“We’re spending too much time talking about the cover price instead of talking about the package”: KC Carlson talks comic book cover prices and the perceived value of the comics in light of DC and Marvel’s announcements of not charging quite so much for the widgets they make.

God, I love comics: Check out this strip by Rebecca Clements.

Also, check this out: These are so great that the photographer even manages to make a guy dressed like Gambit look kind of cool. Gambit! That Black Canary one oughta be a Birds of Prey cover. (Link stolen from Comics Alliance)

Every movie superhero should be fighting Fin Fang Foom: This guy makes the argument that superhero movies need more super supervillains, summing up the conflict from Iron Man 2 thusly: “Who cares about some Russian guy’s patent dispute grudge with Tony Stark’s father? Iron Man needs to be fighting Fin Fang Foom and other ridiculous, out-of-this-world characters.”

Oh man, I didn’t even send him a card!: Did you know that Monday was Joe Simon’s 97th birthday? The Washington Post‘s Michael Cavna did, and put together a swell column featuring Simon and his legacy.

Wouldn’t most actors?: “Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick wants to play Batman”

Cuba My Revolution
Written by Inverna Lockpez
Illustrated by Dean Haspiel
Colored by José Villarrubia
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
Published by DC/Vertigo

The hope for a better world takes on many forms, many of them tied to the hope for a better, more compassionate government.  Revolution.  It’s a romantic notion, and a hard one to let go.  Inverna Lockpez knows.  Her graphic novel, Cuba My Revolution, recounts her story: Seventeen years old when Fidel Castro took power, the young idealist supported the cause through food rations, artistic censorship, and the flight of her family to the United States.

Lockpez dreamed of becoming an artist, yet put her ambitions aside to study medicine and support her country in the years immediately after Castro’s government took control of Cuba.  Being a soldier brought her pain (on nearly every conceivable level), yet she believed in her country.  After her military tenure, she found that art schools only taught “accepted” forms of art, yet she hoped.  Her friends disappeared, yet her pride refused to buckle.

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Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5: I suppose it is only fitting that a comic book whose hero is lost in time suffer from some shipping delays. Artist Ryan Sook joins writer Grant Morrison for the penultimate issue of the series, in which Bruce Wayne lands in some sort of old-timey gangster era of Gotham. (You can check out a preview here).  There’s still one more issue to go, but I suppose the two-month delay before this issue messed up the scheduling of the Bat-books enough that they couldn’t wait until #6 ships before they started releasing the one-shots in which a returned Bruce Wayne starts checking in with his squadron of sidekicks.  This week sees the release of four of the eight planned specials, including (deep breath) Bruce Wayne—The Road Home: Batgirl #1, Bruce Wayne— The Road Home: Batman & Robin #1, Bruce Wayne—The Road Home: Outsiders #1, and Bruce Wayne—The Road Home: Red Robin #1. That’s an awful lot of Batman in one week—five comics and $16 worth, all of it important. Or at least “important.” In terms of keeping up with Batman. And not, like, life in general.

Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers: This $15, 95-page trade paperback collects the four-issue miniseries from earlier this year about Captain America, Black Panther Sr., and Nick Fury fighting Nazis during World War II. Reginald Hudlin wrote it, Deny Cowan penciled it and I trade-waited it…did any of you guys read the mini? What’s the verdict? Great? Good? Bad?

Dawn Land: Artist Will Davis adapts, maybe even transforms, Jospeh Bruchac’s 1993 prose novel of the same name into an impressive $20, 320-page graphic novel. I’ll pound out a formal review sometime soon, but in the mean time, please accept my reccomendation. Here’s a short preview.

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Written and created by Brian Andersen, art, colors and letters by the talented Celina Hernandez. For more So Super Duper go to:www.sosuperduper.com!

But as who?

Rhys Ifans (Little Nicky and the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1) has been cast as the first Spider-baddie in the reboot directed by Marcus Webb. The only question is who will Ifans portray. Most speculation is Dr. Curt Connors, aka the Lizard. “What sets the Spider-Man villains apart is the complexity of their relationships with Peter Parker”, said Webb in a statement released by the studio. “Rhys’ incredible ability to embody both warmth and rage makes him the ideal choice for this character.”

I officially am rooting for Ifans for Lizard. I’d like to see Webb pull a “Nolan” and have villains that haven’t been showcased before on screen in the first installment of these new movies.  So what say you, readers? Who do you speculate Ifans will be cast as?

J.M. DeMatteis, current writer of Booster Gold and one of the creators behind Justice League International and The Life and Times of Savior 28, announced on his blog today that he’s departing as Editor-in-Chief of Ardden Entertainment. DeMatteis cites creative differences for the exit, although it doesn’t sound like anything too traumatic, as he’s still got nothing but kind words for the executives at Ardden, a company which has made a name for itself by bringing classic properties like Flash Gordon and Casper the Friendly Ghost back into circulation. DeMatteis’s post says that the departure is related to editorial disagreements surrounding the revival of old Atlas Comics properties.

Says DeMatteis:

“After a couple of very enjoyable years as editor-in-chief of Ardden Entertainment—working on Flash Gordon, Casper and the Spectrals and the recently-announcedAtlas Comics revival—I’ve decided to take my leave of the company.  It’s been a great ride building this new company with Ardden co-publishers Brendan Deneen and Rich Emms—both of whom, I hasten to add, are terrific guys—but, as we’ve all worked together to prep the Atlas material, co-creating the new versions of Grim Ghost, Phoenix and Wulf the Barbarian, it’s become clear that we have different visions of how to proceed.  After pondering long and hard, I decided the best thing would be to put on my parachute and exit the Ardden Tower, leaving the Atlas revival in Brendan and Rich’s very capable hands.  It was fun flexing my editorial muscles, seeing the comics world from the other side of the desk, and I may do it again one of these days.

I wish Brendan, Rich and Jason Goodman’s Atlas team great good luck with the new books.”

When contacted by Newsarama, Brendan Deneen said, “Rich Emms and I are sad that Marc has decided to move on but as his fan and his friend (not to mention his former manager!), I have learned an incredible amount under his tutelage.  His edits on my Flash Gordon scripts were phenomenal and he is a brilliant storyteller.  He remains a close friend and I will continue to read all of his material in all its varied forms, just like I’ve been doing for the last couple of decades.”

Deneen went on to provide the following, new organizational structure for Ardden Entertainment and Atlas Comics:
Publishers:  Brendan Deneen & Rich Emms
Editor-in-Chief:  Brendan Deneen
Designer-in-Chief: Rich Emms
Consulting Editor:  Jim Krueger
Consulting Designer:  Adam Boreham
Managing Editor:  Cody DeMatteis
Assistant Editor:  PJ Feffer
Assistant Editor:  Zach Frankel

Added Deneen, “Despite Marc’s departure, we have put together a new, larger staff about which I am extremely excited.  This past weekend’s New York Comic-Con proved to me that Ardden and Atlas have a very, very bright future, and we are expanding accordingly.  I look forward to having the already-legendary Jim Krueger edit our comics, especially my Flash Gordon scripts, and to have Rich and Adam continue their incredible design work.  Cody DeMatteis, who’s been with us for awhile now, will continue to oversee our artists and writers (and I have a feeling he’ll be editing my and Jim’s Phoenix scripts).  Finally, I’m excited to introduce PJ and Zach, two extremely talented young writers who will help keep Ardden and Atlas on track.  I truly feel that 2011 is going to be a big one for both Ardden Entertainment and Atlas Comics.”

As you’re no doubt aware, this past weekend was the New York Comic Con and, like most sizable comics conventions embraced by the industry, it tends to have a weird, warping effect on the comics news. That is, there was a ton of news released this weekend, but it tended to be along the lines of new product announcements and publisher initiatives, and Newsarama’s main page has got all the news on that. So, if for some reason you come straight to Blog@ and skip the main page but wanna know what went down at NYCC, well then, get outta here.

Here’s some non-NYCC links for your perusal…

I hope they didn’t stop at seven simply because there weren’t any more: “The 7 most successful comic-book superhero reboots”

From cartoonist to ambassador?: Sorta. The Washington Post talks to A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge cartoonist Josh Neufeld about his state department gig, touring different countries (currently in the middle east) as a sort of symbol of the American freedom to criticize the government.

Hey, thanks Canada!: In celebration of Canada’s Thanksgiving (what, already?), Ty Templeton counts the “Top Eight Reasons Comic Fans Should Thank Canada.” (And here’s another).

Only 16…?: “The 16 Worst 90s Superhero Redesigns”

That’s a nice-looking Mr. Peanut: At The Comics Journal, R. C. Harvey examines the way Mother Goose and Grim cartoonist Mike Peters has used “cameos” by various advertising characters over the course of the last year.

Even as we cover panels and announcements, more news continues to roll in from various quarters. DC’s The Source blog had a busy day today. Among the notes . . .

Spencer for Hire: Nick Spencer, known for his flotilla of Image titles and DCU work (the Jimmy Olsen co-feature in Action and the reborn T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), will be the new writer of Supergirl. Artist Bernarnd Chang will join him in January.

Mayhew On Target: Mike Mayhew does Green Arrow again, this time in issue 7 of the current ongoing. This one drops in December.

First Looks Abound: The Source is also previewing Batman: The Dark Knight #1 and Batman Inc. #1.

Keep with Blog@ and the Newsarama mothership for more news throughout the weekend.

And they’re not all Warren Ellis-written comics…?: “Warren Ellis Reveals The Comic Book Adaptations He’d Like to See!”

Correction!: In Monday’s installment, I said that Project: Rooftop had completed their special Justice League invitational superhero redesign event thingee with Joel Carroll’s redesign of The Flash. I was wrong! I had overlooked The Atom (by Jon Morris). Many a villain has made the same mistake, to their peril.

Weird; I thought everyone knew who Jack Chick was: Or, at the very least, were familiar with his tracts. Gil Roth found out otherwise when talking to his co-workers after viewing Chick documentary God’s Cartoonist, which Roth really dug (Via Comics Reporter).

Two great pages: Tim Hodler discusses the similarity of two layouts by Jack Cole and  Neal Adams.

Doesn’t Stan Lee ever get sick of creating superheroes?: Apparently not, as he’s helping create 30 more for the National Hockey League (That is what NHL stands for, right?). As a stereotypical comics fan I don’t care at all about sports, and as a stereotypical American I don’t care at all about hockey, but this sounds kind of neat—I imagine most hockey teams have names or mascots that suggest superpowers.

This is a neat idea: “HILARY PRICE on why her ‘Rhymes With Orange’ will turn pink this Sunday”

There’s no chance that Jim Russell could actually win this, is there?: “Matt Davies Being Sued For $1 Million”

Fire and Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics
Written by Blake Bell
Published by Fantagraphics

Blake Bell chronicles the life of cartoonist Bill Everett, most famous to most current comics readers as the creator of Marvel Comics’ Namor, the Sub-Mariner and Daredevil, the Man without Fear, in his latest book, Fire and Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics.  An effective biography and a great showcase of classic comics artwork, Bell’s book provides an intriguing look into the life of a man who played an important role in the shaping of the creative side of the comics industry.

Although it weighs in at over 200 pages, Fire and Water does not provide a detailed biography.  As the figures behind the comics were not recognized during much of Everett’s career, interviews with the cartoonist are not plentiful.  As such, Bell relies on accounts from Everett’s family and colleagues to fill in the blanks and trace the young man’s introduction to the comics business and evolution across forty-odd years as an illustrator.  Accounts of Everett’s non-comics jobs and alcoholism are plentiful, as are tributes to his talent and lamentations to his many wasted opportunities.

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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!

The other day I found myself in a Wal-Mart store (one should never go to a Wal-Mart store on purpose, although it is inevitable that one might occasionally find oneself in a Wal-Mart) and, while the relatives I was there with shopped for the things relatives shop for at Wal-marts, I noticed some of my imaginary friends from the comic books on a sheet of stickers, right below a rack of posters of cute boys from the Twilight movies and that Justin Bieber fellow.

Here is a terrible cellphone picture:

Say, it’s a Justice League of America sticker set! And not one based on the popular Cartoon Network tv series from a few years ago, or a line of toys, or one of those too-short direct-to-DVD movies, but based on the comic books!

Why, there’s Black Lightning! And Red Tornado! You don’t see them outside of the comic books all that often, do you? Not compared to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and even Green Lantern and Flash, anyway.

And they even have a sticker featuring Roy Harper, who used to be Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy, then changed his name to just Roy Harper, and then changed his name to Arsenal, and then changed it to Red Arrow, and then changed it back to Arsenal again. Here he is in his Red Arrow costume, but, what’s this?

There’s a sticker of Green Arrow’s logo, but no sticker of Green Arrow; there’s a sticker of Red Arrow, but no sticker of Red Arrow’s logo.

Perhaps there’s another sheet of stickers behind this one,  including one of Green Arrow, in which case it’s no big deal (Er, not that it’s a big deal anyway you look at it, really). Otherwise, I guess whoever put this sticker packet together was colorblind? Or thought the green guy with the ring was Green Arrow?

I was impressed by how incredibly weird it is to see relatively obscure DC superheroes like Roy Harper or Black Lightning on stickers for sale in Wal-Mart. And then I visited the toy department, where they were selling a B’wana Beast action figure as part of the Batman: The Brave and The Bold line of figures. B’wana Beast! As a toy! In Wal-Mart!

This is truly an age of wonders we live in.

Still need proof that DC Entertainment’s publishing and Hollywood divisions are working together closely? How about today’s announcement that Ryan Reynolds, Hal Jordan in next year’s Green Lantern feature film, is writing an introduction for a new printing of Green Lantern: Secret Origin, the 2008 Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis story that ran through Green Lantern #29-35 and told the character’s, well, y’know, secret origin.

The Reynolds-introduced-collected edition, along with a new cover from Reis (seen above), is out in November.

He’s been on the shortlist for Preacher and, until Zack Snyder took the reins, Superman, but Vulture is reporting that Requiem for a Dream’s Darren Aronofsky has been offered a directing post for Wolverine 2.

Aronofsky has worked with Wolverine star Hugh Jackman previously in the film The Fountain. But seeing Vulture’s rationale is particularly interesting — they’re suggesting that he was bumped off the Superman film in part because of his reputation for perfectionism. Here’s an interesting tidbit:

We’re told by knowledgeable insiders the reason Warner Bros. picked Snyder for Man of Steel is that the script by David Goyer was rushed, is still a bit of a mess, and that Warner Bros. needs someone who won’t spend months or even years trying to get it just right (i.e., Aronofsky), because time is the one thing they don’t have: The studio must have a new Superman movie in production by 2011 or they’ll be subject to potential lawsuits by the heirs of the superhero’s creators.

Now, there’s been a little bit of chatter amongst the blogosphere about the high concept of the new Superman film — “Clark Kent is a journalist traveling the world trying to decide if he should, in fact, even become Superman,” according to Vulture — but if it ends up being like Superman: Birthright, having a little bit of doubt is all right… if he’s got the costume.

But back to Wolverine 2 a second. I’m curious to see how Aronofsky, a director with his own quirks and visual signature, will handle a “mainstream” actioner like Wolverine 2, particularly after Tsotsi director Gavin Hood couldn’t quite stick the landing with critics. The film allegedly will have Wolverine travelling to Japan.

Want to help a creator in need, Rama readers? Here’s your chance.

Steve Rude, creator of Nexus, is in a bind — he’s in danger of losing his house, which will go up for auction on November 15. If you want to help the guy out, there’s a great win-win opportunity for people: He’s selling artwork!

“I was trying not to say anything,” Rude wrote on Facebook. “Nobody likes to hear bad news, but with the last 2 weeks of auctions being near a bust I didn’t see an option. I’ll be working on commissions all this week and will take more once the list dwindles down a bit.”

Anyone who’s a fan of great comics art should definitely be giving Rude’s auction a look. You can take a look at some of what he’s selling here and here.

“What makes the blank eyes so appealing?”: That’s the question Dash Shaw tackles at Comics Comics, in a post about masked heroes with pupil-less, white eyes. Make sure you check out the comments section too, where Jacob Covey also weighs in regarding whether Ninja Turtles work better with or without pupils.

I really like the cover of Nick Patten’s Unreachable Beasts: Rich Kreiner, who has read the insides as well, likes the whole thing, according to his review of it at The Comics Journal.

“Each of them, even the bad ones, meant something to him”: This surprisingly touching feature story on professor and comics collector Jose Alaniz donating his comics to a university has been linked to hither and yon, and with good reason—giving up your collection is something most serial comics readers have contemplated, if not gone through themselves. My plan is to just keep adding comics and longboxes until build a giant midden to live in. Archaeologists will pull my skeleton from it many years in the future.

“The more I think about it, the more I think that digital comics is something that could move comics culture from an inclusive subculture to a general part of culture”: David Brothers contemplates how digital distribution might effect the Wednesday Crowd, the direct market and comics as pop culture. This might not be a popular opinion to express here, since I bet most of us are part of that Wednesday Crowd and the direct market, but I think both account for a pretty small fraction of the folks who actually read comics or are interested in reading comics, so I don’t know that I agree with Brothers’ conclusion, but to answer his question, “No David, you are not totally insane.”

It’s always cool to see a first-generation comics creator getting their due: The New York Times profiles Jerry Robinson about one of his most endurign creations, Batman’s archenemy The Joker. Unfortunately, you’ll now have to register to read it, as the New York Times are jerks.

You’ll Never Know v.2: Collateral Damage
Written & Illustrated by C. Tyler
Published by Fantagraphics

The second (of three) volume in Carol Tyler’s memoir, You’ll Never Know: Collateral Damage, continues to address Tyler’s relationship with her World War II veteran father, as he finally opens up and reveals his experiences in the European theatre.  However, the emotional meat of the book comes from seeing how Tyler deals with her parents, her wandering husband and her trouble-bound daughter.

You’ll Never Know is ostensibly about Tyler and her father’s war experiences, but she’s ultimately explaining how her father’s experiences shaped him, and how he in turn molded her.  Though her father remains a constant presence throughout the book, Tyler is pulled in many directions.

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Don’t let the red hair fool you — Emma Stone is your new Gwen Stacy.

In recent days, it looked like Stone, the 21-year-old star of current release Easy A, was a lock to play red-haired Mary Jane in 2012′s Marc Webb-directed Spider-Man film. As made official Tuesday afternoon via a Sony Pictures press release, Stone will actually play Gwen Stacy, the other (blonde) love of Peter Parker’s life.

The film stars Andrew Garfield in the title role, seen in current box office #1 The Social Network.

This partly follows the tradition of the earlier movie franchise — Bryce Dallas Howard played Gwen Stacy in 2007′s Spider-Man 3. Unlike natural redhead Howard, though, Stone is actually a natural blonde, as noted in the press release — which follows in full after the jump.

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I generally only talk about the huge numbers of Batman books being published in any given month as if having a bunch of books featuring the same character is a bad thing, as the overlapping books compete with one another for a shrinking number of regular readers. But there’s a positive side as well! For example, no matter how long you like Batman’s ears to be, there’s a Bat-book for you!

This week, for example, you can choose between the modestly-eared Batman of artist Neal Adams and Steve Scott (available in Batman: Odyssey #4 and Batman Confidential #49, respectively),  the long, horn-like ears of Bernie Wrightson (in Batman: Hidden Treasures) and the exaggeratedly elongated ears of Kelley  Jones (Batman: Unseen).

For more on those last two books, and other interesting releases for the week, read on!

Batman: Hidden Treasures #1: I love the title of this comic book, as it sounds nothing like the title of a Batman comic book (Er, I mean the sub-title; obviously “Batman:” sounds exactly like the title of a Batman comic book). “Hidden Treasures” sounds more like the name of a lingerie store or a type of indulgent chocolate candy or maybe even a self-help book than a Batman comic book. Will the contents live-up to the connotations? Considering that it’s a quote-unquote lost Bernie Wrightson story of nothing but splash pages or illustrations (featuring a script by Ron Marz and inks by Kevin Nowlan), paired with a reprint of a 1972  Len Wein and Wrightson issue of Swamp Thing probably not. It’s probably something much, much better. That adds up to 56 pages, give or take a bunch of ads, for $5.

Batman: Unseen: This is a 130-page, $15 collection of last year’s “scarifying” five-issue miniseries pitting Batman against an H.G. Wells-style Invisible Man (Don’t look at me; they used the word scarifying!). But it’s the creative team that sells this more than the concept—the reunited ’90s Batman creative team of writer Dough Moench and Kelley Jones. Jones’ art is, of course, something of an acquired taste, but I’m an unabashed fan of the man’s work, and consider him one of the least boring superhero artists of all time. This story is a pretty good example of what’s so un-boring about his artwork, with continual, innovative ways to illustrate invisible or only semi-visible men throughout.

Blondie Vol. 1: If you only know Blondie from the last few decades’ worth of domestic comedy rehashing running gags, the content and look of creator Chic Young’s earliest strips can be downright shocking. This 280-page, $50 collection starts with Young’s very first 1930 strip and collects the next three years’ worth, chronicling the courtship of flapper Blondie Boopadoop by weird-haired Dagwood Bumstead.  It’s published by IDW, who will also have the 300-page, $50 Bloom County: The Complete Library Vol. 2 available this week.

CBLDF Liberty Annual 2010: This year’s 48-page, $5 special benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund stars The Boys, Milk & Cheese, Conan and Boilerplate, and features contributions from an all-star line-up including, but not limited to, Frank Miller, Geoff Johns, Garth Ennis, Dave Gibbons, Jeff Smith, Paul Pope, Darick Robertson, Larry Marder, Terry Moore, Rob Liefeld and Jill Thompson. There’s a five-page preview available here.

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Sorry about the headline; I was legally obligated to use that pun. Seriously, though, it’s right there. DC’s own Mera makes her live-action debut on “Smallville” in October, this from Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly. Apparently, when Aquaman appears again, he’ll have already married his extra-dimensional sweetheart. Mera is being played by Elena Satine, a Russian-born actress known stateside for stints in “Melrose Place” (the new version) and some horror fare.

Here she is . . .

OUTRAGEOUS. Er, uh, nice work, King Arthur.

At any rate, it’s been a good year-and-a-half for Mera. She got major play in “Blackest Night”, she finally gets to be the subject of not one, but two action figures from DC Direct, and she gets to show up on “Smallville” in addition to appearing from time to time on “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”. Kind of makes being attacked by your non-zombie baby a distant memory.