Need a break from all that other news? It’s time for this week’s Etsy Made Me Do It! Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers and last week I helped you show your geek pride. In anticipation of the release of X-Men: First Class this week, I decided to give some love to Professor Xavier’s super team.

For all your identification needs, the X-Men retractable badge wheel. User radbadge has this one for $8. Just a heads up: This badge wheel will give away as a mutant.

We can’t all be Ice Man, hence these Superhero Cool Feet from user WhatsEatingYin. They’re to stick under your laptop to help it from overheating. The pair, for $8, includes the likeness of Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus.

If you get thirsty waiting for the next issue of X-Men to come out, take a sip of something from this X-Men 5oz Flask Vintage Comic Book Art. You can purchase this one from user goblinhut for $15. Pretty snazzy if you ask me.

Telling the time never looked so fun. User RRUclocks created this X-Men Nintendo Desk Clock out of the classic video game from the late 80s. You can get this one for $28 or check out this Recycled Comic Book clock from goblinhut for $20.

I wouldn’t have pegged this one an X-Men item except the creator intended it that way. It’s a Steampunk X-Men necklace! User gabriellemaggidesign hand made the necklace, which can be yours for $115. Great for an X-Men cosplay in my humble opinion..

And just because I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff, I give you – Professor X Meerkat. User niftyknits writes, “Meerkat Xavier leads his trusty band of XMeerkats from his wheelchair, which is a miracle of handknitted engineering!” I should say so! $87 for this degree of difficulty, $38 for Meerkat Cyclops or Meerkat Wolverine.

As always, bear in mind, since Etsy is a craft website and not a commercial, mass-market dealer, items are almost always one-of-a-kind or in very limited availability. When you see something you like, buy it. It may not be there the next time you surf round. (Yes, it’s a very dangerous site for your wallet.) Also, since most items are created individually, many sellers are willing to customize something specifically to suit your needs. Just ask!

It’s arguable that the big news from DC’s announcement today is that the entire DCU line will be going day-and-date digital. But not everyone is a fan of the practice, apparently; responding to Ben Simpson’s tangentally tweet “Regardless of DC’s move, anyone who is releasing a creator-owned book NOT day & date digital is leaving money on the table,” Brian Michael Bendis tweeted the following:

As you can imagine, the original tweet has a little less black barring, and probably not suitable for family blogging.

The idea that same-date-digital release harms comic retailers has been one that’s often used to defend publishers’ decisions not to make their entire lines – One reason, perhaps, that Bob Wayne’s letter to retailers makes a point of mentioning “an innovative mix of publicity, promotional efforts and retailer incentives designed to maximize your opportunity to increase [their] DC sales.” Whether Bendis’ attitude towards the matter stretches to Marvel making the Ultimate line day-and-date earlier this year remains open to question.

Well, you have to give this for DC: They’re not afraid to go big.

The news that DC will not only be relaunching their entire DCU line from #1, but also rebooting continuity – plus, judging from the image on USA Today’s website, redesigning costumes as iconic as Superman’s and, for the second time in as many years, Wonder Woman’s – and offering the entire line same date digitally as physically is… Well, definitely bigger than I’d been expecting. It’s also the second time recently (following the “Holding The Line At $2.99″ promotion) that DC has shown itself willing to make big gestures that Marvel just… isn’t.

What will be interesting is seeing what comes of this boldness. The linewide price drop to $2.99 didn’t produce any sudden unswing in sales, but as Bleeding Cool pointed out last week, sales have been on the rise, slowly, for many mid-level books since the drop. Will relaunching the entire line and rebooting the universe allow long-term fans a jumping-off point? Will offering every book same-date digitally reduce print sales? And, most amusingly, how can anything Marvel have to offer in terms of “dramatic fallout” from Fear Itself match up to this?

“No Fear” suddenly seems like an appropriate slogan for DC these days. Let’s see whether they get rewarded for it.

While it is the night before Wednesday, it is also the night after Memorial Day. In year’s past, that would have meant that comics would have been delayed until Thursday, but Diamond’s new-ish arrangement with comics shops should mean that shops have new books on sale tomorrow as normal. You might want to call ahead to your local shop however to make sure that’s the case before you make a trip.

If you do, and if the new books are there, then these are some of ‘em you should find…

A Bride’s Story Vol. 1: This 190-page, $17 hardcover from Yen Press is the first installment of manga-ka Kaoru Mori’s comic about a 20-year-old’s marriage to a 12-year-old boy from the next village, and their adjustment to their new lives. Mori’s previous series was Emma, so if you liked that, you may like this.

Citizen Rex: This 145-page, $20 hardcover collects Mario and Gilbert Hernandez’s  miniseries about a gossip blogger and a robot celebrity.

Comeback Kings #1: Bruce Lee, Jim Morrison, Elvis Prseley, Andy Kaufman and Tupac Shakur are not only not dead, they fight crime together. At least they do in this comic, by Matt Sullivan, Gabe Guarente and Ethan Young. Albert Ching interviewed the creators for the main page a few months back.

Constructive Abandonment: Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber collaborate on a series of paintings with text that achieve something like a fine art Far Side. It’s a $16, 65-page, seven-by-seven hardcover, and you can see a few examples here.

Fear Itself #3: Marvel’s summer crossover, which actually started in spring and won’t wrap up until the fall, will be three-sevenths over with this chapter. Like the preceding one’s, it’s still by Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen, and at the 22-page/$3.99 price point. This week’s tie-ins include Fear Itself: The Deep #1, a sort of story-specific Defenders revival by Cullen Bunn and Lee Garbett. If that’s not enough Fear Itself for you, there’s also Thunderbolts #158 and Herc #4 (For Fear Itself-free Hercules, there’s the fourth and final issue of Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters and Mutants, a mini I’ve been enjoying)

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With Rich Johnston reporting that all of DC’s DCU books will be renumbered from #1 in September, Marvel’s Tom Brevoort on relaunching (and renumbering) series:

Hopefully we don’t relaunch things too willy-nilly. Depending on the reader, they may argue that we do. And there’s the argument out there that we never should have relaunched anything and the number the books are on now should be what we would have been on had we never done any of it and that would have been a better world. I don’t even necessarily argue with that. The place where I do argue is “Yes, but Heroes Reborn did happen, and at this point all bets are off.” You can’t just go back and pretend like nothing had happened. Something did happen, and that set the stage for a lot of the renumbering and relaunching that we still do today. At some point, 40 years of unbroken publication of all these titles was broken, and once that’s broken, you can pretend it’s still all there, but it’s never quite going to be seamless again. Combine that with the fact that our marketplace is more welcoming to a #1 than a #183, and it means that if you’re going to do something big, attention-getting and outreach-based, a #1 is only going to help you. Even the most casual potential comic book reader understands that a #1 is the beginning and that a #1 is the comic you save for your kids’ college fund. That’s important when you’re trying to get people into the stores.

The fact of the matter is that renumber is inviting to people even in terms of the dyed-in-the-wool fan. It says, “Here’s something important that’s going on. Here’s the beginning. Here’s absolutely the easiest way in that you could possibly get.” And hopefully the content reflects that and is accessible enough and engaging enough that somebody picks up that first issue and says, “I like this. Let me read more.” But it’s just the fact of life at this point.

After it was pointed out that Uncanny X-Men is the only long-running title at Marvel that hasn’t been renumbered at some point and asked whether that made it “safe” from a renumber/relaunch:

I would not assume that it’s safe. Maybe that makes it a little less likely because it’s the one title we’ve got that maintains continuity all the way back to the ’60s. But again, in terms of publishing today in 2011, 2012, 2013 — the need of right now is probably going to outweigh the need of “it’s nice that we have this thing that goes back to the ’60s.” If there’s a benefit to there being an “Uncanny X-Men” #1 because we’re building something in a substantial way and we want to give people that entry point, maybe we’d hesitate a fraction of a second longer, but I think it’d be only a fraction. If the plan still makes sense in our marketplace today, I suspect we’d go ahead and do it and wouldn’t blink at the fact that this is the one title we’ve got that goes all the way back to the ’60s with an unbroken string of numbers. That’s just my sense of it.

This is very much where common sense and my sense of fanboyishness come to blows. Brevoort’s entirely right that publishers should do whatever’s necessary to bring in new readers, and especially to demonstrate to potential new readers when there’s a good place to start, and, yes: Saying “this is the first issue” is really the best way to do that. But… I hate relaunches and renumbering. I find the idea, for example, of DC going from #904 to #1 of Action Comics to be weirdly disrespectful to the history of the comic, for some reason. I find the renumbering of, say, Ultimate Spider-Man from #16 to #150 and then being relaunched a year later to be a cynical exploitation of fans. I wish that there was some way to denote a new jumping on point – Remember those “This Is It! The Start Of A New Era!”-style banners that used to appear on covers? – that would do away with the need to renumber, but this really might be one of those cases where reality just isn’t on my side.

Is there something that could work as an alternative, though? What kind of thing would express a good place for new readers to start, if not a new #1 – and do you think you’d fall for it?

If true, this tweet from yesterday is very interesting, don’t you think?

So… the first post-Flashpoint creative team unveiled, perhaps? I’ll be happy if it turns out to be the case: I really liked Morrison and Jiminez working together on The Invisibles way back when, and Phil clearly knows (and loves) the character  – Morrison’s Diana, I’ve been more shaky on, I admit, but I found that the last time he wrote her (The last issue of The Return of Bruce Wayne), I liked the new take he had, and wanted to see more. But what do you think? Would this team get you to buy Wonder Woman monthly?

(Thanks, Ragnell.)

This is one of those wonderful times that I get to just let the post speak, or as the case may be sing for itself. If you haven’t heard nerdrock group Kirby Krackle’s Green Lantern themed song “Ring Capacity” yet, now it’s easier than ever to take in with their all-new animated video! Check out the video below, then hit the jump for information on the animator and links to more Krackle-y goodness!

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The BBC’s Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood, has notoriously been more adult than its predecessor. In fact, that’s something that has specifically drawn viewers in considering the showrunners’ propensity and openness when it comes to sexuality and violence. With the series moving to America July 8 via the cable network Starz, fans are wondering what of their beloved Torchwood will change. According to the showrunners and stars, definitely not the sex.

Russel T. Davies and John Barrowman spoke with Entertainment Weekly recently about how the show’s trademark adult relationships would be handled in the new cable series.

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It’s not just me; this is an odd thing to have a blog post about, right? From the official DCU blog:

It goes without saying that Geoff Johns is a talent to be reckoned with. For the past several years, Johns has been writing numerous FLASH titles – including the recently released THE FLASH OMNIBUS Vol. 1.

As he did with Hal Jordan and GREEN LANTERN, Johns has completely reinvigorated the character of Barry Allen and THE FLASH. Working with such incredible artists including Scott Kolins, Ethan Van Sciver, Angel Unzueta, Andy Kubert and rising stars like Francis Manipul, Johns has solidified The Flash’s place in the DC Universe. In fact, he’s placed Barry Allen front and center of this summer’s bestselling event, FLASHPOINT.

But like issue #12 was the final issue of THE FLASH by Johns, the final issue of FLASHPOINT will conclude Johns’ run on FLASH titles for the foreseeable future.

The point of this post is to… formalize that Johns won’t be writing whatever new Flash series that launches post-Flashpoint? To stealth-confirm that there will be a new Flash series post-Flashpoint? To promote the just-released Flash Omnibus in a really unexpected way? If it’s just meant as a “Geoff has written his last issue of Flash, didn’t he do well” post, shouldn’t it have come out a couple of weeks ago, when his last issue of Flash was actually released?

The post finishes by teasing the “Don’t talk about what comes after Flashpoint” slogan that’s been bandied around everywhere recently – One that’s entirely facetious, consdering everyone involved is probably loving that everyone is talking about what comes after Flashpoint, even if no-one seems to know…

Lea Hernandez was a Dave Stevens “Good Girl”: The comics creator shares a story (and some pictures) about posing for the late, great Rocketeer artist.

I know Tom Spurgeon was kidding, but I wouldn’t mind reading that series: In this link round-up, Comics Reporter Spurgeon mentions a few pieces contemplating DC’s post-Flashpoint publishing plans, and jokes “I’m hoping it’s a Lt. Marvel event series.” The Lieutenant Marvels are three guys—Tall Billy, Hill Billy and Fat Billy—who can share the Shazam powers with Billy Batson. Considering the publisher’s difficulty in coming up with a version of Captain Marvel they can sell (a problem of their own creation, if you ask me, as they keep trying to fix something that’s not broken), and how popular their event that basically turned much of their character catalog into Lieutenant Lanterns of various colors (Blackest Night), an event series in which various DC heroes become deputized as Lieutenant Marvels doesn’t sound that far-fetched (You know what’s awesome about superhero comics right now? It’s almost impossible to joke about them, because there is virtually no idea that seems too ridiculous for a publisher to attempt).

Well for God’s sake, don’t just sit there blogging—put him out!: “Matty’s on Fire”

“There wasn’t a whole lot about the pilot that I didn’t like”: Conor Kilpatrick watches the Wonder Woman pilot for iFanboy, and he kinda liked it.

Lots of goodies coming from Fantagraphics: Check out the publisher’s previews of Jim Woodring’s Congress of the Animals, Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson and the covers for Michael Kupperman’s highly-anticipated (by me and, I imagine, a lot of other people) Mark Twain’s Autobiography, 1910-2010.

Does Krazy and Ignatz promote teen pregnancy?: Fact: The only thing safer than the 100% safe practice of abstinence is to hurl a brick at the back of the head of anyone who shows the slightest romantic interest in you.

This looks pretty awesome: That is all.

Resisting urge to fill this spot with a dirty joke: “‘Akira’ Director Leaves And Keanu Never Came”

“Where to Go Next for Sports Manga”: This list by Johanna Draper Carlson recommending various sports manga by sport looks like a fairly useful starting point for Americans interested in the genre. I (obviously) love comics of all kinds, but throughout my life interest in sports has ranged from zero to very little (excepting high school cross country and track, which I participated in), and I’ve read very few of these (four out of 18, to be exact). Given my lack of interest in or knowledge of sports, I was quite shocked how suspenseful I found the early volumes of Prince of Tennis. One Pound Gospel and Maison Ikkoku are both quite brilliant (although the latter isn’t really a sports manga, anymore than those X-Men issues where they play baseball are a sports comic).

I wanna know why Ryan Reynolds says “Green Lantern’s Light!” like he’s playing Christian Bale playing Batman: “Five Things to Know About Green Lantern Before You See It”

“The problem isn’t the promotion itself, but rather the industry’s proclivity for milking a good, original idea of all of its appeal and strength”: Don MacPherson takes a closer look at Marvel’s announcement of retailer-specific variant covers for Amazing Spider-Man, following in the footsteps of IDW’s Godzilla-squishing-your-local-comics-shop variant cover promotion.

Standard comic blog subject in Washington Business Journal?: Not really. This article, “Green light women superhero movies,” is actually much more tedious than that.

In case you were wondering, Covered is still pretty awesome: Anthony Vukojevich covers Frank Miller and Al Milgrom’s cover for Rom #17.

“Under all the brawn…Steve Rogers is still a 98-pound weakling with a huge heart”: That’s Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso in USA Today, explaining the publisher’s “I Am Captain America” covers, which demonstrate that we all have the ability to become a hero like Captain America. All we need is steroids. Lots and lots of steroids. Super soldier serum! I mean super soldier serum!

I hope it wasn’t just because she’s a Marvel and he’s a DC: “Ryan Reynolds speaks about his divorce from Scarlett Johansson”

Wherever comics are sold?: “Where is DC Comics?”

What, Frank Miller’s Sin City didn’t count?: “Finally: True Comics about a Lifetime of Sex with Prostitutes”

Maybe, but have you read any modern ones? They’re even worse: “It’s Undeniable, Old Comics Suck”

Start reading MR. RHEE right here at Blog@Newsarama next week!

It’s just been anounced that Orlando Bloom will join the cast of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, taking on the role he stepped into for the Lord of the Rings trilogy – Legolas. There’s just one problem with that. Legolas wasn’t in The Hobbit.

“Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas. I’m excited to announce today that we’ll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more,” wrote Jackson via Facebook. ”I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again. Funny thing is, I look older—and he doesn’t! I guess that’s why he makes such a wonderful elf.”

For fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, this may come as a bit of a shock. Legolas’ father Thranduil, the Elvenking, appears in The Hobbit but not Legolas himself. But Bloom isn’t the only actor whose character doesn’t appear in the books that’s making an appearance in the movie. Elijah Wood is also reprising his role as Frodo Baggins, although it’s his cousin Bilbo who is the protagonist of this tale.

And, Legolas isn’t the only elf sneaking in The Hobbit film either, Cate Blachett’s Galadriel will also appear. Even though Legolas doesn’t appear in the book, some expect he’ll make his appearance in the Battle of the Five Armies fighting alongside his father.

What are your thoughts Hobbit fans? Is this blasphemy or is it ok that Jackson is helping to bring  in a larger audience by recasting these actors?

Hey, look: It’s the first non-trailer clip from Green Lantern:

(Courtesy The Blog of Oa’s grab of Michael Clarke Duncan’s appearance on G4′s Attack of The Show.)

I have to admit, I prefer MCD’s Kilowog to Henry Rollins’ version from the Emerald Knights animated movie, but… it isn’t just me that still feels like this looks too much like a videogame, right?

Latino Review, who get things right more often than not when it comes to the world of movies and breaking secrets before anyone else, has been playing their game with Marvel Studios from the start. Of course, at the top of their minds is The Avengers, the big get-the-whole-band-together film coming in May of 2012.

They correctly predicted back in March of this year that Loki would be a villain in the team movie, a point proven in the Joss Whedon-directed after-credits scene of Thor. At that same time, they posited that Loki would be the impetus bringing in the rumored Skrulls to the mix. Now, they have another major villain they assure readers will be in the film. See who after the jump, with the obligatory “potential spoilers ahead.”

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From Axel Alonso’s Twitter:

A hint at an upcoming Marvel exclusive? Or just a cruel, cruel game of “What If…?” I mean, I guess we are getting close to the traditional San Diego announcement season, and Alonso has a long past with Risso, through their Vertigo work. Suppose this means that Risso’s new book with Brian Azzarello, Spaceman, is either finished, postponed or about to be juggled around schedules, then.

We’ve talked about Norman Osborn, the villainous Green Goblin, and those who used his mantle after him. But Osborn’s legacy of evil has grown some interesting branches. It began when Roderick Kingsley, a businessman with a lust for power, used Osborn’s old weapons and technology to become a super-villain of a different color: the Hobgoblin.

In his new guise, Kingsley became a formidable enemy of Spider-Man’s, escaping the wall-crawler and the police even when his schemes were defeated. A few times, Spider-Man caught a person whom he believed to be his mysterious new enemy only to find out that they had been framed by the real Hobgoblin to act as a red herring. When another criminal named Jason Macendale attempted to have the Hobgoblin killed, Kingsley faked the death of his costumed alter ego and retired from the life.  He convinced Macendale (and the world) that the original Hobgoblin had been journalist Ned Leeds, leading to the man’s assassination.

Macendale then stole the Hobgoblin identity to use for his own, continuing his work as a mercenary. But without Kingsley’s great strength or cunning intellect, he was not nearly the same kind of threat. His desperation to prove himself and increase his power led down different paths, including making deals with demons. Years later, Kingsley became insulted that the identity he had created had become synonymous with a “loser” and killed Macendale, taking back the role of the Hobgoblin.

Recently, Kingsley intended to make another dramatic comeback but his life took a tragic turn. Now Phil Urich, who once attempted to use the Green Goblin’s technology to act as a hero, has become a new kind of Hobgoblin, one unlike any who have come before.

Got it? Good. Let’s get on with the show then! (more…)

Marvel’s new Captain America #1 — from Ed Brubaker and Steve McNiven and featuring the return of Steve Rogers to the title role — debuts in July, still more than a month away. But if you’re interesting in hearing the creators talk a bit more about the series, that’s happening as soon as today. At noon eastern time Marvel is holding a conference call with the press (the latest in their “Next Big Thing” series) on Captain America, with Brubaker, McNiven and Marvel senior VP of publishing Tom Brevoort all representin’ on the line.

Hoping for live coverage? Of course you are! That’s to to be found on the main page right around noon. Got questions you’d like us to try and ask? Leave them in the comments. And, in the meantime, check out our interview with the creative team from shortly after the series was announced.

X-Men: First Class is getting rave reviews from most of the critics who have viewed it so far and fans seem to be satisfied more each passing day with the preview clips that have been released but one particular character hasn’t been getting much attention. Until now. Here’s brand-new shots of actress January Jones as Emma Frost.

The shots, which will appear with a few more in next week’s issue of The Hollywood Reporter, certainly show the character more akin to how fans of the comic are used to seeing her – In next to nothing. You can thank First Class costume designer Samantha Sheldon.

And here she is with her trademark cape. We’ve seen shots of Jones in a sparkly bra and a leather pants suit but these are the first images that lean closer to the White Queen’s preferred stylings. Here’s a Emma-centric clip that was released this week:

Thoughts?

An announcement tomorrow, you say?

Well, at least someone is paying attention to the important things about this summer’s superhero movie onslaught: New York Magazine’s Vulture blog wonders “How Vulnerable Are Superheroes’ Crotches?“:

This summer’s wave of superheroes — Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, and the First Class X-Men — will all be sporting the crime-fighting fashion of choice: tight outfits made of leather or spandex, cape optional. While flashy and brandable, these costumes also have a practical purpose: Their tight fits allow freer movements and better intimidation through flexed biceps. And yet, there is one very impractical downside to this tradition: flimsy to nonexistent groin protection. And evil has no better ally than a wide-open crotch!

Seriously? There’s no better ally than a wide-open crotch? Nonetheless, unsurprisingly, Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet turns out to be the hero in the worst crotch-related danger, with Chris Helmsworth’s Thor apparently the safest. Please, no “That’s because the hammer is his penis” jokes.