Did you time your bathroom/snack/Puppy Bowl break poorly? Well, here’s the 30-second Captain America: The First Avenger spot that played after the two-minute warning in the second quarter of the Super Bowl, including our first glimpse (albeit fleeting) of the Red Skull. What are you waiting for? Watch it!

Well, that image pretty much says it all — after going on sale Saturday morning, tickets for this year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego are completely sold out. That’s four-day passes and singles, all as gone-zo as the chicken-loving Muppet himself. As convention organizers note, more tickets will likely go on sale at a later date as refunds are processed — which will likely not be that many, and go even faster, but we’ll be sure to let you know either way.

Were you able to get through today? Congrats! Were you not? Total bummer. Feel free to let us know your stories, either way, right here in the comments.

Look like not only do we know the “female sidekick” role in The Avengers movie that Samuel L. Jackson talked about on Jimmy Fallon a couple of days ago, we also know the front-runner: Deadline reported today that How I Met Your Mother‘s Cobie Smulders is the front-runner for the role of Maria Hill, the agent and former direct of S.H.I.E.L.D. introduced by Brian Michael Bendis in New Avengers, and currently appearing in adjectiveless Avengers.

The Deadline report also states that Avengers director Joss Whedon considered Smulders for the role of Wonder Woman when he was attached to that project. Avengers is scheduled for release on May 4, 2012.

By Lan Pitts and Zack Smith

Two years ago, Wednesday Comics took the business by storm with its breath of fresh air approach to comics as it collected stories from various creators, touching on characters from Superman to Batman, to lesser known characters like Kamandi (well, lesser known to most people outside comic readers). It is confirmed that there is a sequel in progress, with Steve Rude working on a New Gods story. With that in mind, we took the liberty to come up with some pretty interesting combinations and dream teams that we’d love to see in the upcoming WC2.

Evan “Doc” Shaner on Captain Marvel: Shaner came to my attention last summer when Jeff Parker told me he was going to be huge; shortly after that, I was alerted to his gorgeous Captain Marvel pieces on his site and on ComicTwart. Not only does he have a great style for the character combined with a deep and abiding love for his mythology, but several of his pieces work as beautiful stand-alone Sunday pages themselves — just check out this masterpiece from last September. The man’s practically doing the job already. Might as well pay him for it.  – ZS

Mike Carey and Fiona Staples on Zatanna: It’s hardly any secret I’m a fan of Zatanna. While she finally has her own ongoing, I’d love to see Mike Carey (The Unwritten, X-Men) teamed up with Mystery Society artist Fiona Staples. Staples has been on the cusp of superstardom for a while now as she also worked on DV8 with Aaron Williams and a few covers for Superman/Batman. Both Carey and Staples have dabbled with supernatural forces on their resume and I would love to see them work together on a Zatanna strip. It could be quite magical. — LP

Paul Pope on the Atomic Knights: All right, this is a repeat creator from the first round, but Pope’s Adam Strange was one of the absolute joys of the series — a creator bringing his voice and visual style to a classic character, with surprises and fun throughout. Afterward, it occurred to me that he would be a perfect fit for the characters who shared reprint space with Adam Strange in STRANGE ADVENTRES in the 1970s — the absolute weirdness of their one cover appearance has haunted me since I was a kid (I’m meaning to commission Matt Kindt to do a recreation of it next time I see him at a con).

So obsessed am I with Paul Pope rendering giant Dalmatians and mole men that I started a Facebook group for this last year. As it happenes, I asked Mark Chiarello about this at one con, and he loved the idea — as did Pope when I brought it up to him at another show a few months later. In fact, he raved about DC’s hardcover reprint of the series, and even drew a quick Atomic Knights doodle. There’s only two caveats — first, Pope wants to get his long-gestating Battling Boy done, and second, Pope says that Dan DiDio is protective of the Atomic Knights and Kamandi, and already turned down a Pope/Brian Azzarello Kamandi proposal (you can see those pictures onlinehere). Give the man a chance, Dan — he’ll craft the most memorable story with those characters since the Silver Age.– ZS

(more…)

Simple enough, here’s your friendly reminder that Comic-Con International: San Diego registration opens up at 9 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow morning — Saturday, Feb. 5. The registration process has had a couple of false starts late last year, but we’ve got a good felling about it this time around.

So yeah — take it easy tonight, don’t sleep in; 9 a.m. Pacific, noon eastern, tomorrow. Here’s the site. Looks like you can actually access the TicketLeap site an hour before registration officially opens up, to ready your registering. Good luck!

Over at CBR’s weekly “Talk to the Hat” interview column with Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s senior vice president of publishing announced that the frequent recent appearances of Wonder Man in Avengers — where he questions the wisdom of bringing the team back together given the casualties they’ve suffered in the past — will come to a head in an upcoming series of annuals, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by his Secret War collaborator Gabriele Dell’Otto. Brevoort advises that it’s too early to talk about when we’ll see these issues, since they want to make sure they have a good amount done to avoid delays.

The full column is here.

Stephen Vincent Strange was a brilliant but arrogant surgeon, turning down cases that didn’t interest him or didn’t involve enough payment. One night, a car accident led to serious damage in the nerves in his hands, ensuring he could not perform surgery again. Unwilling to be a consultant or teacher, Strange spent his fortune traveling the world, seeking a way to restore his life. His journeys brought him to Tibet where he met the Ancient One, a centuries-old mystic who served as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme and who believed that Stephen had great potential as a new student.

Strange initially dismissed this, but then stayed on when he realized that the Ancient One’s life was in danger, as the wizard’s student Karl Mordo intended to kill him. Impressed by Strange’s altruistic behavior, the Ancient One cast out Mordo and took on the former New York surgeon as his pupil, offering a new life to replace the medical profession he’d lost. After years of study, Dr. Strange became a “master of the mystic arts,” able to accomplish seemingly impossible feats with magic and now gifted with a retarded aging rate. He returned to New York, setting up his Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwhich Village, and over the years there were many children (including a young Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil) who grew up on stories about the doctor of black magic who lived on Bleeker Street and never grew old.

Along with his arsenal of spells, Dr. Strange was armed with the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto, a Cloak of Levitation, and the Book of the Vishanti, one of the most powerful spell books in creation. Some years after the modern age of superheroes began, the Ancient One died finally and, after beating several sorcerers that included the villain Dr. Doom, Stephen won and inherited his master’s mantle as Sorcerer Supreme.

Dr. Strange has fought alongside many superheroes, sometimes working with teams such as the Defenders and the Avengers. He has fought super-villains, alien menaces, and demonic forces. He’s worked on his own, as a founding member of the Defenders, as a member of the Avengers, and as organizer of the Secret Defenders. Along with Baron Mordo, one of his greatest enemies has been the demon lord Dormammu, an inhabitant of the “Dark Dimension.” But recently, Dr. Strange was became addicted to the use of dark magical energies. Realizing he’d allowed himself to be corrupted, Stephen decided he was no longer worthy of being Sorcerer Supreme, turning it over to the hero Jericho Drumm AKA Brother Voodoo. Though less powerful, Strange has not shirked from any opportunity to continue defending humanity. With the recent death of Drumm, Strange is figuring out his new role in the world, working alongside the Avengers once more.

(more…)

The first question here is a biggie, I’ll tell you that up front. And while many fans (notably Kevin Allen, who often comments on The Gold Exchange and who posts regularly on Boosterrific.com) have already guessed at it, it’s something that not only hasn’t been officially announced yet by DC, but which delayed the whole Gold Exchange interview by almost a full day while Dan Jurgens called around to get clearance and make sure we weren’t breaking any rules. So I’m happy to make it the first thing I ask in our last Gold Exchange here at Blog@Newsarama.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #6 hit this week and has already been stirring up reactions from non-Booster Gold readers with a chalkboard at the end of the issue that’s dangling a number of enticing Flashpoint plot threads in front of readers months before Geoff Johns’ ambitious time-travel crossover story even begins in May…and with a “to be continued” tag at the end of this story that says Booster Gold #44 and Flashpoint #1, it seems pretty likely that DC’s premier behind-the-scenes time-travelers (That’s Rip and Booster) will play a fairly substantial role in that story.

The Gold Exchange: So—as we’ve done once or twice before, last thing first: Back when it was announced you’d be leaving Booster Gold for a while to take on Time Masters: Vanishing Point, it became public knowledge after an issue of Booster Gold had “To Be Continued In…” tagged at the end. Now that story is finished and the last issue of Time Masters says “To be continued in Booster Gold #44.” Will you be the one continuing your storyline in a new title here, as you did after The Tomorrow Memory?

Dan Jurgens: Yes. I’ll be jumping back to Booster Gold as of issue #44, which I’ve just started drawing. It’s good to be home! (more…)

DC Comics’ popular line of manga-style superheroine statues have been transformed into Halloween costumes for the masses. Really? Yes, really.

I’m not quite sure what to say about this. I’m mostly just surprised these exist at all. I mean, they’re costumes based solely on action figures with costumes that haven’t appeared in the comics. And the weirder part is, they don’t look half bad if you consider what most store-bought superheroine costumes look like.

I mean, who knows what they’ll actually feel like in person but they seem decent from where I’m looking. It’s important to note, the Ame-Comi designs have been very popular with cosplayers looking for something new and different to challenge their costume-making skills on the convention circuit the last year.

Online store Costume Craze seems to have the exclusive rights to the Ame-Comi costumes right now and so far just have Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Supergirl in production. But you can bet if these do well you can expect to see them everywhere and probably Robin, Poison Ivy or even perhaps *gasp* a Star Sapphire costume to capitalize on the Green Lantern film hitting theaters this summer.

Costume Craze says they’ll be available for pre-order soon and in stock in the summer but no prices have been revealed. Expect them to be somewhere in the $59.99-$79.99 range just like all the other overpriced Halloween costumes out there.

What’s your take on these? Are you as surprised as I am they’ve been created?

(via Topless Robot)

“Avenge”

Today, the Captain America: The First Avenger poster splashed onto the internet, showcasing Chris Evan’s more serious side. We get a great look at the shield and costume, sans mask, and what looks like a battlefield atmosphere. I’m sure some non-believers are having a change of heart after seeing this.

The more I see of this movie, the more anticipation builds. It’s going to be a damn good Summer.
What do you think, readers?

Well, this is a twist: after plenty of speculation this week about who would play Lois Lane in the holiday 2012-targeted Zack Snyder-directed, Henry Cavill-starred Superman “reboot” film, a report today from Variety says that while they are casting a female lead — She’s Out of My League‘s Alice Eve, Inglourious Basterds’ Diane Kruger and Die Another Day’s Rosamund Pike, all blonde, are on the shortlist — that role is, in fact, not Lois Lane at all.

Exactly who that character may be is currently unknown. Are they going Smallville-esque and bringing Lana Lang to the forefront? Maybe a female villain? Someone entirely new? And more importantly for devoted Lois Lane fans, does this news mean she won’t be in the movie at all? Intriguing questions with no currently public answers, but feel free to make your best guesses in the comments.

Who hasn’t!: “Have you always wanted to have Gary Groth as your landlord?”

The term “ReTweet” made me smile: The Weekly Crisis has been following the latest Marvel creative retreat via the Twitter tweets of many of its participants, seeking clues about the future of Marvel comics stories. Here’s day one, day two and day three. Personally I’m excited about the new direction for Cannonball proposed, but disappointed that the words “World War Man-Thing” never came up (Maybe that will be the follow-up to Fear Itself though, since whatever knows fear burns at his touch…)

Billy Graham?!: Oh, that Billy Graham.

“Yes, it’s true, there was very nearly a Harley Quinn-type character on the Batman 1966-69 TV series!“: Bully details another ditzy blonde type who falls for The Joker in a Batman TV series, identifying her as a possible proto-Harley. In other prominent comics bloggers discussing the live-action Batman TV show, Mike Sterling recently presented a fairly air-tight argument that “Adam West Batman Is The Best Batman.”

So is Marvel teasing Dark Horse comics now…?: Remember Marvel’s Who are the Mystery Men teaser thingee from a few days ago? Well, Dark Horse just announced plans to publish some new Mysterymen comics.

Does this mean they’ll let him join the Justice League for longer than three issues sometime soon?: Speaking of teasers, DC’s latest Flashpoint related one features a little logo and a question about former Titan Cyborg—”When Did Cyborg Become Protector of Truth, Justice and the American Way?”—so he may have a pretty big role in the miniseries and accompanying event. I kind of feel bad for the poor guy; after years of having to hang out with Beast Boy, he finally graduated to the Justice League last March, but was off the team an issue or three later.

“One of the most interesting aspects of Crisis was the fact that the Anti-Monitor was a really convincingly creepy dude”: Tim O’Neil has been discussing the hell out of Crisis On Infinite Earths in a series of blog posts, and this one about the death of the Flash—complete with plenty of scanned panels to illustrate—was pretty striking for the its conclusion, contrasting the Flash (and Supergirl) deaths with the deaths of super-characters in Big Two comics over the course of the last few years. I really liked that opening sentence though—the Anti-Monitor always disturbed me because I wasn’t sure if he just had some sort of extremely chapped, chalky white lips, or if he had baleen like a whale around his mouth hole. Giant, eye-less dudes with baleen are pretty scary.

Sweet Tooth #18
Written & Illustrated by Jeff Lemire
Colored by Jose Villarrubia
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
Published by DC/Vertigo

First, an admission: I hate landscape-format comics. Abhor ‘em. They’re particularly galling for readers, like me, who trade-wait, because the book’s flow is interrupted by the sideways format of one chapter. It’s also a somewhat awkward way to hold a comic.

With that said, however, sideways, upside-down or any other way, Sweet Tooth #18 remains a fun and sweet (with a dash of scary!) comic. The latest installment matches the earliest chapters by being heavy on mood, particularly melancholy, sweetness and chipped-edge innocence, but a light on plot. Following recent events, the series’ cast prepares for a long journey (involving one particularly serious moment defused by Gus), and gets a surprising moment of relaxation and, dare it exist, yes, fun!

Lemire provides an interesting stylistic exercise, mixing traditional comic book storytelling with something closer to a children’s book style, text with accompanying images. The effect suits the issue’s tone nicely, and Lemire’s simple prose captures the innocence of the kids as they prepare for the next phase of their lives.  A year and a half into Gus’s journey, Sweet Tooth remains an interesting comic.

Jill broke down the Locke & Key script news earlier today, and now we have word on who’s going to star as Tyler Locke in the TV adaptation, courtesy of Deadline: 23-year-old pop star/actor Jesse McCartney.

McCartney is no stranger to comic book adaptations — among his numerous voice acting credits is his current gig as Robin in Young Justice; the geek community also knows him as the voice of Roxas in the Kingdom Hearts series.

The Deadline post notes that the role will allow McCartney to use his music talents. Despite the work McCartney’s done in the genre entertainment field, it seems inevitable that his status as a former teen boy bander and appearance in photos like the above (and this one) will inspire some strong reactions in people, fair or not. So, yeah, what do you think?

The pilot script to the highly anticipated adaptation of Joe Hill’s Locke & Key for Fox has been seen by journalistic eyes and the verdict is…great!

This according to iFanboy who received a copy of the horror pilot. “It’s truly an echo of Joe Hill’s comic scripts for the original IDW mini (Welcome to Lovecraft), but it also features some cool additions. The pilot seems to benefit from the fact that Hill has a three-act structure in place for the comic (right now, readers are plowing through Act Two) and knows how the major conflicts will be resolved,” writes Paul Montgomery. Viewed above, an estate on Hartwood Acres in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will serve as “Keyhouse” for the series.

So far, five roles have been cast. Lord of the Rings star Miranda Otto will be playing the matriarch of the Locke family, Sin City’s Nick Stahl will play her brother-in-law Duncan Locke, The Tudor’s Sarah Bolger is playing Kinsey and the two newest additions have an actor named Harrison Thomas playing “a recurring role as a troubled teen possessed by an evil spirit” according to Deadline so I’m assuming Sam Lesser, and finally Skylar Gaertner will be playing the youngest of the Locke clan, Bode.

Apparently the pilot will feature the tragic act that precipitates Hill’s entire story, adapted for television by Josh Friedman, as flashbacks throughout the episode. Montgomery says the Locke children read exactly like they do in the book with young Bode charming the audience immediately.

“Bode discovers the [Ghost] key in the first act and figures it all out for himself. All show, very little tell. And it works because we see it all through the eyes of a little kid who takes everything at face value,” reports Montgomery. “The other Lockes will confront all this weirdness later, but as an introduction for viewers, it’s perfect.”

Surprisingly, Montgomery’s review states the big confrontation that occurs at the end of the “Welcome to Lovecraft” arc takes place in the pilot. We’ll also see the infamous well and introduction of the evil Dodge.

Unlike David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman, this is one comic book adaptation that appears primed to make a big splash with a wide audience. Are you excited to see Locke & Key come to life on the small screen?

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!

UPDATE: And The Hollywood Reporter has the purported shortlist of candidates for Nick Fury’s female “sidekick” — Morena Baccarin, who Avengers director Joss Whedon worked with on Firefly and Serenity; Cobie Smulders, who plays alongside Whedon vet Alyson Hannigan on How I Met Your Mother; Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’s Ramona Flowers; and Cloverfield‘s Jessica Lucas. Speculation is tending towards the role being Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp — Marvel’s not commenting, but we still like our Maria Hill guess.

Original Story: Samuel L. Jackson was ostensibly promoting his HBO movie The Sunset Limited last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but in the process he let slip quite a few details on his role of Nick Fury in various Marvel Studios projects — including that he’s indeed going to have a role in  Thor (despite earlier reports) as well as Captain America: The First Avenger — though neither part has been shot yet, he says — and that in The Avengers he’ll have a female “sidekick, who’s with [him] all the time.” Sharon Carter? Maria Hill? Watch the clip and let the guessing begin:

We’ve seen plenty of Chris Evans-as-Captain America photos from the set of Captain America: The First Avenger, but hey, what about Bucky? Here he is, as played by actor Sebastian Stan (who you may remember, possibly, from Hot Tub Time Machine and as Carter on Gossip Girl) — yeah, the pouty one right by Cap’s side.

If that Bucky looks a bit more brooding than you expect, there’s a reason. According to director Joe Johnston in the LA Times, Stan brought a deliberate “dark side” to the character — which, given what we now know about his eventual history in the comic books (serving as a stealth scout and later becoming brainwashed into the Soviet assassin the Winter Soldier), could be interpreted as potential foreshadowing.

The first Captain America: The First Avenger debuts on Sunday during the Super Bowl, and the movie is out July 22.

Joey Weiser is a cartoonist of many formats.

In comic shops he’s probably best known for his graphic novels, The Ride Home and Cavemen In Space (both from AdHouse), or maybe Tales of Unusual Circumstance, a self-published anthology of his shorter works (Or perhaps you’ve only seen his shorter works, which have appeared in popular anthologies like Flight and Put The Book Back on the Shelf, among many others?)

Weiser also draws a gag comic strip about kaiju monsters, Monster Isle, which appears in print and online.

His latest endeavor has been a series of self-published mini-comics, featuring a serialized story that seems like it will (or at least, should) inevitably end up being collected into a bound format at some point. It’s entitled Mermin, and Weiser recently published the fifth issue, and thus completed “Part 1” of the story, bringing closure to many of the plotlines (and providing a good place for a slim first volume to pick up and publish a chunk of it).

(more…)

Well, he certainly got people talking, huh?

In a video trying to inspire comic creators to make their own new characters and stories, “The Goon” creator Eric Powell made some statements that have turned out to be a bit, as he says, “divisive.” Our own Jill Pantozzi gave her opinion/interpretation of the video in yesterday’s “Hey, That’s My Cape!” column, and folks from The Beat to ComicsAlliance and everywhere in between have weighed in.

In an effort to clarify some of the issues, Eric Powell released a statement on Facebook, which he has asked we also share with you here. The statement in full follows the jump:

(more…)