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!

You know how this works, gang. Granted, we haven’t even really met all of the characters from the first trade yet, and that’s okay. The news that AMC has picked up The Walking Dead for a second season has me looking down the road a bit. Here are four key roles and four actors that I like for them. Kick in with your opinions and choices, but don’t be limited by my four characters; you know that there are PLENTY to choose from.

Michonne: For the katana-wielding zombie killing machine, I like Sanaa Lathan. She’s played several strong women and has a genre track record. She’s also not opposed to TV, having done a run on “Nip/Tuck”.

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Remember the news from last month about a possible Hulk television series? Well, stuff just got real, as Deadline.com is reporting that Guillermo del Toro and David Eick are close to a deal to bring just such a show to ABC. Oh yes.

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Marvel Comics vice president-executive editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort have been saying recently that Marvel is looking to scale back their volume of titles a bit, and it looks like they’re serious: In a move reminiscent of when DC Comics asked fans if Jason Todd should live or die, Marvel is running a poll on their site asking readers which satellite Deadpool comic should be canceled, Deadpool Corps or Deadpool Team-Up. Whether or not this move is enough to appease the “Deadpool is in too many comics!” contingent remains to be seen.

Keep in mind, there’s no “view results” option to potentially sway voters, so there’s no way to assess who’s winning (or losing) this race — so let us know in the comments. If both of these Deadpool comics are drowning and you can only save one of them (which seems to be, essentially, the case), which one would it be?

AMC’s The Walking Dead, based on the renowned comic series of the same name, is getting a ton of press and rave reviews from all around. Recently, over at The Walking Dead blog, an interview was posted with Sarah Wayne Callies, the actress who portrays Lori Grimes. It gives a bit of insight into how she play Lori and how they get that oh-not-so-fresh look just right.

Q: When it was announced that you were playing Lori, did any fans of The Walking Dead comic approach you?

A: Actually, I was in a comic book store in Vancouver and I was looking through for the latest issue that had just come out and the owner of the comic book store came up to me and said, “I see you’re checking out The Walking Dead. It’s amazing.” I said, “Yeah, I’m a huge fan.” And he said, “You know they’re making a television show for AMC. It’s supposed to be really good.” I kind of looked at him and I froze. I just went, “I’ll keep an eye out for it.” And I ran out of the store. I mean, what kind of jerk goes, “Yeah, I’m playing Lori.”

Q: Do you do a lot of camping in your real life?

A: Yeah. The rite of passage of learning to build a fire that will burn all night with one match is not an insignificant one in my husband’s family, and I grew up camping and backpacking. I love to camp. I think I’m probably much better at the boots and pocket knife thing than I am at the high heels and martini thing. And thankfully, Lori is so comfortable with it. For all the parts of her that were work, that felt like home.

Q: How much time do you have to spend in make-up to–

A: To look that bad! I’ve had so many journalists who see this thing and go, “Don’t take this the wrong way but you look like s—.” It’s dirty out there. It’s hot. Most of the make-up revolves around sunscreen. They paint dark circles under my eyes. This is not a show that is particularly amenable to vanity.

Q: Lori took her family photo albums when she had to leave town. What would you take if walkers were invading?

A: I’ve got a go bag. It’s a backpack that’s ready in the closet at all times for whatever. So that’s all packed.

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Today, Universal Pictures, via Yahoo! released the first teaser poster for the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens, starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and directed by Jon Favreau. Of course, the movie is based on the 2006 graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley, with penciler Luciano Lima of the same name.

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot, essentially it’s pretty self-explanatory here. Aliens invade the Old West and cowboys and the Apache fight them off. I remember reading it a while back and just thinking it would be cool to see on screen. I’m sure if any plot details have been altered for the movie, but with a cast like this and a concept that just screams “hollywood”, I’ll be there.

There is now a name for director Darren Aronofsky’s early-in-development Wolverine sequel — “The Wolverine.” Nice and simple, and yep, definite article, a la The Goddamn Batman.

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Who Will Comfort Toffle?
Written & Illustrated by Tove Jansson
English script by Sophie Hannah
Published by Drawn & Quarterly

Tove Jansson’s second Moomin picture book gets a new English translation courtesy of Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly and English scripter/poet/writer Sophie Hannah.  Like the Moomin comic strips and Jansson’s first children’s book, The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My, Who Will Comfort Toffle? brims with whimsy and wonder.

Lonely Toffle journeys through Moomin Valley, encountering the denizens of Jansson’s imaginative world.  Every person she encounters, in addition to partaking in imaginative flights of fancy, has someone to share the moment with, yet Toffle remains alone, in search of a companion.  It’s a direct and clear message for kids, that we all feel lonely and that we’re the only person without somebody, but of course, it all works out when you meet the right person.  And you may have to persevere to meet that person, but doing so is worth the effort.

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Batman and Robin #16, improved: Chris Haley makes the climax of Grant Morrison’s run on Batman (so far) even cooler than it was.

Men in peril and mean girls: At The Comics Journal, Tom Crippen provides two galleries of weird covers.

Talk of The Nation talks to cartoonists: The NPR show recently featured Lynda Barry and Sophie Crumb. They also have a nice blog post on learning to love Barry and an excerpt of Crumb’s book.

Dr. Henry Pym was a scientist of many fields, highly skilled in engineering, computer programming, chemistry, biology, and entomology. Thanks to his development of “Pym Particles,” which could be delivered in liquid or gas form, Hank could grow up to 25 feet (gaining superhuman strength in the process) or shrink down enough to ride on the back of an ant (while maintaining the strength of his original size). After building a cybernetic helmet that let him communicate with insects, Pym became the original hero called Ant-Man.

Not too long afterward, Hank met young Janet Van Dyne and aided her in avenging her father’s death. So she could take on dangerous criminals, Hank treated Jan so that if she used Pym Particles to shrink down, she’d develop wings for flight. Armed with stinging energy blasts, Jan called herself the Wasp and embraced the life of a superhero, even pushing Hank into adventuring more often.

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Based on upcoming covers showcased today by DC Comics on Vertigo imprint blog Graphic Content, it looks like there’s some interesting things coming up in Bill Willingham’s long-running Fables and its tie-in series, including, er, superheroes? Here’s the cover of #102, the start of a five-part story called “Super Group”:

Well, at this point superheroes fit the whole fairy tale paradigm as well as anyone, right?

Covers for Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #1 (isn’t she cold?) and a “preliminary cover” for Jack of Fables #50, the last issue of that series (read more about all that here), follow after the jump. A recent interview with Bill Willingham on all things Fables, by our very own Vaneta Rogers, is right here.

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Curious about Ryan Reynolds? Curious about that CG costume?

Then check this out for size — the Daily BLAM has an early promo from Entertainment Tonight, with the Green Lantern suit, Kilowog, Carol Ferris, and a whole lot more:

What say you, Rama readers? You dig what you see? Think Hal’s ready for the big screen? Or do you feel GL is running low on energy? Sound off!

Someone please explain Batman: Odyssey to Eric Reynolds: Fantagraphics’ Reynolds took to the publisher’s blog to ask “What the Hell is Going On Here?!” in a panel from Neal Adams’ current Batman limited series. Or, as Adams’ Bruce Wayne might say, “Um?”

Don’t forget Drawn and Quarterly!: As the end of the year nears and critics, bloggers and a whole lot of comics fans with Internet connections begin to think of the best comics they read during the past year in order to compile lists, D and Q provides a handy list of all the great comics they published during the last year. I personally haven’t been thinking about such things just yet, but Hicksville, Market Day, and Wilson sure were great, Make Me A Woman was a lot of fun, I always enjoy reading John Stanley comics, particularly when given D+Q’s slick production values, and man, I still have a lot of comics to catch up on…!

“I’ve killed roughly 5.2 zillion videogame Nazis over the years”: At the Savage Critics, Abhay Khosla slaps Hitler across the face with a copy of Kathryn and Stuart Immonen’s Moving Pictures. Sorta.

That’s an awful lot of comics history in a single image: Check out this photo of Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon at NYCC. (Via The Beat)

I don’ t like it: Entertainment Weekly unveiled the cover of the first True Blood collection with some fanfare. If you’re going to stick that close to the actors’ appearances, and render them that realistically, why not just go with a photo cover?

Eternal teenagers Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys owe a great deal of their longevity to their adaptability. Not simply in how relatively easily they’ve been able to slide from prose mystery novels for the youngsters of the 1920s and ’30s into each new popular medium as it arose (comics included, obviously), but also in their ability to glom on to emerging trends, fashions and thinking.

It seems like it’s been quite a while since either Nancy or the Boys really had a hold of the zeitgeist, but they’re still around, you know?

Whether this Archie-like immortality is due to an essential blandness in the characters or an admirable blankness allowing for projection is something fans could argue with haters (provided either franchise possesses either); for the moment, let’s concern ourselves with current publishers of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys graphic novels’ ability to successfully translate the teen sleuths into library-friendly kids graphic novels, and in their savvy if transparent attempts to capitalize on the current pop literary interest in certain breeds of undead.

Nancy Drew, The New Case Files: Vampire Slayer, Part One promises an en vogue mash-up, it’s cover featuring a crossbow-toting young girl and a cute boy vampire standing upside down, bat-like in the background.

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American Vampire v.1
Written by Scott Snyder & Stephen King
Illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque
Colored by Dave McCaig
Lettered by Steve Wands
Published by DC/Vertigo

In recent years, that old horror staple, the vampire, has been co-opted by the froo-frooey clutches of melodramatic, angsty teen romance.  Well, American Vampire is trying damn hard to reclaim the bloodsuckers for the horror crowd, and it’s fairly successful in doing so.  Although American Vampire is Scott Snyder’s baby, having Stephen King write the origin of the series’ protagonist is a surefire way to get lots of notice and establish the series’ horror roots.

Now, admittedly, I’ve never had much interest in vampires (or zombies, mummies, creatures from any lagoons, or werefolk for that matter), so I’m not necessarily the target audience for a book like this (though it’s far more up my alley than, say, Twilight).  But the high concept is sound enough – ancient European vampires come to the United States, a young land ripe for exploitation.  Along the way, they create a new vamp, one Skinner Sweet, and the new land, the new blood (where, exactly, Skinner is descended from is never mentioned, although he appears to have European ancestry somewhere up the tree) and ole’ Charles Darwin’s theory combine to create a whole new breed of vampire.

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Bruce Wayne, you were always were a player.

According to Deadline News, The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan is on the prowl (pardon the pun) for two actresses to play a villain and a love interest opposite Christian Bale, aka Bruce Wayne for the next installment of his Batman franchise.

The actresses being mentioned are Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley.

While everything is speculation at this point. I’d love to see a new take on Catwoman and possibly Vicky Vale, a nosy journalist that is out to find the identity of Batman. There is also possibility of Talia al’Ghul, which would make sense and have the trilogy come full circle.

So readers, what do you think? Who would you love to see?

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!

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less
Written & Illustrated by Sarah Glidden
Lettered by Clem Robins
Published by DC/Vertigo

A few years back, Sarah Glidden went on a Birthright Israel trip, which basically boils down to her taking a paid trip to Israel to experience life in the Holy Lands for herself.  If nothing else, good for her, because nobody’s yet offered a similar trip to those of us of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry! (Though I suppose I can drive to Amish country on my own.)

Actually, Glidden’s book detailing her experience – How to Understand Israel in 60 Day or Less – is a fascinating read.  Like many people, Glidden comes to the situation with a ton of baggage.  We all think we know about Israel or even, in the bigger picture, the Middle East or other cultures, but few of us have really walked in the shoes of those other people.  Through her experiences in Israel, however, readers are exposed to the intricacies of the peace process and the difficulties in finding compromises while still providing protection against extremism.

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Marvel Comics title She-Hulks, written by Harrison Wilcox and illustrated by Ryan Stegman, was originally conceived as an ongoing series — as indicated in our article about it published a couple of months ago.

It looks like plans changed along the way, though — as seen in this week’s shipping list from Diamond, #1 is listed as (of 4). On the actual cover, the words “limited series” or “of 4″ don’t appear anywhere, though, but usually the safe bet is to go with Diamond on such matters.

Still, this doesn’t mean that there won’t be follow-up She-Hulks books coming from Marvel in the future, so time (and sales) will probably ultimately tell the story on this one.

They are?: “WRESTLING greats John Cena and The Rock are set to go head-to-head in a battle to play SUPERMAN.”

Derf plays the ultimate Get Out Of Jury Duty Free card: The City cartoonist Derf recently got out of jury duty by answering a question regarding whether or not he’d ever committed a crime by mentioning he went to high school with Jeffrey Dahmer.  Derf’s original blog post about the incident and another about the Plain Dealer column and the Associated Press piece about it can be found on his blog; of particular interest is the fact that Derf is apparently near the end of completing a 200-page graphic novel version of My Friend Dahmer, a 2002 comic book he made about the point where his life intersected with that of the future serial killer.

Well, that’s a strange way to boil Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World down into just five words: “Nerd takes on girlfriend’s exes”; being in a rock band, being able to constantly defeat your many foes in physical combat and having almost every pretty girl you meet fall madly in love with you is pretty much the exact opposite of being a nerd, isn’t it?

Speaking of Scott Pilgrim: The release of the DVD of the movie means another round of interviews with cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley. This is a neat one, which mentions Edgar Wright’s  ”Amelie version of Toronto” as the setting.

Actually, none of these surprised me: “Movies based on comic books that may surprise you”