This past Monday, Marvel Comics released an image of Elektra by Harvey Tolibao accompanied by the text “Assassin For Hire” and “Coming in December.” The immediate speculation was that this meant a new Elektra miniseries or ongoing.

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I have to say, I really like this idea. Rumors have been spreading about Jon Hamm’s involvement with the Superman reboot, with him being cast as the next Man of Steel. Although Hamm’s rep has been quoted as saying “This is definitely false. So much speculation on these comic projects and 99% is wrong/wishful thinking!” Wishful thinking, indeed. If Hamm is involved or later becomes involved somehow, I think he has the potential to become the closest idea to what Superman is (at least to me) since Christopher Reeve.

I used the picture of him as Dr. Drew Baird from 30 Rock to show that he could pull off the Clark Kent look as well. Hell, he already spoofed Lex Luthor in a FunnyOrDie skit. The more I think about it, the more I love the notion of a more seasoned Superman. Somebody who looks like he could carry the world’s burdens and at the same time help a kitten get down from a tree.

What do you think, readers? For decades the standard for Superman has been the mid-twenty somethings (hard to believe Reeve was 25 when he landed the role, Brandon Routh was 24), so could Hamm break the mold and would you be for it?

UPDATE: Yesterday on Regis and Kelly, Hamm responded to online calls for him to star in the reboot of the Man of Steel.

“It’s news to me,” the Emmy-nominated actor said, but seemed open to the possibility: “If the powers that be are thinking that, I’d like them to get in touch with me.”

Yesterday, I posted on the apparent confusion that “Justice League: Generation Lost” editor Brian Cunningham was experiencing in terms of Ice and Icemaiden. We weren’t the only ones to discuss the issue; comments on the original blog post at DC’s The Source and a couple of threads on DC’s own message boards also flew.

In addition to several fans being generally annoyed at the editorial gaffe/possible retcon in progress, there were several comments about the look and attitude of the character as described by Cunningham. Many fear the “darkening” of Ice, a character noted largely for her innocence and sunny disposition (except when she dresses up as the dirty female version of her boyfriend’s boss and suggests that they have three-way-Gilligan’s Island-themed sex with a power-ring-generated participant).

Regardless, a fair number of comments noted that the new look Ice might be too similar to Killer Frost. I challenge that assessment. She’s too close to the Water Blast Iceman from the “Spider-Man & Friends” line of action figures.

What do you think, readers?

“The more things change, the more they stay the same”: Writing for The Beat, Rich Johnson looks at the many changes—and/or lack thereof—at DC and Marvel in the year or so since the direct market leaders announced their reorganizations.

The End is Near…er: Writing for Comics Reporter, Tom “Comics Reporter” Spurgeon points out and responds to a couple of downer posts from industry wonks, in which he detects a “2012ish Doomapocalyptigeddon Vibe.” I guess I could have just linked directly to the two pieces Spurgeon references in his piece, but then I couldn’t have typed out the word “Doomapocalyptigeddon.”

“I hope the little girl cuts someone”: At Comics Comics, Jog attempts to review Mark Millar’s new magazine. Kinda.

Doesn’t Hostess test their product names out on focus groups of grade-school kids before shipping ‘em to stores?: Apparently not. Luckily, Cool Kid Kiel Phegley is there to pick up the slack.

Ratchet & Clank #1
Written by T.J. Fixman
Illustrated by Adam Archer
Colored by Jonny Rench
Lettered by Saida Temofonte
Cover art by Creaturebox
Published by DC/Wildstorm

Every time a video games-based comic arrives in my mailbox, I experience a moment of trepidation.  I don’t game and have absolutely no knowledge of the Ratchet & Clank games, so it’s certainly possible that some element of the game’s universe could act as a story linchpin for some readers yet slip completely past my notice.  So I read with the tack that this comic could possibly be someone’s first exposure to the characters and concepts.  To date, video game-based comics have left me cold; however, with this approach in mind, Ratchet & Clank #1 really works.

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Attack of the Show‘s “Fresh Ink” segment has broken comic book news in the past — earlier this year, Marvel’s upcoming “Chaos War” story was first announced on the program — and it looks like they’re about to do it again today. From the description of today’s show on the official Web site:

“Blair Butler reports from the House of Secrets in Burbank, CA to report on exclusive news from Marvel”

Well, there you go. Attack of the Show airs on G4 at 7 p.m. Can’t watch? We’ll watch for you — stay tuned to Newsarama for updates on whatever this news may be.

UPDATE: And here it is: BLACK PANTHER Replaces Daredevil As The New Man Without Fear.

While it’s not like I was rooting against it or anything, I still feel like I owe someone some money now that DC’s current Azrael ongoing, featuring a legacy version of the character created in the early nineties to fill in for Bruce Wayne the last time he couldn’t be Batman for an extended period of time, has lasted an entire twelve issues. Azrael #12 is by writer David Hine and artist Guillem March.

1 For $1: Serenity: Those Left Behind: You know what’s weird? Diamond’s shipping list lists these $1 reprints from Dark Horse as “1 For Dollar,”  but the fine print inside the issues always says “One For One” as a sub-title after the colon and the title of the comic, and the covers always have both “One For One”  and “#1 for $1.00″ on them. Man, I have no idea what to call these damn things. Dark Horse has two of ‘em this week. A Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews and Will Conrad comic based on one of Whedon’s less popular shows (look for the creepy John Cassaday image of waxen zombie Nathan Fillion), and The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, the first issue of the first of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s two miniseries featuring their X-Men-like team of super-weirdos. For more $1 reprint action, Image has the first issue of Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’ unpleasant 2003 miniseries that inspired the film of the same names as Image Firsts: Wanted #1.

Bram Stoker’s Death Ship: Wow, that was fast. Gary Gerani and Stuart Sayger’s four-issue IDW miniseries dramatizing the mysterious events that occurred on the boat that took Dracula from Transylvania to England in the original novel just wrapped up earlier this month, but it’s already available in an $18, 105-page trade paperback.

Justice Society of America Special: Let’s see here…”‘Kingdom Coming’ concludes as Magog, The Justice Society of America…when all signs point to the vents of KINGDOM COME coming to pass.” Huh. I could have sworn I read this very story a few years ago when Geoff Johns was still writing the title. But this is by writer/artist Scott Kolins.

Koko Be Good: Jen Wang’s debut graphic novel features an eccentric young woman who is constantly throwing herself into new projects and, after meeting a young man in love with a woman who works with orphans, she assigns herself a new project: Being good. But what, exactly, does that mean? This beautifully drawn $19, 300-page graphic novel chronicles Koko and friends’ stumbling attempts to answer that very question. You can read a 15-page preview here.

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It’s nothing to shrug at — Atlas Comics is coming back to publishing.

Deadline has posted an article up, stating that Jason Goodman — grandson of Atlas founder Martin Goodman, who also founded Marvel Comics — is relaunching the company.

The first two titles, The Grim Ghost and Phoenix, will be revealed at the New York Comic-Con. Other properties owned by the company include the Grim Ghost, Ironjaw and the Cougar. Already, a firm called Reaction Visual Media has posted a cover for The Grim Ghost, which will be written by Joshua Ortega with art by Qing Ping Mui. UPDATE: Atlas has stated that the credits listed by Reaction are incorrect, and updated credits are still being worked out.

“Although my grandfather eventually sold Marvel, he insisted on keeping Atlas Comics in the family,” the younger Goodman told Deadline. “As a result of his vision, Atlas Comics is the largest individually-held library of comic book heroes and villains on the planet. We have 28 titles and hundreds of characters imagined by some of the greatest minds in the industry.”

Ardeen Entertainment’s Brendan Deneen is also backing the relaunch, and writer J.M. DeMatteis will be the company’s new editor-in-chief.

UPDATE II: DeMatteis gave a quick comment to Newsarama, clarifying his role within the Ardeen and Atlas spheres. An extreme hat tip to Zack Smith and Lan Pitts for the quote:

One thing I’d love to clear up: the way the story morphed in the press it looks like a) we’re in the midst of a full-out Atlas revival and b) I’m the editor-in-chief of a reborn Atlas comics. That’s not the way it is. I’m EIC of Ardden Entertainment — we’ve recently relaunched both FLASH GORDON and CASPER (as CASPER AND THE SPECTRALS). Ardden is working with the Atlas license holders (sort of like a co-production between two film studios) to bring two titles out: GRIM GHOST and PHOENIX. That’s it for now. Two titles to test the waters. If they do well—and everyone hopes they do—there will, naturally, be more.

Stay tuned to the Newsarama Mothership for more details as they unfold!

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!

Sometimes, fans can be hard on companies. Sometimes, companies do it to themselves. Take, for example, this blog entry at DC’s The Source, discussing “Justice League: Generation Lost” #12, and the story involving Ice.

If you’ve been reading JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST, you know the character’s been going through her share of soul-searching. But how does one character go from pensive, shy flower to elemental badass? Let’s ask JL: GL editor Brian Cunningham.

“For those of us that read the Super Friends series in the 1970s where Ice was originally introduced as Ice Maiden, we all know how absurd her origin was. With Gen Lost #12, writer Judd Winick provides Ice with a credible and tragic origin that does not negate what we already know. And the consequences of this new origin are pretty explosive, as Aaron Lopresti’s amazing art shows.”

All well and good. EXCEPT . . . Icemaiden isn’t Ice. Ice is a totally different character. The Icemaiden that first appeared in non-continuity “Super Friends” #9 in 1977 was Sigrid Nansen. Tora, our Ice, didn’t appear until “JLI” #12 in 1988.

Granted, there was even confusion at DC then, born out of the fact that some thought that Icemaiden had never been named, but she had. This backstory was handled and reconciled when IceMAIDEN joined the League after Tora (Ice) died. (For the record, Icemaiden’s first canonical appearance was in “Infinty Inc.” #32 from 1986).

Icemaiden has appeared in other stories over time, including being duped by The Mist II during the run of “Starman”; The Mist II then disguised herself as Icemaiden to kill several members of Justice League Europe. Also, Icemaiden appeared in a 2007 “JSA Classified” story. During her run in “Justice League American”, it was revealed that Icemaiden is Jewish (as opposed to the Norwegian-gods descended Tora) and bisexual (one of the few heroines to be identified as such).

So, my question is this: if fans can remember this, why can’t editorial?

If you’re still not sure one way or the other about the Walking Dead TV show, AMC has released three new teasers!

Man, watching Rick shuffle through the hospital — I know the intro is almost exactly the same as 28 Days Later, but it’s little subtleties like that zombie-esque limp is just great.

Want to see the other two teasers? Click here for AMC’s site! The show, directed by Frank Darabont and executive produced by Gale Anne Hurd and series writer Robert Kirkman, is due out on Halloween.

In the “take this with a fast food value menu amount of salt” department, no less of a source than “Firestorm Fan” (a website for, um, Firestorm fans) reported a rumor today, allegedly stemming from last month’s Toronto Fan Expo: that Firestorm is getting a new ongoing series after Brightest Day concludes.

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Bethesda, Maryland’s Small Press Expo took place this past weekend, and with it the annual Ignatz Awards recognizing small press and creator-owned work. With winners voted on by SPX attendees, the ceremony took place on Saturday, and included high marks for Eddie Campbell and Drawn and Quarterly’s Masterpiece Comics, plus a shirtless Dean Haspiel. Full list of winners after the jump!

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Color me impressed.

Deadline Hollywood has some interesting clips promoting the Game of Thrones series adaptation and I must say, it certainly has the right look. The costumes, the art direction, and just the over all visceral feel of the books seem to come to life. While it debuts next year, HBO is wasting no time showing us what is in store.

Taking a close look at the new shows in the offing for the Fall television season, you’ll see a fair number of genre offerings. The question here is simple: are you interested? Let’s look at a few.

The Event (NBC): May or may not be genre-related in the conventional sense. It certainly wants to be mysterious, but the hyping of “The Event” pretty much demands that “The Event” is something huge. If “The Event” turns out to be a terrorist attack, a conventional conspiracy, or something overly familiar, I expect this show to fade quickly. Then again, NBC displayed near-legendary patience with “Heroes”.

Nikita (CW): Genre in the sense of pulpy action, the show (which debuted last night) is marketed more or less on the body of Maggie Q. If you checked it out, did you check it out because you like Nikita (now in her FOURTH pop culture iteration) or did you check it to check Maggie out?

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 ”So Many Books About 9/11; So Few About Katrina”: This CBS News/New Republic story mentions Josh Neufeld’s A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge comics work as a relatively rare literary reaction to Hurricane Katrina, and includes a quote from Neufeld. Somewhat remarkable, Kanye West and his statement about George Bush not caring abou black people is never mentioned, despite a sub-head practically begging for comparison: “Why Don’t Novelists Care about Hurricane Katrina?”

Who’s that guy with his hands all over Uncle Gabby?: Tony Millionaire has a brand-new website at maakies.com, and in addition to containing Maakies strips and a detailed explanation about how to read comic books, it also contains a few mysterious, suggestive photos that seem to hint at a live action Sock Monkey project. (Via Flog)

Either this show wasn’t really hitting with its potential target audience, or I’m just super-oblivious: Because I could have sworn Heroes was canceled like three years ago. 

Guess which list Northstar and Extrano are on: Ty Templeton follows up his post on The Seven Most Misguided Attempts at Gay Characters in Comics with The Seven Best Gay Characters in Comics. Refreshingly, Templeton defines “comics” as “comics,” and not simply “superhero comics published by DC and Marvel,” which is way too often the case when this very subject gets discussed. 

Today’s superhero decadence commentary: Writing at 4thletter.net, Esther Inglis-Arkell sums up my own feelings about DC and Marvel attempts to be mature that tend to just end up seeming gross and/or half-assed and juvenile: 

In many ways, this seems like the worst of two worlds.  Mainstream continuity and art are hijacked by the need to make things as violent, suggestive, and sexually explicit as possible.  Meanwhile, those sexually explicit stories are constrained due to a need for the One Established Character not to push certain boundaries.

I know I’ve tried to say something similar a half-dozen times on my own blog before, but it usually takes me several thousand words and I never quite get there. Inglis-Arkell does it in about seven paragraphs.

Newsarama Note: This column expresses the opinion of the writer, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Newsarama or anyone but the writer.

Living in Atlanta, there has always been one thing I look forward to more than anything to help me get my geek on: DragonCon. Each year it’s become more and more populated and the costumes and guests have gotten more extravagant. This year, like the past 8 years, I attended D*C for a weekend of fun, comic talk, friends and good times. There’s never a dull moment and with D*C stationed at hotels, you never know who you might run into. It’s not like any other convention that I’ve been to that just shuts down at a set time. It’s non-stop.

Yet, a recent blurb in Entertainment Weekly‘s “Bullseye” section had me slightly irked. Yes, I understand that the “Bullseye” is used to make fun of a lot of things going on in pop culture. Had they just made fun of the convention itself, I probably wouldn’t have minded it as much, yet the quote they used was “DragonCon: the convention for those who aren’t cool enough to get into Comic-Con.” That is where I have my problem. They actually went a little below the belt and insulted the attendees. That is completely different.

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In a film full of memorable performances, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World‘s Bollywood-tinged fight sequence with first evil ex Matthew Patel, played by newcomer Satya Bhabha, was still a scene-stealer. Bhabha showed off his musical skills in the movie based on the Bryan Lee O’Malley graphic novels, and in real life he’s the cellist for modern folk troupe He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister.

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Thanks to a segment on today’s Good Morning America, we know a lot more about upcoming Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, and what’s been revealed is unlikely to dispel any positive or negative preconceived notions you may have had about the existence of a Spider-Man Broadway musical.

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When government agents Richard and Mary Parker were killed by a foreign spy they were investigating, they left their only son Peter to be raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York. Growing up, Peter showed a great aptitude for science, especially in engineering and chemistry. By the time he was an adolescent, Peter had already gained the notice of a few scientists, including Norman Osborn (who would later become the villain known as the Green Goblin). At the age of fifteen, Peter was attending a demonstration on radiation when a glowing spider bit him and then died of radiation poisoning.

Peter felt sick but minutes later he realized he now had superhuman strength, agility and dexterity. He could cling to surfaces through molecular attraction and now possessed an extrasensory danger-sense or “spider-sense” that warned him of hidden and oncoming threats. It’s not known exactly whether his mutation was due to the spider’s radioactive blood or if there was something extraordinary about the spider to begin with and the radiation had simply poisoned it. Either way, Peter now had incredible power and used it to begin a career as a television stuntman, wearing a colorful costume as he performed incredible feats for live audiences. To complete the spider motif, Peter used a special adhesive he’d designed (which always dissolved after an hour) that could be fired from wrist-worn “web-shooters.”

Over the next few months, Peter grew arrogant and self-absorbed. When a thief robbed the studio’s payroll, he ignored the criminal, saying it wasn’t his job to get involved. Weeks later, the same thief robbed Peter’s home and shot his uncle. Peter helped apprehend the burglar, shocked that his actions weeks earlier could have prevented his uncle’s death later on. Realizing that great power brings great responsibility, Spider-Man left his TV career behind and dedicated himself to hunting down criminals and protecting all life, no matter how much it cost him in the process.

Over the years, Spider-Man has become a formidable superhero and has served alongside most of Earth’s champions. Currently, he fights evil not only on his own but also as a member of the Avengers, working with people such as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Wolverine. He’s been to other dimensions and planets, has traveled through time, and has faced off against aliens, terrorists, mobsters, super-villains, sorcerers and demons. He’s suffered horrible tragedies and has lost many loved ones, but he’s also seen victory and he knows that giving up would be selfish. There’s always tomorrow and he’s always ready to laugh and hope that things will turn out all right in the end.

Got it? Good. Now let’s take a look at his web-slinging ensemble!

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