeat sense of humor, as well as obvious and subtle embedded lessons, Adventures in Cartooning manages to be entertaining and educational. The creators’ minimalist designs are easy for youngster to reproduce, and the large panels, bright colors and amusing banter entice you into the characters and their quest.

And better yet, the team reunites this fall for the Adventures in Cartooning Activity Book.  Time to put all those lessons to work, kids!

Over at Ron Marz’s blog, there’s a cool story about Marz and Top Cow artist (and upcoming Velocity partner) Kenneth Rocafort and Rocafort surprising Marz with this piece of art.

“I was stunned, to say the least, both by Kenneth’s generosity and the sheer awesomeness of the piece. Kenneth had offered to do a Dragon Prince piece at the Baltimore Con the previous year, but I figured it’d just be a quickie in my sketchbook at some point. I certainly didn’t expect … this.”

Amazing, huh? Marz goes on and states that when the Dragon Prince collection is published, this piece will be included, of course along with other art from series artist Lee Moder and co-creator Jeff Johnson.

I remember reviewing Dragon Prince when it came out and still recommend it to people who are looking for something for their kids to read or just want a nice all-ages adventure. I love Rocafort’s style and if you have a chance, check out his artblog where there is pretty interesting stuff, especially his take on “Toy Story”‘s Buzz Lightyear.

By Christian Beranek

Diana Falzone is a talk show host, relationship expert, and writer.  Diana hosted Cosmolicious with Diana, her own national daily primetime talk show on Sirius XM.  She is the spokesperson for Paltalk.com and she hosts a weekly interview show focusing on Hollywood, music and sports celebrities.  She was the first female to host a talk show on Maxim Radio Sirius XM called DeVore and Diana . Additionally, Diana is the “Love and Marriage” host for the lifestyle magazine Fox News iMAG and a relationship columnist for the Huffington Post.  And now she has teamed up with writer/producer Geoff Skinner and artist Emily Chan to debut the webcomic HOT MESS. Based on the real-life challenges Diana lived through while growing up, Hot Mess tells the story of Anna, the new girl, who is just trying to make it out of high school intact.

CB:  Tell us where you got the idea for Hot Mess.

Diana Falzone:  I grew up reading Betty & Veronica.  I noticed that it was the only comic that really focused on young girls.  I wanted to create the new version of B&V for a younger generation.

CB: Tell us where you got the idea for Hot Mess.

DF: High school was a mixed bag for me. I loved learning, being involved in extracurricular activities but the social aspect was tough. I always felt like a misfit. I remember a popular guy once said, “You’re Queen of the Nerds.” He thought he was putting me down but to this day I still take it as a supreme compliment.

CB: What is it like working with co-creator Geoff Skinner?

DF: Geoff and I have been wanting to work together for years, but it wasn’t until Hot Mess that we had the golden opportunity. He never stops creating. The man is a machine!

CB: Can you tell us more about Paltalk and how they come into play as a sponsor?

DF: I have been Paltalk’s spokesperson for nearly 5 years. They have a subscriber base of 4 million people, the majority of which are web savvy. It seemed like the most natural partnership for a webcomic and the largest web chat community to combine their powers.

CB: What is a “Hot Mess”?

DF: To me a hot mess is someone that from the outside looks like they have it all together however inside their head lives chaos.

CB: The animals that are within Anna’s mind are super cute and funny, how did they come to be?

DF: I’m an animal lover. If you study an animal you can see that each one has their own personality. For instance, Fribble is based on my dog Bailey. Bailey wants constant attention and can never play enough. Many of the animals are based on real life pets.

CB: You’ll be at San Diego Comic Con as a guest of The Webcomic Factory and PopCult. Is this your first time at the show and what are you expecting from the event?

DF: Yes this is my first time. I’m beyond excited. It’s a dream come to true to be a comic book creator. I never thought that would happen. Now to go to Comic Con with Hot Mess in hand is all too surreal.

CB: Any advice for aspiring “Hot Messes”?

DF: My advice for aspiring “Hot Messes,” is cut yourself a break. The most critical person in your life is most likely you. Try to find things that you love about yourself rather than focus on what you think are glaring negatives. Oh and although it’s great to be insightful, try to live in the moment. It’s a cliche for a reason…because it’s true.

I want to thank Diana for taking the time to speak with me.  Readers can find more info about Hot Mess here:http://www.hotmesscomic.com

Christian Beranek is a writer, musician, actor, film/tv producer and webcomic entrepreneur. He co-runs The Webcomic Factory with Tony DiGerolamo and is hard at work on several original graphic novels. He is also co-starring in High School Sucks The Musical for Lakeshore Entertainment and PDFlo Films. He is never late for dinner and invites you to add him on twitter:http://www.twitter.com/beranek

If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

Reuters had an interesting analysis of last weekend’s Jonah Hex movie, which, like immediately preceding based-on-comics movies The Losers and Kick-Ass, didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Hex earned just over $5 million in its opening weekend and finished in seventh place, one of the weakest showings of the summer.

Given that this summer also saw the release of Iron Man 2, there’s an obvious lesson to be learned about comic book movies, one so obvious it really need not even be stated, but the Reuters article did so rather elegantly anyway: “When comic books are turned into movies, they can become huge hits, like Iron Man, or resounding flops, a la The Spirit.”

I say obvious, because you could take the word “comic books” out and replace it with “TV shows,” “novels,” “radio serials,” “comic strips” or “malaria-induced fever dreams” and, after changing the examples to more relevant ones, it would still be true.

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Just released late last night, is the trailer for the major motion picture adaptation for “Red” based on the Wildstorm mini-series by the same name. It stars Bruce Willis as Frank Moses (Paul, in the comics) who is a retired CIA operative,  until a killer goes after him. Frank gets his old team together (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Hellen Mirren) in retribution and to survive.

Blog@ talked to the artist of the series, Cully Hamner, to see what he had to say about the trailer. “Does this look like two tons of fun, or what?  Sort of stunning that they could find this movie in the grim, nasty little comic Warren and I did, but when you really look, it’s all still there.  It’s expanded, and the tone is different, but the theme has made it through.  I can’t wait to see it with an audience.”

“Red” is slated for release in October.

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